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 The hard part about suffering is that it doesn’t have a pie chart. There’s no clean way to accurately beak down the source, or sources, of our pain. It’s not thirty percent job stress, forty percent political climate and thirty percent ordinary depression. Truth is, whatever stuff we’re going through is a complex convergence of multiple factors. Some of which we can see, some of which we can’t see;…

Managing anxiety is a frustrating process. All the work you do to get less stressed becomes the very thing that gives you more of it. What an absurd, twisted infinite regression of the human condition. Just ask anyone who has ever suffered from mania or panic attacks. They might tell you that it’s like an ouroboros of suffering, aka, the snake eating its own tail. Their anxiety, mania or…

There’s a popular bumper sticker you’ve probably seen that reads, live the life you love. It’s an uplifting and inspiring message about being true to yourself. But tears ago, I’ll never forgetting driving past a car in the parking lot of my local post office that had the same sticker, but with one modification. The third letter in the third word had been scratched off. I’m not sure if…

Being the winner at competitive suffering is a false victory. Because it’s not about whose pain is bigger and sadder than everybody else’s. It’s not about whose despair earns the greatest amount of sympathy. And it’s not about whose story of struggle gets the most epic applause. This thing called being human is fucking hard, and suffering comes for us all. There’s no way to outmaneuver the darkness. Tweedy…

Asking for help is hard, accepting help is harder, but trusting that you’re not a burden for doing it, that’s the hardest. This is precisely what happens inside your head. When life suddenly decides to turn you into a needy, vulnerable and helpless mess of a human, layered on top of whatever pain you already feel, guilty feelings start pressing down on you like a lead weight. The voice…

I’ve wanted to write this book since 2005. Pumped to have it finished! You can buy it here: https://amzn.to/3dZ6ay2. And if you’re curious how the hell I managed to put out (yet another) dang book, check out getprolific.io! Here’s the synopsis: # # # Now That I Have This, What Else Does This Make Possible? offers ambitious entrepreneurs and creative professionals, or anyone who thinks like one, a much needed framework to…

In relay sports, the anchor person is strongest or fastest competitor on the team. They help pick up the slack at the last stage of the race and hopefully get the squad across the finish line before the competition. However, in the sport of business, the anchor person is a bit different. They’re not necessarily the fastest or smartest, but what they bring to the organizational table is a…

Believe it or not, the best part about having a nametag tattooed on my chest is not when strangers ask me to open my shirt and flash them in public. It’s when my friends flash people for me. Here’s how it usually happens. Someone will be talking to me about my nametag for the first time. They’ll begin asking some practical questions about the backstory and logistics of my…

My friend recently switched from a small nonprofit job to a corporate philanthropy position. When asked what the biggest difference was, she said: It’s so refreshing to actually have resources. At my last job, people would yell at me for printing something in color. If you’ve ever worked for a startup before, you can relate. Words like scrappiness and ownership aren’t clichés, they’re necessities. Because in any bootstrapped environment,…

One of life’s great satisfactions is leaving. Making the decision that you’ve done what you needed to do, feeling complete about an event or experience, and then just walking out the door. Without justification, without guilt, and without the fear that somebody is going to call you out for leaving when you did. It’s so empowering. Because the tendency to stay longer than you want to is quite strong….