Daniel Taibleson Q4 - Write 3 Times a Week

After doing an internal assessment of where I'm current at in life using Maslow's hierarchy of needs I've determined how I should prioritize my personal "Q4."

Treating your life like a business might sound crazy or too extreme to some, but I often find that the structure is helpful and battle tested by hundreds of years of economic research. Not to mention the best part about this process is that you don't have to adhere to the normal rules of business. So as soon as you discover some aspect of this structure is unappealing to you, or undesirable, you can simply change the paradigm and create a new one, or one that morphs over time.

In fact, I'm not measuring anything in this post like a normal business would. All I'm doing is stealing some terminology to make things make sense to me in a way that I can easily digest.

I'm choosing to share these thoughts with you because I believe 1) it will make me more accountable and 2) they are pretty solid, basic things that other people in their 20's might want to consider focusing on (or they already are).

• Extreme focus on diet and exercise
• But exercise in natural ways, not only exercise that take place in nature, like hiking, but simpler exercise like walking. Participate in team sports over individual workouts (again, I include this in my definition of "more natural" since personal fitness is a relatively new phenomena on the human timeline). Knock out 100 pushups a day to keep the chest on point, but other than that, enjoy the camaraderie that comes from engaging in team sports outside of the work place (where losing can be debilitatingly stressful) and instead, remember what it feels like to keep pushing when you're behind by 10, remind yourself about how to lose with grace and shake hands after the game. Practice detaching your emotions from your daily performance. Remember, you win some you lose some. 
• Read at least 2 books at a time, all the time
• This leads to click moments (ah-ha moments, moments of inspiration, moments of creativity connected by engaging in self-education that happen outside your normal field of work/study) and furthers personal education that leads to enhanced creativity. 
• Listen to podcasts
• Just found a list of the top 20 business podcasts for 2015 that I'm really digging. These are consumed mostly on morning walks and during commutes to work. 
• Write at least 3 times a week. 
• I had to be realistic about this and give myself a goal that is attainable. I wanted to write everyday but the weekends are really hard to do when I spend time with my son. I want to make sure I'm actually providing some value in the blog posts that I write (not simply adding value to myself by increasing the number of published posts on this blog). 3x a week seems realistic and I look forward to hitting this number consistently, building my confidence as a writer, and also providing some really amazing content about content marketing. 
• Have dinner or lunch with an old friend or new acquaintance at least 2x a week. 
• This is simply a way to leave room for serendipity in my life. I love catching up with old friends and I love making new ones. But I've also found that I truly enjoy one-on-one meetings. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about the team, but there is a different side to creating an intimate connection with someone that can only be produced by spending some quality time together in a safe space where each person is able to confide in the other or simply express their authentic self as many people tend to change their behavior in group settings. 
• Make sure you have an interesting person/activity fund that you budget for. 1-3k a quarter is realistic depending on your income. It's totally fair to say, "I'm going to set aside $1,000 over the next 3 months to say yes to anyone that asks me to dinner. Or "I'm going to spend $1000 over the next 3 months on two trips to San Fran in order to make some new connections in a city where my industry is taking off." And then just do it. Even if you only meet one person per trip, that one person can connect you to their whole network. (Don't forget to invest in yourself). 
• Make friends at work. 
• This is a no brainer and very simple, straightforward initiative: Be kind, be compassionate, listen, add value, follow the golden rule. 
• Learn about FHA loans! 
• Now this is more specific, but after moving back to Seattle from Arizona, there is no way I want to dump 12k a year into renting a small 1 bedroom studio in downtown Seattle. I need to crunch the numbers and figure out what I can afford and how I'm going to get it done. This is definitely the most specific goal for Q4, but 1) it's good to have a few specific goals and 2) it's one of the most important things I need to focus on as it's a huge investment that could also set things off in a positive direction for years to come. 

What are your Q4 goals? I'd love to know in the comments. They might inspire me to rethink my plans! 

Disproportionate Effects

I was doing some introspective journaling in my private, offline journal and for some reason I decided to use Maslow's hierarchy of needs pyramid to psychoanalyze my current state of existence (woahhh, heavy dude...okay not really, just something fun to use as a measuring stick of "where am I at?").  

