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My first book went viral before viral was viral. The website got over a million hits in one day, emails began pouring in from across the world and the nametag story spread like wildfire. My career was officially launched. And to my surprise, that media storm lasted for nearly two years. You can’t pay for that kind of coverage. Looking back, I estimate my advertising value equivalency to be…

Being the finest doesn’t count as much as being the first. If the goal of our interactions with people is to delight and surprise and bring value and create moments worth remembering, the best indicator of success is hearing them say the following magic words: “Wow, nobody’s ever done that before.” These moments, these firsts, happen a thousand times a day, in every industry, in every country. The veterinary…

Fall in love with your work, but don’t make it your soulmate. I made that mistake for a long time. Like many entrepreneurs, I found something I loved and it loved me right back. Of course I gave it everything. Isn’t that how soulmates work? It certainly seemed romantic and noble and meaningful at the time. The prospect of treating my business as my first mate, first priority and…

One of my favorite hobbies is keeping tabs on humanity. Listening to what our culture is up to, watching how our society is evolving and documenting where our species is heading. At current, here’s how I feel about it: I am so goddamn excited to be alive right now, so hopeful for the advancement of our species, so thrilled to be living in the greatest time in human history,…

Love means changing our pronouns. Understanding that every action we take has an equal an opposite reaction on someone else. Remembering that most decisions can’t be made unilaterally. And letting go of a life that’s solely focused on executing our own will. In short, surrendering to the alchemy of we. It’s a scary change. Maybe the scariest. Especially when all of our routines and behaviors and activities were perfectly…

Solitude is seductive. It’s easier because we don’t have to think about anyone else. It’s cheaper because we don’t have to listen to anyone else. And it’s faster because we don’t have to wait for anyone else. So we retreat. We go it alone instead of sharing the journey. We lock ourselves in our own little world and rejoice in the ability to do whatever we want, whenever we…

Radio Shack was the perfectly oiled machine. During the late 60’s, 70’s & 80’s, they pioneered innovations in electronic calculators, personal computers, mobile phones and satellite television. Remember the place where you and your dad went to buy batteries for the remote controlled car? That was Radio Shack. Remember the place where radio and electronic nerds used to hang out and bond over their favorite mechanical hobbies? That was…

I once convinced the entire staff of a sushi restaurant to wear nametags. Not on purpose. Like most things in life, it just kind of happened. The waitress asked why I was wearing a nametag, so I told her. She seemed to like it. So much so, that she asked if I had any extra nametags with me. Which I did. So I pulled a spare out of my…

I’m always making something. Books, blogs, speeches, songs, training modules, concerts, podcasts, thinkmaps, brandtags, software, strategies, videos, notes, just to name a few. But what about the works in progress? What about the exciting projects that aren’t finished yet? That’s what this page is for.  To remind you (and myself, I suppose), what’s in the hopper.  Now, although I can’t give away too many juicy details––after all, the first rule…

Inhaling is a key part of my meaning making mission. I usually spend the first hour of my day scouring and learning and reading and annotating from any number of newspapers, blogs and online publications. By the time I’m done, my desktop is littered with new documents and ideas and perspective and insight. And my brain is ignited and ready to engage. I’ve been practicing this daily ritual for…