We run through everything you’ll find at Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe, from Mario Kart rides to the Ministry of Magic, Frankenstein’s castle and cute dragon animatronics.
SUCCESS
Can You Smoke Meat In Your Oven? This Chef Says Yes and Told Me How
You don’t need a big outdoor smoker to kiss ribs and chicken with applewood or hickory. Here’s how to safely turn your kitchen into a smokin’ BBQ pit.
How Much Protein Do You Really Need? This Visual Guide Makes It Simple
If you’re struggling to meet your daily protein needs, this visual guide makes understanding your requirements easy.
Searching for Better Sleep? Magnesium May Be Your Key
Forget melatonin. Here’s why magnesium supplements are another top choice for quality sleep.
Wi-Fi vs. Ethernet: What I Learned While Testing Them Out at Home
What’s the difference between Ethernet and Wi-Fi? It was all new to me, so I made it my mission to learn firsthand.
Is Leading Exhausting? This Strategy Will Change Your Business
Managing a team often feels like a constant battle. You’re buried in meetings, overwhelmed by emails, and always fighting fires. Just when you think you’ve got a grip on things, new demands, shifting priorities, and AI-driven changes throw everything into disarray. Finding time to think strategically seems impossible, let alone feeling in control of your work.
It’s exhausting. And you’re not alone.
Many leaders are stretched too thin. They’re expected to deliver results while navigating constant requests and unforeseen challenges. The pressure continues to build, making it easy to wonder: Am I keeping up, or am I falling behind?
The good news? You can break free from the chaos.
The answer isn’t about working harder or adding more to your already-full plate. It’s about changing how you lead. Instead of drowning in the demands, you can harness the power of connection to create clarity, resilience, and forward momentum.
Why Traditional Leadership Isn’t Enough
We live in a fast-moving, unpredictable world — what experts call a VUCA world: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. Leadership strategies that worked in the past, such as tight control, rigid hierarchies, and top-down decision-making, are no longer effective. Rather than creating stability, they often lead to burnout, micromanagement, and slow responses to change.
Here’s the reality: No one can do it all alone.
Trying to control every decision, meeting, and issue only leads to burn out. The modern workplace demands a new kind of leadership — one rooted in trust, adaptability, and the power of networks.
That’s where Network Leadership comes in.
Why Network Leadership Is the Future
The shift toward Network Leadership isn’t just the latest trend. It’s a perspective rooted in network science. Organizations aren’t rigid hierarchies. Instead, they’re living networks of people, ideas, and collaborations.
Network science shows that high-performing organizations thrive on well-connected individuals and adaptive structures. Influence no longer comes from positional authority alone. It’s the result of a leader’s ability to connect people, foster relationships, and enable knowledge flow.
This is why traditional leadership models that were built for stable, predictable environments are breaking down. The future belongs to leaders who understand how to activate and nurture networks. These leaders ensure that information, trust, and innovation move at the speed of change.
By embracing Network Leadership, you stop fighting complexity and start leveraging it. The result? You’ll be able to turn chaos into clarity, silos into synergy, and pressure into performance.
From Stretched Thin and Overwhelmed to Confident and Clear
Network Leadership isn’t about adding more to your to-do list. It’s about leading more intelligently. Rather than trying to manage everything on your own, you focus on connecting the right people, streamlining communication, and supporting collaboration that actually works.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- Remove the bottleneck. You don’t have to be the one who solves every problem. Empower the natural connectors in your team. These are the individuals who bring people together and share information effectively. When you enable them, the team runs more smoothly. There’s no need for you to micromanage every detail.
- Reduce collaboration overload. Not all meetings, emails, and group work are productive. Too much collaboration drains your time and energy. Be intentional. Cut unnecessary meetings, encourage quick peer-to-peer problem-solving, and save full-team gatherings for crucial discussions and decision-making.
- Leverage the meaningful use of AI to your advantage. AI isn’t here to replace you. To the contrary, when used intentionally AI is here to simplify your life. Automate repetitive tasks. Use AI-driven insights for better decisions. Let technology handle the busy work so you can focus on strategy and leadership.
- Measure the right things. Success isn’t about checking off tasks. It’s about making a meaningful impact. Rather than obsessing over outputs (like response times, hours worked, reports generated), focus on outcomes: innovation, learning, and long-term growth.
- Cultivate a learning culture. You don’t need all the answers. Create an environment where team members learn from each other, share insights, and experiment with new ideas. This reduces the pressure on you while making the team stronger, more adaptable, and more self-sufficient.
Mastering the Art of Connection: Small vs. Large Networks
To make Network Leadership effective, you must balance the deep trust which characterizes successful small teams with cultivating broader connections across the organization.
For example, small teams of 4-5 members make up tight-knit groups where meaningful, high-impact work takes place. They provide an environment of psychological safety which is needed for deep collaboration. Meanwhile, engaging large networks with effective cross-functional relationships drive innovation and ensure alignment with the organization’s larger goals. By connecting people throughout the organization, you prevent silos from developing and ideas can flow freely.
Strengthen both kinds of connections. Build high-performing small teams while maintaining a pulse on the larger network to keep alignment and progress on track.
