by Brooks Mendell | Jan 16, 2026 | Leading/Managing, Communication Skills, Forestry, Learning, Sports, Thinking/Analysis, Writing
Daily Habits and Practice As a second grader in Cockeysville, Maryland, I came home from school nursing a bruised ego the first time we took a physical fitness test. That day, I had barely managed one chin-up after watching my friends crank out four, six and more. My...
by Brooks Mendell | Dec 14, 2025 | Thinking/Analysis, Communication Skills, Forestry, Leading/Managing
Introduction My late friend Danny Hamsley once told me, “The web of life on Earth is complex.” Danny and I often discussed the challenges of being human and raising children, long before I married or had children of my own. Danny called this the “curse of the big...
by Brooks Mendell | Nov 28, 2025 | Leading/Managing, Communication Skills, Learning, Thinking/Analysis
Introduction I have been thinking about processes, habits, and routines after, once again, incinerating hours of my life watching videos online. Two situations account for most of why or when I get offtrack and surrender my attention. Fatigue. I’m tired and sit at the...
by Brooks Mendell | Oct 31, 2025 | Communication Skills, Leading/Managing, Learning, Sports
Years ago, my younger brother, Loren, and I traveled to Uruguay to study Spanish and eat grilled meat. Our return home included a troublesome and frustrating connection in a regional Brazilian airport. Previously, Loren had worked at CAA as a talent agent assistant,...
by Brooks Mendell | Jul 31, 2025 | Thinking/Analysis, Leading/Managing, Learning, Sports
T-H-I-N-K Often, it’s not until years later, after you’ve had a chance to manage or motivate people, lead a project, start a business, or navigate a challenging series of events that you recognize the power and impact of lessons learned years before from parents,...
by Brooks Mendell | Jun 16, 2025 | Leading/Managing, Books, Communication Skills, Learning, Thinking/Analysis, Writing
I can basically do one round of creative work each day. Maybe two. No more. The attention, capacity, and focus required to write, research, and develop ideas are limited to a few hours daily, especially when life includes a spouse, children, bills, bowel movements,...
