How I found a finish line when there were no start lines. There are people who delight in goals and new years resolutions, and then there’s me. I live for them. Few days are more sacred than January 1, which involves a careful process of setting big…

It’s not where you think. This story starts under a Penske truck. — It was a week ago today that I learned what it really means to be an athlete. It was at the start line of the Boston Marathon, a day I’d dreamt about for five years. And there I was, sitting underneath a Penske oil truck to stay out of a…

It’s my 45th birthday, and I swear I have gotten my wish every year. Here’s what I’m grateful for. — On the morning of my 45th birthday, I woke up to coffee brewing, a run with friends, and a kid who made me an absurd drawing of the Mona Lisa except it’s an alpaca head instead of a woman. Plus, my best friend reminded me that my birthday this year…

What my yoga instructor taught me about achieving big goals. — On Saturdays I take a very hot yoga class with a straight-out-of-central-casting yoga teacher named Bernie. She’s taught me an important concept about “the work.” She’ll often say something like “if you’re holding your foot, you’re trying to extend it. That’s the work. And if instead you are holding your…

I’m a compulsive To Do List maker. Every week I set up the week ahead, and part of it is a list of all of the To Dos that have plagued me since last week, plus all the ones ahead for this week. Recently, I changed the word “TO DO”…

Look beyond the dollars for who’s spending, and what they’re spending on. — As part of our work at Alpaca, we asked 1,000 teachers how much they spend out of pocket for supplies. The average from our surey: $521 per teacher per year. Based on in-person interviews in classrooms, I think the numbers are understated. But here’s how it shakes out: We…

This teacher knows that the key to success in high school is an early sense of belonging, and he figured out an amazing way to achieve it. — Scott Wilson has been teaching high school for about… a thousand years. Well, 26, to be exact. And his classroom reflects that long teaching history as well as world history, the subject he teaches. Posters, maps, and one bulletin board he’s particularly proud of. It features photos of his former…

Graham’s “How to Raise Money” is the best advice our startup had while raising funds, even though we tried to ignore it. — It’s all great advice: Be in fundraising mode or not. Hear no until you hear yes. Get the first commitment. Buuuut… when you’re a founder trying to raise money for your startup, it’s great advice that you WILL pretend doesn’t apply to you at some point during the process. What…

Give your team permission to celebrate what they’ve achieved, and permission to let go of what’s not serving the company well. — Years ago, I learned the statement “What got us here won’t get us there.” It became one of the more powerful frameworks I know for setting new goals or launching new initiatives. And that’s because it does two things: “What got us here won’t get us there” gives everyone permission…