Well, the verdict is in: AI is here to stay and it's changing everything.

And not in a "Terminator rise of the machines" sort of way (I wish)...

But suffice it to say that everything you read, watch, or consume will be partially or fully created by AI in a few years.

Honestly, it probably already is.

(I mean, did you see Rebel Moon??)

If this is upsetting, and you hate me for saying this, now is a good time to close your browser (and go outside and practice your best grounding pose).

BUT!...

...if you get a little tingle in your loins that maybe this is true, and you're wondering what to do about it, keep reading.

So I've been working on a ***redacted***....

(super secret AI project)

...and in the process, I discovered some interesting things about AI...and business...and humanity, and I wanted to share them with you (well color me a modern-day Thoreau).

Here are my thoughts, in no particular order:

Insight #1. AI is here, Mr. Burton

Whether you like it or not, every major brand, company, and organization is already using AI to improve efficiency, streamline workflows, and speed up solution implementation.

Newspeak translation: below-average white-collar workers are getting the axe (or will soon).

I don't see this happening quickly or all at once. And it will be more of a tightening up than a mass exodus. But already I can see that companies are looking to cut the fat and do more with less, and that's where AI comes in...

Insight #2. AI is slang for AI

AI is a catch-all term. In our current lexicon, "AI" basically means anything you want it to mean.

This is amusing to me because all of these "features" have been around for years (decades?), yet here we are.

So while AI can be whatever you want it to be, here's what it's NOT:

AI is not AUTONOMOUS. And most 'AI' isn't even a 'learning computer' in any sense of the term...a better way to think about it is like a very advanced set of APIs that communicate with one another, and allow you to control them through the written (or spoken) word.

Practical? Sure.

"Artificial Intelligence?" Will Smith would slap you for a lesser claim.

Insight #3. AI - Fad or Fiction?

The AI 'fad' is no fad. The significance and utility of these AI tools are REAL (unlike NFTs).

That being said, it's totally hyped up.

And like all major 'hype cycles', this one is most certainly engineered by a handful of powerful people who generate billions by such hype (but we can't name names because, well...that's just rude, you see).

So while the hype (gravy) train will end, AI will still be with us (not like his dead cousin who was found in a ditch a few months ago -- RIP NFTs)

Insight #4. How to capitalize on AI (right now, and later)

There are ways to capitalize on AI in the short and long term.

In the short term: there are things that AI tools can speed up and do, that require a TON less manpower than they did before.

So if you're in the industry of creating social media content, or SEO, or transcriptions, or repurposing of materials, etc. -- basically, if you run an agency -- these tools can do all the grunt work for you.

Your job is just to be the Geppeto that puts it all together.

(and if we learned anything from that movie, it's that you should NOT send your AI off alone to do tasks in the world...or to public school)

In the long-term:

What can you do that is uniquely human? Lean into that.

AI won't replace people.

...It will replace lazy people. And maybe some dumb people...

But there's absolutely no way someone will choose AI over an experienced trainer, or coach, or consultant, or practitioner of anything. Not when serious money or life and death are on the line.

And it goes without saying that there's absolutely no replacing any blue-collar job that requires hands and brains at the same time (no amount of Boston Dynamic CGI could convince me otherwise).

So yeah, there it is.

AI is here. It's here to stay. And it's comin' for ya...

So the question is -- what are you gonna do about it?

Welcome to the meat grinder.

(but maybe not really...)

Tom "AI Ideations" Morkes

For more content like this, join the newsletter (it's good. and free. and written by a HU-MON BE-ING...see? no way an AI would get away with so many spelling, capitalization, and grammar errors - or be so... uncouth).

This is a guest post by Paul Minors, a productivity expert. Follow him on Twitter.


My name is Paul and like you I’m really interested in the idea of self-improvement, productivity and achieving more.

I currently work a 9am-5pm job and am building my website and business on the side. I’ve spent the last few years building my own successful productivity “system” that allows me to achieve the goals I set for myself and do more.

In this article, I'm going to give you the system I've developed to help you do more, achieve more, and become more by becoming more productive in just 7 days.

Productivity is a superhuman skill.

By this I mean productivity is one of the most important skills you can master because when you become more productive, you can improve almost any area of your life.

Fundamentally, productivity is a tool for getting more out of life.

If there’s something you want to do, someone you want to be or something you want to have, productivity will help you get those things faster.

That's why I encourage you to take action and make a real effort to improve your personal output by blocking out 15-30 minutes each day for the next 7 days and set this time aside for referring back to this post and applying the action steps.

If you’d like to receive this advice via email, you can sign up to the 7-Day Productivity Plan here, or download this article as a PDF:

This is what you can expect over the next 7 days (split into two primary sections - effectiveness and efficiency):

EFFECTIVENESS (doing the right work):

EFFICIENCY (doing the work right):

DAY ONE: WHAT IS PRODUCTIVITY?

To kick things off, we’re going to clearly define what productivity actually is. When you know what productivity is (and isn’t) it becomes a lot easier to create a productive lifestyle and optimise your routine. Understanding what productivity is will instantly put you ahead of 95% of people out there who think they’re being productive, but actually have no idea.

Productivity is your ability to increase your effectiveness and efficiency. When you do this, you can make faster and better quality progress towards your goals. Let’s break this down:

Effectiveness (goal orientation) – Effectiveness is your ability to make progress towards a goal or outcome. This is why setting goals is so important. A goal lets you measure whether you’re being productive or just active. The person in the example above might be productive if his goal is to sign new clients for his company and he’s just responded to 100 leads. But if the emails have nothing to do with his goals (which is often the case with email), he’s potentially not being as effective as he could be. Effectiveness is all about choosing what to focus on.

Efficiency (process orientation) – If effectiveness is doing the right kind of work, efficiency is doing the work the right way i.e. it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. Or put another way, if you’re on the right path towards your goal, efficiency is how quickly you walk the path. If it took the person in the example a week to respond to his 100 leads, this is less efficient than someone who can respond to 100 leads an hour. Efficiency highlights why setting goals and being effective is crucial to get right first. If you jump straight to efficiency (which a lot of people do) all you’re doing is working on the wrong things quickly – which is a complete waste of time.

There are three key pillars of productivity that you need to master if you want to be more effective and efficient; time, energy and attention. Check out my venn diagram – productivity is the overlap where your time, energy and attention all work together and contribute to more effective and efficient work.

PaulMinors - 4V2

  1. You may be good at managing your time and energy but can’t focus your attention, in which case you won’t be productive as you get distracted easily.
  2. You may be good at managing your time and attention but don’t have much energy, in which case you won’t be productive as you can’t sustain your effort throughout the day.
  3. You may be good at managing your attention and energy, but can’t manage your time, in which case you won’t be productive as you’re not setting aside the time needed to complete a task.

So, here’s the real geeky bit; if we were going to write productivity as a formula (I told you), this is what it would look like:

TIME + ENERGY + ATTENTION = EFFECTIVENESS + EFFICIENCY

ACTION STEPS (15 – 30 minutes)

  1. Start having a think about your goals and clearly defining what it is you’re trying to achieve. It’s a good idea to break these up between your personal and professional goals. These goals become your yardstick for measuring productivity. We’ll look more at goal setting on day two, for now, just start having a think.
  2. Write the above formula on a post-it note and put it somewhere you’ll see it often. Refer to it when you find yourself struggling to hit those targets. Work out which areas you’re failing in and you’ll soon be back on that path of effectiveness and efficiency.
  3. Set an alarm on your phone to go off 2-3 times a day. I call this a “Mental Check-In” and have alarms set for 11:00am, 2:30pm and 5:30pm. Whenever the alarm goes off, ask yourself: “Am I being effective, or just active?”. Doing this is going to make you more mindful of what you’re doing and bring you back to the present moment. The objective is to remind yourself to work on the right things i.e. Are you making progress towards your goals, or are you filling time with less important tasks or procrastinating from making that awkward phone call? Keep coming back to this idea of effectiveness and goal orientation. We’re going to be adding to these “Mental Check-Ins” later, but for now, just ask yourself this question regularly throughout the day.

