Learn to Think in Color

How much impact does the holiday season have on US retail?  Holiday retail Why two hyper-charged months matter more than the other ten High-level framing The  holiday season impact on US retail  is massively out of proportion to the calendar: roughly  one-fifth of annual retail sales  and an outsized share of profit are packed into November and December. That makes these weeks a stress test for pricing, inventory, e-commerce performance, and consumer confidence. If you work in or around retail, understanding how concentrated this demand is — and how fragile it can be — is key to reading results, planning strategy, and managing risk. The 20% that decides the year The short answer: the holiday season is a big deal. In a typical year,  November–December accounts for about 18–20% of annual U.S. retail sales , even though it’s just one-sixth of the calendar. For some chains, especially toys, hobbies, and seasonal goods,  25–30% of y...

What Value Could You Create If You Stopped Trying to Be Good at Everything? You could unlock deeper creativity, sharper impact, and authentic growth by doing fewer things better—and letting the rest go. The Problem with Trying to Be Good at Everything We live in a culture that lionizes versatility. Job postings list laundry lists of skills. Social feeds show people excelling in fitness, business, relationships, parenting, travel, and interior design—all before breakfast. Somewhere along the way, “well-rounded” stopped meaning competent and started meaning superhuman. But the truth is, trying to be good at everything is not a virtue. It’s a trap. Not only is it cognitively exhausting, it dilutes impact. You spend so much time optimizing weaknesses that your natural strengths atrophy. You’re “fine” instead of being extraordinary. You become the Swiss Army knife in a world that sometimes just needs a scalpel. So let’s ask the question again—what value could you create if you  stopped ...