Laura Gassner Otting 
I’ve been thinking a lot this week about why we do hard things, why I do hard things, and how you can do hard things, too. Over this past week so many of you have told me things like: “You are so much stronger than me.””I could never do that.””You must be superhuman.” But, I’m … Read more
“Hey Laura, you live in Boston, right? We’re here for a wedding and would love to catch up,” said the Facebook message. The message was from my high school bully, my tormentor, my source of constant fear, stress, and anxiety, and as you might imagine, it gave me pause. Now, I’ve done pretty well since … Read more
I made it weird. Around mile 8, I started seeing all the super fit runners who’d already made it to mile ten and were on their way home. And something came over me and I just got so happy. It’s been a very long year and a half for all of us Many people I … Read more
I have a recurring fantasy about Dave Grohl, and it is fiery hot!Picture this, if you will… summer is coming to an end, the Labor Day bar-b-ques are heating up, and as soon as I throw those burgers on the open fire, my neighbor, six pack in hand, pops his uninvited head around the corner … Read more
This past weekend we dropped our eldest child at college. Everyone warned me that it was going to be hard. And it was. I feel incredibly lucky to have kids that I both love and like. Truly, if you asked me who I’d like to have dinner with live or dead, my answer would be: … Read more
Have you been watching the Olympics? I have. I’m actually quite the Olympics nerd, summer Olympics in particular. Why? The bodies! The nearly naked bodies. But, I promise, I’m not a gross pervert. I just love seeing the muscles, the form, the fitness, all of it which you can’t see under layers of Winter Olympic … Read more
You Don’t Have to Give the Trophies Back Sometime around early fall 2020, I stopped sleeping. It might have been the stress of trying to rebuild a travel-dependent, event-reliant, stage-centric speaking career in the midst of a pandemic that had decimated travel, shuttered events, and obliterated the stage. Perhaps it was the ever-growing pancake stack … Read more
Who are your champions? And why do they matter? Your champions are the difference between a goal being an idea, floating around in pretty curly script in your head, and an accomplishment that you look back upon proudly and build upon compoundedly. (I know that’s not a word. But it should be: compound accomplishments are … Read more
Have you set big enough goals? I’ve had a pretty good rule of thumb my entire life: if you haven’t set goals big enough to scare the pants off of you just a wee bit, your goals are probably not big enough. In fact, if you aren’t just a pinch concerned about how you are going … Read more
I want you to stop keeping score. There are two types of people in the world: those who keep score, and those who don’t. I’m not a scorekeeper. Never have been. That doesn’t mean I’m not hella competitive. Trust me, if you’re on a rowing machine, treadmill, or spin bike next to me, I’m racing you… … Read more