DAY TWO: SETTING YOUR GOALS

The Importance of Goals

Goals are extremely important when it comes to creating a productive routine:

When we think about goals, it’s good to have long and short-term goals to work towards. i.e. what are your goals for the next 12, 6 and 3 months? What about this week? What about today? Let’s first look at creating a long-term vision which will help you create your short-term goals.

Create a Vision

A vision is a picture of what you want your life to look like and is going to help you define your short-term goals. Follow the following process to create a specific and actionable vision:

  1. Define your short-term goal and time frame. e.g. “I want to build a photography website and be earning $1,000 a month in 3 months time.”
  2. Define your time budget e.g. “I’ll spend 15 hours a week on this project.”
  3. Define your long-term goal that will be the result of your short-term goal e.g. “I want to quit my job and travel more.”

Put it all together:

“My goal is to build a photography website, work 15 hours a week and be earning $1,000 a month in 3 months time. I’ll continue like this until I can increase my website revenue until I can cover my living expenses. I’ll then quit my job and take my side project full time and start traveling within the next 6 months.” 

Notice how this goal has very little to do with being more productive. Your goal is your WHY i.e. it’s why you do what you do. Productivity is HOW you achieve this.

Once you have a vision for what you want to achieve in the long-run, this can be used to plan and prioritise your monthly, weekly and daily goals.

Short-Term Goals

I recommend people set about 2-3 goals per week but feel free to chop and change this as you see fit. A weekly goal could be one simple thing that needs to be done, or it could include smaller tasks that make up your daily tasks. For example, if your weekly goal is to write a blog post, then your daily tasks could be things like: writing the first draft, creating a header image, publishing the post and promoting the post on social media.

When deciding what you’re going to do on a weekly and daily basis, don’t try and do too much. You need to budget time for inevitable setbacks and distractions. The other advantage of not over committing like this is that you can set yourself up for success by making sure you can get everything done in the time you have.

When creating your short-term goals remind yourself of your vision and use this to define the smaller steps that need to be completed to reach this outcome. For example, if you long-term vision is to create an online business, your daily or weekly goals could be:

Apps like Asana or a simple reminders app on your phone can be extremely useful for planning your days and week.

ACTION STEPS (30 – 60 minutes)

DAY THREE: DISSECTING YOUR GOALS

Having goals is great gives you a sense of purpose, creates motivation and helps you decide what to work on next. Often we’re told to challenge ourselves and set the bar really high; this encourages us to set even bigger goals. This is great, until you get hit by the feeling that your goals are unattainable and the whole process of working towards them now seems incredibly daunting. When this happens productivity goes out the window and the idea of quitting can appear more and more attractive. The secret to overcoming this feeling is to take a different approach towards how you treat and tackle a goal. Instead of working towards a due date, work on a schedule. To do this, we must dissect and break down the goal into its individual components.

In ‘The 4-Hour Chef’ author and productivity guru Tim Ferriss (also one of my favourite writers) takes you through the process of meta learning – i.e. how to learn new skills extremely quickly. Tim introduces the acronym, DiSSS, which can be used to learn just about anything. The funny thing is that learning something is a bit like having a goal. After all, when you take up a skill your goal is to learn something new right? We can apply DiSSS to goals and break them down into their component parts and schedule them for maximum efficiency.

To illustrate how DiSSS applies to goals I’m going to use the example of writing an essay because it’s easy to understand and most people can relate to it. Your essay brief might sound something like this: 4,000 words on productivity due in 2 weeks. For some people, this might sound like a pretty intimidating goal. But when we break it down and schedule the time to complete the essay, it becomes a lot more achievable and far less daunting.

Here we go:

DECONSTRUCTION – What would you consider to be the most essential steps required  to write a good essay? They’d probably look something like:

Each of these seven components are necessary steps that need to be taken to achieve the goal.

SELECTION – Parkinson’s Law states: “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. This basically means that no matter how much time you allocate to a task, you will do enough work to fill that amount of time. Imagine you only had 24 hours to write this essay. What steps would you absolutely have to do in order to get the essay completed? You’d probably have to skip the research and planning and jump straight to writing the introduction, body and conclusion. Once you finish there may not be time to work on a second and final draft. The seven steps identified above can be reduced to three absolute essentials. The three that are left are the 20% that are going to contribute to 80% of the outcome. That’s not to say you shouldn’t work on the other steps, but

SELECTION creates a sense of priority amongst the individual components.

SEQUENCING – When writing an essay, it makes sense to conduct the research before you start drafting the essay. Then when you start, it’s most logical to write the introduction first before continuing with the body and conclusion. Organising the individual components into the correct sequence will create a workflow which you can then scheduled into a calendar. In this example, the sequence is fairly obvious. But imagine your goal is to create a website, what do you need to do first before anything else?

STAKES – Finally you need to set the stakes. Obviously the due date for the essay is a big one. But what about the grade you’d like to achieve? For an extra incentive why not make a bet with a friend and if you don’t reach your target grade you have to undergo some consequence. Creating stakes is where the motivation comes from and it’s what keeps you focused on your end goal. A friend of mine had the goal of moving out within 3 months, so I encouraged him to create some stakes. He decided to start paying his parents rent if he didn’t move out within his target timeframe. Stakes create motivation!

Now that the goal has been dissected and the components have been prioritised, everything can be combined into a schedule. This means simply going through the sequence and setting aside blocks of time for each component. Working backwards from the due date is a good start. In this example you may want to have the essay done at least two days before it’s due, working backwards from here you might allow 2 hours for the final re-draft on one day, an hour for each paragraph on previous days and 4 hours for research at the beginning (and so on). Once you get everything into a schedule it’s amazing how much stress goes away. This is because you can clearly see how much time has been budgeted for the goal and the necessary steps are now scheduled in the correct order. Putting this plan in place boosts your productivity as you spend less time working out what to do next and more time doing the work.

ACTION STEPS (30 minutes)

DAY FOUR: MANAGE YOUR TIME LIKE A PRO

David Allan, productivity expert and author of “Getting Things Done”, outlines the necessity to get tasks and goals out of your head and into a trusted system. This system needs to trigger information to be recalled at the right time and place. This is exactly what we’re going to work on today; building a system that’s going to capture and hold all your to-dos and commitments.

Task Management

By dissecting your goals, you can work out the steps necessary to completing a project or task. These components form the basis of your weekly or even daily goals (i.e. to-do’s). To-do list apps like Asana are fantastic for planning your tasks, especially if you’re working in a team. Here’s what my Asana task list looks like:

PaulMinors - 3V2

No matter what task management app you choose to use you can add structure to your to-do list with the following sections. How you group them is going to depend on the tool or app you use. Some apps use labels, others use tags. Just make sure you pick an app that will let you group tasks in the following ways:

TODAY – These are all the tasks you want to complete today.

NEXT ACTIONS – Next actions are the smaller tasks that aren’t tied to a particular due date. They are the things that you’d like to do when you get a chance.

WAITING – When you’re waiting for something to happen or someone to respond before you can complete a task, the task can be marked as “Waiting”. This section is useful as it separates the actionable tasks that you need to work on from the tasks that you’re waiting on.

THIS WEEK – These are the tasks you plan on addressing in the current week. For me, my week ends on Sunday, so anything I plan on doing on or before Sunday goes into this section. This section basically forms your weekly goals and gives you a view of everything you hope to achieve in the upcoming week.

NEXT WEEK – These are the tasks you plan on doing next week. It’s good to have these grouped together so that you can think ahead about what’s coming up in the near future. It’s also handy when you think of new tasks to quickly move things to your next week section if you want to come back to them later.

Find a to-do list manager that works for you and use it to plan your days. I strongly recommend Asana as it allows you to create this workflow and set due dates so that tasks move through the system seamlessly. Ultimately it’s more important to find a tool or system that works for you.

Time Management

Once you’ve worked out on what days tasks are going to be completed you need to allocate blocks of time in your calendar to show at what time during the day you’re going to work on them. Here’s a snapshot of my calendar:

PaulMinors - 2V2

The tasks in you to-do lists should correspond to a block of time on your calendar. Even small 15-30 minute tasks get a block of time. Planning your day like this has a number of benefits. Firstly, it lowers your stress as you can clearly see that important tasks have been given a time slot. No more: “oh, I have to remember to do X and Y” as you’ve allocated time to come back to it later. Your calendar moves from being a tool for organising meetings and remembering key dates to a tool for planning your time. This is beneficial as means you don’t waste energy working out what to do next (more on this “decision fatigue” in tomorrow’s lesson). Instead you can move from one task to another with minimal switching costs i.e. the cost of refocusing your mind and working out what to do.

