The reason I publish five blog posts a week is because it gets me to write five blog posts a week.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t. There are always more important or urgent things to do — like mowing the lawn. And sleep.

I know not everyone operates this way, and not everyone has to, but for me, publishing is the catalyst of creation. I publish so that the ideas show up.

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When my husband Kyle took his first wood-turning class, he learned that the pros sharpen their tools constantly.

The process of making a wooden bowl on a lathe creates an incredible amount of friction. That friction clears away wood fiber, but it also wears down the tools. Keeping them sharp makes the work easier and safer.

Soon after, Kyle realized that he could get the same benefit in the kitchen by keeping the knives sharp.

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I’ll just tell you right at the top: The secret of my success is my employees.

Bringing other people into my business has made it possible for me to create something bigger than myself, which in turn makes it possible for me to spend my time building the next thing (or just enjoying life).

I can illustrate what I’m talking about with simple math. If I have six employees each working 30 hours a week, they are collectively working 180. That is more time than there is in a week, so I literally couldn’t do it without them.

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In the episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend in which Conan interviews Lin-Manuel Miranda, Conan asks Lin about comparing his own accomplishments to what other successful people accomplished at a similar age.

Lin acknowledges this habit. “I think that’s an affliction many of us share.”

He goes on to point out ruefully that the Beatles had done everything they did by the time they were thirty. Meanwhile, Andrew Lloyd Webber, he says, had written three musicals by the time he was twenty-one.

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My CFO (me) was legitimately concerned about how much of our retained earnings we chewed through in April.

Reason number one: There were five Fridays in April, so there were five payrolls. That’s a real budget killer!

Reason number two: I owed some taxes. Good old April.

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