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When it comes to working online and making money on the internet, most discussions tend to look at specific tactics. How do you set up a mailing list? How can you get a merchant account? And so on. The answers to these questions may be useful, but you can learn about them elsewhere, and I thought it would be helpful to take a step back and look at something higher-level.
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109 Comments
After I wrote that the first WDS operated at a net loss—financially speaking, not in terms of anything that matters—I was immediately pitched by a number of event planners, venues, and various professional meeting people, all offering me free advice about how we should do things around here. Whoa! Thanks for all the ... unsolicited ... input.
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80 Comments
I talked with someone who was in the process of calling fifteen people to get their opinions on a project. Why was any one of our opinions worth so much effort? I'm not sure, but someone had told her she should seek out as many opinions as possible before deciding what to do. The standard line is: Listen to what other people have done and avoid making the same mistakes.
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47 Comments
One year ago, I began planning last weekend with a small group of trusted friends. As the time drew closer, we transitioned from a planning team to an Action Team. Then, as the weekend really drew closer, we expanded to a much larger Action Team. When the big day finally arrived, more than 40 people worked closely together to provide a gathering space for the 500 awesome people who came to town, more than half of whom were visiting Portland for their first time. Everyone involved was a volunteer—no speakers were paid, and attendees themselves contributed much of the weekend as we went along.
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Over the past weekend, I've been with 500+ people who came to Portland for the inaugural World Domination Summit. I'll be sharing a detailed wrap-up on Thursday, but for now, here are a few initial photos to illustrate the occasion. Later in the day you'll be able to see hundreds more over here. Video will be forthcoming at some point as well. But first, world domination does sometimes require a nap ...
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When I heard the news that the rapture would take place two Saturdays ago, my first thought was ... wait ... how is that possible, since World Domination still has two weeks to go? We need more time before the planet implodes!
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I've been stuck in one place (mostly) for the past three months, working on two projects that required focus: writing a book manuscript on unconventional entrepreneurs, and preparing to host the World Domination Summit this coming weekend. During last year's Annual Review, I knew these two projects would keep my feet to the ground for a while, so I had planned on doing the majority of my faraway travels during the second half of the year.
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75 Comments
I talked with my seatmate Rachel on the flight to Singapore. She was 6G, I was 6H—Cathay Pacific Business Class. I was sitting up front thanks to my Platinum status and a big stash of Frequent Flyer Miles. Rachel was up front thanks to the global bank she worked for, which after a brief display of frugality was now back to flying even its junior employees in Business. Rachel was the same age as me. She had traveled to much of the world, but hadn't really seen anything. It was always running back and forth, flying to meetings, going to business dinners, arriving late at night back in the big Asian city where she was based before getting up early for more meetings.
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77 Comments
I'm not a minimalist. I think it's good to be intentional about what you own and how you take up space in the world, but I have no desire to move to a 300 square foot apartment and religiously track the number of socks that I own. I'm not a lifestyle designer. As far as I can tell, I've been designing my lifestyle since 1978—that's part of never having a real job, pursuing the goals I've been working on for ten years, and non-conformity in general. Technically I'm location independent, but I have a home in Portland, Oregon. I could live entirely out of my carry-on bag if I wanted to, but I don't want to ... so I don't.
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71 Comments
Every Sunday morning that I'm in town, I head out for a long run. Two weekends ago at the waterfront, the weather was glorious. The whole city of Portland took up jogging or cycling. Last weekend at the waterfront, the weather was more to our usual end-of-Spring form ... rainy and gloomy. The whole city of Portland stayed indoors. On the sunny day, joggers and cyclists smiled at each other with a mutual appreciation of our good fortune. The implied message was, “It's good to be alive!”
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142 Comments
My friend Danielle has a five-year-old-son. One day he came home from kindergarten, and Danielle asked what he learned. “We learned not to talk to strangers,” he said. “Because strangers are bad.”
“Really?” Danielle said. “Do you think strangers are bad?”
Her son thought about it and wasn't sure.
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36 Comments
I recently had the chance to participate in the 99% Conference, a gathering of creative professionals produced by Behance. The team put on a great show at the Times Center in New York, and my (small) part was to conduct a 90-minute “master class” on the topic of Redefining Risk: Increasing Confidence in Your Unconventional…
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136 Comments
I visited a large company to give a talk about non-conformity and adventure. From all appearances, it was a well-run company doing good things. Many of the employees came up to me afterwards to chat, and I asked each of them, “How are things at _____?” Most of them said that things were good, and I had no reason to doubt them.
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61 Comments
You thought you had plenty of time, but something went wrong. Having spent too much time thinking about what to pack, you spent even more time reevaluating at the last minute. You overslept, or you forgot about the time zone change. The bus came late, or the traffic jammed up. Whatever it was, as you head out the door, you run up against an uncomfortable fact—you're late. Not fashionably late, not pressed for time, just ... LATE. Thus begins the sense of apprehension. “Will I make it? What will happen if I don't?”
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93 Comments
Paul was an artist, painting in several mediums and styles. He lived in a Northwestern city known for its love of the arts, if not always its ambition. As Paul grew up, his family and teachers encouraged him to pursue art as a career instead of just a hobby. Paul was not especially organized, as we shall see, but this idea suited him well ...
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