Storms are made of raindrops. Any one drop by itself seems insignificant, though a single drop on your forehead can warn you of millions more on the way. That’s the power of raindrops: They work together.

Democracies thrive on free speech. Open communication of ideas allows the government formed by the people to access its most valuable resource: information from the public. Legislatures vote on ideas because of ideas. And, those small, simple ideas have their power because they are exchanged through small, simple conversations.

So, everywhere you go, drip your ideas. You might not believe what difference you make.  · · · →

Friendship hurts. Fake friends don’t know our flaws, then hate us when our daily facade wears off and we can’t mask our flaws any longer. Real friends see each others’ flaws and don’t care. Real friends accept each other just as they are.

But, it hurts. Friends do things that hurt us. We may lose the friends we hurt. Can you endure the price of pain required by a real friendship? Most of us fear causing enough pain to earn a worthy friend because we fear the risks of rejection and being injured. But, real friendship makes it worth it.  · · · →

We broken humans so easily hide behind our skills and vocations. Teachers hide behind their knowledge, celebrities behind their image, athletes behind their trophies, the rich behind their status, and leaders behind their office. It’s not in our DNA, but it’s in our gravity. We feel the pull toward hiding our true selves behind anything for fear of others seeing who we truly are—flaws, love, and all.

So, friends who can accept us are a rare treasure. But, even more rare is the one who can accept oneself. If you want to be special, stop trying and just be.  · · · →

When unjustly struck, bow back. It’s a simple, but effective equation: Respond in humility. Others will be rude to you, be offended by you, it’s wrong, they’re wrong, or maybe you’re wrong. Whoever is wrong, it is beneath no one to respond in humble kindness.

In theory, no one should be capable of being offended. Being offendable is a sure sign of weakness. When others show that weakness, you have the perfect opportunity to build them up. Show them that you are not above them. Be the the adult in the room; let your humility let others be adults too.  · · · →

Sometimes we just need to relax. Bad news can bite. Don’t contribute. Soften the blow. Bad news is best delivered calm and cool.

We humans trust people who stay laced and collected. If you come unglued, people will distrust you and even hate you for no other reason—though they’ll never admit that is the reason. They’ll complain about your reasons or what you did. But, it’s you ability to keep calm they judge you by.

If you must deliver bad news, let only the bad news be bad. Actually, it’s best if you act like it’s not a problem.  · · · →

Peace through strength is an old idea, for some it is a controversial idea, but its best-kept secret is that it is a difficult idea. Whenever it fails, it failed to be done properly.

Sometimes the painful truth must be told. This seems strong, powerful, and necessary. But, just as strong, powerful, and necessary seem harsh words that wound, insult, and weaken.

The world isn’t in shambles from lack of insults; it suffers from lack of a controlled tongue. We must speak truth even when painful, but not all pain is truth and not all painful truth helps—only some.  · · · →

Most disastrous choices start with fear of something, and it’s almost always subtle. When fear drives us, we think we are being cautious, responsible, lining up our ducks, preparing for the worst, and playing it safe. But, if our purported precautions are based on a danger that doesn’t actually exist, then we have made small steps based on an imaginary fear.

Even one, single step taken out of fear is a step in the wrong direction. That could be a step off a cliff or send us two degrees off course. It’s better to be directed by goals, not fears.  · · · →

Keep your thoughts targeted on the task at hand. If your task is planning, then plan. If your task is building, then build. Don’t argue with people not in the room. And, don’t solve problems that don’t exist anywhere but in your mind. By solving problems in your mind, you must first create them in your mind, then your mind might really create them. It’s better to just focus on real work in the here and now.

Judges aren’t allowed to speculate how they might rule on cases not yet before the court. Follow the same rule: Judge the present.  · · · →

Don’t let setbacks make you quit, not even your own. When you trip yourself up, accept the consequences, settle your heart to limit your losses, then get back up and keep going. The consequences of failure are never that you should quit—don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

That’s a well-kept secret of the world’s greatest victors. Most of their troubles are self-made. But, they don’t give in and throw their hands up, not even from their own problems. If you can dust yourself off and get back in the game after your own trouble, trouble from others is no problem.  · · · →

Anyone can observe that anyone has problems. Complaining and criticizing neither take insight nor experience. Do you want to be skilled at telling people why they must continue to fail, or do you want to be skilled at telling people why and how they can and must succeed?

Cheerleaders are in greater demand than ‘jeerleaders’. In truth, no one’s heard of a ‘jeerleader’ because jeering doesn’t help a team win. Coaches and athletes in the game know this. Do their fans know? Do you know?

People in your life have a huge fan: you. When they stumble, teach their solution.  · · · →

Sometimes you can’t ask before you give. People might not like what you give at first. They might think it’s too much and refuse your gift because they feel unworthy or don’t want to be in your debt. But, that’s the thing about gifts: No one asks for them.

Asking for a gift makes the gift no longer a gift. You can ask for favors or donations. But, “gifts” in their truest sense are given at the initiative of the giver, not the receiver. So arguably, some of the best gifts are the ones we know need a little force.  · · · →

What draws us to certain people? Is it their good looks? Kindness? Accomplishment? Or, the mere fact that we are drawn to people other people are drawn to even though we don’t know why? Ask yourself these questions long enough, and you will find a character cocktail of diligence mixed with respect.

We love people who do whatever they do well. It’s ontological. It’s nature. We all do things, and we all want to do our things well. We also want respect, and we are even happier when we respect others. Anyone good at whatever, including respect, draws us in.  · · · →

One of the most impossible lessons of personal growth is about not fixing blame. The specific person and specific circumstance that knocked you down were almost surely wrong, somehow. It might have even been on purpose. But, you must ignore all of that and do nothing but take the next step.

You demonstrate how grown up you are by the size of problems you shrug off. Everything should be no big deal. Don’t ball up into your emotional hideaway and crawl into a bed of blame and shame. Take the next step toward your own progress, not justice for yourself.  · · · →

Frustration and angst fester where there is no explanation of a conundrum. One important role of the Supreme Court is to provide judicial opinions—both for the majority ruling and the dissenting. The opinion is almost as important as the ruling itself, perhaps even more. By knowing why the right and wrong things are right and wrong, we codify a precedent to carry out the decision before us and to navigate conundrums in the future.

When you’re frustrated, you might decide to look for a simple opinion. Knowing what to do might only follow knowing what to think about it.  · · · →