One Guy's Truth
Last night – dinnertime at the D’Agostinos. “Dominic, stop smacking your lips.” “Dominic, stop smacking your lips.” “Dominic, please eat with your mouth closed.” “Dominic, keep your mouth closed.” And then I lost it… “DOMINIC!!!!!!!!!” As soon as I screamed his name, I could see my mistake. At the sound of my booming voice, my […]
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Sometimes the moments that test us aren’t after a firing, a divorce, or a sickness. Sometimes those moments are during the monotony of everyday life. Wake up… Get the kids ready for school… Work… A little exercise… Take the kids to practice… Prepare and eat dinner… Go to bed… Rinse and repeat… Rinse and repeat… […]
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Recently, during a small gathering of friends, the question was asked, “what is the most embarrassing moment of your life?” Many of these stories were being shared publicly for the first time. As I listened, I felt honored to hear my friend’s heartfelt answers ranging from; public speaking mishaps, issues with bodily fluids, and serious […]
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I am on a spiritual journey. It feels a bit odd to say this. I don’t consider myself a yogi, shaman, or monk. I think of myself as just a normal guy. Do normal guys really take part in spiritual journeys? After some reflection, I think they do. To me, this journey is one of […]
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One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from the editor and founder of Wired Magazine, Kevin Kelly. Sometime around 2010, I heard him say, “read 10 books a year and you will be a fundamentally better person.” I’m not sure what Kevin meant by “better”, but I took the advice to […]
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One night, as I walked out of my house to attend a meeting, I noticed a person coming down the sidewalk towards me. Instinctively, I looked up and added a perfunctory, “how ya doing?” What I quickly realized was this person was not doing well at all. Extremely thin, with a distant stare, walking at […]
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I recently wrote a post about faith. This post would not have been possible without psilocybin, otherwise known as magic mushrooms – those of the psychedelic variety. I’ve wanted to write about my experience with psilocybin for some time now. You can probably guess why I’ve resisted. While this blog isn’t a worldwide sensation, I […]
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A week and a half ago my wife and son were nearly killed while walking across the street. The day began like any other with my wife, Jenny, and I walking our kids to school. As Jenny and our 5-year-old son took a left and began crossing the street, my daughter and I prepared to […]
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Yesterday, I woke up in a bad mood. Edgy, cranky, sad, and a bit irritable. The reason? I had been dwelling on what to do with the rest of my life. Questions like, “what’s my purpose,” “where am I going,” “how can I best help,” were peppering my consciousness and pulling me out of the […]
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You can change. I know you can change, because I recently changed something about myself that has been haunting me for years. For as long as I can remember, there has been a Hulk lurking within me. This big, green, angry, Hulk, is the side of me who is ready to pulverize anyone or anything […]
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Recently, I’ve been spending more time then I’d like to admit, ruminating about tomorrow’s election and the future of my country. A friend put into words a good descriptor of what the last week (months!?) or so has felt like, when she said, “it’s as though we are all waiting for the results of a […]
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My daily meditation practice consists of around 45 minutes in the morning, before my kids wake up (and all hell breaks loose) and 45 minutes in the evening, before I go to sleep for the night. It’s as basic of a practice as one can find – I sit on a plastic foldout chair in […]
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This love story takes place at the Bhavana Society in High View, West Virginia. Bhavana is a Buddhist forest monastery in the Theravada tradition. While it’s an incredible place, listed as one of the most sacred locales by National Geographic, I found love here in a slightly circuitous route. And yes, one of the most […]
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As a coach, you might think I wouldn’t need a coach myself. You’d be wrong. I’m human and as a result I have; insecurities, challenges, issues, problems, dreams, and goals. Just because I know about emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and purposeful living, doesn’t mean I’m immune to the self-limiting voices that patrol my mind. Shoot – […]
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After years of building, I have a boat. Not a literal boat, but a figurative one – a metaphor for my life. During my early adult years, this boat began as a wooden dingy – quick, small, fragile, and full of leaks. As I got older, the craft got faster, more agile, yet nearly rudderless […]
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In my early 20’s, I was frustrated with life. While I had good jobs, I felt my life lacked meaning and purpose. If I could ask my 23-year-old self, “what’s your purpose homey?” 23-year-old Dan would probably answer, “uhhhhhh, getting drunk ON purpose?” My days consisted of me waking up, going to work from 8am […]
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The other day, I was asked the question, “when times were tough running your business, what got you through it?” While the person didn’t explicitly say this, I implied that the “it” they were referring to was; worry, doubt, anguish, fear, or any other mental demon that lurks in the darkest corners of our minds. […]
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As a lifelong baseball fan, it had been a dream to see my team play in a World Series. Knowing this dream and being a huge fan herself, my Mom surprised me and bought us two tickets to see our Nationals play the Astros in Game 5 of the World Series last October. I’ve been […]
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On January 30, 2019, I published a post called, “How Are You Doing.” It was a cynical take on the frequent greeting we use in the United States to address a co-worker, neighbor, delivery person, friend, or anyone else we happen to see out in public. Basically, my view at the time was when we […]
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“Don’t be reactive!” “Be grateful!” “Don’t operate from a place of fear!” Other than the grim corona-related news, our media and social feeds seem to be filled with lots of people telling us how to “be” during this clusterf*ck state of affairs. I’m guilty of this as I recently published Keeping Your Mind Virus Free, […]
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Fired & Free 