“𝑊ℎ𝑜’𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒?”

That’s a question I often asked my kids when they were young. Their first instinct?
“The teacher?”
“The police?”
“Mom?”
“Dad?”

But I always waited for the deeper answer:
“I’m the boss of my own life.”

Because while we don’t control everything,
we do control something powerful:
 Our thoughts.
 Our actions.
 Our focus.
 Our attitude.

And that’s where true leadership begins, not in leading others, but in leading yourself.
This kind of leadership isn’t always visible.
It doesn’t always come with a title, a spotlight, or applause.

But it’s often the most important kind, because it shapes how you show up, what you pursue, and how you grow.

And it stands in sharp contrast to something I noticed recently…
At the recent NATO summit, I watched the NATO leaders:
Heads of state, ministers, decision-makers.

Some spoke with power.
Some spoke with polish.
Some were far less eloquent than the journalists covering them.

But here’s the difference:
The reporters may have mastered the skill of commu...

This week’s wisdom comes from the Dalai Lama:
“𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴… 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴... 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦.”

And he adds:
“…𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦.”

This matters—because everyone, even someone like the Dalai Lama, acknowledges that we all face negative, disempowering, doubtful thoughts from time to time. Thoughts like:
“I’m not good enough.”
“Who am I to do this?”
“What if I fail?”
"Did I do okay?"

A powerful example of this came from Oprah Winfrey. After decades of interviewing presidents, celebrities, authors, and world figures, she revealed that nearly every single guest, no matter how famous o...