I recently met a local Portland politician for lunch whom I’ve respected for a long time. I went into the meeting planning on asking him about his political career and to get some tips on a few communication questions I had. Basically, I was planning on talking about him for an hour.

I recently attended my 10-year high school reunion and couldn't believe just how much I’d forgotten over the last decade. I consider myself a very intentional person, but I was blown away by how many names, people, and events had completely slipped my mind.

One event that baffled me to no end was when I found out I had wronged someone I cared about in the fall of my junior year. Apparently, I didn't stand up for her when I should have, which hurt this person’s feelings because she considered me a friend. My lack of conviction made a lasting impression on her...

Every so often, I’ll get an email from someone that goes like this:

“Wow, I’ve seen you’ve been doing X, Y, and Z. Awesome. Have you ever heard of blank organization or blank writer? They basically do the same thing you do and are really successful. Maybe you can learn from them?"

When I’m at my best, I can learn something from them. But more often than not, every time I read that email, I just feel horrible about myself.

I feel terrible because I start comparing the beginning of my journey with another person’s middle or end. I compare another person’s best attribute to my very worst...

There is a funny cartoon of a group of people mingling at a party. Above each of their heads is a thought bubble that reads, “I wonder what they are thinking of me?”

This silly cartoon sheds light on the fact that, for the most part, people aren’t thinking about you. They are thinking about themselves.

This is frustrating, but it should also be liberating...

For as long as I can remember, my family has gone to see a movie on Christmas day. Normally we debate on which film to see, but this year, it was unanimous - Les Misérables.

Despite Russell Crowe’s subpar vocal abilities, I loved the film. But as it ended and lights went up, I was taken aback by just how many people were crying in the theatre. It was something I’d never seen before.

A few days later, this video hit the internet of a young man filming his parents in the car on their way home after the film...

Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. As many of her patients approached their final days, she would ask if they had regrets or things they would do differently.

Ware was so surprised by the phenomenal clarity of vision people gained at the end of their lives that she began documenting their responses...

I’m just like you. Constantly searching, forever scanning, continually hunting for purpose in life.

But here’s a tip: Stop believing the secret is to just “follow your passions.” People will tell you that and you’ll believe them. But it’s not entirely true.

All great works hinge on one single thing: Your ability, or inability, to defeat the Liar.

Because whenever you are doing something worth doing, the Liar’s going to attack. Every. Single. Time. And the Liar is playing for keeps.

As Stephen Pressfield writes in The War of Art, "Its target is the epicenter of our being: our genius, our soul, the unique and priceless gift we were put on earth to give and that no one else has but us."

The self-helpers might call it negative Self-Talk.

The spiritual might call it Satan.

Creatives might call it Resistance...

On May 20th, 18 year-old Takunda Mavima was driving home from a party when he lost control and crashed his car into an off-ramp near Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Riding in the car were 17 year-old Tim See and 15 year-old Krysta Howell. Both were killed in the accident. Takunda Mavima lived.

Last week, Mavima pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to between 30 months and 15 years in prison...

Every journey has rocky paths, dark valleys of uncertainty, and stretches of disillusionment.

In our most desperate times of unbelief, how then should we live?

I recently stumbled upon a reflection on the legend of Saint Christopher that I've found comforting...

I’d never cried on a plane before. And definitely not while watching a movie based on a children’s book.

But coming home from Rwanda, with the judging eyes of a 17 year-old girl in the seat beside me, I bawled my eyes out at the end of Harry Potter.

We were also expanding our work to Rwanda, I was overwhelmed with how we’d find the money, and I’d just spent a week hearing horror stories from the Rwandan Genocide.

But something about Harry Potter pushed me over the edge. There was so much conflict in the life of this young boy that it dragged me into a weepy oblivion...

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon an amazing video of a guy in New York seeing a limited edition train for the first time.

May sound irrelevant to you and me, but this guy is absolutely obsessed with trains and it makes for one of funniest videos I’d seen in a long time.

Enjoy this wonderful 2.5 minutes...

The greatest advice I ever received was from three dear friends in the winter of 2007.

I was caught in a whirlwind of fear trying to start an organization from the couch of my apartment. My only business skills were the C minus I stumbled through in a college economics class.

My friends sat me down and said this:

I'm in a fog. And not just because I live in Portland. The future of my work in Africa, my writing career, vocation, my role as a husband - it's all steeped in mystery so thick and so dark it catches in my throat and unsteadies my breath.

I know great things lie ahead, but at the moment, I only see a few feet in front of me.

Despite the darkness, I believe this fog is telling me something. It’s telling me I’m exactly where I’m meant to be...

I often talk to people scared by the state of our world, unsure of their place in it, and overwhelmed by the task of doing something about it.

A friend shared with me the words of poet Clarissa Pinkola Estés and I've found them comforting in times of despair.

Do Not Lose Heart. We Were Made For These Times.

I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world right now...

In early 2010, after a few menacing weeks in South Africa, I was inches away from throwing in the towel on my fledgling organization. There was just too much evil in the world; too many dark forces keeping the poor in poverty and the rest of us too concerned with ourselves to do anything about it.

What saved me were the words of a friend. “Don’t make a decision in the dark that was inspired in the light.”

