Is having motivation important for success? I am of the opinion that finding motivation when it is lacking is essential for success in all areas of life. In this article, I’ll share my number one tip for teens finding motivation by using their DCM (Driving Core Motive), and how I used it with my son and his experience playing on the varsity basketball team.  As a teen life coach, I work with young and impressionable minds, and many of them lack motivation. When a parent calls or reaches out to me on social media about their teenager lacking motivation, I immediately send them to a Color Code personality assessment. Lacking motivation is

Can Color Code help an aspiring college student find the “best-fit” major? The short answer—YES.   The more complicated answer—it will help, but it will not tell you exactly what to study. So… How can it help?   There is an important concept in interviewing and hiring the best person for a job; it’s called motivational fit. The idea of motivational fit is that the best-fit candidate will have a natural motivation to do the type of work required for a job. A common question to determine motivational fit is, “Tell me about your ideal workday.”  The candidate might respond:  “I’d like to have flexib

“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and then we must use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” - Anthony Robbins Have you ever noticed how GOOD it feels to be really listened to? It’s impactful and conveys respect and value.  The ability to effectively communicate with others remains the single most important factor on a leader’s list of attributes. A big part of effective communication is active listening.  Unfortunately, one of the big communication challenges most people face is that we don't actively listen to understand.

I’ve been teaching Color Code interpersonal communication workshops for nearly ten years. Early on, I came across a question from a participant for which I thought I had an answer. “But what if I don’t know THEIR color?  It’s not like everyone has taken the assessment.” “Well, there’s an addendum to this course called ‘quick-coding.’” At this point, I transitioned to the quick-coding slides and pointed out the cards that teach some quick-coding strategies. Then the student said, “Yeah, this is a little helpful, but I don’t think it’s fool-proof. What if we get it wrong?” The whole class delved into a r

I was raised by a mom who is about as Blue as they come. She plans family events months (or even years) in advance, she is easily moved to tears, and she is passionate about her relationships. What throws me for a loop, though, is her secondary color is Yellow. Blues and Yellows are complementary opposites (emphasis on OPPOSITES), so it’s a combination that is hard for me to grasp. But something my mom always says, which is so true, is that her Yellow really shines through when she is on vacation.  One of my mom’s favorite things to do on vacation is to rent bikes and ride along the beach, park, mountain trail, or wherever it is we ar

High school seniors, in October, right after lunch.  As teachers, we understand what this means as far as classroom dynamics go for about the first 5 to 10 minutes of class.  Students go off campus, load up on sugars and carbohydrates, chat in the parking lot with friends, conjure up the next plan for the weekend events, commentary on social media, and have a moment of disconnect from the demands of performing on AP assignments and exams and college preparation as well as maintaining a work-school-home balance. It was this class that prompted the utilization of Color Code as I recognized a disconnect with clique-like groups that had form

Have you ever thought about your habits and how much they really influence your life? If you’re like me, you might have never given it much thought. However, I recently had the opportunity to do this and can safely say I was surprised to come to the realization that more often than not, it’s been my HABITS which have had the greatest impact on my life in almost every facet. For example: My habits surrounding study and school were ultimately what determined much of my educational success and opportunities—or lack thereof. My habits surrounding eating and exercise have determined much of my health—or lack thereof.  My habit

Over the past 8 months, I have occasionally been responsible for home-schooling my 9-year old twin grandsons.

My takeaway from this experience is that I chose the right career path. I am NOT a teacher, and I’m sending a great big shout out to all those who chose teaching as their career path. You are my heroes and here is why:

I am only teaching two kids! According to https://nces.ed.gov, the average primary school class size in America is 20.  That means, based on Color Code demographics, teachers average 5 Reds, 7 Blues, 4 Whites, and 4 Yellows in their classes. Imagine teaching that many kids with such varyin

Historically both elementary and secondary schools have existed primarily to support analytical intelligence commonly referred to as “book smarts." And, while this is a very good thing, more and more studies are finding that this is not the entire recipe for a well-rounded and intelligent individual. Enter Social and Emotional Learning (or SEL for short). Social and Emotional Learning, defined as life skills which include how to interact with others and manage one’s own emotions, is slowly finding its way into classrooms across the world and making a BIG impact as mentioned, for example, in an article¹ by Daniel Goleman: "The data sh