Erikson's model of psychosocial development is a very significant, highly regarded and meaningful concept.

Life is a serious of lessons and challenges which help us to grow. Erikson's wonderful theory helps to tell us why.

Here's a broad introduction to the main features of Erikson's model.

Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, has met very few people who have a plan for their lives. Most are passive spectators, watching their lives unfold a day at a time. They may plan their careers, the building of a new home, or even a vacation. But it never occurs to them to plan their life. As a result, many end up discouraged and disillusioned, wondering where they went wrong.

But, he says, it doesn’t have to be this way. You can live your life on purpose. It begins by creating a “Life Plan.” This won’t insulate you from life’s many adversities and unexpected twists and turns, but it will help you become an active participant in your life, intentionally shaping your own future.

In a blog post, Hyatt shares with you how to create such a plan for your life. It consists of three sections:
* Outcomes
* Priorities
* Action Plans

It's a question most of us have asked ourselves: What makes successful people so, well, successful? It's tempting to think that those at the top of their fields know something the rest of us mere mortals don't. But that "special something" you've been searching for isn't an uncanny ability to predict the market's future, a membership in MENSA, or a secret business formula. Quite simply, the trait that sets top achievers apart from the competition is their ability to connect.

If you're ready to start truly connecting, read on for some straightforward, easy-to-apply tips that will garner immediate results.

You make decisions every day based on false assumptions about other people, immediate pay-offs, your memory versus imagination, and familiarity versus fondness, just to name a few. Want to learn more about your mind's crazy decision engine? This illustrated guide can help. [Lifehacker Annotation]

We have all made decisions we regret, and while we may hate the sinking feeling that often follows, research by Neal Roese shows the emotion we all share has its benefits.

Trust your gut instincts—but only when four tests have been met.

I hear people every day offer very valid excuses why they don’t try to improve how they communicate. Some people think it’s too hard. Others don’t know where to go for help. The most repeated excuse from people at work and in their personal lives that could be so much happier with some focused, intentional new habits: ‘I don’t have time.’ Every single one of us can communicate in a way that makes it easier for people to like spending time with us. If you feel shy, nervous, or afraid, you’re not crazy, you’re not alone, and today is the day you stop letting ugly communication damage your relationships. Authentic communication can become as natural as breathing—when you pay attention to a few essential aspects of what connects people.

As I age, I gain perspective on the illusion of wealth and status as forms of fulfillment. I don't want my life to be measured by dollars and cents, or the number of books I've authored. Rather, I want to be remembered by the lives that I've touched. I want live a life that counts.

MacLeod, an advertising executive and popular blogger with a flair for the creative, gives his 26 tried-and-true tips for being truly creative. Each point illustrated by a cartoon drawn by the author himself.

What can science fiction accomplish that management books cannot?

We're awash in data. Here's how to make yours matter.

Without an awareness of your strengths, it's almost impossible for you to lead effectively. We all lead in very different ways, based on our talents and our limitations. Serious problems occur when we think we need to be exactly like the leaders we admire. Doing so takes us out of our natural element and practically eliminates our chances of success.

Although becoming a leader may seem simple, the fact is that there's a lot of consideration that goes into management. You not only have to stay on top of your team, but make sure that you're fostering communication, growth and productivity. Here, we'll take a look at a number of high quality courses that will show you how to take care of these issues and more.

Getting a business education doesn't have to be expensive. An increasing number of colleges, universities and even nonprofit organizations offer free business courses online. Find out how you can sign up for these courses and what you can get from them.

In a world of uncertainty, we could all use a little advice. So we asked a host of influential leaders to share with us the wise words that changed their lives forever.

The co-founder and CEO of the $1 billion company offers advice on how to shape and articulate your vision for your own brand.

All presenters want an engaged, interested, fully attentive audience. For your message to be most effectively received, the audience must hear it. While there are many ways to gain and maintain your audience’s attention during a presentation, getting them actively involved in the message is the best place to start. Here are 12 tactics to get your audiences more involved in your presentation and your message.

Many managers disdain “process” – organizations that put a premium on “the way things have always been done around here” over those that champion bold and rapid decision making. Ironically, as this author states, making the right decision is less important than focusing on how the decision is made – the process. In a compelling argument he makes the case that examining how decisions are made, rather than the decisions themselves, will lead to better decisions.

In today's diverse workplace, your actions and motives are constantly under scrutiny. Time to manage your own professional image before others do it for you. An interview with professor Laura Morgan Roberts.

Of course, failure isn’t an experience to be deliberately sought, and cushioning ourselves against its harshest blows makes perfect sense. But failure isn’t something to be despised or ashamed of, either. That’s not a message we hear a lot about these days. Yet some of history’s most impressive successes started out as big, fat failures. The stories of the world’s most successful failures suggest that what matters most is not whether you win or lose, but how you fail. [Hat Tip to Bruce Lynn]

Happy Brain Storming offers a somewhat poorly written article, but one which is full of useful character trait considerations for evaluating personality. These character traits come after a muddling introduction which you may wish to skim/skip. [Hat Tip to LifeHacker]

Making quality decisions is an intricate tapestry of experience, inquiry, and judgment that converge to form solutions. According to Michael Sacks and Steve Walton, professors at Emory University's Goizueta Business School, there are strategies that can be adopted to make the process more effective.

There are two major job responsibilities of a CEO. One is Chief Strategist. The other is Chief Story Teller. Considering that many people would rather die than speak in public, including CEO’s, comes this concise article detailing the 8P’s of Persuasive Presentations.

The conventional wisdom about "natural" talent is a myth. The real path to great performance is a matter of choice.

In today's uncertain environment, the ability to sell our ideas, points of view, products, services and even our reputation is crucial. Communication and interpersonal skills are now ranked as critical business skills by recruiters, and a flattening out of hierarchies in our interdependent society has led to increased dependence on interactive skills. However, persuasion is often overlooked in current management literature. In their paper, IESE's Brian Leggett and Josep M. Rosanas stress the continued importance of persuasion in running a successful organization and offer practical tips on how to be persuasive.