As a Kid in Brooklyn

My family subscribed without reservation to the classic definition of success. Even though they weren’t rich or famous, they unloaded that expectation onto me. As an only child, I found the pressure to achieve and succeed overwhelming. I always had the sense that the affection coming my way was strictly contingent on performance.

Marine Officer: Dressed to Kill

The rules I wanted to live by allowed for more free, open, and creative time. I had served in the Marine Corps and knew all about days that were so structured it felt like I had a steel rod up my backside. I could not see conducting the rest of my life that way.

Corporate Sales Executive: Dressed for Success

From the depths of my mind there arose a defining question: “What if your doctor told you that you have only six months to live? How would you want to spend that time?” I had opened the door of opportunity, and loosened my consciousness to embrace a more expansive view of life.

Movie Actor: Between Takes at Universal Studios

Try to imagine the peculiar position I was in. My evolving career as a corporate executive brought with it coveted social and economic status. To suddenly give it all up to become an actor? My family and friends were dumbfounded. But it was what I had to do.

Motivational Speaker

Many, many people today do not fall into the right career until they are in their forties or fifties. It takes a lot of living and a lot of mistakes to finally get it right. Although this may seem fruitless and even painful while we are still wandering in the desert feeling lost, it is actually a healthy process.

Farting Around on the Monterey Peninsula

People burden themselves with a 60-hour-a-week job and a mortgage that keeps them awake at night. If they do think about "farting around," they have to pencil it in on their calendar between 10:15 and 10:30 on Saturday morning.

Order the book Beating the Success Trap