Putting something in your calendar is like making a promise to yourself that you’ll do something. This makes you more likely to complete the task later. With these promises in place your calendar creates a filter for managing distractions. For example, when someone distracts you, or you feel tempted to divert from your schedule, you can refer back to your daily calendar to remind yourself of what’s important. Or if someone tries to schedule a meeting when you’ve planned to do some work, you can politely say: “Sorry, I already have a commitment at that time, how about X”.

ACTION STEPS (30 minutes)

DAY FIVE: MAXIMIZE YOUR ENERGY

Energy is a massive topic and there are lots of things you can do to increase your energy. We’re going to focus on three key areas: sleep, exercise and diet. Unfortunately in this course we can only touch on these areas very briefly, but we’ll cover some quick-wins that are easy to implement and guaranteed to improve the quality of your energy.

There’s no magic button you can press to increase your energy. By making lots of small changes and adopting new habits, you can take the steps towards necessary to increase your energy levels. Each of the steps below will add up and work together to create a much more productive, healthy and enjoyable lifestyle.

Sleep

Sleep is often the first thing that gets sacrificed when people are busy. They think by sleeping less and working more they’ll be more productive. This is a big ‘NO’. Sleep deprivation makes you slower, less creative, more stressed and generally under-perform. On the flip side, high quality sleep improves your immune system, balances your hormones, boosts your metabolism, increases your energy and improves brain function. A study published in The Lancet proved that sleep deprived individuals take on average 14% longer to complete tasks and make 20% more mistakes. This definitely isn’t productive.

There are lots of recommendations around how much sleep is necessary. Ultimately it comes down to what works for the individual. I aim for 7.5 hours in total each night which is exactly 5 sleep cycles (90 min each). By waking up at the right time i.e. at the top of a sleep cycle, you wake up feeling more refreshed and ready for the day. You should also ensure you are sleeping between the hours of 10pm and 2am. as studies have shown that restoration and hormones secretion is most effective during this time. This means that even if you get the same amount of sleep but miss this window, you’re more likely to wake up feeling sluggish in the morning.

Finally, don’t keep your body up into the early hours of the morning and think you can “catch up” later. Your sleep needs to be consistent if you want to get the most benefit. I aim to sleep from 9:30pm – 5:00am window. This means I can get up at 5am and do an hour of quality undisturbed work the next day before hitting the gym. This 5:00am – 6:00am window is one of my favourite times of the day to work and certainly the most productive. I strongly recommend you give it a try.

“Timing your sleep is like timing an investment in the stock market – it doesn’t matter how much you invest, it matters when you invest.” – Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary

Exercise

There’s no arguing with the fact that exercise is crucial for a healthy lifestyle and boosting your energy. Scheduling a workout for the morning can be a great way of starting the day and setting your body up for success. Cortisol (the energy giving hormone) is highest in the morning to encourage activity and exercise. Studies show that morning exercise is more beneficial for your sleep and energy levels compared to working out in the afternoon or evening.

Working out may not seem like it has a direct impact on productivity. But by looking after your body and keeping healthy you’ll take fewer sick days, maximise your energy and improve your focus and attention. Make sure you get regular exercise during the week and you’ll very quickly start to realise the benefits this has on productivity.

In terms of how much exercise you should be getting, I like to aim for 4 workouts a week that contain a mix of cardio and resistance work. If you can’t commit to this don’t worry, something is better than nothing.

A final piece of advice I like to recommend is to go for a 10 to 15 minute walk during the day. Going for a walk is a great way of getting oxygen to the brain, clearing your mind, de-stressing you and it gives you time to reflect and plan your next move. Schedule time for your walks in your calendar.

Diet

Consuming a quality diet is another essential element necessary for maximising your energy. Breakfast in particular is arguably the most important meal of the day and yet so many people are skipping this meal as they run out of time in the mornings. This is one of the worst things you can do in terms of productivity as your body is literally in starvation mode having not eaten for 10 or so hours. By depriving your body of energy you’re reducing your body’s ability to focus and depleting crucial brain power.

If you’re guilty of skipping breakfast this has to stop NOW! Making a quality breakfast like scrambled  eggs on toast can literally take less than 4 minutes in the microwave. There really is no excuse for missing this meal. Focus on whole foods in the morning i.e. natural ingredients, not processed food and stay clear of sugar and cereals. Scrambled eggs on whole grain toast is a great breakfast and the perfect recovery meal after a morning workout. Protein shakes or oats with a banana are also great ways of setting yourself up for the day.

Throughout the day be sure to avoid sugary processed foods whenever you can. These sugary treats give you a short-term buzz and you might think they help you “get through” the afternoon. But it’s much more sustainable to consume a slow releasing and quality source of energy like fat.

ACTION STEPS

The action steps below, while small small, can add up to big improvements in your energy levels and productivity. Remember, there’s no magic button you can switch on to increase your energy. But lots of little changes can work together and add up to better productivity.

DAY SIX: FOCUS YOUR ATTENTION

Have you ever had one of those days when you have a to-do list of jobs you’d like to complete only to find 5pm rolling around and you’ve barely touched the first one? Distractions can ruin productivity as can our own brain and its natural tendency to wander off. Today we’ll look at tactics for managing with distractions and focusing your attention.

In order to focus your attention, we’re going to look at three key areas: decision fatigue, email and meditation.

Decision Fatigue

Every time you have to make a decision, whether it’s deciding what to work on, what to eat or what to wear, you give up some of your mental energy – focus and creativity in particular are sacrificed. As you continue with your day, your willpower decreases as this mental energy decreases; this is why you often find you get a lot more done in the mornings. People like Steve Jobs, Barrack Obama and Albert Einstein like to wear the same thing every day to combat this. While I think this is a little extreme, you have to respect their commitment to optimizing mental power.

Make sure you have your #1 goal for the day worked out the night before. Don’t spend the first 10 minutes of your day planning what to do. Remember what we said a few days ago – leave time for planning each afternoon to decide what you’re next day is going to look like. You can then get up early and start working on your #1 goal before anything else, while your brain power is at its greatest.

Leave any “autopilot” tasks for the afternoon so that you’re not wasting brainpower on tasks that doesn’t require it. You’ll now see the beauty of having a complete calendar is that it eliminates the need to ask yourself: “what should I work on next?” as you’ve already planned your time based on your priorities. You move from one task to the other very quickly and without contributing to decision fatigue.

By lowering decision fatigue, you can focus for longer throughout the day and reduce task-switching which takes up valuable time. You’ll also find yourself getting less distracted as your strengthened willpower keeps you on task.

Email

So many of us spend ages going through emails, replying to each and every one and wasting hours of otherwise productive time. Remember, email is everyone else’s agenda for your time and you shouldn’t let email run your day. Chances are the emails you’re replying to aren’t contributing to your goals and yet this is where so many of us spend the majority of our working days. It’s time to take a different approach to email.

First off, don’t sort or reply to your email before 10am. Focus on your most important goal first thing each day. Your email can wait and even is someone needs you urgently, they can alway call or come and see you if they need to. If you need to, scan your Inbox for anything that’s urgent or related to your goals, otherwise it can wait until you’re ready. Better yet, schedule time in your day for email and try holding yourself to it. You’ll be amazed out how much time gets freed up when you start doing this. Batch your replies to these dedicated time slots 2 or 3 times a day and see what it does to your productivity.

Keep your Inbox organised and free of clutter. The simplest way to do this is to “Archive” a message or conversation once it’s complete. This leaves only the emails that need to be actioned on. When you reach a moment in your schedule to address your email, you can quickly scan this list of outstanding emails to determine what needs to be replied to or actioned upon – If so add it to the corresponding day or the “Next Week” section in your to-do list. You’ll come back to this later.

Meditation

You may be wondering why I’ve decided to talk about meditation in a productivity course? Here’s why:

I’ve been meditating for the last few months and WOW! I’ve noticed drastic improvements in my focus, I feel calmer, less stressed and more content each day. I highly recommend you get started with meditation which will improve your productivity and contribute to a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

Getting started is super easy using the Headspace app. Headspace is a gym membership for your brain and is probably the most popular meditation app around. It takes a scientific approach to meditation. Headspace starts with Take 10 which eases you into meditation with 10 minutes a day for 10 days. Learn more about the benefits of meditation and the science that backs it up at www.headspace.com/science.

