Last week I wrote about how easy it is to see the exceptional. The example I gave was Evan Spiegel, the then-23-year-old founder of Snapchat, or Mark Zuckerberg…but there is a standard distribution curve for ability in anything you’re interested in. Those at the far right of the distribution curve – people with abnormal results – are very few, but …
seeking validation by chasing the pudding
There’s a running joke amongst my friends that I love attention and constantly seek validation. Like all jokes, there’s some truth to it. And I think it used to be even more true. We’re kind of raised on validation – your parents tell you that you did a good job with some sort of task, then sports define winning and …
two years into the journey
Two Aprils ago, I walked into the company boardroom for a leadership meeting. We were told that our company was transitioning all of our resources over to a new product. I was also told that my role would be changing a lot. I knew then it was time for me to leave, and I put in my notice the next …
be the client you want to see in the world
Between my junior and senior year of college, I decided it was time for me to get some experience in the service industry. Well, to be totally honest, the two (very different) internships I applied for at Bridgewater Capital and MNML Design Studio both fell through in the eleventh hour. So, I decided to learn to bartend and serve for …
Launching and a new sense of empathy
One night in August 2012, I felt completely defeated. I had been working all summer towards the launch of my first startup, MarketOSU. It was a simple idea – basically Craigslist for Ohio State students that required a student email to create an account. For months, I had been marketing an August 20th launch date for the website, and checking …
experience ladders: why YOU are right for the job
A common theme that has come up in conversations this week in the Unreal Collective community is the struggle with self deprecating thoughts and head trash. We are our own worst enemies. I think it’s a cultural thing — part of where our society is right now. When we see beautiful highight reels on social media showing all the COOL stuff …
boundaries: the dark side of being motivated
As I’ve gotten better at building a life of my own design, I find myself really only spending time on things that I actually, really want to spend time on. What a great place to be. Rarely do I have any problem with “motivation” — when your work is totally in the realm of things you have enthusiastically chosen to …
doing fewer + doing more
For a very long time, I said yes to everything that came my way. In fact, I distinctly remember a piece I wrote five years ago about saying “yes” to everything. Opportunities come in all shapes and colors, and rarely do they come when you expect them. I’ve found that by saying yes to almost everything that has come my …
looking ahead at 2019
I don’t know about you, but I’m still not quite sure what happened to 2018. We’re sitting here at November 18, and I vividly remember this time last year. Looking forward at the calendar, the next month and a half are going to breeze by. This week I’ll head to my hometown for Thanksgiving with my family, then I’m heading …
good to great
I’ve been sort of joking for a while that there are a couple things I really like — coffee and sushi — but I’m really not much of an expert. I’ve told people, “I know what’s bad and what’s good…but I can’t really taste a difference between good coffee and great coffee. I don’t have the palette.” And that’s fine …