Own your faults
I’ve always loved the story of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson’s first meeting. Holmes is in the laboratory testing a new technique for testing the age of dried blood, when Dr. Watson is ushered in by a mutual acquaintance. They are each looking for a flatmate. Holmes begins by listing out his faults. He’s eccentric, […]
A few things I know at 38 that I wish I knew at 18
Today’s my birthday. This time last year, I wrote 37 lessons. Instead of trying to come up with another 37+1 lessons, I thought I’d expound on some of my best ideas from the last year. Fall in love with your craft I’m on my quest to achieve a one-arm handstand. Someday, I’ll get there and then […]
If you don’t ask, the answer isn’t no
There’s a common idea that “If you don’t ask, the answer is no.” The problem is that when we don’t ask, it doesn’t feel like rejection. The consequence is silence and inactivity, which feels less bad than an actual rejection. Thus, we are reinforced for not asking. I’m still nervous when I quote my hourly […]
How to Reframe Failure
There are a lot of things about being an entrepreneur that I avoid, but one of the silliest is opening physical mail. When I was starting Robin’s Cafe, I got a lot of mail – plans from the San Francisco planning department, legal documents, food permitting, alcohol permitting, pest control notifications, more. I was so busy figuring […]
Unconventional Advice to Improve Your Relationships
What’s the old joke? “Why do my parents push all my buttons? Because they installed them!” In 2019, at 33 years old, I spent 4 weeks traveling with my mother in Africa. And as much as I love my mother, she also can drive me crazy. Whether in our personal relationships or at work, here […]
Gayle Karen Young Whyte, former head of People and Culture at Wikimedia, on Immediacy and Resilience
My guest today is Gayle Karen Young Whyte, former head of People and Culture at Wikimedia (the parent company behind Wikipedia). These days Gayle is very politically active and consulting with a select group of executives on organizational and culture change. I’ve known Gayle since she spoke at the first Responsive Conference in San Francisco […]
Memento Mori: Remember Death
How would you live your life differently if you knew you were going to die tomorrow? We’re all so busy rushing through our lives that we sometimes forget to pause and remember that we have fleeting time on this earth. Watch this short vlog for a reminder to be grateful for what you do have […]
Reflections on Morocco and Culture
To celebrate my 30th birthday, I spent five weeks in the spring of 2017 with my family traveling through the Kingdom of Morocco. I have fantasized about visiting Morocco ever since I was introduced to the character T. E. Lawrence through the movie Lawrence of Arabia at eleven years old. I was entranced by Lawrence’s […]
“Florida Priming” and Simple Tools To Trigger Improved Performance
There’s a concept in cognitive psychology called priming. In its most abstract, this means that if we are given a reminder of a stimulus before being presented with that stimulus, we are more likely to behave favorable towards that stimulus. People who are shown pictures of money before being asked to calculate the cost of groceries […]
Speaking at Ignite San Francisco (And How to Create an Effective Talk)
I recently gave a talk at Ignite San Francisco. The presentation was well received and fun to deliver. Below are my slides from the talk. In this post I’ll break down my process for becoming one of the speakers (hint: just ask!) and how I built my talk. If you don’t know Ignite, take a look […]
How to Give an Effective Speech
I have given a lot of talks in the last couple of years. I’ve used the same set of public speaking skills to give presentations ranging from autism to how to learn handstands and how not to stretch. I am currently attending a course on public speaking and group facilitation at the Option Institute in Sheffield, MA […]
How to Overcome the Fear of Humiliation – Using Daily Documentation to Learn Porteño Spanish
My taxi driver was gesticulating wildly, swerving in and out of traffic, as he impressed upon me his opinions of Argentine politicians. I was very silent in the back seat. I have been warned to avoid discussing politics with Argentinians, but I was silent for a completely different reason: I was too scared to talk. […]
Jonah Lehrer on Neuroscience and Humanity
On Tuesday night I went to the Herbst theatre in San Francisco to hear neuro-scientist and writer Jonah Lehrer in conversation with Roy Eisenhardt. While I grew up listening to City Arts and Lecturs, this was my first live discussion and a much needed return to academic discourse (not to be confused with discussion, debate, […]
CNS (Central Nervous System is Sexy)
A couple of clarifying notes as relate to my most recent post on Neurons and Excitability… Often, when one hears Central Nervous System the inclination is to think of the brain. This is accurate but not a complete picture. The CNS also includes a region of the spine down to about the waist line – […]
Muscle Fibers and Nerve Excitability
I have spent a great deal of time dissecting cadavers this year. This has been an amazing opportunity to learn in person about human anatomy and physiology and is deeply informative for my continuing work with clients seeking to overcome pain. In examining these bodies, generously donated to UCSF/SFSU, I have spent a great deal […]
The Lives of a Cell: Notes of A Biology Watcher
The Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas does not contain of the exclusive scientific vocabulary one might expect from a Doctor of Medicine who was professor, chairman, and dean at some of the most prestigious hospitals and medical universities in the United States. Thomas writes not as a scientist but as a scientifically-minded poet. […]