*SPOILER ALERT FOR GAME OF THRONES, OBVIOUSLY. Don’t listen to this if you haven’t watched the show!* Well, this is it. The last episode of Game of Thrones had many missteps as well as some glorious moments, and it gave […]
Lately I’ve become a bit of a kid in a candy shop when it comes to wanting to pick up new athletic skills. From weight-lifting to swimming, there are so many skills I never mastered in my youth. Even my […]
*SPOILER ALERT FOR GAME OF THRONES, OBVIOUSLY. Don’t listen to this if you haven’t watched the show!* The penultimate episode brought home many of the truest and most powerful themes of Game of Thrones, from the horrors of war and […]
People often talk about how important it is to gain a “30,000 foot view” of life goals. People usually only mean “30,000 foot” metaphorically. I take things a bit more literally. When I fly now, I often find myself gaining […]
Sometimes you can get the most interesting stories when you ask storytellers to talk about themselves. Today I interviewed a journalist who has been covering the blockchain industry for years and years (typically he interviews my company not the other way […]
When you need to build an app but don’t know computer science, programming can seem like a magical skill. The same is true of most skills we don’t understand or know. We elevate the practitioners to the level of magicians practicing […]
I’m in New York City for the first time and am finally testing for myself all of my assumptions and hopes about this magical place. Here are a few of my quick observations: 1. The people are friendlier than expected. People […]
When’s the last time you were truly nauseous? It’s a horrible feeling – all the worse because it’s usually a low-level, dull sense of unease and volatility. I experienced nausea today for the first time in months, and – as […]
Love running? It’s natural to start with flat surfaces – maybe in your neighborhood or a local park. But if you’re looking to add novelty and adventure to your running practice, you might want to check out trail running. […]
Why be kind, just, ethical? I’ve already spent a good amount of my time thinking about this question – and there is more than one good answer. But I’ve been fascinated lately by a new way to think about the reasons […]
*SPOILER ALERT FOR GAME OF THRONES, OBVIOUSLY. Don’t listen to this if you haven’t watched the show!* What is the right way to respond to the deaths of others? Should you be more loyal to your family or to your […]
*SPOILER ALERT FOR GAME OF THRONES, OBVIOUSLY. Don’t listen to this if you haven’t watched the show!* Do our past mistakes work out for the best? What is the right way to die? And how can reading too many /r/gameofthrones Reddit threads […]
Most people take a victory lap *after* they get to inbox zero. But what if you could use inbox clearing as a digital victory lap of its own? Yesterday I listened to a good podcast from The Voluntary Life about […]
There’s a downside to self-development: it can be very easy to start developing contempt for the people you’re passing. People who don’t go to the gym start to look like slobs. You* start to judge people who watch TV instead of doing […]
When I walk in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park these days, I get a few moments where I see at a deeper level. I see hundreds of smiling people. I see couples in love, parents with children, and happy dogs trotting ahead of them. […]
Our company is not shy about debating. If there is an issue, it usually gets raised – and publicly. “I’m not sure about this subject line.” “We should rework the copy on this page of the website.” “This dashboard functionality […]
*SPOILER ALERT FOR GAME OF THRONES, OBVIOUSLY. Don’t listen to this if you haven’t watched the show!* What is the nature of titles? What really drives evil? And is memory really what makes us human? This week, as the Night King’s […]
If you’ve ever wronged someone, you might know how the feeling of guilt drags along behind you like a ball and chain. If you’re like me, you tend to judge yourself more harshly even than other people judge you. If […]
Once upon a time I (with moderate seriousness) considered trying to set the world record for the longest streak of daily blog writing. Collecting jelly beans or forming the world’s largest PokemonGo flash mob just wasn’t going to be my thing. I certainly […]
*SPOILER ALERT FOR GAME OF THRONES, OBVIOUSLY. Don’t listen to this if you haven’t watched the show!* We’re excited to be back podcasting on the philosophical themes of Game of Thrones, and the first episode of this final season brought great […]
Interviews are sort of like antibiotics. Yes, they’re useful to bring great new people into your team. But it’s also important to use interviews to keep the bad eggs from spoiling your culture and productivity. And as with any antiobiotic-germ relationship, the germs are constantly […]
There’s a idea in our culture that spontaneity and adventure are linked: Some friend shows up to our house at 5 AM and invites us on a trip to the mountains. We say yes. The mountains are beautiful under the rising sun. The memories last forever. […]
How do you stand out as a vendor when you’re walking a conference floor full of companies trying to sell their stuff? Over my few years of startup marketing experience I’ve started to pick up the habit of seeing unconventional […]
Permission is the enemy of speed. Everyone knows this. But I think what’s less discussed is the negative psychosomatic effect that permission has. Just *knowing* that you have to ask permission adds a certain friction that makes everything a bit […]
Game of Thrones season 8 is almost here, which means conversation about the themes, characters, and plots of the show is about to come to a water cooler near you. Go ahead, geek out! I’m looking forward to being a fan […]
This week at the office saw the introduction of James’s Jiu Jitsu Move of the Day. In a series of events that could only happen at my company, I welcomed coworkers into the marketing pod and proceeded to show them how to […]
I didn’t finish everything I wanted to accomplish this week. I didn’t work hard enough. I didn’t plan well enough. I didn’t prioritize well enough. When this happens, I sometimes get the thought – from my own training or from other people – that […]
How often do you see your aunts and uncles? If like me you’re grown and out of your home town, you probably don’t get much facetime with these people, even if they were a bigger part of your life when […]
Why do I still have a Christmas tree (albeit a miniature one) in my bedroom? At first, the answer was the obvious one: I was too lazy to take it to one of the proper disposal centers. And so I […]
Fact: there are zero enjoyable games in the world that lack an element of challenge. Also fact: there are few challenges in the world that can’t be enjoyed as games. I don’t like long checkout lines, for instance, but I […]