ACTION STEPS

DAY SEVEN: YOUR NEW ROUTINE

Your Daily Routine

When you refer to the table below, remember that this is just a guide. Your routine is going to be specific to you and the time you allocate to goals may be longer or shorter than what’s shown here. But this should give you a good foundation from which you can build and customise your own productive routine.

PaulMinors - 1V2

Your weekly Routine

On a Friday or Sunday afternoon, review everything in the “Next Week” section of your task management app and schedule time to complete these tasks during the upcoming week. You’ll often find that the main goals for each day will be worked out during this time, so during your end of day planning process you may simply review your calendar as you’ve already decided what you’re going to be working on each day. During this planning time, clearly define your goals for the following week and the smaller action steps you’ll need to complete to reach them.

If you like working on side-projects like me, spend a few minutes on Sunday afternoon planning what you’d like to achieve in your free time. Plan when are you going to work on your personal goals. An ideal time would be 5:00 – 6:00am. You may also wish to spend a few hours in the evening working on these side-projects. Plan this all out on Sunday, add your personal goals to your to-do list and schedule the necessary blocks of time in your calendar.

Your Quarterly Routine

It’s a good idea to review your goals about once every three months. Set this up in your calendar to repeat every quarter and take this time to review and plan your goals. Have a look at the vision you created earlier and tweak if necessary. Ask yourself if you are on track to meet your goals. Reviewing your goals every quarter like this is a lot more effective than doing it once a year like a lot of people do. By reviewing your productivity every 90 days you can make changes quicker than if you were only doing this once a year.

ACTION STEPS

Summary + Take Your Productivity to the Next Level

So there you have it.

This simple 7 day program will help you dramatically increase your productivity.

I hope you found this 7 day productivity plan useful.

Let me know in the comments below your biggest takeaway from today's lesson. I'd love to hear from you!

Have you found your true calling?

Seriously, have you?

I know this question can come off sounding corny...

After all, "finding a calling" sounds like something only hippies and hipsters (cousin of hippy) have time to ponder (over cups of latte or green juice, I'm sure).

For the rest of us who are trying to make a living, a calling is just another "nice idea" that won't put bread on the table...

Or maybe not.

Maybe when we fully understand what a calling is - a deeply ingrained, virtuous drive to make ourselves and this life better...

And we recognize the people who have truly, fully lived their calling (people like Mother Theresa, C.S. Lewis, Michael Collins, and so many others)...

Maybe then we can fully grasp that this "nice idea we can safely ignore" is anything but.

Maybe then we'll realize that any time we spend outside of pursuing our calling...

That thing we were meant to do....

That we were BORN to do...

Is just us hiding in fear and shadows.

And perhaps then we'll realize a life lived as merely a shadow of our true self is the source of the greatest misery in the world.

(and no doubt what inspired Thoreau's famous words: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”)

So back to the question:

Have you found your calling?

If the answer is "no" or "not yet," that's fine.

Life has a funny way of making us work for the things that matter.

That said, finding your calling doesn't have to make you feel like you're running around in circles, chasing your own tail.

There are three things you must do to find your calling:

1. Determine that thing you were meant to do. Not Joe Schmoe or Jill Whocares - you. And yes, it requires a choice (usually a hard one). The good news is: you already know exactly what it is...

2. Shift your mindset so that it's not a pipe dream, but something instantly, palpably attainable.

3. Take action to do and become this thing for which you were created.

Of course, that last part is tricky.

It means diving head first into that terrible place of fear, uncertainty, and potential failure...that dreadful "no mans land" between our deepest aspirations and our greatest potential.

This is not easy...

And it is not without sacrifice...

But you can take comfort in knowing life isn't lived in a vacuum, and you are not alone.

There are thousands if not millions of others on this quest, just like you, who yearn, seek, and strive daily to find and live their calling...

And believe it or not: many of them have.

Here's why this is important:

Because it is through these success stories that you'll find the energy, direction, and encouragement you need to become what you must and to do what you were born to do.

So if you have not yet found your calling, I implore you to do three things:

1. Start today seeking out the people who have done the things you aspire to do (and more importantly: have the depth of character you ultimately desire in yourself).

2. Start today learning from them, soaking up whatever knowledge you can to use for your personal journey (remember: every great master was once an apprentice).

3. Start today to become the person you were born to be.

Life is much too precious and you're much too smart to wait until it's too late.

Whatever you do: start today.

How can you turn an idea into a business:

  1. if you don’t have a “technical” skill (i.e. you’re not an engineer or programmer)?
  2. if you don’t have a lot of money (nor do you want to spend a lot of money to get the idea started)?
  3. if you want to get it up and running without going all in and putting your life (or credit) on the line for it?

That’s what Jon Nastor, ex-punk rocker turned entrepreneur and founder of Velocitypage.com, wanted to know.

And for the past 12 years, Jon has been actively answering this question.

Here’s a direct quote from Jon’s Clarity.fm consulting page:

I have been an entrepreneur for 12 years and full-time online for 3. I have built, from the ground up, 6 different SaaS products --- all with zero technical ability. I have built multiple businesses from zero to $45k/month+ recurring revenues, with no debt and no financing.

How is this possible, though?

Conventional wisdom tells us we need to master the skill or trade we want to make a profession out of, or that we need lots of money or financing to build something profitably.

But here’s Jon, a person who self admits to having “zero” technical ability, yet he’s started multiple businesses with no debt or financing.

What is Jon doing differently that allows him to succeed where so many others fail? (more…)

Last month I got an email from a friend. After 6 months of hustle, she's throwing in the towel.

Why?

I felt bad. I hate seeing people fail.

I hate it even more when a project fails that hasn't been properly validated in the marketplace.

In my friend's case, she had only tried one option. It didn't work, so she closed it down.

Surely there must be another way...

Only the Strong Agile Survive

Granted, not all projects are worthwhile. Some simply aren't economically viable.

nev - The 3 Step Pivot Framework: How to Turn Failure into Success

Others might be able to sustain themselves through whatever means (force, trust fund, etc.), but to what end (the excruciatingly slow death of the postal service comes to mind)?

But the reality is: you can't know whether a project is worthwhile from the first failure (not if you want to eventually build something that lasts).

So I told my friend that she shouldn't shut down just yet. Instead, she should pivot.

(more…)

220px Punishment sisyph - The 2 Most Important Business Lessons I Learned from Andrew Warner of MixergyOf all the cruel punishments the Greek gods bestowed on humans (and one another), the punishment of Sisyphus has to be the worst.

Sisyphus was the king of Ephyra and the son of Aelius (ruler of the winds and son of Poseidon...the guy has some serious lineage behind him).

He was also a prideful, deceitful, murderous ruler; not only was he a chronic liar (deceiving both gods and humans), but he killed travelers and visitors for fun in his own kingdom.

Basically, Sisyphus was a real prick.

Apparently, after one too many deceitful and murderous acts, Zeus decided enough was enough and condemned Sisyphus to an eternal punishment. Except this wasn’t any old punishment. Zeus crafted something uniquely horrible for Sisyphus.

Zeus condemned Sisyphus to push a large bolder up a steep hill.

Difficult for sure, but not the worst thing in the world (or underworld), right?…

Except, like all good Greek myths, there was a catch.

Zeus enchanted the bolder.

Anytime Sisyphus came close to the top of the hill with the bolder, it would slip through his hands, rolling all the way back down to the bottom.

No matter how Sisyphus approached the challenge, his effort was futile.

An eternity of useless, infuriating effort with no payoff.
(more…)

“Once you decide on your occupation... you must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work. Never complain about your job. You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill. That's the secret of success...”  – Jiro Ono (Jiro Dreams of Sushi)

*   *   *

a map of the gilisFor the past two months, my wife and I have been traveling around South East Asia.

We’ve spent the majority of our time in Indonesia, with a one-off stop in Singapore for a long weekend (flights were $9 and we needed to renew our Indonesian visas, so it was a no-brainer).

