I try my best to live in the present at all times. Keep my mind on what is happening right now. But thinking about the future and the past is part of human nature.
The future is uncertain. This is always true. A daily routine can change forever in a single moment.
Even the past continuously changes. The past isn’t what happened, it’s how you remember it. How it makes you feel. What it means to you can be reinterpreted over time.
How do you feel about the future? Continue reading →
This is a guest post by Ari Shapiro. Find his stellar work at Dauberart.com
What gets you up in the morning?
What do you think about that keeps you up at night?
What does success look like to you, and how do you get there?
As a small business owner, that’s a serial Jack of All Trades who also values personal adventure, one of the biggest challenges for me is how to answer each of those questions while keeping things interesting and keeping the bills paid.
The answer to each of those questions to me is:
Variety, Variety and Variety.
Most of my time is spent as a Commercial and Event Photographer. I am also a videographer and corporate video producer, a whisky educator and ambassador, an app developer, a travel blogger, a podcast producer, a pilot, a bingo lover, and an avid sunset watcher.
Monotony is the bane of my existence.
Think about the last time you hurt your foot. Whether it was jogging, rock climbing, going down some steps… You may have thought about seeing a Podiatrist but an Ear, Nose and Throat guy didn’t even cross your radar.
Each of them is an expert in their field – a specialist. There is value in that, but in trying to create your own personal freedom – in trying to grow your personal brand – there’s more value in being really good at a few different things.
The first piece of advice you probably received from a stock broker or financial advisor – “Keep a diversified portfolio.” By keeping all of your stones in one basket, there’s danger of the basket breaking.
Think about the great loss in 401(k) funds in the last few years, but also think about how much you could have made if it were all in gold? (FYI, money invested in gold in early January, 2000 would have seen a 600% return today – nearly 700% if you had sold in late August, 2011). Hindsight is 20/20.
No one knows better than the aging public who couldn’t retire when they planned that having a diversified financial portfolio is very important.
Keeping a diverse professional portfolio is just as important…and a hedge.
Check out The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch
In short, 80% of your income comes from 20% of your efforts. Likewise, 80% of your headaches come from 20% of your problems.
If you spend the right 20% of time on 5 different projects, you’ve just quadrupled your income.
And even if you let something bog you down in the process, at least it keeps things interesting.
Another benefit to keeping different balls in the air: On any given day you’re able to process and plan based on a different topic. It’s not just good internal mental yoga but it also makes sure your external ventures have a more global perspective.
For example, if all you know is the route from home, to the office, to home, to the grocery store, to home, to the movie theater, to home – not only might you be missing the best little sandwich shop thats just a block off your normal route but you might also miss a shortcut that makes the drive home just a little quicker.
In business, if all you know is your little corner of your little industry, not only might you be missing something that is more fun, more fulfilling and more interesting to you personally, but you may also be missing something that makes it faster and easier to reach your financial goals.
Don’t be afraid to blaze your own trail. Don’t be afraid to keep your options open. Don’t be afraid of a diversified professional portfolio.
Don’t be afraid to have fun, and to be successful.
About the Author
Ari Shapiro is a commercial photographer specializing in advertising, editorial and event photography and video. He’s spent over 15 years in the event industry working along side many of the top companies on the Fortune 500 list, photographing, managing and producing events of 50,000+ people. His studios are in Seattle, WA and he supports his clients around the globe. His portfolio is available online at DauberArt.com and he can be reached via email at Info@DauberArt.com. Ari is also a passionate educator, a habitual traveler, a blogger, a bingo lover, a pilot and an avid sunset watcher.
It’s much easier to lay back and let opportunities, people, and things in general just pass on by. This takes no effort.
Doing something means adding an unknown variable into the mix. Things can turn out differently than imagined and that can be scary. Venturing into unknown territory can create work, challenges, and headaches.
The greatest stories in life begin with a risk. Continue reading →
my favorite hollywood hero
When I was growing up I read a poplar series of books called “Choose Your Own Adventure.” Unlike almost every other book in existence, they were read in a non-linear fashion. These books were like gold to me. Continue reading →
I am writing this post form South Orange, NJ just south of New York City.
