Yesterday’s post on developing empathy started with me writing about traveling, which ended up being today’s post. Nearly everyone tells me they love to travel. The top reason they give for it is to experience new people, places, and cultures. I get that appeal, but my goals are different. My main goal in life is to continue improving it. My travel goals are to contribute to that goal. Learning about[…] Keep reading →

I had heard of the Great Wall of China. Now I’m behind it. They block Facebook, Youtube, plenty of Wikipedia pages (like pages on internet censorship in China), and links to software to get around the firewall. There seems to be a paid service to circumvent it. I can’t say I understand the strategy behind blocking these sites. It seems counterproductive to my concept of what government is for —[…] Keep reading →

I’ll build on yesterday’s post on changing your perspective to make it easier to change your perspective with a post I’ve been meaning to write for a while. Airports around the world are full of an ad campaign that provide another great exercise in enabling changing your perspective. Flexibility in changing your perspective is one of the most important tools in changing your world, creating freedom for yourself, and in[…] Keep reading →

Flexibility in changing your beliefs and perspectives is one of the more important skills in improving your life. It’s also a major component of intelligence, one psychologist told me. In my seminars and with clients, it’s one of the more challenging skills to develop, though easy with practice. Like most challenges, the way to master it is to start easy and build. Look for all the opportunities you can to[…] Keep reading →

Istanbul is amazing! People who know me know traveling isn’t my highest priority, but it can add so much to your life. American culture says so little about Turkey. I’ve been trying to think of mainstream cultural references to it but the main ones I could think of were the movies Midnight Express and Gallipoli. The former was one of the main reason I don’t like Oliver Stone and is[…] Keep reading →

A reader emailed me about mindfulness and self-awareness. I mentioned to him a meditation retreat I did a few years ago and found an old post I wrote about the experience, answering another reader’s questions about the course. I did a ten day Vipassana course a few years ago. What it’s about: It teaches you a meditation technique and gives you the time and space to practice it. It’s based[…] Keep reading →

I finally posted the pictures for my two-and-a-half year old post on my friend Dave and I swimming across the Hudson River. They’re at the bottom of the post. An awesome day with an badass friend doing rockstar stuff.