Getting stuck in my massive goals shredded my mind. In the past I chased down goals like a cheetah, but when I left Wall Street to do this, I was shot in my tracks. What I called the chest feeling. The inability to sit down and work, let alone write. The painful thinking on thinking …
Some time ago I decided that if our society wasn’t going to control guns, then I would learn some gun control of my own. Watching a video of Keanu Reeves shooting 3 gun for his role in John Wick, I thought to myself, that’s exactly how I want to shoot. So I sought out trainers—two …
Writing this article earlier in the week, I thought I was so insightful highlighting the amount of worry that was wasted on North Korea. Then, Drudge, with his sirens blaring and massive headline—NKorea Threatens To Cancel Trump Summit—reminded me that we can still find plenty to fear. At first I thought, crap my article is …
This article I wrote last week on why bankers lives suck really struck a chord. Speaking to many people on Wall Street it’s clear that there is a serious problem that banks are seemingly looking to solve. This one article drove more traffic to our websites than anything else I have written this year. If I …
Investment banking is hardly known for its cushy lifestyle, but every now and then we’re reminded of just how bad it can be. Earlier this week a buddy forwarded me this email message from a staffer at Moelis. I don’t know whether it’s legit or not (I’m told it is), but irrespective it’s hardly a …
Constantly I am reminded of the power of the mind and the importance of putting your mind in the “best” place. It’s not just about getting your mind out of a “bad” place, but to make your life better and better. Much, if not all, of what we think and feel is habitual, so the …
In life and in our work, it can be easy to lose our sense of value. We look around at other people who are seemingly achieving more than us, “worth more,” or otherwise more valued, and we can get down on ourselves. But when we look at situations differently, take control of our thoughts, and …
Muhammad Ali was a mind champ. Way before he stepped into the ring, Ali had already beaten down his opponent countless times in his own head. He’d seen himself dancing out of the dressing room and stepping into the ring. Imagined himself floating like a butterfly circling himself and his opponent. And felt himself standing …
I’m yet to meet someone who doesn’t suffer from fears or insecurities or worries, or what not. We often think it’s just us, when as far as I can tell, it’s nearly all of us, if only we had a way to talk about it. We all have thoughts in our heads and feelings in …
Yesterday my client said to me, “I really love this time after Labor Day.” For him it’s an energizing sprint into the holidays, where he seeks to consolidate his year. Over the next few months he’s focused on driving home those things he’s been working on all year, as well as laying the piping for …
The trick to quickly mastering any skill is to pick one crucial aspect of that skill to focus on like a maniac before moving on to your next one thing, and so on. For instance, many of us know that the word “but” (as in “Yeah, but”) screws up communications. It negates what that person …
There’s a lot of things that make us happier, and part of life is figuring out what they are. We of course know that making more money and having more success has little positive impact on our happiness, so what does? You guys know my answer by now—it’s all in the head. And to keep …
There are many complexities and constraints when it comes to creating the lives we truly want. In different ways it has been said—you can have everything you want, just not all at the same time. And, indeed, throughout our lives we are forced to choose, to sequence our “wants” according to what makes sense for …
How many of you have goals that you can’t seem to get yourself to focus on? They might be professional, personal, getting things done around the home. You know that you “want” to do them, but you just can’t consistently get yourself to take action. I know that’s a problem for many of us because …
You hear a lot about the importance of daily routines, but how many of us actually use them? I know many professionals trying to compete at the top of their game, and honestly, many teachers who promote the importance of daily routines, who fail to use them. That’s because, as I did for years, we …
What most people call “coaching,” I do for free. Sitting with someone and spewing advice is a service people charge for, but it’s not particularly valuable. It might get someone to feel better about their day and life, but it’s unlikely to lead to transformational results. To get transformational results, you have to take the …
One of the tenets of my life, and the thing that has allowed me to keep creating the most amazing life I can imagine, is that I prioritize learning above everything else. To that end, I feel very grateful to the people who have written the thousands of books that have helped me keep growing, and …
As many of you know, I never dreamed of becoming a, um, “self-help expert.” When I began this work back in 2000, sitting at Goldman Sachs dreaming of the life I truly wanted, I had no idea where reading a bunch of self-help books would lead me. Hat down, glasses on, the day I sheepishly …
I spent most of my career stressed and frustrated, thinking ahead to the day when I could quit my job and feel “free.” Well, when I quit my job, it didn’t work that way. Jumping from the bonfire into the forest fire, doing what I wanted was way harder than anything I had ever done …
Do you have a career plan? I’m sorry, that was a loaded question. Most people think they have a career plan, and according to everything they’ve been told their entire life, they do. The problem is we’ve been lied to. As a child, you were taught two things: How to set a big goal for …