Archive of posts from November 2021

Have you ever tried rushing to get something done more quickly?

Did it, on reflection, achieve much of anything, all that much faster?

…Then why not try choosing a fun, sustainable pace, instead?

What if that were to be the path to achieving more in a smaller space of time?

Scars, failures and shortcomings make the work better.

How?

Scars reveal that you experienced something difficult, but were the stronger of the two.

Failures reveal that you tried something difficult, and learned a lesson that will make that difficult thing more likely to be accomplished by you than by someone who had not.

Shortcomings reveal that you have still yet work to do, and that your very best has yet to be experienced by the world.

How could these things...

Judging a community you don’t actively participate in isn’t really judging community.
It’s judging what things look like when you’re not around.

Surely that must make it worse, right?

Try actively engaging.
Showing up.
Bringing your skills and your talents.
Over and over again.

Try getting to know the others.
Making friends.
Supporting others.
Sharing in the ups and downs.

Try making things better because you’re there.
Fixing the broken things you...

The energy of opportunity can be our downfall if not wielded properly.

When you see it all around you, the temptation is to chase all of it.

Yet doing so means you catch none.

When you see how great each can become, the temptation is to pile every hour you have into it.

Yet doing so means you lose the ability to see the beauty of opportunity.

Flowers bloom and die, books get bought but not read, family members get...

Which is more important?

The journey is the ride — the highs and lows – that take you to the destination.

The destination is the goal — the target that you set – that all the work is designed to take you to.

The company – those you journey with – determine whether it will be an enjoyable, fulfilling, meaningful journey… one that brings out the best in you and helps you thrive along the way… or one that steals...

There’s a piece of work in your future…

One that you’ll collaborate with someone on…

Someone you’ve not met, yet.

But you’ll show up in the market.
In your communities.
On your social platforms.

And you’ll find them.
Or maybe they’ll find you.
It doesn’t matter.

When you meet, the great work may not be immediately obvious.

But it will become obvious as you show up fully to the relationships in your life, and eyes open...

The market is where we gather.
A vibrant, organic, chaotic cocktail of energy flowing between buyers and sellers.

A community is also where we gather.
A vibrant, organic, uniform camaraderie flowing between those with shared goals.

We need both.

One to engage in society, bring our skills to bear, and share meaningful work.

And one to find peace, a safe place to germinate new ideas and grow together.

We need you to have both. So you can be...

You know that really important project you’ve been sitting on?

The one you’d love to make and release to the world, but it’s not the right time yet?

It might be time to take a look at it.

There is no “right time” in space-time.

There is only being mentally ready or mentally not ready.

If you’re mentally ready, it’s time. Now you can execute.
If you’re not mentally ready, it’s not time. It’s never time.

Understanding the difference...

You’ve probably heard that speed is a variable of success in your work.

But you also probably misinterpreted the statement.

“Speed is a variable” is not the same as “Going fast is necessary”.

‘Speed’ is knowing the pace at which something moves.
‘Variable’ is an element or factor.

So what it really means is, “Knowing the pace of your movement is an element of success.”

There are times to go fast.
There are times for slowing down.
...

Industries are on their knees due to covid…

“My market crashed, who’s going to pay my bills?”
“Our business closed, who’s responsible for this?”
“Who’s gonna pay for all this?”

Here’s a different take:

This is one of the joys of a free, open market…

…of a market that changes all the time.

It changes because of world events…
Disasters…
Customer demand…
Competition…
Technical breakthroughs…

…It just keeps changing

That means that there is...

What’s the formula for a resilient business?

Courage = start that business
Wisdom = know how to run it
Justice = know why you run it
Temperance = know when to run it

Combine all 4 = Resilient business

Now here’s the secret:

These four elements are the core virtues as defined by Xeno of Citium many moons ago.

They became the core pillars of Stoicism.

Many more business lessons can be found in philosophy. They’ll transform...

Dear ‘Negative Self Talk’,

It’s been a good run.

We’ve shared decades together. Good times and bad.

But I’m sorry to say, you’ve been a bit of a downer in my life over the years.

