It’s safe to say that we’ll all remember 2020. There are a lot of reasons that we’ll look back on 2020 and cringe. As of this writing, we’re still in the middle of a global pandemic that the United States seems to have just given up on. We’re in seeing a renewed fight for social justice, with more of us …
Wrong bait or wrong pond?
I go on fishing trips with my dad a couple times each year. Each trip is different, and each one has its own purpose: some trips are focused on catching bass, others are focused on catching walleye, others on crappie… And depending on what type of fish we’re trying to catch, we have to be intentional about the location, the …
Be someone people want to work with
We spend a lot of time selling ourselves. You sell yourself to potential clients, partners, employers, followers, and friends. We’re constantly putting ourselves out there as someone worth taking a chance on. And, inevitably, we win people over. They decide to tune in, follow along, work with us, and even pay us. …and the cycle begins again. It’s not easy …
Decision-making and way-finding
Decision-making has always been a core part of conversation within the Unreal Collective Accelerator – and that’s only become more evident over the last several weeks. During uncertain times, each decision comes with more weight. The stakes feel higher, we ask more questions, and we waffle a lot more. I think we assign too much weight to decisions. We tell ourselves …
Now is the time
Have you ever heard the phrase, “The Cobbler’s kids have no shoes?” It perfectly encapsulates reality for so many of us who work with clients. We do AWESOME work for other people – but when it comes to our own assets, we fall flat. You see it with designers who haven’t put time into their own brand. Or copywriters who haven’t …
Education and access
I was talking with a soon-to-be college graduate this week, and we got on the topic of next steps after college. He saw that I took the startup path and joined as an early employee/cofounder right out of college, and had similar aspirations. The truth is, I took that path using the wrong decision criteria. First and foremost, I didn’t …
How to solve a puzzle
Ever since Mallory and I visited Joshua Tree back in November, we’ve gotten more interested in puzzles – and I’m talking about literal jigsaw puzzles. Over Christmas, we picked out a 1000-piece puzzle and were pretty quickly overwhelmed. When you first look at the box and you see the photo, you think, “Oh wow this is going to be fun!” …
Lessons Learned in 2019
For the past couple of years, I’ve published an annual “year in review” looking back on accomplishments of the year and goals for the next. To be honest, it’s a really great exercise to reflect on the past year – accomplishments, successful goals, failed goals, unforeseen opportunities…you get it. When you set goals for the year, and then 12 months …
Creators make things for others
Black Friday is happening (both before AND after Friday somehow), Cyber Monday is coming in hot, and my inbox is full of sales emails. I mean FULL of sales emails. And as someone who occasionally sells things, it really has me thinking a lot about consumption and my lifestyle and aspirations as a creator. An investor tweeted recently about that …
Are you willing to wait?
It’s hard to believe it’s already November! Only two months left in 2019. This is definitely the most comfortable fourth quarter I’ve had over the last three years. The current Unreal Collective Accelerator will wrap up in about three weeks, I’m recording the Linkedin Learning course I’ve been working on mid-November, Eric and I are months ahead of recording for …