While I believe God speaks to us in key moments, much of our success demands the ability to recall and remind ourselves of those moments when all hope feels lost. We can never allow a feeling that was stirred in a high hour to evaporate in times of despair.

With no background in biochemistry or concrete knowledge of the HIV/AIDS virus, a group of online gamers solved a molecular mystery that had stumped researchers for nearly a decade. Even better, the gamers did it in 10 days.

The breakthrough came through a website called FoldIt whose goal is to ‘solve puzzles for science.’ Essentially, you join a community of gamers and get points if you solve unique puzzles. It’s pure crowdsourcing, but for science. And in the end, rather than just scoring the highest points, you have the potential to save lives. Pretty cool.

A friend told me that while he hated bussing tables at the restaurant where he was working, he was still waiting for God to tell him what to do with his life. He believed that if he was patient enough and did his work well, eventually God would reveal his true calling.

I told him I don’t think God works like that.

We all want to do meaningful work and find our passion, but I can guarantee you this: Your purpose in life will never be written on the wall. And it will never be revealed to you in full...

Largely unnoticed in European history books is the tiny French village of Le Chambon. Mountainous, impoverished, and easily overlooked, the small population of Le Chambon represents a miracle of unparalleled compassion.

During the four years of the German occupation of France in the 1940’s, this sleepy Protestant town assisted nearly five thousand Jews, most of them children, to navigate Nazi-occupied France into neutral Switzerland. Under the leadership of a local minister named Andre Trocme, hundreds of ordinary Chambonnais risked certain death to rescue, house, and forge identities for the Jewish refugees of World War II...

So often it feels as if there is something holding us back from doing meaningful work.

Author Steven Pressfield defines this force as "Resistance," a repelling force whose aim is to distract and bully us into choosing a life of mediocrity.

The way to beat Resistance is to Turn Pro. Only then can we really do work that matters.

Check out Part 2 of a talk in Los Angeles with Seacret, a corporate partner of These Numbers Have Faces, where I address the Resistance, how to turn pro, and ways you can do it in your own life.

Part 1 of a talk in Los Angeles with Seacret, a corporate partner of These Numbers Have Faces.

Check out the Story and Vision of my work at These Numbers Have Faces.

A survey by The Jenkins Group, an independent publishing services firm, has shown that millions of Americans never read another book after leaving school.

Check out the stats:

33% of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.

42% of college graduates never read another book after college.

80% of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.

70% of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.

57% of new books are not read to completion.

While these statistics are obviously troubling, I don’t think any of us can honestly say we’re that surprised.

But what I’m intrigued by is not the people who neglect to read books, but rather, the ones who continue to do so.

I’ve noticed a unique trend among my friends who’ve thrived in their 20’s and 30’s...

I’ve been scared for the last 2 years

Scared about the direction of my organization, scared about making sure I can pay the mortgage, scared I’m pigeon-holing my career before my 30th birthday.

When the noise of my own self-doubt becomes unbearable, I have a special spot I like to go in Portland down the street from my office. I sit on a grassy hill, littered with weeds, and lean against a broken light post. My spot isn’t picturesque; it overlooks a truck depot and a freeway on-ramp, but it’s mine.

Some people say God talks to them at length. Full paragraphs and jokes and all. For me, on my grassy knoll, God has been more of a broken record lately. When the world feels like it’s crashing down, all I hear are the same two lines...

When I was in college a friend of mine was at risk of dropping out. His family underestimated the full cost of tuition and living expenses, and there simply wasn’t enough money to continue through the end of the semester.

This was a big time of stress and my friend prayed and prayed that somehow he’d be able to stay in school. One day he got a phone call from the finance department. An anonymous alumnus had dropped into the head offices, asked about students struggling with tuition, and proceeded to pay the fees for my friend to finish out the year. It was something like $15,000.

This generous donor demanded to stay anonymous. They didn’t want their name in the alumni magazine, didn’t even want to meet the student they had helped. This person was more than happy to be a ninja philanthropist...

A good friend told me there are three types of people in the world:

1. Consumers

2. Critics

3. Creators

There was a time in my life when I thrived in my role as a Critic. I had an opinion about everything and spent many sleepless nights brooding over ideological arguments and creating fake debate scenarios in my head. It was mania, an obsession, fueled by the high of feeling "right."

One day I realized that my very critical opinions were taking up a lot of time and making me a very angry person.

I also realized that I was against a lot more than I was actually for...

The world doesn’t need more rock stars, celebrities, and media moguls doubling as humanitarians.

What the world needs are ordinary people inspired and empowered to confront the most pressing challenges of our time.

We are amassing a coalition of change agents. A People of Light, called to be messengers of optimism and architects of impact.

Together, we will confront our insecurities and battle our demons. Share the dark realities of doing good when all hope feels lost.

It is tempting to wish for the heroes of our history. Tubman, Lincoln, Wilberforce, Gandhi, King.

Yet it is us who are called to these troubling times. It is us whom God has chosen for today.

I want to help you do work that matters.

This site is a field manual for living an extraordinary life. A place for courage to grow and creativity to flourish.

Sign up Today and get free updates on doing work with lasting impact. I’ve seen it first hand. You can change yourself and change the world. Brick by Brick. - jz