The interesting insight that I felt like sharing is that health, located in the second Safety section of the pyramid (a step above our physiological needs) seems to have a disproportionate effect on my wellbeing. That is to say, both levels above and below, above: love & belonging, esteem, and also below: physiological needs like "sleep," are more deeply effected by the effort (effort = time + focus) I spend on my personal health. Which also leads to greater creativity (located at the top of the pyramid in "Self-Actualization"). 

If nothing else, let this serve as a reminder to get 8 hours of sleep a night, drink tons of water, and realize that you must sometimes be rooted in your routine in order to be violently creative in your work. 

I chose the words "rooted in your routine" specifically, and rather than "boring," even though it was the first word to cross my mind. 

You never need to be boring. Reading isn't boring unless you're reading about a boring subject. And writing should never be boring because you should be writing about things you know! Or reading about things until you know them well enough to write ;) 

All that being said, I've noticed a huge improvement in my...I don't know what you call it...overall performance (?) since I've put a huge amount of focus and emphasis on my health. 

I've always been a healthy guy, playing hockey all the way up through college, but doubling down my my diet and water intake, making time for long walks, and activities that appease my mental health (doing random things or learning about things outside my sphere of excellence) has seemed to be, again, disproportionately effective in it's ability to create positive results. 

Take control of your well-being! Remember that you can't help anyone if you don't help yourself first. 

There's no such thing as smart.

There's no such thing as smart.

You either have a fixed mindset or growth mindset.

You're either a novice or an expert.

You might have been born with a big brain. Congratulations. But that doesn't mean you're naturally more intelligent than the kid next to you in the library studying eight hours a day when you only study for one.

As a father, this concept of who is smart and who isn't has become very important to me. How do we go about praising our children without hindering them?

How does this apply to the workplace and in our personal relationships?

After listening to the latest episode of the Art of Charm with Dr. Carl Dweck, I've realized that I tend to give a lot of surface level praise: "You're really smart. You have the talent. He's a genius, She's a genius. Everyone on my team is a genius!"

I feel foolish. Because a teams success has nothing to do with how smart you are, how talented you are, in the end, it all comes down to handwork. There's simply no substitute for for a junk yard dog mentality. 

What's even more interesting is that it took me 26 years on earth to have this honest conversation with myself about how I communicate with other people. Especially young children. Then again, I've always been told that I'm "great" at communicating. So it wasn't something I really thought I needed to work on until I become a father. What's even funnier is: The things I'm learning about communicating with children are just as applicable to adults. 

So how should we praise?

According to dr. Carol Dweck we should focus on praising the process. Praising the hard work that went into the accomplishment. The good strategy they used, their perseverance, their improvement. She says that doing this will put people into a growth mindset and equip them with the values that they need to be successful.

Allow me to paraphrase: If you want someone to be independent, you need to praise them for the traits they display that allow them to stand on their own two feet. Praise the process, not the result.

Makes sense to me.

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artwork: https://dribbble.com/shots/1629146-How-Love-Works

Wake up early

My sister and I are only 17 months apart, but we only went to the same school for ~3 years. Kindergarten, 1st grade, and my 7th grade year, her 8th grade. I went to boarding school to play hockey in high school, she went to a different elementary school because she tested into a "highly capable" program. So our paths only crossed in middle school. That was one hell of a year.

But that doesn't mean we don't have a lot of the same friends from the Shoreline area. And if they were our friend, then they definitely know our Mother. Joyce has had a way of leaving a lasting impression on everyone she meets. She's a brilliant MD and an even better company.

And of course she's provided us with little gems like the The 25 Commandments of Safe Partying.

I was reminded recently of another saying that seemed to resonate with some of my sister and I's friends even years later:

"Most of life's problem can be avoided by staying sober and waking up early."

Stay sober, check. Wake up early....errrrrrr...fine.

Here's to a winter in the Pacific Northwest filled with morning workouts in the dark. I'm trying to get mentally prepared as quickly as possible. Who's on the 6am train with me?

I think another huge issue in our society is that we praise people for getting a lack of sleep. As though it somehow proves our dedication to our work.

