This week, my first ghostwriting project, The Successful Speaker, comes out. This was a collaboration with Grant Baldwin, the leading expert on what it takes to build a successful speaking business. It was a lot of fun, but what I didn’t expect was how much it would make me a better speaker.

For more information on The Successful Speaker, visit www.speakerbookbonus.com.

I tend to think of life as a journey these days far more than a destination. If I could summarize what I believe about almost everything in life, it would be this: Clarity comes with action.

This is harder than it sounds. Do I quit my job or not? Do we make that big move or stay here another year? Do I take the risk, letting go of my fears of what I want, or is that selfish? How do you know what the next step is? The wisest people I’ve met have all said the same thing: You don’t. You may have an intuition, a sense of what should be. But there is no absolute clarity. Fear is always strongest before the first step.

"Why do we need art?" In a world that seems to more and more focused on "work works," is there still a place for beauty? Do artists matter anymore? I think they do.