Blog

“Everyone who is making progress in today’s economy isn’t doing something with a certified skill.” When I retired as an entrepreneur and starting looking for a day job, the first order of business was to catalogue my assets. The frustrating part was, I had no advanced degrees, no designations and no certifications. And that made it very hard for potential employers to put me in one of their neat little boxes….

“My best experiences as a moviegoer are when I go in knowing as little as possible.” On a daily basis, I recite the mantra, “I expect nothing.” Those three words changed my life. They taught me the virtues of acceptance, mindfulness and relaxation. Why? Because expectation determines outcome. It’s been scientifically proven. If we want to set ourselves up for optimal experiences, it’s not about lowering expectations, it’s about losing them. Inspired…

“If you get paid for being crazy, I call that sane.” Yesterday I learned that my nametag topped the list of the worst tattoos in the world. I have to say, I’ve never felt prouder. Not because my ink got ink, but because every day that passes, the joke gets funnier. The audience gets bigger. And guess who’s laughing the hardest? That’s the greatest magic trick you could ever pull….

“I’ve broken the sharing seal.” I’ve been writing music for twenty years. But it wasn’t until last year that I finally released my work into the world. Partly because I wanted to keep my art to myself, and partly because I was scared of sharing my deepest feelings publicly. What’s interesting is, once the musical floodgates opened, the sharing has only gotten deeper. Since then, I’ve taught songwriting classes, performed at…

“It’s not okay with me that I don’t understand that.” Seth Godin made a great point about being a noticer during yesterday’s presentation. I can relate. There’s this relentless mechanism inside of me that demands to know things. Like when the cashier at the clothing store asks me what kinds of things I plan to do in my new shorts. I need to know why she asked that question. Was…

“People that are like batteries to your creative endeavors.” The ones who answer how with yes. The ones who spark your productivity by proximity alone. The ones who don’t make you feel stupid for speaking up. I love these people. Thanks to them, instead of your ideas solely living and dying in your imagination, they’re able to grow up and reach the world. Inspired by Kevin Smith’s description of…

“This is why I don’t have goals.” For years I promised myself that if I could just accomplish this, then I would be happy. But despite checking off goals on a weekly basis, the list kept growing and growing. Like a regenerating monster. And the hunger was never fully satisfied. Until one day, it hit me like a slow, hot wind. Holy shit. I’ve done enough to be okay with myself, I realized….

“There’s a breed of nerd that’s become a bully.” Awesome interview with Jim Jeffries about the evolution of nerds. One one hand, all the nerds who grew up in the seventies and eighties have become successful. On the other hand, all the nerds who grew up in the nineties and beyond have now become trolls. To the point that they’re using the Internet to bully each other. What happens when…

“Fill the silence with ideas.” The first step in creating value is taking initiative. Literally, the first step. Only when you physically move your carcass out of our chair can you truly contribute. That doesn’t mean you have to be right. That doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. Nor does it mean you have to be loud. But if you wait for people to tell you what to do,…

“The emotional center of my customer is the most magical data I could have.” I spoke at a business conference yesterday along side Gary Vee. Loved his philosophy on research. Real research. Not quant. Not sentiment analysis. Not fabricated consumer profiles. But the excavation of actual human feelings, usually compressed into something as small as a single tweet, that provides insight into their world. That’s the drop of iodine…