Category Archives: Work + Career

Less is More, Imperfect is Perfect, and Done is Done.

What’s better than perfect? Done is better than perfect. Part of the beauty of writing, asking, and making projects is actually doing them. The best way out of something is often through it. Getting it done is where the art is. Seth Godin says “ship.” I say “do.” It means the same thing. Make itContinue Reading

Good, Fine, Busy.

When someone asks you how you are, do you answer in one of the following three ways? I’m good! I’m fine. Ohhh, Busy. Imagine eliminating those three words. What would you say instead? How would you respond? Inspired in part by a sign on my wall, and a 2003 post by Penelope Trunk called “StopContinue Reading

Radio Interview: Musings on Design, Environment, Behavior and Sustainability

How do you build a sustainable life, what does psychology have to do with cities, and how do you wield the power of learning how to say both yes and no strategically? Did you design your own job? How do you balance a full-time job with all the side projects you want to do? What happensContinue Reading

Gratitude, Holiday Cheer + Post-Thanksgiving Epic Giveaways.

Congratulations to Melissa for winning a copy of Shane Mac’s book, “Stop With The BS” and to Claire and Anne for winning spots to Molly Mahar’s Holiday Council (which starts Monday, November 26th– join me there! I’ll be on the interviews and on as many calls as possible). I’ve been hearing wonderful reviews of the book and soContinue Reading

Do You Have A Life Philosophy?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! May your hearts, minds, families and homes be filled with gratitude and blessings. As part of this season’s focus on gratitude and thanks, I’m doing a huge number of THANKSGIVING GIVEAWAYS!  I’m giving away lots of good things throughout the entire month of November (and now I’m up until Christmas–I have moreContinue Reading

Reminders. (22 Thoughts from Julien Smith).

It’s November, the season of gratitude–one of my favorite seasons. In the spirit of gratefulness, thanks, and learning, I’ll be giving away prizes with almost every single post all throughout November. Some of the things I have to give away include a copy of Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s new book, “The Impact Equation,” copiesContinue Reading

Indianapolis: PowderKeg 2012

I spent the last weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana, as part of the inaugural 2012 Powder Keg Conference put on by The Verge celebrating StartUps, Developers, and Innovation in the central hub of Indiana. While I’d been to Indiana before, I’d never made it to Indianapolis, and it was beautiful to see another Midwestern city inContinue Reading

Show up.

Show up. Every day, or as often as needs to be done. Figure out the schedule. Perhaps it’s once a week. It’s not about extremes. It’s not about doing a magnanimous or extraordinary thing on one singular day, or in one moment. It’s the accumulation of micro-actions. It’s about consistency. It’s about showing up, evenContinue Reading

“What I Do”

Option 1: Landscape Architect, Explorer  What do I do? I never know how to answer this question. Do I start with swimming? Architecture? Writing? All of the people and things and quirks I love about San Francisco? My incessant love of traveling? I’m never sure how to answer or what people are really asking. IContinue Reading

Chasing Freedom: Independence, Adventure, and The Year-Long Secret Race to #WDS

INDEPENDENCE. WHAT IS IT? A year ago, I went to one of my first conferences I’ve ever attended—aptly titled, “The World Domination Summit.“ (Try telling your parents and your colleagues about this one. Bemused looks and strange faces ensued.) I went anyways. As a slightly more introverted than extroverted person who struggles a bit with socialContinue Reading