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People assume b/c of my name, that I fit into a box of sorts. Meet my wife, who has lots in common with me. That's why we are great life partners. We both are passionate about what we believe, love family (we have 7 kids between us) and have fun in most things we do.

Just returned from my bank, where I dropped off a deposit on Tuesday. It never hit our account. The manager told me that their internal policy dictates that a customer must remain and take the receipt. I did not (per their instruction on Tuesday) so they shredded the check!

My daughter, Julia, married this weekend in Cabo, San Lucas, Mexico. My wife and I adopted her as Yulia Kachalova from an orphanage in Russia at the age of 9. She was the 3rd of of our kids from there. Some walks are worth more than others. This one was my favorite.

The worst CEO mistake I made in running 9 companies? Easy. I had a license on a patented medical device, which made sense to sell to a larger company. Signed NDA's with GE Medical. WooHoo! They were super interested. Within 3 weeeks, I was served with multiple FDA complaints and simply could not afford to defend my small company. GE filed the complaints with their trusted contacts at the FDA. Our technology was "dangerous"....and not surprisingly, a threat to a market they dominated. Completely wasted opportunity, all because I was too trusting and overly optimistic. Challenges come in all shapes and sizes. I fell for a simple trick, and it ranks as the biggest mistake of my CEO career and cost me a company.

Ever press the "full reset button" in life? I did, at age 50. Never ideal. Let's face it. No one ever WANTS to make that move. It means you have failed. In my case: - Lost $2M (life's savings) in a Hedge fund fraud - Defaulted on my mortgage; lost the house - Filed for divorce - Lost my successful business of 25 years - Started a new business in a terrible recession The good news? The reset button made some problems disappear. The bad news? I started over with nothing. - No cash - No credit (for the next 7 years) - No business - No house - Few friends (they mostly fled) What I had was the freedom to start everything over with the hard-earned wisdom of hardship. It was humbling and embarrassing. Here's what I learned since that full reset: The biggest risk you'll ever take is trading in a good life for a great life. I have a great life today. I had a (really) good life for three decades....at least on the surface. In retrospect, fighting to hang onto my good life brought on risk and false expectations for happiness. Today, I live a joyful, successful life, with a great spouse. We have built a comfortable net worth. We have 7 kids between us, whom we enjoy. You too can reset partially or fully at any time. It takes courage, and it will almost always result in a much better life. Why? Because building a life today, with your wisdom, is easier than figuring things out for the first time. Go take your shot. It's worth it!

I quietly celebrate St. Patrick's Day as an Irish American....with the last name Hittler. Four grandparents, 3 of whom were of Irish heritage: Sullivan Lynch Hunter Hittler These days, I am proud that my parents kept the name, as it built character. I understand that now.

I have lived my entire life with the worst surname in the history of all humanity. That's 100B people and I got the worst name ever among them. The bad news? The name still comes with a label of sorts. Many prejudge or hate. When I was younger, that hate showed up in the form of violence. Today? Oddly, the surname brings advantages, as no one ever comes home from a conference and cannot remember my name. Seems like much of life works this way--it shows up just the way you accept it....as a curse or an advantage.

"Wait until next year." "Let's see how things go first." "We’ll revisit this later." All ways of saying: “I’m comfortable staying exactly where I am.” Growth isn’t a someday decision. It’s a today decision.

CEOs, have your teams count the number of their current priorities. Then know this. Their ability to create great results is directly opposed by the number of priorities. Limit every team to only 3. Have the top priority be 10x as important as the other two. Then scale.

Prove me wrong: Indecision will crush you. You tell yourself you’re “gathering more data” or “waiting for the right time.” But deep down, you know the truth: Indecision is just fear in disguise. - AI readiness? It's not in the budget this year. - Launch a second product? We're focusing on improving what we already have. - Proactively hire a transformational talent to the organization? We'll grow a bit more first. The longer a decision sits, the heavier it gets. - It drains your focus - It clutters your mind - It holds your company back Great CEOs don’t make perfect decisions. They make decisions. Read that again. Trust your instincts. Set a deadline. Move forward, especially when it’s uncomfortable. Every decision you avoid is a brick in your backpack. What’s the biggest decision you’ve been carrying around for too long?

Not all stress is your enemy. Elite CEOs don't chase a stress-free life. They transform pressure into peak performance. After coaching CEOs for 15+ years, this is what I've learned about stress:

Unpopular opinion: Forbes advisory councils are a fraud. I know. I wrote and published 75 articles over 3 years. It's a 'pay to play' system, so people put it in their credentials. When it got too ridiculouse (and the price doubled) I moved to a meritcracy system Silly to pretend that "experts" earn their credentials, when all we did was write a check.

The biggest challenge CEOs face everyday? Isolation. CEOs are surrounded by people--so they are rarely lonely. Isolation comes in 3 forms: - No confidants to confide in - No collaborative partners - The realization that the company falls mostly on their shoulders. The remedy? There are two mainly: 1:1 CEO coaching. CEO Community peer group. Where will you find your most effective community?

Booked a new CEO coaching client this morning, after answering this question: CEO: "What's the difference between your coaching, and traditional therapy?" It's a great question! Me: "Pretty simple. A coach uses whatever ambitions and objectives you hold as the necessary drivers to push past your limiting beliefs or actions. A therapist looks to pinpoint  and diagnose the source of those limiting beliefs as the primary goal for their work. Either way, you'll take on your demons. He hired me right away, as he and his Board have huge ambitions and require a CEO who can lead that charge.