Toward the end of our time in Indonesia, we made a trip to the Gili Islands, just off the coast of Lombok.

There are three Gili Islands – Gili Trawangan (Gili T for short), Gili Mano and Gili Air.

Each island has its own unique atmosphere (Gili T is more party, Gili Mano is basically undeveloped, and Gili Air is that quiet middle ground, more suited for honeymooners or people who prefer less crowded locations but all the essential amenities one might need while visiting an island paradise - like Wi-Fi).

We decided to spend the majority of our time on Gili Air.

Artisanship on an Island Paradise

I knew this place was different the moment our wooden boat floated up to its sand and coral beaches.

Unlike most Indonesian cities (and most SE Asian cities for that matter), instead of being greeted by hundreds of taxi cab drivers looking to take all our money (we stand out here), we saw a dozen horse drawn carriages lining the street with not a single moped in sight (again, for SE Asia, this is bizarre).

Courtney and I had done our research, though – Gili Air is only a few square kilometers, meaning everything is in walking distance.

So we started walking.

We had no set plans or booked reservations – we normally wing our travel and this was no exception.

As we walked along the half-cobble, half-sand roads, we were greeted with the standard set of Indonesian idiosyncrasies (smiles, laughter, offers for a place to stay or eat, and lots of ‘mista’ and ‘boss’ thrown into their sentences for good measure), and passed by dozens of independently owned and operated shops.

One shop in particular caught my attention.

gili air artisan

- How do you NOT stop here? -

A little hut, just off the side of the main road (there’s really only one main road in Gili Air), with a sign that read:

Gili Air Artshop Made to Order. Looking is for Free, Smile Included.

But it wasn’t the warm, inviting sign that drew me in; it was the man sitting outside the shop, hacking away at a coconut that did.

His name is Nin.

Nin is an artist.  He carves, paints, and constructs things from wood and other natural materials.  Today, he is carving a necklace out of a coconut.

Watch him work for just a few minutes and you realize a few things:

1. Nin is a professional.  This is his life.  It’s what he does every day for hours a day.  His craftsmanship shows.

2. Nin is an artisan.  He works with his hands to bring his vision to life.  And he’s skilled at it.

3. Nin’s workshop is sustainable in the perfect sense of the word.  He uses discarded wood and coconuts to make his art.  This isn’t for marketing purposes – it’s out of necessity.

Naturally, I had to buy something from Nin.

gili air artisan

- Nin hard at work -

He charged me 200,000 Rupiah for a coconut necklace.

As a point of reference, that’s less than $20 US.  As another point of reference, that’s more than it cost for one night on our beach front bungalow, and about 2 times as much as dinner for two at a high end restaurant on the island.

Depending on how you view it, it might seem like I got ripped off.  Relative to prices on the island, 200,000 Rupiah is quite a bit of money.  And I never bartered (something you’re supposed to do in Indonesia).

Of course, after watching him work, I didn’t want to.

He spent three days carving this necklace from a coconut shell.  Every day, I watched his progress, forming something from (essentially) nothing.

When it was finished, I wondered if 200,000 Rupiah was too little.

The Artisan in the Digital Age

I tell this story for a reason.

First, to point out that artisanship still exists.  All over the world.  And many people just like me are willing to pay a premium for it.

And second, to beg the question:

The Message and the Message Spreader

In the beginning of this essay, I quoted Jiro Ono, a sushi chef made famous from a little documentary called Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

Jiro’s an artisan.

He lives and breathes the perfect sushi dish.  He’s been doing it every day for over 70 years and will continue until he physically can’t.

Jiro charges over $300 a meal.

He does because he can - because people want to see a master artist at work.

We’re naturally drawn toward those who perfect their craft, who’ve weathered the inner creative battle for decades and come out on top.  And we’re happy to pay a premium just to be in their presence (Jiro’s sushi shop is booked months in advance).

Again, this might solidify the idea that artisanship only exists in the physical realm…

Until I think about how I heard of Jiro.

I’ve never met Jiro in person, nor been to his sushi restaurant.

It was a documentary – a digital download - that brought his work to my attention.  It was this medley of pixels, gigabytes and high resolution that shined a light on his work and his philosophy.

The digital world made this message possible to spread.

And no other medium could have delivered the message with more impact.

We’re Waiting to Pay You a Premium

As entrepreneurs, creators and instigators in the 21st century, a very big part of what we do is online.

Yet instead of killing off what is left of artisanship, I honestly believe it’s helping to grow and expand the roll of the artisan (just listen to some of the interviews I've done with true digital artisans like AJ Leon and Dan Adams, among others) .

The artisan storyteller; the artisan craftsman (online and off); the artisan message spreader...

The roll of the artisan is expanding.

The question isn’t one of accessibility or ‘how’ – anyone can be one if they choose.

The question is: are you willing to put in the hours, days, and years (and the sweat, blood, and tears) to create the perfect product or service for the people who matter - the ones who want to hear from you?

My advice?

Start today - before you're ready.

Because we’re waiting.

And we’re willing to pay a premium.

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Started in Gili Air; thrashed in Sydney; finished and shipped in Perth, Australia (while listening to the song Perth by Bon Iver)

Total Writing Time: 3 hours and 8 minutes

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Want to support Artisanship in the 21st century?  Subscribe to The Creative Entrepreneur and support an artisanal publication while helping fund entrepreneurs in developing countries.

 

The Creative EntrepreneurLast week, I released the first-ever publication from my boutique publishing company: Insurgent Publishing.

It’s called The Creative Entrepreneur, and it’s a semi-annual, donation-based business and arts journal.

As you can probably guess from its name, it’s all about helping entrepreneurs (and creatives of all types) start, run, and grow their small businesses using creative and unconventional business practices.

We do this by getting the best entrepreneurs, artists and writers in the world to contribute content – from educational articles to inspirational works of art.

The donation-based portion of the journal refers to our philanthropic initiative: we’re teaming up with Kiva.org to donate a portion of all proceeds (up to 100% - the subscriber decides) to help fund entrepreneurs in developing countries.

To say I’m proud of what we’ve built here is an understatement.

A-Listers Who Contributed to the First Issue of The Creative Entrepreneur

One of the things people notice immediately is the incredible line-up of entrepreneurs, writers and artists we got to write, teach, and otherwise contribute to the journal in some form or fashion.

One of the taglines I use to describe the journal is: learn from the best in the world.

When I say that, I'm not exaggerating. 

In our flagship issue of the journal, we received contributions from some of the best entrepreneurs, writers and artists in the world:

Steven Pressfield – bestselling author of Gates of Fire (one of my favorite books of all time - I’ve read it multiple times and every time it’s a punch in the gut), The War of Art (another one of my favorites – it inspired me to start this blog), and most recently The Authentic Swing.

John Lee Dumas – one of the premier business podcasters on the planet (his show Entrepreneur on Fire gets hundreds of thousands of downloads every month).

Pat Flynn – an author, blogger, and hugely successful podcaster (The Smart Passive Income Podcast is usually ranked top 10 in the world under the business category in iTunes, and he’s one of the leading educators in digital commerce and online business).

Chris Guillebeau – bestselling author of The $100 Startup and creator of The World Domination Summit.

Natalie Sisson – author of the Amazon bestseller The Suitcase Entrepreneur (and founder of the company by the same name).

And many others, including:

John Corcoran – entrepreneur, attorney and networking expert (he literally networked his way into Silicon Valley, Hollywood and The White House…enough said).

Clay Hebert – founder of Spindows and all around creative instigator.

Dan Adams – visionary entrepreneur, creator of the 2012 ESPY Award winning Mission Kilimanjaro, and all around stud (yes that’s him stopping Pacman Jones at the 1 yard line in Pros vs. Joes).

Faith Watson – copywriter extraordinaire and founder of Pen to Zen.

Danny Iny – the founder of Firepole Marketing.

Nick Loper – founder of Side Hustle Nation (in the journal, you’ll learn how he side-hustled his way to $10 million in sales…very powerful stuff).

Brett Henley – author, branding expert and creator of We Craft Stories.

Stephanie Arsoska – writer, poet and founder of beautifulmisbehaviour.com (she also has a truly captivating Scottish accent – listen to her spoken word performance on Courage that she did for the journal).

Justin Harmon – founder of Unplugged Recreated.

