3 days agoMember-only2 Years Of Lessons From Running My Own BookstoreIt is only from doing hard things, the Stoics said, that we learn what we’re capable of. A little over three years ago, my wife and I had the craziest idea we’ve ever had in our lives: to open a bookstore in Bastrop, Texas. Opening a small business is always…Philosophy9 min readPhilosophy9 min read
Mar 10Member-onlyThis Decision Changed My Life and My BusinessI know someone that spends close to $20,000 a month on a publicist. I know an author who spends something like that out of their own pocket each month on what’s called co-op, or extra prominent placement at airport bookstores. I know many people who spend more than that on…Business6 min readBusiness6 min read
Feb 22Member-only19 Rules For A Better Life (From Marcus Aurelius)Marcus Aurelius never claimed to be a Stoic. Gregory Hays, one of Marcus Aurelius’s best translators, writes in his introduction to Meditations, “If he had to be identified with a particular school, [Stoicism] is surely the one he would have chosen. Yet I suspect that if asked what it was…Philosophy10 min readPhilosophy10 min read
Feb 10Member-only11 Important Things I’m Thinking About In 2023Marcus Aurelius thought a lot about thinking. “Our life is dyed by the color of our thoughts,” he wrote. So naturally, he tried to be thoughtful about what he thought and how he thought. “Get used to winnowing your thoughts,” he said, “so that when someone asked you what you…Motivation5 min readMotivation5 min read
Jan 25Member-only20 Best Lessons From Interviewing Today’s Top PerformersI’m not saying everyone should start a podcast. In fact, I have said the opposite many times. There are way too many of them out there…and most are not good. I’m just saying that having a podcast is pretty magical because you get (for free) something that no amount of…Stoicism8 min readStoicism8 min read
Jan 12Member-onlyIf You Only Read A Few Books In 2023, Read TheseIt’d be wonderful if a new year magically marked a new beginning. But 2022, like all years, reminded us that the same things keep happening, that world events continue on in their own unpredictable way and that in the end, we control very little but our own actions and opinions. …Philosophy9 min readPhilosophy9 min read
Dec 29, 2022Member-onlyAll Success Is A Lagging IndicatorThe other day I sat down to write. But it didn’t happen. It just wasn’t there. The words. The momentum. One thought leading into the next. I knew I wanted to say something. I knew what I wanted it to be about. But I couldn’t get much further than that…Life Lessons4 min readLife Lessons4 min read
Dec 22, 2022Member-onlyThe Secret To Better Habits in 2023It’s kind of crazy to think how recent December 2019 feels. Not that long ago, it seems, we were getting ready for what a new decade might bring us. It’s even crazier when the truth settles in: 2019 was THREE years ago. We are well into that decade. And so…Life Lessons9 min readLife Lessons9 min read
Dec 14, 2022Member-onlyWhy A Stoic Wakes Up EarlyOne morning in the middle of the second century AD, the most powerful man in the world was awakened by his orderly. It could have been in his tent on the front lines of the war in Germania. It could have been somewhere along his frequent and arduous travels across…Stoicism7 min readStoicism7 min read
Dec 7, 2022Member-onlyIf You Want to Be Smart, You Must Do ThisThere are lots of smart people. There are not a lot of people who can do this smart thing. The poet John Keats called it “negative capability” — the mental fortitude to be able to entertain multiple contradictory ideas in your head at the same time. Or as F. Scott…Philosophy6 min readPhilosophy6 min read
