Day 186 – Getting Into a Rhythm
Some days, it feels as though I can do nothing right. I sit down to work, full of good intention, but the minutes slip by in a fog of distraction. Everything feels like a false start. I pick up a task, drop it. Reorganize my desk. Check my schedule. I reach for productivity but grasp […]
Day 185 – A Fly Can’t Bird
This is my official and published apology to Benjamin Hoff, author of The Tao of Pooh. I will explain why this apology is necessary shortly, but suffice it to say that this book brilliantly conveys to those of us in the Western world the core principles of Tao, or “The Way of the Universe.” When […]
Day 184 – The Most Difficult Virtue
When I was in high school, I read Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography. This work is deeply introspective and offers profound insight into the heart and mind of one of the founding fathers of the United States. Here was a man, anxiously searching for ways to improve himself. He devised a method for implementing several virtues into […]
Day 183 – Training Unicorns
There’s something intoxicating about the idea of a rare breakthrough. The kind that erupts overnight. In business, investing, entrepreneurship—even creative work—people are constantly looking for the one thing that will change everything. We’ve come to call this elusive prize a unicorn. The problem is, unicorns aren’t real. Not in the way we want them to […]
Day 182 – Black Swan Events
We are experiencing what is known as a Black Swan event—a moment in history that was largely unpredicted but brings massive, sweeping change. The restructuring of world trade, with the United States taking a far more aggressive stance on balancing global trade flows, will most likely be considered one of these events. When the dust […]
Day 181 – Digging Deep
When I was a young child, I one day got the idea that I was going to dig a hole to the center of the Earth. Perhaps I had read Jules Verne’s book or something like it, but I believed that if I just put in enough effort each and every day, I could eventually […]
Day 180 – The Process of Realizing Value
When we first discover something of potential value, we go through a series of distinct phases. This is important to recognize because we often find ourselves in situations where understanding this process matters. You might encounter a new innovation that seems helpful in your life. You might be trying to sell a new innovation to […]
Day 179 – Your Cells Are Begging You to Move
Most advice about physical activity focuses on the outside: losing weight, looking better, building muscle. But if you could peek inside your body—deep down to the cellular level—you’d find a far more powerful reason to move. It’s called ATP, and your life literally depends on it. A Morning Thought I woke up this morning and […]
Day 178 – Avoid Contention; Resolve Conflict
Conflict is a natural part of our human existence. Conflict often arises not because people want different things, but because they envision different paths to achieving shared, basic needs. Conflict causes paths to diverge in our families, communities, teams, companies, and nations. However, contention is different. Contention is not about solving problems or reaching shared […]
Day 177 – Love Thy Neighbor – What Does That Mean?
The word neighbor is interesting. In passing, I saw a poster that emphasized one of the Great Commandments from Christian Scripture: the admonition to “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” That got me thinking—who exactly is my neighbor? My first notion was that it doesn’t matter. Just love everyone. But then I started thinking this through. […]