It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me. – Bruce Wayne, Batman Begins ”What do you do?” How people answer this question fascinates me. Technically, the question asks for the action. What you do. But people introduce themselves by identity – who they claim to be. I’m a writer. A […]
Action over identity Read More »
I was cringing inside. This was taking too long to just order a piece of toast. My friend loves to go off menu: We’ll start with the tostada con tomate …but is it possible to just do half of this, and get the other half with salmon? Can you bring extra sea salt, and oh,
Every suburban kid has their watershed moment of humility. Mine was in the commune of Hinche, a year after the Haiti earthquake. I was on a medical aid trip1. A dentist I was assisting told me something that blew my mind: “If we don’t remove the abscess, the tooth can get infected and the patient
Upgrade your problems Read More »
Nothing makes a person project their values more than being a parent. My single mother worked full time jobs while starting businesses on the side. Instead of encouraging my sisters and I to follow her path, she wanted us to get advanced degrees and pursue stable, high status careers 1. Both my sisters became doctors
We are value projection machines Read More »
I was a bit startled by his reaction. We were surrounded by street peddlers on the streets of Cusco. Overpriced tours and kitschy trinkets. A normal occurrence for any touristy site. But he blew up. His face turned red and he screamed at the solicitors to go away. I held this memory with me as
The Street Peddlers of Your Mind Read More »
It was the ultimate irony – I learned how to meditate to decrease stress. But I stressed out about not meditating enough. A friend pointed this out to me when I complained about breaking my meditation streak on Headspace. So I asked myself, where did the stress come from? Even deeper irony: it came from
Mindfulness lies just beyond the meditation app Read More »
“You’re either a nice guy or an asshole. And nice guys finish last.” I listened with a frown on my face. This was circa 2014, and I was sitting in a free seminar run by pickup artists. It didn’t make sense to me: I considered myself nice enough. But I’ve also been an asshole before.
Binary vs Spectrum Thinking Read More »
In 2008, the housing market imploded, along with the entire American economy. Yet this didn’t change the general population’s mindset that buying a house is an essential part of adulthood. Fannie Mae, the finance giant, found in a 2014 survey that the majority of millennials “think owning is a more sensible housing choice for financial
A homeowner’s advice: don’t buy a house Read More »
Growing up as a millennial meant growing up with Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake (N’SYNC). They were the couple to watch. To this day, die hard fans still fantasize about the two getting back together. When asked what advice she’d give to her younger self, Britney said: “Never get married is number one. That’s probably the
The best advice I’d give to my younger self Read More »
I initially felt stupid for turning it down. In front of me was the biggest offer of my life. Better title. More pay. It was what I wanted, right? So why did I feel a massive wave of relief after turning it down? If you’ve ever faced a hard fork in the road, this is
How to Use Your Gut (When Logic Fails) Read More »