As I get older, I’m starting to think that nobody ever really feels grown up. I’m in my 40s and I’m not sure I do. Sure, we take on responsibilities, adjust to norms based on what society says we should do at our age, and mature as we experience more…

The other day I saw someone say the following on Twitter: Any parents out here who constantly remind themselves to not compare with other non-parents on Twitter? We have very diff schedule, capacity, and energy level. First: Yes, I understand that people can have busy lives even if they don’t…

If you’re trying to build an audience, to gain followers, to garner attention online, I think it’s worth asking yourself: Is it an audience I’m after, or am I really in search of some genuine connections with other people? It’s easy to conflate the two, thinking that if we just…

This may be an unpopular opinion these days, but there’s nothing wrong with having a full-time job. Being employed by someone else, and not being your own boss, is perfectly acceptable. You’d never know it based on the number of tweets along the lines of: I quit my $150K/year job…

It feels strange to still be trying to “find myself” in my 40s, but I think I’ve landed on the core element of who I am: an eclectic misfit. But Nick, we’re all eclectic! Maybe. You know yourself better than I do, and who am I to argue with you? How am I an eclectic misfit? …

A place to start. Ever-evolving. —

Atomic Essay #2 from the August Ship 30 for 30 cohort. — A colleague of mine at Zapier wrote an internal blog post about building a second brain, and at the very end he used this term that I hadn’t heard before: Return on Attention Most people are familiar with ROI (Return on Investment), and the concept is pretty straightforward. When you…

Atomic Essay #1 from the August Ship 30 for 30 cohort. — Last weekend, my wife and I took our 2 boys (ages 5 and 10) to Whistler, British Columbia, for a mini-vacay. Driving there, we hiked to a viewpoint that presented us with precarious paths. It tested my boys’ resilience and mental fortitude, and we made it to our destination! …

The great thing about advice is you can take or leave it. — How does one become successful and self-actualized? Is it by getting up at 5:30am? Or taking the time to journal in the morning? Or maybe it involves meditating before you start your day. But surely, it’s important to express gratitude and to plan your upcoming week every Sunday night. Right? …