I help people make a positive difference in the world. Bold? Not really. I help people do Big Things by making small steps and sticking with it, and by doing so, we’re changing the world.

Specifically, though, I’m helping creative people actually do something with those ideas, and I’m helping people who don’t consider themselves to be creative learn that they really are. I’m a catalyst that way, and one of my peculiar gifts is being able to see order in chaos the way a painter sees color on a blank canvas.

I’m really excited about where we’re (you and me) going, but we build our futures on our pasts and presents, so you might like to know where I’m coming from.

Before I got into writing, thinking, coaching, and teaching about meaningful action, I was teaching philosophy at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln while I was completing my Ph.D. (in Philosophy) while simultaneously managing a career as a logistics officer in the Army National Guard. I’m happily married to a loving, beautiful, and brilliant woman – Angela, in case you see me refer to her in posts – so I was doing the best I could to be the husband, friend, and lover that she deserved. And then there was our house that we were remodeling…

On top of all that, I’m an incorrigible polymath – I’m constantly learning new things, which means I’ve constantly got a lot of stuff to do. My complicated, layered life was just an extension of my quest to learn and experience a bunch of new things.

Given that I learn by researching, experimenting, writing, teaching, and sharing, I decided to start helping other people become better at managing a whole bunch of stuff at once. While in the short term, I made my situation worse – after all, starting a blog/business on top of everything was just making another thing to do – in the long term, I figured out how to make my life easier and much more meaningful. It turns out that many of those same techniques and orientations will help you, too.

Today, my life is much less complicated, but by no means simpler. I’m finishing up my Ph.D. this year, but I’m no longer teaching academic philosophy. I’m no longer in the Guard, as of 4/1/2010. I spend each day doing what I love – helping people change the world by sharing ideas through this blog, designing products and programs that help people do meaningful stuff in the world, and helping individuals put some flexible structure into their lives through coaching.

That’s who I am and what I do. To learn more, well, you’ll just have to hang out for a while. I hope you do.