Less focus on what you don’t have, and more on what makes you awesome. — If you travel in self-development circles, you have no doubt been invited at some point to make a vision board. The assignment, as you understand it, is to envision all that you want to manifest in your life — things like “enough” money, perkier boobs, and a hot new coworker. …

The rules aren’t FOR us. — In my 20s and 30s, I broke into things. I viewed padlocked fences, spiked wrought iron gates, and rules about trespassing as “suggestions.” I broke into hotels in St. Martin, monasteries in Rome, and burned-out abbeys in the wild Irish countryside. Come to think of it, it’s a miracle I’ve…

Sometimes, running away is the solution. — Something’s in the water these days. I know I’m not the only one who feels like I’m barely staying afloat and seeing little return on that energetic investment. I know because everyone I’ve talked to has agreed. What about you? Can you relate to this? Your To-Do list grows 5x…

Excuse me, your rooster is broken. — My best friend just moved to the central valley of CA, to a little corner where three different farms meet. One of the neighbors has a rooster named Beethoven. Beethoven was not there the day God handed out operating instructions. Beethoven has not — ever — understood the assignment. In…

You thought it was a bad thing, but it’s oh-so-good. — I think about weird subjects a lot. Like how I would survive a zombie apocalypse. And where I would live if I were homeless. And what my final meal would be if I knew I was going to die tomorrow. A frequent topic in my rotation is how to entertain…

Are you lovingly dedicating your life to your Plan B? — It’s hard loving all the things. It makes you very, very bad at figuring out what you really want. It means you stay in an unsatisfying situation longer than you should because…there’s potential. It means you give away things like your time and energy too freely because you love people…

How stories help you stand the f*ck out. — That’s an actual text I received from my mother during the pandemic days. Actually, the full text read: Should I die of COVID in the next seven days, let me explain the rat in the freezer. My mom had discovered the rat — or rather remnants of its late-night feasting…

We’re addicted, and it’s not doing us any favors. — When you complain, you make yourself into a victim. When you speak out, you are in your power. So change the situation by taking action or speaking out, leaving, or accepting it. All else is madness. ~Eckhart Tolle Years ago, I worked with a guy who seemed, in a very…

Greet it with excitement; it means you’re making progress. — In high school, I ran for student government twice. The second year, I got elected. The first year . . . not so much. In fact, the speech I gave the first year goes down in history as my most embarrassing moment to date. Moments before the assembly, I was…