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Time is a story. Einstein himself proved that it expands and contracts based on our subjective interpretation of it. Here’s an example from my experience. When I set aside regular, quiet time to get the rest that my body and mind crave, something magical happens. I suddenly seem to have more time, not less, for all the other demands in my life. The act of relaxing creates more minutes…

My first book was written during my senior year of college. Eighty pages of stories and observations about a guy who wore a nametag every day. It wasn’t that good, but it was mine, and that’s all that mattered. After graduation, I published it, and the book went viral. It fundamentally changed the trajectory of my life and career forever. That was over twenty years ago. Feels like another…

Along each of our hero’s journey, whatever power we are searching for, it has been in our possession from the very beginning. That thing was there the whole time. We just needed to embark on this long and sprawling quest in order to confront and own it. Putting on a nametag didn’t make me special, it merely brought to the surface a specialness that was always there. It made…

If one of your ideas doesn’t work out, that doesn’t make it a bad idea. The issue might have been timing, user error, a tech glitch, or some other unforeseen event. But whatever happened, treat this failure as part of the account learning process. Now, if the mistake is yours, own it. As quickly as you can. It’s embarrassing, but you’re not going to get fired, and your clients…

People are quick to complain about oversharing in the workplace. The argument is that over sharers are employees with an overblown sense of worth who believe everything they say should be shared in person, just like they do online. The argument is not wrong. Does the intern really need to tell stories about her drunken exploits from the weekend? Does the whole team really need to know that the…

The hardest time to set boundaries is when you’re feeling lonely. It’s just so temping to give in to people. They ask you for something, anything, and you jump at the chance to help them, because it’s guaranteed to make you feel needed and useful. The quick fix is irresistible. Like putting a salve on a wound. When I was a young, struggling entrepreneur, scrambling for any shred of…

My friend’s venture firm incubates, builds and grows tech startups. He once told me that a huge red flag in the acquisition process is when a company has what’s called a customer concentration risk. Meaning, a significant portion of the organization’s recurring income can be attributed to a single source, and that company runs the risk of losing anticipating revenue at best, and full blown brand extinction at worst….

We’ve always been told that comedy is tragedy plus time. Maybe the equation of the self works in a similar way. What if maturity was just identity plus time? After all, knowing who we are isn’t the hard part. Knowing how to use who we are to navigate the losses, rejections, failures, mistakes and transitions life throws at us, that’s the real work. Opening ourselves to the wisdom that…

When success comes to us fast, early and often, it’s not unusual to think that it will keep coming. When we’re young and naïve and the whole world is still in front of us, of course nothing could possibly block the flow of good in our lives. We’re bulletproof. But one of the lessons we learn as we get older is, attachment often means thinking that the good times…

Client services is an inherently stressful business model. Here’s why. Companies that hire your agency to do marketing or public relations or consulting are essentially paying you for something else. To worry for them. That’s what your monthly fee goes toward. Outsourced anxiety. And such, clients not only want, but expect their agencies to be neurotic. Practically twenty four hours a day. Think of it from their perspective. If…