I don’t know about you, but I’m still not quite sure what happened to 2018. We’re sitting here at November 18, and I vividly remember this time last year. Looking forward at the calendar, the next month and a half are going to breeze by. This week I’ll head to my hometown for Thanksgiving with my family, then I’m heading …
good to great
I’ve been sort of joking for a while that there are a couple things I really like — coffee and sushi — but I’m really not much of an expert. I’ve told people, “I know what’s bad and what’s good…but I can’t really taste a difference between good coffee and great coffee. I don’t have the palette.” And that’s fine …
getting to the edges
If you’ve been following along recently, you know I’ve been on a kick about forming original thought. And it continued yesterday during an Unreal Collective group call when we discussed the merits and challenges of creating unique or proprietary language! As I think about writing more and making my own assertions, frameworks, and methods, I find myself having the most …
relationships and infinite games
I really can’t overstate the value of relationships. Relationships really make the world go ’round, and they are also (in my opinion) the most fulfilling part of life. I’m blown away by the volume of Linkedin messages and emails I get on a daily basis that jump from zero (I don’t even know this person) to 100 (want to hire …
your apples to their oranges
There isn’t much that’s more exciting than a new idea. You have that initial excitement of, “Oh wow, this could really work!” But then you start doing research into other people who are doing similar work. First, you find maybe one or two people “but they aren’t doing it this way, so I’m still fine.” Then as you dig deeper, …
holding space
When I started in undergrad at Ohio State, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life (does any 19 year old?) so I joined their Undecided program, which they call “Exploration.” I remember having a discussion with my Exploration Advisor (shout out to Stephanie) who told me, “Exploration isn’t a magic bean. Being in this program …
are you overvaluing cash?
One of the biggest traps I fall into as both a solopreneur and operator is hoarding my cash like a squirrel saving its nuts for winter. When I’m worried about cash flow, it’s easy to get into a scarcity mindset and do everything I can to protect what I have. And that usually comes with trying to do everything myself …
introducing work in progress
Earlier this year, I wrote about reducing entropy — a concept from physics that relates to the disorder in a system. Over the last week or so, I was reminded of the presence of entropy, both through conversation with some friends of mine, and watching my external world (my system) trend towards relative disorder. So I’ve been fighting back over the last …
talking money: vision vs. resources
I was doing a 12-week roadmap exercise with a new member of Unreal Collective yesterday who is jumping into freelancing full time. One of his goals for our three months together is to reach a point where he is covering his expenses with his freelance. I could totally relate to this — when I jumped back out on my own …
exhausting your options
In February I had the chance to be a guest on one of my favorite podcasts, TropicalMBA. It was their first shot at a new format, a “consulting” episode where they listen to a business owner talk about their challenges and make some recommendations. I talked about the challenges of running a cyclical, pseudo-service-based business — things like cash flow, …