I showed up 20 minutes early to the new Godzilla movie today (Godzilla Minus One) — yes, I am that person. While waiting for the film to start, I couldn’t help but overhear the people next to me speculating ad nauseam about whether or not they were going to like…

Successfully navigating any challenge requires you to figure out how to make peace with what you cannot control and to focus your energy on what you can control. Figure out is the operative term here because it’s not always straightforward or easy to do. When I lost a parent to…

Just about everything we experience is colored in by the facts of the situation and our perception of those facts — particularly the response we believe they warrant. Some perceptions shut the door while others pave a path forward. Say you fail a test according to some metric — fact. …

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” — Marcus Aurelius In middle school, I desperately wanted to be perceived as a “cool” kid. Because perception was the ultimate goal, my sense of self-worth frequently rose and fell with the opinions of the…

The most satisfying and worthwhile goals tend to be the ones that feel just out of reach. I used to test the maximum amount of weight I could lift for one repetition — a 1-rep max — every 8–12 weeks. …

I noticed a commuter waiting to cross the street so engrossed with the contents of his phone that he missed most of the walk signal to cross. By the time he looked up, it was too late. This incident struck me as a cautionary metaphor for how we can end up missing out on the most important parts of life if we’re not careful. Life is laden with distractions: it’s the device in our pockets, thoughts about things we cannot control, ruminations about past transgressions, or worries about the infinite ways in which the future may unfold.

Everyone experiences setbacks. Some helpful things to keep in mind when they happen to you: It’s ok to feel bad after a setback. This is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign that you’re human. Setbacks rarely disappear by themselves — if you want to overcome them, you will need to address them when you’re ready. Every setback is an opportunity for redirection and is a test of your resolve. The world can throw challenges at you, but it cannot take your creativity or determination from you.

Small acts over a long period of time tend to have a more durable impact than grand gestures. Treating a connection to a really nice meal does not make a friendship. Some combination of meaningful conversations, texting the other person happy birthday, and offering to help collectively does. The transition from strangers to great friends, a colleague to a leader, is obvious once it’s occurred but difficult to measure.

Consider all the things that you take for granted in your life now. Consider that in many cases you once told yourself of these things: “Wouldn’t it be nice to have this?” The job, the widget, the person, people, or place(s). And now you have them. Isn’t that nice?