Insights
Cloud, AI, leadership — and the threads between them.
Technology scales systems. Curiosity scales ideas.
This is where everything I write lands — cloud strategy, leadership notes, daily reflections, the occasional wine pour. If you want one topic, the navigation has dedicated pages for cloud, leadership, and change. Here, it's everything in the order it arrived.
Calibrating the Compass: When Goals Shift and Life Changes
Even with all our devices, maps, and alerts, we often feel off course. That’s because direction isn’t just external; it’s internal. It’s about aligning what the world says you should do with what your inner compass wants.
This Sounds Really Good: The Blackberry Bourbon Smash
A refreshing mix of bourbon, blackberries, mint, and lemon — the Blackberry Bourbon Smash is summer in a glass. Michael Earls shares why this simple, vibrant cocktail sounds too good not to try, and how it captures the perfect blend of sweet, tart, and smooth.
The Digital Compass: Finding Direction in a Noisy World
In a world full of noise and notifications, finding your direction takes clarity and purpose. Learn how to reset your focus and follow your own digital compass.
The Great Hub Shuffle: Why Every Flight Goes Through Atlanta
Flying through Atlanta again? Here’s a look at how airline hub systems like Delta’s have reshaped modern travel, why direct flights are vanishing, and why the airport lounge has become our last refuge in the skies.
Resilience in the Reset: Starting Again After a Setback
Resilience isn’t about never falling—it’s about resetting, learning, and moving forward stronger in running, leadership, and life.
Discipline vs. Motivation: Why One Lasts Longer
In our “Working on Self ” series, I shared lessons about micro-wins, staying in tension, reframing failure, and even the importance of taking a pause. Each of those pointed to a bigger truth: the real work begins inside.
Working with Others: The Power of Connection
Growth doesn’t happen all at once, and it rarely occurs alone. You can train, work, and even fight through challenges on your own, but the most profound breakthroughs often come when you connect with others.
What are your superpowers?
There’s a scene where one boy asks the other: “What’s your superpower?” It made me pause.
The Pause: Finding Strength in Stillness
The pause isn’t wasted time; it’s invested time. It’s where we recover energy, find clarity, and make better choices. High performers, athletes, leaders, even SEALs, know that resilience is built as much in rest as in action.
La Tâche 2022 – A Wine That Matches My Style
There are wines you drink, and then there are wines you experience. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s La Tâche falls squarely in the latter category. Holding a bottle of the 2022 vintage in my hands reminded me why this wine is not just legendary—it’s personal.
Failure Reframed: The Gift of the Setback
Failure isn’t final, it’s feedback. The SEALs push past breaking points to learn what needs strengthening. Setbacks aren’t wasted if we apply the lesson.
What’s one failure you now see as a turning point?
Staying Human in the AI Age – Yognation Podcast
What an honor it was to be invited onto Yognation: The Spirit of Gratitude to talk about something that has shaped every part of my life—gratitude. I’ve been a fan…
Energy vs. Time: What Really Drives Performance
Working on Self: A Journey of Mental Strength Self-growth doesn’t happen all at once. It’s not a lightning strike, it’s a process. And like any process, it has stages, moments…
The Voice Inside: Mastering Self-Talk
Working on Self: A Journey of Mental Strength Self-growth doesn’t happen all at once. It’s not a lightning strike, it’s a process. And like any process, it has stages, moments…
The Treadmill vs. the Open Road
Working on Self: A Journey of Mental Strength Self-growth doesn’t happen all at once. It’s not a lightning strike, it’s a process. And like any process, it has stages, moments…
Time Under Tension
Working on Self: A Journey of Mental Strength Self-growth doesn’t happen all at once. It’s not a lightning strike, it’s a process. And like any process, it has stages, moments…
The Power of Micro-Wins
Working on Self: A Journey of Mental Strength Self-growth doesn’t happen all at once. It’s not a lightning strike, it’s a process. And like any process, it has stages and…
Handmade in a Digital World
Many stories are circulating today about how AI can generate virtually anything, including photos, art, and even lifelike replicas of things that never existed. I use it myself, and I…
Gratitude in a Glass
I’ve always loved Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. There’s a purity to it ripe cherry, gentle earth, a silky grace, that makes each sip feel like a familiar friend….
Mental Strength: Training the Inner Mind
Negativity has a way of amplifying itself. One slight doubt becomes a storm, and suddenly your energy is consumed by what might go wrong. I’ve felt that myself as a…