Here’s an interesting paradox. 

Only the pain of anger can tell us who we really are. 

And yet, anger is the mood we are the worst at controlling. 

Because most of us never learned how to allow that emotion to work for us. Our parents and teachers never told is that we could actually domesticate and metabolize anger before it turned into resentment. What a concept. 

Lincoln was a master at this during his presidency. Whenever he felt the urge to tell someone off, he would compose one of his famous hot letters before going to sleep. The president would pile all of his anger into the note, set it aside until his emotions calmed down, and then write at the bottom, never sent, never signed. 

What’s your ritual for discharging anger? What’s your emotional catharsis for letting it all out, without the repercussions of true engagement? 

Each of us needs this kind of tool. Because when situations arise that provoke genuine appropriate anger, we need outlets for discharging it. Otherwise those feelings are going to find a home in our body. 

Pohl’s book on how to restore physical, mental, emotional and spiritual balance makes an interesting point on anger. The doctor writes:

In the same way that lightning always finds a path to ground, feelings always find a path to expression. And if we don’t allow ourselves to feel and talk about them, then they invariably come out sideways in indirect forms via our unhealthy, defeating or explosive behavior. 

Proving, that anger isn’t unhealthy, the way we’re expressing it is. 

Next time you get the sudden and uncontrollable urge to choke one of your coworkers with a phone charger, try taking your anger and putting it into your pen. 

Start writing an angry letter to that person, and by the time you’re done, you’ll be signing it with love. 

Or, not even signing it at all. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

When anger dares you, will you rise to the occasion?* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

Reacher, my favorite fictional character, is a retired solider turned vagrant who reluctantly solves government crimes and usually beats up five guys at once. Nobody does it better. 

In one particular story, his former commanding officer asks him why he chose to quit the army after thirteen years of decorated service. To which he replies:

You wake up one morning and the uniform doesn’t fit anymore.

Love that passage. As someone who is deeply conscious about his own iterations, transformations and evolutionary leaps, this kind of stuff fascinates me. It’s such a simple but powerful visualization about the evolving constellation of our identity. 

Because we all outgrow our uniforms. We all have those prescient moments when we suddenly know a different sense of living, and we must have the discipline to discard what doesn’t fit anymore. 

The crazy part is, there is no warning. There is no text message. We just look in the mirror one morning and notice our buttons pulling at the fabric to try and reach each other. 

And so, there is only acceptance. There is only embracing the mystery of our evolution, moving forward and trying not to look over our shoulder. 

Because not believing in our own evolution won’t protect us from it. 

We may as well throw out the old uniform and find a new one that fits the person we are today. 

It’s the only way to evolve toward an ever more perfect whole. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How are you waking up to a bigger context about your own future?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

Dickinson was prolific, but private. 

As the legend goes, she wrote nearly two thousand poems, but only about a dozen were published during her lifetime. Emily believed that publication was the auction of the mind. 

Meanwhile, one of her colleagues scolded her refusal to publish with the following.

You are a great poet, and it is a wrong to the day you live in that you will not sing aloud. 

How sad. Because singing, literally or figuratively, is the whole point of being an artist. Not because singing allows us to become rich or famous or even successful, but because singing allows us to humbly and proudly return the gift that you’ve been given back to the world. 

As a profession, that’s why we’re here. Every creator has an inner imperative to give their voice aperture. 

And understandably, preparing our work for public consumption can be a scary, vulnerable and anxiety inducing experience. In fact, there’s something to be said about making art for our eyes only. 

But there’s a fine line between engaging in healthy selfishness and hiding our light from the world. There’s a fine line between paying yourself first and dying with your music still in you. 

As a singer and songwriter, it took me five years to share any original music with the world. This reluctance stemmed from a combination of fears, which included the fear of being rejected, being ignored, being humiliated, being not good enough, and being vulnerable with my deepest feelings. 

Not to mention, my own stubbornness, naiveté and immaturity. 

Point being, singing aloud was terrifying. But eventually, and who the hell knows where this strength came from, maybe it was just a matter of time, my silence was finally broken. 

I went public with my song, quite literally. And despite its immaturity and imperfection, doing so brought me more joy than I ever thought was possible. There was no going back. Top five best decisions of my life. 

Edwin said it best in one of my favorite songs:

It was a love so big that it filled his heart, until it swelled and finally burst apart, and where the love spilled out they called it art, but he never really had no choice. 

Remember, if you wait long enough, you just might die in time to avoid being publicly humiliated. 

Or you can choose to unmute yourself. And discover that it’s worth it. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What are you depriving yourself and the world of by remaining silent?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

Taoists monks believe that words obstruct understanding. 

When there is naming, they say, the name is mistaken for what has been named. As it reads in their holy scriptures:

The name that can be named is not the eternal name. 

