Warren Zevon was dying when he sat down with David Letterman for the last time in 2002. He had been diagnosed with terminal cancer just months before. Letterman, visibly moved, asked him if facing death had given him any special wisdom to share. What Zevon said was simple. He said he had always enjoyed himself, but that the enjoyment was more valuable now. He said you are reminded to enjoy every sandwich, every minute of playing with the band, being with the kids, all of it. Not a grand pronouncement. Not a theory of life. Just a reminder to actually…
Continue Reading Enjoy Every Sandwich

AI is not the threat to your career. The threat is the attorney down the street, the consultant across town, or the professional sitting two floors below you who has already figured out how to make AI work for them. That person is not smarter than you. They may or may not have more experience. What they have is a willingness to adapt, and in competitive professions, that willingness is currently worth more than almost anything else on a résumé.

The conversation about AI in professional services has been dominated by fear, but that fear is largely misdirected. The model…
Continue Reading You Won’t Lose Your Job to AI — You’ll Lose It to Someone Who Actually Knows How to Use It

Nobody escapes the curriculum. Life keeps teaching, and it does not care whether you’re ready for the lesson. That is especially true in business, where the stakes are high, the pace is relentless, and the temptation to believe you have figured it out is both understandable and dangerous. The moment you stop staying curious and open, you stop growing. In a competitive environment, standing still is the same as falling behind.

The lessons don’t always arrive in the form you expect or prefer. Sometimes a trusted employee leaves, or a long-standing relationship sours, and you realize in hindsight that the…
Continue Reading Life Is an Insistent and Persistent Teacher

Nobody wakes up and decides to be mediocre. But most people in business, whether they’re fresh out of school or twenty years into their career, settle into a comfortable groove and stop pushing. They meet the minimum. They do what’s asked. They clock in and clock out. And that’s fine, until it isn’t — until someone else who does just a little bit more starts getting the calls, the referrals, and the opportunities.

Avoid this happening to you by being slightly, consistently better than the version of yourself from yesterday. Start with something as simple as showing up early. Even…
Continue Reading Being Just a Little Bit Better

AI is extraordinary. As I wrote not long ago, professionals who refuse to integrate these tools are already falling behind. AI compresses hours of research into minutes, drafts documents that used to take half a day, and surfaces insights that would otherwise stay buried. For lawyers, business owners, and entrepreneurs alike, the efficiency gains are transformational. If you are using AI thoughtfully in your practice or business, you already know this. If you aren’t, the people competing against you do.

But the part that doesn’t get enough airtime, and which should terrify you a little is that when you type…
Continue Reading AI is a Savior and a Devil at the Same Time

Never assume the person you’re speaking with already understands what you want from the conversation or relationship. Dropping a hint or sending a vague email is indirect and unlikely to help you get what you’re looking for. You need to understand that nobody is inside your head. The colleague you casually mentioned a referral opportunity to is not sitting at home thinking about how to help you. If you did not say clearly what you wanted, needed, or were offering, you might as well have said nothing at all.

This plays out constantly in business development and networking, two areas…
Continue Reading Say What You Mean: Don’t Presume Anyone Knows Your Intention