Thoughts on thinking, the brain, and coping with a crisis — Did you know that your thoughts are not real? What you think about reality is not reality. It is just a perception. Does this depress you? It should liberate you. Do you wrestle with the way things are, because you think they should be some other way? How does that…

Is it an act of bravery to survive a crisis? Maybe. But if you have the potential to be remarkable, why wouldn’t you be? Now is the time to give your greatest gift to the world. — I don’t know who you are or what you do or what you make of all this madness that is our world today. Every day, I wake up wondering where I am and what is happening, and it all feels so confusing. And yet, there seems to be a voice…

You’re thinking of goals the wrong way. — You and I have been told that you can have everything you want in life if you work hard enough and persevere long enough. But is this really the way life works? Is that even what you want? …

An excerpt from Real Artists Don’t Starve — The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. — Michelangelo Buonarotti In 1995, an American professor made an unusual discovery. At Syracuse University in Florence, Rab Hatfield was trying…

If you want to change things, remember that words can change the world — Never, ever, ever underestimate the power your words can have. Take today—July 4th—for instance. In America, we call this Independence Day because it marks the beginning of our freedom. And it’s a testament to the power of communication. How did such a revolution begin? …

Come prepared, hang with the right folks, and focus on using what you learn right away — Should you go to that industry conference everyone is talking about? Is it really worth your time and money to attend that summit or workshop? No. It’s not… unless you know why you’re there in the first place. When I first started out as a writer, I heard people talk…

So instead, practice when no one’s watching — Most of us are waiting for our Big Break, and that’s the worst way to succeed. Let’s look at one of history’s most successful artists to see why — and what we should do instead. When a young Michelangelo Buonarroti approached Domenico Ghirlandaio, the famous Florentine artist, he must have…

What does it take to succeed? You may have heard the adage “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” And there’s truth to that. But before you can find the who, you first have to find the where. I’ve written before that every story of success is really…

7 lessons from a man who walked on the moon — Recently, Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon, passed away. Though his body is now gone, his legacy remains — not just through the incredible feat he accomplished but through how he documented it. In 2016, I spoke with Alan on the phone for a book I…