There are probably many people in your life who believe in your ability to succeed. Mom or dad or the significant other. But those individuals’ own lives consume the bulk of their time. They are too busy…

Hate making mistakes? Me too. But unless you never attempt anything hard, making mistakes comes with living a full life. I've made a lot of them, but I'm lucky to have a daily reminder of the importance of being free to make those mistakes. It comes from…

Procrastination sucks. If one thing in life has slowed me down more than any other, it’s procrastination. It’s not as much an issue for activities I feel I must do, like earning a living or making an effort to stay healthy. But for those ambitious stretch goals I think will make…

How do you feel when you walk outside to a bright blue sky? Does it feel good? It does to me.

What if the day is dark, with rainclouds hanging low? Different feeling, right? I like it sometimes if…

If there is one activity that has vastly improved my life in multiple ways, it’s journaling. I’ve mentioned this to numerous people who’ve asked me for…

Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.

My friend’s dad used to say that often. It sounds old-fashioned in this day and age. Most people used to…

When I started training for my pilot license, I was amazed at how I felt after a flight ended. If I ever lifted off from...

I’m a sucker for a distraction. Too often I’ll walk into my home office with a specific purpose in mind only to...

“Stop staring at the instrument panel,” my flight instructor said, finger pointing to the blue stretch of sky beyond the windshield. “Everything that makes flying worth it is...

Failure can be a scary thing. Most of us sense it lurking at the edge of...

In my last post, I promised ideas to help you flow with life versus forcing it. If you’ve been trying to force life to...

I’ve penned Lessons from the Cockpit for over four years and in all those posts I don’t believe I’ve written one as important as this. If I’ve cultivated any major life philosophy over the years, this is it…

Conventional wisdom says aquarium fish only grow as large as the tank will support. I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m willing to bet it’s…

A great actor can transform a bit part into something amazing and memorable. That is why the acting great Stanislavsky said, “There are no small roles, only small actors.” The quote stood out for me in a passage when I recently read…

As I neared my speaking venue, I suddenly regretted not making time to wash my car. The thin film of dust on the vehicle’s black hood looked even worse through my…

Whenever I lift my eyes toward the sky, my mood improves. I noticed this a long time ago and always assumed my fondness of the sky triggered it, my inner kid spellbound by…

I have a secret to share: I’ve been leading a double life. For many readers of this blog, I’m Christopher Laney, writer. But there’s another side to me…

This week I have a guest post on EXTRAordinary! Inc., the website of an excellent friend, Rich Schlentz. I first met Rich after he hired my wife as a wellness coordinator for one of the...

I'm pleased to announce my guest post on Katherine Jenkin's blog, "Lessons from the Monk I Married." Katherine spent every single day of 2010 blogging about 365 lessons she had learned or…

Fitness has been part of my life for a long time. I’ve worked out enough to have a little insight into building muscle. One absolute truth is, muscle doesn’t grow unless you…