One Guy's Truth
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 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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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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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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As a coach and writer, I have taken an unofficial vow to never tell you what to do. Today, I am breaking that vow. Stay the f*ck home (if you can). For those of you in the United States, we have just begun to deal with major disruptions to our everyday lives caused by the […]
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WARNING – this is a Coronavirus post. However, please note that this post is NOT meant to drive you into a COVID-19 depression or have you locking yourself in a zombie apocalypse bunker. This is my attempt to put into words, how I was overcome with the emotion, Fear, and what I was able to […]
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I’m guessing a lot of bloggers at one point or another, fall off the proverbial horse and fail to publish a post over an extended period of time. Well, this is me getting back on the horse. What you might not have heard from other writers is the excuse I am going to toss out […]
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My name is Dan D’Agostino. On my birth certificate, it says Daniel in place of Dan. For most of elementary school, I signed my name as Danny on book reports and other assignments. In 4th grade, I decided I had matured sufficiently to begin signing my name as, “Dan the Man.” While I wish “the […]
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For the past year, my primary occupation has been that of real estate investor. To date, I have invested in two mobile home parks and my partners and I will be closing on a small apartment building in April. I have taken the methodical approach to starting up this business with a “slow and steady” […]
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Fired & Free 