If you are an author—or want to become one—you need to seriously consider ramping up your speaking career. This is particularly important for non-fiction authors. However, it is important for most fiction authors, too.

Most leaders talk to their teams about how they value honesty. However, judging by their behavior, very few of these leaders actually encourage it.

I once heard a person say in a disdainful tone, “I don’t read ‘self-help’ books.” With this seemingly innocuous verdict, he slammed the door on a multitude of voices eager to push him to God’s best for his life. He severely limited his exposure to wise counselors and leaders available to him. And he drew a curtain across a world of extraordinary and supernatural influence.

Early in my career, I thought I had to be good at everything. Not true. You can’t be good at everything. In fact, you can only be great at a few things. The sooner you realize this, the more quickly you can focus on your strengths and steer clear of your weaknesses.

About a year ago, I decided to become intentional about promoting my older posts. As a result of the actions I took, my older posts began to account for more and more of my daily traffic. In fact, today it accounts for about 30–40 percent of my total traffic. Here’s what I did—and what you can do—to give your older posts new life.

Recently, I was tempted to respond to a blogger who had attacked my company. As I was considering what I to say, I heard a politician on the radio responding to an opponent who had called him a liar.

Several months ago, I spoke to a large group of military officers and contractors. My topic was “How to Shave Ten Hours Off Your Work Week.” In my speech, I provided seven tools for achieving greater productivity and restoring work-life balance.

When it comes to your success, your advisors can make you or break you. In the 1990s, I made a terrible financial mistake. As a result of my success as a writer and a speaker, I made some significant extra income. I was also holding down a full-time job. I could barely keep up with it all.

About ten months ago, my pastor asked me to chair the Evangelism Committee at my church. He also appointed several committee members to serve with me. We started by asking what was the single most important thing we could do to raise the visibility of our church in our local community.

I have a confession to make. Until about eight years ago, I didn’t floss. In fact, I hadn’t been to the dentist in a decade. My last experience had been so negative, that I just kept finding excuses to procrastinate.