There’s no such thing as perfect decision making — there are just the decisions we make with the best knowledge and judgment we have available to us at the time. 

If you’re spending what feels like too much time deliberating about what to do, it’s because you’re trying to...

In his 2008 TedX Talk, Dr. Stuart Brown astutely pointed out that The New York Times Magazine’s cover story from earlier that year, titled ‘Why Do We Play?’, portrayed several kids engaging in different types of play. Conspicuously missing from the cover were adults.

Being playful and being an adult...

You may not be able to control what others do, but you can always choose to add kindness to the world instead of hate. 

You can choose compassion instead of disdain — remembering that everyone is fighting their own battles. 

You can choose constructive words instead of callous...

The definition of your best effort can fluctuate on a daily basis. 

Some days you will accomplish everything (or almost everything) you set out to do. 

On other days, you might find yourself struggling for any number of reasons. 

In both cases you are doing what you...

Every Scary Thing you avoid doing is guaranteed to stay scary. 

Every Scary Thing you choose to go through, for the most part, simultaneously becomes more rewarding and less scary. 

When you struggle, you learn; when you learn, you adapt. 

All of this is possible provided that...

A couple of years ago, I was complaining to a family member about a frustrating situation that I couldn’t get over. 

About halfway through my complaining, this family member played “Let It Go” from the Disney film Frozen and we both burst into laughter.

All jokes aside, the exchange...

About a year ago I came across this quote from the Chinese Philosopher, Confucious, that sent chills down my spine: “We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.” 

It’s easy enough to utter the words, “I have one life”, and a much...

When you decide to work, strive to achieve the kind of intensity that can only be made possible with 100% of your attention and energy.

When you decide to take a break, have the discipline to come to a screeching halt so that you can recover and conserve your energy. ...

It’s easy to overestimate the importance of a problem when it strikes which is why some problems can feel like the end of the world when you’re faced with them. 

It’s also easy to underestimate how quickly problems stop mattering given enough time, which is why we often don’t...

Consider for a moment what it would mean to be forbidden to make a mistake. 

Would that actually stop you from making mistakes? No, because you’re human. 

Would the mistake you make be totally in vain? No, because there’s almost certainly a lesson to be learned that will...