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How To Poke A Hole
This week a friend of mine quit the online business world, quit self-help, and quit thought leadership. I encouraged his quitting because I don’t believe you should do things that aren’t aligned with who you are. But some of the reasons he cited for quitting were disturbing because they’re the same reasons I often want to bail (…)
Slow Down
One of the greatest American contradictions is, “more is better.” We know it is not. We know, “a greater variety of choices actually makes us feel worse.” Schwartz, Barry. The Paradox of Choice, pp122-3. It’s why the best retailers, merchandisers, and marketers all seek to reduce your options. Choose this one – is the message at the heart (…)
Why We Don’t Change
We need to talk about belief when it comes to the things you want. You can want something very much, but if you believe, sincerely, you aren’t worthy or capable of it – it’s game over before we’ve even started.
A Few Things I’ve Learned About Writing
So, I’m knee-deep in book writing after a two-month hiatus of non-stop existential crises and some actual crises. I know they say circumstances are never ideal for creativity, but calmer would be nice. I heard Adam Grant say in an interview once that he used to write term papers in college while his roommate threw parties and it (…)
How To Behave On Thanksgiving
Why advice to say silent or speak up is wrong – this is what’s really happening on Thanksgiving.
What Happens When You Put Lazy Content Out There For a Click
A friend of mine has this fantastic online business idea. When he was explaining how he was going to grow it, he said something that hit me after we got off the phone: “I’ll just hire some writers to churn out some content for $150.” NO. No. No. nonononononononoooooooooo Listen, my inner Robber Baron gets it. (…)
What Malcolm Gladwell Can Teach Us About The Joy Of Intellectual Disagreements
A few years ago my friend David went to an event in Manhattan where Malcolm Gladwell was speaking. Gladwell presented some theories on the mortgage lending crisis in that way only Gladwell can – a captivating story that borders on conspiracy theory, but appears to be founded on research and investigative journalism. The audience was (…)
It’s Time To Start Writing
Writing is weird. It’s weird because in order to do it (well) you need long stretches of uninterrupted time. But when you get those long stretches of uninterrupted time, you go into a mental mind-fuckery of all the reasons why you can’t possibly write. And I blame Lizzy. Lizzy is the (not so) lovable asshole (…)
Can Idealists Be Good At Business?
You remember the Newsies? The rag-tag group of newspaper sales kids, famous for putting Christian Bale on the map (before he was an asshole) (presumably)? Anyway, turns out they were real. But their strike TOTALLY FAILED. Like bad. If you want a sobering look into the bleakness of reality, look up the real versions of stories we (…)
The Secret Marketing Tactics That Every Succesful Brand Knows
Actionable tactics. That’s what they tell you. More tactics! Whenever I give a talk, the conference organizers are like the tactics police: ACTIONABLE. WE NEED ACTIONABLE STUFF HERE OK. I love tactics too. I don’t want to go learn about SEO and someone gives me a shpiel on how I need to trust myself and (…)