Today is my birthday. Last year on this day, I made a semi-unplanned declaration to myself: This year I will give myself the gift of sobriety. I didn’t expect it to last. I didn’t really even believe that I was doing it. I have tried to give up alcohol dozens of times in the past, only to continue drinking later that day or the next. At most I would go about a week due to being at a...
Three years ago, I was in the worst shape of my life. I was approaching 300lbs, grabbing fast food at least once a day, and avoiding exercise at all costs. Though I’ve always enjoyed a nice, leisurely hike outdoors, I’ve never been athletic. The only sport in which I participated in high school was track, as a shotput and discus thrower. I did this because everybody who wanted to be...
You don’t have to hire an expensive firm to have a Public Relations (PR) strategy as a startup. The beauty of today’s internet is that anybody has the power to reach tens of thousands, even millions, with a properly timed tweet, hacker news mention, or mention on an influential blog. You don’t have to make it onto a cover story in Inc. or Entrepreneur in order to achieve your PR goals, in fact...
Even a minor amount of short-lived stress can make an impact on your health (both physical and mental). While entrepreneurs often feel that they need to “go go go” in order to be successful, taking time out of the day to practice meditation has been a proven, effective method for increasing your productivity, providing appropriate perspective, and training to react appropriately to stress.
Taking time away for a personal retreat is a discipline that not many professionals take seriously enough. We have enough going on in our daily lives that a break “just to think” sounds pretty unproductive. However, it is during those breaks in our routine that we discover whether or not what we are being productive in is what really matters.
Many times the last thing we feel that we can make time for is exercise. Already we are stretched in a number of directions, who can take an hour out of each day to throw in another that, at first glance, doesn’t even improve the bottom line? The irony of exercise for entrepreneurs is that, even though it takes time out of your day, in the end you actually get more done in the remaining time that...
One of the key personality traits of an Entrepreneur is that we like to hustle, try new things, and fill our workday with variety. A negative side-effect of this is that we also have a hard time giving up control. As an entrepreneur, we must learn to delegate certain tasks to others. Without delegation, the sad truth is that we stall the growth of our companies because there is only so much time...
This week I finished reading Made to Stick by brothers Chip and Dan Heath. The book is centered around six principles of sticky ideas and is geared toward marketers, writers, leaders, coaches… anybody who has ever needed to get a message across.
I have a pretty busy life. With 4 children under 5 years old, and a wife who works in the evenings, when I’m not working at my day job, I’m changing diapers, fixing dinner, or cleaning up before my wife gets home, and I head to bed after a little bit of time together to discuss our day. I’ve tried staying up late to get more done, and when I was in my 20s, that was a pretty valid option. However...
HI, I'M RYAN. I believe the best way to learn and remember is by writing things down and sharing them with others. This blog exists to help me synthesize and process my journey towards self-improvement.