Parker Houston

What Are You Resisting?

by Parker Houston | Apr 11, 2024 | Personal Leadership

Until he was 29 years old, Eckhart lived in a near-permanent state of severe anxiety and suicidal depression. He was miserable, living in a constant state of internal...

The Five Science-Based Practices of the Thriving Organization

by Parker Houston | Feb 29, 2024 | Boost Your Organizational Health

If you have been in the workplace for a while, chances are good that you’ve had a job you didn’t love. The research we discuss today will help you understand what was...

Perfectionism—The Number One Joy Killer

by Parker Houston | Jan 11, 2024 | The Science of Happiness

In a prior post, I summarized the main findings from the 75-year study at Harvard on happiness. While reading the study, one sentence absolutely jumped off the page at...

Not the Days in Your Life, But the Life in Your Days

by Parker Houston | Dec 14, 2023 | Family Leadership, Personal Leadership

Last month my wife lost one of her closest friends. They met in fourth grade and had been friends for more than 30 years. Casey Lynn Wakefield lost her battle with cancer at...

Whatever You Do, Stop Multitasking!

by Parker Houston | Dec 7, 2023 | Productivity Best Practices

“If you chase two rabbits, you won’t catch either one.” —Russian Proverb The BIG IDEA—Once you have recognized the importance of carefully investing your...

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...

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:...

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...

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...

Deliberate Practice—Becoming a Master of Your Craft

by Parker Houston | Apr 27, 2023 | Optimal Performance, The Science of Mindset

“Practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes permanent.” –Author Unknown This post originally appeared in the Optimal Performance Series, but is also vital for a strong Mindset....

Great Leaders Put People in Their Strength Zones

by Parker Houston | Apr 13, 2023 | Top Teams Made Simple

Leadership expert John Maxwell tells an illuminating story about his high school basketball team. One typical afternoon, Maxwell showed up to basketball practice. The coach...

Confront Your Weaknesses: A Sobering Tale and Ideas For Action

by Parker Houston | Apr 6, 2023 | Personal Leadership

Years ago, I heard John Maxwell says something I’ve never forgotten. To paraphrase—A great leadership legacy can take decades to build, but can be lost in an instant. An...

10 Tips for Leading Remote Teams

by Parker Houston | Mar 9, 2023 | Top Teams Made Simple

The modern leader must know how the to lead remote teams. As of 2022, 2 out of 10 people work at a job that is entirely on site, and 8 out of 10 people work in a job that is...

Money is an Essential Personal Leadership Skill

by Parker Houston | Jan 19, 2023 | Family Leadership, Personal Leadership

“You either learn to manage money, or the lack of that skill will manage you for the rest of your life.” –Dave Ramsey With the current housing market, inflation, and...

Year Behind, Year Ahead

by Parker Houston | Dec 29, 2022 | Self Leadership

Today’s Big Idea—“Some people live 80 years, most people live one year 80 times.” –Zig Ziglar For the last several years, I have established a few practices that help me...

Mentors Help You Climb Higher and Go Faster

by Parker Houston | Dec 8, 2022 | Optimal Performance, Personal Leadership

“The first law of leadership is that people do what people see.” –John Maxwell The older I get, the more I realize how simple human behavior can be. To a huge extent—people...

The Neuroscience of Affirmations, and Why You Need to Start Doing Them

by Parker Houston | Nov 10, 2022 | The Science of Mindset

First thing, a huge thank you to all our veterans today! “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” –Wayne Dyer In the very first...

How I Healed From 10 Years of Severe Chronic Pain

by Parker Houston | Oct 27, 2022 | Mind and Body

Photo is me after the grueling hike up Mount Tallc on March 17th, 2021 *This article does not constitute medical or psychological advice in any way, and is not a substitute...

Become a Dream Igniter

by Parker Houston | Oct 6, 2022 | How People Change

As a leader, you need to understand how people change for 2 primary reasons: First—You must continue to grow yourself in order to lead. If others outpace you in growth, you...

Master Your Inner Saboteurs

by Parker Houston | Sep 22, 2022 | How People Change, The Science of Mindset

In working with my own coach, today’s topic has helped me personally more than almost any other mechanism—exposing the inner saboteur. Furthermore, the people I have coached...

Lessons in Happiness from 75 Years of Harvard Research

by Parker Houston | Jul 7, 2022 | The Science of Happiness

“I wish everyone could experience being rich and famous, so they could know it wasn’t the answer to anything.” –Jim Carey In the last 100 years, science has come a very long...

Using the Science of Decision Fatigue to Improve Your Leadership Decisions

by Parker Houston | Jun 30, 2022 | Self Leadership

It used to be that my wife would save her most complex and difficult questions for me until after 8pm when our kids are in bed and we finally have 2 minutes to talk. As an...