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One of the impacts with the new normal due to the coronavirus is having our kids home from school past the normal March Break period. Not only does this offer a unique situation for parents to deal with, but also teachers, as they come to the realization that they may not get to finish the school year with their kids. After all, given they spend 7 hours a day, 5 days a week with our kids, it's onl...

Being a good person is not a given - you can say all the stuff in the world about how good you are, and how you'll look out for those around you. But if your actions don't back up your words, you'll never be anything other than the person that said so much and delivered little. This is especially true with the current global coronavirus pandemic, and how people are selfishly reacting to that. We d...

As parents, we want what's best for our kids, no matter what that may relate to - school, fun, love, etc. We sign them up for new adventures, hoping they'll find enjoyment there. But are we really signing them up for stuff that they want to do, or stuff that we want them to do, with the belief that we, the parents, aren't being selfish? These questions came to me as a moment of realization a coupl...

One of the things that doesn't get spoken about often enough is the loneliness that can be felt when downsizing and starting over. This doesn’t necessarily need to be the kind of loneliness that you’re completely off-grid, or you have no friends, or you’ve left family and all you know behind. No, it’s more about the loneliness of simple things that you may have taken for granted, or maybe didn’t p...

Do all kids simply have imaginary conversations, or are there spirits of kids that died early that roam the earth looking for friends to keep them company? Do all kids find a storytelling gift early, and it’s only when they go to school and are taught that it’s “bad” to use your imagination that they lose the will to converse with someone that isn’t there? These questions came to me again recently...

Being an entrepreneur can be hard. Coping with mental health issues while growing and running your own business can add immense stress, both to you personally and those around you. This is something that green industry professional Josh Currivan knows only too well. The last time we chatted, we spoke about his younger life, his upbringing, his mental health issues, and how that had led him to wher...

Life takes us on many twists and turns. Some, we control, some, we have zero input on whatsoever. Some turns are full of hope, opportunities, moments that turn into memories. Some are full of desperation, and a reminder of the unfairness that life can throw at us any time. Like the friends I have that are impacted by cancer at the minute, and may be fighting a losing battle, no matter how hard the...

With the Super Bowl weekend just gone, it seems more people are talking about the halftime show with Shakira and JLo than the actual winners of the game. And, to be honest, it's kind of ridiculous. Across multiple social media channels, posts were shared - and continue to be - from people appalled by the outfits the two Latina superstars wore, the dance moves they performed, and the apparently sug...

Almost seven years ago, I wrote a short story entitled The Cautionary Tale of Balderdash and Hogwash , which was a chapter in my book, The Parables of Business . I was reminded of this by one of the readers of my newsletter, who emailed me with a note that stated, “More relevant than ever, with today’s climate of fake news, political divisiveness, and groupthink mentality when it comes to critical...

This week saw the death of Rush drummer Neil Peart. A Canadian icon, his death saw many people on social media share what he and the band he drummed for meant to them, as well as personal stories and examples of how he specifically had made a difference in their lives. One of these examples was from my good friend Bob LeDrew who, when speaking about Peart's death on Facebook, made a comment that r...

After two months of making the move from a large Canadian City to a small village three hours north, we're discovering little things that we may not have expected. Our original goals, for example, included less clutter, less stress, and a happier lifestyle overall. While that's definitely still the case, and we haven't really been disappointed so far, not everything is quite working out as planned...

A Downsized Life shares our journey as we look to live a simpler life, away from the everyday stresses of living in a big city, and all that entails. Join us as we share lessons learned, successes earned, and everything in-between. You'll hear from myself and my wife Jaclyn, as we take the plunge and move three hours north of our old home, friends, and more, and how we adapt (or don't). You'll als...

So it's been a while since the last episode. A bunch of stuff got in the way - life, health, home, and more. All the things that usually throw you off track when you let them. But at the same time, I could have controlled how much I let these things impacted the other parts of my life, and the frequency I shipped them - this podcast, my newsletter, ideas I let slip, etc. In this week's episode, I...

