$1,700 to $4,800: The First Bet I Made on Myself

In 2007 I was 25 — broke, about $5,000 deep in credit card debt, and walking down a hospital corridor I’d walked a thousand times before. Somewhere along that corridor, something landed on me. Not a voice. More like a picture: if I kept doing exactly what I was doing, nothing was going to change. … Read more

The Most Expensive Mistake I Made as an Operator

Outwork the competition. Outlast them. Out-grind everyone in the room. …was trying harder. You’ve heard it. I didn’t just hear it — I built my early years on it. When I was younger, I was certain that breakthroughs were a function of force. Work harder. Pray more. Push, and push, and push again. Out-hustle every … Read more

The First Lie Is Always to Yourself

(Previously called “When Love Dies Before The Body Does” I wanted to blame something external. A child abuse and in the end, the kid (Megan) passed away…and the details that came up in the papers…the kind that lodges in you and won’t leave. I’m not going to retell it. The details aren’t the point, and … Read more

Stop Billing Your Parents – They’re First Time Humans Too.

Your parents were first-time humans too — that’s the grace. What you do with the hand they dealt you is on you now — that’s the responsibility. When we were kids, our parents seem like gods to us. They know everything, they have every answer, they never fail. Then you grow up, and somewhere along … Read more

Finish or Let Go

(Previously named The Battle To Finish) There are two ways to never finish — and they look like opposites. Everyone celebrates the start. You announce the business and people cheer. You launch the thing, open the tab, pitch the idea, plant the flag. Starting feels like progress, and it photographs well. Almost nobody throws a … Read more

How I Know When Thinking Is Done (and it’s time to act)

(Previously called “Centipede’s Dilemma) Thinking is my edge. So I had to learn exactly when to stop. There’s an old parable about a centipede who walks perfectly well — until a frog asks her which leg she moves first. She stops to think about it, and never walks again. She analyses herself into paralysis. Most … Read more

I Used to Think Wanting Money Made Me a Worse Christian

(Previously titled “God Doesn’t Need Your Money: Why Most Christians Fail at Faithful Wealth”) Let me get the cleanest part out of the way first: God doesn’t need your money. He never did. He owns everything already — “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.” (Psalm 50:10). … Read more