And it’s time to say goodbye.

I’m going to be hanging out with ‘Positive Self Talk’ from now on.

He’s cool, supportive, and he speaks the truth.

All the best in the future,

Adam

Hot new VC startup: Millions in revenue, annual net loss. We see this all the time.

My lil’ company: Stable & fun, profitable every year, exciting projects, a joy to work on. This is rare.

Look after your customers and they’ll look after you as a provider.

Look after your holders and they’ll look after you as a creator.

If you’re not creating, we’d all love to see what’s inside you.

Stable and profitable fun could be right on the...

Whether you love or hate NFTs…

Accelerated community connection is good.
After all, that’s a huge part of what makes NFT collections valuable.

Privacy-powered accountable tech is good.
After all, that’s a huge part of what makes NFT utilities valuable.

Art is good.
After all, that’s a huge part of what makes the NFT itself valuable.

Opportunity is everywhere you look.

You just need eyes to see.

What abuse, loss, and blackmail taught me about “Modern Marketing” and being a creator:

(For context, those are all things that my wife and I have experienced at scale over our lives… they’re personal… but they teach some valuable lessons that will help you on your journey as a creator)

#1 Meet in the narrow

When you realise that things can’t take away your reason, virtues, and principles…the game changes.

You get permission (from yourself) to be yourself &...

I had to take a few days off writing my daily blog.

More than a few days, actually close to a month.

Life was coming at us pretty hard with health-related matters, and time was allocated elsewhere.

But you know what’s important?

Vulnerability: showing up as you are, even when it stinks.

It’s not always possible or appropriate. But it is in this case.

You’re reading this because I caught back up. Every day missed, accounted for again.

My future-self...

It’s hard to make people want things.

You need to understand what drives a person and how to manipulate their thinking.

It’s difficult, time-consuming and expensive.

It’s easy to make things people want.

You just have to ask them and give it to them.

It’s simple, quick and affordable.

Why do so many entrepreneurs prefer the former?

Chat — and sales — are missing a big opportunity.

Your website has a script on it… a particular choice of words you think will equip others to make a decision.

Your questions (clicks) return answers (pages) and those answers are also scripts, each designed to answer the question with the information site owners have (that you clicked).

Chat — and sales — are not websites. So why do we treat them like they are?

Scripts work for websites. They...

Growth isn’t linear. Nor is the effort required to grow.

More of what got you here is unlikely to get you there.

Entrepreneurs who “need this advertising campaign to work” didn’t count the cost of growing with PPC.

Creators who “want more fans and more free time” didn’t consider that those goals may not move in parallel with each other.

Enjoying where we are is no bad thing. Neither is wanting to grow.

Just remember to count the cost and...

Worried someone might steal your big idea?

If it’s big, they won’t.

People only steal ideas they believe are possible.

Google AdWords only had 350 advertisers when they launched.

Bitcoin was created 12 years ago. You could buy coins for $2.

If you need to protect your idea with an NDA, you may not be thinking big enough.

“The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself.” — Thales of Miletus

I was talking with a friend recently who felt they’d forgotten who they were.

Perhaps you can relate to this feeling. You might forget sometimes too. I think we all do a bit in times of change.

But don’t let it drag on: don’t be unsure about who you are. Get clear.

Agnosticism is lazy: You either have faith or you don’t. You believe or...

“If I can just download the image file, why would I buy the NFT?”

Is the same as…

“If I can just download a picture of money, why would I work for yours?”

One method produces valuable (like gold or APPL stock, valuable because others think it is too).

The other method doesn’t (and risks bringing your integrity into question).

Value has always been divided into two camps:

1. Valuable to you because you decided it’s valuable
2. Valuable to a...

This is a really strange post for me to write.

I’m both excited and sad, at the same time.

Here we go:

There are some really big projects coming up soon.

I’ve been planning them for a little while, and they’re starting to take shape.

I don’t want to give away too much information just yet (I’ll share more over the coming days and weeks!) but today, I’d love to share a new focus for our company:

“Become Wiser, Kinder,...