BALANCING ACT: BLENDING LIFE, WORK, AND RELATIONSHIPS® A free monthly newsletter about balancing life, work, and relationships based on the books and popular workshops conducted by Alan Weiss, Ph.D.

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Essays

Musings

Developmental Stuff

ORTIYKMWOYBNTO

Balancing Act^®: The Newsletter

(No. 323, June 2026)

BALANCING ACT: BLENDING LIFE, WORK, AND RELATIONSHIPS®

A free monthly newsletter about balancing life, work, and relationships based on the books and popular workshops conducted by Alan Weiss, Ph.D. Past copies are archived on our web site: http://www.summitconsulting.com

ISSN 1934-3116

Balancing Act^® is our registered trademark. You are encouraged to share the contents with others with appropriate attribution. Please use the ^® whenever the phrase “Balancing Act” is used in connection with this newsletter or our workshops.

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Balancing Act is in four sections:

Essays
Musings
Developmental Stuff
ORTIYKMWOYBNT-O Department

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Demography

If you don’t believe that the population is changing significantly over the next generations, there will be more people over 65 in about 5-8 years than there will be children, which is unprecedented. And what do we see advertised in the media: seats that help you stand up, stairway elevator seats, hair restoration, arthritis relief, diabetes help, incontinence products, sleep aids, assisted living facilities, hearing aids, reading magnifiers, and emergency alerts worn at home. Capitalism is telling us something.

Who Says?

Have you seen the claims by self-appointed experts on social media that “52% of workplaces are toxic,” or “most CEOs don’t care about their people,” or “two-thirds of parents don't help their kids with homework”? I always ask what the source is, and the writers usually state that “everyone knows this” or “it’s my experience.” I always thought that the more access to information we have, the smarter we’d be. I was wrong.

Spell Czech

If you’re still worried that your job, hobbies, memberships, and family will be taken over by AI, lower your stress. I find that AI has huge weaknesses and the promises that they will be corrected just produce more. Even something as simple as spell-check anticipates and prints the wrong words, and now I have to proof everything, not for my errors, but for AI’s stupid errors. Do you see the profound difference in “I’ll now nominate her for the board presidency,” and “I’ll not nominate her for the board presidency”? If you don’t then don’t worry at all about AI….

Hooting: Whew Whew!

I’m accustomed to hearing people “hoot” like a locomotive steam whistle at rock concerts, at sports event, at birthday parties, and so forth. I guess mere clapping doesn’t express enough approval for them. But now I hear it in the middle of ballets, theatrical productions, and even speeches. And there seems to be a contest to see who can hoot first and loudest. My wife is upset because members of our church applaud the pianist/singer after a hymn, a very recent and entirely inappropriate action, since we’re not attending a performance but a Mass. I told her not to get too angry now, because it’s only a matter of time before they begin hooting after the Gospel.

Our town is spending money on the largest public works project in its history, which dates back to 1677: the building and modernization of the town schools. It will cost tens of millions, and the town council predicts a six percent increase in taxes, among other things. You may well think it’s laudable to invest in our youth and prepare them for their futures. I do, as well, but with one tiny caveat.

The population of the country is declining, and that includes our town and state. In fact, Rhode Island will probably lose one of our two Congressmen soon according to recent census data, due to population decline. So we’re building and modernizing schools which won’t be facing anywhere near the same volume of students in the future. This problem applies to a lot of things, from infant care to airline schedules, from scouting to pediatrics, from child care to theme parks.

The great Wayne Gretzky claimed that his Hockey prowess was not in his skating toward the puck, but rather in skating to where the puck would probably be. Our great White Shepherd, Koufax, could actually catch squirrels, which none of other of our dogs could or can, because he ran between the squirrel and the tree.

We need to stop extrapolating the present into the future, as though it’s a straight-line and rising slope. Our politicians, planners, executives, authorities, and all the rest of us had better understand that the diminishing population is a real occurrence, and combined with AI and more and more “seniors” remaining in contributing roles, probably warrants not spending money merely because the causes seem just.

Empty schools, no matter how modern, aren’t wise investments.

Development Opportunities

Monetizing thought leadership:

The Right Attitude for the Right Altitude

Date: June 23-24, 2026

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Fees: Starts at $2500

HOW ELITE CONSULTANTS EARN MORE BY THINKING DIFFERENTLY

This is not for those who need more tactics. It's for those who seek and identify shift to shamelessly build brand and command the income justified by their value. Objectives:

The economic prism to best evaluate opportunities and clients
Creating and justifying high fees without guilt or trepidation
Exploiting the reasons buyers pay six and seven-figure fees
Before and beyond a brand: a repositioned identity
Creating a business that serves your life, not the reverse

TOPICS AND DISCUSSIONS:

1. The Economics of expertise

Better positioning trumps "more leads"
The active volcanoes of IP
Revenue depends on value clarity
The supremacy of recognized value

2. Continual value creation

The psychology of capturing value and ignoring price
Offensive, not defensive proposals
Walking your talk, talking your walk

