WEEKS 1-15
Realign
Notice the patterns, strengths, and signals that still feel true.
THE SHIFT
Identity to direction
Your 50
01 A LIVING BODY OF WORK
YOUR [50]
50 IDEAS WRITTEN IN REAL TIME
Fifty weeks. Fifty reflections about realigning with who you are now, activating what comes next, and expressing it with intention.
THE FIRST 27 WEEKS
Perspective develops one week at a time.
A year-long practice.
Each piece begins with something lived. Read in order or begin wherever a title pulls you.
THE THREE-ACT STRUCTURE
One body of work. Three movements.
Recognize what is true. Test it. Give it language other people can understand.
WEEKS 16-35
Activate
Put those signals into motion through experiments, conversations, and response.
THE SHIFT
Direction to evidence
WEEKS 36-50
Express
Turn what you learn into a clear point of view and a visible body of work.
THE SHIFT
Evidence to expression
02 PUBLISHED WRITING
27 of 50
Begin Again
As Thanksgiving approaches, I always notice how the pace of life begins to ease just enough to let you actually think. Work…
Read week 1Listen to What Pulls You
There’s a rhythm most careers follow, even if you don’t notice it while you’re living it. Early on, almost everyone begins as…
Read week 2What You Can’t Ignore
For a long stretch of my career, I built my sense of value around how hard I worked. It wasn’t intentional. It…
Read week 3The Pattern in Your Best Moments
There was a time in my career when I spent way too much energy looking at other people and wondering how they…
Read week 4The Part of You That Stayed the Same
Before you can define what’s next, you have to remember what never left. Who you’ve always been is often the clearest guide…
Read week 5What You’re Done Carrying
Old roles. Outdated expectations. Responsibilities you took on temporarily that somehow became permanent. Versions of yourself that were useful once, but no…
Read week 6New Chapters, New Stories
After weeks together over winter break, I drove to the airport with Stella as she headed to Copenhagen for the spring. A…
Read week 7You Can’t Fail at Being Curious
When you’re in a career transition, there’s pressure to decide. To commit. To explain what you’re doing next so it sounds intentional…
Read week 8The Quiet Signal
There’s a certain kind of thought that shows up when you’re not really looking for it. It doesn’t arrive as a big…
Read week 9What Feels Like “You” Again?
For a long time in my career, I tied value to struggle. If something felt difficult, I assumed it was important. If…
Read week 10Sweep the Leg, Johnny!
Years ago, when Gigi first started high school, we went to the spring fundraiser. It was an all-school production called “Cabaret.” Students,…
Read week 11Identity Before Strategy
There was a stretch after Promax when I found myself quietly comparing my next chapter to what other people were building. Some…
Read week 12The Fear Behind the Hesitation
Yesterday, I looked at my phone and saw his name still sitting there in my Favorites, right where it has always been.…
Read week 13The Cost of What Never Gets Built
There’s something about sitting around a campfire that makes you think about what gets built in a life… and what never does.…
Read week 14Name the Chapter You’re Already In
A few days ago, Olivia and I were standing deep in the Arctic Circle waiting for the Northern Lights to appear. It…
Read week 15Take the Smallest Possible Step
Take the Smallest Possible Step. I’ve been thinking a lot about timing lately. Not in the abstract sense, but in the way…
Read week 16Let One Conversation Shift Your Thinking
Earlier this week, I was talking to a friend I’ve known for over 20 years. And as we were catching up, something…
Read week 17The Power of Weak Ties
Opportunity rarely comes from your inner circle. The people who change your direction are rarely the ones you talk to every day.…
Read week 18The Courage of Low-Risk Experiments
Second-guessing shows up after you’ve already found something worth following. I’ve been thinking about that in the context of my last post…
Read week 19It Doesn’t Need to Make Sense Yet
Something can be beautifully built, deeply intentional, and still not be permanent. That doesn’t make it less valuable. It just means rebuilding…
Read week 20Borrow Confidence From a Future You
I got this text from Gigi this week, and it made me smile for a lot of reasons. Partly because it’s fun…
Read week 21Readiness Is One of the Great Illusions of Adulthood
Somewhere along the way, adulthood convinces us that we should know what we’re doing before we begin. We start believing that confidence…
Read week 22Each Week Is a Rehearsal
At the time, I remember thinking that I was closing one chapter and stepping into another. What I didn’t appreciate was how…
Read week 23The People Who Surprise You
As our careers progress, we naturally surround ourselves with people we trust. They understand our business, our industry, our customers, and the…
Read week 24What Others Keep Asking You For
When we’re trying to figure out what’s next, our instinct is to look inward. We ask ourselves what we’re good at, where…
Read week 25What I Found Inside Three Old Stormtrooper Helmets
Over the past year, my family has been transitioning my mother into dementia care. Like so many families who go through this,…
Read week 26Knowledge Is Everywhere. Perspective Is Rare.
For those of us who spend a lot of time experimenting with AI, the pace is staggering. Every week seems to bring…
Read week 27