Topic
Mindset
Essays on mindset, mental habits, and getting clear about how you think. Most of the problems I work through aren't really about the outside world. They're patterns of thinking I picked up early in my career, beliefs I took for granted for years, and assumptions I never bothered to examine. These essays are about noticing those patterns, and what it actually takes to change them.
Sweat the small stuff.
The self-help industry sold us a cure for a disease we don't have.
Pick a table.
Two people joined the same company the same year with the same pay cut. One became a CEO. The other has had seven jobs in fifteen years.
Thief of Joy.
When I was 27, a friend asked me point-blank how much money I made. My answer — and my reaction to her answer — taught me something I've never forgotten.
He was only 25.
The winemaker was only 25 when he took over one of California's best wineries. What he said about patience stuck with me for weeks.
We all remember insults.
I found a two-and-a-half-year-old email from someone explaining in four paragraphs why I'm a terrible writer. I never forgot it.
You're missing perspective.
We hosted a private dinner for sixteen strangers. A nurse, an author, a corporate escapee. By the end, the one thing they had in common changed how I think about perspective.
Act like you’ve already won.
I was on a Zoom call agreeing to things I didn't want to agree to. Normally I'd push back. Something was off.
Performative BS.
Ashton Hall wakes up at 3:53am and has a 5.5-hour morning routine. I wake up at 7 and start working in my pajamas. Guess whose business is more profitable.
I'm a therapist, not a realist.
I write about work-life balance. Then at 8pm I catch myself scrolling Twitter. The irony is not lost on me.