3 Standards to Aim at and Grow Towards — Think of the man you most respect in this world. What stands out about him? What is unique, that unspoken or hard to recognize element that lies deep below the surface and that buoys him against the otherwise raging and thrashing waves? Is it his gentleness? The way he has…

6 Routines to Reclaim Some Semblance of Structure as We Continue Operating in the Day-to-Day — When’s the last time you had a day where you felt like things went “right?” Where, as you laid down to sleep, you looked back over the day and thought, “yes, that is how I wanted my life to turn out”? Maybe a day is too long. When’s the last…

If you hear either of these, be careful — I was seventeen years old when I found myself in the middle of a nearly impossible dilemma. There were two paths, and despite what Robert Frost once claimed, the road less traveled wasn’t really an option. I gave as much pondering and deliberation as my high school brain would allow…

How the Basics Can Transform The Ordinary Into Masterpieces — When people say picture your happy place, I think of a museum. More specifically, I think of an old museum where I can leisurely read each sign, gaze at every piece of art, and stand before each treasured item with no rush or distraction. So when I got to spend…

How You Can Grow by Going Outdoors. — My wife and I are on the National Parks bandwagon. We’re bought in. We’ve got an artistic checklist, a travel stamp booklet, and a wall full of patches from the parks we’ve visited. As of this writing, we’ve been to 28 of the 63 Parks. We’re not new to this…

Cultivating Inner Resiliency in an Age of Fragility. — “Only a person’s character is the real criterion of worth.” — Eleanor Roosevelt In a culture and society steeped in quick impressions and near-instantaneous judgments, it’s easy to fixate on the outward image. Though not inherently wrong, this is often done to the exclusion of what is inward, what some…

How to ensure you are growing up as you are growing older. — There’s a difference between getting older and growing up. I was once again reminded of this the last time I was on an airplane. My wife and I recently took a trip to Alaska as we’re continuing our journey of trying to visit all of the National Parks within the…

[Day 1] I know that I feel more than I mention, and that I struggle more than I smile. I know that my joy is oft fleeting, and my thoughts tend to run miles on miles. If I examine the feast and the famine, the storm and the silence within; I begin to unravel the roads…

Truths, tidbits, and time-tested advice Five and a half years ago, inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci and his prolific journaling, I started a habit that has since changed my life. I started tracking and writing down one thing that I learned every day. I know that sounds simple, but as…