How to expand your comfort zone
If you’ve ever put off doing something new, because it made you uneasy, you’re not alone. Most people have trouble taking goal-oriented actions that take them out of their comfort zone, says Jaime Masters, a business coach and host of the Eventual Millionaire Podcast. At a recent webinar, she said that the more we...
Inspiration for creative types
Several blog posts ago, I mentioned how music can help energize you and totally change your mood. I would add that it can also inspire you to create something that did not exist before. I was recently lucky enough to see Hamilton, the new hiphop musical that’s all the rage on Broadway. One person, Lin-Manuel...
It’s okay to be obsessed
On Quora.com, a reader wanted to know what goes into the making of a great entrepreneur like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, or Richard Branson. Justine Musk shed light on what it takes. As a former wife of one of the “extreme entrepreneurs” mentioned, she should know. “Be obsessed,” she wrote three times. “If...
Finding your place
Decades ago, I first realized that getting a job felt like becoming a contortionist. It was all about fitting into a pre-cut slot. Mushing yourself in. Compressing yourself to fit a company’s needs. The only way I fit into the world was by changing myself to fit holes in the work world. It wasn’t at...
Things take time
Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books have been international best sellers, with millions sold. And thousands flock every year to historical sites where her family lived. For many, Laura’s books, more than those of any other author, offer the best insider’s look at life on the frontier. So it was surprising to learn about the ups and downs...
Work habits of the creative class
Rene Descartes, the French philosopher, slept 10 hours a night. He would wake mid-morning, linger in bed thinking and writing. By 11:00 a.m., he was usually done with work for the day. Unlike many other creatives, he believed idleness was important for good mental work. It’s a position I endorse. Apparently he made sure never...
On the power of music
If you’ve ever had one of those days or weeks when you feel blah or a shadow of your more energetic, productive self, consider the power of music to speak to your inner core. Not only can it wake you up and change your outlook, it might even get your inspiration flowing again. If you’re...
Elements of a quarter-life breakthrough
Two years ago, Smiley Poswolsky was wrestling with a brutal quarter-life crisis. When he went home and told his roommate that he hated his job and wanted to move across the country, write, and support social entrepreneurs who were going after their dreams, his roommate would say something like, “Dude, everyone hates their job. That’s...
The case against playing it safe
Avoiding risk in your work life could be harmful to your health. We’re so focused externally on what’s going to sell, what’s hot, what will move, and what somebody else wants that we don’t listen to ourselves. We lose touch with who we really are and what we can give, said career coach Tama Kieves....
Mom on a mission
A mother puts her own spin on fitness. Lisa Druxman was a new mom when she had one of those aha! moments. All moms are looking to get back into shape after having a baby, she realized. And they were also looking to connect with other new moms. “I decided to blend my passion for...
Roots of a startup
Call it serendipity. Sometimes a new business emerges by accident. When Ryan McMunn moved to Shanghai in 2004 to do quality control for a manufacturing company, one of his goals was to learn to speak Chinese. He never dreamed where that goal would take him. Now the founder and CEO of BRIC Language Systems, which...
A picture book illustrator’s beginnings
The paths people take to find the work they love always interest me. Sometimes what may not have been all that much fun early in a career turns out in retrospect to be valuable training for what comes later. Jon Klassen, an animator who is best known as the author and illustrator of the picture...