The August issue of my Personal Strategy Compass newsletter is now available: “The Night Watchman: Converting Solitary Anxiety into Strategic Leverage.”
This issue grew out of something I started noticing in my own solitary planning blocks. Once I removed the usual operational noise and created some real white space, my analytical mind did
I’ve just published the July issue of the Personal Strategy Compass newsletter, and it centers on a physical metaphor that hit me during my recent Q3 Personal Quarterly Offsite (PQO).
I caught myself spending far too much analytical energy on a minor home
With the 2026 World Cup underway, it is easy to get caught up in the drama of the opening whistle. But any coach will tell you that games are rarely won in the first few minutes. They are won or lost in the
The May issue of Personal Strategy Compass newsletter is live, picking up in the silence left behind after April’s “acoustic stage” was cleared of its noise and inherited obligations.
If April was about the courage to strip the stage down to its essential signal, May is about the craft required to sustain it.
The
The April issue of Personal Strategy Compass is out, and this one took longer to find its frame than most.
The image that finally unlocked it was Bruce Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love tour. Not the Born in the USA stadium spectacle that preceded it. The moment after, when he stripped the stage down to almost
The March issue of my Personal Strategy Compass newsletter is out.
This month’s piece explores something I’ve been noticing about strategic planning. The hardest part is usually not the work of planning itself. It’s the residue that planning drags along with it.
Ideas, priorities, and intentions tend to accumulate. We carry them forward month after
I ran an experiment at the beginning of February.
I closed my planning system and didn’t look at any of it for 48 hours. No peeking. No referencing. I just paid attention to what actually pulled at my thinking when nothing was prompting me.
Then, on Monday morning, before I opened anything, I wrote down
As the legal market approaches the end of 2025, a pervasive, quiet anxiety has taken hold. Between the “spreadsheet economics” of law firm layoffs and the looming shadow of 2026, many senior professionals are responding with a predictable, yet dangerous, reflex.
They are working
For ambitious professionals, saying “no” is a celebrated strategic act. We use the “Strategic No” to reclaim our time, prune our commitments, and simplify our lives. It’s a powerful feeling of control and liberation.
But what about the day after?
What happens when the relief of a clear calendar fades and you’re left with a
Are you a high-achieving professional feeling the quiet hum of overwhelm? Do you suspect you’re ahead of your organization, sensing a career pivot on the horizon, but find yourself trapped by commitments that no longer ignite your passion? If so, you’re not alone. And I have a powerful
