Would you rather stand out amongst terrible coworkers and constantly be praised or perform as an average employee surrounded by stellar people? 

Logic may not follow. People aren’t designed to push themselves every day. As many find in their 30’s living within a cubicle, it’s easy to fulfill the minimum of life, just enough to stay out of trouble.  

But there could be so much more. 

Your employees and bosses make or break your job–not to mention the company’s reputation. 

It’s always better to shoot for the moon–with goals and dating. 

I joined a team of reporters, many whom have been writing longer than I’ve existed, and are larger than life. These reporters have written books, been published in almost every major paper, and understand how government works better than anyone I’ve met. 

That’s nerve wracking. And exciting. 

I wake up with a smile on my face every day because I’m surrounded by a team of people who unapologetically love their job. 

These people don’t care if they have to work late. They speak authentically and spend hours every day reading and writing to hone their craft. 

I speak to strangers for a living. I’ve discovered that the difference between unusable quotes and my kicker quotes is authenticity. 

A reader can tell if a senator answered a question or delegated it to an intern, or even if the response was pre-written and vetted by campaign advisors. That strategy may be safe for PR, but it clouds transparency. Authentic responses aren’t always grammatically correct, but they show that you care about the problems rather than just covering their own ass. 

No one quite understands political jargon. The best stories I’ve written have been when my sources look me in the eyes and tell me straight what they’re doing and why.

The best thing about authenticity is that it’s extremely contagious (here’s the math formula). Most people can sense when they’re being spoon fed bullshit. 

That goes for interviews and politics. Check out your bullshit meter the next time you watch a presidential debate or a press conference. What does the person really care about? Actions speak louder than words–especially vague words crafted by a 25-year old speechwriter. 

Politics is more polarized than ever. Both sides catastrophize the other, claiming one side wants open borders, while the other side refused to pay poor people a living wage.

Neither is true. 

Life is a lot like Lost: there aren’t very many people who are entirely good or evil. People act according to what they’ve experienced, who paying them, and if their child is being held hostage.

Many people think I grill senators and state reps daily. What’s more accurate is I try to break down terminology and discuss possible pros and cons to my readers and their constituents. 99.9 % of my interviews are amicable. 

It’s easy to scream bloody murder on Twitter to people you’ll probably never see in real ife. But if you actually sit face-to-face and calmly talk about your beliefs with someone, I bet it’ll be hard to dislike them. 

Humans’s natural code is self-preservation. So we distrust blocked callers and strangers inquiring about us. But humans also thrive in chosen social groups–often friends and family–for whom we would die. 

That may be why you feel so comfortable in our social circles, where we don’t have to pretend like something we’re not. Where we can speak truthfully about our hopes, fears and passions.

I don’t want to look back on a life acting like someone I never was. Every day on earth is a blessing. Life is too short to live a fake life.