Ideas are free, execution is priceless.

We tyrannize ourselves with shoulds. All of these cognitive distortions, typically inherited from social and cultural expectations, tell us a story about where we think our lives ought to have be by a certain time or a certain age. Spencer, the brilliant award winning actress, delivered an inspiring commencement speech about this very topic: She told the students that what defines you now will be mere shades and hues…

Getting better doesn’t always mean doing more. Sometimes the gateway to growth is less. We create blank space where there had not been any before. And in that void, the natural order emerges. The most notable opportunity is with our schedules. Instead of scrambling from meeting to meeting, call to call, activity to activity, we install buffer for exits and reentries. Instead of working right up to the moment…

If you’re the kind of person who consistently complains about your expensive, mediocre, unsatisfying lunch sandwiches, that you physically went out and purchased with your own money, then you don’t get even a wink of sympathy from me. People who complain about situations that they create, decisions that they make, are in desperate need of some upside down ankle shaking. My patience has officially run out. Carlin used to…

When my friend’s oncologist told him that his chemotherapy treatment would require eighteen months of limited use of his mouth, he had to dramatically rethink his business model. Because as an entrepreneur, the majority of his job was talking. To clients, to small groups, to the media, most of his work involved flapping his gums for profit. And he was extremely proficient at that skill. Every time he opened…

Wearing a nametag on a crowded subway during rush hour is fascinating experience. Because in most big cities, people are expert at ignoring others. They’re trained at pretending that other people don’t exist. And so, if you try to strike up a conversation with someone you don’t know, that person will likely treat you like you’re either unhinged or trying to get a date. It’s a violation of social…