Philosophy

How I think about living, working, and organizing my life.

This is the framework I use to guide how I live, make decisions, and choose how to spend my time.

It is not theoretical—it is something I try to apply in practice across work, relationships, and personal pursuits.

Framework

Overview

I follow a Neo-Aristotelian ethical framework. While deeply influenced by Aristotle, I differ from classical Aristotelian thought in two important ways.

I view business and career as meaningful arenas for cultivating wisdom, character, practical judgment, and fulfillment. I also do not see theoretical contemplation as the sole or supreme avenue to transcendence. For me, spirituality is found primarily through adventure travel.

Ultimate End

Eudaemonia, Human Flourishing: Actively living virtuously, exercising proper judgment, and fulfilling my potential throughout a complete life.

Foundational Traits

Practical Wisdom - Excellence of Character

Practices

My chosen, socially established pursuits as avenues of development and meaning. Primary pursuit is toward internal goods (domains of excellence) and practice’s telos (purpose).

Domains of Excellence (Within Practices)

The Intellectual - The lover of Truth: Principles & Practical Wisdom

The Aesthetic - The lover of Beauty: Creativity, Culture, & Nature

The Moral - The lover of The Good: Virtue, Excellence, & Cooperation

The Spiritual - The lover of Unity: Depth, Connectedness, & Integrity

The Adventurer - The lover of Courage: The Human Will, & Curiosity

A lover of Truth, Beauty, Goodness, Unity, & Courage

Internal Goods

Intrinsic motivation & rewards of practice participation. Intrinsic, communal, non-competitive rewards only attainable through the specific practices: excellence, enjoyment, meaning, experiences, satisfaction, expression, connection, collaboration, unity, civic involvement, pride, curiosity, will, discipline, etc. These domains of excellence, along with the practice’s true purpose is the primary pursuit (as opposed to bureaucratic rules & external incentives i.e. external goods).

External Goods

Chosen External Goods: Money (not wealth creation for its own sake), resources, health, and close relationships are used to support the sustainable pursuit of practices. Also, external objectives are used to structure the participation of practices when necessary. Other external goods: wealth, power, social status, etc are not given priority of the practice’s telos (purpose) and internal goods (virtue development/excellence).

My Current Practices:

  • Adventure Travel

  • Local SMB Strategic Advisory

  • Making & Sustaining of Household, Family, & Close Friends

  • BJJ, Weightlifting & Running

  • Community Organization Involvement & Leadership

  • Reading: Practical Philosophy, Effectiveness & Human-Based Strategy, Literature, History/Biography/Adventure

  • RPG & Strategy Video Games

Current Community Organizations:

  • My Fort Collins SMB Founders’ Roundtable (creation in progress)

  • Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce Red Carpet Committee (in progress)

  • Poudre Wilderness Volunteers

  • McMahon’s Martial Arts Gym

Telos (Goal/Objective/Purpose) of Practice/Organization:

  • Adventure Travel: Primary: Spirituality. Secondary: Expand my capabilities and perspective of the world

  • Local SMB Strategic Advisory: Make local businesses more effective and more human—less bureaucratic, more aligned, and better able to operate with intention. Cultivate my judgement

  • Making & Sustaining of Household, Family, & Close Friends: Cultivate a stable and flourishing family & household

  • Mobility, Weightlifting & Running: Health & effective pursuit of my other practices

  • Studying Neo-Aristotelian Ethics: Shape my actions & thinking

  • Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: Community & confidence

  • My Fort Collins SMB Founders’ Roundtable: Create genuine collaboration & honest dialogue between local business owners

  • Studying Effectiveness & Human-Based Strategy: Sharpen my decisions and become a more effective strategist

  • Poudre Wilderness Volunteers: Educate public of proper wilderness use. Inform USFS with “boots on the ground” information

  • Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce Red Carpet Committee: Build community through business

  • RPG & Strategy Video Games: Build moral imagination, long-term & tradeoffs thinking, and enjoy, build, and explore man-made worlds

  • Reading Literature: Build moral imagination

  • Reading History/Biography/Adventure: Ground my other reading in reality

My “Inner Circle” Core Authors & Books

These figures and books heavily influence my worldview and daily actions in how I pursue my life and work. I try to find and implement the integration of these great thinkers' ideas and apply their relevant principles.

