Essays

The concept of living for the weekend has always been a tragedy to me. We tell ourselves to grin and bear it throughout the work week. Tolerate the work. Watch tv to pass the time. Wait for the weekend to arrive. The alternative is to find and do interesting work that matters you. What would […]

Here’s the best SEO advice I can give: make the most helpful content you know how to make, with good structure, and centered on topics your audience cares about. Everyone wants the one magic bullet or easy button. News flash: it doesn’t exist. There is no magic to the SEO game. If you’re looking for […]

It can be easy to fall into the trap of wanting attention for your work, especially early in your career. How many readers do I have? How much press coverage have I received? How many of the senior executives at my company know who I am? These are all the wrong questions for one simple […]

Writing is a super power. I don’t care whether you’re an accountant, an artist, or a chef. If you know how to write, it means you can share what you know. And when you share what you know, people come to respect you for your craft. Here’s the thing: writing is terrifying. I got the […]

We need more people in the world who are willing to speak the truth as they see it. Too many people are quite simply willing to ignore bad work, intrusive actions, and hate-filled rhetoric. Why? It is a huge disservice to convince someone they’re doing a good job when they’re capable of so much more. […]

“I’m keeping my options open.” – Everyone We like to think that learning a wide-ranging set of skills will set us free. With enough skills and enough broad experience, our career options will be wide open. Unfortunately, picking up new skills and broadening our experience for the fun of it simply means we’re refusing to […]

Things will get better. I’m just not sure how or when. That’s the mindset of an indefinite optimist, according to Peter Thiel. Contrast that mindset with this: Things will get better. And I plan to make that true. An indefinite optimist will wait on the world to get better, following the rules and counting on […]

If you could create 105 reasons to build trust with your customers, solely based on the products you stocked in your stores, would you? For most companies, the current (lazy and selfish) answer is no. But one company chooses to stand out for the right reasons. Whole Foods sometimes gets a bad rap for the […]

It’s easy to create excuses for why you haven’t been spending time with the people you say matter most to you. We can’t take that weekend trip. We don’t have time for that dinner party. Is that really true? Or is there something else behind the excuses? The power of community is strong. Time spent […]

In America, we pride ourselves on freedom. Freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. Freedom to pursue happiness. And yet, we like to avoid the discussion about the responsibility that accompanies freedom. And the equality. And the hard work. And the acts of generosity. And the sense of community. Yes, enjoy your freedom. But not at […]