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Being human is always good for business. And if you want your brand to stay alive, you have to leave traces of your humanity in every possible touchpoint. After all, people buy people. Not products. Not services. Not companies. People. Today we’re going to explore a collection of ideas to help you, your brand and your organization stay human:1. Friendly wins. When I started wearing a nametag everyday, I…

This is how I start everyday of my life: Wake up. Jump in the shower. Brush my teeth. Throw on my cozies. Fire up the laptop. Put in my headphones. Open a blank document. Vomit. Yes, vomit. For the next twenty minutes, I purge. Every thought, every impulse, every complaint and every frustration dancing through my mind, I puke onto the page. And anything goes. No stopping. No editing….

Enough is enough. We don’t need more of most things. IN FACT: More has the power to work against you. And if you’re not careful, the results could be disastrous for you, your business, your people, your brand and your life. For example:1. The more you plan, the less you ship. People are obsessed with planning for three reasons: First, it preserves their sense of control. Second, it underwrites…

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. I’ve been there myself, and here’s a list of…

You’ve probably never heard of Gershon Legman. He was the cultural critic who claimed to be the inventor of the famous phrase, “Make love, not war,” at a lecture given at Ohio University in the early sixties. And you’ve probably never heard of Penelope Rosemont, either. She was the radical activist who popularized Gershon’s phrase. Two years after his lecture, she printed thousands of buttons at the Solidarity Bookshop…

You’re not in business to sell a product. You’re not in business to provide a service. You’re in business to become known for a unique way of interacting with the world. Interactions that get talked about. Interactions that give the gift of social elevation. Interactions that very well could change people forever. THAT’S THE GOAL: To interact with people in a way that nobody else can touch. Today we’re…

People don’t just buy what you sell. They buy the mythology you create around what you sell. They buy the story you tell that taps into their existing worldview. They buy the meaning they create for themselves in response to that story. BUT: It’s not enough for people to simply understand your story. They need to believe it. They need to feel proud to be part of it. They…

I’m obsessed with rituals. Always have been. And I attribute much of my ability to stay focused, grounded, sane, fueled, connected and on-purpose – both personally and professionally – to the rituals I practice on a regular basis. That’s just me. I’m the kind of person who can commit myself to something that matters, as long as there’s a ritual involved. HOWEVER: There’s a key difference between ritual and…

The best part about playing Monopoly was drawing a chance card. It was risky. It was exciting. It was the only way to beat my older brother. MORE IMPORTANTLY: Chance Cards taught kids that life without risk, isn’t. What chances are you avoiding? Consider this list of ten chances worth taking: 1. Every interaction is another chance to give. Charisma is irrelevant when people walk away from you feeling…

You can borrow time. You can make time. You can steal time. You can save time. You can take time. You can find time. You can buy time. You can eat time. But that takes time. And you’re a pretty busy guy. ASK YOURSELF THIS: What if you compressed time? That’s what I’ve been doing since say one. When I started my company right out of college, I was…