3. Surpassing "trusted advisor"

The IA (indispensable authority)
The myths of likeability and accessibility
Distance without arrogance
Rejecting positive and dysfunctional relationships

4. The authority/brand/gravity alchemy

Visibility is not authority
Thought leadership is framing, not solving
To market upward you can't go sideways

5. The ROI journey begins at the destination

There must be "reasonable certainty"
Work backwards from outcomes
Confidence and competence over credentials
Your internal transformation

6. Road closed, do not proceed

Scaling is something you do to fish
Only profitable growth makes sense
The "E" word is elevation, not expansion
Your life cannot serve your business

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Experienced consultants, speakers, coaches in any field
Those seeking a great lifestyle, not a specific monetary goal
People who can openly share and be honest with colleagues
Those who feel their talents and value can be spread much farther
Those who feel under-valued and under-appreciated

Applicants will be "curated" to ensure proper interactions.

$2,500 per person

$3,500 to include second morning with Q&A with Alan demonstrating transition needs for each attendee

$7,500 to include four hours of one-on-one coaching in 30-60 minute segments within six months, flexibly scheduled

$10,000 includes dinner with Alan one-on-one in a great restaurant. One evening is taken, there is one left.

You will no longer struggle for client affection, selection, or projection. You'll be chosen because of your identify and authority.

Summary: You're not "buying" information or tactics, you are investing in a new way of thinking about yourself, the market, and long-term, sustainable immediate and passive income for you value.

2026 Zoom Workshops

January 6	Maximizing the coaching/advisory dynamic
February 3	Maximizing speaking spin-off business
March 3	Role-playing tough conversations
April 7	Maximizing workshop effectiveness spin-off
May 5	Maximizing current events potential
NEXT: June 9	Role-playing tougher conversations
July 7	Maximizing low project labor practices
August 13	Maximizing panels—participant/moderator
September 8	Role-playing toughest conversations
October 6	Maximizing publishing potential
November 2	Maximizing lifestyle potential
December 8	Maximizing 2027 personally and professionally

All sessions are approximately 90 minutes beginning at 10:30 US eastern time. These sessions are $450 each, or the entire year for $5,000. Add three months of weekly 30-minute coaching for $2,500, a total of $7,500. (My cards are accepted for the full-year, and for the full-year and coaching options, not for individual sessions.) All sessions will include video recording, visual photos, and Zoom Companion summary. Register here: https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/zoom-workshops-2026/

AI: Alan Intelligence®

My unique AI resource which will direct you to the relevant aspects of my entire body of work to answer your “real time” questions about proposals, value based fees, conceptual agreement, avoiding “ghosting,” and thousands of other issues with text, audio, and video resources, all of which you can download. Please go here to gain lifelong, constantly growing access to my work, including referral to specific pages in my books which you can access online: https://alanweiss.com/ai-alan-intelligence/ If you decide at any time to engage in one of my two elite, personal coaching relationships, I'll deduct the full fee you've paid for this resource.

IT'S NOW IN MY VOICE! IN RECOGNITION OF THAT SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT, I'M OFFERING A SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP: INSTEAD OF THE CURRENT $1,200, JOIN FOR THE ORIGINAL CHARTER PRICE OF $450, FOR TOTAL ACCESS INCLUDING MY LIBRARY. YOU CAN DO SO HERE: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/ No annual fee, you can use this resource forever!

Million Dollar Consulting® Global Online Program

Million Dollar Consulting^® for the World

I’ve provided 14 modules with videos from me, from your colleagues globally, slides, and text. They include everything from launch to self-esteem, proposals to fees, closing business to creating a brand. No upsells! It’s only $115. What do you think about a 10,000:1 ROI? We have over 500 people from 47 countries. https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com

LEARN MORE

Million Dollar Consulting® Global Online Program ADVANCED

Million Dollar Consulting^® for the World ADVANCED

The new program contains over 60 videos and has 15 modules focusing on what to do in the buyer’s office, overcoming crises, financial planning, and much, much more. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/advanced-global-learning-program/

LEARN MORE

Million Dollar Consulting® Global Online Program GRADUATE

New: Million Dollar Consulting^® for the World Graduate

Another 12 modules with videos by me and your peers on contemporary issues such as Raising Fees Aggressively, How to Be Consistently Interviewed, Maximizing Happiness, and Managing Multiple projects. Join the people from 57 countries who are availing themselves of this inexpensive way to dramatically grow their businesses in any economic times. How does 100:1 ROI sound? https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com/graduate-learning-program/

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I'm an Old Cowhand...

A personal injury lawyer and his wife invited us to dinner in a restaurant where we were regulars. My wife and I arrived early and sat at the bar. The manager, frantic, came over and said, "I don't have a reservation for you." We told him the other couple's name.

"Oh," he said, finding them on his list, "then let me give you your usual table!"

When the other couple arrived and we were seated and given drinks, the attorney said, "You know, we haven't been here in ten years, I think it's been sold once or twice, but they still give me the best seat in the house!"

I was going to correct him but didn't because my wife kicked me under the table.