Several years ago, right before my band kicked off a west coast tour, I developed a throat infection. I wasn’t even the lead singer, but my vocals were important enough that without them, it didn’t make sense to do the tour.

To not cancel, I needed to do everything possible not to irritate my throat, including cutting out cigarettes. That meant quitting cold turkey. No nicotine gum, no patch, no hypnotherapy. Just wham, bam, no more smoking, man.

To make it even more challenging, I’d be surrounded by triggers the entire time. All my bandmates smoked, and many of the…

According to the CDC, less than a quarter of Americans are getting enough exercise. And according to the World Health Organization, one in four people worldwide aren’t exercising at all.

Up until recently I was one of them.

That’s because there are very few things I like less than working out. Given the choice between going to the gym or the dentist, or having to exercise or do my taxes, I’d have to flip a coin.

However, I never miss a workout, ever, no matter what.

Without fail, I go to the gym three times a week, every single week…

Like Christmas music, the Kardashians or YouTube pre-roll ads, no matter what I do I can’t seem to shake this guy.

Without fail, every time I log onto Medium I am bombarded by stories from Tim Denning.

At first I tried to just ignore him.

When this proved to be impossible, I simply chalked him up to a hack or a charlatan, one of those writers who only writes about writing. The equivalent of a “digital marketer” or “dropshipping expert” with no actual business or business experience to speak of (sans selling overpriced courses and coaching sessions).

Then one day…

For as long as I can remember I’ve had a problem with judgment. Whenever I meet someone new, before they even have a chance to introduce themselves, I develop an opinion about them.

It began in high school and got progressively worse in college. I’d judge people on everything — their clothes, music, politics. It got to a point where no one was good enough to meet my impossibly high standards.

The result? I spent a lot of time alone.

It took me a long time to realize my behavior had nothing to do with anyone else, and everything to…

In mid October, like everyone else in the U.S., I was caught up in all the drama, excitement and stress surrounding the presidential election. I needed some kind of release from all the tension, so I did what I always do in these kinds of situations — I wrote an article about it.

This one, in fact: A Radical Proposal for Dealing with Trump Supporters After Biden Wins

It took only a couple hours to write, and was published a few days later. The initial reaction was decidedly meh, with views and reads in the hundreds. But once it got…

There is a TON of value on Medium. I subscribe to numerous publications and individual writers who consistently put out high quality work that is inspiring, entertaining and informative. But more often than not, when I’m looking for something new to read, or am getting suggestions on the app, the article is about how to succeed as a writer on Medium.

This can make it feel like being trapped in an endless loop, in which we’re all just writing articles to help each other do better on the platform. This begs the question:

Is Medium little more than a giant…

I get it. You’re sick of hearing about this stuff: Morning routines. Meditation. Intermittent fasting. Journaling.

Frankly, I am too.

And while I can’t speak for the validity of a lot of these things, what I can tell you is that cold showers actually work.

I know this because they have significantly changed my life. I’m not telling you this to brag or to illustrate how tough I am — quite the opposite. For the longest time, even the thought of taking a cold shower would send an icy shiver throughout my entire body.

I’m the kind of person who…

Doer of dumb sh*t

There is something to be said for people who learn from their mistakes.

Better yet, people who are able to proactively stop themselves from making them in the first place.

I am not one of those people.

My life has been a serious of disastrous stints, all of which began rather promisingly and with the best intentions. Somewhere along the way — usually almost immediately, but when it was already too late to turn back — I realized I had a made a terrible, terrible error.

Fortunately, it all makes for good stories, especially if you…