Today I gave my talk at TEDxWaltham, “What Everyone Gets Wrong About The Environment.” Before I got home, an attendee emailed one of the most encouraging and heartwarming reviews I’ve received: “I just wanted to tell you, I was extremely inspired by you and your talk today. I can’t remember a time when I was more impressed by someone’s philosophy and dedication to action. I hope we can chat soon[…] Keep reading →

Here’s one of the worst user interfaces I’ve seen. I hope you enjoy it. It doesn’t get me every time, but it still does after years of using it.

I’ve thought about recording news talk, like AM radio hosts, from an environmental leadership standpoint for a month or so. I’ve learned the way to learn is to start. I don’t know if the best way is audio only, video, showing me talking to the camera, showing the news, etc. Should I start a channel? What host should I use? How long should I make each episode? Should I prepare?[…] Keep reading →

“Arch problems” is my name for problems where their would-be solutions exacerbate the problem. Their cure is the disease. Why “arch”? Arches in architecture are strong under pressure, supporting something. If you think an arch is weak and try to help it by supporting it, you weaken it, which may lead you to support it more. This cycle of weakening it by supporting it more can lead to either the[…] Keep reading →

I wanted to share the story behind Initiative‘s cover. Layout The designer first sent a few cover designs. They were contemporary and appropriate for 2019, but they didn’t feel right. I couldn’t point to anything wrong with them, but they didn’t resonate. When we spoke to review his first designs, I told him that they felt “now,” but I considered my book timeless. It’s not about making apps, blockchain, or[…] Keep reading →

I don’t mean to make light of the freedom people fought and died for, but I reached an empty inbox for the first time in I don’t know how long today and it feels like freedom and liberation. Here’s a screen shot of my mail reader: Launching Initiative put my inbox count into triple digits, including many detailed messages about complicated relationships. But July 4 is about freedom and I[…] Keep reading →

Sharp-eyed readers of my blog and social media will have noticed the new portraits I’ve switched to. Also my portrait in my new book Initiative. A friend introduced me to Azael Montejo Jr — aka Ozzie — founder and CEO of Online Personal Training. Mostly we spoke about our lives and passions. At one point, he started describing a vision he saw from how I spoke about my work. The[…] Keep reading →

Humans seem drawn to the most beautiful places. Our ancestors probably settled where life was easiest—that is, providing the most for life. Then we make them easier for us to live there—a hut here, a path there, a well, a dock, a road, etc. In other words, we’ve likely paved the most beautiful places on Earth. Here’s Manhattan before and after. Here are two pictures of Thailand jungles, then two[…] Keep reading →

It turns out some people or advertisers decided to make October 12 World Burpee Day. Given my thing with burpees, I decided to play the game and post about it to see if my more than 110,000 burpees over 2,487 consecutive day wins me something. I found a few articles with headlines suggesting people barely getting started: I Did 30 Burpees For 15 Days and Here’s What Happened This Is[…] Keep reading →