Once upon a time, I lived a magical life in Japan. There, opportunities unfolded in incredible ways, with ideal timing and ease: I put an ad in the local newspaper to teach piano. Within weeks, I had a roster of Japanese housewife students paying $100 an hour. An American friend was moving back to the […]
Too often, we get it backwards. We think it’s when we reach our big goal – the seven-figure revenues, ideal weight or championship trophy — that we can believe it’s possible. In fact, we have to embrace our vision before it actually happens: “You’ll see it when you believe it,” said Wayne Dyer. That’s what […]
“Have you ever been incarcerated?” When I was mentoring at Defy Ventures, an organization that trains formerly incarcerated individuals for employment and entrepreneurship, I learned that that was the question participants dreaded most in a job interview (and understandably so, since it often meant the end of the interview). Though, for most of us, the […]
Recently, I’ve gotten into rock climbing. Well, actually, I’ve only done it a handful of times and I live in New York City, so it’s on manmade walls at an indoor gym called Brooklyn Boulders. It’s cool and trendy and I like the idea of it as an exercise in mental toughness — except that it’s really, really […]
The Navy SEALs have a saying: “Get comfortable being uncomfortable.” Sounds like an oxymoron but, of course, if we want to grow, we need to get used to being outside our comfort zone. The thing is, our modern lives are all about ease and instant gratification. We don’t like the discomfort of a slow Internet […]
“Lose 10 pounds in 10 days — without diet or exercise!” “Win the lottery, live a life of ease!” “Click here to meet the man of your dreams! Poof! Just like that, we’re rich, thin, in love and, presumably, happy. Except…we’re not. And yet, each time we fall for – or are at least tempted […]