How about showing some dedication to yourself? Some dedication to bringing your best self to the office everyday. Giving your team 100% of what you have to offer. You can't do that 3 hours.

That doesn't mean there won't be sleepless nights. There will be, and there should be. But they should be few and far between.

If you feel scattered, you aren't doing it right.

Slow down. Take your time.

Get some sleep.

Goodnight.

Why you must start today

If you do not start today, you can always start tomorrow.

But if you start tomorrow, what's stopping your from starting the day after? And the day after that?

You've heard this before. I won't waste your time with an honest plea. Or tell you that you should live in fear of getting left in the dust.

But what if I told you, that if you do not start tomorrow, you might not have the same perspective five years down the road?

And what if I told you, that your complete lack of experience, the one thing holding you back, is the best thing you have going for you?

If you don't start today, the struggles you're facing will go unresolved not only for you, but for the millions of people who are undoubtedly facing the same struggles, now and in the future.

There's a reason going back and reading the pages of your old diary evoke so much emotion. You aren't just reading the pages, you're reliving them. You're reliving the emotions and feelings that you had the day the words poured out of your soul and onto the paper. Tear drops and all. That level of authenticity is irreplaceable, you can't mimic it or make it up.

The people that are facing the same struggles you faced all those years ago will recognize your pain (or pleasure) and connect with your genuine authenticity instantaneously. Not to sound corny, but you could save a life. Forget the intended consequences. You can't set out to save a life with a blog post or a drawing or a screen play, you have to do it for yourself. But that doesn't mean that something you create today won't connect with a kid half way around the world in 10 years. Yes, I'm talking about time travel folks. Doesn't that get you excited?

The perspective you have today is powerful. It is also fleeting. You'll never have it again. You will learn new lessons and as you experience life your perspective will continue to grow and change each day. So if you do not start today, how will you remember who were yesterday? How far you've come. And who you want to become tomorrow?

Is you life a powerful narrative? One you're in control of? Or a blank slate, like waking up from a blackout. Unsure of what's happened or what today holds, bending to the will of chance and circumstance. Wasting your time by partaking in whatever comes your way.

Our lives are very short when we compare them to the scale of the Cosmos. Even if you wrote one blog post a day for 100 years, or painted one picture a day for 100 years, you'd end up with less than 40,000 pieces of work. 36,524.2 to be exact.

(I googled "how many days in 100 years?" The answer: 36,524.2)

That makes me extremely uncomfortable. Because it's not nearly enough.

The level of success that you reach in any discipline correlates directly with the amount of time you invest in your endeavor and if you only have 40,000 more chances (give or take a few), you better get started.

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Who does #2 work for?!

We are builders. Writers. Philosophers. Engineers. Lovers. Fighters. And everything in between.

Regardless of what you do, the most important thing is that you are passionate about something. One thing. Anything.

Once you have found that passion, there is a next step. Do your work. Continue to do it everyday. Even on bad days. Especially bad days.

It's almost comical how difficult it is for us to take action. As though forward progress is only measured in glitter and gold.

I'll admit the idea of sticking to daily blog was once something that set my stomach in knots. It wasn't until I'd spent some time out in the world and time away from the keyboard (writing for others instead of myself) that I realized how important the daily process is for my well-being. How much strength that I contrive from it.

I've been back in Seattle now for 2 weeks and I've crammed as many lunches and dinners with old friends into my calendar as possible. It's been nostalgic, cathartic, therapeutic, and down right hilarious. I never realized how strong of a support system I had. I'll never let that happen again.

Each relationship I re-energize provides inspiration for my writing. Not only the topics and subjects of the words that I choose to lay out before you, but for the process itself.

It's so inspiring to see people stepping into the world as strong individuals, brazen in their desires and filled with hope; acknowledging and, maybe for the first time, well aware that the path to their definition of success will only be attained through hard work and relentless dedication. Failure and repetition.

A constant theme emerging: the battle rages on inside all of us, but we must move forward.

The message today is still: Do you work.

But find solace in the notion that each bump and bruise along the way still counts as forward progress. You can only compare yourself with who you were yesterday. Not some idea of who you wish to be tomorrow. The timeline stretches out in front of all of us, different paths leading to same the place. Your journey is going to be arduous, but you can't let it frighten you.