But here’s the issue. Things persist as long as we have no name for them. It is the name that makes the invisible visible and, therefore, easier to discuss. It is the name that becomes the handle by which we interact with mysterious forces. It is the name that puts the power back in our hands. 

Fox said it best in his recovery devotional from the early thirties:

A name is not merely an arbitrary label, but actually a hieroglyph of the soul. 

And so, whatever problem or issue or compulsion or addiction you’re dealing with, perhaps it’s time to turn on the lights and give that boogeyman a name. No need to grow attached to it. And no need to reorganize your whole identity around it. 

But maybe accept that sometimes, it’s just nice to know that what you’re struggling with has a name. 

Because the other thing about names is, they stimulate new beginnings. empower us to take a compassionate, gentle and loving stance towards ourselves. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Do your labels devalue you, or help define you?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

Each of us has our breaking point. 

It’s that dreaded moment of surrender when we’ve hung in there for as long as we possibly can, but we just can’t take it anymore. 

And so, we give up. Or break down. Or run away crying. And that’s okay. We’re all human. We all have limits. The intensity of the environmental stress necessary to reach this moment may vary from person to person, but eventually, everybody breaks. 

The goal, then, is deepening our stamina. Expanding our psychological bandwidth. Training our head and heart to last longer and longer, so that our breaking point happens later and later. 

To do this, we must not only understand the value of patience, but also treat it as a muscle that needs practice to grow. Which is kind of absurd, if you think about. It’s like we need to be patient to realize its rewards.

Nevertheless, here’s an insight from my favorite psychotherapist monk. It helped me reframe my thinking around this issue:

Patience isn’t about letting someone walk all over you, it’s a conscious decision to let things go. 

This is not an insignificant distinction. The story we tell ourselves about our breaking point is as important as the moment we reach it. And if we have any intention of growing that muscle, of increasing our ability to endure great stress before suddenly cracking open, reframing our basic understanding of patience is a great place to start. 

Forget about what the cynics say. Patience is not just another word for getting old. It’s not procrastination without the anxiety. It’s not the ability to postpone gratification and to bridle our passions. And it’s not just waiting around with our thumbs up our asses. 

It’s letting go. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What mindset will help you transcend all the annoying little things that life is known for?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

Everything you ever wanted to learn about acceptance, surrender, letting go, forgiving yourself and finding peace can be summarized in five simple words. 

Get on with your life. 

Consider all the examples that play out on a daily basis. 

Instead of trying to argue with reality, walk away in kindhearted acceptance. And get on with your life. 

Instead of obsessing over labels and minor details, remember that it won’t matter a year from now. And get on with your life. 

Instead of burning calories on another pointless battle with someone who isn’t worth your time, just delete the email. And get on with your life. 

Instead of spending your entire lunch break on the phone trying to convince the bank to remove that nominal overdraft fee on your account, just let the four dollars go. And get on with your life. 

Instead of disappearing down the social media rabbit hole of comparison, put your phone back in your pocket. And get on with your life. 

Instead of chasing after people who have consistently rejected you and try desperately to change their minds, accept that it wasn’t meant to be. And get on with your life. 

Instead of letting a momentary poor judgment create a lifelong depression, forgive yourself for being human and making a mistake. And get on with your life. 

It’s an act of mercy toward yourself. 

These five simple words will bring you more peace than you can possibly imagine.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Is this moment a sign that letting go may be in order?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

The first twelve years of my career were spent building a business that wasn’t designed to sustain me over the long term. 

Which, at the time, was fine. When you’re single, in your twenties and filled to the brim with hungry youth juice, it’s not an issue. 

But over time, priorities evolve. Grey hairs accumulate. Markets change. And into the second decade of my business, something occurred to me. 

My golden goose was done laying eggs. I was burned out going it alone, and had no desire to scale in order to burn out even more. 

And so, the time had come to adjust my professional vector onto a healthier and more mature trajectory. Something that served my long term wellbeing. Something that would allow me to live within a rhythm of life that was actually sustainable. 

That wasn’t an easy decision to make. It’s painful to accept that you are facing a dead end and despite the amount of energy you invest, nothing is likely to change.

But that’s what being an adult is all about. Accepting your limitations. Entering the valley of humility. Crashing into deep, dark and uncertain waters of bigger dreams. And courageously making changes that seem difficult initially, but ultimately contribute to the development of long term serenity. Without regret, guilt or shame. 

Which favorite version of yourself are you still holding onto? Are you clinging to vain hopes about your business or life or relationship, even in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence? 

That might be a sign that a you’re refusing to be an adult. Because in my experience, when we cling to our known life, to the limited sense of who we are, we deny ourselves the chance for expansion. 

