Richard Taveras

For many people, the term "political" has a very negative connotation, as the closest link to our daily lives appears in the term "office politics", which isn't the primary definition of the word politics. Here is the full definition of politics from the Oxford dictionary:

1 [usually treated as singular] the activities associated with the governance of a country or area, especially the debate between parties having power:

• the activities of governments concerning the political relations between states
• the academic study of government and the state
• a particular set of political beliefs or principles
• (often the politics of) the ...

I just finished "The 48 Laws of Power," which - as a former hater of learning history - I have learned to love the lessons that history can provide. As my next challenge, I've started reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius recently to continue challenging myself to learn more from the books that is spend my spare time with. Here is a particularly good quote:

"Remember how long you have been putting off these things, and how many times the gods have given you days of grace, and yet you do not use them. Now is it high time to perceive the ...

In Charlie O'Donnell's post titled "On Patterns", it is easy to realize the subtle social behaviors that we encounter on a daily basis, such as familiarity, outright bias, and obliviousness:

"In the same way, I understand why a few extra neurons fire when you approach a business office and the person at the front desk is male.  I understand the pause people feel when you look at a startup bio page and you notice that the CTO is female.  I don't think you are a bad person for noticing this difference.  In fact, I'd venture to ...

What are the determining factors for an individual's success? Parents will say that college is a pre-requisite for success, but people like Peter Thiel would like to convince the world otherwise. Sean "P. Diddy" Combs would probably say that it comes down to hard work and hustle, but how can that be qualified or quantified? How can you compare the success of Warren Buffett to that of Bill Gates? I would say that there are common threads among all of the people mentioned.

Success is the intersection of three immutable major tenets: Ability, Interest, and Opportunity. The lack of ...

This put a huge smile on my face.

Last year, I planned a little something special for my beautiful then-girlfriend on a random Saturday in the middle of August. I truly couldn't have done it without the help of Shana's and my close friends and I wanted to thank all of them for helping us make it such a special day. 

Here's how it turned out:

Let me know what you think!

On February 4th, 2010, I had the opportunity to attend the TEDxBigApple event in Manhattan. As expected, the all day event was truly inspirational and seemed to have an energy about it. In order to attend, each person was required to submit an application and I was lucky enough to be invited to attend. A major result of this process was that it wasn't just the speakers who were extremely interesting to hear, but the finely curated audience also brought their own stories and life experiences to learn from. 

I got a chance to meet a father and son ...

I typically don't task myself with a New Year's resolution, especially given the fact that resolutions are like diets: they always end up being temporary. Like clockwork, the gym is packed for the first one and a half months of the year, with only the regulars continuing to go for the remainder of the year. For this reason, I'm not calling this a resolution; I'm calling it my mission: I am going to get stronger.

I love Crossfit. For those of you who have no idea what Crossfit is, check this out:

I've been a ...

I got my inspiration for this post by reading an article online titled "Don't Pity the Rentennials: Why Not Owning a Home Is a Good Thing." Over the last few years, I have thought about this question a lot, but it was until my last apartment that I realized the hidden benefits of renting. 

My previous apartment in Jersey City, NJ, was the owner's duplex unit in a gorgeous brownstone. It had a back yard, a basement for storage, and was super spacious. In short, it was a great place to live in and I loved it... until ...