I’ve been speaking in front of groups for about 15 years, and it never fails: I’m always nervous beforehand. If nervousness were a spectrum of energy, the feeling might range from a fluttery discussion with the butterflies to making up excuses to cancel.

“If you are depressed you are living in the past.

If you are anxious you are living in the future.

If you are at peace you are living in the present.”

― Lao Tzu

I went for a solo run in the woods. It’s the only way I can quiet my mind. I bumped into people I know. It’s a small town, and I’m not the only one who finds comfort in the trees.

I am only ten pages into Ari Shapiro’s The Best Strangers in the World: Stories from a life spent listening, and I am sucked in from the first sentence:

“I became a public speaker in the first grade.”

I just returned home from a work trip in Portland, my first time there since before COVID. If you haven’t been, Portland is a vibe, and today, I’d like to explore what I mean by that. 

When have you gone out of your way to choose someone or something? I wait longer and pay more for a book from my local independent bookstore rather than buy from Amazon.

I watch political debates through two lenses. The first, of course, is to learn about the candidates so I can make informed decisions.

Listen to the blog here. If you are in the U.S., I hope you enjoyed the unofficial end to summer. This blog is coming to you late because I was, in fact, enjoying it offline on a lake in Montana biking, hiking, swimming, paddleboarding, and having lots of conversations around a fire, which led me […]

Yesterday (Sunday), we walked uphill to say goodbye to one of my favorite spots in the forest, about a 2-mile walk up to the top of the ridge from our door. A trail runs through a beautiful meadow and forest.

Listen to the blog here. I’m a student of Thought Leaders Business School, a program that helps me be more commercially smart and continually level up my skills (thinking, delivery, and selling). Students are located around the globe, and the community that has developed is unmatched. These are my people. The School meme is “We come for […]