Since posting on lessons leaders can learn from method acting, I’ve been thinking about parallels between acting and leadership — in particular how acting changed when Constantine Stanislovski led changing the art to expressive and internal from impressive and external. “Impressive and external” means the actor tried to impress the audience with outward showiness. “Expressive and internal” means the actor tries to find emotions inside and express them. You know[…] Keep reading →

Romantic comedies hurt us. If you know me long enough you’ll hear many reasons why. Today I’ll talk about a couple. In nearly all of them the girl comes to realize how great the guy really is under the surface. She realizes who he really is. She also realizes who the bad guy is and why he’s bad. Unsuccessful guys who just know how great they are underneath see them[…] Keep reading →

The title of this post speaks for itself so I’ll keep it short. I just keep seeing people wishing they had more than they need not realizing how they are creating jails for themselves, giving others control over their lives. If you always want more money, people with more money will get you to work for them. If you want fame, people with access to media will get you to[…] Keep reading →

I posted on another board in a discussion on taste Is classical music better than punk? Museum art better than street art? Haute cuisine better than burritos? Is the op-ed page better than stand-up comedy? Is classical philosophy better than folk wisdom? My life improved when I learned I didn’t have to accept anyone else’s hierarchy of taste. Most people may consider one better than another, but I’ve learned to[…] Keep reading →

As I consider the U.S. Declaration of Independence perhaps the founding concepts of the country I was born in and lived most of my life, I celebrate our Independence Day by reading at least one relevant historical work. Having visited Vietnam and North Korea since last July 4th, I’ve had pause to think about what freedom means to America and some things of what America is doing to freedom. Vietnam’s[…] Keep reading →

I played ultimate in Shanghai for the first time Monday and Saturday since the tournament in August in North Korea (in particular getting the end zone D and catching the goal to win the game), which was the first time in something like five years. Wow, nothing compares to playing ultimate. Even with probably 90 degree temperatures and high humidity, running around, throwing, and catching was awesome. It’s like what[…] Keep reading →

I wrote the other day about my six-month anniversary of burpees. A couple days before was a bigger anniversary — the tenth anniversary of Submedia’s Manhattan display in the PATH system. We launched June 18, 2002. I don’t write that much about Submedia here, the company I co-founded in the late 90s, but it still pays my bills and I still work on developing the technology, relationship, and other things[…] Keep reading →

I began yesterday’s post on how cutting costs improves your life intending to write about a blog I just found and enjoyed. As per my extensively field-tested and verified practice of sharing what you love, I’m sharing the blogs I enjoy reading and find improve my life. The blog is called Mr. Money Moustache. The author writes about living well by getting rid of crap. By word count he writes[…] Keep reading →