Journey to the Past
My friend Les Landes shared with me a story about stories. I’d like to share it with you. It comes from the author Neil Gaiman who said: “My cousin Helen…was in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. She and a bunch of the girls in the ghetto had to do sewing each day. And…
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While on vacation in 1986, a future legend bought a coat in Jackson, Wyoming that changed his life. John wasn’t a legend yet. He was a sales consultant, vacationing in cowboy country. The coat was a full-length “duster.” The kind of coat real cowboys wear. John saw the coat, hanging in the back of Schaefer…
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In a recent Monday Mash-Up, I shared Tim Ferriss’ podcast interview with Annie Lamott. Her book Bird by Bird is one of my favorites about writing. In the interview, Annie tells Tim how she came up with the book title. This story alone is a priceless lesson for writers — especially those struggling to get it…
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In 2017, I jumped from an airplane 15,000 feet above New Zealand… …on purpose. Here’s a picture at the moment of truth. Those are MY legs, hanging out of the airplane, 2.84 miles above Lake Wanaka. Here’s another picture… …after I jumped, freefalling at about 200 feet per second. The plan: Freefall for 60 seconds,…
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A few years ago, my friend skipped his high school reunion because he was between jobs. He didn’t want to face his classmates while down on his luck. I get it. He dreaded that “what are you up to?” conversation. He didn’t want to tell his story of dreams deferred. He wanted to be the…
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Over dinner the other night, my pals and I had one of those “back-in-the-day” conversations. Back in the day, we said, people couldn’t stream music on their phones or computers. We had to buy vinyl records (big as a dinner plate) and play them on bulky record players. If you scratched the record (easy to…
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When I was in high school, no one visited the guidance counselor. I mean NO ONE. He was a creepy hippy-turned-teacher who sat alone in his third-floor office, waiting for someone to show up and ask for help. We students thought asking for help was an act of surrender. A sign of weakness. An admission…
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Before he became a famous and wealthy editor of Ladies’ Home Journal, Edward Bok was just another depression-era kid trying to scrape together some money for his ill mother. He was standing outside of a bakery, watching as the baker put cakes and cookies in the window display. The baker asked young Edward, “Don’t they look…
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In 1987, world chess champion Garry Kasparov declared, “No computer can ever beat me.” That was the year I graduated from college, ready to make my mark. I was cocky as Kasparov. Supremely confident in my abilities. A problem solver. A go-getter. Ten years later, an IBM super-computer called “Deep Blue” whipped Kasparov in a…
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This is a story about how hardcore, ultra-conservatives found common ground with a bunch of hippies. I know that seems unlikely these days, but it happened not that long ago. And this happening is loaded with business lessons. Our story begins soon after the turn of the millennium, in 2002, when the Internet was just…
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