LIFE
The Active Mindset
If you write, you’ve probably learned about passive voice versus active voice. Example: Passive voice: The miserable 5K was run by Amanda.Active voice: Amanda ran the miserable 5K. Passive voice: The effing push-ups were completed by Amanda.Active voice: Amanda...
Holding Out For A Hero
We are judged by our actions, and every day we are forced to make decisions where one path is harder, but much more heroic, and the other path is easier, and less heroic. It’s extremely challenging to choose the heroic path consistently. But you can make the choice easier by…
Mom, Is Santa Real?
A week ago, my ten-year-old asked me about the elf in our home. If you’re not familiar, Elf on the Shelf is sort of a game for kids who believe in the magic of Christmas. You have a little stuffed elf. Every night you move the elf to a new location/position in the...
Are You The Cattle or The Cowboy?
Parents tell their kids to chase their dreams, but the message somehow turns to chase job security when they become a young adult.
It’s common in our society to encourage people to chase their dreams, but it’s even more common for society to scare you out of such pursuits.
If Happy Things Annoy You
The other day I read a comment on a friend’s post. The commenter talked about hating people who post on Facebook to show their “perfect” lives. How he feels sorry those people and wants to slap them on the side of the head. Here are six great alternatives to feeling...
Mastering the Mind & Emotions
It’s easy to get caught up in the mind and emotional because of it. One of the best things I can do for myself is just be aware that this is happening. Have the presence of mind to step back and look at things more objectively.
When We Document, We Get Paid in Confidence
You’ve likely heard the phrase, “what gets measured, gets managed.” It’s a quote by Peter Drucker, and it describes how we should not expect great results unless we measure and track our progress. When we document our progress, it pays us with measurable proof, which...
Raising The Stakes
I’m not a fan of gambling. Mostly because I don’t like betting on things when I feel I have little control of the outcome. Some card games have some strategy for sure, but you will never see me put money down on a roulette table or into a slot machine.
However, I am a fan of “raising the stakes” in my life.
LEGACY
Talent Craves Dedication
In the last days of my father’s life, I was tasked with writing a few words to be read by my sister at his funeral. This meant sitting down in front of my computer and staring at a blank screen for a few hours. Because what is there to say, so much and not enough,...
Driven To Be Something More
“At first, I hated the pressure and burden of feeling called to become something great. It’s a torture chamber. You know your potential. Yet, you have no idea how to get there. This leads to despair and misery, and always feeling like you’re letting yourself down…”
Letters to My Daughters
For the past twelve years, I’ve been working on a journal filled with entries from me to Emilia. I’ve been doing the same in a second journal for the past decade with entries to Ivy.For me, this is a form of legacy. It takes very little of my time (I average about one...
Mindset & What Truly Matters
As an aspiring writer, I was constantly consumed with goals. What would lead to publication? What would bring in money? Would fame follow if I wrote a space opera werewolf romance?
Life is Not a Seasonal Sport
I played almost every sport I could in my youth. Growing up on an Island in Alaska, if you played sports, that meant you would either take a multi-day ferry ride or an airplane when it came time to play another team. Playing sports was our primary way off the...
Have reverence for those who give
Mom TicketsFor my birthday, Ivy presented me with Mom Tickets and five, one-dollar bills.I can redeem the Mom Tickets for various chores. Mopping the floor (up to ten times, good for one year), doing the dishes (up to five times, good for three weeks), and unlimited...
Scrappy and Proud
My 7th grade daughter just won 6th place in the city-wide tennis tournament.To say I’m proud is an understatement. Here’s why.6th place was frustrating to Emilia because she lost two very close matches. But what she failed to see was how much of an underdog she was in...
Medals are nice but never forgo authenticity
When the awards and accolades are the goal from the start, the writing loses its authenticity. We can’t afford to forgo authenticity, because when it comes to our readers, their bullshit meters are extremely sensitive.
LIVELIHOOD
The Engineer & the Fork in the Road
A friend of mine is brilliant. I have known Mark for twenty years, and during that time I’ve never doubted that the workings of his mind could solve many of the worlds problems (or at the very least eliminate a hundred inconveniences that you and I experience on a...
On Situational Strategy
Through trial and error, a whole lot of error, I’ve learned that a plan is good, but by no means set in stone. The situation may (will) change and so the strategy going forward will have to as well. I cannot let the plan serve as blinders.
StoryAthlete
A few people have reached out to me about what I’ve been doing lately. Mike and I have been embarking on a variety of changes and challenges. All good things. As far as the writing and posting I’ve been doing of late, I mentioned a few times that this was part of a...
Be Selfish with Your Time
One of the most common excuses I hear from people about why they haven’t achieved something is that there’s not enough time. But really, time moves at the same pace for all of us. No one gets more hours in a day than anyone else.
On the Importance of Routine
My adherence to routine is amusing to some. “Don’t you want to mix it up?” they’ll ask. “What about spontaneity?” It’s true that by nature I’m a born planner. But I also purposely engineer routine in certain areas because becoming who you want to be demands routine. I...
Mastering the Mind & Emotions
It’s easy to get caught up in the mind and emotional because of it. One of the best things I can do for myself is just be aware that this is happening. Have the presence of mind to step back and look at things more objectively.
Producers versus Consumers
I read a post the other day discussing the difference between players and fans. As in, are you watching from the stands? Or are you out there on the field? In the world of creators, I see this as producers versus consumers. Maybe you love movies and you watch them all...
I Want to Do All the Things
Let’s be honest, I have the best possible struggle one can have.