But when we honestly explore the journey of what it means to live sustainably, joy can have a real chance at us. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you moving at a pace that allows you to stay connected to self and other?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

Expecting to get what you want isn’t optimism, it’s immaturity. 

That’s one of the worst pains of growing up and becoming an adult. Learning to face reality. Making friends with what is. And not allowing yourself to be seduced by childish thoughts about that reality, simply because they’re more comforting. 

It reminds me of a compelling question from a book about interpersonal communication. 

Can you name the stress that brings you to your lowest level of maturity? 

Meaning, what kind of experience shrinks you into the adolescent version of yourself? What situation or interaction makes you want to pout about not getting your way, take your toys and go home? 

For me, it’s not being taken seriously. If you want to watch me melt into the most juvenile version of myself, all you have to do is not appreciate or even acknowledge the heart and soul that I have put into something. 

As a fundamentally thoughtful, earnest and enthusiastic person, that gets me every time. 

But the lesson adulthood keeps trying to teach me is, try not to react with your first impulse. Don’t indulge your petulance when you don’t get what you want. If you hear the sound of crickets, allow yourself to feel those shitty feelings of not being heard, but at the same time, don’t expect others to reciprocate your enthusiasm. It’s not their job. 

That’s merely one step in sculpting a vision of what a mature human being is like. Learning to face reality with maturity, instead of addicting yourself to the childish opiate of expectation. 

If we can master that skill, perhaps we will finally become the adults we have only pretended to be for so long. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How do you respond to the stress that brings you to your lowest level of maturity?* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

As creative people, as thinkers and observers and reflectors and renderers of the world, it’s tempting to take an antisocial vantage point outside of society. 

Because doing so makes us feel heroic. And special. Like we’re somehow being responsible to our artistic gifts by separating ourselves from the herd. 

But there’s a very real difference between observing life, and being observant in a way that always keeps us just outside of living life. 

There’s a very fine line between healthy individuating, and becoming trapped in our own mythological status as outsiders. 

Take it from someone who always felt too eccentric and iconoclastic to be accepted, so he rejected and removed himself before anyone else got a chance to. 

Take it from someone who so feared becoming an outcast from the herd, that he cut the threads of connection before any real intimacy could be achieved. 

Take it from someone who prided himself on created art that guaranteed he would remain obscure, but then resented the world for not knowing who he was. 

It was a nauseating experience. Both for the artist and the people around him. Having to breathe the air of existential estrangement, ordained separateness, social deviance and extreme oppositionalism, blech. 

Humans weren’t meant to live that way. We’re social animals, not islands. We need connection, not nine billion sovereign nations. We need a more evolved and less adolescent approach to walking in this world. 

Maisel’s manifesto on the mental health revolution says it perfectly:

Brooding about your circumstances, stewing with your feelings, and standing alone and isolated, will only worsen your situation. You may have many powerful reasons for isolating. Feeling embarrassed, too angry to reach out, doubtful that anyone will understand you or care about you, scared that you’ll lose control and freedom if you share your truth with another person, and more. But still, isolating isn’t the answer. 

Do you see how you make yourself an outsider? Good. That’s the first step. 

And each step we take out of isolation, out of our old antisocial behaviors, is a major mental health achievement. 

Next time you’re tempted to take your secret special separateness and run into the corner to play by yourself, try extending your arm instead. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How can you change your relationship to the world so you feel less estranged from it?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

The most unexpected part of being in a committed relationship is, you’re forced to become fully acquainted with the most repulsive sides of yourself. 

Sure, everybody can hide for a while, doing their nice little song and dance for the first few months or even the first few years. 

But eventually, love pulls back the velvet curtain. And our relationship becomes this constant mirror, reflecting back to us all the things we’re afraid to confront about ourselves. 

Most which we didn’t even know existed. All of which are far deeper and darker than forgetting to put the cap back on the toothpaste. 

Like how territorial we are about our personal space because we grew up in a household without boundaries. Or how wasteful and distasteful we are in the kitchen because we come from money and had maid and never learned to clean up after ourselves. Or how petulant and childish we get when family members stay for the weekend. Or how job disappointments can make us feel disgusted with ourselves for an entire week. 

Maybe that’s why it’s called intimacy. It’s another way of saying, into me I see. 

True love has no hiding places. 

But isn’t that the point? Isn’t that the beauty of sharing your life with someone? The fact that your relationship becomes this sacred venue, this holy platform, through which both people can heal their respective crazy bullshit? 

It’s the bullet we never see shot when we first pull the commitment trigger. And it hurts when it bloodies the skin. 

But our lives are stronger because of it. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Aren’t you grateful for the relationships that continue to uncover defects you never knew you had? 

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.