A good job pays well. A great job fills you with a sense of purpose. A meaningful career is something most of us want, even if it can be hard to create. What makes a career meaningful? I’ve been thinking about that, and I’ve come to two very different possible answers. Although they might seem […]
You Don’t Need to Be Rich to Travel
When I announced my current yearlong trip across three continents, I got many comments from readers who would like to do something similar. After all, who wouldn’t like to go to exotic locations, learning new languages and cultures? Unfortunately, the biggest excuse people give me for avoiding those trips they desire is that they simply […]
Is Obsession a Prerequisite for Success?
In chemistry, there’s the idea of an activation cost. This is the threshold of energy you need to surpass to start a chemical reaction. Dynamite, for example, contains a lot of energy. But unless a spark or lit fuse pays the activation cost it won’t explode. Life also has activation costs. There are many pursuits […]
Could You Walk Away From $8 Million in Easy Money?
One of my favorite stories comes from Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh. Tony sold his first company to Microsoft shortly after graduating from college. One of the conditions was that he stay for another 12 months. In exchange, he would walk away an extra $8 million richer. The work conditions weren’t strenuous, as Tony himself recounts, […]