Love is water
It was the fourth week of quarantine when my wife began to cry.
One of her dad’s favorite things to do is to go hiking every Tuesday with his buddies. For the ten years I’ve known him, the only thing that’s ever stopped him from going is either being hospitalized or lockdown. Bad weather doesn’t stop Lluis. He loves the mountains. It’s his place. The moment he steps onto a trail he blends into it. But even more than the mountains, he loves getting a day out with his friends. They’ve had this weekly tradition for over a decade.
It…
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 into adulthood, I began to push myself far beyond my comfort zone. I hired a communication coach and threw myself into a sales job, where I’d be forced to talk to people every day. And I became good at what I did, working my way up to managing a sales…
Here’s what they said
As an American living in Spain, it didn’t take me long to realize that most Europeans aren’t massive fans of the self-help world. In fact, the majority of my friends loathe it with the same intensity as they do most politicians.
For the longest time, to avoid the punches in the gut, I kept the dirty secret that I was pumping out self-help articles on a weekly basis to myself. But two years ago, after an article went viral, I came clean and I told my buddies about my little hobby.
At first, their comments stung and they couldn’t believe…
Everything else is just a distraction
Each week, for the last three years, I’ve gotten on at least one phone call with someone who I think is doing something pretty cool.
I began by reaching out to people who were playing around the same level as me or those who worked in and around my same lane. But over the years, these calls have evolved. Today, depending on the week, I can be speaking to a recent college grad who’s got a knack for building stuff or a well-established creative, business leader, or entrepreneur.
I was nervous to build this habit, but I’m glad I did…
Their mere presence pushes us into becoming a new kind of “pro”
Over the last year or so, I’ve had the opportunity to work with and get to know professional editors on this platform.
At first, when Medium made the announcement they’d be growing out their own pubs and bringing on outside writers and staffing up, I didn’t understand why platforms always felt the need to pivot when something’s already working.
“Are we not good enough?” I thought.
“If people clearly like what we’re doing, shouldn’t that be embraced?”
“Do they think we’re not strong enough thinkers and writers?”
“Am I too simple?”
But the more I got to know the “new”…
Including a reminder from Anthony Bourdain that may very well be the key to just about everything
World domination isn’t something I spend a great deal of time thinking about as I have a hard enough time trying to keep up with my two kids.
But recently, Greg Isenberg, growth advisor for TikTok US, broke Twitter with a thread about the lessons he’d learned about life, entrepreneurship, and business by interviewing five billionaires in as many days that was pretty fun to read. There was one lesson in particular that stood out for the simple fact it got a rise out of some people —
“Likable people win. People sense those good vibes. …
A new old-wise tale about blocking out the noise and doing you
“You know the rules! Y’all got exactly thirty minutes to eat as many of Miss Mary’s famous blueberry pies as possible!” the portly man shouted in a thick Southern drawl.
“Just remember, there’s only room for one face on the cover of tomorrow’s paper — so get ready boys, on the count of three, I’m gonna fire my gun!”
Seconds later, the man’s revolver made the birds fly and the babies cry. But to the amazement of the crowd, only one of the men dove face-first into his pie.
“What the hell is Dale doing?” a man yelled. “I believe…
Lockdown taught me to start the day by hitting snooze
“What helped you get through the last 12 very bad months? What little things made you smile? It’s worth getting these things down on paper. They’re worth taking with you!”
I was talking to my coach. As someone who leans negative, thinking about what went well this past year wasn’t an easy conversation to have. I’m a feeler. I always have been. When I think about COVID, I go dark.
I see my friend crying uncontrollably when he told me he couldn’t say goodbye to his mom in our building’s basement. I see scared people being treated by other scared…
Sometimes the most beautiful moments are born out of chaos
“I wanna go to the park! I wanna go to the park! Why can’t we go to the park?”
Life as we knew it ended on March 15th of last year. At least it did here in Spain. It was the first day of 40 that my two kids didn’t see a blade of grass. It’s hard to believe my youngest has lived close to half his life inside this mess.
I’ve been trying to think about what was going through my head that day. I’m guessing it wasn’t very good. Probably something about how I was gonna survive being…
“You feel the pain of being voiceless”
It took only seven minutes and twenty-five seconds of listening to Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama’s new podcast, “Renegades: Born in the USA,” for the goosebumps to kick in. The two were reminiscing about the first few times they met and Barack touched upon Bruce’s shyness to which The Boss replied:
“I don’t know if I’d say most people in my business, but shyness is not unusual. If you weren’t quiet, you wouldn’t have so desperately searched for a way to speak.
The reason you have so desperately pursued your work and your language and your voice is because you…
