The Twenty Percenter
Weekly advice for top business professionals.
Pull the Right Lever (3 Min Read) | Vol. 224 October 9, 2026 “One of history’s few iron laws is that luxuries tend to become necessities and to spawn new obligations.” – Yuval Noah Harari Pull the Right Lever In the past two weeks, I’ve had the same conversation three times. A business owner tells …
Look Over the Wall (2 Min Read) | Vol. 223 PSA: Our final ONE Thing Goal Setting Retreat & Summit is November 13–14. It’s virtual, so anyone can join us for one last run at planning a great year. Save your spot here. October 2, 2026 “A very wise person once told me, ‘When it …
25 First Downs (2 Min Read) | Vol. 222 PSA: If you missed my announcement about changes to The ONE Thing, click here. September 25, 2026 “The score takes care of itself.” – Bill Walsh 25 First DownsQ4 starts next week. And, huzzah, it’s also football season. Which means I get to tell you about …
Picking the Slow Line Every Time (2 Min Read) | Vol. 220 September 18, 2026 “It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” — Elinor Smith Picking the Slow Line Every Time Many years ago, …
Who Walks Out (2 Min Read) | Vol. 220 September 11, 2026 “Once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t …
You Can’t Begin until You End (2 Min Read) | Vol. 219 September 4, 2026 “It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions.” — William Bridges You Can’t Begin Until You End This week on the podcast, I talked with Shannon Anderson-Finch, an executive coach who spends her days with people in …
Three Blank Lines (2 Min Read) | Vol. 218 August 28, 2026 “We are not defined by our toughest seasons or our worst mistakes. They are part of the story but not the whole story.” – Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe Three Blank Lines I’ve failed. Plenty. I’ve failed at personal projects. Failed to make a profit. …
222 Seconds and Eight Years (2 Min Read) | Vol. 217 August 21, 2026 “The best thing we do is Every Day. And the hardest thing we do is Every Day.” – Buzz Williams 222 Seconds and Eight Years On July 18, Josh Kerr ran a mile in 3 minutes and 42.66 seconds. Sixty thousand …
Ask a Better Question (3 Min Read) | Vol. 216 August 14, 2026 “The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he’s one who asks the right questions.” – Claude Lévi-Strauss Ask a Better Question We were standing outside Pena Palace in Sintra, Portugal, trying to decide where to go next. Our …
The 26-Lane Workday (3 Min Read) | Vol. 215 August 7, 2026 “It is wholly a confusion of ideas to suppose that the economical use of fuel is equivalent to a diminished consumption. The very contrary is the truth.” — William Stanley Jevons The 26-Lane Workday Texas has the widest freeway in the world. The …