The Blog

I listened to a podcast a few days ago during my cemetery run that featured Sam Harris and Dan Dennet arguing about free will. It was an interesting but ultimately fruitless, exchange.

Are you the master of our destiny or is your life fated?

The answer is unknowable and even if it was, knowing...

“What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him.” - Viktor Frankl

Work worth doing, concepts worth pondering, talents worth cultivating. These require a desire to embrace challenges and uncertainty with curiosity...

Do you spend more time than is healthy focusing on outcomes that are beyond your control? I know I do! Attachment to results that are beyond your determination is not just unhealthy, it's a path to suffering.

In any moment all you really control is how you frame things and what you do next....

A 3-Minute Read About Reframing Your Response to Fear So You Can Fly Higher in the Difference Only You Can Make!

The Predicament

What do you fear most in the work you do? Is it failure, inadequacy, irrelevance, obscurity, poverty? Perhaps it's "all the above."

Your work is fraught with...

Your life, your work, your year. When you look back at each of these, you can lose sight that they are built from months, days, hours, and minutes.

But it’s in each moment that you have an opportunity to start, or try, or test.

Each juncture provides an opportunity to face obstacles,...

Connection is a basic human impulse.

Driven by the social imperative that enabled us to survive as a species, connection and collaboration fuel our best chance of surviving and flourishing going forward.

When our connections are driven by curiosity and consideration instead of certainty and...

“All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment, action for the common good in the present moment, and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.” — Marcus Aurelius

I had a fascinating discussion about Stoicism and...

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

Do you seek excellence in the work you do or an endeavor you engage in? How do you "level up" in an enterprise worthy of your time and effort?

It's one of the most profound lessons I learned...

A few weeks ago I spoke with Michael Bungay Stanier, author of The Coaching Habit, about my work with Creative On Purpose. During our chat, he said something that knocked me back on my heels a bit.

"You need to have a sustainable life. If you are a force for good in this world,
get your shit...

“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...

Do you ever wonder what work that matters looks like? I sure do!

Last Friday my wife Lisa and I attended the commencement ceremony at Floyd County High School to watch a dozen or so of my guitar students graduate. After the ceremony, I congratulated each of them and presented them with a copy...

Depression and anxiety are temporary emotional states that we all experience from time to time.

Yes, sometimes depression and anxiety are sustained clinical conditions that require professional treatment. But often depression and anxiety are merely temporary emotional states. Too often we...