Dr. Earl R. Smith II

By Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com

Today, many of us we feeling that our lives are horribly out of balance. We are aware that our work-life balance is out of sync but we do not always recognize what we can do about it. It is important to reset the balance, otherwise pressure will build and we can become stressed and then other problems will subsequently develop in our personal lives. Read the rest of this entry »

By Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com

Many of my coaching engagements are with CEO’s who are dedicated to improving their abilities and growing into their ever changing and expanding roles. One of the areas which we tend to focus on is the decision-making process. Interestingly, it is actually the pre-decision part which gives most of them problems. I regularly encounter clients who spend a great deal of time and energy dreading the meeting or situation in which they will have to make and implement an important decision. Then there are clients who, under the pressure to make such a decision, race right to making it in order to relieve the tension. Both end up with unanticipated first and second order effects from their actions. Read the rest of this entry »

By Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com

It is a typical conversation which generally comes more than once during the initial months of most of my coaching engagements. The client - generally younger and less experienced than I am - will insist that something is beyond their capability. I will insist that it isn’t. And so I urge them to attempt - and they demure. Read the rest of this entry »

By Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com

If I am faced with the option of coaching someone who is too cautious or someone who is too rash, I inevitably choose the former. There are a number of reasons for this but the most important is that progress always comes faster when working with a client who is learning to gradually put more pressure on the accelerator. I know what the ‘common wisdom’ is when it comes to entrepreneurs - that they love risk and are relatively immune to it - but I have found that to me only true for ‘wannabee’ entrepreneurs. The successful ones are risk averse and incredibly good risk calculators. Read the rest of this entry »

By Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com

I always take a few minutes at the end of each day to journal. I have found this time is always well spent. First I re-read the entries from the prior week or so - it helps keep things in perspective - to connect with what some Native Americans call the ‘long view’. Then I turn my attention to the day. I think about each thing that I did - the people I met - experiences I had - things that I learned - and how it felt to live through the day.

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By Dr. Earl R. Smith II

According to many modernist social theorists, questions of identity center on an ‘authentic knowledge’ of the ‘self’ and of the shelves of others. It was generally accepted that there was a unique core within each person which formed the very foundation of who they ‘were’. According to these theories, most of that foundation was laid down during the early or ‘formative’ years. Those early ossifications constituted the fountainhead from which the mature individual arose.

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Dr. Earl R. Smith II

In recent years an increasing part of my practice has been working with individuals who have found that their approach to establishing and deepening personal and business relationships has suffered to the point that their career potential and enjoyment of life is being limited by the lack of an extended network of reliable and productive relationships.

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By Dr. Earl R. Smith II

Curiosity is an amazing trait. In fact, I admit to being intensely curious about curiosity. But then those of you who have read much of my writings will know that I am curious about almost everything. I have been known to go on extended campaigns - questioning everybody who will sit still for it about something or other that vexed me or simply drew my attention.

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By Dr. Earl R. Smith II

I was discussing business relationships over drinks and cigars with a couple of long time friends and associates last evening. The discussion turned to the question of ‘what makes for a good business contact?’ In a relatively short time we agreed on three characteristics that were the ‘first screen’.
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By Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com

There is a lot of writing being done on something called the ‘Upward Path’ or the ‘Path’.
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