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Ellis once wrote that perhaps the only sensible way of making a global rating of an individual is on the basis of their aliveness. James similarly asked the question, what is this mysterious force that jolts a human being into such wakeful aliveness from which greatness blossoms? Both of these insights center around the fundamental element of the human condition, the experience of joy. The one thing that is…

Startup culture is, for better and for worse, human. Which means we have an opportunity to do things, with and for each other, that serve our senses. Things that actually create moments that invoke powerful and lasting memories. Otherwise, the activity we’re partaking in is just another professional obligation. A tortuous and awkward event we have to wrangle our way through. Let’s be real. How many forced lunches and…

Mormon missionaries are unique in that they’re the only evangelists required wear nametags at all times in public. It’s one of the most recognizable visual features they carry. According to the church’s official wardrobe guidelines, they are required to wear their nametag on the outermost layer of clothing so that others may clearly identify them. What’s fascinating is, the badge not only dons their surname and appropriate title, but…

The first president of our country, in his famed farewell address, said this. Every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. George was determined to retire from public life but wanted to take one last effort to impress great truths upon his countrymen. And it worked. What an inspiring moment in…

Parents, teachers, bosses and other authority figures have been giving us the same supposedly sage advice for hundreds of years. Never make the same mistake twice. It’s a nice soundbite and a worthwhile goal, but it’s not particularly realistic. Because let’s face it. Turning a brutally honest eye to the dark truths of the human condition, most people are poor historians. We have short memories, we love learning nothing…

Fritz wrote a morbid but insightful book about leaving our business with our sanity and soul intact. In the chapter about separating ourselves from our business, he makes a fascinating point about enjoyment: Most of us who have built businesses aren’t wired for leisure. High achievers seem to need purpose and goals. That’s why it’s so hard for workaholics to relax. Whatever it is we’re doing, we rarely look up to…

Guilt is a term that literally means the willful commission of a crime. Which is absurd. Because most of our expressions of guilt are anything but. And yet, the story we tell ourselves is that we’ve something wrong. Guilt will find countless ways to make us feel like bad people for not complying with other people’s every wish. And the stream of guilt based commentary that starts flowing through…

Resilience is the human capacity to absorb energy, resist the impact of its force, and return to our previous state quickly. And while some of us are blessed with more resilience than others, there is one strategy that’s available to everyone. We can place ourselves in environments that supports our ability to bounce back. A common term for this strategy is creating slack in the system. Building emptiness into…

My yoga teacher once told me he’s tired of hearing that people never change: “People only change, that’s all they do.” Assuming that’s true, then the question each of us must ask ourselves is: Will we get out in front of the change and reinvent ourselves proactively, or will we wait around for the whirlwind of the world to knock us to our knees and then shake things up?…

Evolutionary psychologists often talk about something called the naturalistic fallacy, also known as the appeal to nature argument. It occurs when something is assumed to be good because it is natural, or bad because it is unnatural. Turns out, that’s just a story we tell ourselves. Cultural meaning systems determine what counts as natural or unnatural. The mere naturalness of something is unrelated to its positive or negative qualities. Natural…