By 2050, we need to remove 10 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually in order to keep global temperatures from increasing more than 2ºC — the commonly accepted threshold for when the climate would become unbearably hot and unpredictable for humans in much of the world. In 2022, we removed two […]
Coaching Questions to Help You Make Breakthroughs at Work and in Life
I get a version of this question regularly: “What are the 3-4 coaching questions or exercises most likely to produce breakthroughs?” I get where it comes from. What if you could boil coaching down to powerful questions anyone can ask themselves anytime they’re looking for a breakthrough? Coaching doesn’t work like that. Coaching is a […]
How to Reinvent Yourself: Lessons Learned from My Career Transition and How to Find Your Next Great Thing
In August 2021, I resigned from my role as COO at ConvertKit. I sold most of my stock and set aside funds for a sabbatical of undetermined length. In the 18 months following my departure, I transitioned industries; pursued three six-month career experiments; experienced deep anxiety and depression; and came out the other side, more […]
Advice for My 10-Year-Old Self
A friend asked me to compile advice for my 10-year old self. I came up with 10 things I’d want to tell myself at age 10. If you enjoy them, please feel free to add or subtract as you see fit and share them with anyone you think would benefit. If you’re reading this, you’re […]
Carbon Direct: The $160 Trillion Opportunity Hiding in Plain Sight
There’s an untapped $160 trillion market teeming with potential and on the verge of surging with economic activity — and one company in particular is building a carbon science dream team to take advantage. That market: carbon dioxide. Carbon Direct’s mission is to “combine science, technology, and capital to deliver quality CO2 management at scale.” […]
I am nothing: On the loss of identity in times of transition
1,868 days. That’s the number of days I spent on the ConvertKit team. 12,408 days. That’s the number of days since I was born. I’ve spent 15% of my life at one company. 32% of my adult life. Nearly 47% of my working life. 10,000 hours of deliberate practice is the mark of an expert. […]
Five Techniques for Chasing Your Unanswered Callings [Research Summary]
In Every Good Endeavor, Timothy Keller introduces the book by referencing back to Robert Bellah’s Habits of the Heart, starting with a passage on the perils of individualism at the expense of all else: “We are moving to an ever greater validation of the sacredness of the individual person, [but] our capacity to imagine a social fabric that […]
What are you optimizing for? (Or, why I want more moments of joy)
I get in bed and pull the covers up around me. I roll over to tell my wife good night. She’s already fast asleep and cuddling our younger dog like it’s our child. I take a moment to simply watch them sleep peacefully before turning the light out. We invite ourselves over to our close […]
Am I Enough?
When things are going well, it’s easy to wait on the other shoe to drop. “See, I knew I wasn’t doing enough,” I expect to say some day in the future when it all falls apart. I don’t have what it takes. I’m a fraud. When things are going poorly, it’s easy to ride the […]
Define Your Flywheel to Fuel Faster Business Growth
In his classic management book, Good to Great, Jim Collins shares an idea called a flywheel. That concept can help you and your company define what drives growth and then do more of those things over time. It’s a powerful tool for strategic clarity. Collins recently expanded on the concept in a recent manifesto called […]