I finally figured out how to break a bad habit and create a new one without going back into therapy for feeling like a failure! It’s so simple really. So I am going to share.
Last month I decided AGAIN to lose weight. UNLIKE the past 200 times I made this decision I opted to try something different - the 80/20 rule. Instead of “perfection or nothing” - meaning if I slipped and drank a soda, or had a burger and fries then the whole diet was off and I was …

Sixty years ago the US government deliberately infected almost 700 hundred people, many of them mentally ill patients, with gonorrhea and syphilis as part of a medical testing program. The people, all Guatemalans, were infected without their knowledge or consent and are now suing the US government.
It wasn’t the first time or the last time the government would experiment with deadly diseases on its citizens or the citizens of other countries, or on children. Age, race, health - nothing mattered really. And if someone hadn’t discovered the testing and blown …

I still have dirt under my fingernails. No matter how hard I scrub, the evidence of how I spent my morning uprooting the dandelion weeds from hell is still there. There’s some muddy residue on my sink I need to get to, and I have to sweep or vacuum up the trail of dirt, leaves and grass the dog and I trailed through the office, but I’ll get to that after I write this post.
What struck me as I was digging was that if I had pulled these weeds …

I just read a classic description of an outrageous practice called “Idea phishing.” It’s something that plagues a lot of writers and graphic designers and I’ve never seen it more clearly explained than in this blog post on Freelance Switch.
What is Idea Phishing: A company or individual asks for a sample of your copywriting or design - normal. But, the twist is they want you to demo your skills on some aspect of THEIR business. They then steal the idea and give it to a third world provider willing to …

I deliver value. When a client pays me for a brochure, I may spin off a short ebook, or a business card, or promotional piece or even, as with one client in Australia, a flier he could use in retail stores. There’s no charge for those extra pieces. They’re gifts. They come from the heart because (1) I enjoy the project (2) I like to over deliver (3) I value my clients.
My gifts to them are genuine because I enjoy the project and the chance to be creative and giving …