Brilliant's Blog

A Celebration of Life

Brilliant and Adam with Magic cards

The Finer Elements of Friendship

In my last post, I told you about Adam, the friend who saved my life by answering my phone call during one of my darkest times. In this post, I’ll tell you about a gift I gave him that might have saved his life. Here’s the story, as told to…

man cell phone

The Phone Call That Saved My Life

One night, after a particularly nasty argument with the woman who was soon to be my ex-wife, I drove home on I-80. As I made my way past the Great Salt Lake, headed deeper into Utah’s desert, I seemed to be driving into a darkness that would swallow me whole….

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Dropping Out of College to Find the Education I Was Looking For

When we’re faced with big or difficult decisions, it can be hard to know when to listen to ourselves and when to listen to those around us. Years ago, when I told my dad I was thinking about going back to school to earn an MBA, he tried to talk…

The Search for Self in Ceremonies and Other Sacred Spaces

Who are you, anyway? Answering that question truthfully—and satisfyingly—might be one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. The ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi asked, “Am I a man who has fallen asleep and has dreamed he is a butterfly, or a butterfly who has fallen asleep and dreamed he is…

The Integrity of a Champion

Born in Indiana in 1910, John Wooden grew up on a farm playing basketball with his brothers in a barn using a tomato basket and a ball woven from old rags.  Wooden concluded his legendary 40-year coaching career in 1975. He spent the last 27 of those years at UCLA,…

A Story about Integrity and A Radical Act of Generosity

By his own admission, Scott Harrison was a bad guy. A New York City club promoter, it was his job to fill the city’s hottest nightclubs with celebrities and other beautiful people. His success was measured in dollars and alcohol. His nights were a blur of booze, drugs and girls….

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Conquering My Own Personal Everest

Maybe our lives aren’t challenging enough. We yearn to experience a range and depth of emotions beyond those available in a typical workweek. Or perhaps we’ve lost touch with what it means to be human. Whatever the reasons, millions of us have participated in one of the extreme events that…

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Officially Brilliant

The work of a lifetime is coming home to ourselves. I’m a teenager studying in Japan, living with a host family. I’m a very long ways from home. Learning a new language and ways of looking at the world, I’m questioning literally everything: “Am I a human being?” “Is this…

Samurai Sword

The Samurai’s Revenge

Mythologist Joseph Campbell used to tell a story about a samurai whose master was assassinated. It was this samurai’s duty to restore his lord’s honor by avenging his death. As days stretched into weeks, the samurai relentlessly tracked the killer. When he finally found the assassin, the samurai drew his…

Nancee with Bryan

Share Your Passions

I don’t mean to brag or anything, but I’m the former Utah State Monopoly champion. That’s why Hasbro invited me, back in 1999, to play in the national Monopoly tournament in Las Vegas, where I placed 5th. Many people think of Monopoly as either a tedious, unending game of luck…

The Math Problem That Changed My Dad Forever

How can we become fearless, or at least more confident? For my dad, all it took was a simple math problem. This is the story of the math problem that changed my dad forever.

Dealing with What’s Jammed

To develop my storytelling skills, and, hopefully, entertain and inspire you (and sometimes challenge you!), I’ll be using some Three Point Thursdays (including this one) to tell true stories instead of my normal “100 Words To Help You…”

When Coaching, Do You Chat or Converse?

This Week:
– The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make
– Are Your Coaching Conversations Really Just Friendly Chats?
– Why You Need A Sales Plan

There Is No Substitute for External Accountability

This Week:
– Create Space For What You Really Want
– Use Deadlines To Serve Your Client
– People Need People

Better Living Through Emotions

This Week:
– This Researcher Analyzed Hundreds Of Emotions And This Is What She Learned
– How To Help Your Clients Fully Vet Any Decision
– Create Great Names For Your Products And Services

The Secret to Finding and Living Your Purpose

This week:
– How To Strengthen Friendships That Strengthen You 
– How Non-verbal Body Language Can Make You a LESS Effective Coach
– Why You Might Not Be Getting As Many Clients As You Want (And What To Do About It) 

What Are You Pretending Not to Know?

This week:
– Examine Your Fears in the Cold Light of Day
– Unblock Your Clients with this Simple Question
– Go Beyond Demographics by Using Psychographics

Coach Everyone You Can

This week:
– Deal with Life as It Is
– Coach Everyone You Can
– Believe in Yourself and the Value You Offer Others

Write Your Goals to Focus Your Thinking

This week:
– The Power of Writing Your Goals
– Use Fill-in-the-Blank Questions to Help Your Clients Make Massive Breakthroughs
– Market the Problem

Listening to Mother Earth: A Message from an Indigenous Healer

The following is a message from one of Bryan’s podcast guests, Arkan Lushwala, a Peruvian spiritual teacher and ceremonial leader. Published here with permission.  We don’t know why the Earth took until now to find a way to protect herself from the damage caused by human activity. In a deep,…

Make Deliberate Decisions About the Structure and Frequency of Your Marketing

This week:
– Trust Your Body
– Before You Ask a Question, Ask Yourself “Who Does this Question Serve?”
– Cultivate Marketing Consistency

Be the Kind of Person You Decide to Be

This week:
– Be the Kind of Person You Decide to Be (No Matter What)
– Trust That Your Client Already Has His Own Answers
– Go Pro

Four Reasons to Have a Coach

This week:
– Know the Meaning of Your Name
– Four Reasons to Have a Coach
– How to Generate More and Better Marketing Ideas Faster (Eventually)

How To Win An Argument Every Time

This week:
– How to Win an Argument Every Time
– Use These Questions to Help Clients Expand Their Awareness
– Gracefully Ask for Referrals

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When A Coaching Engagement Is Over, How Will You Know It Was Successful?

This week:
– An Uncomfortable Conversation to Have with Yourself
– An Essential Question to Ask Before Starting Any Coaching Relationship
– Use a Business Roadmap to Get Where You Want to Go

Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity through Routines

This week:
– A Useful Way to Think about Your Personal Values
– Use this Question to Get Any Coaching Session Back on Track
– Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity through Routines

End Coaching Sessions with This Question

This week:
– Quit Seeing Problems Problematically
– End Coaching Sessions with This Question
– Approach Marketing as a Spiritual Practice

Flow Into Effortless Action

This week:
– Your Permission to Try Less Hard
– A Foolproof Coaching Approach
– How to Set a Conversation Up to Ask for the Sale

Everything In Your Life Is A Choice

This Week:
– Own Your Power to Choose
– Invite Your Clients to Be Accountable, Let Them Figure Out How
– Write Your Website to Include Sales Pages

Include These 3 Things On Your Coaching Website

This Week:
– Accept What Is
– Create Shifts in Identity & Environment
– Include This on Your Website