On Wednesday we’ll release the first round of tickets for WDS 2016, a global gathering like no other!
But first, we’re rolling out a series of speaker videos from the 2015 event. Asha Dornfest, co-author of Minimalist Parenting and the popular blog Parent Hacks spoke to us about building trust in ourselves and reinvention. Check out the video! Read More
Last year I shared the story of why I got a prescription for Adderall, the brand name of the psychostimulant drug that can help you control your attention and focus. Adderall is a controlled substance in the U.S. and most other western countries. It’s known for being abused by college students—you know, when you really need to study—but it’s also one of the most frequently prescribed treatments for both children and adults with ADHD.
I was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid (whoa, look at that spaceship!) and was medicated for a while with Ritalin and other drugs, but until last year at the old age of 36, I hadn’t taken anything since I was 12 or so. The short version of why I decided to alter my stance on ADHD meds was that things weren’t working well. I had been late on my last book manuscript, and was beginning a new one that I wanted to complete on time. I had a long list of things I wanted to do (and believed in), but it had become more and more difficult to settle down and knock things off the list. Read More
Next week we’ll release the first round of tickets for WDS 2016, a global gathering like no other!
But first, we’re rolling out a series of speaker videos from the 2015 event. Megan Devine, author of the audio book, When Everything is Not Okay: Practices to Help You Stay in Your Heart & Not Lose Your Mind, challenged us to approach life's challenges differently for ourselves and the people we love. Check out the video! Read More
You’ve heard the story a thousand times.
Two roads diverged in the woods, and the wanderer is forced to choose. One road has a bit more wear than the other, but aside from that, both paths look pretty good. What to do? Since you've heard the story, you probably know the ending.
After some deliberation, the wanderer chooses the road “less traveled by.” And that, we're told, “has made all the difference."
Great story! But did you ever think about what happened to the other road? Maybe it was just a common road, and the wanderer was right to place his foot on the freshly-fallen leaves where few had stepped before.
Or maybe not. I have a theory that the other road was just as good. Maybe it was even better than the road less traveled by, but in the recollection the wanderer has revised his memory to conform to the experience he's had since first choosing a path.
Read More
Soon we’ll release the first round of tickets for WDS 2016, a global gathering like no other!
But first, we’re rolling out a series of speaker videos from the 2015 event. Lissa Rankin, physician and New York Times bestselling author of popular books like Mind Over Medicine and The Fear Cure, spoke to us about listening to our heart to find our purpose. Check out the video! Read More
In just a few weeks, we’ll release the first round of tickets for WDS 2016, a global gathering like no other!
But first, we’re rolling out a series of speaker videos from the 2015 event. Lewis Howes, host of the popular podcast The School of Greatness, shared his own story about how he found the secret to greatness. Note: In this video, Lewis shares a number of personal stories for the first time, including one that contains sensitive information. Read More
In just a few weeks, we’ll release the first round of tickets for WDS 2016, a global gathering like no other!
But first, we’re rolling out a series of speaker videos from the 2015 event. Jon Acuff, bestselling author of Do Over, Start, and several other books, spoke to us about having courage and finding our voice. He's also a very funny guy. Check out the video! Read More
A few days ago I went to San Francisco to attend a memorial service for Scott Luckey Dinsmore, who recently died in a tragic accident on Mount Kilimanjaro.
"Do human beings ever realize life while they live it—every, every minute?” -Emily, from Our Town by Thomas Wilder
This past weekend I went back to the city where my brother and I both lived for a while. In fact, I stayed in the small hotel where I saw him for the last time. That visit was a year or so ago, and when we said goodbye he was returning to his home in Washington, D.C. and I to Portland. Ken had an appreciation for good whiskey, but on our last evening together I discovered that he had never heard of bourbon and ginger ale, a very basic and common drink. Following my lead, he had his first one that night at the hotel restaurant where we were staying. Then, the next morning, we had breakfast together in the same restaurant before going our separate ways. It’s funny how experiences like those seem so trivial at the time. Imagine writing a story composed of such details: two characters meet in a bar for a drink and talk about nothing terribly important. The next morning they have breakfast together and then fly back home. There’s no plot, no conflict, no life-altering decision to be made. What a boring story! Read More
You don’t know what to do at the start of the day.
That’s what dentists tell you. You don’t need to floss all your teeth—just the ones you need to keep.
When it comes to your business, your life, or your relationships, a similar principle applies. You don’t have to pay attention to everything and everyone. But you do have to pay attention to what matters most. It may help to identify some priorities. In my business I track only two metrics on a consistent basis:1. Email subscribers 2. Product salesMy thinking is that if these things are going along okay, everything else will fall into place. I don't check other statistics or track anything else. Checking my bank accounts will not make more money. This year I added a "relationship metric":
"I think the message in the book is that we all have flaws we can’t resolve." -Amazon reviewer
You probably learned in kindergarten that life isn’t fair. You can’t always get what you want—and sometimes you might not even get what you need.
One of the things I have yet to come to terms with is: what are the consequences of losing my brother? That is, what will be different now that he's gone?
Obviously I am still grieving, and even still largely in shock. I wake up every day remembering him, disbelieving for a moment that he could possibly be gone. But these are short-term circumstances, not long-term consequences. The bottom line is that I don’t fully know what the loss entails for me and for everyone else who was close to him. In my case, I just have no doubt that my life will be different, not only now but always. Today is Ken's birthday. He would have been 32 years old. I probably would have texted him to say “Happy birthday, bro!” And to be honest, that’s probably all I would have done. I might have sent a bottle of whiskey or a copy of a new book I liked, but in most years I usually just called or wrote. He was always better at birthdays and other holidays than me or anyone else in the family. Read More
Toward the end of Up in the Air, the character played by George Clooney calls up American Airlines and asks to transfer some of his Frequent Flyer miles to his sister.
"How many miles?" the agent asks.
“Enough to go completely around the world."
I saw that movie with my parents several years ago, and when we left the theatre, my mom asked, “How many miles does it take to go around the world?”
She thought I’d know the answer, and of course I did.
Read More