Aside from the smile and slowly receding hairline, do you know the biggest difference between the 18-year-old Alan and the 43-year-old Alan? My level of EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. Through maturity, experience and a ton of interpersonal work... I now have a much higher EQ...

There are 3 areas of life I believe are highly personal - religion, politics and parenting. And while I certainly have very strong opinions, beliefs and convictions on each - it is not my place to try to influence others to believe what I believe. To each their own....

This is something I'm very passionate about and I dive deep into anytime I'm doing a corporate talk or a workshop, and I'm a stickler for terminology.  I choose my words very carefully. When I hear the word work life balance, that sends an unconscious message to me...

The biggest lesson that I have learned throughout the building of my career is to TRUST THE PROCESS. Don't worry about the outcome, focus on the process, and when you learn to focus on the process, more times than not, the outcome will take care of itself.  I've been...

Last week I had the honor to speak to the graduating 5th grade class at Grand Oak Elementary school in Charlotte. Connor Joyce gave me the best intro ever! He is a very impressive young man! Here is the essence of what I shared... Raise your hand if you’ve ever played...

I had the distinct honor to give the commencement speech at Gaithersburg High School’s 2018 graduation. Here is a slightly shortened version of what I shared: “I’m honored to have this opportunity to share 3 impactful lessons to hopefully help you write the next...

There are two things I know with certainty: Leaders are always in demand and leaders are always the highest paid. This is true on any team and in any organization. How would you like to become a more influential and impactful leader? Good news – you can be! How? Make...

Jesse Itzler has a laundry list of incredible traits… but one of his most impressive is his ability to push himself past his perceived physical and mental limits. Many people are willing to do the first 95%, but Jesse is committed to doing the last 5%... the hard...

Getting “back to basics” is at the core of being great. Yes, the basics may be boring and mundane, but they are critical to success. In the basketball world, we see this in the way Kobe Bryant and Steph Curry approach their training. They stick to the fundamentals. In...

I have been incredibly fortunate to try a variety of different sports and activities in my life. Everything from martial arts to your conventional sports like football had an effect on me. And while I'm thankful that I tried everything, I always came back to...