Who does #2 work for? He works for you.

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A personal message from a CEO to his team

I've always wished that I had a crystal ball that would allow me to see into the minds of other CEO's. How do they make decisions? How do they approach and communicate with their teams? I've always found that one of the most difficult decisions one makes as a manager is "how much do I tell my team?" How do all of the people I look up to make decisions about who in their companies are on a "need to know" basis? And what level of clearance do they have? Is there a secret tipping point at which you realize as a member of upper management that someone knows "too much," or "just enough," that it's time to clue them in on the companies grander plans? 

This has happened to me in startup situations and in mid-sized digital agency settings. Do you tell everyone on the team about a potential deal that might go through? Or do you keep it close to your chest, in fear that a botched deal could lead to a downturn in morale?

Steli Efti, who I will be writing about later this weekend, has a great quote: "Startups run on morale." And I believe his statement to be true. I believe that positive morale is a bi-product of strong leadership, based in action and adherence to values. The questions I've posed above are not easy to answer because like so many frustrating things in life, the answers are always going to be situational. The relationship you have with your employees or your manager is just that....a real relationship. One of the best managers I've ever had (and one of the most amazing people I've ever met) beat this lesson into me. She knew that if I didn't have a sense of what the companies overarching strategy was I would easily become distracted and disengaged so she would go the extra mile and set time aside for us to talk about the abstract. I wanted to know what the CEO's were doing, and why. I feel like asking "why?" is a very fair thing of employees to ask their employers. Especially because I don't want to follow someone who hasn't asked that question of themselves first.

Most of my management experience has come in the form of trial and error. Learning to manage and communicate with people in businesses that I've started on my own without much direction. And boy, have I learned A LOT. There's nothing quite like feeling the rush of adrenaline you get when you know you've screwed something up with your own business. Said the wrong thing. Lost a deal because of your own hubris. It has a way of teaching you tough lessons in a very short amount of time (shame is one of the most powerful human emotions). I encourage anyone who's never owned their own business to go out and start one. I'm looking forward to putting together a post about some of the biggest business lessons I've learned from my own entrepreneurial ventures. I'm positive that at the very least you'll get a kick of my failures, because they haven't been pretty.

I sent out a message today on Slack to the entire OTB team about future direction of Only The Beat. It's extremely personal, but I'm hoping that giving you a window into my world can provide you with some new perspective about how you approach your business relationships in the future. I want you to see what this type of communication looks like. I want you to see how much I care about each and every one of the passionate people who've chosen to become a part of my world, our world. I want to hold myself accountable by putting this into the world where others have the opportunity to tear me apart and question my ability to follow through. I want you to provide me with feedback about my style and methods of communication with my team. I want to get better. I want us all to get better. And I'm hoping that the message blow is helpful for you in any way that you need it to be:

@channel: Hi Team, I couple announcements to make. I wanted to let everyone know that John Jensen, co-founder and CTO of OTB has stepped away from the business to pursue his own ventures with a new company here in Seattle. For any of you who are into vaping, check out his new line of e-vapor liquids at artisanclouds.com. I wanted to thank him for all of blood, sweat, and tears he's put into this blog over the last three years, and believe me, there have been all three. It's been a pleasure getting to watch him grow personally and professional and I'm confident that he will accomplish great things in both business and in life. I would encourage each of your to reach out to him and build your own relationship with him as he's an extremely valuable guy to know. I learn something new from him every time we talk, and that type of knowledge is something I truly value and look for in a friend. Feel free to hit me up via personal message to get his personal email (or add him as a friend on Facebook). 

This being said, I now retain full ownership of the business, but that might not be for long, I know that I can't get OTB to that NEXT level with out the help and support of others, you included. I've gone ahead and taken the steps necessary to move OTB in a new positive direction that I believe is in line with the demands of the EDM market, so I'm asking you to be open to change while we enter a period of transition over the next 2 months. 

