One of the messages I share in my retirement writing is that retirement should not be viewed as the end of our productive lives, but as the beginning of a new chapter. We have spent decades learning, working, building relationships, overcoming challenges, and developing skills. The question is, what will we do with everything we have learned? Recently, I was asked to teach a two-hour customer-relations program for a school district. At first, I struggled with how to approach

When I was growing up, Western New York was booming, and people were optimistic about the future. The region had hundreds of manufacturing plants offering high paying union jobs. Buffalo's population was at its peak, and the area boasted some of the best school districts in the region. My family had prospered since the 1920s, and it seemed that the good times would never end. Sometime in the 1960s and early 1970s, however, that optimism began to fade. Whether it was the influ

The seasons of the year remind us that life also moves through seasons. Each season has its own purpose, its own challenges, and its own opportunities. Spring represents our youth, a time of learning, growing, taking risks, experiencing rejection, and celebrating the thrill of winning. It is when we begin discovering who we are and what we want from life. We go to school, learn a trade or profession, find a career, and begin making our way in the world. Then, sometime between

This post is being published in three parts because the thought behind it took that long to fully develop it. I hope you enjoy the first post and come back to reading it to its end. Dolly Parton died on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80, leaving behind a legacy that will be difficult to match. But when we think about Dolly Parton, we shouldn't think only about the music. Yes, she became one of the most successful entertainers in history. She was a songwriter, singer, actress,

The Napoleon Hill Foundation publishes a daily inspirational message based on Napoleon Hill’s 17 principles of success. I recently came across one that really caught my attention because it applies so well to what I call your “second act” after retirement. It was titled “Six Steps to Live Intentionally Every Day.” The message outlined six simple steps for living with purpose. While these principles can certainly apply to business and career, I believe they are just as valuab

Work is often viewed simply as a way to earn enough money to survive. In a society where many people work more than 40 hours a week, achieving work-life balance can seem almost impossible. For some, work becomes a necessary evil. It is something to endure until the day they can finally retire. But what if God intended work to be something more? The Bible presents work not simply as a means of earning a living, but as an opportunity to use the abilities God has given us. In G

During one of my morning meditations, I came across an interesting thought in Proverbs 30:7–9. The passage reads almost like a breath prayer. Agur asks God for two things: to keep falsehood far from him and to give him neither poverty nor great wealth, but only the food and resources he needs. Agur understands the spiritual dangers found at both extremes. If he becomes poor, he may be tempted to steal and dishonor God. If he becomes wealthy, he may become self-sufficient and

I am continuing with the theme that the Bible was the first book about marketing and sales. While it was never intended to be a business manual, it contains timeless principles about relationships, trust, and serving others that are just as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago. One of the strongest themes throughout Scripture is serving people rather than pressuring them into doing something that only benefits you. Jesus modeled this perfectly. In Mark 10:45, we

Many people assume that books on marketing and sales only began appearing in the eighteenth century. Certainly, some of the earliest well known writers on markets and commerce emerged during this period. Richard Cantillon wrote about entrepreneurship and how markets function, while Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations (1776) explained concepts such as specialization, exchange, and the role of free markets. During the nineteenth century, influential thinkers continued to build o

Marketing and sales are, at their heart, forms of storytelling. Every successful business tells a story about who they are, what problem they solve, and why customers should care. The question every business owner must ask is: Am I a good storyteller? Have I practiced my story? More importantly, is my story connecting with the people I want to reach? When developing a marketing plan, many entrepreneurs focus on the technical aspects of their product or service. They spend tim