Happy Tax Day! Or so it would be in a “normal” year…but while there has been much pining for normalcy over the past 13 months or so—and some progress has been made—we still have a ways to go. So “Tax Day” for 2021 officially ends up on May 15 instead of April 15. Another month to procrastinate about getting your taxes finished and filed…and another 30 days to ponder what you’re going to do with all that refund money!

The NCAA Basketball Tournament is once again upon us, with the ensuing Madness starting to heat up. It turned us to thinking about what lessons we can learn from a game of hoops and apply it to our business.

It’s February already and you know what that means…Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! If you’re already in a relationship, you will need to start looking for that perfect gift for your special someone. Depending on the person, that could be a box of chocolates, a nice necklace, or a trip to the Bahamas.

Some people have the same resolutions every time the calendar turns over to January 1… again...

Is Christmas really next week? I guess I should get busy shopping for the people on my list! It sounds like a joke, but in reality I usually end up running late shopping for someone...or everyone some years. What can I say? Life intrudes!

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” - Oprah Winfrey

Some say it’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s October...we’re not talking about Christmas here…even BETTER...oh yes, I’m referring to Halloween. 

Life is good...no, really...in this year when so many have suffered, I’ve been busy rediscovering joy and goodness in life. Personally, spiritually, and professionally. And it happens to be the year I turn 50. Half a century...50 laps around the sun. And as I sat at my desk and looked out the window at the Market Street traffic, it occurred to me that I’ve learned plenty of lessons during my lifetime...and that maybe I should jot some of them down. All of these lessons are personal...some are definitely spiritual...but every one of them can be profitable if applied to business, too.

According to legend, a goat herder in the Kaffa region of Ethiopa found that his goats were overly excited after eating some beans on a local bush. It wasn’t long until Kaldi ate them himself. He then took them to a monk who disapproved of the stimulant effect and threw the seeds into the fire, which made them smell good. Someone took the roasted beans from the ashes, ground them up, and dissolved them in hot water. Soon thereafter everyone in the tribe was coming to Kaldi-bucks for their morning brew. Parts of that are probably apocryphal and other parts are completely made up. But it did get me wondering…how do those folks that I work with and around take their coffee? And just how big a part of our lives is it?

With apologies to Charles Dickens: