Integrated Entrepreneurship

When someone criticizes you, you have two choices: You can either defend yourself, argue for why they're wrong and you're right. Or you can see if you can find someplace in you where they're right.

I'm certainly familiar with the first choice. My fear was always that if I agree with you, then I must take whatever action you think I should take, or whatever action would be the "correct" response to agreeing. Like if someone says "I think this feature in Simplero is wrong". If I agree, will I now…

Every single time I've struggled with something, when I finally found the key that unlocked the solution, it turned out to be easy.

If you've got the wrong key, or you're trying the wrong door, or you're turning the key the wrong way, or sticking it in the wrong hole, it's going to be a STRUGGLE. You push and push, turn and turn, fiddle and moan and hurt yourself and get all wound up, but the door simply won't open.

That's when it's time to pause, take a deep breath, and say: "I choose easy wo…

First off, thank you all for an incredible birthday celebration last week. We had a blast at the live webinar, and all throughout the week received so much outpouring of support and gratitude, it was hard to no blush. Thank you.

Something that's on my mind this week is fully occupying space. It's a weird phenomenon, but I can very much feel it. Let me explain.

The idea comes from Gay Hendricks' book The Big Leap, which I've just finished reading for probably the fourth time. In the second half…

I was watching some clips from last night's comedy shows on YouTube this morning, when I came across the story about Trump bringing out a fresh map of the electoral college win in the middle of a conversation with journalists about the Chinese president. That's when in dawned on me: The guy just wants to be loved!

And you know what? I can empathize with that. Isn't that true for all of us? At the end of the day, we just want to feel that sense of wholeness that comes from feeling safe and loved…

Just took a few days off in one of my favorite recreational spots, Calamigos Guest Ranch in Malibu. Or, as Nick calls it, the dude ranch. Fun fact: Ranch dressing was invented on a dude ranch. Uhm, I love ranch dressing.

It was a great reminder of how important it is to take some time away from the day-to-day to just chill. I literally hung out the entire day Monday by the pool. Got there for breakfast a little after 10, and didn't leave until almost 6pm when the sun had all but left. My body h…

I spent a few days last week at the annual songwriter expo from ASCAP, one of two organizations tasked with collecting royalties for songwriters. It's a really awesome community of people, and it's one that reminds me in many ways of the community of programmers.

My favorite part of the ASCAP Expo is Thursday night's songwriter showcase. We heard Eric Bazillian tell the story of how he wrote "One of Us" to impress a Swedish girl (who he has now been married to for 20-odd years). Or Rob Hyman wr…

I've long been fascinated with the interplay of mind and body.

We all know that the mind impacts the body. Something as simple as a frightened thought entering our mind, and our heart starts racing. Even more than that, I've always found it fascinating how every single double blind medical trial is proving that if you believe you're getting treatment, a large percentage of us will actually get physically better. What's cooler than that? I wish we'd have way more doctors study how to apply the p…

I'm in Austin for the big mess that is SXSW, aka south-by. It's my fourth time here, and it's interesting to see how it's changed. It was Gary Vaynerchuk who originally told me I HAD to go to this, and that was in 2010. I went in 2011, and again in 2014. This year I wanted to go as well, but not so much for the interactive part, which is what I've gone for in the past, but for the music part, to see what's going on in the music scene, make some connections, and learn some new things.

Once here,…

I got a question about what to do when you don't have enough time.

This is such an important one. We all share this challenge in that we all have 24 hours in a day, so better learn how to deal with it right now.

I've just come across something that's shaken me up, in a good way.

I've long been wanting to write a book. In fact, I have several drafts of half books, abandoned, never finished.

Tonight, I was browsing around in Julia Cameron's book The Right to Write, when I remembered a book I read a long time ago: Gerald Weinberg's Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method.

And right there, in the beginning, was the key that I've been looking for. Something that I've obviously read before, and long ago…