Purpose & Creativity

The philosopher Kierkegaard wrote 150 years ago, and he was one of the first psychological philosophers who really wrote about anxiety. He regarded himself rather useless, all things considered. He wrote a section in one of his books about all the industrialists who were operating in Europe at that time, trying in every possible way to make life... See more

“When I get up in the morning and look in the mirror, I reach the same conclusion every time: that there is only one Morten looking back at me, despite my many different titles. We live only one life, in one time.”

I was struck by what Morten says about us having one ‘indivisible’ life, and the dangers of segmenting our life - and our time - into... See more

Measure your composure every day.

Let's break this down.

There are two important components here:

1.) The distinction of composure , and

2.) Measurement as an improvement mechanism.

Composure is straightforward enough: it’s the extent to which someone is in control of their behavior.

If we get swept away by our emotions or impulses, we have low... See more

What are you doing to reveal the invisible opportunities?

I was recently speaking at an event when a woman in the audience asked me a simple question: "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"

My honest response: "I have no idea."

Before you think I'm crazy, let me explain...

Five years ago, I was working in a career that wasn't for me. I was chasing... See more

feelings are meant to be felt - that’s what they are for. We heal by acknowledging our emotions and test our heart’s resilience by lingering within the unbearable. It is something music can help us do. We find our hearts are much stronger than we presumed, and what we thought was unbearable was nothing of the sort. Music draws forth these... See more

"Let everything happen to you: Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final." - Rainer Maria Rilke

Create And Move Toward A Goal To Experience Positive Emotion

There are different types of positive emotion, but enthusiasm and joy — not to be confused with satiation — are fully dependent on observing progression toward a valued goal. Separately, the feeling of satiation, or obtainment, occurs when you obtain something you want and feel satisfied.... See more

If your intention is to ‘make art’, then maybe you’ll get a couple of good paintings. You may even get a show or two.

But I think of it this way: I don’t make art. I make things . Framing it like that keeps what I’m doing from becoming precious. And that’s a good thing, because to be precious is to be timid—and that’s bad. Creativity requires

... See more