When I was once down and out in my career, a friend of mine, Malcolm Rosenberg, tried to lend me $5,000 to help me avoid losing my house. 

At first, I refused to take it because I could not at that point imagine how I would ever pay it back.

After several tries over several days, he said, “Take it, pay me back if you can.  I am betting on you”. 

Such a deal I could not refuse and because of his compassion and belief in me, I kept my house and survived long enough to catch the next big break.

I said what you may have said at some point in your life, “I owe you” and Malcolm’s response sticks with me even to this day.

He said, “You owe everybody and everybody owes you – that’s the way to think about it because you don’t need a good memory to do the right thing”.

We seem to have no difficulty investing in IRAs and securities, but it is just as satisfying to invest in other people.

No cash, no problem. 

Offer a service, an accommodation.

And always, constant reinforcement in terms of support.

Adopting the attitude that people owe each other even if it is not money transforms the way we think and act.

Subscribe   • Read Jerry’s book • More stories  • Talk to Jerry

The big question interviewers always seem to ask in one way or another, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?”

It is sometimes meant to be a trick question, but you should hope that they ask it.

The answer?

No one knows what will happen in five years.  I do hope to advance and achieve many goals along the way, but just as importantly, I want to make a difference today.

You’ve heard of living in the now.  This is working in the now.

Employers appreciate people who are honest and direct.  They like humility.  But they crave people who want to be of help immediately.

I can’t honestly recall being able to predict where I am today 5 years ago.  Too much changes – maybe even more today than ever before.

One thing never changes.

The desire to contribute from day one using the skills that you bring to the table now. 

This approach has worked for many of my USC students looking for their first post-graduate job and I wanted to share it with you for yourself, a friend or a family member.

Subscribe   • Read Jerry’s book • More stories  • Talk to Jerry

Why do we let others get into our heads to hurt us?

Yet it happens all the time.  Sometimes we know it’s going to happen and we still let other people drag us down.

A friend wrote to me a few months back and confessed, “I am a failure”.  How could he be so wrong?  Why allow this type of hurtful self-talk.

1. Even when we fail, we actually succeed IF we do not quit.
2. Never let anyone record a negative message in your brain.  Put it on hold immediately and banish the thought from your mind.
3. Consider compliments as validation of the good things you already think about yourself or else compliments can sometimes lead to co-dependence (when we crave what others say but need them to say it to actually believe it).
4. I have known more than one cancer patient who wouldn’t allow themselves the luxury of discouragement.  If they can avoid it, so can I.
5. The best advice I ever heard about dealing with discouragement is:  go to bed and sleep it off.  Wake up tomorrow ready to begin again.

“Defeat should never be a source of discouragement but rather a fresh stimulus” – Robert South

Subscribe   • Read Jerry’s book • More stories  • Talk to Jerry

If you’re great on the phone, why choose email?

If you’re great writing, why use the phone?

If you’re great with people and skilled in human relations, why sit back and let others lead?

We often choose the wrong tools to achieve success.

Can you identify your number one personal trait – the thing that you do better than most others?  (If not, now is the time to think this through).

I had the joy and horror to watch the great basketball player and now TV commentator Charles Barkley hit golf balls at the driving range.

It was ugly.

This big man – talented in basketball and sportscasting – trying to hit a golf ball with the same skill.  Golf was laughable but fine for his part-time passion, but you’ll notice he didn’t quit his day job.

The road to success is shorter and quicker when we play to our strengths.

“Play to your strengths.”



“I haven’t got any,” said Harry, before he could stop himself. 



“Excuse me,” growled Moody; “you’ve got strengths if I say you’ve got them. Think now. What are you best at?” – J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Subscribe   • Read Jerry’s book • More stories  • Talk to Jerry

I read a piece in The New York Times last week that said if you’re over 50 in the present economy, you may have had your last real job.

Add to that Millennials – 80 million coming of age right now – many of whom have graduated from college to find no jobs and big college loans to repay.

The young folks who find jobs often don’t get benefits like health insurance as part of their employment agreement.  Many are kept to part-time status to eliminate the need to pay their benefits but are expected to remain available 40 hours per week.  How unfair is that?  

And those in the middle know all too well that their positions and careers can be outsourced, “right-sized” or plain eliminated for corporate profit without notice.

How does one live and work in a world of uncertainty?

1. Cooperate with the inevitable.  There is nothing you can personally do to change the way things are, but focus on the ways you can change yourself to maximize that world.
2. Develop skills to work as a “resource” not an employee.  There are fewer benefits to being a full-time employee in today’s economy.  Acquire the necessary skills for the marketplace and offer them to employers with you determining the number of hours of your availability.
3. Spend at least 15% of each week acquiring new skills and making new contacts.  In the previous economy, most workers didn’t get serious about networking for the future until they were out of work.  That will no longer do.
4. No pity parties.  People get rich even in bad economies.  Waste no more time or emotional energy on the bad state of the world economy and dedicate yourself to becoming a new breed of worker – at will, at the ready and loaded with new skills.

Morley Winograd, co-author of several books on Millennials warn, “don’t count Millennials out”.

The way to deal with uncertain employment prospects is to embrace the opportunity to become even more desirable by accepting a new approach to employment.

It was only a few generations ago – perhaps even in your family – when a person would work for only a handful of companies in their lifetime.

And Baby Boomers adapted to a new, faster workplace where they were constantly on the move from one job to the other albeit it in full-time jobs.

Now, the world has changed again and we must be ready to accept and adapt in order to succeed.

“The best career advice given to the young is: Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it” – Katherine Whitehorn

Subscribe   •  Read Jerry’s book •  More stories  •  Talk to Jerry

Fear dogs us constantly – some people more than others. 

