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When I fall into an emotional funk, I tend make this giant leap to global negativity.  The story that I make up is, the world is blind to my talents, clients aren’t coming to warm their hands by my fire, and so, I’m just going spend the rest of my career winking in the dark. It completely assaults my sense of confidence. And I know it’s an uncompassionate way to…

The life of the mind appears to be dazzling and voluptuous operation.  Drifting of to exile inside yourself, becoming a castaway on a desert island of your dreams, being a prisoner in the fortress of your art, these things sound absolutely idyllic.  Especially to the kind of person who feels most at home inside his own head.  But the challenge with introspection is, if we spend too much time…

If there’s one thing I know about myself, it’s that my problem is rarely my problem.  It’s always a symptom, not a source. What matters more is the thing behind the thing.  And so, when a substantial challenge surfaces, before I pull out the whip to start chastising myself, first I challenge myself to think about what else might be bothering me. Because there’s always something.  I struggled with stomach…

Seinfeld was recently asked how his comedy act has become more personal over the years.  He said that as a father, nobody in his family could hurt his feelings anymore, because he didn’t have feelings anymore. They were too much of a problem to have, so he just got rid of them.  What a fascinating way to lead life. No feelings, only cream and sugar.  Hugely practical. Wildly efficient….

I was eavesdropping on two college girls sharing stories about their respective love lives, when one of them made a comment that caught my ear. She said: I didn’t know I was on a date until I came home from one.  Apparently this happens all the time. The guy fails to declare his intentions, and so the girl assumes they’re just hanging out. As friends. With no benefits.  Until…

Feedback is source dependent.  As encouraging as it is to hear your spouse or your friends or your parents or your colleagues sing your praises from the rooftops, deep down, you can’t help but remember that they have a significant vested interest in your success.  Their impression of your talents isn’t exactly an unbiased opinion.  And so, their feedback, no matter how complimentary it may be, rolls off you…

Making a name for yourself is only the beginning.  The real challenge is maintaining a name for yourself. Keeping the story alive and relevant. Because after a certain number of years, every brand starts to slide down the path of terminal decline.  And unless you learn to create value in diverse offerings to as wide an array of clients as possible, you might fall off the radar completely.  The good news…

The goal is to be the bullseye, not the arrow.  To let the market target us.  And yet, we limit ourselves with too narrow of a role repertoire. Instead of enlarging ourselves to source of holistic improvement, we perceive ourselves in terms of a single function.  Instead of showing the world that we are capable of acting in new ways, we remain beholden to one method of delivering value. …

The best piece of business advice I ever got was: Don’t just put yourself in the customer’s future, make the customer miss you in their past.  Be so inspiring and create so much value and deliver such a compelling case for your work that the person sitting across the table from you literally regrets not meeting you sooner in their life. As if slam their fist on table in…

I’ve never been addicted to shopping or had a compulsive spending disorder that lead to severe consequences like debt or ruined relationships.  But I have always had a habit of buying my feelings.  In moments of emotional distress, I would jump online and start buying used books or new shoes or old records, thinking that they would make me feel better.  When the reality was, my brain was releasing…