Pessimism can be paralyzing - but in order to make meaningful change and joyful progress, we must march towards the future we want. Together. Taking that first step is monumental. Forward motion fuels positive emotion.

I have some good news and some bad news to share. The bad news is that the way we live our lives, by and large, is killing us. The good news is that there is so much room for opportunity, innovation, and better health.

We are bombarded with micro-decisions every day that define our lives, with technology vying for our attention more than ever. We don't have to make decisions just because we are presented with options. Impulse control is a skill that I'd like to hone. After all, discipline can take you from where you are now to where you would like to be.

This week, I tackle a big topic: religion. In our secular world, what is it that we lose when religion is cast aside? I do believe we humans need some type of framework for guiding our values and behaviors and I fear that increased secularization is contributing to our collective moral certitude.

The gradual deterioration of our public discourse continues to concern me and is the very reason I write this newsletter. This week, I use Elon Musk's Twitter acquisition as a case study for how extreme the reactions are to this transaction and why we don’t have to go all the way to “I love this” or “I hate this”. There is plenty of space in between. Moderation is what our public conversation needs.

Our world, our daily lives, and our vision are diluted by short-term thinking. We can all be served better by recalibrating decisions small and large around the long-term.

I just returned from attending this year's TED conference, and as always, I left inspired and reinvigorated. I discuss what made this year so special and curated a list of my favorite talks which you can find here

Our modern societies are in a period of transition, from atomistic to holistic thinking. After all, our globalization and interdependence demand it. The author Susan Cain offers a useful lens to help me see the beauty in contradiction and the power of longing as fuel to help us go through whatever obstacles are in our way.

Babies make the world go 'round - literally. They also provide us with much-needed inspiration. Both to make the world better on their behalf and to approach life with more innocence, love, and curiosity. I also talk about Shazi Visram and her new podcast and the important work she is always doing in and around baby health.

I worry that in the face of global anxieties our collective capacity for empathy dwindles. But, as children's author Kate DiCamillo points out: good storytelling has the power to open our hearts wide enough to encompass all parts of the human condition, good and bad. I found her conversation with Krista Tippett to be truly inspiring and so relevant for our current times.

Until recently, regret is not a concept I have spent much time pondering but after further reflection I think it’s time we reframe our relationship with regret and use it as a better tool for decision-making and growth. It could be quite effective for us all.

With the Ukrainian-Russian conflict continuing to unfold, I find myself in an unusually anxious state of mind. While I keep looking for ways to make sense of this I share good lessons from the Stoics brought to us by Ryan Holiday as well as a few organizations I believe are great ways to support our Ukrainian friends.

This week, I felt a need to say something about the situation in Ukraine but also felt a strong need to get back "inside" to what we all can do, particularly as it relates to inspiring us towards a more redemptive culture. We have created an incredible level of intolerance for disagreement AND an equal intolerance for forgiveness. That's a toxic cultural cocktail that sends us all to be prisoners of the past. It seems like we have lost the space between love and hate. That produces fear, distrust, and cultural sclerosis.

We are surrounded by two main political narratives that I believe are increasingly irrelevant and incomplete. This has contributed to an artificial division that needs to be solved. It seems to the division is all we talk about and it keeps getting wider, meaner, and more toxic by the day. By trying to deconstruct these narratives I believe we can realize that they have (a) more similar intent than people think and (b) are actually not as far apart as they seem.

While it can be easy to blame our current political (and social) ailments on individual politicians, I believe that our entire system is to blame. In this week’s newsletter, I write about Final Five Voting that I believe can help fix our broken political system.

Perspective is everything. This week, I share the power of optimism and how I’m able to harness it amongst uncertainty in my own life. We could all use more of it these days! The path towards optimism is not always easy, but it’s necessary and powerful.

Difference is the lifeblood of innovation and our social fabric, but I fear that it is being eroded to the detriment of our relationships to one another and our democracy itself. But there is hope. There is a better way to contend with people, and ideas, that you disagree with or dislike.

What gives us the energy to dream big and reach our goals? Purpose and love are the two most powerful energetic currents I’ve found.

Humor is an essential part of the human condition - and one I’d argue we could all benefit from more of. Levity helps gravity. It gives gravity the wings we need to reimagine the future we’d all like to be part of. Finally, laughing helps close the distance between people since it shows our humanity and reminds us we are not that different from each other.

Our culture of narrow-mindedness is a major source of harm - in our democracy, institutions, homes, and personal lives. Open-mindedness is a skill, one I think we all could use practice with.