Working with and being around so many creative, entrepreneurial people, I see a common “excitement arch” play out a lot. It looks like this: someone has an idea for a project, product, or even specific niche. They get super excited, and in the span of a few hours, are totally bought in on this idea. Then they will start doing …
boundaries: the dark side of being motivated
As I’ve gotten better at building a life of my own design, I find myself really only spending time on things that I actually, really want to spend time on. What a great place to be. Rarely do I have any problem with “motivation” — when your work is totally in the realm of things you have enthusiastically chosen to …
here’s the problem with New Year’s resolutions
You’ve probably heard that the hottest time for new gym memberships is in January, when people are at the height of their New Year’s resolutions. There is something about the “new year, new me” mentality that brings a heightened sense of aspiration. This is my time! This is my year! Honestly, I love that mentality. And I think you should …
10 days of silence (part two)
In case you missed it, I recently took part in a 10-day silent meditation retreat. On November 27, I took on the 11+ hour drive through the snow and ice to Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, to the first Vipassana Meditation Center in North America. I stayed there for a 10-day course, ending on December 9 (last Sunday) when I drove back. …
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 …
active thinking
As I’ve written about nearly to death over the last month, I’ve been spending the majority of my time writing! It’s surreal to effectively be a full-time course author while Unreal is sort of in “off-season mode” before the next cohort starts in January. When I’m writing the script for a video, there are a few considerations: What is/are the …
the case for support
Back in 2014-15, I was busy building and running a ticket marketplace called Tixers. A lot of the time, it was really in-the-weeds and miserable work. Not only was it rough work, but there weren’t a lot of people I could talk to and relate over it. So it was during this time that I really became close to my …
existential vacuum
I just spent a week on an island in Belize, and actually allowed myself to spend it completely relaxing. And, I even read a book! I know — what a novel idea (pun intended) — but I rarely give myself the time to actually read a book vs. listen to an audio book. So what book did I choose to …
is the narrative serving you?
I was feeling a little aggressive. A couple months ago as I was looking forward to October, I decided that I wanted to take on writing two Linkedin Learning courses concurrently to close out the year. If I did that, it’s obviously twice as beneficial financially, and since I wouldn’t start a new cohort of the Unreal Collective Accelerator until January, …
going first
I’m really lucky to be in Columbus, Ohio. Having been in one major city for the past nearly 10 years, I’ve been able to dig deeply into different communities here, and create a good name for myself in a handful of circles. Because I pushed myself to “network” and volunteer in the community several years ago, it’s actually not very …