The Secret to Success Is Less, Not More 4,000 Guys on a Sidewalk In the fall of 1987, I stood on a sidewalk in downtown LA with over 4,000 other guys. We were wrapped around the building, waiting to take the entrance exam for the electrical apprenticeship. It was chilly. It was early. And I remember looking at that line and thinking there was no way I was getting in. The exam was pass or fail. You passed and you were on your way. You failed and you waited another year. Out of those 4,000-plus...
1 day ago • 7 min read
The Problem Isn't That You Have Problems It's that you think you shouldn't I'm lucky to live in West LA. Not just because of the weather or the proximity to the ocean, but because within a fifteen-minute drive in any direction, I can see the entire spectrum of human economic existence. I can drive down Sepulveda under the 10 freeway and see homeless encampments. Tents. Shopping carts. People living in a reality most of us can't imagine. Fifteen minutes later, I'm in Pacific Palisades—or what...
2 days ago • 6 min read
The Clarity Trap Why too much planning is just procrastination in disguise Frank Simpson was anal about everything. My first-year apprentice instructor at the training trust—where we did our "academic" learning for our electrical apprenticeship, two nights a week, three hours a night. He worked for the utility company. DWP. Have you heard the joke: "What's yellow and sleeps six? A DWP van." Frank wasn't amused by those jokes. He knew his shit. Knew code inside and out. Could troubleshoot...
3 days ago • 8 min read
The Unlearning: Why Success Isn't About Doing More—It's About Stopping What's Holding You Back Most of what you learned growing up is keeping you stuck. "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." - Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best: "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." That quote has stuck with me for years. Not because it's profound. Because...
4 days ago • 10 min read
The 1% That Changes Everything Why most people quit right before the magic happens—and how to be one of the few who doesn't. Bill Gates said something that most people hear but don't actually understand: "Most people overestimate what they can do in one year but underestimate what they can do in ten years." Here's what he means: You think you can transform your body, build a business, master a skill, and fix your marriage all in 12 months. You can't. So you quit. But if you stuck with just...
5 days ago • 9 min read
The Doorman Fallacy: Why Being Less Efficient Makes You a Better Leader Sometimes the most profitable thing you can do is the thing that doesn't show up on a spreadsheet. There was a period in my early career when I was that guy. The one who took exactly 15 minutes for coffee break and exactly 30 minutes for lunch. The one who was back at work before the supervisor even stood up. The one who saw every project as a three-dimensional real-time puzzle to solve as efficiently as possible. I loved...
6 days ago • 10 min read
You're Surrounded by Conflict. Good. That Means You're Still Breathing. The problem isn't that life keeps throwing punches. The problem is you never learned how to take one. The Warrior Self-Assessent Before we go further, answer these five questions honestly. Rate yourself 0–5 on each. 0 = I never do this1 = Rarely2 = Occasionally3 = Sometimes4 = Often5 = This is a consistent habit 1. When someone challenges you directly—questioning your decision, confronting your boundary, or testing your...
7 days ago • 10 min read
The Flagpole Lesson: Why Work-Life Balance Is a Trap Stop fighting a war between work and life—learn the framework that makes both better without burning out or selling out. You want balance. Not the fake kind where you're constantly juggling, dropping balls, and feeling guilty about what you're neglecting. Real balance. The kind where work doesn't destroy your health, your relationships don't suffer because you're always "on," and you're not lying awake at 2 a.m. wondering if you're doing...
8 days ago • 12 min read
The Hole That Comes After Winning GM Han with some of his new 2nd dan instructors I passed my 2nd dan black belt exam in hapkido. Years of training. Thousands of hours on the mat. Bruises, failures, comebacks. And then one day, I walked off of the mat with a new belt tied around my waist. I’d won. And I had no idea what to do with myself. For six months, I drifted. The energy that had been channeled into training for that test had nowhere to go. I’d achieved the goal. I’d crossed the finish...
9 days ago • 8 min read