My keyboard during a recording session last summer. I owe my meager keyboard abilities to the strategy in this article.

Two questions for you, fair reader:

1. Do you consider yourself detail-oriented?
2. Do you often abandon new projects too early?

I’ve struggled with this in the past: learning the guitar, learning to cook, even my first attempt at blogging. I made progress in all three areas, and the projects were still worthwhile. In the end, though, they all fizzled too early.

A delicious americano, latte and croissants. Something to be grateful for.

Would you spend two minutes right now in order to feel happier?

Me too. Let’s do a gratitude check-up.

This is a great habit to establish. Cultivating gratitude gets us out of our own heads and re-establishes perspective. It takes very little time and provides a significant boost in mood.

Got two minutes? Here are four questions to ask yourself.

Okay, okay. This is just a pretty picture of New Mexico.

Maybe your life is full.

There’s no more room. None. No dessert menu, thanks. Full.

You’re as busy as you want to be, you’re doing work that matters to you, and all is right with the world.

Then you get an idea.

A big idea.

An idea for a project that could change your organization. A side hustle that could teach you new skills. A career change that could transform your life.

The view from a recent bike ride: a good habit back from the dead.

Everything by longevity tends to get off course. Everything needs to be corrected. — Jim Rohn

Some of us like to be in control.

That’s me. Probably you, too (at least sometimes).

We don’t try to control others or a have burning desire to manage every last detail of a situation. But when it comes to our own lives, we all like to feel like we’re managing the stuff we can manage. And habits are at the top of the list.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

It’s hard to know how to celebrate Memorial Day.

Like most people, I celebrate it by, well, doing whatever I want. I appreciate the day off work, but I sometimes feel like I’m missing the point of the holiday.

I didn’t always get the day off work. In college, I waited tables during the summer. While driving to work (or maybe driving home) on Memorial Day in 2004, I turned on the radio to listen to A Prairie Home Companion.