You have three seconds.

In three seconds, your story has to align with my needs.

The only reason a person who doesn’t know you is interested in you is because they’re interested in themselves, and they want to know how you will help them.

Your proof is your obsession. Your work shows me whether or not you care.

Star in your own movie

It isn’t necessary to pine away hoping to be discovered. You may never get the role you want. And you risk being caught in the background, your true skills and talents wasted.

Why wait for someone else to cast you? Set about writing your own screenplay.

Play the role you want.

I stopped trying.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around this, as it is completely counterintuitive to me.

The moment I stopped trying and quit everything is when things became clear.

I’m not saying I don’t have challenges and that life is always easy, but my day-to-day isn’t filled with as much strife. There’s less struggle as I move about the world.

I think of how difficult momentum seemed in the…

Are you developing a marketing strategy or being real?

I wrote my first post on Medium this week. Before clicking “Publish,” I was surprisingly nervous. I think because this writing is very personal, an experience that is dear to my heart and involves people I love. I almost didn’t post it.

I had no idea it would impact and resonate with so many people. I’m talking just under 10k views in less than one week.

We spend so much…

Two kinds of people

You’re feeling dissatisfied, unsettled. You want better than what life is presenting to you. You want to provide for yourself and your family. Maybe you’d describe yourself as unhappy.

No matter where I’ve gone in the world (or who I’ve worked with: students, prisoners, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, monks), I’ve seen two typical responses to this situation.

Option A — Action Paralysis
What does this mean? Ideas aren’t in short supply,…

On risk

Risk frightens some people. It paralyzes others. Risk has stopped many people from doing incredible things.

Risk has also failed to prevent others from wholeheartedly chasing their dreams.

It might be worth asking whether risk is your fear dressed in disguise.

If risk wasn’t an issue, would your decisions change?

Why you should quit

Before traveling to Nepal, I did some major quitting: I quit my job, quit a relationship, quit where I was living, and quit some hard held beliefs about the way life should be lived. At the time, I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. The pieces were there, but the puzzle wasn’t coming together.

After taking time to revisit my go-to list of dreams (I suggest…

Safety

No one is remembered for playing it safe.

Life is for experiments, making messes, screwing up, breaking things, smiling, laughing, crying, loving, grieving, starting anew.

Again.

And again.

And every time it is different.

8 Do’s and Don’ts for Adventurous Living

“You’re so lucky! I want your life!”

If you’ve heard this, you probably know luck has very little to do with it.

If you haven’t, you, too, can live the life that gets people asking, “How do you do it?” by following these tips for living adventurously:

Don’t: Be afraid of looking like a fool.

The “foolish” moments are the stories you’ll share later on. You won’t always have the answers, and on…

29 thoughts from a 29-year-old

1. Decide to get it done. Commit. Go.
2. Goals will keep you on track.
3. Fears take on tricky disguises. Call them out or enlist the help of someone who can.
4. Helping others is one of the best things you can do with your time.
5. You will learn more traveling than sitting in a classroom.
6. Relationships are containers for growth.
7. Be kind.
8. Laugh more.
9. It’s OK to make mistakes.
10. It’s OK to admit you’re wrong.
11. It’s OK to say no.
12. Sometimes you…
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