The first step was finding someone new to help me on the technology side, I've done that with @imjustinbraun. Beginning Monday, Justin will begin leading a team of freelance developers that we've hired to build out a new platform for OTB.  This is something that I've been wanting to do for the last 8 months, and I just wanted to give you my sincerest apology for not making better decisions that could have allowed this to move forward more quickly. But as you know, life is all about timing. In the last 8 months I started a new job, left that job, went through a break up, and moved home to Seattle after 4 years in Arizona to be closer to my 3-year-old son. I'm not bringing any of this up to make you feel sorry for me. I'm telling you because I'm embarrassed and ashamed that I let my personal life get in the way of the company's success. I'm also telling you because all of the things that have happened, all of the choices and decisions I've had to make, have reminded me about what's most important to me. What I need to focus on and how I need to get it done. It's given me new perspective and a new found sense of hope for Only The Beat. A sense of hope that I want to pass on to you. I want you to know that I'm more dedicated than ever to helping you accomplish your personal goals and the goals you have within the company. 

Again, I'm asking you to bear with me during this time of transition. Continue writing with confidence and fostering important relationships. Don't forget that YOU are the reason people keep coming back to the site everyday.  I'm extremely grateful for everyone's loyalty and dedication. I'll be the first to admit that it's been hard to be proud of the site lately. We haven't given users the experience they deserve. This note to you, and the work that will start Monday morning, is the first step of many in a new direction. I'm so thankful to have you along for the ride. Let's have some fun and share the music we love with the world. 

Sincerely, 

Daniel Taibleson 

I hope you found this post enlightening. Maybe you even like the way I do business. If that's true, then make sure you connect with me on Linkedin. I'm always looking for passionate people to share intellectually stimulating conversation with. Now go out there and leave the world a better place than you found it.

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Missed a Beat

Sometimes we miss a beat. It might be dancing, stepping on a partners toes, or it might be something more serious like a project deadline.

Or of course, it might come in the form of a blog post. Forgetting to hit publish, or even worse, forgetting to hit save. There's nothing worse than losing the work that you toiled over, oozed your creative energy into, but at the end of the day, you really only have two choices:

Give up, or keep pushing forward.

I started writing this blog post almost 2 years ago. Literally. It was the end of 2013 and I'd just started working at iAcquire as a entry-level outreach employee (now called Influencer Relations, the role consists of cold emailing to generate relationships with powerful publishers in order to convince them to publish favorable content about the companies clients etc).

I can't quite remember the feeling, but I think it was something along the lines of, "I'm way too busy with my new job and OnlyTheBeat.com to continue writing my own personal Advertising, Social Media, Entrepreneurship content on DanielTaibleson.com."

And I was right...But I was also really, really wrong.

Heart-to-Heart 

If you're a good friend of mine and we've had a heart-to-heart in the last few weeks then you've probably already heard me say this, but I noticed a reoccurring theme in my past: I've always been so willing to give something up, in order to get ahead. Now, while I attribute this to bind passion and a testimony to my dedication when it comes to achieving my goals, it was also the same type of short-sided thinking that so many of us fall victim to in our (dare I say, capitalist) society. There are winners in loser in capitalism, and I feel like it does encourage us (with grand tales of both success and failure) to do whatever it takes to win.

I was inspired by Seth Godin today, as I so frequently am, and was 3 years ago when I started this blog in the first place. The quote that I shared with my friends and colleagues on Linkedin reads:

"Life is what happens while we're busy making plans. The interim is forever, so perhaps it makes sense to make act in the interim as we expect to act in the long haul."

I guess one could boil his post down into the old adage "The road to hell is paved with gold." We all want to create the next completely sustainable, best-place to work in the world startup. We all want to have a job that values us not only for the work we do but the people we are (am I starting to sound like a millennial? I am).  But work, life, the same things still ring true, they are relationships that we have, relationships with other people, companies, brands, clients, ourselves. And we all know that you shouldn't enter a relationship if you haven't taken care of yourself first.

My lack of blogging on this platform is appalling. Writing and blogging has always been a safe place for me to explore ideas and connect dots. And I feel that I've done the world, and most importantly, myself, a huge disservice by not taking the time to explore the deepest corners of my mind in a public setting. That might sound really odd to you, to say I want to explore my mind in a public setting, but I'd have to ask you a question in response: what else are we doing here?

I want to live and read and write and connect with other like minded individuals that are just as passionate about discovering the unknown as I am; the unknown of the universe, the unknown skills we need in a professional setting, the unknown of ourselves.

And although it was a great decision to bear down and give my new job (back in 2012) 100% of my full attention (it worked out, I got promoted after 6 months of cold emailing), I forgot the most important part of Godin's message:

This interim strategy, the notion that ideals and principles are for later, but right now, all the focus and resources have to be put into the emergency of getting successful—it doesn't work.
It doesn't work because it's always the interim. 

It's always the interim. I know who I am now, and there are things that I am not willing to part with because they make me Daniel Taibleson. Seattle Sports, Hockey, Trance Music, Snowboarding, and an unrelenting quest for knowledge fueled by a sense of curiosity that could kill 100 cats.

Don't forget who you are while you're busy working for someone else, it's hard, but it's why they hired you.

Moving Forward

I resigned from my position at Scottsmarketplace.com at the end of the July and hit the road. The decision happened in the span of about two weeks and I drove up the coast, making new friends and reconnecting with some of my dearest old ones. I'm so grateful to everyone that took time to connect with me during my 4 years in Arizona. Even more importantly, I want them to know that for the first time in my life, I don't feel like the exit was final. I'm not closing doors so that others can open, I'm just the kind of guy that believes it's possible to have as many doors open as you want, because I won't shut the door on people I care about.

I'm ready to give my full attention to the things that truly matter most and make me who I am. If you're interested in coming along for the ride, please, connect with me here: bit.ly/DanielTaibleson

I'm going to continue writing, hopefully everyday, even if it's just a little something. If I can't find inspiration in the world around me each day, then I know I'm not living my life correctly. 

"I go home to the coast 

It starts to rain I paddle out on the water 

Alone 

Taste the salt and taste the pain 

I'm not thinking of you again 

Summer dies and swells rise 

The sun goes down in my eyes 

See this rolling wave 

Darkly coming to take me 

Home 

And I've never been so alone 

And I've never been so alive"

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Room at the top

There’s always a spot for the best in the market.

Not the most expensive, but the one that most ideally suits the needs of those that care.

It's easy to get lost in the chaos of mediocre, of discount, of close and cheap. But if you're the best, among the people who care to find and talk about the best, no market is too crowded.

The hard part is figuring out what 'best' means.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

What does it mean to be the best?

And does your answer to this question mean anything to the people that you're trying to market your product to? Stop look at the cat gif up there and pay attention :P

The good news and the bad news 

The good news and the bad news is that the definition of what "best" means in a market is always changing. That's why all of us in marketing and SEO still have a job....because things change. And I hope to god that if you work in marketing/seo you're not one of those people that "fears change." Thankfully trends change, and although many are cyclical, this change creates a space in our marketing landscape for big wins...and big losses.

If you're an aspiring entrepreneur, things have never been better. Yes, your competition may be smarter, but the playing field is even and you have every resource at your disposal to run a successful business. Find you niche and go after it like a bat out of hell. 

The Time We Take

A good friend of mine once told me that our time is the most valuable thing we have. The one commodity we can truly never replace. It's important to use our time wisely, but I don't think all of the time we use has to result in success. There have been multiple times in my life where I've been working on a team and one persons comment is so far off the mark (usually mine) it sparks something in the mind of another team member which in the end actually leads to solving the teams problem.

There are a couple things to be noted about that last statement. Number one, I am not implying that I am good at being wrong so that other people can find solutions to problems. Number two, I do miss the mark sometimes, but it's pretty rare. Number three, I learned that when I'm working with a team, giving everyone the chance to speak up and creating a safe place to share ideas, thoughts, and opinions, that is the most important part of the creative process. You never know where the solution to your problem might come from. 

Inspiration comes from with out, not from with in, so put your head down and just begin. 

The Art of Creating Awe

Another day, another amazing TED Talks. I seriously don't understand why these aren't required reading (watching) for kinds in school these days. I think I learn more about life and how to be a good person from TED Talks than I even learned in School. It's like getting a personal lecture from the best teacher you ever had...except its a new best teacher every day.

Now not every Ted Talk is as equally amazing. But excuse me if I end up going on a tangent and start posting new Ted Talks and my reactions for the next few....oh I don't know...years? check back in with me, you might learn something about yourself. I always do.

This talk comes from Oscar award-winning movie effects creator Rob Legato who has worked on movies like Titanic, Hugo, and Apollo 13. Talk about block busters. Not only does he show you how he created so of his most recognized shots, he also has some pretty insightful stuff to say about creating awe....Enjoy

Divinity is Creativity

I stumbled across this video via Rainn Wilson's twitter. It is a powerful 6 minute interview that I strongly suggest you watch. 

Deepak describes happiness as "devine discontent"...it's the creative impulse...He says that with a little discontent and the creative impulse, we will be happy. Creation makes us happy, gives us meaning, even allows some people to feel in touch with a higher being. Solving problems makes us happy, creating new solutions to old problems brings us joy, and in turn innovation moves society forward (hopefully). Just watch the video. 

So basically, everyone has to do something. I think I'll choose to create things that create change. 

Just A Thought

They say that when you boil everything down to two emotions, you are left with Love and Fear. But I think there is something else you feel, something that bridges the gap between these two emotions. Love and fear are both powerful in their own right, but as conscious beings with free will, we get to determine our own feelings and choose how we react to them. It is our beliefs and chosen paths of benevolence and/or malevolence that determine our future. What spans the gap between love and fear is faith. Faith in yourself. Faith in your abilities. Faith in the people around you. Faith in your plan. If you have faith and focus on living a life full of love, the courage you need to accomplish your goals will find you. In fact, it’s in you right now. Just waiting to come out. Have some faith in the universe, you weren’t here when it was created and it’s doing just fine. 

The Best Advice You've Ever Received

I've gotten a lot of good career advice over the years, but I think this Wordle might be one of the most complete guides to success I've ever seen. I am going to print it out, frame it and keep it on my desk at work. Talk about some powerful stuff....

You Are Responsible For Your Own Experience

Write From The Heart

Power is Never Given Power is Taken

If You Accept The Pain, It Cannot Hurt You

Put The Hours In.

The World is Changing

INGORE EVERYBODY

:^) 

Whats the best advice you've ever received? 

Misplaced Passion

Passion is the intangible force that drives everything we do. It determines how much time and effort we put into a project and how seriously we take a task. Some people seem to have more than others....That is a lie. Passion, like anything else in life, is a choice, and something that you can condition your mind to achieve. Try being passionate about life, about waking up every morning and getting to breathe clean air. Be passionate about the fact that you have friends and family who love you, and be passionate about letting them know you love them too. If you stop focusing on all of the little negative parts of your day, which happen to everyone else everyday too, and keep the larger positive aspects of your life front and center in your mind the rest will start to fall into place. But remember,  it only works if you share your passion with others.

The difference between becoming an ultra successful linchpin (an indispensable employee) and a fundamental zealot, is knowing when it's time to let go. Don't let your ideas get tangled with your emotions. Be passionate about learning from your failures. 

How Are You Adding Value?

Another list from Seth Godin and another dose of inspiration....Ask yourselves these questions:

Why would someone choose my product over my competitors? (why would someone visit my blog, over yours?) 

How is my product adding value to someones life? (Is my blog interesting? inspiring? useful?) 

What problem is my product solving for my customers (Am I delivering you content that you enjoy?)

Why would you come back? 

These are all questions that we need to ask ourselves each time that we set a goal. Define the "why". Whether it's your personal motives or you are searching for the motive behind your customers purchase, you need to define what is driving you. 

1. The first step is to stop Googling things like, "how to make money online." Not because you shouldn't want to make money online, but because the stuff you're going to find by doing that is going to help you lose money online. Sort of liking asking a casino owner how to make money in Vegas...
2. Don't pay anyone for simple and proven instructions on how to achieve this goal. In particular, don't pay anyone to teach you how to write or sell manuals or ebooks about how to make money online.
3. Get rich slow.
4. Focus on the scarce resource online: attention. If you try to invent a way to take cheap attention and turn it into cash, you will fail. The attention you want isn't cheap, it's difficult to get via SEO and it rarely scales. Instead, figure out how to earn expensive attention.
5. In addition to attention, focus on trust. Trust is even more scarce than attention.
6. Don't worry so much about the 'online' part. Instead, figure out how to create value. The online part will take care of itself.
7. Don't quit your day job. Start evenings and weekends and figure it out with small failures.
8. Build a public reputation. A good one, and be sure that you deserve it, and that it will hold up to scrutiny.
9. Obsessively specialize. No niche is too small if it's yours.
10. Connect the disconnected.
11. Lead.
12. Build an online legacy that increases in value daily.
13. Make money offline. If you can figure out how to create value face to face, it's a lot easier to figure out how to do the same digitally. The web isn't magic, it's merely efficient.
14. Become the best in the world at something that people value. Easier said than done, worth more than you might think.
15. Hang out with people who aren't looking for shortcuts. Learn from them.
16. Fail. Fail often and fail cheaply. This is the very best gift the web has given to people who want to bootstrap their way into a new business.
17. Make money in the small and then relentlessly scale.
18. Don't chase yesterday's online fad.
19. Think big, act with intention and don't get bogged down in personalities. If it's not on your agenda, why are you wasting time on it?
20. Learn. Ceaselessly. Learn to code, to write persuasively, to understand new technologies, to bring out the best in your team, to find underused resources and to spot patterns.
21. This is not a zero sum game. The more you add to your community, the bigger your piece gets.

Hunger Makes The DIfference

How hungry are you?

Some of the stuff in this video is slightly corny, particularly the part where they do a standing exercise (you'll see), but it does have a lot of helpful advice about taking action and following through in life. 

We all have unlimited potential, but you have to believe in yourself. Condition your mind

The Difference Between Interesting and Successful

     Interesting AND successful.....I don't claim to know much, in fact the only thing I know, is that I have a lot to learn. But one thing I've realized? Is that I refuse to sacrifice one in order to be the other. What does this mean? Well in reality, it means a lot of hard work. It means that any free time I have will be spent learning skills and gaining knowledge. The internet is a magical place filled with free information.

     In theory, the idea of improving yourself, for yourself, should be enough to motivate you. But it's not, and none of us truly accomplish anything completely on our own. Realize that everything you are doing to improve yourself on a daily basis is contributing to the great good of humanity. And on that note try and do something to improve yourself everyday! You can't fail. Reading a new book might change the way you view the world and in turn, what you choose to do with your life. And most importantly, realize that whatever it is you choose to do with you life, and your time, affects other people. Not making a choice, is still making a choice. 

     There is no such thing as a defining moment in your life. Everything we accomplish is the result of thousands of small victories and accomplishments. Every step you take in the right direction brings you one step closer to your goal, how ever small that step may be. All you need is the courage to take the first step. There is nothing stopping you except your own fear of failure. The best part about this is that no one cares about your failures, no one is keeping track of how many times you fail. This is a good thing because you will always fail more than you will succeed, get used to it, learn from it, and try not to keep failing the same way. Here are some websites that might help/inspire you: 

http://www.ted.com/ - Ideas Worth Spreading

http://mashable.com/ - Digital culture, Social Media, and Technology 

https://www.coursera.org/ - Take free online class from Standford, Princeton, Penn, or Michcigan

http://www.briansolis.com/ - Social Media knowledge

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ - Go make something Happen

http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-money-with-a-blog/  - Start a blog that makes money

https://www.codecademy.com - learn to code for free

Cycling

I've been doing a lot of cycling lately, mostly because I don't have a car. But it's led me to an astonishing discovery and metaphor for life. I don't know if you cycle, but it might be something to take into consideration the next time you hop on a bike.

Cycling is probably the best physical representation for the mental process of accomplishing your goals in life. You must constantly be focused on the road ahead of you (long term goals), while at the same time focused on the ground directly beneath your wheels (short term goals, tactics, repetition), and at the same time, making sure you don't run over a nail that pops your tires (stress, failure). I ride my bike home the same way from work everyday, but I never know when there might be a branch on the path. You have to be open to the idea that sometimes, You're going to have to go a different way if you want to make it home (accomplish your goal). At the same time, there are always distractions happening all around you competing for your attention; look away for a second, and you might crash. No seriously, I crashed yesterday.