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. […]
Day 176 – What Stands in the Way Becomes the Way
One of the more frequently quoted lines from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations is:“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” This idea shows up in many modern mindset adaptations and makes for some good social media posts. One I saw recently said:“The secret to understanding the mind is that when […]
Day 175 – You Don’t Have to Be Perfect to Be All In
This is one of the most difficult and soul-revealing concepts I’ve had to struggle through. For a long time, I believed that in order to commit to something, I had to be perfect—or at least complete in my commitment—before diving in. This mindset has applied to almost every area of my life: eating, exercise, career, […]
Day 174 – Sometimes You Have to Ask
One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned in life is that sometimes, to get what you want, you have to ask. Rarely does someone just show up and randomly offer you a boon. More often, you need to ask for it—and only then will the other person consider whether they’re willing to grant it. This […]
Day 173 – 5X12 Power Hour
Last night, I was relaxing in the backyard and dozed off for a few minutes. I had a strange dream: I was sitting cross-legged on the ground, watching an alarm clock go off. When I woke up, my mind began spinning, searching for meaning behind the dream. I came up with many ideas—most of them […]
Day 172 – Contemplating Your Navel?
When I was young, I often found myself sitting quietly somewhere, staring off into the distance and just thinking. I wasn’t solving any complicated problems or coming up with anything profound—I was simply processing the things I saw and heard, and thinking about what they meant. I was a curious creature growing up, and I […]
Day 171 – Networking is Connection
Everyone keeps saying you should ‘network more’—but what does that actually mean? One of the concepts I see getting thrown around a lot is that of networking. The context is usually getting more business, meeting new people, or finding better employment. People will say something like, “If you want that, then you should be networking.” […]
Day 170 – Building an EcoSystem
Visited Austin, TX this week and had the opportunity to hang out at Antler VC for a couple of hours. This group focuses on early-stage development of new businesses by emerging entrepreneurs. For most of the afternoon, I just roamed around and watched whatever was going on. I talked to Sherma, the General Partner of […]
Day 169 – Rules of Evidence
I watched with some amusement an online back-and-forth debate between two family members regarding a hotly contested political issue. Both were firmly entrenched in their particular ideology and had facts to back up their claims. However, they each disputed the other’s facts, and quickly, their debate crumbled into a volley of attacks, with each using […]
Day 168 – The Feeling of Loneliness
Yesterday, I had the notion that understanding the emotion of loneliness and its root causes would be beneficial. I often hear people say, “I feel lonely,” and it occurred to me that I didn’t fully grasp what this emotion means. First of all, loneliness is an emotional experience. The emotion is far more complex than […]