This issue is made up of the following sections:

1. Personal Effectiveness Tips
2. Questions for Growth
3. Reality Check - Common Sense

1. Personal Effectiveness Tips
1. Practice humility in all that you do. We don't succeed through our actions alone, but by combining our own hard work with a little luck and a lot of support from others. Keep this in mind, and say please and thank you along the way.

2. Stop reinforcing ignorance and/or selfishness in the words and actions of others. Question “common knowledge,” and talk about the elephant in the room, so to speak, that everyone is trying to ignore. You'll not only stop the spread of misinformation, you'll gain credibility in the eyes of others by being able to say what they themselves were too fearful to say.

3. Overcoming obstacles is the modus operandi for every great superhero. You'll have your share of obstacles, large and small, on your way to success. Embrace them as opportunities to grow and improve rather than as opportunities to pity yourself. Embrace your inner superhero, even if nobody is there to celebrate your successes. You'll know.

4. If you need momentum in any area of your life, start concentrating all your efforts in that area for one week. For example, if you want to get in better shape, stop taking the elevator, reduce your food portions, drink more water, take more walks, buy a bike, get a physical from your doctor, eat less sweets, etc. The cumulative effect of several small actions and behavior changes is powerful, synergistic, and easy to maintain.

5. There is no need to apologize to anyone for being the best person you know how to be. If you happen to offend others along the way, so be it. As long as you feel good about your intentions and your moral compass is in working order, you need not adjust your way of living based on irrelevant feedback from the masses.

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2. Questions for Growth
1. If you had a surprise high school reunion today, would you be happy to attend and display the person you've become?

2. How often do you actually tell others how you are really feeling? (love, annoyance, etc)

3. If you had to choose between being satisfied and being scared but brave, which would you choose?

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3. Reality Check - Common Sense

I don't consider myself a smart man. Well, at least not among my twelve siblings, and I'm sure I can find many people that scored higher on tests, got into better schools, and won academic honors. However, over the years I've come to realize that I've got great common sense, a sharp wit, and I relish the practical. Maybe that's why I enjoy IKEA and Target so much? Who knows.

Common sense has gotten me where I am today, and my ability to be an “Apostle of the Obvious” pays my bills. It's almost counterintuitive to listen to that voice in my head that might find a simple answer to a seemingly complex problem. In particular, my common sense has helped me to realize that:

• Working harder is not always the answer. Working smarter is.

• Opinions are the cheapest commodity available. The ones that I listen to are from those that are more successful than myself.

• There is a solution to every problem. I just have to find it and apply it to my situation.

• I don't like to hang around people that make me feel bad about myself, or make everything about them, or are so insecure that everything becomes a contest.

• Most people walk around unaware, never stopping to think about the ramifications of their actions

• Life is about relationships. Period.

• Pain teaches us great lessons if we let it.

• I have two basic choices on how to interpret events in my life (good or bad, positive or negative).

• I am responsible only for myself and my actions. That's it.

• Moderation in all pursuits will never steer you wrong

The problem I see many of us facing today is that we believe that life needs to be harder than it already is. It can't be as simple as it seems, right? And so we develop anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, tics, odd compensatory behaviors, rude habits, more difficult ways of doing things, unconscious ways to sabotage love relationships, you name it. I doubt cavemen ever faced these issues.

Perhaps there is a simpler way of going about things. What if we allowed space in our lives for more common sense? I think we'd enjoy better productivity, less stress, and better relationships. You don't have to be a genius to figure that out, or to apply it in your own life.

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