It’s been awhile since I’ve been in New York but the city is a rush. From the second you step off the train and into Manhattan life is happening at a frenetic pace, everywhere you go.
Traveling gives me a rush. Being in new places heightens the senses. At home, avoiding routine and keeping things random simulates that traveling sensation for me. Adventures can abound any day, even in your hometown.
Plenty of other activities give me a rush but traveling probably takes top prize. Backpacking, hiking, skiing, volleyball, surfing,…these things get me fired up.
What gives you a rush?
Want to try some new things out?
Maybe get even more extreme?
I interviewed Geoff Brunner a couple months ago. Geoff is going to be in a bike race across the USA. You read that correctly, this isn’t just a cross-country bike trip, a feat in and of itself. This is a race! 12 days to ride from coast to coast.
Did I mention he is also raising money for The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. How cool is that?
My interview with Geoff along with a profile of this race is on Nerve Rush this week.
If you want to kick your adrenaline into a higher gear with some seriously intense activities and need some ideas, Nerve Rush is a fantastic resource of “Gut Wrenching Adventures”….check it out.
If it’s been awhile since you’ve felt a rush, then get your ass back out there!
Live the dream and mean it. We only get one go around on this big blue sphere.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be breaking down more traveling tips, some networking advice to help your business/work and of course more personal freedom ramblings.
Go past your edge.
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“Be concerned less with people knowing you than developing qualities worth knowing.”
-Confucius
“Less judgment, less trying, less improvement, less regret.”
-Kazuaki Tanahashi
“To accumulate material wealth is not to find this fulfillment. What brings him back to himself is the interior light, and not exterior objects.”
-Rabindranath Tagore
The Tao’s principle is spontaneity.”
-Lao-tzu
“Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me, I vow to live fully in each moment and look at all beings with eyes of compassion.”
-Thich Nhat Hahn
“All is changeable, nothing is constant.”
-Buddhist proverb
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
-Lao-tzu
“When we are upset, it’s easy to blame others. The true cause of our feelings, however, is within us.”
-Josei Toda
“Better than one hundred years lived in ignorance is one single day lived in wisdom.”
-Shakyamuni
“The Great Way has no gate; there are a thousand paths to it.”
-Wumen
“It’s only forms that change, not essence.
-Ram Dass
Three things cannot be long hidden, the sun, the moon, and the truth.”
-Buddha
“One’s source is within oneself. Give yourself up to it. That means that you should seek the source and merge in it.”
-Ramana Maharshi
“I am music.”
-Casey Locker (my 2 year old niece)
I highly recommend this book, it is very influnetial in my current life. You could read it 1000 times and always learn something new.
Whatever the situation, you have choices.
Being stuck is a myth.
Sometimes it’s hard to see through the emotional cloud.
But the choices are still there.
Will you make them?
How do you measure success?
Is it even a measurable thing?
Do you feel like you’re successful? Continue reading →
If you’ve got something to say to somebody, then just say it.
Stop holding it in.
Maybe the feelings will be different a week, or even a day later.
At least there won’t be lingering questions in the present.
It may be uncomfortable, weird, or maybe too soon to speak so candidly.
Does it matter?
Whatever it is just say it.
If you’re on the other end, then hear it.
Take it in.
Listen.
Some things hurt to hear.
Some things are tough to say.
Either way, honesty feels so much better.
Whenever possible, don’t make people guess how you feel.
Just let them know.
How do you know when it’s time to leave your job?
This can be one of the most difficult questions to answer, particularly when you still enjoy the job in question.
When things begin to get questioned and you’ve started a real dialogue with yourself, it becomes hard to ignore.
The quitting your job question has been presented in tens of thousands of blogs, books, and articles. Many have helped to encourage me in a variety of ways.
But when it came time to decide I couldn’t really care what anybody else said.
My own personal reasons were the ones I would have to live with, feel comfortable with, and take a risk for.
Similar to many of life’s complex conundrums, only you can know the answer to such questions.
I’ll give my reasons for leaving a stable and pretty cool corporate job recently for a full time freelance gig.
Some reasons may make sense to you, and others won’t.
Either way if you having a similar debate, I hope kicking around some ideas here will help you out. Continue reading →
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