Leah Hynes and Nazrin Murphie – founders of RYPL.net and The Circuit Breaker Conference Series (which, by the way, I’ll be the keynote speaker for this coming February.  Check it out and grab your ticket here).

Emily Chase Smith – entrepreneur, small business attorney and money management expert.

Jesicka Labud – founder of Tipabl and Two Non Techies.

Jason Van Orden – one of the world’s most sought after experts in the world of marketing.

MP MacDougall – author, American historian and one of the most impactful writers I’ve ever read.

Tom Owens – author of over 50 published books and is now, officially, a poet.

Zander Galloway – entrepreneur and public speaker (his essay in the journal – Stepping Onto the Stage - will give you some of the best tips I’ve ever read for getting up onto the stage with courage and delivering a great presentation).

Kevin Wood – founder of The Counter Culturalist.

Jeremy M. – founder of Startupright.org.

Adam Baker – founder of ManVsDebt and producer of the indie documentary: I’m Fine, Thanks.

*   *   *

Artisan Artists at Work:

Beyond the incredible written contributions, I also coordinated with artisanal artists, painters and photographers to create artwork exclusively for the journal:

Lucas Ferreyra – his work is internationally renown and has been featured in numerous publications.  He’s responsible for this amazing piece:

He's Ready from The Creative Entrepreneur
The Creative Entrepreneur

Shari Sherman – her works been described as happy art for happy people – and she definitely delivered on that promise with some very happy art for our journal!

Jesicka Labud – beyond writing an article for us, she also contributed some fantastic photography.

Alysa Passage – a branding and design expert – she contributed some really slick photography for the journal.

Mercedes Calcano – an international artist, writer and musician (she contributed several of the awe-inspiring paintings you’ll find in the journal).

Collin McClain – adventurer, photographer and art director.

*   *   *

How I Got the Best in the World to Help Bring My Vision to Life

The question I usually get asked, after people see the top tier lineup involved in the flagship issue of The Creative Entrepreneur, is: How’d you get these people to contribute to your journal? 

And while they might not say it out loud (probably to be polite, which I respect), what they’re really asking is: how did you, a relatively unknown author and a publisher with essentially zero experience in the industry, get guys like Steven Pressfield, John Lee Dumas, Pat Flynn, etc. to contribute to your brand new, unproven journal?

That of course is the real question because, let’s be honest – we don’t ask the publisher of Forbes how he gets people to contribute, do we?

Nor would someone ask me, had I failed to get any of these A-listers to contribute, why I DIDN’T get them onboard (“hey Tom, you’re journal is cool, but why didn’t you get Steven Pressfield involved?”...unlikely).

I say all that to say this: it’s a good question and it deserves an answer that dives deeper than ‘believe in your dream and things work out’ (which might be true, but ignores the sometimes uncomfortable truth of real life).

In the following paragraphs, I’m going to show you exactly what I did to get Steven Pressfield and over a dozen A-listers to help bring my vision to life.  For all of you working to bring your great vision to life, consider this your field manual: it will show you the way, but you still have to do the work.

Good luck.

Step 1: I Started Before I Was Ready

I got the first whisper of an idea for this journal back in September of 2013.

In the beginning, though, it was just that: an idea.

I didn’t know what form it would take, who I’d get to contribute, or whether people would even want to pay for it once I’d created it.

These uncertainties were compounded by my own lack of experience in the field:

  1. I had no prior experience in the publishing industry
  2. I had zero formal education in curating, editing or producing a journal
  3. I had no one telling me what to do or how to do it (no board of directors, no publishing mentors, no editing staff  – it was just me and my idea).

With all these things working against me, anyone with a sense of reason would have told me the idea was stupid and to move on.

I started anyway.

ResistanceProTip [click to tweet]: Start before you’re ready.  By the end, you will be.

Even though I had to deal with dozens of hurdles, obstacles and setbacks, I still managed to bring it altogether in beautiful form by the ship date.

But there’s an even more important benefit to all this: now I’m ready to leverage my newfound knowledge for the next issue of the journal and future books I publish through Insurgent Publishing.  Because I started before I was ready, I’m now more ready than I’ve ever been for future projects.

Step 2: I Acted Like a Pro

“Turning pro is a mindset. If we are struggling with fear, self-sabotage, procrastination, self-doubt, etc., the problem is, we're thinking like amateurs. Amateurs don't show up. Amateurs crap out. Amateurs let adversity defeat them. The pro thinks differently. He shows up, he does his work, he keeps on truckin', no matter what." – Steven Pressfield

When I started work on The Creative Entrepreneur, my mindset changed.

I saw the journal in the hands of readers.

No, I didn’t know what the cover would look like, or what they’d be reading inside the pages, or even what it would be called (I settled on the name less than 2 months out from launch)…

I just knew that I would finish and ship this thing, or break myself trying.

When Steven talks about mindset, this is what he means.

Of course - and this is an important thing to realize – I didn’t FEEL like a pro at the time.  There were dozens of times over the past few months I thought this project would fall apart.  I doubted my abilities.  I questioned whether I’d actually finish and ship on time (and whether anyone would care if I did or didn’t).  I mentally beat myself up every step of the way…

Which is why I didn’t worry about whether I felt like a pro or not – I focused on acting like a pro instead: I showed up daily, I did the work, I kept trucking when things got difficult and uncertain (which happened a lot, by the way).

For a better explanation of what it means to act like a pro, here’s Ben Affleck’s educational speech from The Boiler Room on Acting As If…(warning: foul language ensues):

ResistanceProTip [tweet]: The real power behind acting like a pro: eventually, it’s what you become.

I acted as if I was a pro.  As a result, I got professional results.

Step 3:  I ASKED

With the pro-mindset mentioned above, I set to work building the journal.

This meant doing the uncomfortable work of approaching hundreds of entrepreneurs, writers and artists and asking them to contribute.

When I first approached people, I was nervous: I expected to be ignored and to face a lot of rejection.  I wasn’t sure anyone would like the idea.  I was scared not enough people would contribute and that I’d have to scrap the project…

Instead, the response was overwhelmingly positive.

Hundreds of people embraced the idea with excitement.  I started receiving dozens of essay submissions.  Even better: many people who submitted essays shared it with other entrepreneurs, helping me spread the message with little effort on my part (this was clutch - it allowed me to focus my attention on the broader editorial scope of the journal).

ResistanceProTip [tweet]: No matter what you’re working on, you’re going to need help.  If you want to bring your vision to life, get comfortable with asking (rejection and all).

In the end, I received more contributions than I could fit in the journal (which created the painful process of cutting submissions, but that’s a topic for another time).

Step 4: I Built Relationships Before I Needed To

In reality, this isn’t step 4, but step 0 – the thing you have to do before you think you have to do it.

While the message behind the journal was powerful enough to encourage many people to give it a chance, regardless if they knew me, the vast majority of contributors were friends or acquaintances of mine.

If you’re wondering about how I got some of the more well-known names on board, the process was the same as above – I asked – with one caveat: I had established a relationship with many of them months and years prior.

ResistanceProTip [click to tweet]: Relationships are important, but when it comes to publishing – they’re everything.

Take Steven Pressfield for example: I met him in person at a book signing at West Point (in 2007 or 2008).  A year later, after having been a fan of his from afar for years, I reached out to him to thank him personally for his work.  Since then, I’ve emailed him several times and he’s always been generous enough to respond (and he might be one of the busiest people on the planet – no doubt inundated with emails from hundreds of others on a daily basis).

By the time I asked him to contribute, he knew who I was.

The same goes for Pat Flynn (who I met in person in Nashville in 2013), John Lee Dumas (who I had on my podcast and since started collaborating on a new project together aimed at veterans), Clay Hebert (who I also had on the podcast and actually met at the Seth Godin seminar I wrote about in 2 Days With Seth Godin), and many others.

Step 5: I Hustled

I’ve written about hustle before.

Hustle is the differentiator between the outlier who successfully bring his vision to life and the vast majority who wait and watch.

It would have been much easier to admit my limitations, accept my lack of experience, and not produce this journal in the first place.

Instead:

And I’m still not done.

If you were considering publishing because you thought it might be an easy money-maker, I assure you it’s not.

