Category Archives: Business

A Million Little Decisions

Why does the Mandarin Oriental cost five times as much per night as the Holiday Inn three blocks away?  Why is a BMW three times as much as a Ford?  Why is dinner at Cut ten times more expensive than … Continue reading

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Questions

Spend any time with a 7 year old and you’ll enjoy a never ending series of whys and hows.  Why does that happen? How does that work?  Why can’t we do this?  How can that be? But somewhere around 13 … Continue reading

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Success and Failure: You’re Thinking About It Wrong

We dream that someday soon, someone will recognize our genius: a big time agent reads our script and signs us; a major creative director sees our work and is compelled to feature it; the CEO reads about a project we … Continue reading

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Nobody Cares About Your Happiness

If you’re lucky, 10 people might care about your happiness.  That’s it. Some other people might care whether you show up for work.  They might care whether you perform, which means they care that you’re just happy enough not to … Continue reading

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Why Taking Time Off To Figure It Out Is A Mistake

Most people I know don’t really know what they want to do with the rest of their lives.  This includes most really successful people I know.  My grandfather, at 80 years old, used to say he didn’t know what he … Continue reading

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“I Have a Problem”

Problems are generally thought of as bad things.  And, for the people afflicted with those problems, they undoubtedly are. But problems are what drive the service industry.  People’s problems managing or finding time create opportunities for personal assistants, shoppers, organizers, … Continue reading

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Steve Jobs on Failure

I’ve never found anyone who didn’t want to help me if I asked them for help.  Most people never pick up the phone and call; most people never ask.  And that’s what separates, sometimes, the people who do things and … Continue reading

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The Problem With “No Problem”

“No problem” is almost universal in service industries today. “Can I get a refill?” “No problem.” “Could you transfer this money from my checking account to my savings account?” “No problem.” “Thanks.”  “No problem.” It may seem innocuous, but it … Continue reading

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You Are Not Too Busy

Richard Branson owns and operates more than 400 companies under his Virgin Group.  He sells everything from music to trips to space. He sets world records on sailboats and hot-air balloons. He appears in movies and television shows.  He writes … Continue reading

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Chase Permanent Wins, Then Throw Them Away

When I spend 100 hours working to create a photograph, I produce a finished product.  It’s tangible.  It’s also permanent: I get to look at it forever, anybody can see it, and I can even sell copies of it. All … Continue reading

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Politics and the English Language

In 1946, George Orwell wrote an essay that should be read by everyone who needs to convey an idea.  Orwell’s thesis is that clouded language leads to clouded thinking, and so we should strive to choose the words that most … Continue reading

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The Hardest Thing About Learning

The hardest thing about learning is figuring out what you don’t know. If you can key in on the small concept you don’t understand, you can avoid having to repeatedly sift through the entirety of the subject matter, hoping to … Continue reading

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The Thank You Economy And Your Tribe

Louis C.K. continues to publicly prove the points championed by the likes of Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk: build your own audience, connect with them, interact with them, let them in on the your secrets, and success will follow. And, … Continue reading

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Three Tips To Help Convince People You’re Not A Serial Killer

We deal with a lot of higher level stuff here, like strategy and philosophy, but I want to bring it down for a post to offer some very practical, easy to implement, and essential life tips. Today, I want to … Continue reading

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Why The First “Follower” Is The Most Important

A great lesson on how movements start, explained in this video in under three minutes, by Derek Sivers: It’s the first follower that turns a lone nut into a leader.  When you find a lone nut doing something great, have … Continue reading

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