My Inc.com piece today, “How to Break Rules and Succeed Like Kobe Bryant,” begins How to Break Rules and Succeed Like Kobe Bryant Kobe Bryant polarized and broke rules most of us can’t, yet earned admiration and support. Why can some people break rules, yet get support? The LA Times called Kobe Bryant “the most polarizing figure in the history of L.A. sports.” He spoke out against his team. He[…] Keep reading →

I find material things beyond the basics become a burden. What constitutes “basics” depends on everyone’s unique values, but I find the more I get rid of, and the more free I feel as a result, the fewer things I need as basic, which lets me get rid of more. The less “stuff” I have, the more freedom I have, mental and physical. I value few things more than freedom.[…] Keep reading →

This passage interviewing a guy who walked in space, plus some context, can help you enjoy life more, even—especially—if you can’t get to space but expect you’d love the experience. From the article: In the 1960s, he says, “astronauts were celebrities. They were invited on JFK’s boat. If you wanted to go to space, you had to become Neil Armstrong.” Today, however, space-travel companies like Virgin Galactic and SpaceX are[…] Keep reading →

The videos below aren’t glamorous. They’re about trash—regular household trash. Our world is swimming in garbage. The business world is obsessed with reducing waste and improving efficiency, but only for what it accounts for, which rarely includes actual physical waste, which taxpayers pay for carting away to landfills, where it slowly seeps out to the ecosphere. Most of us wish businesses were held accountable for other forms of waste, like[…] Keep reading →

On vacation over the winter, I found myself swimming in a pool. I realized I don’t swim much. As best I remember, it was the second or third time I swam since swimming across the Hudson River in 2008, pictured at the top of this page. I took a few surfing lessons in the meantime. I don’t know if I should count when I have something that floats with me.[…] Keep reading →

Gallup reported yesterday “U.S. Obesity Rate Climbs to Record High in 2015.” You can read the report for yourself, but adult obesity rose from 25.5% in 2008 to 28% last year, over six million adults. That’s self-reported, which means the rate is higher. 11.5% have diabetes. As much as we’ve grown accustomed to these perennial increases, last year’s increase felt like a bigger gut-punch to me. My 2015 food results:[…] Keep reading →

Some of the best ideas of my life have come to me while jet-lagged, lying awake in bed for hours before the sun rises. I end up having incredible ideas and thoughts but can’t act on them, so I let them flow, sometimes turning the light on briefly to write them, partly to remember them, partly to free my mind from trying to remember them so it can go on[…] Keep reading →

Few prominent Americans spoke as authentically as Martin Luther King. Still, even after winning a Nobel Peace Prize, he struggled to speak out publicly against the Vietnam War after he privately came to oppose it. Today I’m sharing how Muhammad Ali led Martin Luther King, despite not being a statesman or politician. On the contrary, he simply spoke authentically—that is, without the filter many people use to keep from saying[…] Keep reading →

When I got home from traveling last week, I found myself returning to many patterns and habits that traveling forced me to suspend. As I’m approaching middle age, I started to wonder if I was getting set in my ways. I want to stay young, vibrant, and effective. Could these habits mean I’m ossifying and becoming sedentary? While I could look at it that way, I find that I’ve found[…] Keep reading →