The Twenty Percenter
Weekly advice for top business professionals.
Never Mistake Lucky for Smart (2 Min Read) | Vol. 206 June 5, 2026 “You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.” — Cormac McCarthy Never Mistake Lucky for Smart You’re out cruising yard sales with a friend, hoping to score a velvet Elvis or the perfect garden gnome. You …
PSA – Skin Checks and Self-Compassion (2 Min Read) | Vol. 205 May 29, 2026 “We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.” – Rick Warren PSA – Skin Checks and Self-Compassion The anxiety I have about skin cancer is thanks to a ‘70s childhood. In my youth, …
What a Writer’s Trick Taught Me About Focus (2 Min Read) | Vol. 204 May 22, 2026 “Ink it when you think it.” – Sam Horn What a Writer’s Trick Taught Me About Focus I got to meet Sam Horn at a recent dinner party. She’s an author, a speaker, and the founder of the …
Einstein’s Priceless Advice (2 Min Read) | Vol. 203 May 15, 2026 “A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness.” – Albert Einstein Einstein’s Priceless Advice In 1921, Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize. He didn’t go to Stockholm the next year to attend the award …
Eight Things I Learned on My Friendship Walk (4 Min Read) | Vol. 202 May 8, 2026 “You are allowed to step back, disconnect, and disappear for a while. The world will go on without you, but you will come back to yourself.” — Cory Allen Eight Things I Learned on My Friendship Walk In …
The Cost of Comfort (2 Min Read) | Vol. 201 May 1, 2026 “Tension is not conflict, and discomfort is not harm.” – Charlie Gilkey The Cost of Comfort The biggest tax on your business may be the conversations you’re avoiding. Addressing underperformance, chasing a late payment, delivering bad news, renegotiating a deal, or parting …
The Leadership Question Nobody Wants to Ask (6 Min Read) | Vol. 200 April 24, 2026 “Your silence gives consent.” — Plato The Leadership Question Nobody Wants to Ask This is not an opinion piece. This is a coaching conversation. And I believe coaches don’t tell their clients what to think. They teach them how …
Almost There (4 Min Read) | Vol. 199 April 17, 2026 “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination …
How Billionaires Set Goals (4 Min Read) | Vol. 198 April 10, 2026 “If more information was the answer, then we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.” – Derek Sivers Ask a room full of entrepreneurs how they track their goals, and you’ll get a dozen answers. Post-it notes. Notes apps. Project management tools with …
Let’s be Friends! (3 Min Read) | Vol. 197 April 3, 2026 “Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you; spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” – Amy Poehler Let’s be Friends! Last year, my publisher asked me a curious question. “Jay, do you know how …
