Blog
WRITING
The blind date that made me realize I was a fraud (and why that was the best thing ever)
I was on a blind date, sitting across from some guy I'd met on Match.com, when he asked what I did for a living. You would have thought I was a street walker, the way I started hemming and hawing. I was so mortified to tell him I was a chemical salesperson—selling...
You’re not a writer, you’re a hoarder (And that’s actually good news)
Let's pretend you're ready to start writing your book. That you're a real eager beaver. Now, word of advice: Before you stare at a blank document for the next three months wondering why writing feels impossible, let's talk about the content goldmine you're probably...
Which Disney princess are you? (And other useless quizzes)
We've all taken those inane quizzes, haven't we? "Which Disney character are you?" "What's your spirit animal?" "Which Friends character matches your personality?" I always end up as Cinderella—probably because she had serious shoe problems, which feels relatable...
I tell people my service is hard work. Here’s why I’m not broke.
Years ago, I joined a group program designed to teach me about marketing because I was tired of banking on sheer luck to bring in clients. You know, that magical thinking where people would somehow discover what I do—and how I could make their writing 1000 times...
READING
Skip the backstory: let your objects tell the story instead
I was browsing through a little bookstore in D.C. when I ran into an interesting book. It was called China in Ten Words. The Table of Contents had me at hello. Here’s what it looked like in all of its glorious simplicity: People Leader Reading Writing LuXun (Must have...
The ugly truth about why everyone quits their book (except this one badass)
Each week, I have conversations with people who claim to want to write a book. I listen carefully, not just to establish if I like an individual, which is necessary if I'm to take them on as a client; if I think the project would be interesting and teach me a thing or...
The 15-month Plan That Sold 10 Million Books (And Why Your ‘Wing It’ Strategy Isn’t Working
Here's what I love about James Clear's Atomic Habits success story: it completely destroys the romantic myth that great books just "find their audience." You know, that fairy tale where you write something brilliant in your mountainside cabin, send it to a publisher,...
We accidentally created a bestseller (and now everyone’s having an identity crisis)
Last week, The Wisdom Collection went live on Amazon. Within 48 hours, it blew the top off the platform in ways that surprised even me—and I'm not easily surprised when it comes to book launches. In fact, I'm kind of jaded. First, we hit bestseller in a couple of...
LIFE
Haters are going to hate
I was 26 the first time I realized that what people thought about me had more to do with them than with who I was/am as a person. Such an epiphany should have freed me; unfortunately, it didn't. When I’d first moved to Iran, I wanted two things more than...
The silliest thing that changed my life
I got to thinking about this bike rack I refused to buy because it looked like way too much bother. Anything that requires me to read a user's manual, well, I I just don't need it badly enough. Yet, if I hadn't been nagged to death to buy the damn thing; if I hadn't...
The best piece of advice I ever received
A long time ago, when I was selling photo copiers for a living, I met an older woman who gave me a piece of advice I'll never forget. “Darling,” she said, smoothing back her hair with steady hands, “there’s a time and a place for everything. You can’t do it all at...
Dead men give great advice
Plato had it right when he said, “Those who tell the stories rule society.” In other words, if you want to get ahead--and ahead does not mean taking over Greenland--you need to open your mouth and share your experiences. A piece of advice I took to heart early on in...
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