Creators make “stuff;” critics, critique. This is a brief post about trying to do more cool stuff and less complaining about bygones.

Something happened at a point in my career when I became overloaded. It didn’t happen all at once, but when I finally realized how “stressed” I was, it was too late. I’m not a psychologist and I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but these following steps have helped me manage some of the stress in my life.

You’ve likely heard, “don’t eat an elephant at one time.” This has always seemed to apply to major projects. Even little tasks can become overwhelming without notice. Overwhelmingness applies to the little things. You have permission to take a step, give it a shot, go, and possibly fail.

Whether you have the best team on earth or inherit the team of misfits, like Coach Dale, loving them is the difference between winning a game and transforming and forever altering lives. Loving isn’t something that you have or you don’t. It is a journey that may feel good at first but requires great commitment and humility to actually see results. It is not easy or fast or glorious.

Recently, I heard “success” defined as the sum total of all your decisions—specifically limiting the number of bad decisions. For every really bad result, there were a hundred signs along the way. We simply can’t turn a blind eye to the little errors in judgement. Little cheats and little white lies may seem innocent, but however minuscule it may seem at first, the pattern may result in major problems down the road. Do yourself (and probably them) a favor, bring the bad decisions to light early and often.

Few ad campaigns survive the sizzle of the moment. They tap into a narrative of humanity, and we remember them long after the ad dollars have evaporated. Think Apple, Volkswagen, Coca-Cola. Here’s a story about a different…

I’m always looking for the next big challenge—the bigger, the better. You know, I’ve always been taught, “no job too big,” right? What if our biggest success comes from the ability to take the smallest…