What do you think will you be most proud of when you’re 80? When the octogenarian participants of all kinds of different backgrounds in the longest-running study on adult development (The Harvard Study of Adult Development) were asked what they were most proud of looking back, almost all of them…

I used to wear a fitness tracker that would give me a report on my recovery levels every morning. Interestingly, there would be mornings where I felt great but the tracker said my recovery was poor. Over time these two things eventually became in sync, as if I’d become conditioned…

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. Depending on the lift I was testing, the goal was…

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…

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.