With all apologies to Esquire magazine for blatantly ripping off their idea, here are just a few of the hard earned lessons I’ve learned over the last 20 years; one for every year.

1. While there are definitely differences in the cultures of our world and even inside our own country, I am always reassured by how much we all have in common. It gives me a profound sense of hope.
2. Somewhere along the way, we became fixated on our differences rather than our similarities. I think that is a problem.
3. Leadership may be the hardest quality to develop in a person.
4. Successfully educating audiences requires two things that are of equal importance: having worthwhile information and delivering it in a way that connects with the crowd.  Zig Ziglar (or maybe it was Teddy Roosevelt, no one knows for sure) nailed it when he said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
5. My tolerance for noob travelers has an inverted correlation to the calendar months. Each January I begin my travels with the patience of Job.  By October, whilst glaring at the passenger who blocks the aisle taking inventory of every item in the roll behind stored in the overhead compartment as 250 passengers wait on the jet way to board, I fantasize about cruel torture techniques.  Yes, I have some things to work on.
6. Ignorance is indeed bliss. I have delivered over 100 events a year for 20 years and through two significant economic downturns:  the tech crash in 2000 and the great recession of 2008.  About three years ago, I learned that most speakers do about 50 events a year tops.  I have felt exhausted ever since.
7. Shirley MacLaine is right. I have been happy and had money.  I have been unhappy and had money.  I have been happy and had no money and I have been unhappy and had no money.  Money does not make you happy.  Having said that, if I am going to be unhappy, I prefer to have money.
8. Make a list of what needs to be done today. Get that done first.  Then go have fun.  But be sure to do both every day.
9. Most people stop growing cognitively. They become comfortable with their own delusion of the world and have no desire to engage in metacognition: to look inside their own mind to discover and challenge the thought processes that may be toxic to their own happiness and contentment.  If you have a friend, loved one, or co-worker who lacks the capacity to engage in metacognition, love them for what they are rather than trying to push them to improve.  You will enjoy each other more.
10. The ability to engage in healthy metacognition is on the shortlist of the most important qualities of a human being.
11. Most of life’s problems can be solved during a five-mile hike with a dog.
12. It is really inconvenient to go on a five-mile hike with a dog at 3 AM; which, unfortunately, is when you are most likely to be troubled by life’s problems.
13. The fear of public speaking is one of the most common fears of people. Folks, if you can just push through that I can assure you that the gratification of inspiring and educating an audience – the rush of being the medium to positively affect the life of even one person – so far surpasses the fear that you will crave the opportunities as if they were a drug.  I know I do.
14. After 20 years, more than 2,000 events in front of over 300,000 people, I still get nervous before each presentation. When I am no longer nervous, I will stop.  The nerves are the evidence of passion.
15. Talk less, listen more.   Well, unless I am being paid to speak.
16. Most people are either good at selling or good at delivering what is sold. If you can become good at both, you will be special.  Heaven help you if you are good at neither.
17. You will always feel better after you have exercised. Remember that when you are conjuring up excuses not to.
18. It is the fourth drink that is the troublemaker. Partake of that one at your own peril.
19. The most interesting people are often the ones who seek the least amount of attention.
20. Life doesn’t care. Life just is.  We give life meaning, but life owes us nothing.  A person needs a reason to live.  It is not enough to simply exist; you must have a crusade on behalf of which you are willing to fight life.  I have three.  That is my greatest blessing.