The first weekend of August in Canada is a long weekend: three days during the height of summer. It’s a nice midway peak to the summer holiday and also serves as a permanent reminder of one of the most depressing moments in my life and how far I’ve come since. Exactly 15 years ago, I was a struggling comedy hypnotist, facing a precarious financial situation due to having gone through bankruptcy a...
“Enough” is an interesting word. A quick dictionary definition is: “As much or as many as required.” I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about how much is enough for me. I’m probably the first human in my family line to ever consider this question. For all but the most recent human history, our ancestors never had enough. Not enough food, not enough comfort, not enough resources, not enough...
I used a phrase in my last article, calling myself a “lifestyle entrepreneur”. I intentionally stated it, because I could feel the twinge of not wanting to. The most common definition of lifestyle entrepreneur is someone who creates the life they want first, and then a business to serve that. As opposed to most traditional businesses, where the business consumes everything (often at...
TLDR; My wife just got their (Robin is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns) dream job as a full-time cancer researcher at a top university cancer lab by back-dooring their way in with no formal education. Full pay and benefits! Longer version: It was only a few years ago, less than that, when one night I woke up at 3am and Robin was up in bed and we started talking. During that talk Robin...
For years I wrestled with a simple question: What’s Next? It served me in the past, and I easily answered it. I did new things, took on new challenges, reinvented myself, found more and more success. I wrote about it here on my website and created tools around it to help others. The problem was, it wasn’t helping me anymore. I was stuck. From this stuck place I took some much needed time for...
As someone who has wrestled with imposter syndrome for many years, and reached a crisis with it, I’ve become very attuned to when I see others dealing with it. The reality is that it’s almost everyone. The biggest tell for me is when I hear people dismiss amazing things they’ve done from their past. Everyone has an incredible story, if they saw it that way. I’m a strong believer that everyone has...
What’s the question that fills you with fear to even think about asking? What about my story do you find fascinating and want to know more about? What would I do if I were you? What clarity can I bring to your mission and road ahead? What one tool or strategy would I recommend that will change your business? What’s the one thing you need to hear that everyone else is afraid to tell...
Answer these 3 powerful questions: What are your superpowers? What is it that you do greater than anyone else you know? The insidious thing about answering this question is often your greatest superpowers are so close to you that you don’t even see them. You do them with such ease and effortlessness you don’t even value them. You might even be ashamed of them. They can take a while to identify...
I’ve had an idea for this book with me for some time. For years now I’ve been bookmarking and collecting stories of entrepreneurs who are innovating on climate change and creating a difference in the world today. I am SICK TO DEATH of the overwhelm. I HATE that children, including my own, are so inundated with apocalyptic messaging, they’ve absorbed that it’s inevitable. I...
I’ve realized lately I had been clinging to a story that my best chapters are behind me. Some of the “Greatest Hits” playing in my head are: I’ll never have success again like I’ve had. I’ll never be on a big stage again conducting the energy of thousands of people. I’ll never make the money I’ve made so easily again. I’ll never create a business as successful again as the ones in my past. That...
It’s hard to fathom, but I’m marking the 5 year anniversary of a pivotal point in my life. In October 2017, I reached out to my business partner and co-founder, Geoff, and made a very difficult phone call. I had been avoiding him for years, for reasons unknown to me at the time. I didn’t know what to do about any of this, but I knew that continued avoidance was not the answer. I invited him to...
When the concept of an “Impossible Dream” was first introduced to me, it was my understanding that it be literally impossible. There’s no way to create 17 steps from here to there. It then becomes a place to come from, instead of a goal to get to. Who would I need to be, to be a person capable of this thing? And simply come from that place? One of my favorite exercises when talking...
For the first time since I started my blog, in January 2018, I didn’t write a weekly article last week. That’s over 4 years and over 200 articles, week in and week out, not to mention publishing 2 autobiographical books. As I was thinking about what I might want to write about last week, I was inspired with the thought that the most difficult thing for me to do would be to not write and take a...
I seem to go through fits and starts of wondering “What’s Next?” It’s made more complicated for me because for the first time in my life I’m in the fortunate place of creating from abundance. I have money and resources, and I definitely have the time. I have all the passive income I need from my business ownership. Every time I’ve answered “What’s Next?” in the past, it was coming from a place of...
I’ve spoken a lot about a liberating metaphor I use, that helps stop me from comparing myself to other people. I call it “running my own race”. The best part of running my own race is I always win. The one trap I can still find myself in is “moving the goal posts”. The easiest example of that is around money. Some years ago, I had created a goal for myself called “Freedom 35”. It was a monthly...
Here is a capture of the Ask Me Anything I hosted on January 3, 2022. It was an experiment of me testing myself, showing up in a different way, sharing my wisdom in whatever way it was called upon, and kicking my year off in a strong way. Topics included Blue Ocean Strategy and using “pain” in your marketing, amongst anything and everything else that came up. I was very...
Something I felt very strongly back in the 1990s when I was part of the newly created rave scene was a feeling that we were onto something bigger. That we had the ability to change the world. When I speak to older ravers these days and bring this up, they enthusiastically respond with a “Oh my god, yes!” as they remember that feeling. Unfortunately, that moment in time passed. And then I realized...
So I just completed an incredible achievement. I published a new book. In it, are the best lessons I have to share about how I overcame feeling like a fake. It’s literally the book I wish someone had given me. I couldn’t be more proud of it. I’m sure it will help others. It culminated with a book “release” Zoom hosted by me and attended by dozens of people. I’m equally as proud of that Zoom, and...
At the worst of the depths of my imposter syndrome I felt like Bernie Madoff. I had fooled the world, or at least that is what I thought. It was only a few years ago, as I looked for things to do with myself, I didn’t even feel qualified to judge a high school business competition. Seeing those teenagers in their suits and ties, future MBA students, and here I was, the high school drop out...
After writing for my blog for over 3 years and 170 articles, I have come to some truths about myself. I value peace and freedom in my life above everything.I’m in a privileged place where I don’t have to do anything (I recently started thinking of myself as “retired”).I live a decelerated life.I like using technology, but try to avoid being used by it. That means I don’t use any social media...
“I’ll work for free” was how I got my first job. At age 12 I walked into a newly opened computer and video game store and somehow had the courage to ask for a job. When I was turned down, working for free was my solution. They accepted. I worked for free for the next several months, then below minimum wage (because I wasn’t even at legal working age). I was paid $3.00 an hour, when minimum wage...
Disclosure: Today’s article came about from asking myself these 2 writing prompts: 1) What do I need to hear most right now? 2) What scares me? And then I was inspired to write about my Impossible Dream. I did a quick search of my blog and I see it’s never been written about before. So something in me has held back sharing it openly. I’ve written in the past how a favorite...
I have decided 2021 will be the greatest year of my life. How that will be exactly, I don’t know. It will be incredible because I will make it incredible. I will control the things I have control over, and like the AA prayer, accept the things that I don’t and the wisdom to know the difference. I will live aligned with myself and who I am. I will create from that place. I will do things that...
I started this blog exactly 3 years ago. This will be the 160th article I’ve written for it. When I started it, I was in a dark place and starting the blog was my attempt at trying to figure out “What’s Next?”. I was making millions of dollars and feeling like a fraud. I was really unhappy. I have lived experienced that money does not buy happiness. I knew the status-quo was untenable, and began...
I live a decelerated life where I don’t use social media and don’t chase followers. This blog only gets a few visitors a day. I had decided early on I was going to not use traditional metrics and break every rule there is. It gives me pleasure every time I do something like that. The people that need to find me find me. I love knowing I’m your secret weapon (or that I can be)...