One Guy's Truth
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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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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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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When I was 25, I got a call from a friend who was working for a prestigious consulting firm in the DC Area called, Booz Allen Hamilton. My friend informed me they were hiring and asked if I would be interested in coming in for an interview. Needless to say, I was honored to be […]
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When I see that Barista at Starbucks and greet them with a “how’ya doin man?” I’m not expecting Millennial Mike to answer, “you’re the 500th f*cking customer today to ask, “how I’m doing,” I wish everyone would stop f*cking prying into my life. How do you think I’m doing? It’s 6:45am, I’ve been here since […]
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I recently finished the book, Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari. In my humble opinion, this should be required reading for all humanity. Harari provides an easy to read summary on the 200,000 year old history of our species. Throughout this time, these ancestors were nearly identical to our present selves in terms of cognitive and […]
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I’m not usually someone who thinks about birthdays. However, for those frequent readers of the blog, you have seen a mention here and there that I will be turning 40 in a couple of months. I’m not freaking out about the big FOUR OH, but it has given me an awareness that a middle point […]
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On Saturday, I achieved a feat so remarkable, they should probably write a book about me (or a blog post). For 30 straight minutes, I “played Legos” with my 5-year-old without checking my phone, glancing at a magazine or talking to another person. My daughter had my complete focus and attention. I was fully present […]
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This post probably won’t be funny. It might not teach you much. But, I promise this post will be real. I have been off track. No, I’m not spending my days drinking beers, playing video games nonstop, or wandering around town like a zombie. I just haven’t been using my time with purpose. I’ve been […]
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I haven’t written a post in a while mainly because I haven’t been feeling creative. Even now, I worry that this attempt will turn into yet another draft in my MS Word docs that never sees the publish button. Where has the creative juice gone that brought you such epics as Last Life and Marry […]
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Have you ever heard something so profound that your life was changed on the spot? Maybe it was a powerful sermon in church or a motivational speech from a coach. Or, maybe it was the first time a crush said they, “liked you”. Or, maybe it was the first time you heard, “Luke, I am […]
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“What do you do all day,” is a question I get asked somewhat frequently. If I had to speculate, I’d guess friends and family are curious what one does all day long when there is no job to attend and no real retirement to enjoy. It’s not an unfair question and I’d probably ask the […]
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Growing up, Christmas in my house was no joke. Mom has a Santa collection the Smithsonian would be envious of and she worked harder than Mrs. Claus to make sure my brother and I had an ideal holiday. She busted her tail to wrap our presents just right, baked multiple types of cookies to decorate […]
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Fired & Free 