There isn’t one ‘right’ idea that’s going to make you successful. I think about it like this. You can't learn to ride a bike perfectly before you get on a bike. And you can't figure out the right idea before testing it out in the real world. This doesn't mean you have to risk everything you have. But it does mean you'll have to stop ruminating on it, asking your partner what they think about it, and polling friends. This is a good thing.

We used to think trees competed for nutrients and sunlight. We now know that they’re not competing at all – they’re collaborating. Trees give carbon to mycelium, mycelium stores extra sugar and nitrogen, and when a baby tree or a young tree needs it – the web sends them nutrients. An individual tree doesn’t act in the best interest of the tree. It acts in the best interest of the forest.

You need to have time to do what you love. You might think this means you need to take fewer yoga classes, walk your dog less, or volunteer less at your kids school. There’s the myth of the 5 am side hustler who grinds it out from sunrise to sunset, everything strategic and efficient and on purpose. But this isn’t necessary.

It’s important to make the right decision about what your next chapter is. But you can’t know what the right decision is until you’ve already made it and have seen what happens. And because you can’t know what the right decision is beforehand, you can’t decide. But not deciding is also a decision. (And you could also regret not deciding.) That’s the problem. That’s the catch-22 of regret: you have to make the right decision but you can’t know if it’s right until after you’ve decided.

Most people aren't born knowing exactly what they want to do and how they'll do it. For most people, life looks like a lot like this: When I was a kid in school, I loved writing and I really struggled in math class. So I started taking more writing classes, which is how I ended up meeting that teacher who told me about that summer program. I met my best friend at that summer program…

My mom is a talker. It was a big problem for me in my childhood. We'd be standing around after church, the crotch of my tights halfway down my thighs, blisters forming from my hard plastic dress shoes, and she'd be carrying on with someone about the weather and the church service and the donuts and the youth group and really, anything at all. It was unimaginably boring for me as a child, so I developed a strategy. I began to take advantage of the gaps.

It was built in the 1300’s or the 1400’s, no one really knows. They used nearly 5.5 tons of pure gold and the golden buddha became somewhat of a legend in Thailand. This was before the internet and newspapers, so some believed the statue was in a monastery to the west and others thought it was in a monastery to the east, but most people didn’t know for sure. There were just rumors.

I was so triggered during my first consultation call with my coach, I said no. Well, first I told her I had to think about it. But I knew when we got off the phone: I was a hell no. I did not feel ready for the kind of transformation she was talking about. I sheepishly emailed her a day later and said no. I told myself I’d wait until I had the money saved and felt ready. It’s gotten me thinking about what happens when we choose to wait for transformation and growth.

If you're going to make a good living doing what you love, you'll need to learn how to sell in a way that feels good in your soul. You're a kind person. You don't want to sell like that the man outside Office Depot. I get it. I can help you with that. Selling isn't inherently sleazy, manipulative, or pushy. We just live in a world where there's a lot of sleazy, manipulative, and pushy selling. The good news is: you don't have to sell like that.