A Final Lesson

I definitely didn’t do everything right

I put a ton of work into making this journal happen, but I’d be remiss not to recognize that a certain amount of chance plays a part in everything we do.

I got lucky connecting with certain game-changes when and where I did, I’m lucky I have the freedom and the technology at my fingertips to make this journal possible, and I was lucky that many of these amazing contributors had time on their schedules to devote to this crazy idea of a journal…

If there’s one piece of advice I could give anyone in business (or in life), it would be this:

You might not have the experience you think you need, or the connections you want, or the money/background/circumstances that would making bringing a vision to life easy – but you don’t have to.

All you need is 100% commit to your vision and the persistence to see it through, no matter what, and the rest inevitably takes care of itself:

 “Luck, often enough, will save a man…if his courage hold.”

-13th Warrior

If you're interested in the journal, you can find out more about it here.

Would love to hear your thoughts below.

What vision are you bringing to life right now - tell us about it in the comments?  Or, if you aren't bring your vision to life right now - what's stopping you?

Share your thoughts below!

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Started, finished and shipped in Serpong, Indonesia

Writing Time: 7.5 hours

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For the past two months my wife and I have been vagabonding through New Zealand.

Vagabonding is probably the best word for it – the majority of the time we’ve been living out of our backpack and a tiny red hatchback (The Getzya!).

The first weekend here, we rented a car (buses are too expensive and a car would give us more flexibility).  Since then, we’ve managed to see more of New Zealand than most New Zealanders (we’re very curious and we don’t waste time).

We started in Auckland in the north (of the north island) and made it all the way to Queenstown in the south (of the south island), stopping along the way to see rocky, windswept coastlines, majestic waterfalls (lots of waterfalls), surreal-looking giant trees, and a never-ending supply of sheep grazing on rolling, green hills.

In a very nerdy way, it reminded me of the Nintendo game Zelda come to life (although there were no boss battles or treasure chests in the caves here).

Our time here has come to an end, but it’s been an incredible ride with just enough misadventures to keep it interesting the whole time.

But the point of this essay isn’t to gush about New Zealand (although, if you have a chance, definitely go visit), nor is it to brag (can you really brag if you’ve been living out of a car?).

The point of this essay is to tell you a story of a couple people whose work has impacted millions (including many reading this, I’d suspect), yet few of us even directly recognize their contribution…

***

Our last stop in the north island of New Zealand took us to the windy city of Wellington (they call Chicago the windy city in the States – it doesn’t come close to Wellington, where some days the wind could actually knock you over).

While there, we did what we always do in a new city: go for explorative runs, conduct hands-on research of the craft-beer scene and wander wherever we feel compelled to go.

One of those daily wanders led us Weta Digital.

Weta is the company responsible for the visual effects for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  From makeup, to costumes, to set design, to digital FX – Weta created it all.

Based on the record-setting box-office numbers and gluttony of awards they won, they obviously killed it.  They brought Tolken’s Middle Earth to life, convincing the die-hards that a well-produced film could do the books justice, and convincing the masses that some fantasy stories are worth hearing (even if it means sitting down for over 3 hours to do so).

But what’s even more remarkable is that they did all this under seemingly impossible circumstances:  Weta hadn’t officially been around for 10 years before Peter Jackson picked them for the project, and they didn’t do just one film, they had to do all 3 at once.

There’s no good reason they should have succeeded, but they did.

***

Of course, if this is where the story ends, where you close the browser and say got it, you miss the point entirely.

Weta’s story didn’t start with multiple studies, hundreds of employees and this extremely complex, multi-faceted, million-dollar blockbuster project.

It started as an unreasonable idea in the back room of Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger’s cramped flat in 1987.

It started as the kind of idea your peers would tell you to forget about (for your own good, of course), so you can spend more time making time-and-a-half and watching football.

It started as the type of idea that usually goes nowhere, so why waste your time?

It started as an idea that’s for kids and dreamers, not adults.

Lucky for us, Richard and Tonia didn’t care.  Instead, they kept doing the odd thing, the childish thing, the unreasonable thing…

With each small project, they pushed the boundaries of their own creativity.  They put their blood, sweat and tears into every creation, beyond any reasonable expectation of repayment.  And with each new film, they improved, honed and sharpened their skill-set.

They also formed relationships that lasted.

They got their first major film gig in 1989.  Their job: to create bizarre-looking muppets for an even more bizarre black comedy.  The guy directing was a local to Wellington as well: Peter Jackson.

4 years later, they joined with Peter to expand their film effects company (RT Effects at the time) and formed what is now Weta Digital.

7 years after that, they got their big break: the opportunity to work on The Lord of the Rings.

Since then, they’ve worked on dozens of blockbusters, from Iron Man 3, to District 9 to the new Hobbit movies, and expanded into a total of 5 studios running the gamut of film production (from pre through post production).

***

There are at least a dozen good lessons to take from this story, but I’ll leave you with just one:

Life is for the unreasonable.

This goes for everyone and everything.

Your existence on this planet, in and of itself, is unreasonable.  The chances of you being here, right now, just as you are – they’re so slim as to be non-existent.  There is no random chance here.

Yet so many squander this gift by waiting, letting others go first, and favoring the safe and secure bet.

Richard and Tonia didn’t wait.  They didn’t let someone else create the studio they dreamt up.  And they certainly didn’t favor safety or security.

They were completely unreasonable.

And those who love their work and feel their impact are better off for it.

***

Of course, you’ve probably never heard of Richard and Tonia, unless you’re a huge LOTR fan.  Most of us enjoyed the movies and might recognize a few of the actors and maybe the director - that’s about it.

So what’s in it for them if the masses of people don’t even recognize their contribution?  

And what's in it for the rest of us if no one notices what we do?

I’m not sure what Richard or Tonia would say about this (I’ve yet to interview them for In the Trenches), but I know what one of Tolkien's characters would say:

"There may come a time for valor without renown." - Aragorn

Don't wait.

Be unreasonable.

___

Started, finished and shipped at The Sprocket Roaster in Newcastle, Australia. Fuel: double espresso. Soundtrack: Bon Iver

Total writing time: 5 hours

___

p.s. want an unreasonable way to sell your products or services?  Check out my book: The Complete Guide to Pay What You Want Pricing. It might just change the way you approach your business, art and writing forever.

Maybe I'm Crazy... Photo credit: kconnors from morguefile.com

In fact, I must be.

Right now, as I write this blog post, I'm sitting outside a Starbucks in Boise, Idaho...

I'm thousands of miles away from most of my friends and family...

And I'm Homeless and unemployed.

That's right - no job, no predictable income, no home...

And I have no intention of trying to get any of those things back.

Crazy?

Maybe not as crazy as you'd think.

Let me explain...

"Losing" Everything

You might be thinking that being homeless and unemployed is terrible.

After all, that's the scenario presented to us - no job, no home; it means you've lost everything, right?  Pretty soon, you're running amok inside a fast food joint demanding breakfast for lunch, even after they stopped serving breakfast...

For some reason, I feel like that's Hollywood's (embellished) take on it.  The reality is often much less dramatic.

And in my case, it's actually a little boring.

You see, I didn't lose everything.  I made a conscious decision to give up certain things that weren't important to me.  To simplify and streamline my life in a way that's congruent with what I want to do and who I want to be.  To get rid of excess.  To trim the fat, so to speak.

I didn't lose everything.

I have exactly what I need.

And now I have the opportunity to build whatever life I want.

It's a choice most wouldn't be willing to make.

But what good are talents if we keep them buried?

The Transition

About 6 months ago I put my 2 weeks notice into my employer.

Two weeks ago I sold my car and most of my belongings.

Last week I packed up what remained and shipped it to the West Coast for storage.

This past weekend, I signed out of my unit for the last time and started driving across the country with my fiancee (we get married next month).

I have no conventional job prospects lined up.  No massive savings account or trust fund to rely on while I 'get back on my feet.'  No escape route if things go south.

I've burned the boat - there's no going back.

No more job.  No more house.  No more semi-monthly paycheck.  No more job title.  No more certainty...

In exchange, I get the opportunity to fail.

And that's all I've ever wanted.

What Matters

Why does the opportunity to fail matter so much?

Because without the possibility of failure, there is no possibility of real success.

And real success is the only thing that matters.

