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he sanity tax is a minor cost that’s disproportionate to the massive value we get in return. It’s when we pay a little bit more, in money or time or effort or energy, more to get what we need. Rather than settling for less out of guilt, pride, consistency or frugality. Like spending a hundred bucks on an air conditioning unit for our bedroom, so we don’t sleep in…

Shakespeare wondered if a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Well, one psychological study from the seventies argued that it would not. Researchers were curious about the effects of labels on candidates during job interviews, so here’s what they did. Half the participants were labeled as applicants, while the other half were labeled as patients. After watching the videotape, clinicians were asked to complete a questionnaire evaluating the…

Meditation teachers often give a warning to their new students. For the first year of your practice, don’t tell anyone you’re doing it. If you feel the need to tell others you’re meditating and how much it’s changing your life, then you’re missing the point. That warning makes me so happy. It’s exactly the approach we should take to personal growth. Because if the work we’re doing on ourselves…

My first brush with celebrity happened at a taqueria a few weeks after my debut book went viral. The woman behind the counter recognized me from my article in the local paper, so she kindly offered me a meal on the house. Anyone who wears a nametag every day gets free nachos, she laughed. Now, at that time in my life, having only been out of college about a…

My nametag has become my social filter. It’s the central lever that instantly puts a social magnifying glass on any situation. Show me your reaction to a sticker, and I’ll show you who you are. It’s almost like an inkblot test. A shortcut to understanding. Based on how someone responds to my nametag, I know everything I need to know about them. Here’s a sampling of responses somebody might…

The signature is one of my favorite artifacts. It’s been a staple of individualism and personality in our society for thousands of years. Hancock, whose large and stylish signature first signed our nation’s declaration of independence, has even become the generic term as a synonym for the word signature itself. Congratulations on buying your new portable heated outhouse, sir, just going to need your johnhancock at the bottom of…

Decisiveness is the antidote to regret. If our organization wants to move forward on a committed path, then we need to stop micro optimizing ourselves into oblivion and take action. We need stop engaging in this neurotic battle with our transitory illusion of perfection and ship something out the goddamn door. We’re not having another meeting. There will be no more touching base, circling back, syncing up or getting…

Starbucks once had a barista who posted an anonymous open letter to all of the company’s patrons. It’s honest, hilarious, and although it went viral many years ago, there’s still one section that resonates with me today. It’s the part about the bizarre relationship between coffee baristas and regular customers. Here’s what the letter says. We are not your friends. We are not your neighbors. In most cases, we…

Mouthfeel is a term from the culinary world. It means that the brand name can be said with ease and satisfaction of pronunciation. It’s not awkward to express, doesn’t contain baggage, and won’t cause word aversion or negative connotation for the customer. Vaudeville performers were the first professionals to officially practice this tradition, using words with the hard k sounds, because they knew they were simply funnier to audiences….

Friday has statistically been proven to be the least productive day of the work week. One study from a project management software company analyzed a data set of nearly two million projects and twenty eight million tasks from their user base. Their research found that, big surprise, the last day of the week was twenty percent less productive than the first. Another study of two thousand office workers found…