Founder & CEO @ Close
I’ve been genuinely excited about returning to Germany – getting the chance to hug my children and see my mother, my brothers, my friends and loved ones. I had a moment of clarity when thinking about this upcoming reunion, and while it sounds cliche, I realized that every day is a gift. It’s not a …
I recently had a conversation with a friend who’s been through a couple of challenging months. And as he shared his struggles with me, my initial response was to share how I in the past had overcome struggles similar to the one he had described. And now, the conversation was going well… but it wasn’t …
While homeschooling my two sons, I witnessed my younger one just in the midst of that special phase where you learn to read and begin to make sense of words. And I (once more) realized the importance of fun: When teaching a new skill, don’t stress out about getting it right and avoiding mistakes. Don’t …
I do believe that we all have an intuitive sense for truth. We know the truth at all times, we feel it, we can sense it deep down. But for a variety of reasons, we cover it up, we edit it, we apply a filter to it, we hide it behind logic or stories we’re …
Now that I’m back in Germany, I’m spending a lot of time with my two sons, and there was a beautiful experience of trust and courage we’ve shared together that I want to capture here. Transcript:Yesterday, I went to the playground with my sons and my oldest son. Told me that recently his mom and …
In today’s episode, I talk about the power of full commitment. It started with a tweet by Paul Graham, who’s had a huge impact in my life during my time at Y Combinator: I met a guy who spent several years jumping dirt bikes. I asked him, as I often do when I meet people …
Here’s a personal conversation I’ve had with a friend back in September. I’ve been feeling tense and tired for a very long time, and I wanted to allow myself to just feel this feeling of tiredness more, rather than do what I usually do: trying to overcome my tiredness, and just push it away. And …
Here’s a mental framework I found very useful, and that helps me to keep it real: The truth is always simple. If it’s complicated, it’s probably not the truth. When things seem too complex, it’s probably a mind trick you’re playing on yourself because you don’t want to face the truth. I learned this back …
A few years ago I fell in love with martial arts, and it’s become a great source of learnings and insights for me. In the Way of the Warrior series, I’m going to share these lessons with you—and I find that most of them are relevant not just in the context of fighting, but also …