It took hitting rock bottom for me to learn the real meaning of success — The phone rang. This was it, I thought. At last, all the years of struggle I’d endured were about to be worth it. Growing up with a severe speech impediment and social anxiety, I had a very limited view of what I was capable of accomplishing. But as I grew…

Being a calming influence when things go south is a seriously attractive quality — “I’ve arrived!” the young Hungarian announced to an audience of none. The year was 1921. The place was San Francisco. He’d been traveling for days, but instead of looking for a place to rest, the man had one last thing to do. “Excuse me ma’am!” he politely said to an…

Good stuff happens when we stop — “Can we eat a peach?” My son was close to turning four. We were walking back from the Tuesday morning market in our town. It was summertime. I still had to work. He didn’t. “Can’t it wait till we get home? I’ve got things to do.” “I’m hungry. It’s just…

“You only have to get things right a few times” — Warren Buffett — When reading, “The Warren Buffett Way,” I came across a line that has been running around in my head ever since — “You only have to get things right a few times. 12 investment decisions in my career have made all the difference.” Having recently turned 40 years old, it…

Choose to be the type of creator people can’t think of a single reason to quit — The year was 2016. The location was NYU’s music school. Legendary everything, Pharrell Williams, stopped by a classroom to provide feedback on the latest creations of a group of budding musicians. In the first two demos that he was asked to critique, Pharrell went through the motions without displaying much…

Or at least, make them smile or possibly laugh a little — “Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.” Eleanor Roosevelt said that. I think it’s pretty smart. Something else I think is pretty smart is taking the time to write…

Restraint is a choice — “Hey, Laia!” I shouted from my office. “Do you have any idea what a bad word is for a woman that starts with a K and ends with an N?” “What the hell are you talking about?” my wife shot back. “You’re the native English speaker, not me!” “It’s just…

A powerful reminder courtesy of an unassuming 5-year-old — I walked through our front door and found my 5-year-old quietly drawing at our kitchen table. I wanted to join him. But since he was biting his tongue clearly lost in concentration — and remembering how much I hate it when people bother me when I’m in the “biting-tongue” zone…

A valuable exercise to zero in on what matters most — My wife and I recently made a big life decision. We traded in our relatively spacious apartment (by Spanish standards) at the base of the Pyrenees mountains and moved into a relatively small apartment (by anyone’s standards) near the Mediterranean Sea. If it was just the two of us, downsizing…