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Last week I shared a shuttle with a flight attendant. She was complaining about young people’s inability to shut off their phones right before takeoff. “It’s only a two-hour flight. You’d think it was the end of the world for these kids!” Oh, but it is. Considering the average teenager uses the Internet fifty hours a week — seventy percent of which are on their mobile devices – two…

If you have to tell someone you’re not a stalker, you probably are. I learned this the hard way. His named was Stephan. He was a fan of my work. And he called me every day. Every. Single. Day. For three weeks. Did I mention he was a middle-aged unemployed alcoholic with social anxiety disorder whose father abused him physically, sexually and emotionally? He told me these things. On…

My generation is typecast as being afraid of commitment. The consensus is that we’re impatient, have mediocre work ethic, don’t offer loyalty easily and are quick to quit and pursue something better. Is that an accurate description? Doesn’t matter. What matters is that commitment is unquestionable. That’s why I got a tattoo of the nametag on my chest. Not a marker. Not temporary ink. Not the sticker on my…

It’s not a sticker – it’s a spark. Every morning when I put on a nametag, I light a match and see what catches fire. Will I make a new friend? Will I have a cool conversation? Will I be mistaken for an employee at Office Depot? Will I get insulted by a group of drunken football fans? Will I get harassed by the flight attendant who thinks I…

I just wanted to see what would happen. That’s it. The nametag was an exercise in curiosity, nothing more. But that’s just me. I’ve always been incurably curious. I’m a giant question mark. I’m the annoying kid who raises his hand right before the lunch bell rings – because he just has to know the answer – then makes everybody late for Tater Tot Tuesday. The point is, history…

Money can’t buy everything. Currency, on the other hand, can. And if the struggling economy is making life difficult, you might consider seeking out alternative forms of exchange. Today we’re going to explore a collection of currencies to help you buy what you need:1. Respect buys loyalty. If you want make employees stay, make customers buy, make suppliers sell and make competitors drool, respect them enough to be radically…

Today the barista asked me for a name on my coffee order. I didn’t answer. Instead, I just waited until she looked up from her computer, actually made eye contact with me and noticed my nametag. “Oh, duh – Scott. Your name’s right there. Sorry.” This happens to me all the time. Sometimes people feel embarrassed. Sometimes people say thanks. Sometimes people just laugh. But I always smile. And…

When I was a kid, I struggled to find a spot. A niche. A home. A place where I belonged. But nothing seemed to work. No matter how hard I tried, I still felt like an outsider. Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore. I was tired of feeling like part of the wallpaper. I was tired of being held hostage by my outsiderness.So I stuck on a nametag and…

Wearing a nametag didn’t make me into somebody new. What it did was surface the kind person I already was. What it did was accelerate my growth into the person I was born to become. And if I do a little research, it makes a lot of sense: I’ve been creative, quirky and exceptional my whole life. The nametag just gave me an outlet. I’ve been a performer, an…

“How long do you plan on doing this?” That’s what people used to ask me. As if my dream had an expiration date. As if one day I was going to snap out of my delusions, close the door on my cute little experiment and rejoin the rest of the world. But I just kept saying forever. Me and my nametag just kept showing up. All day. Every day….