My best childhood friend, Stacy, lost her dad to a brain tumor about 17 years ago. He was young. She and her brothers and sisters were devastated. It completely altered their reality, and they struggled for many years to recover.

Last week they said goodbye to the final piece of their father. They sold his weekend mountain retreat in Pinetop, Arizona. The place held a million memories for Stacy and her siblings and they only very reluctantly agreed to pass it on to someone else. It was sitting vacant week after week and year after year. And as much as it hurt to let it go, everyone knew it was the right thing to do.

So they got a realtor from the area, Bev Best, and she facilitated the sale. It wasn’t a big commission for Bev. It was just a tiny condo.

But it was a big win for Bev. Because she did something that every great brand knows how to do:

She made her client say, “I can’t believe she just did that.” And then she got her client to speak about her as though she was a legend.

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Last Friday my dog groomer, Danielle, didn’t show up.

Danielle is a peach. Diego and I are both crazy about her, and we have a standing appointment every other Friday. So when she didn’t show, I wasn’t aggravated. I was concerned. She’s never done anything like that before. And I thought maybe something had happened to her.

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Have you ever been so afraid to do something that you’d do anything else just to avoid doing that thing?

Like being so afraid to write your keynote speech that you organized your silverware drawer?

Or so afraid to have the conversation with your best friend about how your feelings were hurt, that you washed all the linens in the house?

Or so afraid to go for that promotion at work, that you decided to start training for a marathon?

I’ve been there SO MANY times.

But a couple of years ago, I realized that some fears are buried so deeply, and their black magic has worked its way into our lives so seamlessly, that we can’t even see them. Sometimes someone else has to point them out to us.

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Authenticity has become an overused buzzword. No one uses “authenticity” authentically any more. And this weekend, there was a lively debate in the media about its true meaning – and more importantly – about its benefits and potential dangers related to success.

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We have a 104-pound Golden Retriever.

We used to tell ourselves he was big-boned, but we’ve come to face the facts. He’s just fat. He has more junk in his trunk than a traveling encyclopedia salesman. (If you’re under 45 you might not get that… So suffice it to say, Diego’s ass is enormous.)

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Lately, I’ve been doing a ton of things for the first time. And after a 28-year career of successfully doing the same things, a LOT of times, being a stone-cold beginner is a mind-boggling, humbling, ego-shattering experience.

Last night I was summarily schooled in the art of beginning… by my teenage son.

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