Recently, I posted an update on Facebook about school picture days, and how they encourage false narratives when it comes to our kids. The thinking was, we push back online when it comes to fake influencers and buying likes on social media, who try and sell us the perfect life that they lead, even when it's anything but. Yet for our kids, when it comes to the annual picture day at school, we prett...

As parents, we can add pressure to the lives of our kids without realizing it. Instead of enjoying life as a kid, they're worrying about approval from us instead, and it's harming their growth. By adding this pressure, we're setting them up to fail, and potentially leading to deeper issues in later life, including mental health and behavioral problems. In short, we're failing our kids, and we need...

Over the years, Uber and the NFL have come under scrutiny for their unethical practices. From misogynistic and threatening behaviour to women, to abusing employees and more, both companies have suffered major PR scandals. And yet we continue to support them. Why? In this week's show, I dig into this mindset of convenience over ethics. Topics on the menu include How Uber executives tried to silence...

In this week's show, I want to talk about my recent health scare, which I touched upon in my last episode where I talked about my weight loss journey. After the 8-week period was over, I took a little break to celebrate. While I wasn't exercising, I did continue with my smoothies, etc. However, following a dinner I had the evening after finishing the challenge, I took a turn for the worse. It felt...

What if, regardless of our religious, cultural, and political beliefs, we had that one single thing in common that connects us? And, if we did have that connection, we could use that as a starting block to find other things we have in common and, by doing so, realize we’re not that different after all? That's the raison d'etre behind my new project, Be The Connected. We’re feeling more alone than...

In this week's show, I want to talk about how I lost over 30lbs in 8 weeks, and how a positive mindset helped me to a healthier life, and the impact that can have on your mental health. I'll be honest - it wasn't easy. There were a lot of things I had to give up, or reduce greatly, while adding things to my diet and lifestyle that I didn't necessarily want to add. But having changed my mindset, an...

There's currently a war on women being waged in the US, with abortion rights being the battlefield. In episode 27 of Life Through a Dram, I talk about why this war has no place in the 21st century, and why we need to support women with every ounce of strength we have. Topics on the menu include: The abortion bills that Ohio, Alabama, and Michigan are looking to bring into law The punishment that w...

We make our own bonds, but sometimes we use the wrong kind of glue. All in the name of loyalty. Because there is something inherently good about loyalty – after all, who doesn’t want to be the one that others count on and never let down? – it makes it easier to screw up. And that’s okay, because none of us are perfect, as I discuss in episode 26 of Life Through a Dram. Topics on the menu include:...

In episode 25 of Life Through a Dram, I talk about how we need to shift the focus from things to people. Marketers and advertisers have led us down a consumer-driven path of needing things to make us feel validated, but as I discuss in this week's show, that seeking of validation is misplaced. Topics on the menu include: How Canada supports the importance of family How we've been forced into a lif...

In episode 24 of Life Through a Dram, I share how an email from my previous guest, Brian Driggs, inspired me to take an internal look at what I want Life Through a Dram to be about, as well as my goals for the show and the bigger human community in general. Topics on the menu include: How our inner strength is more than we give it credit for Why "nominal" is a more descriptive word than...

In this week's show, I want to talk about how the combination of mental, physical, and spiritual wellness plays an important part on our mental health journey. You have to better the whole package if you expect to see results. Mental, physical, and spiritual states all have to be aligned. Mind, body, and soul. The way I see it is, you can have the best body in the world, physically in shape, eatin...

In episode 23 of Life Through a Dram, I chat with Brian Driggs on his changing use of social media, how he's building an intentional business, his plans for The Gearhead Project, and why private communities are the future of the internet. Topics on the menu include: How Klout brought us together in the battle against invasion of privacy How Brian doesn't see social media as the saviour of the inte...