December 28, 2016

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40 books I read (and recommend that you read) this year

books I've read in 2016

I am a believer in building a diverse skillset in life, and part of that process is consistent self-education. 2016 was a crazy, busy year, but I still managed to carve out time to feed my brain and soul through books (mostly at the expense of zombie and football tv time).

It was worth it.

Let me repeat that for emphasis: Every moment spent away from the TV (or game console) and in front of these books was worth it.

So I’d like to share my past year’s reading list and encourage a little bit more reading in the world as we move into 2017.

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November 23, 2015

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Do you need a land to have a country?

Facebookland

Our borders are no longer absolute barriers. Our culture is constantly changing. Countries are evolving at a rapidly increasing pace due to economic change and demographic change—which then turns into cultural change.

Recently, a thought had occurred to me: How important is country?

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October 28, 2015

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Finding your purpose at work

BeeEssential

Finding purpose in your work can be hard. It can get confusing to know where your motivations are coming from if you aren’t sure about what you want. You can be making decisions out of fear:

What will happen if I screw this up? What does this mean for my reputation? Do I even have a reputation? Will this help me or hurt me in my goals?

Real fears. All are pretty much worthless for helping you to do great work.

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March 28, 2014

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Has Austin lost its mojo?

keep south dallas growing t-shirt

Change is inevitable. It sometimes seems like the more you want something to stay the same, the less likely that actually happens. Austin has been in a constant state of change ever since I moved here in 1996. Even back then, long time residents were bemoaning the evolution of their beloved city. That seems like nothing compared to what is happening now.

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March 25, 2014

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Don’t compete. Just create.

compete-create-sm

If you have to compete. Compete with yourself. Compete with the expectations that you set for yourself. Even if you fall a little short, you’ve moved the ball forward. More so than if you accept your personal status quo.

It is when we compete with others—when we give in to the urge to compete with others—that we lose ground. Competing with others changes your personal energy. It changes your mindset from the joy, pleasure and pain of creation to the fear of competition. The fear of limited resources that you think everyone is vying for. Competing for money. Competing for ideas. Competing for attention. Competing for time. Time—especially time—is often viewed as a limited resource. Fear of the ticking clock.

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March 17, 2014

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SXSW Interactive 2014 Recap

south by southwest doodle

SXSW Interactive can be overwhelming. The hype, the parties, the crowds. It is sometimes difficult to separate the noise from the real insights and connections you are there to make. (Well, some of you are there to make. A lot of you are just there to party and get noticed. That’s OK too.) Every year is different. What you get out of it is different.

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October 7, 2013

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Present Shock by Douglas Rushkoff

present shock by douglas rushkoffI’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to live in the digital age. Partly because I can remember a life where it wasn’t so obvious that we were in it. My childhood was decidedly analog, but my formative years and adulthood were dominated by the personal computer. I was mostly a fully formed adult before the invasion of email and mobile technology into our daily lives. I still struggle to identify how how much technology is changing our social interactions and how we think.

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