The Blog

I was about to turn 50. I was a husband, father, teacher, and musician. In each of those endeavors, I was doing well enough by anyone's standards.

And yet...

I knew I could do more. I believed I could do better. I was ready to do both more and better in all my endeavors.

But how?

I began by...

The history of music, Western music at least, is the story of growing more and more comfortable with dissonance. Over time, our ability to embrace, appreciate, and dance with this tension has increased.

Listen to a Gregorian chant and then tune in to composition by Ornette Coleman and you'll get...

For those that endeavor, the conventional wisdom is "go big or go home." Following this advice is precisely why so few enterprises ever get started or off the ground. Instead of "swinging for the fences" and then quitting when you "strike out," why not strategically "settle" for "base hits?" Why...

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"Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn

Books are my go-to source for inspiration and information...

At the heart of any endeavor is the idea that you enhance your life most through work that enhances the lives of others. Some know what their next project is and who it's for. Others are seeking both an enterprise and an audience for it.

Whichever group you align with, there's always room to...

"One’s ultimate aim is to do all in one’s power to shoot straight, and the same applies with our ultimate goal." - Cicero

What is the goal of the archer who steps onto the field, notches her arrow, draws it back, and takes aim at the target?

Most assume that the goal of the archer...

It's commencement season. One period of life ends, another begins. How are you helping the "graduates" in your life to step into possibility and potential?

Most of us work for a living and we spend a chunk of our lives doing that work. Yet most of us don't much get advice or...

It’s spring in Southwestern Virginia. Time to make some important decisions about what flowers to plant in the beds around our small home, annuals or perennials?

Here’s the thing. Annuals bloom only once, but they’re brighter, showier, cheaper, and require less care than...

I find a to-do list  a seductive way to hide from the real work I need to do. What about you?

Too often my to-do list is full of non-essential tasks  like "organize my top desk drawer." Just as often, my to-do list is made up of outright distractions or tasks that get done automatically...

How do you reply to the questions that come up in an everyday exchange of pleasantries? Questions like "How are you?" or "How is everything?"

For years my response has been, "Perfect in every way."

Am I a Pollyanna or just delusional? I mean, really, even the magical Mary Poppins was only "...

I was initially introduced to the concept of sonder by Seth Godin.

Sonder is defined as that moment when you realize that everyone around you has an internal life as rich and as conflicted as yours.

Sonder brings to mind the Stoic practice of not judging others too harshly when they speak...

Compassion is often conflated with empathy, but they are very different impulses. Empathy is the ability to feel and understand the state of mind of another. Compassion is feeling compelled to act on that recognition and to assist.

But empathy is not enough. It is only a step, albeit an important...