Success means triumph.  It means achieving what we set out to achieve.  It means growing, expanding and advancing as an individual (and helping others do the same).

But if there's nothing challenging us, no roadblocks on our way to the top, no obstacles along the path, then success is hollow.

I'm sure just about any adult reading this could be the best 1st grade soccer player in the world.  But what does that even mean?  More importantly, why would it even matter?

The answer, of course, is that it really wouldn't mean anything (and it most certainly wouldn't matter)....

And so we need the prospect of real failure if we want the prospect of real success.

If we want to do something that matters - contrary to the classic expression - failure must be an option.
 Photo credit: RoganJosh from morguefile.com

Guideposts

There's a very simple litmus test to determine if what you're going after has the possibility of real success (and thus real failure).

Does it scare you?

If yes, you're probably doing something that could fail.

Fear is a guidepost.

It let's us know we're headed in the right direction; it means we're doing something outside our comfort zone; it means we're challenging the conventional, safe and certain approach.

If you're fearless, you're probably playing 1st graders in soccer.

And that should be a signal for you to move in a different direction

What's Next

So here I am in Boise, Idaho, enjoying an iced Americano and thinking about what's next.

Right now, we're on our way to the World Domination Summit 2013 (#wds2013) in Portland, Oregon.  We started in Nashville, TN and after several days of cross country travel, we're almost here.

If you're not familiar, WDS is essentially a massive, 3-day conference on entrepreneurship, creativity and creating impact.  Obviously, I'm a fan and supporter.

If you're there, shoot me an email and let's connect.

After the conference, my fiancee and I will be traveling up to Seattle to get married.  Then we're taking a year long trip around the world.  For about 12 months we'll be traveling the southern hemisphere (New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Chile, Peru, etc.).

While this sounds like a year long honeymoon / vacation, it's really not.  We're traveling for a year but we'll both be working.  We're just not working conventional 9-5 jobs that keep us tied down in a particular geographic location.

Instead, through conscious and calculated decisions (which I mentioned in the beginning of this article), we've created a lifestyle that is sustainable from anywhere in the world.

Believe it or not, this is possible. 

Not only is it possible, I think it's necessary for any person hoping to survive in today's economy (a topic for another time).

So how can I sustain myself from anywhere in the world?

Through a number of projects:

Starting an Insurgency…

Well, I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m going full steam ahead with my publishing company: Insurgent Publishing.

Insurgent Publishing is a boutique, creative publishing platform.  That’s a clever way of me saying it’s a very small operation right now that focuses on bringing a specific type of content to a specific group of people, via non-standard methods (beyond simply publishing on Amazon, for example).

So what kind of content are we publishing and who is it for?

Well, if you’re a reader of my blog, you’re already savvy with the style of content I want to publish.  Insurgent Publishing focuses on unconventional non-fiction.  Like its namesake, it’s all about bringing insurgent ideas (i.e. the types of ideas that don’t fit the one-size-fits-all mainstream status-quo) to the attention of readers.

Some of my favorite books of all time include The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, Poke the Box by Seth Godin and Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon.  I love these books.  I read them several times a year.  I’ve probably read each over a dozen times.

But there’s a problem – there aren’t enough mind-blowing books like this in the world.

What makes them unique is their brevity and power; they’re urgent, critical, and they demand action after you read them.

And they don’t fit a specific, conventional mold.

My goal is to find powerful authors (unknowns and well-knowns), creatively collaborate with them in order to break, build and design disruptive ideas, and publish them in beautiful ways for the happy few who want to read them.

Conceptually, I like to think of it like TED talks in book form (and with more depth).

It’s a company that won’t produce content for everyone.  But I’m hoping it produces the right content for the right people.

The website isn’t complete yet.  It’s taken me about 6 times longer than I expected (which, ironically, I DID expect).  I’m hoping to have it up and running this August.

If you enter your email on the home page of the under-construction Insurgent Publishing website right now, you’ll get lifetime discounts on everything we ever publish…(everything - forever).

My way of saying thank you for taking a chance.

*NOTE: if you're a writer, designer or artist and would like to collaborate on a project and get your work published, shoot me an email (tom @ tommorkes.com)

Taking On Courage

I’m also in the exploration, research and note taking phase of my next book.

I’m hoping to take the same easy to read, urgent style from my book “The Art of Instigating” (get it free by joining the Resistance) and apply it to the topic of “Courage” – what it is, how it works, and how we can cultivate, learn and teach it.

In the book Decisive, by Chip and Dan Heath, we’re given a framework for how decisions work, and how, ultimately, to make better decisions in life.  It’s a fascinating and useful book as it helps the reader gain clarity before making a decision.  I highly recommend it for those curious about the brain, psychology, and/or marketing – or for people who simply want to make better choices in life.

But it left me wondering: what about the choices in life that are already crystal clear, but the right choice leads you down a path of uncertainty, pain or even death?  Or the wrong choice leads you down a path of safety, security or fortune?

How do we make those choices?

While not the entirety of the subject, I consider this an important microcosm of courage as a whole – the ability to make the right choices in life, even if it means sacrificing our comfort, happiness or even our lives.

I hope this gives you a little insight into my thoughts on (one aspect of) the matter.

Would love to hear what you think – and what you’d like me to explore in the book: courage in business, perhaps?

Or possibly courage in writing, art or entrepreneurship?  Anything goes – just email me – I’d love to start a conversation.

And Still In the TrenchesIn The Trenches

My podcast In the Trenches may be put on hiatus once I start my international travel.

That’s not to say it’s dead – it would just have to be put on pause.  I’m hoping that’s a worst case scenario and the places I travel will allow me the internet access I need to upload and create this type of content.  I’m also hoping traveling will expose me to even more awesome people around the world doing great things so I can interview them for the show.

So I’m not sure what will happen with In the Trenches…but if you want it to continue, you should write a review and rate the podcast on iTunes.

The only way this podcast or blog spreads is through word of mouth.  Thanks to all those who have spread the word already – and thanks in advance to those who help spread the word in the future.

So, again, please leave a review on iTunes if you want In the Trenches to continue!

Super Secret Projects

I also have a few other (super secret) projects I’m working on with several different people in various fields.

I was just brought on as a project manager for a small, potentially disruptive, startup.  Excited to see just how quickly this company can grow and dominate its niche.  I hope to share more details after we launch.

I’m in the works with a partner to develop a new online sales platform (apologies for the purposefully vague description).  It has the potential to be huge, and I have no doubt we’ll be able to develop it into a successful platform – but it’s going to take some hustle.  We’ll be bootstrapping the project using the lean startup approach (i.e. iterative testing until we find a product/market fit).  Again, as soon as we have a working product you’ll be the first to hear about it.

I’m also expanding my business consulting services.  It’s not for everyone, but if you’re a bootstrapper or a solopreneur looking to make sales (or start making MORE sales), or an author who wants to make money from his or her writing, you should definitely connect with me.

This is limited and I can’t accept everyone.

So shoot me an email and we’ll see if it’s a good fit for both of us (a caveat: I only work with hustlers who are totally committed – fence sitters need not apply).

Leading the Resistance…

Along with all this, I’ll continue to write for the Resistance.

Expect the same great writing as always sent directly to your inbox (plus behind the scenes stuff exclusive for subscribers).

While difficult to keep up the pace of multiple quality articles a week, I intend to do it for as long as I’m capable.

And I'll continue to create free and pay what you want content.

If you enjoy my work and want to contribute, the best way is to grab my pay what you want products and treat me to a cup of coffee or something.

Here are a few of my products you might enjoy:

The Gunslinger's Guide to Starting and The Gunslinger's Workbook - Start, finish and ship your project in 30 days or less

Putting on Your Brain Goggles - become more creative instantly

2 Days With Seth Godin - I went to a 2 day seminar/conference w/ Seth Godin.  Here's everything we talked about (consider this material gold for entrepreneurs and writers)

Thank you so much for contributing to my creative work.

The End (or is it?)

Well, that’s it for today.

Hope it was enjoyable to read a bit more about me and what I’m up too.  More personal than I usually get (and, thus, slightly uncomfortable for me to write), but I hope you enjoyed it.

Leave a comment below to let me know what you think.

And of course...

This is Tom Morkes.  If you’re reading this, you ARE the Resistance.

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