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You’ve chosen an uncertain path. You’ve adopted an inconvenient lifestyle. You’ve embarked upon an unconventional journey. You’ve felt the voice inside you growing more urgent. You’ve committed yourself enough so you can’t turn back. IN SHORT: You’ve decided to play for keeps. This is the critical crossroads – the emotional turning point – in the life of every young artist. And I’ve been there myself. From my latest book,…

The real beauty is when we can be ugly together. When we can join each other in a safe space of honesty and imperfection and give voice to the darkest, most perverse sides of ourselves. Somewhere we can set shame aside and let vulnerability meet vulgarity, without the fear of being judged. We might do coffee with friends. Have dinner club with colleagues. Share at storytelling open mic nights….

When times are tough, it’s a lot harder to believe our own bullshit. Anyone can self-rationalize when there’s money in the bank, clients in the pipeline and projects in the works. That’s like riding a bicycle downhill and assuming our legs are strong. But when the phone stops ringing, when the obligations start accumulating, and when we’re not sure where the next check is coming from, there’s only so…

Most of the time, email is everyone else’s agenda for our time. It’s the digital fidget we sit around waiting to react to, the easiest way to preserve the illusion of productivity and the constant distraction that prevents us from executing what matters most. Then again, I’ve received emails that changed my perspective forever, like the man who commented how my entire career came from something in a trashcan….

The other night I had dinner with a group of travel agents. I was curious how the economic, technological and generational shifts were affecting their industry, so I asked what the future of their profession looked like. And without skipping a beat, this one woman launched into a story that blew my mind. About a week ago, she was talking to the cashier at a local bakery. When the…

It costs nothing to have a voice. Actually, that’s not entirely true. It costs your privacy, your safety, your vulnerability, your pride, your addiction to permission, your need for control, your ego, your time, your sweat, your blood, your reputation, your emotional labor, possibly your job, sometimes your relationships and, in a few devastating cases, your life. But that’s it.

Over the years, I’ve done plenty of things for the wrong reasons. For the money, for the resume, for the attention, for the approval, for the applause, for the footage, for the material, for the achievements and of course, for the need to prove myself. But looking back, the experiences I’m most proud of, the projects I least regret and the investments that yielded the greatest dividends, were the…

Dreams weren’t meant to be sat on. They’re not eggs and we’re not chickens. When it comes to the birth of what’s in our hearts, time doesn’t always enable incubation. Sometimes it hinders execution. Sometimes patience isn’t a virtue. And sometimes what we think is strategic planning is just procrastination in disguise. If that’s the case, we owe it to ourselves, to our hearts, to take decisive action. To…

Confusion is expensive. If people don’t know what to expect when they come to your door, the organization will burn piles of money trying to reeducate, reassure and reaffirm people who they are. Smart companies start early. They build expectational clarity to buttress the transaction. That way, they create greater anticipation in the customer’s mind, capturing their imagination for what’s come. Icontact is a perfect digital example. The moment…

You’ve chosen an uncertain path. You’ve adopted an inconvenient lifestyle. You’ve embarked upon an unconventional journey. You’ve felt the voice inside you growing more urgent. You’ve committed yourself enough so you can’t turn back. You’ve decided to play for keeps. This is the critical crossroads – the emotional turning point – in the life of every young artist. And I’ve been there myself. Here’s a list of suggestions to…