Don Smith, Author at The Personal Growth Channel

Don Smith

Author Archives: Don Smith

Don Smith is a career and leadership coach helping people lead well at home and work. To work with Don, please click here.

“I Don’t Wanna” is a Valid Excuse

“Give me four sets of ten, and then you’re done,” said Jeremy, my trainer. “Is ‘I don’t wanna’ a valid excuse?” I quipped. “Sure. If you can live with yourself,” came the quick reply. I did the sets. The truth of the matter is while I did not want to do those last few exercises, I wanted the results. […]

Leader messing up - picture of a girl holding hand over mouth

What to Do When You Mess up as a Leader

I looked at my email, and my heart sank. “Where are you?” I had forgotten the conference call I was to lead. No call, no show, and every one of my techs knew it. It was too late to call in; the meeting was over. The ironic thing was that I had forgotten the call […]

Stop Thinking About Hours When it Comes to Money

I saw a post the other day from a small business owner who was annoyed about the cost of getting a website created. “Why should I pay thousands of dollars for something I know is pretty simple to do? Can’t I pay someone an hourly rate to do this for me? I know it doesn’t […]

Could Your Organization Continue Without You?

Yesterday the lead high school minister for West Side Christian Church, Drew Peterson, delivered his last official service here. A fantastic leader, he has had a tremendous positive impact on thousands of young lives. Drew was offered a lead pastor role for an entire church, and couldn’t turn down the offer. A good friend who […]

Villagers Happily Chatting While Carrying Water

One Habit That Leads to Happiness According to Science

With Thanksgiving on our minds, it’s a good time to remember one of the primary habits that consistently leads to happiness. The principal of “hedonic adaptation” means that as we have things happen that make us happy or unhappy, we ultimately return to our former state of happiness. A study of lottery winners showed that after a brief […]

Personal Development Book of the Month: The Alchemist

A book about following your dreams, “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho is a favorite of many. Follow along as an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago travels far and wide to find a once in a lifetime treasure. A journey designed to challenge our beliefs; this one is sure to get you thinking. Enjoy this pick […]

When to Hire a Coach and When to Take a Course

We offer both courses and coaching, and courses are usually significantly cheaper than hiring a decent private coach. You can learn virtually anything from our training partners Udemy and Ed2Go. So why hire a coach when you can learn virtually anything by taking a course? Here’s a quick guide to when you should hire a […]

Why is Common Sense Uncommon?

How many times have you thought that what you know is “common sense,” and anyone who doesn’t see it your way doesn’t have it? Before you judge anyone based on a lack of “common sense,” realize that every person you meet has a different set of experiences and training. There are things that you might […]

How to Keep Going When You Feel Discouraged

Every so often, someone will say something negative about a comment or post I made, and I feel like trashing this entire site. Why should I keep going when people don’t appreciate it? A press of a button and hundreds of articles would disappear. Then someone will say something positive, and my day brightens again…until […]

Comfort is a Lie

Saturday, I was in the gym, and Jeremy, my trainer, told me to do dips. “Give me three sets of ten. And for each one I see that you don’t go all the way down, you can do another ten.” Ouch. I knew what he meant, the last time I did dips, I cheated myself […]

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