Why I Meditate on Zen Koans

I don’t meditate very often – maybe about once a week. But when I do, it’s on a koan. If you don’t know what a koan is, it’s a statement, parable or question that you concentrate on while you’re meditating. They’re meant to be logical absurdities that don’t make much sense on their own. Even […]

Do More Boring Things (Seriously)

One of the things I liked most about living in Morocco a year ago was that I got to speak French on a regular basis. I’m good at it, but not quite fluent. I’ve never actually tested how much I know about French, but it’s at least conversational. I know enough to be comfortable speaking […]

The Einstein Method for Freeing Your Creative Mind

In 1905, Einstein introduced the world to his groundbreaking theory of special relativity. It’s a very complex theory that I couldn’t possibly begin to explain here. But it spawned one of the world’s most well-known equations: E=MC2. Einstein is arguably one of the world’s greatest creative thinkers. How his mind came up with idea after […]

8 Mistakes that Wreck Your Confidence

It’s hard to underestimate the importance of confidence.  Confidence in yourself is needed if you want to reach your goals and live up to your potential.  Without it, you might not go after all the things you want out of life. With enough self-confidence, you could begin that dream project.  You could let go of […]

Results from the Reader Survey

A few weeks ago I sent out a post asking readers to fill out a reader survey.  I’ve never conducted a survey on this blog before so it was a big experiment for me. I didn’t know what kind of responses I would get or even how many people would reply. But the results beat […]

The Guide to Developing Mental Toughness

Several years ago I went to a comedy show.  A local amateur comedian got onstage in front of about 400 people to perform his stand-up routine. About half way through the show, someone in the audience yelled out, “You suck!” Without hesitation, he laughed it off and told a joke at the heckler’s expense.  I […]

8 Habits that Make Great Opportunities Happen

We all know someone who seems way too lucky.  They’re always stumbling across great new jobs, coming up with new business ideas or meeting the right people.  It seems as if they’re always at the right place at the right time. How do they do that? It might be tempting to dismiss it all as […]