Words create reality
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

Words create reality

When Viktor Frankl was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, he made a profound discovery: the words we tell ourselves shape our ability to endure, to rise, and to find meaning—even in suffering.

While many prisoners spoke of despair—"We are doomed,""There is no hope"—Frankl chose different language. He told himself he would survive. He told himself his suffering had meaning. He told himself that no one could take away his ability to choose his response.

And that made all the difference.

Our words—especially the ones we speak to ourselves—are not just expressions. They are architects of reality.

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Are you ready?
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

Are you ready?

Real growth doesn’t come from doing more—it comes from knowing what you were made for. AI is forcing a shift, not just in productivity, but in how we think about work itself.

Are you ready?

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Hope over fear
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

Hope over fear

Fear thrives in uncertainty. Hope moves forward despite it.

Ed Catmull had no roadmap when he set out to create the first computer-animated film. Hollywood dismissed the idea. The technology wasn’t there. But instead of waiting for certainty, he chose hope—solving one problem at a time until Toy Story changed everything.

Our brains default to fear when the future is unclear, but we can rewrite that story. Hope isn’t naive—it’s an active decision to take the next step, even when the outcome is unknown.

Here’s how to shift from fear to hope—and why it matters more than ever.

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Death by ambiguity
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

Death by ambiguity

People want certainty, but they’ll settle for clarity.

And when they don’t get it, they create their own story—one that’s often worse than reality. Ambiguity fuels anxiety, breaks trust, and erodes relationships. Whether you’re leading a team or maintaining a friendship, clarity is the antidote.

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Cut the knot
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

Cut the knot

When life gets overwhelming, our instinct is to keep pushing through—to hold onto everything, just because we’ve already invested in it. But what if the real solution isn’t more effort, but less?

Sometimes, we need to strip everything back to first principles—to let go of the complexity, cut through the noise, and rebuild from the ground up.

This is a story about knots, sunk costs, and the wisdom of knowing when to untangle… and when to just cut the line.

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Living by design
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

Living by design

You already have core principles. The question is—did you choose them?

If you’ve never sat down to define what you stand for, you’re still living by a set of values… they just might not be the ones you want.

Your beliefs, your decisions, your future—they’re all shaped by the principles you follow, whether consciously or not.

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Becoming, not just arriving
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

Becoming, not just arriving

In seasons of transition, when life feels like it’s flipping upside down, we often find ourselves in liminal space—no longer where we were, but not yet where we’re going. In these moments, one question has the power to reshape our future…

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Who will train the pilots?
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

Who will train the pilots?

The other day, I was driving home with my 15-year-old daughter and asked if she uses AI in school.

Her answer? “No. Our teachers don’t let us. They say it just gives us all the answers.”

That frustrated me—not because…

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Curiosity over credentials
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

Curiosity over credentials

In the 1700s, the greatest minds in the world faced a problem they couldn’t solve: longitude. Navigating the seas without knowing east from west led to catastrophic losses of ships, lives, and trade.

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The power of paradox
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

The power of paradox

In 1964, John Coltrane walked into a studio with his quartet, driven by an unwavering spiritual vision. Over the course of a single day, they recorded what would become…

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A deadly puzzle
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

A deadly puzzle

During World War II, the U.S. military faced a deadly puzzle: Where should they reinforce the armor on their planes?

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A bridge collapsed
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

A bridge collapsed

In 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge—nicknamed "Galloping Gertie"—collapsed just four months after it opened. The cause?

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Angel of the battlefield
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

Angel of the battlefield

In the chaos of the Civil War, Clara Barton didn’t see battlefields—she saw opportunities to bring light into the darkest moments.

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Everything was once a dream
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

Everything was once a dream

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy stood before the world and declared an audacious dream: to send a man to the moon and bring him back safely. At the time, the technology didn’t exist.

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Rush to symptom
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

Rush to symptom

Kodak was once the undisputed leader in photography. In 1975, one of their engineers, Steven Sasson, developed the first digital camera.

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Value grows with us as we grow
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

Value grows with us as we grow

In Greek mythology, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, offered her most treasured gift to humanity: the olive tree. At first, it didn’t seem extraordinary.

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27 years
Nick Goodin Nick Goodin

27 years

Imagine being so patient that you wait 27 years for your chance to change the world.

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