Parker Houston

Allow Obstacles to Transform You

by Parker Houston | Nov 2, 2023 | The Science of Mindset

People with a strong mindset handle obstacles in a very different way than other people. And how they handle obstacles depends mostly on how they think about obstacles. They...

Lead YOU First

by Parker Houston | Oct 26, 2023 | Personal Leadership

My friend Trey asks great questions. Shortly after starting my blog, he asked, “So why did you call it lead you first?” That inquiry inspired this post. What does it mean to...

Be More Partner, Less Boss

by Parker Houston | Oct 19, 2023 | Boost Your Organizational Health, Personal Leadership, Top Teams Made Simple

The Big Idea: A recent survey suggests that you can give your employees a happiness boost equivalent to doubling their household income. How? By behaving more like a partner...

Your Habits–Over Time–Will Make or Break You

by Parker Houston | Oct 12, 2023 | Personal Leadership

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” –Aristotle It would be impossible to talk about personal leadership without talking about...

Disentangle Yourself From Device Addiction

by Parker Houston | Oct 5, 2023 | Productivity Best Practices, Self Leadership

“I fear the day that technology will surpass human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.” -Albert Einstien If the photo above looks anything...

Great Leadership Always Includes Gratitude

by Parker Houston | Sep 28, 2023 | Self Leadership, The Science of Gratitude

Here is today’s BIG IDEA—The research is very clear that gratitude changes your brain chemistry and wiring, your leadership results, your physical health, and the health of...

Embrace Experimentation and Fail Forward

by Parker Houston | Sep 21, 2023 | How People Change

“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.” -Thomas Watson, CEO IBM Today’s BIG IDEA:...

The Top 5 Regrets People Have at the End of Life

by Parker Houston | Sep 14, 2023 | The Science of Happiness

“Regrets are illuminations come too late.” –Joseph Campbell The BIG IDEA: What if you could know what most people regret at the end of life and use that information to...

Can Leaders Have More Impact on Employee Mental Health Than Therapists or Doctors?

by Parker Houston | Sep 7, 2023 | Boost Your Organizational Health

Many years ago, I had a terrible work experience I will never forget. I was halfway through my doctoral program, working on my dissertation, trying to pay the bills, living...

Mudita: The Antidote To Envy

by Parker Houston | Aug 31, 2023 | Personal Leadership

“It is in the character of very few, to honor without envy, a friend who has prospered.” –Aeschylus There is a famous story about the Buddha which teaches an essential life...

Your Brain is Fooling You Every Day, Without Your Awareness—Here is What to Do About it

by Parker Houston | Aug 24, 2023 | Personal Leadership, The Science of Mindset

The Big Idea: The phenomenon of Cognitive Bias has been studied for more than 50 years. Despite decades of research, most leaders are not aware of how these errors in...

5 Essential Leadership Principles for Parenting

by Parker Houston | Aug 17, 2023 | Family Leadership

Today’s BIG IDEA— “Your greatest contribution to the world as a leader may not be something you do, it might be someone you raise.” –Andy Stanley When my first daughter was...

Time Blocking—Join the Top 5% of the World’s Most Productive People

by Parker Houston | Aug 10, 2023 | Productivity Best Practices

“If something is going to get done, it must occupy a physical space in your calendar.” —Stephen Covey Now this sounds really simple—but how...

Fly or Die? The Counterintuitive Truth About Power

by Parker Houston | Aug 3, 2023 | Personal Leadership

Herds of buffalo are extremely loyal followers of one leader. They do what the leader does, they go where the leader goes. If the leader isn’t there, they stand around not...

Enantiodromia: When Extremes Become Their Opposite

by Parker Houston | Jul 27, 2023 | Personal Leadership

“Old Heraclitus, who was indeed a very great sage, discovered the most marvelous of all psychological laws: the regulative function of opposites. He called it...

Self-Compassion Is Not Fluff. Research Shows It’s Inseparable from a Champion’s Mindset.

by Parker Houston | Jul 20, 2023 | The Science of Mindset

“Having compassion starts and ends with having compassion on all of those unwanted parts of ourselves.” –Pema Chodron The Big Idea –One thing is certain—leaders cannot...

Never Train It, Never Get It

by Parker Houston | Jul 13, 2023 | Optimal Performance, The Science of Mindset

I was recently mountain biking with several friends when my friend Kelly said something profound. One of my friends was asking him how he is able to remain standing (as...

In an Over-Committed Culture, Margin Is Your Secret Weapon

by Parker Houston | Jul 6, 2023 | Self Leadership

Today’s BIG IDEA—“Overload is the disease of our time. Margin is the cure.” –Richard Swenson, M.D. Probably my favorite thing in the world to do is backpacking. For me,...

Successful Failures

by Parker Houston | Jun 29, 2023 | Personal Leadership, The Science of Mindset

“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, double your rate of failure.” –Thomas Watson (CEO of IBM) I don’t know about you, but I personally...

Post-Traumatic Growth—8 Practices for Navigating Crisis with Positive Transformation

by Parker Houston | Jun 22, 2023 | The Science of Mindset

Most of you have probably heard of PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, but you may not have heard of Post-Traumatic Growth. Many people who experience a traumatic event...

Unjack Yourself—Eliminate Chronic Busyness To Improve Your Health, Your Relationships, and Your Thinking

by Parker Houston | Jun 15, 2023 | Mind and Body, Optimal Performance

“Who can make muddy waters clear? Let it be only still, and it will gradually clear itself.” –Lao Tzu, The Tao Te Ching Lao Tzu penned these words more than 2500 years ago,...

The Single Most Important Word For Productivity

by Parker Houston | Jun 8, 2023 | Productivity Best Practices

“It is the super-achievers, and only the super-achievers, who have learned to say No.” –Peter Drucker The word “NO” might be the most important word when it comes to...

Consider All Time and Space

by Parker Houston | Jun 1, 2023 | Personal Leadership

*Hubble Nasa Image of Andromeda Galaxy There is a wonderful story about President Teddy Roosevelt that teaches an essential life perspective. William Beebe, the naturalist,...

Leaders Need To Ask Their Teams These 12 Questions

by Parker Houston | May 25, 2023 | Top Teams Made Simple

Today’s Big Idea— What do the most talented employees need from their workplace? If you knew the answer to this question, you could attract the most talented players...

Leaders Must Be Willing To Have Difficult Conversations

by Parker Houston | May 18, 2023 | Top Teams Made Simple

There is nothing more important to creating a strong team than hiring the right people. But unless you start a team from scratch, building a strong team will usually involve...