Life IS urgent. Contemplate death and appreciate the impermanence of life. Make the most of it. But there is a fine line between urgency and hurry. In a state of hurry, you're only doing. A day of getting everything done on your to-do list…
You have questions for the speaker, but you don’t ask because you’re afraid of what others may think. You’ve written dozens of stories, but don’t share them with anyone. You have a great idea for a work project, but you don’t bring up the…
For any action, whether it's buying a new car, going for a hike in the woods, or working on Wall Street, would you do it of no one else knew? Would you do it if you're the last person on earth? If the answer…
Rosie Revere, Engineer, a Children’s Book with a Beautiful Message on Perseverance and Failure
Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty may look like a children's book, but it includes an important lesson for adults as well.…
I met Julie-Anne Graham through Twitter and discovered her beautifully illustrated children's book The Perfect Percival Priggs.
Percival Priggs is a perfect child with seemingly perfect parents. Percival and his parents win lots of awards and always try to compete for more. Percival believes his parents…
Where is your mind as your head rises from your pillow? Is there clarity? Or are you lost in your thoughts? Adrift in your list of meetings and to-dos? Consider this scenario: “He jumps out of bed early and sets off only if his…
“Two Bad Bricks” is a story about Ajahn Brahm, a Buddhist monk who built a wall of 1,000 bricks. He laid 998 bricks perfectly, but in his wall, there were two bad bricks. He wanted to knock down his wall and start over, but he…
We spent much of 2016 taking in content over pushing out content, so we’re excited about what we have planned for 2017: Daily bytes of wisdom from our favorite philosophers, writers, historical figures, artists, and more which you can get from Tumblr, Instagram, and…
During the last two years of his life, Oliver Sacks, called the “Poet Laureate of Medicine,” wrote a series of essays on life, aging, and mortality for The New York Times. These four essays were posthumously published in his book Gratitude, a quick but incredibly touching collection that remains with…
What does success mean to you? Is your desire for success only career oriented? Are you fueled by praise from others? Do you want that gold star? That promotion? Rather than success driven by approval from others, aim for failure that leads to genuine…
J.K. Rowling‘s powerful 2008 commencement address at Harvard University is beautifully illustrated by Joel Holland and published in Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination. Reflecting on her own experiences and failures, J.K. Rowling addresses the lessons that she wish she had learned…
Have you ever not done something because you’re worried that it’s already been done before? Because you’re worried that there are better [insert your creative endeavour]? I’m a photographer, but for many years I never shared my art because I was worried that there were too many…