The end of every year is always one of reflection for me, and this being the end of a decade, even more so. There’s a Chinese proverb that says you spend your first 25 years being born, your second 25 years learning, third producing, and fourth giving back. …and as I’m reaching not just the end of a calendar decade but soon in age as well, here is how I find myself somewhat lining up …
I am a voracious consumer of content, year after year: 50+ books, 12 Harvard Business Reviews, lots of HBR Articles, a dozen “non-fiction” podcast subscriptions, 20+ speakers/workshops, and…and…and. A few years ago, one of my mentors posed the simple question of “why?” that has remained unanswered all this time. Don’t get me wrong, I was able to give him a perfectly suitable answer of “I want to learn from the mistakes and failures of others …
Are You Waiting for Permission to Be Successful? Keep Reading »
I love playing and competing in sports. I played baseball and basketball all through high school, and have continued to play other sports into my late 30s ensuring my doctors can stay gainfully employed and put their kids through college. But I am also what some may call “vertically challenged” at 5’8” (although if you were to track down a program from my varsity basketball team, somehow I have shrunk down from the 5’10” I …
I was burnt out. I mean “passed out with a crispy charcoal black frozen pizza in the oven” burnt out. (One of my buddies in college was notorious for doing this and actually kept his “trophies” up on top of the kitchen cabinets proudly on display…how did we all make it through college alive again?!?) But, I digress… You may be asking, what led to such an epic state of burnout? It’s because as my …
Your “How” Matters Just as Much as Your “Why” Keep Reading »
My mind was completely blown. How is it possible that we are going downhill when driving from sea level up to a ski town?!? Is this like some crazy “the-Nile-actually-flows-north-alternate-universe” type stuff, or what? My wife and I were driving with a friend from Vancouver to Whistler on the Sea-to-Sky Highway, which if you’ve never done it, is the most beautiful drive I have ever been on—ocean, mountains, giant green trees…remarkable. But my brain was …
Are You Stuck on the Entrepreneurial Treadmill of Hell? Keep Reading »
The word conflux is a synonym (and in our opinion, a much cooler word) for confluence, with Latin roots that translate to “flow together”; most commonly used to describe the place where multiple rivers converge. The most famous confluence in St. Louis is where the Missouri River joins the Mississippi, and for good reason. The confluence of these two rivers launched the Lewis & Clark expedition, provided the infrastructure to make St. Louis the Gateway …
At the end of every year, I choose a theme and/or focus for the next year. In years past, I’ve committed to the priorities of practicing yoga (humbling), picking up golf (frustrating), running a marathon (painful–especially since it was San Francisco), and creating healthfulness and energy (absolute game-changer). I find having this annual focus provides me three amazing benefits: Ensures I remain in a mindset of Shoshin, or beginner’s mind, by repeatedly going through the …