Practical Virtue Ethics

  • Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle

  • Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue

  • Rosalind Hursthouse, On Virtue Ethics

  • Phillipa Foot, Natural Goodness

  • C.S Lewis, The Abolition of Man

  • The Analects, Confucius

  • Mans’ Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl

Community & Social Theory

  • Politics, Aristotle

  • Milton Friedman, Capitalism & Freedom

  • Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

  • Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone

  • Why Businessmen Need Philosophy & The Morality of Finance, Yaron Brook

Principles & Human-Based Strategy

  • The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker

  • Good to Great, Jim Collins

  • If Aristotle Ran General Motors: The New Soul of Business, Tom Morris

  • Richard Rumelt, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy

  • This is Beyond Budgeting: A Guide to More Adaptive and Human Organizations, Bjarte Bogsnes

  • Strategy Safari, Henry Mintzberg

  • Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, Henry Mintzberg

  • Key Strategy Tools, Vaughan Evans

Leadership & Adventure

  • Winston Churchill

  • Theodore Roosevelt

  • Ernest Shackleton

  • Reinhold Messner

  • Endurance: Ernest Shackleton

  • The Splendid and the Vile

  • River of the Gods

  • Father than any Man: Captain James Cook

  • Into Thin Air

  • The Crystal Horizon

  • No Picnic on Mount Kenya

  • Hero of the Empire

  • The River of Doubt

Effectiveness/Integration

  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey

  • Greg McKeown, Essentialism

  • Barry Schwartz, Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to Do the Right Thing

Narrative

  • Alexandre Dumas

  • Victor Hugo

  • The Greek Epic Poets & Tragedians

  • Ayn Rand

  • Beneath a Scarlet Sky

  • A Gentleman in Moscow

  • The Odyssey, Homer

  • Les Miserables, Victor Hugo

  • The Hobbit

  • The Alchemist

  • The Count of Monte Cristo

  • Gates of Fire

  • The Fountainhead

  • The Saxon Series

  • The Hornblower Saga

  • The Brothers Karamazov

  • The Road, Cormac McCarthy

Personal Tastes

Aesthetic, Domain, Practice Preference Notes:

  • I find beauty in human creativity, big cities, modern architecture, art & aesthetics. I also find beauty in history, culture, and museums. I also find beauty in wilderness, inspiring landscapes, varied ecosystems, nature, and the universe.

  • I’m a big UFC fan, concretizes traits such as excellence, discipline, courage, will, and expression.

  • Adventure-Travel: Internal goods pursuit, but structured around external objectives. Backpacking, trekking, mountaineering, car camping/hiking, and travel. Integrated with my aesthetic tastes: big cities, history, culture, museums, wilderness, inspiring landscapes, nature, varied ecosystems, etc.

  • Reading: Practical Philosophy, Effectiveness & Human-Based Strategy, History/Biography/Adventure, & Literature 

  • Will pursue high involvement and leadership in community organizations. Create a SMB Founders’ Roundtable Group. For the Chamber of Commerce, join the Red Carpet Committee. For PWV, pursue seat on the Board of Directors. 

Movies

  • Saving Private Ryan

  • Interstellar

  • The Martian

  • Goodfellas

  • All Quiet on the Western Front

  • Apollo 13

  • Hunger Games

  • The Hobbit & LOTR

  • Nr. 24

  • Rudy

  • Dead Poet’s Society

  • The Pursuit of Happyness

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey 

  • A Place Beyond the Pines

  • There Will be Blood

  • Lawrence of Arabia 

  • Gangs of New York

  • Braveheart

  • Whiplash

  • Fight Club

  • Star Wars

  • Schindler’s List

  • Mr. Jones

  • Hateful Eight

TV Series

  • Breaking Bad

  • Narcos

  • Band of Brothers

  • Better Call Saul

  • The Sopranos

  • Game of Thrones

  • It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

  • Seinfeld

  • The Office

  • Ozark

  • Succession

  • Planet Earth

  • Roman Empire

  • Trailer Park Boys

  • South Park

  • The Simpsons

Video Games

  • Fallout 4

  • The Witcher 3

  • Skyrim

  • Starfield

  • Civilization

  • Red Dead Redemption 2

  • Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2

  • Pokemon Red & Yellow

  • Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas

  • Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

  • Stardew Valley

  • Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3

  • Guitar Hero II & III

  • Star Wars Battlefront II

  • Elden Ring

  • Stellaris

  • Age of Empires

  • The Sims 2 & 4

  • Grand Theft Auto 5

  • Ratchet & Clank

  • Bully

  • Need for Speed Underground 2

  • Midnight Club 3

  • 007 Everything or Nothing

  • Medal of Honor

  • The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers

  • NCAA Football 06

Concerts (on YouTube & in no order)

  • Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood (Live at the El Mocambo)

  • Moscow 1991: Metallica & Pantera

  • Metallica 1989 in Seattle

  • Machine Head at Dynamo Open Air 1995

  • Megadeth Woodstock 99

  • Sepultura Pinkpop 1996

  • Mr Crowley 1981

  • KoRn Woodstock 99

  • Faith no More Midlife Crisis Live @ Leno

  • Tomahaw God Hates a Coward (Live)

  • Queen 1985 Wembley 

  • Aaron Lewis/Staind Lake Tahoe 2011

  • Alice In Chains MTV Unplugged

  • The Marshall Tucker Band Can’t You See Live at the Grand Opera House (1973)

  • The Mamas & The Papas California Dreamin’ 

  • Neil Young BBC “in Concert” 1971

  • Townes Van Zandt Heartworn Highways

  • The Cranberries, Zombie Live 1999

  • Creep Radiohead (Best live performance)

  • Given Up Lincoln Park Live in Clarkston

  • Heaven and Hell Black Sabbath (Live)

  • Dead Boys at CBGB

  • Death live in L.A. (Death & Raw)

  • Dire Straits Sultans of Swing (Alchemy Live)

  • Talking Heads Life During Wartime (Live)

  • Elvis Unchained Melody

  • Exodus Blacklist Live at Wacken 08

  • George Thorogood | Full Concert at Capitol Theatre (1984)

  • The Highwaymen - Highwayman (American Outlaws: Live at Nassau Coliseum, 1990)

  • James Taylor - Fire And Rain (BBC In Concert, 11/16/1970)

  • Led Zeppelin - Live at Earls Court (May 24th, 1975)

  • The Offspring Woodstock 99

  • Limp Bizkit Woodstock 99

  • Primus Woodstock ’94

  • Rage Against the Machine - Live At The Democratic National Convention 2000

  • Slaughter To Prevail LIVE Inkcarceration Fest 2023

  • SLAYER - Still Reigning : Reign In Blood (Live At The Augusta Civic Center, Maine/2004)

  • Slipknot - The Heretic Anthem (Live At Late Night With Conan O'Brien 08/10/2001)

  • SPEED LIVE AT THE ENMORE THEATRE

  • System of a Down Lowlands 2001

  • Tool Sober live

  • Metallica Disposable Heroes 1993 Switzerland

  • For Whom the Bells Tolls with Cliff (Cliff ‘Em All) 1985 at Day on the Green, Oakland, CA

Songs

  • Disposable Heroes – Metallica

  • Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath

  • Dazed and Confused – Led Zeppelin

  • Refuse/Resist – Sepultura

  • Holy Wars... The Punishment Due – Megadeth

  • Tornado of Souls - Megadeth

  • Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd

  • Can’t You See – The Marshall Tucker Band

  • One – Metallica

  • Mr. Crowley – Ozzy Osbourne

  • Diary of a Madman – Ozzy Osbourne

  • Believer – Ozzy Osbourne

  • Wherever I May Roam – Metallica

  • Little Wing – Stevie Ray Vaughan

  • Welcome Home (Sanitarium) – Metallica

  • Creeping Death – Metallica

  • Dream On – Aerosmith

  • Freight Train – Alan Jackson

  • House of the Rising Sun – The Animals

  • The Thrill Is Gone – B.B. King

  • Highway Song – Blackfoot

  • Turn the Page – Bob Seger

  • Live Wire - Motley Crue

  • Zombie – The Cranberries

  • Travelin’ Band – Creedence Clearwater Revival

  • You Never Even Called Me by My Name – David Allan Coe

  • Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits

  • Epic – Faith No More

  • Pancho and Lefty – Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson

  • Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels) – Jim Croce

  • Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver

  • Angel from Montgomery – John Prine

  • I’ve Been Everywhere – Johnny Cash

  • California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and the Papas

  • Old Man – Neil Young

  • Winter - Disembodied Tyrant

  • Viking - Slaughter to Prevail

Greatest UFC Fighters

  • Georges St Pierre

  • Demetrious Johnson

  • Khabib Nurmagomedov

  • BJ Penn (in his prime)

  • Jon Jones (unfortunately) 

  • Bonus, Most Underrated: Alexander Gustafson