All Articles
Compress or Be Compressed
Every trip, chapter, version of you gets compressed — or eventually wiped away. The only question is who’s in charge.
Better Than 100%
I care a lot less about my kids getting straight As in school than that they cultivate what nobody else can do.
You Gotta Be Obviously Awesome
Two steps almost nobody completes. 1) Know what makes you different. 2) Position yourself in a package that makes it obvious.
Make Self-Help Feel Useless
Everyone has a fight that makes self-help books collect dust. You just need to know what to look for.
Monetize the Verb
You don’t have to choose between passion and pragmatism. You just need to stop chasing nouns and start monetizing your verb.
Unpackage Your Passion
I thought I was a writer. I was wrong. Are you stuffing your verb into the wrong noun, too?
The $95k Question from Your 95-Year-Old Self
What would your 95-year-old self bribe you $95k to do? I built a system to answer that but failed to help anyone else stick with their own.
“I Don’t Want to Optimize My Life” Is a Trap
When you say you don’t want to optimize your life, you’re still optimizing—you’re just outsourcing it to a much worse long-term optimizer.
Your ‘Good Enough’ Life: Intention or Inertia?
My cousin said she didn’t need ARC because her life was good enough, so I escalated it to the Board of Humanity.
The Clarifying Mirror
Adrianna’s story of overcoming career paralysis and finding dignity in her wiring by giving up on trying to be a builder and embracing her role as a Mirror.
I’m Scared School Will “Socialize” My Kids
It took 12 years to unlearn the ‘supposed-to’ path that conventional school taught me. Now I’m supposed to send my kid into the same system?
I Tried to Build a Better CliftonStrengths. Here’s What Happened
A client challenged me to outdo his team’s previous big-time corporate assessment with my ARC approach. Here’s what happened.
The Principled Systems Architect
How Ross traded architecture blueprints for systems toolsets across three continents, discovering his real foundation had been portable all along.
The Uplifting Connector
How a data analyst discovered his scattered interests—corporate tools, creative writing, beach strangers—all had something uplifting in common.
The Circuit Board Maker
How Chelsea left a stable engineering career to debug broken community systems—without knowing exactly where she was headed.
Personal Strategic Positioning: Don’t Be Dull
Stop trying to be everything to everyone. Learn why defining your DON’Ts creates sharper positioning than listing your DOs.
I Was Wrong About Extrinsic Motivation: Bribes Work
A billionaire’s $1,000 bribe taught his daughter—and me—that rewards aren’t dirty fuel. They’re a marketing budget for identity change.
“What Do You Do?” Is a Fabulous Question
Anyone who has a problem with asking or being asked “What do you do?” is contributing to a bigger problem.
How Personal User Manuals Make My Wife Annoy Me Less
When my wife annoyed me yet again, I resorted to using our personal user manuals to patch together with a solution that works for both of us.
Actually Useful Personal User Manuals
My argument for creating your own personal user manual for better decisions, marriages, and more! Plus my example manual.
The GOAT Life
In a theater of a million yous who’ve lived a million lives, which one gets the loudest ovation?
Your Purpose Is Not for Hanging Laundry (Plug It In)
How extraordinary things start happening when you finally figure out how to plug your purpose into real life.
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