This post is less about the definition of intelligence or what is intelligence, and more about why have a different definition of intelligence in the first place. To put it simply, I think how we see intelligence and how we see ourselves can be limiting or enabling. And, I’m a fan of enabling and empowering you … with skill. My dictionary says that intelligence is, “the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations: Reason, also: the skilled use of reason … and the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one’s environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria.” In my view, that’s interesting but limited.

Don’t wait for the facts to change. Life’s better when you don’t wait for the facts to change. You improve your effectiveness when you respond to life’s curve balls. You also improve your resilience and self-reliance. You also create new opportunities. One of my favorite metaphors here from sports is, “You play the ball, or the ball plays you.”

To show empathy for others, you need to first show empathy for yourself. Visualize the Child is a way to rebuild empathy with yourself so that you can build your empathy for others.

The words we use and the words we choose can shape our moments and our lives. Have you ever experienced a great leader who never get stuck? They are always asking things like, “What’s the opportunity?” or “What the next step?” or “How can we use this?’

Innovation simply means coming up with a new idea, method, or product. The trick is to focus your ingenuity in ways that translate into meaningful results for work and life. The key to innovation is to ask the right questions. Just asking the right questions, starts the process. In the book, The Future Belongs to Those Who are Fast, Jim Carroll shares three questions you can use to innovate and drive change.

You now have access to some of the best insight and action on presenting numbers. Randall Bolten shows us how to present numbers with skill. Randall’s new book, Painting with Numbers: Presenting Financials and Other Numbers So People Will Understand You, is the definitive guide to show you how. It’s the short-cut to mastering the art and science of presenting numbers in a way that’s compelling and professional.

Practice your leadership in the moment. A skilled leader knows when to provide more help with the task. A skilled leader also knows when to provide more encouragement or motivation.

You can use movies to fill your head with images, mental models, and examples of extreme effort. When the chips are down, you can then draw from these scenes to inspire yourself to go the extra mile and really put in the effort required. The key is to build a collection of inspiring movies and scenes that put a premium on effort and dealing with setbacks.

I wanted a fitness routine that I could do anywhere, and I wanted it to be as effective and efficient as possible. Here’s the big deal: Mark, trains special forces for a living. In fact, he trains them in record time.

Empower people to seek or create their own enthusiasm from the inside out. It’s a great thing when somebody or something lights our fire. But, it’s a lot more empowering if you create your own enthusiasm.

Like anything, BEST gets better with practice. It takes work to hit your high notes, but the more you make BEST a habit, the more high notes you’ll hit.

Groups don’t always make better decisions, and two-heads aren’t necessarily better than one. It can be “herd mentality” in action.

Conflict management gets a whole lot easier when you know what you’re dealing with. The problem is, if you don’t have a simple mental model for conflict, things can get complicated fast.

Why do we procrastinate and what can we do about it? Procrastination is a subtle and insidious thing. It can hold you back from who you were born to be.

As a leader, people put their hopes, their dreams, and their fears in you. You are the container of their intangibles.

If you want respect, first look to the source. The source is you. Like so many things, respect flows from the inside out., and self-respect is the strongest stream. You get what you expect. So first, you have to expect it from yourself. So the question becomes, do you respect yourself the way you want to be respected?

We don’t get away unscathed. As we make our way through life, life leaves its marks. The marks we bear can make our lives deeper and more meaningful. Or they can sour our view, and make us bitter and cold. It’s all in how we respond.

These are the people who fight the good fight. They don’t do it for recognition, fame, or glory. They do it because it’s who they are, and they fight for what they believe in.

Keep virtuous cycles going and abort vicious cycles early. The little wins each day keep you going and add up over time. The same is true of setbacks.

You can have a beautiful mind. In fact, like a fine wine, your mind can get better with age. According to Edward de Bono, “there is very much more that you can do to make your mind more beautiful.”