Forget the plans and focus on your preferences — Being called an opportunist is hard to mistake for a compliment, but maybe it’s just gotten an unfair rap. It’s really a matter of principle. Pursuing opportunities at all costs has never been a good look, but assuming one’s intentions are ethically sound, approaching whatever possibilities the universe might present…

A life of moving forward without looking ahead — Who can say for certain whether people actually do have clear pictures of their imagined or aspirational futures, but long-term envisioning is a one of the more popular psychological games we play with ourselves. Where do you see yourself in five, ten, twenty years? …

Changing one’s mind and changing one’s course is less of a privilege and more of a survival skill. — I was just running the numbers, (you know, as you do) and it turns out that this week marks my thirtieth move since kicking off this unpredictably itinerant life at the age of seventeen. I just turned forty-three this weekend, so that averages out to packing and unpacking nearly once…

Quit wasting your time waiting for passion and start pursuing curiosity instead. — If you haven’t already, I bet you’ve been thinking about quitting your day job to follow your passion. Am I right? I’m not judging. In fact, I did it myself. Actually, I did it twice. The first time didn’t stick, and do you want to know why? Here, I’ll tell…

Because admit it, you’re kind of the worst sometimes — A few months ago, I took a short business trip to Switzerland. Just one night in Basel, a day of meetings, and then a 90-minute prop-jet flight into London City, and I was home by 7pm. No big deal, really. Still, it was the cap on an exhausting and chaotic…

How to learn how to practice — Ok, can I tell you a secret? I know I seem cool and edgy, with a devil-may-care attitude today, but if you can believe it, I was an over-achieving nerd when I was a kid. …

Clear eyes, full hearts…you know the rest — Trigger warning for whom the mentions of “grad school thesis” and “theories of behavior change” induce aggressive eye-rolling. (Updated March 6, 2021) Since I’ve spent (and continue to spend) plenty of time thinking about my lack of consistency in practice, I thought the topic could use a fresh angle. In…

Finding creative productivity in solitude — Back in 1992, MTV, which was very culturally relevant and very much a part of my teenage life, played an integral role in the election of Bill Clinton. Clinton had recently donned some shades and played his sax on the Arsenio Hall show, launching himself as the “cool” candidate and…

Our mothers, our selves, and the #girlboss generation — When Mary Tyler Moore passed away late this January, I posted a tribute on Facebook- something I’m rarely if ever moved to do in the event of a celebrity’s death. The Mary Tyler Moore Show ended its run the year I was born, 1977, and yet that image of Mary…