FranklinCovey Consultant Blogs | Todd Wangsgard | February, 2009
Time Will Pass. Will It Pass You By?
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Six years ago this month I was sitting in a friend’s living room in our neighborhood talking about nothing. These are friends in their mid-30’s who had two beautiful children, good income, and apparent happiness. Out of the blue the wife said, “I’m planning to start medical school this Fall.”
I just about fell out of my chair. Not because someone would go to medical school – that happens all the time. I was surprised primarily by this seemingly dramatic turn in her life and career as a stay-at-home mom who seemed to have already established the life that she wanted. Besides, most people begin this kind of endeavor a little earlier in life. She went on to explain that she had the grades for it and had always been interested in the health occupations. Good for her!
Then she said something that rang in my ears for the next several weeks. My neighbor’s reasoning was, ” I’m going to look back 8 years from now, and I will have either become a doctor or I won’t. Regardless of what I do in that time, 8 years are going to pass.” › Continue reading
Tearing Down Our “Walls”
After my first year of college, I decided to take a break in my formal education to provide volunteer service abroad. Eighteen months into my two-year commitment in southern Germany, politics in Europe and Asia took a dramatic turn and the Iron Curtain that long divided two Germanys suddenly came crashing down. What a thrill to witness history in the making, first-hand, as droves of East Germany residents streamed across the border in anything that moved.
Most travelers from the German Democratic Republic (GDR) who were privileged enough to afford their own motorized means of transportation chugged along in a tiny two-cylinder, two-stroke, sub-compact Trabant sedan, nick-named the “Trabi.” These Communist-manufactured and dangerously thin-walled cars were partially produced out of wool and cotton – literally! › Continue reading
Principles Are the Permanent Bail-Out

As congressmen contemplate how to stimulate a stubbornly sluggish economy, you already know the answers to recession-proofing your career and life. I can’t tell you how many times our FranklinCovey principles have crossed my mind this past week as we watch lawmakers work towards compromise.
- Create Transparency
- Clarify Expectations
- Right Wrongs
- Get Results
- Talk Straight
- Listen First
- Keep Commitments
Just to name a few.
When the Conference Board released its 2008 CEO Challenge report (Financial Crisis Edition), I was struck by the sudden rise in rank, from 34th place to 9th, of the respondents’ perceived need for more Business Confidence.


