Better Today Than Yesterday

I find it easy to stumble around in the forest of my to-do’s chopping wood. Walk, stumble, lean head against tree unable to see anything else, blindly swing ax, chop chop chop. Repeat. With my forehead against the tree, I can’t see the path and chop whatever is in front of me. When I’m too busy chopping, I can’t take time to think clearly. Am I doing the right things? Am I planting new trees for t...

My favorite movie is Braveheart. Given my desire for freedom, this one strikes a cord. The second is Gladiator, an epic action drama that I will assume most of you have seen, and if you haven’t, you have homework. It’s another story of oppression, war, love, freedom, and sacrifice. Here’s the gist - the father (Marcus Aurelius) has a son (Lucius Commodus), the son is immoral and all around not a g...

This episode is made for listening 🎧. Don’t miss it. Discovered in 1811, iodine was originally called iode from the Greek word for violet colored (ioeidēs). By 1931 it had been anglicized to Iodine, and this is where we find a little boy in a school house bathroom. He was sent there by his teacher, Ruth Shaw, to apply iodine to a minor wound. Well, he did what little boys sometimes do, precisely...

This episode is made for listening 🎧. Don’t miss it. TRANSCRIPT For me, life has this sneaky habit of adding more. More appointments, calories, expectations, more desires. My ability to say ‘yes’ is prolific for those who know me. A glance at my calendar, and you will see what I mean. Arthur Brooks shares a piece of wisdom in his new book, Strength to Strength , worth spreading. It was a story ab...

MADE FOR LISTENING - Don't miss out. TRANSCRIPT Over the last year, we have been searching for several senior executives to join our team. While we have an extraordinary team, we have bumped into resource constraints. Said plainly, we don’t have enough time. The business doubled, the team tripled, and the caffeine intake quadrupled. Whenever I spoke to a prospective candidate, I would find myself...

Made for listening TRANSCRIPT I wanted to share a few takeaways and ‘ahas’ from a book by one of my favorite authors. The book is The War of Art , and the author is Steven Pressfield. He was first introduced to me when a ripped copy of Gates of Fire - a novel about the battle of Thermopylae, made its way around a small cohort of us in basic training. This is an extraordinary account of what the me...

Note: This post is made for listening :) but I’m including the transcript if that is not your jam. TRANSCRIPT [00:00:00] Hey there. I wanted to follow up on my other note about one of two things leaders are responsible for. The second one is compensation. And there's a whole lot to unpack there, so let's try to do it through a little bit of a story. I'm going to answer a question I get all the tim...

About ten years ago, I was fortunate to attend the JetBlue orientation. What they do is incredible. On day one, everyone attends orientation. The day starts with senior executives joining and introducing themselves. So far, good, but not a big deal. The big deal? Either the C.E.O. or the number two attends every orientation in person. That means, whether you are a baggage handler or an executive,...

I took another personality test this week as part of my work. It was enlightening, scary, and chock-full of reality. Also, it clicked for me that we are all different. That may seem incredible, but it’s true. I think I understood it intellectually, but I see it now. I’ve spent much time working on understanding myself, my motivations, and my why. I do this to try and be the best version of myself...

Let’s roll the clock back a bit. I was sure I wouldn’t make it out alive when I joined the Army. And if I’m being honest, I took risks that I shouldn’t have. The good news is I was wrong. Not everyone was so lucky. When I left the Army, I re-entered the civilian world with a different view of death. I had accepted it as inevitable, but not in a positive way. Worse still, there were times that I em...

NOTE: Made for listening :). The transcript is included below if reading is better for you. A hurricane took away the first thing I bought with my own money. Not quite a teenager yet, a summer of washing dishes resulted in $345. Every penny went to a new camera and film. Unfortunately, that camera, and all of those photos, were lost in 1989 in Hurricane Hugo - but my love for light and art wasn’t....

NOTE: #020 was made for listening :) It was arguably one of the best concerts I've ever attended. A semi-circle of musicians brought us seven songs with a number of impromptu solos. It was beautiful. This group of nervous but confident fifth graders found themselves in a dark, windowless room with excited and proud parents. I arrived curious but excited, and if I’m honest, I left a little bit wise...

Someone's leaving our team, and she's a good one. Both because of what she does and who she is. I had a conversation with her last week in a last-minute attempt to save her. She said something that resonated with me: “I have to think about how this looks on my resume.” That got me thinking about an article I read by David Brooks, and here's what he said: It occurred to me that there are two sets o...

New format this week - give it a listen or a read. Please let me know what you think :). TRANSCRIPT: The author of Atomic Habits, James Clear said in his newsletter last week: Most big, deeply satisfying accomplishments in life take at least five years to achieve. This can include building a business, cultivating and loving relationship, writing a book, getting in the best shape of your life, or r...