CEOs, do you borrow 'best practices' from famous people? "Debate and decide" is a classic, originally from Jeff Bezos. Here's the rub: Earned wisdom works better, because it's rooted in your actual experience. You know when it works, why it works, and when to ignore it.

People assume b/c of my name, that I fit into a box of sorts. Meet my wife, who has lots in common with me. That's why we are great life partners. We both are passionate about what we believe, love family (we have 7 kids between us) and have fun in most things we do.

Just returned from my bank, where I dropped off a deposit on Tuesday. It never hit our account. The manager told me that their internal policy dictates that a customer must remain and take the receipt. I did not (per their instruction on Tuesday) so they shredded the check!

My daughter, Julia, married this weekend in Cabo, San Lucas, Mexico. My wife and I adopted her as Yulia Kachalova from an orphanage in Russia at the age of 9. She was the 3rd of of our kids from there. Some walks are worth more than others. This one was my favorite.

Ever press the "full reset button" in life? I did, at age 50. Never ideal. Let's face it. No one ever WANTS to make that move. It means you have failed. In my case: - Lost $2M (life's savings) in a Hedge fund fraud - Defaulted on my mortgage; lost the house - Filed for divorce - Lost my successful business of 25 years - Started a new business in a terrible recession The good news? The reset button made some problems disappear. The bad news? I started over with nothing. - No cash - No credit (for the next 7 years) - No business - No house - Few friends (they mostly fled) What I had was the freedom to start everything over with the hard-earned wisdom of hardship. It was humbling and embarrassing. Here's what I learned since that full reset: The biggest risk you'll ever take is trading in a good life for a great life. I have a great life today. I had a (really) good life for three decades....at least on the surface. In retrospect, fighting to hang onto my good life brought on risk and false expectations for happiness. Today, I live a joyful, successful life, with a great spouse. We have built a comfortable net worth. We have 7 kids between us, whom we enjoy. You too can reset partially or fully at any time. It takes courage, and it will almost always result in a much better life. Why? Because building a life today, with your wisdom, is easier than figuring things out for the first time. Go take your shot. It's worth it!

Given the big concerns over the ages of both POTUS candidates, which VP would you prefer to run the country if called to do so?

The worst CEO mistake I made in running 9 companies? Easy. I had a license on a patented medical device, which made sense to sell to a larger company. Signed NDA's with GE Medical. WooHoo! They were super interested. Within 3 weeeks, I was served with multiple FDA complaints and simply could not afford to defend my small company. GE filed the complaints with their trusted contacts at the FDA. Our technology was "dangerous"....and not surprisingly, a threat to a market they dominated. Completely wasted opportunity, all because I was too trusting and overly optimistic. Challenges come in all shapes and sizes. I fell for a simple trick, and it ranks as the biggest mistake of my CEO career and cost me a company.

I have lived my entire life with the worst surname in the history of all humanity. That's 100B people and I got the worst name ever among them. The bad news? The name still comes with a label of sorts. Many prejudge or hate. When I was younger, that hate showed up in the form of violence. Today? Oddly, the surname brings advantages, as no one ever comes home from a conference and cannot remember my name. Seems like much of life works this way--it shows up just the way you accept it....as a curse or an advantage.

Funny how we confuse being busy with being productive. After running 9 companies, I realized I needed relentless focus. I wrote down the exact process I use to actually get things done as a CEO. Comment "focus" to get it free.

I quietly celebrate St. Patrick's Day as an Irish American....with the last name Hittler. Four grandparents, 3 of whom were of Irish heritage: Sullivan Lynch Hunter Hittler These days, I am proud that my parents kept the name, as it built character. I understand that now.

Unpopular opinion: Forbes advisory councils are a fraud. I know. I wrote and published 75 articles over 3 years. It's a 'pay to play' system, so people put it in their credentials. When it got too ridiculouse (and the price doubled) I moved to a meritcracy system Silly to pretend that "experts" earn their credentials, when all we did was write a check.

Serious question: Why do people who are leaving X feel the need to post a long story saying goodbye? Would "delete my account" quietly be enough?

CEOs, you get one option. Which do you prefer and why? 1) A team full of badass talent and a medicre culture. 2) A team with a great culture, and medicre talent. Which insures rapid growth?

Started the year with financial review with our advisor. I have wanted to buy BTC for some time. He finally suggested it as a good option--risky, but good. He recommended 1% of assets currenty under management. My sense is that it should be 10%+ What do you recommend?

The biggest challenge CEOs face everyday? Isolation. CEOs are surrounded by people--so they are rarely lonely. Isolation comes in 3 forms: - No confidants to confide in - No collaborative partners - The realization that the company falls mostly on their shoulders. The remedy? There are two mainly: 1:1 CEO coaching. CEO Community peer group. Where will you find your most effective community?

People ask me about my biggest advantage in life, thinking I am hindered by the worst surname in the history or humanity. I can say with certainty, that my wife is my secret advantage. Compare a picture from 2014, when we had been dating about a year, to a recent one 10 years later. We could not be more different, culturally, professionally, or personally. She grew up in Chennai, India. I grew up in Detroit. What we share is an uncommon commitment to our romantic adventure--which is what we both signed up for when we met. We share 7 kids (her 2 girls, my 3 girls and 2 boys) two businesses (medical and CEO coaching) and an appetitie for adventure. If you're wondering, no she did not take my name when we got married. She was crazy to marry me, but not THAT crazy!