The one thing I could offer that would benefit my fellow entrepreneurs the most? Clarity.

Unfortunately, it’s not something I can sell. You pretty much have to set off on a traditional hero’s journey with fantasy animal friends in order to find it for yourself.

Some people do try to sell clarity — or the promise of clarity.

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When I was in high school there was no social media. There wasn’t even email.

So how did I maintain relationships with the kids from other schools that I met at music camp? Or my friends who went away to college and elsewhere?

We wrote letters back and forth. Actual letters, on paper.

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Five years ago, I took a trip to a resort on the Andaman Sea, in the south of Thailand.

My intention was never to have a beach vacation. I have very pale skin and burn easily. Instead, I planned to spend my time writing a book.

Once I got there, I realized that I may as well have been at a Motel Six five miles from my home — I was just sitting at a desk, typing.

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At one point, I set a goal to have 500 students at my music school. We didn’t hit it.

Looking back, I’m glad we didn’t hit it. That sounds like too many students to manage. The goal was divorced from its context and the necessary infrastructure to support achieving it. It was arbitrary.

I know that lots of people are motivated by big goals like that. If the goal is designed to be too ambitious to reach, it pumps them up and they end up achieving more than they otherwise would have.

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What do you say when someone new asks where you’re from?

Such a simple question has many possible answers.

The answer to the question is slightly different depending on where you are. For example, if I were asked this question in a foreign country, I would say that I’m from the United States.

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