Good. Better. Done. A blog about doing great work... and my mother.

“This can be anything you want.” —Louis C.K.   It’s been more than 11 years since Disney announced that they were going to do something unusual: Turn a theme park ride into a movie. The movie was called “Pirates of the Carribean.” And early on, critics thought it was a terrible idea. Here’s what one (…)

There is a John Prine song I absolutely love, called “Angel From Montgomery.” And the last verse includes these two lines: How the hell can a person go to work in the morning And come home in the evening and have nothing to say? So this is the John Prine test: Come home every day (…)

Last Saturday, 35,000 shareholders gathered in Omaha to hear Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger speak. The two men lead Berkshire Hathaway, which is now the fifth-most valuable company in the world, valued at over $264 billion. I was there, too — as the guest of a family friend, Steve, who’s a shareholder. I didn’t want (…)

A very smart thing I heard Warren Buffett say this weekend: “You can’t afford to go along with the crowd.” He had been asked at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting about some of the new trends out there — internet stocks, new technology, new currencies. People wanted to know what he thought about that. We’ll (…)

“The future ain’t what it used to be.” — Yogi Berra   In Feb. 1995, Newsweek published a story titled, “Why Web Won’t Be Nirvana.” It is a piece that has not aged well. And this is my favorite quote from the story: “What’s missing from this electronic wonderland? Human contact. Discount the fawning techno-burble (…)

“Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?” — Josh Pais   For about two weeks, I haven’t been myself. A combination of things — work, some weird breaks, some late nights — caught up to me. Friends started saying that I didn’t seem like myself. And they were right. For two weeks, (…)

“Shut up and make something.” — Danielle Morrill   I went to the Apollo Theater last night for Amateur Night. I went to watch, not perform. That’s probably for the best. I have personally stood on some amazing stages, but I’ll never be on anything like the Apollo. For performers there, it’s just you, and (…)

“Percentage wise, it is 100% easier not to do things than to do them.” — John Mulaney   Don’t. Just… don’t. The work will be hard. It’ll be draining. You’ll be tired all the time. You’ll be working harder than you’ve ever worked. And the work won’t stop. You’ll go to bed at midnight, having (…)

“I applaud the guy who has the courage to meet the confrontation.” —Kim English   I ran a 10k on Saturday — my first in six years. And this thought popped into my head, somewhere around mile 4: You did it, Dan. Yes, I knew I had 2.2 miles left. But I knew I was (…)

“Funny thing happens when you keep putting one foot in front of the other: you get somewhere.” — Marina Martin   Something you learn from doing the work: There are two types of routine. There’s good routine: A process to help you get through tasks faster. Then there’s bad routine: When things get dull. Creating the (…)