Day 196 – We Are All Just Teachers
I’m going to a funeral tomorrow—one of the last in a generation of my wife’s family. As I looked through this woman’s life history, I found myself reflecting on how little I truly knew of her younger days. I only came to know her after meeting my wife, and by then, she was already heading […]
Day 195 – The Night at Serikhan
The dust of the Silk Road rose gently with the arrival of the caravan into Serikhan, a modest but well-fortified caravanserai nestled between the Kunlun Mountains and the Taklamakan Desert. As the sun dipped behind jagged peaks, long shadows stretched across the stone courtyard. Travelers, merchants, and scholars dismounted with creaking joints and weary eyes, […]
Day 194 – The Cost of Impatience
There’s a quiet urgency that often drives us—an internal pressure to move forward, to improve, to fix what feels broken. It can come from ambition, from a desire to grow, or from the discomfort of being stuck in a moment we’d rather escape. For a long time, I didn’t question this urgency. I believed it […]
Day 193 – The Podocarpus Suffers
Years ago, my wife and I got the bright idea to buy a tree to provide some privacy to a spot in our backyard. This introduced me to the art and science of selling trees. I started to suspect I was in trouble when we showed up at the nursery and a gentleman appeared in […]
Day 192 – Start With the End in Mind
There is a quiet nobility in starting something from nothing. A seed of an idea, the courage to act, and the willingness to learn along the way—this is the fuel behind many great achievements. We have come to celebrate this method. We encourage each other to begin, to fail fast, to learn, to try again. […]
Day 191 – Tell Yourself a Story
By now, you’ve probably heard of the hero myth. This concept was articulated by the brilliant thinker Joseph Campbell. When I was a kid, I remember watching him on PBS, slowly and thoughtfully explaining how ancient civilizations, though separated by oceans and time, all seemed to tell the same story. The same myth, just different […]
Day 190 – If You Really Knew…
If you really knew what some of the most successful people started with on their incredible journeys, you would lose all sense of fear and trepidation—and just get started yourself. We create impossible myths around those who have achieved success, and we continue to build upon those myths until their accomplishments seem like unreachable feats […]
Day 189 – Abundance, Not Scarcity
One of the hardest things to do—especially when faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges—is to frame your thinking around abundance rather than scarcity. It is common to feel as though you’re working with limited or no resources when you’re at the bottom, looking up. The reverse is also true: when you’re at the top looking down, […]
Day 188 – What Happened to Quoting Shakespeare?
When I was a young man, it was common to hear an orator begin a speech by quoting Shakespeare. I remember attending a Rotary Club or other social gathering with my grandfather and hearing Shakespeare quotes all the time. This pattern repeated itself during my high school speech and debate experience, and again in Toastmasters. […]
Day 187 – Spontaneity Needs Preparation
You are really only allowed to be spontaneous when you are prepared—any other time is probably reckless. People love to be spontaneous. They like things to be interesting, exciting, and fun. When you’re well-prepared and acting from a solid foundation, spontaneity can yield good—and sometimes unexpected—returns. However, engaging in spontaneity without any basis whatsoever usually […]