Category: Uncategorized

Sometimes you can’t get that thing you want by pursuing it directly. You might want C, but instead of going after C directly, you’d be better off pursuing A, which will automatically lead to B, then C. The problem is that the connection between A, B and C isn’t always intuitive, so we waste our…

In a middle school Media Literacy class I remember learning about how print ads direct your attention. I learned about how the entire page was pointing to the product, to entice you to buy it. How devious, and how clever! I was amazed that by positioning actors and actresses and cigarettes and roasting sticks in…

When you picture “living the life”, what does that look like? How far is that life from your current location (either in kilometres, or years, whatever)? I recently read Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, where he writes about how living a good life is like writing a good story. As he…

When “self” is something we can curate by posting the right things on our social media page, we can forget about the hard work that it takes to accomplish anything. The mantra subtly changes from “you can be anything you want to be” to “you can look like you’re anything you want to look like”.…

Your passion, whether for a person or mission, will be praised only for while its flames are dancing. Heroic acts of love and self-sacrifice will be applauded, but these feats will eventually fizzle out like the brightest of campfires. No, the true strength of your passion will be proven the next morning, long after the…

Nearly every advertising message tell us about the things we do not yet have, but probably need, things that will make us more happy about life. Most of the photos on our Instas and Snapchats remind us that our friends are having much more fun this weekend that we (because all we’re up to is…

In his speech this morning to the Live2Lead audience, Simon Sinek outlined the difference between finite and infinite games (an idea Seth Godin has also talked about, and was originally introduced by James P. Carse). A finite game has agreed-upon rules, fixed boundaries, players, goals, and an end. A basketball game always ends, and it’s…

We all have our doubts, but they’re usually stuffed away somewhere, ignored, and we’re ashamed that they’re there in the first place. Doubts in our culture are seen as weakness, particularly if you’re a leader. Leaders are looked upon to keep a strong face and produce answers and clarity amidst an ever-changing landscape. But is…

Years ago, when I was first making my way out of school and into the wide world of real life, I asked an older man I respected about what I should do with my life. Maybe his gray hair made him look how I imagined God to look, but somehow I thought he knew what…

Louis CK had this great bit on Conan a couple years ago about the magic of flight and WiFi and how we all feel more entitled than ever before in history. You should watch it again: We’re all quite aware of our #firstworldproblems, but it’s helpful to acknowledge how small they really are sometimes. A…