The future of leadership isn’t about doing more. It’s about leading differently. And it starts with connection. By embracing Network Leadership, you can break free from burnout and reclaim your time, energy, and effectiveness. Transition from a reactive problem-solver to a strategic enabler while at the same time empowering your team, driving meaningful impact, and positioning your organization to thrive in an ever-changing world.
The post Is Leading Exhausting? This Strategy Will Change Your Business appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.
Gold Just Hit Another All-Time High. Will It Keep Climbing?
The price of gold set a new record Friday amid a turbulent stock market, an evolving trade war and softening economic indicators. The precious metal opened Friday morning at $3,194.20 — its highest opening price in history — with intraday prices reaching as high as $3,244, putting its year-to-date gain at 38%.
The ongoing rally has been bolstered by a weakened U.S. dollar, which has fallen in value by 8.39% since Inauguration Day on Jan. 20. The fallout from President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to fuel uncertainty, leading numerous investment banks to increase the odds of a recession later this year despite the administration’s pause announcement on Wednesday.
With stocks continuing to flounder, bearish investor sentiment has risen 100% since Jan. 22, increasing the appeal of safe-haven assets such as gold, silver and fixed-income securities.
Will gold prices continue to rally?
Gold has seen a significant appreciation since the start of April. According to Alex Ebkarian, chief operating officer and co-founder of Allegiance Gold, Friday’s record price confirms a decisive shift in bullish momentum for gold.
“The outlook for 2025 is between $3,500 to $4,000,” Ebkarian tells Money in an email.
Ebkarian says falling inflation could also factor in gold’s ongoing rally. Consumer prices saw a year-over-year gain of 2.4% in March, down from 2.8% in February.
While there is speculation that Trump’s tariffs could increase costs, for now, Ebkarian notes that falling inflation could persuade the Federal Reserve to lower its benchmark interest rate, which would be a catalyst for gold as investors may seek out alternatives to investments that suffer from lower yields.
“Yields on CDs and bonds could lower the opportunity cost of investing in gold,” he says. “When the rates drop, factoring in inflation, the real rate of return [for CDs and bonds] would be minimal. For example, banks pays 4% but inflation is at 2.4%, resulting in 1.6% real return. Gold has significantly outperformed that.”
Ebkarian points to gold’s role as not only a tool of diversification and wealth preservation but also as a hedge against policy exposure, geopolitical tensions and a weakening global economic climate.
The appeal of safe-haven assets
Gold’s new all-time high comes one week after a record $6.6 trillion was wiped out of the stock market. With the market squarely in correction territory, investors looking to deploy idle cash should consider conservative alternatives outside of the equities market.
Additionally, with a trade war between the U.S. and China emerging, the impacts could disrupt global markets, ultimately eroding corporate earnings throughout 2025. As Ebkarian puts it, “The escalating trade conflict with China isn’t just about tariffs — it’s a multiplier of risk. It threatens global growth, weighs on investor confidence and adds pressure on central banks already navigating uncertain waters.”
With those circumstances unlikely to abate in the near future, safe-haven assets are providing additional appeal to investors wary of the stock market. Ebkarian adds that higher tariffs and trade friction are beginning to impact the Fed’s discussions, introducing yet another layer of uncertainty.
“As policy risks pile up — from trade wars to debt servicing concerns — they don’t just threaten growth, they risk eroding global trust in U.S. assets,” he says.This continues to incite demand for safe-haven assets domestically and globally. Gold, the standard-bearer of defensive investments, isn’t alone in its rally. The price of silver is up 13.2% this year. For context, the S&P 500 has seen a loss of 10.39% in 2025.
Before the Fed makes its next interest rate decision, fixed-income securities — such as U.S. Treasurys, corporate bonds and certificates of deposit (CDs) with near-zero risk — can help investors looking to diversify away from equities. At the time of writing, the four-month Treasury bill is yielding 4.35%, and longer-dated government bonds are approaching or have surpassed 5%.
With gold hitting another record high, investors may be considering taking profits. But given the current and unprecedented level of uncertainty — as well as the precious metal’s function as a store of value — Ebkarian reminds them to think long-term.
“Elevated uncertainty is resulting in wild swings,” he says. “Some investors might like the idea of locking in some of the profit; however, we see the price of gold increasing.”
More from Money:
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Are on the Brink of a ‘Death Cross’
‘Anything Works in a Bull Market.’ But What About a Bear Market?
Is it Safe to Share Your Social Security Number? Experts Explain the Risks
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Tariffs Explained: As Trump Alters Tariff Plans, Here’s What It All Means for You
The president’s global raft of tariffs was dubbed “worse than the worst-case scenario” by experts, but the most alarming parts of the plan were delayed on April 9.
Luxury Lens: Why Real Estate Still Reigns Supreme for the Wealthy
Whether they are high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) with investable assets of US$1 million+ or ultra-high-net-worth individuals with US$30 million+, the world’s wealthiest invest a significant share of their portfolio in real estate.
Real estate historically appeals to HNWIs as a tangible asset with clear lifestyle benefits. Recently, luxury property values have surged around the world. In the U.S., from Q4 2019 to Q4 2023, luxury home prices increased 65% compared to a 40% gain in the non-luxury market, according to a 2024 report by J.P.