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In our world of infinite choice and constant distraction, it’s never been easier to bail on our plans with people. It seems that basic social contracts like setting a date and actually showing up on time have become a scarce commodity. Technology and psychology theorists blame this trend on a number of sources, some under our control and some not. But why people flake out doesn’t concern me as…

The loneliness of young people has reached epidemic proportions. Researchers are affectionately calling the youngest of the individuals surveyed, the loneliest generation. That’s absolutely heartbreaking to me. Heartbreaking. And here’s why. Loneliness is not some mystifying, highly contagious disease that medical professionals have yet to find a cure for. It’s a choice. We may not be conscious that we’re making it, and it may not be an easy one…

The irony of workaholism is, often times the greater the achievement, the deeper the emptiness. We make heroic effort, reach the climax, receive attention and approval from others, stimulate the reward system in our brain, and then we crash. And once the drug wears off, the darkness comes pouring in. Mean voices inside our head remind us that we’re actually unworthy and incompetent, and we had better get back…

People don’t need information, they need affirmation. Google can give them information to their heart’s content. But only a living, breathing human being can sit down, listen to that person’s story, look them in the eye, and say something like, oh wow, that really sucks. Hey, you’re doing great, so keep it up. That’s amazing, I knew you could do it, way to go. Affirmation really is a fundamental…

Have you ever felt hopeless, unmotivated, disgusted, apathetic, scared, invisible and exhausted, all at the same time? It’s a scary and complicated emotional cocktail. But it is possible to feel that many feelings at once. It’s disorienting a hell. The first time it started happening to me was around age thirty. Ambiguity about the future of my career and relationships weighed down on me like a lead blanket. The…

The brain does not reach full maturity until our middle twenties or thirties. Adolescence isn’t finished just because the word teen no longer appear in our age. It usually take two or three decades of life before we can genuinely build an adult understanding of the world. And so, if not a number, then what are the defining characteristics of adulthood? How do we know that we’re actually growing…

Determining the market value of your talents is difficult. Pinpointing the vehicle of your uniqueness requires the intersection of two types of understanding. Knowing thyself, and knowing thy customer. Here are a few questions that have been helpful in the appraisal of my own value, both as an entrepreneur and an employee. Let’s start with the first category. Knowing thyself. Answers to these questions will no doubt have patterns…

Here’s a testimonial that makes me proud as a businessperson. It comes from a client who rented my brain to help grow her nonprofit. ‘ Gilly commented that she had always been a supporter of the approach that mentoring should not be a paid activity, as this has the potential to change the dynamics of the relationship and create a power imbalance. But after my first email response following…

Here’s the text of an actual email that showed up in my inbox once. Scott, our chamber of commerce recently ordered new name tags with the new logo for all the directors and staff. Some of the directors are very pleased with their nametags, while others are not so impressed. We have written an article for our newsletter on the benefits of wearing of nametags, as per the article…

People are not machines. Trying to measure humanity fragments our understanding of it. We need to start accepting ourselves as an inherent part of nature, just like the trees and the animals themselves. Bateson, the illustrious anthropologist and social scientist, made the observation that the difference between the way human beings think and the way nature works is, nature doesn’t measure. Nature deals only with the pattern which connects,…