About Michael Hyatt

Whenever I feel overwhelmed or uncertain about the future, I follow the advice I was given by an older, wiser colleague. It is surprisingly simple but enormously effective.

A few years ago, Gail, my daughter Marissa, and I spent three weeks in Italy. It was our first visit. I had high expectations, but I still wasn’t prepared for the warmth of the people or the richness and variety of wine and food. I felt like every day was a new and even better […]

I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts when the host  confessed he hadn’t taken a vacation in over a year. Admitting that he was on the edge of burnout, he said, “This has to change.” I immediately thought, Why hasn’t it changed before now? How do you let yourself get into this kind […]

Recently, I decided to grow a beard. I had one for a few weeks in my early 30s, but shaved it because it was too prickly and uneven. I decided to give it another go while on vacation a month ago. Just for the fun of it, I posted a selfie on Instagram and asked […]

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits,  recently tweeted, “Most people need consistency more than they need intensity.” In my experience, especially as a business coach, that’s true. Last year, for example, one of my clients experienced a significant revenue shortfall. It had a dramatic, negative impact on his cash flow and almost destroyed his business. […]

Last year, my business revenue grew 62 percent. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it presents a whole new set of problems—problems I didn’t face last year. This is where many entrepreneurs and business leaders get stuck. Let me explain. The key to rapid growth is innovation. You develop a new product […]

Over the years, I have noticed that there are two kinds of thinking. One kind leads to success, joy, and fulfillment. The other leads to failure, fear, and discontent. Which type are you?

Charisma may be useful in attracting a following, but it is largely useless when it comes to achieving a long-term, positive impact on the people and organizations we lead. For this, we need character. In helping people build their platforms, I frequently meet people whose public image is better developed than their personal character. They […]

She said, “no,” and then I shared them with her. [smartads] I have always taken these for granted, but realized this was a brand new thought for Gail. … As a leader, whenever you delegate a task, you need to make it clear what level of authority you are conferring: Level 1: Do exactly what I have asked you to do.

General McClellan had significant character flaws that I believe serve as a warning signs to anyone in leadership. Ultimately, these cost him dearly: He lost Lincoln’s confidence, his job, and a run for the White House (against Lincoln). Worse, they prolonged the Civil War and cost the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

What are the baseline qualities you look for in anyone you add to your team. I suggest that the ideal candidate has four.

Being still is tremendously difficult in our world. Noise crowds into every empty space, leaving us spiritually, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. Here’s how to reclaim some interior margin.

Writing your goals down is one of the most important actions you can take to obtain the life you want. Sadly, most people don’t do it. Here are five why reasons you should.

Leadership is more than influence. It certainly includes influence, but it is more. I believe it includes at least five characteristics. I call these the five marks of authentic leadership.

As a leader, how do you become a better leader? If you’re like me, you probably read a lot of books, listen to podcasts, and attend a few conferences. But one of the best ways to grow is to ask other leaders questions.

I first heard about Slack, a new software app for internal communication, in early 2014. At the time, our team was growing, and we were struggling to keep everyone aligned. We were using email for all our internal communication, and it was proving insufficient to keep everyone on the same page. Specifically, we didn’t have […]

When Bryan Stockton was pushed out as CEO of toymaker Mattel, he fingered a complacent company culture for dipping profits. In fact, he went one step further and blamed the lack of innovation on bad meetings. Stockton’s story has been on my mind because I’m releasing a new book today called No Fail Meetings. Meetings […]

Most leaders would like to change their corporate culture, but they don’t know how. In this post, I outline six steps.

I started journaling a little over a year ago. It has become a regular part of my morning ritual. It has helped me clarify my thinking, process my feelings, and make better decisions.

However, like most people, I struggled with consistency. I wanted to journal. I was convinced of the benefits. But I found myself blowing it off with increasing frequency.

Sound familiar?

Several months ago I stumbled onto something that solved the problem. Not one hundred percent of the time, but most of the time.

Honestly, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. It seemed too simple.

But I shared it with my wife, Gail, who was struggling with consistency herself. After successfully using it for a few weeks, she said, “Honey, you have got to blog about this.”

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I spend most of my work-life in meetings. Note-taking is a survival skill. Yet, I am surprised at how few people bother to take notes in meetings. Those who do sometimes express frustration at how ineffective the exercise seems to be. In this post, I’d like to expound on why I think you should take notes in meetings and then offer a few suggestions on how to do it better.

Time management is about scarcity, because time is fixed. You only have 24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week, 8,760 hours in a year (tack on an extra 24 for leap years). Until someone invents a time-stretching machine, that’s all we’ve got. The thing that you can actually manage is your energy. […]

I hear this all the time: “My husband or wife doesn’t understand me. We are so different. We don’t really have anything in common. How can we make this work when we don’t see eye-to-eye?” In the midst of conflict, it’s easy for us to forget the real reason that opposites attract–because it’s good for […]

If you are late to the game in making your New Year’s resolutions, I have an idea for you: Don’t do it. New Year’s resolutions may be as old as the Babylonian empire, but that doesn’t mean they are very effective. Millions of Americans make New Year’s resolutions every year, but research says most of […]

Why is it so hard to hail a taxi in New York City when it’s raining? That’s when you most want a cab. It’s when available drivers can rack up fare after fare without little time wasted waiting for new business. Yet it’s also the time when cabs are the most scarce. The problem is […]