The Beauty of Routines

Most writing about habits frames them as productivity tools. Build the right habit, do the thing, become the more efficient version of yourself. The vocabulary is discipline, willpower, accountability, consistency. That’s not why I built mine. I built mine to give my brain somewhere to go when it would otherwise reach for food, wine, or … Continue reading The Beauty of Routines

The Song That Outgrew the Woman I Wrote It For

It must have been 2013. We were at our Toastmasters club, and our mentor — a woman who had been in the organization a long time, the kind of presence who leads by example without announcing she’s leading — stood up to give a speech. She titled it Watch Me. I don’t remember every word. … Continue reading The Song That Outgrew the Woman I Wrote It For

What the Scale Wasn’t Telling Me

For about six weeks, the scale stopped moving. I’d been showing up every day. At least thirty minutes of exercise on regular days, an hour or more on 7-40 Challenge days. I’ve gone through two pairs of running shoes this year — the kind that are supposed to last four to five hundred miles each. … Continue reading What the Scale Wasn’t Telling Me

Drive-Through Talking

It had to have been the early 2000s. My bride and I were sitting in a church auditorium listening to Kevin Leman speak, and the phrase he kept using made me chuckle every time I heard it: drive-through talking. I kept mistakenly calling it drive-by talking in my head — which, as I’d later realize, … Continue reading Drive-Through Talking

The Reciprocity Gap

The researchers brought them in expecting a fight. Two groups of people, opposite sides of a topic so polarizing I don’t need to name it for you to picture the room. Each side walked in believing the other side was the enemy. Each side believed they had nothing in common with the people across the … Continue reading The Reciprocity Gap