Dave Matthews Band 'You Might Die Trying’ - I grew up with Dave Matthews Band. They are my development years (high school and college). Just a fun, accessible, sing-along, jam band...but there was more. Dave Matthews himself, having been born and raised in South Africa, meant he had a world view that I didn't at the time. He put that worldview into his music and it allowed me an expanded view, from my seat in Mentor, Ohio. I didn't get to know this song until last week when my wife and I went to see him. While he played it live, I heard this song with fresh life perspective and it hit me with all it's might, especially now with my expanded worldview and care for the direction of giving back the good things I have earned.

Editor's Note: Robert Eggar, a close friend of my DC relatives who have worked in his kitchen once a week since it opened, points out in his book that the first step we can do as givers of our time and money is to ask “how” and “why” instead of “who” and “what”, a philosophy that has shaped our foundation. I had the pleasure of hearing Eggar speak a few years back and was moved by his compelling personal story and passion for helping the poor. 

Editor’s note: I’ve always loved Browne’s guitar picking and his beautiful, moody voice. This one, far more obscure than those I’ve chosen before means a lot to me because it reflects on Alice and all the partners I’ve had in this journey of love.

Editor’s note: Before every business plan, I ask my students/friends/employees to first write a life plan so that their work will match their purpose. In this incredibly readable and enjoyable book StoryCorps founder David Isay creates context for those considering their current or future calling. The author picked favorite stories from 65,000 interviews in the archives of his popular PBS program and organized them by type, such as dreamers, generations and philosophers. It’s just a great way to get inspired and reminded that we’ve got one life to live and we should do it purposefully.

Editor's Note: A couple close friends on a tough assignment told me they played this song while they worked. Great lyrics and the right upbeat rhythm to keep one going, methinks.   

Editor's Note: Anyone interested in creating scalable, positive social impact while conserving resources through a disciplined approach to social entrepreneurship should read The Social Entrepreneur’s Playbook. SEA Change, a social enterprise accelerator our foundation supports, uses the book's framework and "Tough Love Tests" at the end of each chapter to help participating social entrepreneurs test their ideas and validate their products.

Editor’s Note: I was surprised when I searched the 100 songs I’ve made song of the month on this website and this cut wasn’t there. It’s easily one of my favorites, all-time. Mostly it’s the music, a grand combination of relaxation and excitement. It’s been a favorite background to my work since its release in 1971. Feels like an early fusion, progression of jazz to electric rock and roll. Still, each lyric that leads to the title (noted below) has a point to remember.

Editor’s note: Sometimes I just need a lift. This book by a local newspaper writer who I’ve met and I admire qualifies. She’s also a good writer having been finalist for Pulitzer and sold millions of copies of her “God Never Blinks.” Brett’s goal seems to be to share stories she’s aware of and written about to see if one might motivate us to get off our butts and do something. I’m motivated.

Editor’s Note: I’ve been assigned by my meditation teacher to consider my "essential self." In his words, that means to try to picture who I was before I experienced the things that created my "social self”, “business self”, “family self” and the many roles we all take on to survive and prosper. In my case, I’ve gotten as far as seeing fairly clearly my six year old self, identifying how I viewed the world around me and what seemed to be characteristics that I can still identify with even after years of amending. That’s what Mayer sings about in this fairly lively tune – who he was in 1983, when he was six.

Editors Note: Heading for bed in a hotel in Austin, TX, I asked the front desk if he had any books and the young man gave me this short read about the life of Stieg Larrson, highly acclaimed author of the Millennium trilogy crime series (“The Girl With/Who”…). It is a brief and fascinating book by Larrson’s business partner about the author who died of a heart attack a month before the first of the books was published. Larrson was an extremist and his books somewhat parallel his life lived obsessively fighting right-wing extremism, anti-Semetism and neo-Nazi organizations in Sweden. If mystery interests you, as it does me, this book is a good read.