The Blog

Want to develop your potential? Awaken the giant within? Achieve excellence in an endeavor worthy of your time and talents?

Some say it takes guts, grit, and grind. Others say it requires planning, purpose, and perseverance. Perhaps it's merely up to fate, fortitude, and fortune.

Regardless...

I think stoicism is stupid.

To be clear, what I mean is ordinary English usage, lowercase "s" stoicism, is a pretty poor strategy for cultivating happiness while creating a life worth living.

Meaningful living and work, without question, involves challenges, misfortunes, and invitations...

Creatives break things. It comes with the job. Things are as they are, and then the creative brings forth something new. Suddenly what was is no longer what is.

It so often happens at the micro level that you simply stop taking note. But sometimes the change is so profound that ...

Is a sure thing worth pursuing?

“What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost but the call of a potential...

Certainty and confidence are over-rated and the enemies of creativity. I take some flak for asserting this, but I stand by that assertion.

Here's the deal. Creativity is about change. Creativity is about innovation. Creativity is about risk. Creativity is an act of faith driven by an...

“Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist
when you grow up” – Pablo Picasso

In The Stoic Creative, I assert that creativity is an inherent human impulse. If you don't agree, think back to your childhood. A time you were a fearless and...

I earned a living playing music on stages large and small for 30 years. Sometimes for festival audiences of thousands, sometimes to the sound of one fan clapping in a small club. Along the way, I learned a few lessons that inspire and inform other life endeavors. Here are my top 10 lessons...

Do You Know That You’re Lying?

“Let’s start with a quick poll. Raise your hand if you’re a Creative. Great! If your hand is raised, put it back down. Now, raise your hand if you’re not a Creative. That's interesting. Keep your hand raised. Alright, if your hand is...

I had the great privilege of speaking with Seth Godin for a second time on the Creative On Purpose Broadcast recently. He packed our short time together with a ton of knowledge and insight. But one of the most profound moments was what Seth said about the perils of attachment for...

Is the work you do deliberate, inspired, provocative, or significant?

Shouldn’t it be?

What “The Work You’re Meant to Do Now” Is NOT

The work you’re meant to do now is not “what you were born to do.” It’s not the one thing you’re put on the...

Skills Are Acquired, Talents Are Accessed

“What Do You Do?”

“What you do” is not necessarily what you do for a living or what you’re employed to do. Too often your “job” employs only hard skills. These are skills you’ve been taught in school or...

Are you feeling dissatisfied or frustrated with the work you do now? Feel like you’re not developing or engaging your full potential in whatever endeavor you’re employed? Not executing your full promise?

Maybe you’re wondering, “What’s next?” “What is the...