That’s been the reaction to most of my life.
High school dropout. World-famous DJ. Got banned from the US. Went bankrupt. Built a multi-million dollar tech company. Hypnotized 5000+ people on stage. Wrote 4 books. Took on climate change because why the hell not.
Now? I’m chasing serendipity instead of goals. Waiting to be in the room when something impossible becomes inevitable.
350+ articles and 7 years of figuring this out in public are here if you want them. So is my story.
I’ve been getting better lately at recognizing some of the dark voices in my head. Recently, Robin and I were having a deep conversation, but Robin didn’t want to continue it. I felt Robin “pulling away from me” simply because Robin didn’t want to have a conversation with me at that very moment. I experienced this as a threat of withdrawal of love. And I realized in that moment, this...
From my perspective and my own life’s experiences, there is only one thing that separates those that achieve great things from those that don’t; those that achieve take action, and the ones that don’t only dream. My own life forever changed because of an action I took when I was only 12 years old. I walked into a business and asked for a job. When they declined, I didn’t take no for an answer and...
I was recently involved in an exercise to introduce myself to a room of people by allowing myself to be seen in a vulnerable way and crafting a poem about who I am. I’m sharing this here, now, with you. I am Chris Frolic. I am audacious and goofy. I wonder how deep can I go within myself? I hear the theme song from Super Mario Bros. I see my wife’s face lying in bed looking at me. I want to...
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 been on a “news diet” for several years now. This practice has come to mind again with all the turmoil and world events, which can seem quite overwhelming. We used to live in a world where news was delivered by newspaper once a day, and nightly TV news. Then in the 1980s that changed to 24 hour news channels (that needed content to fill). That expanded, and expanded again...
I was recently invited and challenged to attend an event in San Diego this August. This triggers a lot in me. The short version of this is that over 20 years ago I was caught, detained and deported for working in the US without a visa as a DJ. This happened in 2000 (prior to 9/11 when we took the border much less seriously). The last time I tried was in 2005, when I was denied entry and held...
There’s a quote on my wall. It’s unattributed and I don’t know the origin. When I Google it, nothing much comes up. I don’t even remember where I got it from, but it made enough of an impact I wrote it down and put it on my wall. It says: Give people what they need, not what you want them to have. There’s so many times in my life, every day, that I want so much for people. And the cold reality is...
I’ve been getting more and more clear about what my investing strategy is. For the most part, if we talk about “Heart vs Mind” decisions, I go with my heart. Even if someone could make mathematical arguments about how some things can generate more money, that doesn’t move me. Here’s a breakdown of ways I invest my money. In myself. Between psychotherapy, couples therapy, deep...
This past week I participated in an exercise, and was asked to come up with a 6 word mission. This is what immediately came out of me: Share my story, change the world. I was struck by how true that simple statement is for me. How I’ve been living in to it. You are a part of it. Every week I share my story. I do it because for too long I ran from telling my own story. It took me 14 years to...
One of the questions I’ve asked myself in recent years is why did things get so difficult for me later in life? Things like my imposter syndrome turned into a full-on crisis. The things I did to protect myself, like hiding from people, had me acting in completely unreasonable ways. I was afraid to speak up at my own family table. I spent years on stages and somehow got to the point where I felt...
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...
This week I woke up with a waking thought. In my bedside notes I wrote: write your own obituary. I’ve barely read obituaries. I don’t know what goes into them. I haven’t had a lot of death in my immediate circle, so it’s nothing I’ve been exposed to much. A dear friend of mine reads obituaries and appreciates the good ones. We’ve spoken about how frustrating it can be for her to read a poor one...
On my recent “Ask Me Anything” someone inquired about what I refer to as “deep work”. This is an abstract thought and term, and this morning I was inspired to write this article about it. I would describe it as a culmination of everything I’ve been doing these last 4 years. Of a journey looking inward. Of understanding myself. Of healing. Of learning what drives me, and why I do things. Of...
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...
A mentor I worked with many years ago had an antidote to the inertia a lot of self-employed people feel coming out of the holidays. It’s not hard to let the holiday slowdown continue for weeks into the new year, or even months. He came up with a concept called The Big Drive, which was a challenge to kick off the new year with a huge amount of momentum. He would compare it with a skier going to...
I’m trying something different this week. Instead of writing “What do I need to hear most right now?” I’m writing this article for 1 person in the Frolic 100. This is for Shannon. Shannon in an email to me had shared about the challenge of being on social media while creating a coaching business. This is what i was inspired to write. There’s a business metaphor that I love called “blue ocean...
A colleague once offered some constructive feedback, they said “You sure want me to like you” in response to one of my posts. I can see why they thought it, I write a lot about myself, my experiences, the things I’ve learned. The thing is, they had it wrong. It wasn’t that I wanted them to like me, it’s that I wanted to like myself. Almost everything I write about for the Frolic...
I was asking myself what’s a way I can support the Frolic 100 get 2022 started in a big way and I have decided to host a Zoom where you can “Ask Me Anything”. Would you like help creating your most profitable year ever? I will help you with mindset. I will help with tools and strategy. Would you like for me to tell you whether I think something is a good idea or not? I will tell you whether I...
Every time I think about how I chose to release my most recent book, of not needing to do anything more with it, of trusting that it is now out in the world doing its work, the word that comes to mind is “liberated”. By changing the rules of how a book is released, and what my expectations are, I liberated myself from all sorts of pressures of what I’m “supposed” to or “should” be doing now...
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...
I was chatting with a reader of my recent book (Unorthodox Success, Secret Shame) and they shared something with me. “Reading about you wrestling with your shame made me reflect on where I had shame in my own life. I realized I’ve been too ashamed to admit I’ve been in an abusive relationship. I was too ashamed to admit it to anyone, including myself. Once I realized that, I left my boyfriend.”...
I’ve realized the words I have the hardest time hearing are the ones I want to hear the most. Of the impact I made simply by showing up and being me. Every day I find ways to do that, but I’ve begun to notice if you actually remark that you were impacted the way I wanted, I have a hard time hearing it. I have a very re-enforced habit of self-validation. I don’t need anyone to tell me I’m being...
My youngest, Connor, had a pretty clear idea of how he wanted to dress for Halloween this year. An anime inspired “Cat Maid”. My wife, Robin, helped him create the costume. And then in was time to take it to school for Halloween this past Friday. Connor was happy and excited to wear it, and of course there’s the risk of what can happen at school around the other kids. Later that...
This past week I was reconnecting with a colleague and she shared her difficulty with scheduling creative time. “I find I fill it with busy work, not particularly creative”, she said. I realized in that moment I never schedule creative time. I simply allow myself enough free, unscheduled time, to seize the creative spark when it hits. For example, today, as I’m writing this, I have a single thing...
This past month I was volunteer part of a team putting on a large personal growth event. “Chris, you’re an amazing speaker. When you’ve spoken in the past, you’ve always had the biggest turnouts. You said you want to increase your impact at the event so we’ve come up with an opportunity for you to do that by coordinating the speakers for this event”, I was asked. Yes, “on paper”, it makes sense...