Don’t Break the Chain: The Value of Persistence

I began playing organized basketball at the age of six. By the age of ten, I was playing year-round for various travel teams in various leagues, almost always in the age bracket above mine. There was never an offseason. Camps, practices, summer leagues, fall leagues, spring leagues, open gyms – I did it all. When […]

When It All Goes Wrong

“This too shall pass” — Persian adage Monday morning. The start of another week. After a Friday and Saturday of perfect sunny, 80-degree weather, Mother Nature’s mood darkened. It turned wet and chilly, just a bummer of a day, so we turned it into a lazy Sunday. Things became worse overnight and I was even awakened a […]

You Have the Time

One of the (many) reasons I don’t like working with my hands is because I don’t feel any sense of accomplishment with having done the work. If a fence needs to be built in my yard, I feel the exact same way if I do it or if I pay someone else to do it. And that’s […]

Life Lessons I Learned While Working Manual Labor

I lead a sedentary lifestyle. I work in an office and I read and write in my spare time. The most non-sitting that occurs in my day is my nightly routine of doing the dishes, where my six-foot-three frame has to stoop just to reach the bottom of the sink. This general lack of movement […]

I’m Happy For You! (But I’m Jealous Too)

Recently, I learned that someone close to me had received a promotion. A big promotion. They would now be doing a job that is reserved for very few people in the world. It meant plenty of perks and tons of responsibilities. It was one of those jobs that comes with a press release.

From 12 Copies Sold to 10 Million — The Evolution of The Fugees

Whether personally, professionally, or creatively, you’ve probably had a project or plan fail miserably, even beyond your wildest fears and worst-case scenarios. In fact, you’ve probably had more than one. I certainly have. While there may be a natural tendency to wallow in our misery, it’s important not to let that failure derail us. They say […]

Searching for Happiness

“But no one can be happy if worried about the most important thing in one’s life.” – Cicero You think this thing will make you happy. Then, you think the other thing will make you happy.

The Ultimate Life Hack? A Dark, Quiet Room

“Anything in my life that I would recommend to someone else just to make their life better? An underrated thing that you can do that no one does anymore: just sit in a dark room. Give yourself, like, twenty minutes, don’t meditate, actually think about things, and I feel like…if you have a bunch of […]

Our Memories Lie to Us

“Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.” ― Marcel Proust In a world of fake news, alternative facts, skewed polls, and misremembered anecdotes, it can sometimes be difficult to know what is real and what is not.

The Next Step in My Career

I gave my two weeks notice on Friday.