But there is an antidote for fear.

It is trust.

Trust in ourselves.

Trust in a trustworthy friend or family member.

If we’re religious, trust in God or a higher power.

Fear is useless but trust is a great healer.  When we retrain our brain to make trust kick in when fear creeps into our lives, fear has met its match.

The fear of failure, loss, unemployment, rejection, speaking before groups of people, and yes, intimacy — the greatest fear of our generation. 

Hit these fears head on by finding someone to trust.

No ideas?

Start with yourself.

“Fear is useless, what is necessary is trust” – Jesus Christ

Subscribe   • Read Jerry’s book • More stories  • Talk to Jerry

Every August, I retreat to the beaches of New Jersey to vacation and this year will be no exception.

I remember Richard Branson saying “If you are fortunate enough to get a holiday, try not to spend it looking at your smartphone every five minutes. Instead, put business at the back of your mind – but not out of your head. I have been on many holidays where I have heard an exciting idea that has turned into a Virgin business. Keep your eyes peeled for a creative idea”.

In other words, relax, but don’t take the summer off from great ideas.

I will bring a list of things I want to think about in my summer office (the ocean) and will decide which of them I want to commit to doing next year.

The summer is free agency – when you commit to how you want to live the next 12 months – not unlike the way an athlete commits to playing a sport for the year ahead.

I have invented businesses, changed my life’s focus, made personal changes and initiated new challenges all from doing one simple thing – relaxing and keeping my brain on.

If you’re interested in trying this, find your “Jersey shore” and proceed as follows:

1. Before Labor Day is Off-Season.  You’re a free agent.  This is where you say “I want to do this for a living next year” or “I want to do this with a special person for the next 12 months”, etc.
2. After Labor Day is Pre-Season Training Camp.  This is where you start to get the skill sets you need for your next adventure.  Before I started my paid media website, I had to learn how to do a paid website and this started in “pre-season”.
3. Your regular season begins after a six-week Pre-Season during which you work to carrying out the plans you’ve made.
4. Then save time for your Playoffs – when you get to perform at the highest level possible to achieve your goals.

“Use the space and time to reflect on the year so far and plan how to improve in the coming months” – Richard Branson

Subscribe   • Read Jerry’s book • More stories  • Talk to Jerry

“To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing”.

That was said by the successful and innovative coach of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team also known as The Broad Street Bullies.

When I first heard Shero’s wisdom, I knew it was worthy of residing on my smartphone, a refrigerator sticky and on my desk.

Say nothing and become the unwitting victim of everyone else’s opinion or point of view.

Do nothing and watch life from the sidelines.

When our voices remain silent and our actions still, we are nothing.

I’m thinking of a quote in my book about Ted Williams, one of the most prolific hitters in baseball.  Williams hit .406 one year, very few in the history of baseball have ended a complete season with a batting average over .400.

Which means – he failed 6 out of 10 times.  One of the greatest ever, only succeeded 40% of the time.  And in baseball today, if a player “succeeds” 25% of the time, they are called a multimillionaire.

So I’ve concluded it is not the fear of criticism that paralyzes us, it’s the fear of not batting 1.000.

“The only average that counts is batting 1.000 at trying”

Subscribe   • Read Jerry’s book • More stories  • Talk to Jerry

I once heard a family counselor say that sometimes non-family members feel more like family than blood relatives.

He also said every family is dysfunctional – some more than others – so get over it.

For those of us who have witnessed the heartbreak of alcohol or drug addiction and other conditions that lead to heartbroken families, there is no ruder awakening than the realization that no one’s family is perfect.

Here are some secrets to a happier family:

1. Forgive, but don’t necessarily forget.

2. Maintain healthy boundaries or risk losing your soul.

3. Communicate – share stories.

4. Eat a meal together – digital devices off (and that means you, too, mom and dad)

5. Build rituals – pizza nights, movies, sporting events, etc.

6. Communicate directly and openly without shouting

It doesn’t take perfection or total agreement to improve family life.

I met a couple who had two wayward teenagers that almost led them to the brink of divorce.  So they rented a Winnebago, set out on a three week summer tour of the nation’s national parks and expected all hell to break loose in that confined space.

But instead, their relationships improved as they did the one thing they were not able to do in their workaday world – focus on each other.

“I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life” – Maya Angelou

Subscribe   • Read Jerry’s book • More stories  • Talk to Jerry

Often sports is more powerful than who won or who lost.

It teaches us life lessons when we observe how athletes face adversity.

Just five short weeks ago, golfer Phil Mickelson failed in a heartbreaking one-stroke loss to Justin Rose at Merion on no less than Father’s Day.  Just prior to the tournament, the father Phil Mickelson flew across the country to be at his daughter’s 8^th grade graduation.  He played bleary-eyed by the time he jetted back to play golf.

Fast forward to last weekend when Mickelson tees off at the British Open, an event in which he barely contends each year and comes back from a 5 stroke disadvantage to win it all.

Sean Gregory of Time Sports suggested why Michelson is such a fan favorite:  “He’ll pull out a driver when he doesn’t need it, like he did at the 72nd hole during his infamous 2006 U.S. Open collapse at Winged Foot, and cost himself the title. Then he’ll leave the driver out of his bag at Merion, when he absolutely needed it on the 72nd hole, to have any shot of forcing a playoff against Rose”.

In one way, Mickelson is very predictable.

Mickelson’s wife, Amy, is a breast cancer survivor.  In his heart of hearts he knows too well that golf is just another game when compared to the game of life. 

Overcoming adversity is predictable once we believe it.

Subscribe   • Read Jerry’s book • More stories  • Talk to Jerry