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Henson, in creating his beloved puppet characters, believed that many of his creations were artisanal. Not in the hipster way of being bespoke, painstakingly produced small batch items. Rather, in the hippie way of the art not being a pitch for anything, it was simply the thing itself. It was everything the artist wanted it to be. This framing of the work we do is important. It need not…

The first question we have to ask is whether or not this decision is even worth making. Because it may not be. The act of deciding may take too much time and burn too many resources, the results of which won’t offset the opportunity cost of getting where we are going. Training yourself to become binary about decisions early and often can be a massive anxiety reducer. However, if…

Being part of a tribe satisfies our most primal urge to belong. The idea of joining this group of people who, if we went away would miss us, is a deep and ancient human dream that is worth pursuing. Human tribalism, on the other hand, is really terrible idea. Our preliterate humanity can make us do some pretty awful things to each other, and so, we have a responsibility to use…

During new employee orientation at my old hotel job, all staff were trained on a standard called lateral service. The hotel cross trained all teams to support each other by pitching in on various tasks that were outside of our responsibility, regardless of job description. Doing so not only promoted a culture of teamwork, but also eliminated the usage of the phrase, it’s not my job. William, the veteran…

First you write the book, then the book writes you. This universal law can bring us peace along our creative journey. Because although end user of whatever it is we’re working probably won’t appreciate or reward or even notice our diligence, we certainly will. That soothing sense of fulfillment we gain from the experience is something that nobody can take away from us. It’s like when a comedian, who…

My actor friend approaches auditions in an incredibly healthy and sane way. Here’s his process. Prepare well, show up fully, assume you’re not going to get the part, and the moment you walk out the door, never think about it again. This reveals a posture of wholeness that difficult for many performers to find. But after a dozen years in showbusiness, my friend knows that if he’s looking to…

In the fifteenth century, most of the world believed that the sun revolved around the earth. But then the unspeakable happened. Copernicus, the legendary mathematician and astrology, stumbled upon the realization that our planet wasn’t the center of the universe. Shortly before his death, the publication of his model became a major event in the history of the scientific revolution. Not surprisingly, it also royally pissed off the church….

We assume that something has to be hard for it to work. No wonder there is no shortage of bumper stickers, business books and novelty shirts with slogans that reinforce this fallacy. If it’s easy, then it’s not worth doing. If it isn’t hard, then it doesn’t count. If you’re not struggling, then you’re doing it wrong. f it’s not painful, then you’re not trying hard enough. Protestant work…

Rage has become the new currency. Our culture has elevated it to the status of virtue. The more we express and sustain our outrage, the faster we pat ourselves on the back for being offended, and the louder we lament what the rest of the world is getting away with, the more status we gain. It makes total sense. Why would anyone waste their time being an example of…

Carlin, in one of his final interviews before his death, tells the rebellious origin story about getting great marks in high school, but because the nuns weren’t teaching what he liked, he didn’t care. That realization freed him to drop out in ninth grade and pursue his artistic dream of becoming one of the greatest artists of all time. George said: It’s important in life if you don’t give…