Posts by Robert Ringer
My 10,000 Hours
People who can never seem to grab the brass ring are often guilty of nothing more than overlooking the basics. By basics, I’m talking about fundamental skills and activities such as time management, reading, organization, and developing an accurate perception of reality … the list goes on and on. But perhaps the most consistently overlooked…
Read MoreThree New Rules For Work
I recently ran across three heirloom, handwritten signs that I had pinned on my wall in my early days as a writer. The signs were positioned so that whenever I looked up from my Selectric typewriter, they were staring me in the face. Had it not been for my internalizing the words on these three…
Read MoreThe Most Important Entrepreneurship Article You’ll Ever Read
With the word entrepreneur becoming increasingly popular with media pundits on both the right and the left, more and more people are coming to realize that entrepreneurship was the driving force behind America’s widespread prosperity – prosperity that few Americans could have imagined as recent as the mid-20th century. Entrepreneurship, in fact, embodies the spirit…
Read MoreA Must-Have in Any Business
Some years ago, I was having lunch with a business associate at a fine restaurant. The food was superb, but when you pay eighty bucks for lunch for two people, you also expect great service. When the waitress brought our appetizers, I asked her to please give me some cracked pepper on my salad. Though…
Read MoreThe Customer vs Employee Challenge
For many years, I felt a moral obligation to inform business owners whenever I thought they had a personnel or customer-service problem on their hands. I say moral obligation, because I have always been grateful to customers — or anyone, for that matter — who have taken the time to clue me in on any…
Read MoreA Turn in the Road
I believe in free will and in man’s capacity to rise above adversity. I believe in accountability. I believe in the basic virtues upon which Western civilization has been built. But I also believe that people sometimes take a wrong turn in the road — perhaps inadvertently or maybe as a result of an ill-advised…
Read MoreNo One is Immune to This
Following are some miscellaneous excerpts from mostly one-star reviews (the worst rating possible) on Amazon.com that I extracted for this article. Reviewer #1: “Seven Ways to Waste a Day. There is not a single new idea in the whole book. If you don’t know already what is in this book, you are too stupid to…
Read MoreEarly to Rise Lifestyle: The Importance of Common Sense
In other words, you don’t need to be a Ph.D. to exercise common sense. It’s a trait you develop through purposeful awareness and habit.
Read MoreCreativity
Creativity is a trait we all admire. Original thoughts and ideas are valued highly in the marketplace. But most people believe that creativity is an inborn trait and is beyond their reach. They’re right about the former, but wrong about the latter. It goes without saying that some people are more naturally creative than others,…
Read MoreTouching All the Bases
“Touching all the bases” is an appropriate metaphor that may well have its roots in the tragic tale of Fred Merkle. At the time, Merkle was only 19 years old and in his second major league season with the New York Giants. Merkle’s infamous mental lapse took place on September 23, 1908, in the last…
Read MoreBeware of False Perceptions
Recovered memory syndrome (RMS) is a phenomenon whereby a questioner “helps” someone remember events that may be fictional by asking leading questions. The reason such questioning works – in bogus molestation cases, for example – is because the mind is very susceptible to suggestion. But RMS is just one aspect of a much broader problem…
Read MoreAbove All, Discretion
There’s no question that some fans felt cheated when they found out that Major League Baseball players have been using performance-enhancing substances for years. It appears, however, that they are in the minority. Most fans don’t really care all that much about steroid usage. At the very least, they’re willing to forgive and forget. I…
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