“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” - Buddha

As a knucklehead teenager, I had lots of energy but little direction. Not until a math tutor offered guidance did the fog start to clear and the internal compass start to calibrate.

With goals and vision came...

Words only speak as loud as the actions behind them. And actions speak louder than words.

I’ve written before about what a huge impact mentors have had on my life. In fact, mentorship has been so meaningful to me that I decided to build an organization that spreads it. Mentors have given much of the advice, perspective, connections, inspiration, and ego-checking I’ve needed to excel. Which is why I felt compelled to write when I learned of the word’s origins.

The word “mentor” originates in Homer’s The Odyssey. In the story, Mentor is a wise character who stands up for his beliefs, imparts wisdom through his actions, and offers advice in times of trouble. When the bystanding majority fails to stand up for Odysseus' family under attack, Mentor...

In the past year, I’ve become fascinated with large cats (tigers, lions, cheetahs, jaguars, panthers, leopards, lynxes, cougars, mountain lions, ocelots, etc). At first, it was just basic admiration, but the more I learn, the more I am drawn to their way of being. Their grace, their focus, their resilience, their flexibility, their adaptability. The gazelle changes direction and the cheetah follows; prey rarely hears the leopard’s silent stalk; tigers are unassumingly beautiful until they unleash their fluid fury and deliver destiny to their dinner. This all sounds violent and constitutes the precise reason that my mother always hated the Discovery Channel. But something about it–the contradiction between violence and grace, the perfect alignment between intention and...

The moment we let ourselves believe we have something to lose is the moment we let paranoia invade.

Think of your nice home burning to ashes, your sexy car stolen and totaled, your exciting job offer evaporating, your partner leaving you, your best friend betraying you.

It’s easy to get lost in a fantasy of futuristic self-pity, anticipating how much worse life would be were you to lose your favorite things. But would life actually be worse? Is there not a silver lining to every loss? Does not the crumbling of every structure create space for new art and play? A crumbled home is an opportunity to enjoy smaller spaces; a totaled car is an opportunity to explore environments by foot and bicycle; a lost job is a chance to sharpen your instincts and consider better positioning; a...

This post was originally written for the White House Blog in March 2012 - it’s re-posted here as part of a personal effort to have all my public writing in one place: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/03/15/abandoning-mediocrity-and-seizing-opportunity.

I’m honored to have Moneythink recognized as one of the five Champions of Change in the White House Campus Challenge. It’s surreal: three years ago, when Moneythink was just an idea, we dreamed of taking our passion—financial education through peer mentorship—to a national stage. We didn’t realize just how much more relevant our mission would become in those short three years.

Financial illiteracy, economic immobility, and educational inequality are problems that continue to worsen in America’s urban centers as the global...

This post was originally written for McKinsey Voices - it’s re-posted here as part of a personal effort to have all my public writing in one place: http://voices.mckinseyonsociety.com/ted-gonder-government-entrepreneur-in-residence/

If you have a compelling start-up idea, the Chilean government will give you $40,000 to move there and build it. The Chilean embassy in your country will grant you a one-year visa within days. When you arrive in Chile, you’ll have free offices, fast Wi-Fi, unlimited coffee and croissants, and a community of intrepid friends. Not surprisingly, the Chilean program has received thousands of applications from entrepreneurs worldwide.

Chile’s start-up recruitment program was the brainchild of a serial entrepreneur whom the government recruited to help...

“All successful people operate by principles that help them be successful. Without principles, you would be forced to react to circumstances that come at you without considering what you value most and how to make choices to get what you want. This would prevent you from making the most of your life.” - Ray Dalio

When I was younger, I was bad at math. Growing up in this Age of Economics with folks equating “smart” with “rational” often made me feel insecure as to whether I would have the mental horsepower to make good decisions in a complex world. If I couldn’t solve a basic Sudoku puzzle (still can’t, by the way) how could I possibly succeed in the 21st century? The answer so far: good advice, hard experience, deep reflection, reading,...

“I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I love. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It’s a sort of splendid torch which I’ve got a hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before gratitude handing it in to future generations.” - George Bernard Shaw

Heat and pressure privilege any lump of coal humble enough to admit its origins, patient enough to endure the struggle, and bold enough to blossom. Diamonds are borne of heat and pressure.

In the last few years, I’ve noticed that my most meaningful personal discoveries often emerge from the periods of greatest strain. Since determining that meaning produces my happiness, and strain (especially when coupled with...