Sometimes, it takes a boost before you can truly reach your potential. Just a few months after I started my first job, a huge opportunity presented itself. My company needed someone in my office to take a leadership role in solving one of the highest-profile problems in the company, and no one seemed eager to …
Tag: sports
The Thrill of Progress
What is it about sports that is so intoxicating? There’s the competition aspect that has been known to bring out the best (and worst) in people. At the same time, comradery and team spirit come into play. Along with something innate in the primal nature of the physical activity. But there’s something deeper. Sure, all …
Learning from the Opposite
Often we can only truly understand something once we see it from different perspectives. My high school football years were a great example. I spent years training to be a high school quarterback. I went to camps and constantly seemed to be working to better read defenses and make plays. But alas, I ultimately found …
The Danger of “Or”
The word “or” is often used as a crutch. One of my favorite examples comes from Ramit Sethi. He talks about the college admission process, and an interesting answer on the FAQ page for one of the top schools in the country. The question that was posed was roughly, “Is it better to take an …
Life as a Song
I grew up under the impression that life was a journey. That I was on my way to some finish line, with clear checkpoints along the way. But over the past couple of years, this mindset has come into question. Just a few months ago, I wrote an article that I called Embracing the Journey. …
What Pick Up Basketball Taught Me about a Job Interview
I’ve written before about my past struggles with the interview process. When I went on the job hunt for the first time in college, I was terrible. I didn’t understand how the process worked, and I was incredibly ineffective at telling a compelling story during the interview. I used to think that job interviews were …
Thriving in the Chaos
As a Michigan alum, I hate Michigan State football. I can’t stand their coach, and I root against their alumni in the NFL. I feel dirty just thinking about wearing green and white. But there’s one aspect of Michigan State football than I have to admire. More than any other team that I’ve ever seen, …
Micro Speed
Last week, I touched on the idea of macro patience. In the big picture, patience is the only way to go. Success takes time. But in the short term, there’s more to the equation. As GaryVee puts it, you need micro speed. Looking back to Chance the Rapper, I highlighted the fact that he was patient …
Macro Patience
Speed and patience. Somewhere at the intersection of these ideas lies the formula for sustained success. At first thought, speed and patience seem to be direct opposites. Being patient typically means that you aren’t moving very quickly. But the magic happens when you change your perspective, which is how Gary Veynerchuck looks at it. The …
Doing vs. Theorizing
There’s an interesting story in the book Art and Fear by David Bayles about an experiment that was conducted in a ceramics class. The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity …