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Itâs been one whirlwind of a weekend!
Iâm fresh off a 48-hour excursion back to the East Coast for a friendâs wedding, and though the 14-hour travel day was a doozy, it was SO worth it for the endless laughter with friends and the break from our normal routine.
Itâs amazing what clarity can be discovered when you take a step back and change your perspective. Sometimes itâs the tiniest bit of space and distance that can allow our souls to catch their breath and that can remind us of what we hold most dear.
Thatâs what this weekend was for me, and it got me thinking about one super practical tool that has helped me live out my values more so in the past year than ever before.
To set the scene, Iâm going to use kind of a silly story to illustrate this very important concept I want to chat about.
This Saturday when we were back in Florida, we found ourselves in a bit of a time crunch before my friend’s wedding. It was a few hours before the ceremony began, and some of my college wifes wanted to meet beforehand to catch up. Being that we were only in town for a short time, it was really important to me that we get as much time as possible with them, but after finishing up some necessary work stuff (Jasonâs software app is soft-launching tomorrow!) we realized we still hadnât showered or eaten lunch.
We placed a pick-up order at a lunch spot near our hotel and thought weâd swing by to grab it, eating lunch in our room with plenty of time to get ready and still make our pre-wedding plans.
As I approached the counter of the lunch spot to pay for our meal, the waitress kindly let me know that âthere were a few orders ahead of me.â I stood there mustering all the patience I had while I watched the understaffed kitchen leisurely attempt to fulfill the orders in front of ours.
(Has that ever happened to you? The one time youâre in a hurry is the one time OF COURSE you wind up in a situation completely beyond your control that slows you down? Those are the moments I just have to laugh and chock it up to the universe teaching me an important lesson about patience.)
Anyway, a 15-minute excursion turned into a 45-minute excursion, and on our way back to the hotel I attempted to formulate my game planâŠ
âOkay, weâve got exactly 40 minutes until we have to leave the hotel. I have two options: 1) take a shower so I can blow dry my hair and look top-notch for this wedding (meaning I would seriously have to rush through getting ready and scarf down my food to leave on time) or 2) say forget the shower, which nixes the time-consuming hair-blow-drying phase and frees up time to actually somewhat enjoy my lunch and not be in a huge rush.â
All the women out there who have tried to budget âgetting ready timeâ will hopefully relate to this type of mental negotiation.
Luckily, as an entrepreneur, I pretty much have a black belt in budgeting my time by now. Even if youâre not running a creative business, as productive humans in todayâs fast-paced world, weâre all used to making these kinds of decisions almost automatically day in and day out. Weâre constantly having to ask ourselves:Â What is the most important thing to spend my time on right now?
Weighing my two options, my decision became SUPER clear because I know from experience that whatâs most important to me is avoiding feeling anxious and rushed at all costs (even if it means my hair isnât perfectly coiffed.) I nixed the shower/blow-dry combo, and instead was able to focus on the joy of getting ready to go meet up with my friends. I wasnât stressed or rushed â just excited to see my buds.
It may sound silly, but that decision-making process is just one way that prioritization has become the most effective tool for me to live out my values on a daily, if not moment-to-moment, basis.
âPrioritization is your best decision-making tool for spending precious resources according to your values. â
All prioritization really asks you to do is to rank the options before you according to what is most important to you.
And determining whatâs most important to you really boils down to what you VALUE.
The more I thought about this little tool called prioritization, the more I realized the multitude of ways it has made me live a more values-based life.
Before I share with you how prioritization has helped me specifically, I do want to mention a really interesting fact that I read about in one of my favorite books, Essentialism by Greg McKeown. The fact is, the notion of having multiple prioriTIES (plural) is only a recent cultural development. Here’s a quote from Greg’s book:
“The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s. It was singular. It meant the very first or prior thing. It stayed singular for the next five hundred years. Only in the 1900s did we pluralize the term and start talking about priorities. Illogically, we reasoned that by changing the word we could bend reality. Somehow we would now be able to have multiple âfirstâ things. People and companies routinely try to do just that. One leader told me of this experience in a company that talked of âPri-1, Pri-2, Pri-3, Pri-4, and Pri-5.â This gave the impression of many things being the priority but actually meant nothing was.”
– Greg McKeown, Essentialism
When I talk about prioritization, Iâm not necessarily suggesting we identify a whole slew of things that are important to us, resulting in more confusion and overwhelm.
Iâm instead suggesting that we come up with a clear system and rank when it comes to our values so that we can determine where a task or option will fall in terms of importance.
The emphasis is on the ACT of prioritization, not the false reality of having multiple priorities.
About a year ago, I started a new method of writing down my to-do list that involves âdumpingâ everything I have to do (large and small tasks) each day onto one big list, and then methodically going back through this list and numbering each item in order of importance. Sometimes this list is 17 things and I make sure to write out all 1 through 17 numbers.
The real magic comes though in being able to intentionally rank things not based on any sense of false urgency but ranking them according to what I value. I think about which of my values is MOST important to me that day, that moment (rest, creativity, inspiration, connection, play, etc.) and I rank my to-dos in order of what items most deliver on that value.
So if that means putting a 1 next to âread 20 pages of XYZ bookâ and putting a 2 next to ârespond to podcast interview requestâ because I know that taking personal time for myself is something I value more than landing an interview, that’s what I’ll do. It’s a way of checking in with myself and making sure I’m aligning my behavior, my actions, with my values.
Iâm using the word obligations here in a broader sense to encapsulate any opportunity or task you feel compelled to complete because of external demand. Basically, any SHOULDS in your life.
We budget our time and resources according to what we think other people want or need from us more than we realize.
Think about it, weâll respond to client or customer emails before weâll take 15 minutes to eat our lunch (I’ve been guilty of this one before.) Weâll say yes to dinner invitations after a long day of work when all we want is to get home and put on those stretchy pants (you know the ones Iâm talking about.)
We nourish ourselves LAST because we think weâre the one person that won’t mind being put on the back burner. But guess what? Even if we think we wonât mind, it’s only a matter of time before we wake up and suddenly START to mind in the form of regret, sickness, resentment or just plain exhaustion.
When it comes to obligations, Iâve learned to prioritize according to my needs and my values first. The truth is, if we donât pay attention to our own fuel tank, we have nothing left to give other people.
Not only has this question What is the most important thing to spend my money on? helped with our move to a more minimal lifestyle, but it has also helped me create a money mindset to aggressively pay off our debt. Once you reframe your buying decisions like this: âWhatâs more important to me: to buy this new computer or to pay off my debt sooner?â youâre able to put your purchases into perspective when your top priority is paying off your debt (which it was for us for a number of months).
So hereâs the thing:
I KNOW that âprioritizationâ is not a sexy thing.
But Iâm telling you, being able to rank options in front of you according to your values is a skill that is transferable to almost every aspect of your life.
Prioritization asks that you re-commit yourself to whatâs important TO YOU on a regular basis and act accordingly.
It has reduced overwhelm with my to-do list, helped me infuse more balance in my life by setting boundaries when it comes to commitments and obligations and it has helped me create a money mindset to get out of debt.
So my challenge to you this week is to apply this idea of prioritization to one of the areas I listed above (to-doâs, obligations, finances.)
Start by writing down five of your values and rank them in order of importance. Really challenge yourself to decide where they fall relative to one another. (You might have MANY things that are important to you, but as Greg McKeown points out, unless you have a clear system for how one outranks the other, youâre going to find it hard to easily and quickly apply this method of prioritization to your life.)
Remember, it all comes down to our precious resources: our energy, our focus, our money, and MOST importantly, our TIME. That is one thing we cannot replenish, so it MATTERS how we spend it.
Today I wanted to talk to you all about dangerous aspirations. (Hmmm âDangerous Aspirations.â Sounds like a cool film noir title, doesnât it?) But first, some background:
A few weeks ago I started getting back into Gary Vaynerchukâs YouTube channel when Jason sent me this really great thought-provoking interview with Gary.
(For those of you not familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk, heâs one of the more visible entrepreneurs out there on social media, rising to popularity after taking his fatherâs wine company from a $3 million to a $50 million business. Now Gary runs a multi-million dollar social/digital agency, VaynerMedia, writes books and does a ton of Q&A style speaking gigs around the world.)
But, none of those textbook accomplishments are why Iâve looked up to Gary for so long. Heâs always been a fascinating character to me since my discovery years ago of this entrepreneurial world that I didnât even know existed.
First off, his energy is palpable and contagious. When he speaks, you can tell he believes what heâs saying with conviction. Thatâs certainly a quality I admire in people. Iâve also always been drawn to anyone willing to do and say whatever they feel without worrying what other people think. Garyâs got that in spades.
BUT, a few months ago, I decided I needed to break up with Gary.
I stopped watching his videos and seeking out his content because I started to feel that his âhustleâ mentality was wildly out of alignment with what I know my values to be. His DailyVee vlogs would show marathon-style work days with him running around from meeting to meeting, Snapchatting the in between moments, getting visibly angry from a mixup in his schedule, and working through what seemed like every waking minute.
I admit it⊠I would watch these videos and I would judge him.
This guy canât possibly be happy living like this. Heâs so ON all the time. When does he step away to connect with nature or his family or himself? When does he rest? What is he trying to prove?
It wasnât until Jason sent me that interview I mentioned above that I realized:Â HOLY COW was that judgmental of me.
I was trying to put MY values on Gary. Measuring him up against what I have found to be right FOR ME in my own life. And thatâs exactly the kind of thing that I ask people not to do to me all the time. I felt like such a hypocrite, and it forced me to rethink how I view people I look up to.
I realized that if thatâs true â if I shouldnât use my values and beliefs as a measuring stick to judge how one of my online mentors/inspirations lives his life â then the reverse is true too.
While I could see that part of me was judging Gary, I could see another part of me judging myself for not being as hard working as Gary. For not having his same boundless energy.
I thought of how many other entrepreneurs and mentors of mine I’ve had these feelings about: that I wish I had the story-telling quality of BrenĂ© Brown so I could speak around the world like she does; or that I could write a book like Liz Gilbert that might so perfectly resonate with someone the way Big Magic did with me.
But ultimately here’s what I arrived at:
Because THEYâRE NOT US.
Too often we try to reverse engineer the success of the people we admire by aspiring to make our lives (or businesses) look more like theirs, when really it may not be whatâs right for us.
The truth is, I DON’T tell stories like BrenĂ© (who can!) and I don’t LOVE public speaking. If I ever DO write a book, it won’t just be because I admire Liz Gilbert; it’ll be because I have something to say that I can’t NOT write about.
In that interview with Gary above, my favorite parts are when he acknowledges the tremendous role that self-awareness has played in his personal success.
Heâs only a proponent of the âhustleâ mentality because it plays to his natural strengths: an almost limitless source of energy that heâs been tapping into since he was a kid. He knows that the frenetic, chaotic nature of his day is what FUELS him, and while it probably wonât be a source of happiness for most people and the way theyâre wired, it is for him.
We donât spend enough time making this distinction.
We spend too much time blindly trying to fit our lifestyles to those that weâre inspired by, and we forget to look within so we can adjust those bits and pieces of inspiration to our own mold.
And I let me also just say… that goes for me too!
My goal is, of course, to send out inspiration and motivation through these emails each week, but I want to be very clear today:Â I know Iâm not you and I know youâre not me.
Iâve worked very hard to design a life that makes ME feel like the most vibrant version of myself, but you never know⊠maybe if you lived my life every day youâd be bored out of your mind! Maybe my slow beach life and introverted ways would drive you nuts and have you itching for more social interaction! Or maybe you donât want to work on the weekends or commit to creating art every day. I donât know.
What I do know is that you have the power to make that decision for yourself.
Only you can truly know what is best for you, what advice you need to hear, what weaknesses you want to improve and what strengths you want to play to.
Thatâs why self-awareness is the greatest, most important skill set we can cultivate.
The good news is, youâre already a step ahead if youâre signed up for this newsletter because every week youâre hopefully opening yourself up to getting to know YOU better. And thatâs really cool.
But whether itâs Garyvee or me or whomever you look up to, let todayâs newsletter be a reminder:
Go within, get honest with yourself, take in the pieces of inspiration you pick up along the way, but ultimately design a life that is completely unique to who you are.
This week, my challenge to you is pretty simple: I invite you to rethink some of the goals or lifestyle elements youâre currently aspiring to.
Whether itâs getting that book deal or creating a booming speaking career or having that five-figure launch or getting married or reaching 1,000 followers on Instagram.
Examine WHY you want those things and what trade-offs might come along with that. Ask yourself what you can learn about yourself from the things and people you aspire, to not necessarily how you can attain them.
That’s it, have a great week!
When I started my first creative business, Made Vibrant, I remember thinking that I wanted some way to combine my loves of creativity/design, business, and personal growth into one job that I truly enjoyed.
But, looking around, I didnât see many people successfully combining these multiple aspects into one cohesive brand.
It was early 2014 and at that time I saw designers talking about design, life coaches and lifestyle bloggers talking about personal growth, and internet marketers talking about business and marketing.
Every piece of advice I read was telling me to choose ONE and go all in on that one thing.
But I didnât want to choose. I saw a path for myself that (in my mind at least) didnât exist yet.
Now, granted, it was by no means a clear path. It was hazy and unsure like the details of a dream you canât quite recall. But with a certainty I canât explain, I knew my intuitionâs compass was pointing in a direction completely my own.
Every decision I made or every step forward I took I made based on my own intuition, trying as best I could to stay close to this “DIY path” of mine.
A few years later, Iâm proud to say that the road is getting clearer and more certain every day. Iâm proud that Iâve created a sustainable business blending all three of my loves: creativity, personal growth and business.
Iâm living proof that you CAN build the path of your dreams if you do it with authenticity, consistency, persistence, and tremendous belief in the unique perspective you offer this world.
What I’m here to tell you is…
This is the DIY approach to your happiest life: if the path you desire doesn’t exist, CREATE IT.
âItâs the DIY approach to your happiest life; if the path you desire doesnât exist, CREATE IT.â
This reminds me of a particular part of my intuition-inspired guide, Connecting With Your Core (available with your Wandering Aimfully membership!):
“Instead of picturing yourself at a perpetual crossroads, unsure of which path to take, I want you to imagine yourself moving forward toward an unmarked path. One that you must carve out yourself⊠If looking ahead leaves you feeling lost and confused, then stop looking ahead and start looking within. Forge your path from the inside out. Let go of the preconceptions you have about what your future has to look like. Thereâs no need to retrofit yourself into a prefabricated route; you have the ability to create a custom life. One that unfurls from within.â
In the book, I call this little concept âyour Invisible Future.â
Imagine that the path before you cannot be seen from this present moment because it will only emerge as you start to let your inner voice guide you. Erase whatever assumptions you have about âpicking a pathâ or going down a route that has already been carved for you.
Now, with a blank slate, write down your ideal path and where it would lead you one year from now. Ignore whether or not this is based on anything youâve seen anyone else do before.
Lastly, write down three actions you can take this week that will start you down that path you envision.
In other words, Iâm giving you permission to DIY the sh*t outta your own life (no power tools or hot glue guns required.)
Now get out there this week and bring your vision to life!
I hope the word minimalist doesnât turn you off, because Iâd like to explain the benefits of minimalism and why I believe with every fiber of my being that you should try to find your own flavor of minimalism.
Minimalism is the idea that you can live with LESS, but get MORE out of life.
Minimalism is the idea that you only allow things in your life that you believe will bring you value.
Minimalism is not living in a home with just one chair.
Minimalism is not a cult that keeps you from buying things ever again.
A few years ago, I was not a minimalist. I was an electronic gadget-buying machine. Amazon Prime and I were in a monogamous relationship. I thought that buying new things would make me happy, and oh, did I buy them.
I expertly justified buying new things, especially moderately expensive things. I convinced myself that because I had the financial ability, I should compensate for all the times when I was younger and wanted things but couldnât have them. Along with buying things, I also remember having goals that I thought would make me feel good about myself (read more on this: the pressures of society).
All of those thoughts, buying habits, and societal goals came to a screeching halt in late May of 2013. My wife, Caroline, and I sat in the audience of a small hand-crafted conference in Fargo, North Dakota, and listened to Joshua Fields Millburn tell his story. Itâs a story that Iâve shared a bit about before.
(Joshua Fields Millburn on stage at Misfit Con 2013, photo by AJ Leon)
Joshua had a job that paid him well, but he was constantly buying things to try to fill a void in his life. It wasnât until he realized he was truly unhappy and that all the stuff in his life was weighing him down that he decided to become a minimalist.
His transformation away from buying lots of things didnât happen overnight. But like anything else in life, there is no overnight success when it comes to becoming a minimalist. Slowly, he started parting ways with his stuff while also changing his habits. The by-product of doing those things? He (and his friends) started to notice an incredible change in his happiness.
Joshuaâs story inspired Caroline and me to take a strong look at our lives. To take inventory of all of the stuff in the different parts of our home, and to start asking ourselves an important question we learned from Joshua:
There are lots of ways to get started, and lots of resources available to guide you, but hereâs what we did in 3 progressively more intense steps, followed by 3 challenges for you.
This was the place in our home where we had accumulated a bunch of items and had rarely let anything go. Shorts I hadnât worn since college? Piled in a drawer. T-shirts Caroline used to wear for her sorority? Stuffed on the back of a shelf. Jeans we both bought on sale because, hey, we thought our butts would look great in them? Never worn and covered in closet dust.
The result? Multiple garbage bags filled to the brim with clothing we hadnât worn in years and were only holding onto just in case we might want to wear them again someday. Someday hadnât come in years prior, though, so it certainly wasnât going to magically show up just because we became more aware of these items in our closet.
Shortly after that first closet clean-out, Caroline discovered something called a capsule wardrobe. This is the practice of pairing your wardrobe down to just 37 items (not including underwear). She loved it! She sold a bunch of her unworn clothes on a website called Threadflip, and then got rid of the rest ($500 worth) via an Instagram post.
(I’ve paired down my closet even further to only 61 total items! Article on this coming soon.)
Cleaning out our wardrobes (on multiple occasions) has helped us enjoy the clothing we have left a lot more. We no longer stand in our filled-to-the-brim closets, paralyzed by choices. Now, we have just the right amount of clothes, and we actually like all of them. Weird, I know.
Hey it’s me, Jason Zook, the human behind this article. I have a few minimalism challenges for you! Your first minimalism challenge: Spend tonight or this weekend going through your closet. What havenât you worn in a year that you can get rid of, donate, or sell?
IWearYourShirt brought a lot great things into my life and my home. Now, you might be thinking Iâm going to talk to you about all the t-shirts I had to comb through and give away. Interestingly enough (to me, at least), I never held on to those T-shirts for too long. Truthfully, I simply didnât have the room (365+ XL T-shirts per year take up a ton of space!).
What IWearYourShirt did leave behind were boxes filled with silly props, filming equipment, papers, and paint-covered wallsâall the things that helped me create daily photo and video content for that business while it was active.
After IWearYourShirt came to a close, all of these items lingered around my home. They stared me in the face, especially this wall:
(and yes, I did apply minimalism to those hideous shorts… hah!)
These things were constantly reminding me of a business that no longer existed. The longer this stuff stayed in my home, the longer I ended up being stuck with all the memories (good and bad) that went along with it.
When I finally made the decision to rid my home of all the leftover stuff from IWearYourShirt, an incredible weight lifted off my shoulders. Once I removed all of these things, it was as if I could finally let go of the stress that hung around with them.
I’m back with your second minimalism challenge: Do you have an old business or idea from which you have kept related items? Itâs time to let them go. The process of getting rid of them will help relieve any residual stress.
Yes, this is a big leap from the previous two steps. Stick with me here. I think youâre ready.
In 2014, we decided we were going to move clear across the country from Florida to California (read more about our adventure). Along with that decision, we planned to sell all of the possessions we had in our home. The only things we could keep were what we could fit in our Volkswagen SUV.
This was absolutely one of the most freeing and liberating feelings weâd ever had. We took a 1,600-square-foot home that was pretty well packed with stuff, and we put price tags on everything. We posted a one-day-everything-must-go-sale on Facebook and Craigslist. For eight hours on a Saturday, people showed up to our home and took our things away in exchange for money.
(Pro tip: I used a Square reader on my iPhone to accept credit cards as people bought things. It was a fantastic way to sell bigger items like our couch, bed, TV, dining room set, etc.)
There were a couple moments when we didnât want to see things go (like the 6-month old couch I had driven 10 hours round trip to buy and transport myself), but we kept reminding ourselves that those things were just things. They were just objects we had purchased that, at some point, didnât exist in our lives before. None of that stuff would actually make a difference in our lives if it went back to a state of ceasing to exist.
Your third and final minimalism challenge: Move! Just kidding. However, maybe itâs time you had a garage/yard sale? Pretend youâre moving, and be willing to let go of all the things that sit around your home and literally collect dust.
Again, minimalism isnât about not buying things/stuff. Itâs about being more discerning with what you purchase.
My wife and I love clothes. We love wearing things that make us feel good about how we look and that express who we are as people. But that doesnât mean we need a closet full of items to accomplish those things. (Remember, we started with minimalism by cleaning out our closets!)
When we do purchase new items of clothing, we use the 1-in-1-out rule. Buy a new pair of jeans? An existing pair has to go. Buy a new awesome scarf? Sorry, old crappy scarf, you have to leave. Buy three pairs of zany socks from Happy Socks? Three pairs of old boring socks are out the door.
The 1-in-1-out rule forces us to be very picky about what we keep while still allowing us to buy new items. Technically, you could apply this rule to all purchases (food, electronics, etc).
As entrepreneurs (read: people who work from home every day), we all kind of loathe the time required to go grocery shopping and cook our meals.
It seems weird to some people, but because we tend to eat 3-5 meals per day, thatâs easily 1.5 – 2.5 hours of time we waste trying to make healthy choices. Weâd rather have that additional time and brainpower to write articles like this, dive into a great book, go on a hike, or enjoy our time having a D&M (deep and meaningful convo).
Minimalist solution: food delivery service!
Each week, Caroline and I have a meal prep company deliver a weekâs worth of food directly to our doorstep. I get 4 meals per day, and Caroline gets 3ânot including breakfast because thatâs quick, easy, and cheap to make. We keep breakfast simple with eggs and oatmeal (not combinedâthat would be gross), but the rest of the dayâs food is done and delivered for us. We also intentionally leave one full day of the week open with no meal delivery so we can get our butts out of the house and enjoy something different.
This weekly service not only saves us hours of valuable time, but it also frees up mental space for decision-making!
Letâs talk about the numbers real quick:
Not to mention one other glaringly great thing about meal prepâitâs healthy! We get meals prepared based on what foods we like, and they are portioned perfectly to fuel us for our busy days while keeping us in a good weight-loss zone.
We donât give each other gifts for birthdays and occasions. Instead, we create experiences. This past Christmas, we created a new tradition of each picking a movie, a snack, and an activity. We filled an entire evening with laughter, fun, and a new tradition weâll carry forward and remember for years. Thatâs more than we can say for anything weâve given each other over the years that was wrapped in a box and shoved under the tree.
For years, we didnât have a plan when it came to our money. Why? Mostly because there are so many damn options. Itâs daunting. Well, we finally bit the bullet and did a few things:
How does this relate to minimalism? Well, before we were spending countless hours trying to figure all this stuff out for ourselves (or having Mom help; thanks, Mom!). Weâd spent so much time thinking about, planning for, and just agonizing about money. As soon as we started working with financial planners (who cost us $0 per month, by the way) and a bookkeeper, we immediately had a bunch of extra time and mental energy freed up.
That is a huge tenet of minimalism: Remove the things that take up excess time and energy, and simplify things to suit a happier lifestyle.
It’s safe to say that embracing minimalism was one of the key factors that led to us paying off over $120,000 in debt! Read our getting out of debt guide here.
There are a couple really awesome articles out there that can help you find your own flavor of minimalism. Here are a few of my favorites:
Thatâs the point! The decisions you make, the things you value, and how you live your life with less clutterâphysical and mentalâare what will make your flavor of minimalism unique.
The best way to explore becoming a minimalist is just to try different things. See what sticks for you. See what makes you happier. Give the idea of having less a chance, and try to measure how it makes you feel.
Like many things in life, there is no one-size-fits-all version of minimalism. But I do believe aspects of minimalism can benefit every single person.
We take fourteen versions of a selfie to make sure we look the best. We write and rewrite status updates and messages to each other trying to sound witty or smart. We buy clothes that accentuate our best features. And when it comes to our businesses, we want to optimize everything to be as perfect as possible. We’re obsessed with perfection.
I used to ask a simple question when someone joined my email list: Whatâs the thing youâre struggling with the most right now?
The replies I saw most often were as follows:
(And no, I promise Iâm not adding it in to craftily round out this article)
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no such thing as a perfect idea. There are good ideas. There are bad ideas. There are fun ideas. There are stupid ideas. But no idea is ever perfect.
Once you get that idea of perfection out of your head you can start looking at your ideas from a different angle. For me, I look for ideas I canât get out of my head. Hereâs how that works:
Step 1 – When I have an idea, I write a couple of bullet points about it in a journal. I do this as soon as the idea comes to me.
Step 2 – I put the journal (and idea) away for a week. I donât write anything else about it and I donât spend any time building a prototype version of it. I just let the idea sit.
Step 3 – If I canât stop thinking about the idea after a week I take the next steps to pursue it. If Iâve forgotten about the idea or itâs no longer nagging at me, I move on.
Instead of looking for a perfect idea, look for something you simply canât stop thinking about. Trust your gut and listen for things that feel right. We often dismiss our intuition in our unrealistic pursuit of perfection.
Apple is arguably the most perfect* business in the history of the world. They will most likely be the first ever trillion dollar company if they can execute a few of their next big ideas well (carplay, a physical TV, a self-driving car, even bigger iPads, iPhone 7/8/9, etc).
But… Everyone has probably had a less-than-stellar experience with an Apple product. I went through four iMac computers during one year. My iPhone seems to have a power-devouring gremlin living inside the battery. Iâve owned at least twenty Apple products over the years and continue to buy them even though they arenât perfect. If youâve owned an Apple device youâve probably had a problem with it at some time or another.
Apple, as big and well-run as it is, is far from perfect and itâs working out pretty damn well for them. Steve Jobs was a notorious perfectionist, often taking it to utter extremes and becoming abusive and angry towards people who didn’t share his drive. Yet even his dogmatic perfectionism didn’t hold Apple back from launching groundbreaking product after product. Perfectionism can help you on your journey towards making the best product you possibly can, but you can’t lose sight of the end goal: building something people want and can use. Had Jobs waited until every single aspect of every single product was ‘perfect’ we never would have had the iPod or iPhone. Instead, the ideas came, the products were built, and the issues were dealt with in future versions.
You will never have a perfect business (and that’s okay!)
You will never be able to have everything work perfectly. There will always be some issue, problem, or battery-consuming-gremlin. It happens to us all. Accept it and focus on the things you can control: creating a quality product, having amazing customer service, and focusing on making your customers more awesome.
*Taking a leap of faith that we agree that the majority of people would define perfect as insanely profitable, desirable, and seemingly high quality and well made. I understand that many people do not use Apple products.
One of the most destructive, yet widely spread versions of perfectionism is the illusion and simplicity of success in business thatâs being spread around. The â16 tactics to insane profitabilityâ or âwhat one simple thing brought in six figures in additional revenueâ propaganda we read every single day on âreputableâ news sources.
Whatâs never (or extremely rarely) talked about in those over-simplified articles are the things that it actually takes to be successful. And while what it actually takes can be boiled down into a few bullet points, those bullet points are layered with context for each individual person and business, and canât be read as a repeatable âhow toâ guide. Those bullet points take months or years of trial and error to end up working for us and helping us reach success.
In psychology, they call this survivorship biasâa logical error where we focus on those who have âsurvivedâ some process and inadvertently overlook those who didnât (probably because theyâre not being paraded around front and center).
Those who win the war, write the history, right?
This cycle continues because we as consumers of content (aka readers of websites) keep clicking the stupid click-bait headlines hoping to find some magic spell or potion.
(Please contact me if youâve clicked one of these articles, learned a tip or tactic, applied to your business, and enjoyed all the riches and success you were promised. I wonât hold my breath for any of those emails to show up in my inbox.)
The perfect process does not exist. What does exist, however, is the process you create for yourself and that works specifically for you. This comes with time and is never truly perfect.
By chasing the perfect anything, youâre essentially riding a Ferris wheel. As soon as you think youâve reached the end, a new set of âproblemsâ arise and you continue going around in a never-ending circle.
Instead of going around and around, focus on creating and trusting the path you create for yourself. The one you wonât be able to see laid out perfectly in front of you.
âWriting a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights but you can make the whole trip that way.â – E. L. Doctorow
Thereâs no such thing as a fully lit path. You simply need to give your ideas a chance. Believe in whatever process you choose. Build a business and life for yourself that you actually enjoy. The path will illuminate itself bit by bit just as headlights do on a winding road youâve never driven before.
If you can reframe your thinking from perfection to completion, youâre sure to accomplish much more. Donât worry about finishing a task in the perfect way, worry about finishing the task. The pursuit of perfection most often only leads to procrastination and avoidance.
By focusing on completion things will actually get done. Right or wrong doesnât matter. What matters is that you are constantly moving yourself and your business forward.
In my own life, Iâve fallen into the trap of perfection many times. Back in 2008 when I was looking to launch my IWearYourShirt business, I had placed a daunting task ahead of myself: filming and editing a video every single day with zero filming experience. At the time I had committed to this path I didn’t even own a video camera or editing software. Scary, right? But what was even scarier were the thoughts that I let run rampant through my head: This first video has to be perfect or else people will know I donât have any experience.
Can you guess what happened? At every stage in the process, I put an immense amount of pressure on myself to have the perfect lighting, audio, angle, composition. The editing, I assumed, would have had to be perfect too. But I didnât even get to that point because I gave up shortly after I started. The pressure of perfection was too much.
Then a thought occurred: Holy crap, Iâm committing to making 365 daily videos… How the hell am I going to get a perfect video done every day!?
Thatâs when I made the decision I would focus on completion and not perfection. Just get each dayâs video done, I told myself. From that moment forward I tried to not worry about the perfect anything. If I felt something was wrong Iâd just film a second take or two. If I didnât love how I edited a text overlay on the video, I said Iâd do a better job on the next one. Slowly but surely I got better at making videos. I am 100% aware that my early videos are terrible. But they got completed. And as time went on people started to really enjoy them (which meant more opportunities to get better).
A constant reminder for all of us:Â Done is better than perfect
Iâve seen it work for myself and countless other friends and entrepreneurs over the years. You will not come up with the perfect idea, process, or business. And the pursuit of those things will keep you trapped, scared, and unable to get anything done.
Instead, rethink your priorities. Reframe your thinking. Focus on the path in front of you and make decisions based on what you can complete and then take the next step forward.
As I write this, it’s the first week of 2016.
Itâs a new year, a fresh start, and now is as good a time as any to start living your most vibrant life. So letâs see if we can make that happen, okay? Okay!
Just to recap, last week we talked about taking a departure from the typical resolution mindset and instead of thinking about how to cause a revolution in the way you think about your lifeâa mindset shift that could really make a huge impact on your life one year from today.
Well, this week I want to talk about another practical way that I implement that kind of big change in my thinking at the start of each year.
You may have seen or heard about this approach before, but I like to choose one word as a way to frame up my year and intentionally move forward toward the life that I want. Iâve been doing this since 2012 after getting the idea from a few blogs I followed, and now Jason and I have done this together as a couple for the past two years.
2015’s one-word theme was SAVOR. To me, that word was like a capsule for all of these other things I knew I wanted to fold into my life: a slower pace, sinking into joyful moments, showing gratitude, being fully present, finding contentment in my current circumstances whatever they may be. One of the very definitions of the word savor in fact â which I adore â is âto give oneself to the enjoyment of.â How delightful is that?
I truly believe that by keeping this word (savor)Â top of mind, these concepts were able to truly permeate my year. I found myself (mostly) soaking up a slower pace and really allowing myself to enjoy some of the fruits of my labors rather than living in a perpetual âhustle mode.â (This was, of course, helped along by our decision to move to sunny California where we found ourselves surrounded by natural beauty, gorgeous weather, and so many other happy components to our daily life.)
Fresh off this year of savoring lifeâs best moments, I now find myself ready to evolve that intention to something slightly different. But what?
Well, the past month has served as an incredible time of reflection and clarity as I take a look at my daily life and Made Vibrant as a whole. While so much feels like itâs right where it should be, there are still a few areas where stress or anxiety stubbornly remains.
Thinking about how to improve upon that â and largely influenced by one of my favorite books I read last year, Essentialism by Greg McKeown â the one word I want to contemplate this year is: CURATE.
For me, to curate conjures up the idea of thoughtful reduction. Itâs about selecting and sorting a few quality things from the many. It’s separating the signal from the noise.
Over the past few years, Jason and I have been making gradual strides towards a more minimal lifestyle and Iâve seen such a positive impact on my happiness from a lot of those experiments. Experiments like selling most of my wardrobe (I currently own about 15% of the clothing I used to) or getting rid of all our furniture/possessions when we moved (with the exception of a bed frame, two desks and a love seat we purchased when we moved to California, everything we own can fit inside our VW Tiguan.)
Ridding myself of all that tangible excess led to some interesting discoveries. Not only do a feel like a lighter, freer, more flexible human being because of it, but throughout that process, Iâve also naturally found myself more concerned with seeking out things that are of higher quality.
In the words of Essentialism, it is the simple notion of âLess, but better.â
That mentality has now bled into so many aspects of my life: less but better possessions, less but better opportunities I say yes to, less but better things I decide to focus my energy on.
By focusing on that word, curate, I want 2016 to be about fully assimilating that idea into every aspect of my life — more specifically my business.
Iâm a person who has never found myself hurting for ideas. In fact, I often feel I have far too many ideas. (This will not shock most of you given our history together over the course of these weekly letters.)
The problem with that, however, is that I have this palpable sense of urgency all the time that tells me everything has to be done all at once. As I result, I often find myself working on 15 different things and planting seeds in about 15 different gardens, never fully feeling like Iâm fully able to harvest anything to the best of my ability. To use an illustration from Gregâs book, itâs the difference between this and this:
On that note, recently I was listening to Tim Ferrissâs podcast episode with Derek Sivers, and Tim offhandedly says something to the effect of: âWe often vastly overestimate the number of things we can get done in one day and vastly underestimate the things we can get done in one year.â
That is so true, I thought, thinking immediately of all the times Iâve had a daily to-do list about 10 things long, and only found myself getting around to 1 or 2 of them. This is a direct result of whatâs illustrated above.
âFocus, by definition, requires some elimination. When we try to focus on ‘more’ we often accomplish less.â
Instead, I thought, what if I curate my day more intentionally. In fact, what if I conservatively just give myself ONE to-do item every day. Something I can focus on without the distraction of all my other to-dos. That way, if I get that one big thing done, all the other little things are gravy on top.
And to take that point further: What would happen if curated my relationships â if I focused on maintaining a few of my deep, meaningful friendships instead of feeling guilty over and overwhelmed by trying to keep up with every casual friend and connection I have. What would happen if I more consciously curated the events I attend or the places we travel or the blogs that I read? What if I had a curator’s mindset when selecting the projects Iâm working on at any given time?
Thatâs what I want this year to be an exploration of:Â less, but better.
All of this not in an effort to restrict or restrain myself, but in an effort to trim the chaos down just enough to reveal the quality.
As the girl who wants to do it all and do it all RIGHT NOW, I know it wonât be easy but I think it will be a great experiment nonetheless! I think there’s a time for exploration and expansion and also a time for reduction. Both can serve us at different times in our journeys and right now I’ve found that I can do a lot more with less.
So, my question for you this week is: whatâs your theme word for this year?
What comes to mind when you think of where last year has led you and where you hope to be next January?
Whatever word you choose, itâs my belief that mindful, intentional living is always a recipe for a vibrant year, so I know this exercise will bring you value!
Let’s talk about resolutions.
As I write this, we’re closing in on the last few days of 2015. Itâs possible that many of you are making resolutions as you read this right now. Promises to yourself to read more, exercise more, love more; drink less, worry less, buy less.
And while I believe those intentions are (theoretically) a fantastic way to bring some ownership into your life, this year Iâm feeling a bit like we need something…Â more.
Yes, resolutions can be helpful. Tiny commitments to yourself to get in shape or stay in touch with friends or keep things organized are all good and well. But do you know why the majority of people fall off the wagon? Because they donât take the time to confront the mindsets that cause them to drop the ball on those things in the first place.Â
If you donât take time to understand why youâre lacking in those areas to begin with, then resolutions are just like temporary band-aids. (And, as the great poet Taylor Swift has taught us, band-aids donât fix bullet holes.)
Yep, we need to start a revolution in our own minds. And listen, I know, ârevolutionâ sounds kind of extreme. But I use that word purposefully because it sounds abrupt and important and downright rebellious. Thatâs the kind of change thatâs necessary to stick to something youâve never stuck to in the past.
Think about it, a revolution marks the being of a new era, a different story, a divergence from what came before. If youâre in the boat of people that are looking for that, this could be your ticket.
No longer do I make resolutions, but instead, I look at the year ahead and ask myself what MAJOR (revolutionary) mindset shift could make the biggest impact for me.Â
In other words, I answer this two-part question:
Because if you find a way to flip just one destructive or fear-based script, all those tiny resolutions will pale in comparison to the revolution you can create for your own life over the course of a year.
Now, it might help to give you an example:
At the end of 2013, I found myself completely exhausted with one year of entrepreneurship under my belt. I felt like I was working all the time. I was constantly worried about what other people in my field were doing. And it was creating a major imbalance in the way I lived my life. (No exercise, my mind racing before bed, major anxiety.)
As 2014 approached, instead of resolving to âmake more time for relaxationâ or âwork less on the weekendsâ etc, I knew there was an underlying mindset that had to be dealt with.
Using that trusty two-part question above, I realized that what I wanted MOST was a blend of life and business that allowed me to actually enjoy the perks of running my own business (as opposed to being enslaved by the never-ending list of to-dos.) I wanted a day-to-day that made time for art and hikes and mid-day movies and reading and fun as much as it made time for to-dos and answering emails.
Ultimately what I realized was holding me back from that was this story I kept telling myself that if I didnât take advantage of every opportunity, the business would suffer and ultimately fail.
But, I had to ask myself, was that really true? If I stopped working 10-hour days would things fall apart? And did I really need to be a “six-figure business” like some of the other entrepreneurs I’d seen or could I be content making enough money to support my lifestyle and live as my happiest self? Suddenly I started investigating this story and realized that I had the power to take back control of how I run my business. It takes willpower and practice, but I no longer worry if I pass up an opportunity or if I leave revenue on the table or if someone else has their business on hyperdrive.
Throughout the entire year, when I found myself wanting to take a break or step away from my laptop but my inner guilt/anxiety was rearing its ugly head, I simply repeated to myself: âWhen youâre happy and refreshed, the business thrives.â And that’s the true story.
I can honestly say that was a completely revolutionary concept for me and it led to the happiest and most balanced year of my life. (The irony also being that because I was my happiest, most balanced self, I had more ideas and focus this year than I could have imagined, leading to six-figure business revenue anyway. ?That proves to me that I was right about the business thriving when I’m a balanced version of myself.)
So, now let me ask you, instead of setting resolutions for the new year, is there one major mindset shift that could change the game for you?Â
Try answering the two questions above and see what comes up.
In order to make lasting improvements in our daily lives, we have to continue to understand ourselves better and the things we tell ourselves. I hope this weekâs letter helps you do just that in preparation for the new year!
This article could stop at just telling you to take a 30-day challenge, but Iâd like to give you a few more parameters and share a few 30-day challenge ideas you can do if you donât have any ideas of your own.
If you want to watch a video version of this article, here you go, friend:
What Iâve learned from doing multiple 30-day challenges is that itâs rarely about the daily task and more about what comes from a month of doing something consistently.
My first 30-day challenge was a social media detox. My only intention with that challenge was to stop my obsessive use of Facebook and Twitter. But during those 30 days something unintended happened: I came up with an idea to monetize the podcast I co-hosted, which resulted in over $40,000 in revenue. Talk about an awesome by-product of a 30-day challenge!
A few years ago I set out track my sleep better by committing to wearing and checking a Jawbone UP for 30 days. For 10 days I went to bed at 11pm. Then for 10 days I went to bed at midnight. And for the last 10 days I went to bed at 1am. Not an outrageous 30-day challenge right? What I found during that experience was that I got my best nightâs sleep if I went to bed at 11pm or 1pm. However, if I went to bed at midnight, I had a terrible night of sleep and woke up feeling groggy. We all know how important sleep is, so to be able to learn more about my own sleep cycles in just 30 days was huge.
We all want to lose weight (well, 99% of us). We all want to get better at some skill (writing, reading, exotic carpentry, etc). We all have something we want to improve, but it likely never gets improved because we swing for the fences.
Ideally, your 30-day challenge task should take less than an hour each day. In fact, Iâd recommend picking something you can do in 10-15 minutes per day, especially if youâve never done something consistently for 30 days before.
Example: If you want to exercise more and get in shape during a 30-day challenge, donât try an entirely new crazy workout plan. It requires too much will power and youâll never stick with it (sorry, thatâs real talk). Instead, aim for doing 10-15 minutes of exercise at the same time each day for 30 days. Donât do P90x, Insanity, or any of those things. Do some pushups, chair dips, air squats, climb some stairs, or go for a moderate jog. But keep it at 10-15 minutes per day and use your will power to do it consistently for 30 days straight.
Getting better, honing a skill, or losing weight (in this case), comes with consistency and repetitive effort.
30-day challenges are great for creating new habits, but if you plan on trying to quit something, you must replace the thing youâre quitting with something else.
Example: Letâs say you want to improve your diet and lose weight over the next 30 days. Because you know we need to focus on small achievable tasks, youâre only going to cut soda out of your diet. You arenât going to start eating paleo, bulletproof, the zone, or any other huge diet changes. Instead, youâre going to quit doing one thing that contributes to weight gain (drinking soda) and leave everything else in your diet exactly the way it is for 30 days. Now, youâre probably used to drinking soda during meals or with snacks throughout the day. Donât just quit soda and go straight to water, replace soda with something like Lacroix, Perrier, or coffee/tea (not sweetened tea or sugary coffee drinks, sorry). By creating a replacement for soda, your chances of sticking with quitting it will become exponentially higher in 30 days. Iâd be willing to bet the imaginary farm I donât own that if you drink soda right now and quit it over the next 30 days, you will lose weight and you will feel better.
No matter what you are trying to quit in 30 days, there has to be something to replace the thing youâre removing or youâll fall back into your old habits. Youâll be amazed at how quickly you can create new habits and get rid of (bad) old ones if you use the remove/replace method.
Iâve found that my most successful 30-day challenges donât involve strict measurement. The more things I add to my plate while trying to do something consistently for 30 days, the less likely it is that Iâm actually going to stick with it.
Example: Letâs say you want to commit to doing a 30-day writing challenge. Well, you may want to write 1,000+ words per day, but in all likelihood measuring how much you write each day will sap all your will power and become a point of difficulty when you sit down and try to write each day. Instead, create a minimum for yourself, something like 200 words (which should only take you 10-15 minutes to write – ah ha, see what I did there?). Sit down at the same time each day for 30 days, and write a minimum of 200 words on a pre-determined topic of your choosing (or no topic at all, just vomit your thoughts via the keyboard). What will happen is that youâll find yourself writing 750 words, 1,000 words, maybe even 2,000 words on some days. But because you donât have the pressure of a bigger daily number staring you in the face that you need to keep measuring against, you can actually get your daily challenge accomplished.
We live in a measurement society. To actually accomplish things, itâs important to ignore these metrics at times. Plus, you can always start to analyze and measure things during your second 30-day challenge after your first one.
Maybe you have your own idea of what you want to challenge yourself to do? If so, great, go ahead and skip this section. If you donât, or just want some inspiration, here are a few ideas:
These are just a few ideas. Itâs likely you already have something in mind youâd like to do during a 30-day challenge.
Just remember: Do something achievable!
A couple times a year I take a break from social media. For 30 days I don’t use Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc (I quit Facebook in 2016). All of the social apps will be removed from my phone (all but Instagram currently are) and I consciously replace the time Iâd spend on these social networks reading books, writing, working on my various projects, or doodling in my journals.
I highly believe in the process of taking breaks and I also believe that social media is the next big addiction.
Iâd love to share YOUR 30-day challenge right here in this article! Simply send me an email through the contact page with what 30-day challenge youâre going to embark on. Please note these three simple things if you want your challenge shared here:
By sharing your 30-day challenge publicly, youâll be taking a huge step in being accountable to yourself and sticking with your challenge. Thatâs a great motivator and why I share my own 30-day challenges publicly!
“For the longest time, I would set hopeful New Yearâs Resolutions like everyone else. And for the longest time, I would inevitably forget what my goals were, much less follow through on them. I’m doing 12 side projects in 12 months.” – Yunzhe
“I have a 30 day challenge, I’m leaving Facebook. I have done this in the past but it has always sucked me back in. I’m starting today and hopefully it will never end. At least for now it’s 30 days.” – Dave E.
“My 30 Day Challenge is to set aside 2 hours a day – 1 hour for exercise and 1 hour for reading – the goal is to lose at least 7lbs and read 4 books.” – Paul S.
“I will be doing a 30 Day Challenge of a Social Media Detox. Difficult is an understatement, I connect, teach, and work in social media.” – David K.
“You’ve inspired me to do another 30-day quest. This time it’s a fitness goal. I’m a dancer, so at 60, I still feel and look pretty good, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure so I am planning to workout. I already walk everyday, so I’m going to add this additional activity. 20 minutes daily for the next 30 days.” – Samela
“For the next 30 days I’m going to read an hour daily.” – Joel A
“Sometimes the chaos of the day catches up to my family and we run out of time to read at bedtime. My 30-day challenge will be to read with my kids every single night, without fail, for 30 days.” – Diandra A
“My 30-day challenge is to read a classic book for 30 minutes each day. First ‘Frankenstein’ and then ‘Heart of Darkness.’ There’s isn’t a day better than today, so my dates will be from November 24th to December 24th.” – Aaron O.
“I’m doing a 30 Day Mobility and Stretching Challenge. Jiu Jitsu and lifting have destroyed my flexibility and mobility.” – Brendan H.
“Upon coming home from work and on weekends, instead of first pouring a glass of wine, I will use my rowing machine for 10 mins each day!” – Tami F.
“I have gotten into a bad habit of grabbing fast-food on my way home from work. Although I do not do it everyday, it is more often than I would like. I am challenging myself to stop eating fast-food for the month of December.” – Amy G.
“Spend 15 minutes coloring in a coloring book at the end of the day instead of reading on my phone.” – Devin P.
“Read a chapter of a book and journal for 30 days.” – Alyssa C.
“For 30 days, I will write a minimum of 200 words every day on a novel (not necessarily just 1 novel) and I will be doing this from Nov 27th â Dec 27th.” – Tina C.
“I commit to 10 minutes of physical activity daily for 30 days starting 11/24. It’s a tiny goal, but I know it will make a big difference!” – Helena M.
“My challenge is to read 20 pages every day for the next 30 days. My dates are: November 23 through December 23.” – Anna K.
“My 30-day challenge is to exercise 10-15 minutes per day (November 24 – December 24).” – Alex H.
“My 30 day challenge is to step away from all forms of electronics by 8:30pm every night for 30 days. TV, phone, computer, iPad.” – Jen M.
“I’m going to read 10 pages of a book each day from December 1 to January 1.” – Alice C.
“My 30 day challenge – Do not hit the snooze button when waking up.” – Mark G.
“No sugary foods or drink! No adding sugar to coffee or eating dessert for 30 days. A total sugar detox.” – Roderick S.
“My 30 day challenge will be improving my Russian speaking and if possibly writing/reading skills. My goal is 10-15 minutes a day focusing on reawaken my skills I have lost from my speaking Russian as much as I should.” – Dmitry Y.
“After a long trip relying on social media as communication, it’s time to get away. I plan to find my next adventure in these 30 days.” – Chad K.
“I am already doing around 30 minutes exercise and will build up slowly to 1 hour in the next 30 days. I’m also going to read 1Â hour a day every morning from 7am to 8am. I’ll read non fiction business and biography books.” – Paul S.
“My 30-day challenge is to work on my script, The Fantastic Santa Monaco from November 23-December 23rd for 1 hour per day.” – Alexia A.
“I will be doing a series of strength work (specifically focusing on abs, arms, and back) with each workout at 6pm every day. The exact workout routine will change slightly day to day as I adjust to what my body needs and where weaknesses come up.” – Joel V.
“#30DayChallenge I plan on writing (at least 200 words) every day, and turning two of those each week into Blog posts.” – Seth M.
“I’m going to watch two videos from zenva.com to learn about iOS games, apps, and Swift. I purchased the complete mobile game development course. I’m going to do this at 4:30pm weekdays and 10am weekends.” – Shannon C.
“As of today, November 24,2015, I will exercise for 15 minutes daily. This will include walking, light jogging, jumping jacks, jumping rope, etc.” – Shon E.
“Starting 11/27 my 30 day challenge will be a social media detox. I’ll fill that time with reading and business planning.” – Michael G.
“List one item of clothing or jewelry a day on at least one of my ebay stores.” – Lyla B.
“Each morning from Dec 1 to Dec 31, I will call, text, or email someone important to me to catch up and say I care.â – Melanie M.
“Take a 30 minute walk in nature every day for 30 days.” – Amir A.
“From Nov 25 to Dec 24 I challenge myself to make the space to create with no excuses EVERY SINGLE DAY and will schedule the time to do it. Write/doodle/journal/draw/develop – No matter what – just create!” – Bec J.
“My 30 day challenge in prep for Kilimanjaro – 20 mins walking per day and no milky coffee!!!!” – Gill D.
“I’ll stay away from facebook for the next 30 days. I have done this before but never got so much out of it. This time i want to develop a habit of book reading.” – Sajan S.
“My 30-Day Challenge is to write no less than 200 words per day from December 1-December 30. With any luck (and conscious effort), that’ll turn into a habit that I will maintain (and surpass) going forward long after the 30 days is complete.” – Ben L.
“My 30 day challenge is to do daily character sketches to increase my skill in creating illustrations. I’m also doing daily writing and reading, as well as publishing weekly articles on medium.com.” – Robert B.
“I’ll be reading 20 pages on Human Centered Design for the next 30 days. Thanks for inspiring me to finally start getting into the pile of books next to my desk!” – Nick R.
“I am posting a daily journal on Medium on my first full month as a full-time entrepreneur.” – Amber M.
“My 30 day challenge is to write in my journal on a daily basis. It was a way to develop my writing skill but as a self-reflection. I want to know myself. I want to jot down my own thoughts and ideas.” – Sne N.
“I will invite three people daily to join my film society from Dec. 10 – Jan 10. I’m already in the middle of a personal year-to-live project with limited time remaining. Building an email list within 30 days brings an opportunity to go after what I want while creating the kind of life I can look back on with a sense of satisfaction.” – Nicole A.
“My 30-Day challenge is to help one person every day. Even if it’s just with a re-tweet or answering a question. I would like to connect to people more; I’ve been so busy lately.” – Violeta N.
“For the next 30 days I’m doing 2 things: Thing 1: no sugar based soda Thing 2: walking 1 mile a day 5 days a week.” – Lori G.
“I’m embarking on a 30-Day Challenge to write 250+ words per day, so I can launch my blog when the month is up.” – Pamela H.
“I’m going to try two different challenges: talking to my family about more than plans for at least 15 minutes each day, as well as reading one article of National Geographic each day.” – Casey R.
As I was preparing for the event, I thought about all the different things I wanted to say. All the important lessons that changed my life that I felt could be “ideas worth spreading.”
I thought about doing research and have a carefully crafted story arc and finding some earth-shattering insight that no one had ever thought of before like all my favorite talks I’ve seen. I wanted to say something worthy enough for a TEDx stage.
And then, after I had obsessed about it so much that I considered not even showing up at all, I finally said:
Screw it. I’m just going to get up there and tell my story.
So that’s what I did.
See, I haven’t always been an artist. And I haven’t always been comfortable taking the road less traveled.
In fact, for most of my childhood and early adulthood, I suppressed my creativity every chance I got so that I could spend my time on the pursuits that I learned were seen as more “successful.” Things like getting good grades or starting a prestigious career. It wasn’t until one simple question opened me up to the possibility of being a more authentic version of myself that I really started my life as the best and brightest version of my true self.
You can hear more about my story in my talk (click the image below to view), and all the slides were painted/created by me.
Whatever you are — artist or not — I hope my short story here gives you the encouragement you need to live out ALL your various colors in the brightest, most vibrant ways possible.
Why so many of us often have these wishes and desires to improve our lives, yet fall just short of taking action (myself very much included.)
How many times have you thought to yourself:
I want to be a better friend.
I want to make more time for my art.
I want to read more books.
I want to brush up on my Italian.
I want to travel the world.
I want to do something today to make someone else feel better.
How many times have you had that thought in your car at a stoplight, in bed before you fall asleep, after watching a touching video online, after having a conversation with a friend, after hearing someone inspiring speak?
And how many times has that thought then vanished into the ether without some sort of action to tether it to reality?
If weâre talking about meâŠÂ itâs hundreds if not thousands of times.Â
There are so many things in my life that I WANT. Even things I know I need, things that I know will bring immense value to me, but inevitably I fall just short of putting those things into practice. Because itâs hard to change our everyday behavior without making at least one significant intentional action.
If you want to read more books, maybe thatâs picking out one book a month and blocking out 30 minutes on your Google Cal with an alarm to your phone.
If you want to be a better friend, maybe thatâs writing down the five friends that you want to have for life and sending one of them a letter each week for the next five weeks.
Whatever that aspiration is, if you want it to be real, you have to ACTIONIZE it. (Yep, I just made up a word. Actionize. But honestly, Iâm surprised it doesnât exist yet because I think we all need a LOT more actionizing in our lives.)
âIntentional actions form the only bridge to lead our aspirations out of our heads and into reality.â
It may seem overly simple, but I believe THIS is the thing so many of us struggle with. We have dreams and ideas and goals and desires, but dreaming is so much easier than acting, isnât it?
And yet I believe that if we can adjust our internal settings so that weâre just a little bit more biased to action, we can make some amazing things happen in our lives.
Yesterday morning I was in bed reading Essentialism, and the book was talking about giving yourself time and space to think. It suggested using an Out Of Office reply to curb your email monster, and I thought, Man, I should really put an auto-responder up for the month of December while Iâm on creative hiatus. Just something to give myself the space to not feel beholden to my inbox when Iâm supposed to be creating freely.
In the past, I wouldâve had this thought and may or may not have acted on it later. But with this perspective fresh in my head, I dropped the book right then and there, opened my laptop and drafted the auto-response. I took one significant, intentional action to bring that desire to fruition. (And can I just say, it felt amazing! It was so satisfying to grab a potentially fleeting thought and take action on it.)
So.. hereâs the how-to. Are you ready?
When you find yourself starting a statement with âI really wishâŠ.â or âI want toâŠâ or âMy life could use a lot moreâŠâ make sure that your next question is this:
What’s ONE SMALL ACTION I can take in the next five minutes to bring this further into reality?
AKA How do I âŠÂ actionize this aspiration?
Commit to asking yourself this question for the next week and see how satisfying it feels to act on all those tiny desires that pop into your head.
