“The ultimate end of human acts is eudaimonia, happiness in the sense of living well, which all men desire; all acts are but different means chosen to arrive at it.” -Hannah Arendt “Among life’s cruelest truths is this one: wonderful things are especially wonderful the first time they happen, but their wonderfulness wanes with repetition.”Continue reading “Eudaimonia”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
“I’m Not Gonna Do That Anymore”
What if Peter Gibbons really was right? That all you need to be happy is to just stop doing all the things you hate doing. Especially those things you think you need to do. When you really don’t. P.S. – This scene.
Coffee Talk
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” -James Clear Talking about your big dreams and plans over a hot cup of coffee with a close friend who patiently listens and encourages you is awesome. You’ll leave the conversation feeling amazing. Lit up. Ready toContinue reading “Coffee Talk”
How To Get Unstuck
“They’re stuck in a job they don’t like. They’re stuck working for a boss they don’t like. They’re stuck on a team they don’t like…I just tell them, ‘Be great.’ The reality of life is that you can’t just always quit your job. You can’t just always go to your boss and say, ‘Give meContinue reading “How To Get Unstuck”
Time To Over-Promise?
Under-promising and over-delivering is a great strategy. For a while. Just make sure you’re not continually doing it to let yourself off the hook. Or to hide. To achieve your full potential, it might be time to make some promises you’re not entirely sure you can fulfill. To over-promise. Or to quote the great IrishContinue reading “Time To Over-Promise?”
Never Too Late
“Most letters from a parent contain a parent’s own lost dreams disguised as good advice. My good advice to you is to pay somebody to teach you to speak some foreign language, to meet with you two or three times a week and talk. Also: get somebody to teach you to play a musical instrument.Continue reading “Never Too Late”
Pride In Reverse
“You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” -Eleanor Roosevelt “My former colleague, the poet Michael Burkard, used to talk about “back-door ego.” This is the habit of self-abasement we all have, in which “I suck” is just another way of saying “I am vastlyContinue reading “Pride In Reverse”
Divine Feedback
It seems to be the case that… …When you feel like you were amazing and expect heaps of praise, you get nothing. Crickets. …When you feel like you were terrible and expect tons of criticism, you get unexpected compliments. I’m not exactly sure why that is. But there’s something really cool and perhaps divinely orderedContinue reading “Divine Feedback”
Why We Do It
“Stanislavsky once wrote that you should ‘play well or badly, but play truly.’ It is not up to you whether your performance will be brilliant-all that is under your control is your intention. It is not under your control whether your career will be brilliant-all that is under your control is your intention. If youContinue reading “Why We Do It”
Perfectly Good
“Perfect is the enemy of the good.” -Voltaire “And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” -John Steinbeck Being good, let alone great at something is underrated. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline, hard work and dedication to your craft. Being perfect, especially when it comes to art, isContinue reading “Perfectly Good”