The Unfortunate Middle

When it comes to the way we earn a living, whether entrepreneurs or employees, we tend to get stuck in the unfortunate middle... We are taught, from a young age, to exist in the middle. Everything in moderation. Don't be a tall poppy, nor a shrinking violet. Good enough is good enough. The middle way,...
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The 5 Saboteurs of an Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship, starting anything from nothing, is brutally hard. “Conscious” entrepreneurship--building a business that doesn’t just serve a consumer need and generate profit, but also makes a bigger difference--is even harder. Because it’s not just about money, it’s about unleashing expression, connection and potential, and making meaning. Helping others rise. I’ve worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs...
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Happiness. It’s Complicated.

What if the quest to be perpetually happy was actually making us miserable? Summer 2012. Two thousands miles west of New York City, nearly 9,000 feet above sea-level. Deep into the Colorado Rockies, I’m sitting in the wood-clad home of soon-to-be friend, venture-capitalist, entrepreneur and deeply-wise and truthful explorer of life, Brad Feld. We're taping...
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The Haze and the Blaze

A few summers back, we flew out to San Diego and spent a month driving slowly up the coast to Marin County. Just me, the wife and the kid. I hadn't spent a lot of time in southern California, especially along the coast. So I'd never heard of or experienced the phenomenon known as the...
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Uncomfortably Alive

1982. Dave Leonard's basement on a Friday night. Bare feet, I ease down the steps into a smokey lair, fresh from a gymnastics meet. Minutes earlier, I've swapped androgynous white tights and a blue tank for a beat up flannel shirt, puka beads and jeans tattered with holes that've been earned, not bought. I have hair....
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I Come to This Year

I come to this year Awakening To the truth of life My life Equipped to see Beyond the haze Of illusion Who I am Who I am not Who I yearn to be   I come to this year Questioning Whether being that person Truly holds the seeds Of more grace Or serves to distract...
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Head Spinning. Heart Wide-Open

Monday. September 15th. Head spinning, heart wide-open. I. Am. Lit-up...and exhausted (in a great way)! Three weeks ago, 250 makers, entrepreneurs, artists, moms, dads, therapists, consultants, musicians, trainers, tradespeople, designers, doctors, managers and all form of world-shakers dropped into a 130-acre playground in the woods for 3 ½ days of magic. Yes, the first annual...
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Finding God In The Grain

Sometimes, I wonder if the closest I get to the experience of God is when I'm making stuff...   I was an artist and a maker as a kid. I'd paint all the time, draw, doodle, make Frankenbikes out of spare parts from the junk yard and built pretty much anything I could imagine. That...
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Naked and Silent

What if the only thing standing between you and what you want is you, but you have no idea it's true?   Sampson: I've built something incredible, we're working with world-class people and world-class clients. We're the best at what we do, nobody can touch us. I've gotten us here and I'm steering this ship....
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Less Show. More Soul.

2002. Mexican riviera. I'm sweating, almost violently... Barefoot in the middle of a tiled, thatched-roof palapa feet from the rolling surf. I'm there with yoga wunderkind, Baron Baptiste, famed kirtan singer, Krisha Das, aka KD, and 100 sweaty humans training to become yoga teachers. We practice. We teach. We move. We twist. We grind. We stretch. We...
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A Time I’d Never

There was a time I'd never written a book. Spoken on stage. Run a company. There was a time I'd never been in print. Been on screen Been on air. There was a time I'd never held a pose. Taught a class. Led a tribe. There was a time I'd never been a dad. Been...
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Entrepreneurship As A Practice

Most people look at entrepreneurship as a project. You start with an idea, then turn it into something real, build a business around it. And all is well with the world. But that's the wrong approach. Because entrepreneurship, in the wild, doesn't work that way. What really happens is you get an idea, it may...
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