Their fire is their business

When success comes to us fast, early and often, it’s not unusual to think that it will keep coming. When we're young and naïve and the whole world is still in front of us, of course nothing could possibly block the flow of good in our lives. We're bulletproof. But one of the lessons we learn as we get older is, attachment often means thinking that the good times are going to last forever. They don't. They can't. Nothing lasts...

Client services is an inherently stressful business model. Here’s why. Companies that hire your agency to do marketing or public relations or consulting are essentially paying you for something else. To worry for them. That’s what your monthly fee goes toward. Outsourced anxiety. And such, clients not only want, but expect their agencies to be neurotic. Practically twenty four hours a day. Think of it from their perspective. If you’re on the brand side, the worst two words you want...

It's called the pursuit of happiness because it takes real work. And the mistake we make along the way is believing that happiness is intentional. It's not. Happiness is incidental. It's a side effect. It's not the target, it's the reward we get for hitting it. Maybe instead of buying into the happiness industrial complex, what would be more productive is an apprenticeship in the art of acceptance. Not acquiescence, the passive agreement without protest, but acceptance, the confronting of...

My psychologist friend says the most dangerous part about being a gambling addict is that you have hope. You always maintain the obsessive belief that you're just one bet away from turning it all around, solving all your problems and getting back on your feet. That's right man, after this last big score, it's smooth sailing from here on out. No more hemorrhaging cash, dragging my family into debt just barely outrunning insanity each day. Back to my peaceful, honest...

Some people have a straight vector line, right out of the womb. They don’t waver and wrestle with those identity doubts that plague the most of us. All they know is, there’s this thing that sticks inside of them that says, you were born for this, and so, they never even consider doing or being anything else. Palnik, one of my favorite cartoonists, was showing his books and prints at an art fair years ago. I stopped by to thank...