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Video Update: Strategy vs. Tactics

I recorded this short video while on vacation at the Oregon coast a couple weeks ago. It's all about strategy vs. tactics -- and why changing the world is more important than which email program you use. Every day I talk with people about building something. Building a blog, a business, an empire, whatever. I've noticed that most of the questions I hear are all about logistics and tactical decisions: which shopping cart? Should I use Wordpress? How do you host the images? And so on ...

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The Quest for 1 Million Photos: Interview with Thomas Hawk

A quest combines a passion for something meaningful with a measurable goal. For example—visiting every country in the world. Running a marathon in all 50 states. And so on. Once in a while I discover someone else on a quest that deserves broad attention, and I'm always fascinated by the back story. Enter Thomas Hawk, the San Francisco photographer on track to producing 1,000,000 finished, processed photos. He does this while working a full-time job and raising four young kids.

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Your Backup Plan Is Your Plan

My favorite part of reading case studies and interviewing entrepreneurs over the past couple of months has been hearing a number of stories with a recurring theme. In dozens of variations, the stories usually sound like this:

“I was down to my last $400 and simply had to make it work...”

“I gave up the option to take a reduced role at my job and just went full-tilt...”

“I didn't know what I was doing, but I finally overcame everything I was stalling on and just started ...”

Refusing the backup plan is a key theme of many successful entrepreneurs and other heroes. A good backup plan creates safety, security and a fall-back option—things you don't want when you're trying to change the world.

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On Synchronicity and the Building of Empires

It all started when I was feeling overwhelmed in the development of Empire Building Kit, my biggest business project of the year.

I've been working hard on it for weeks, but with all the material I'm putting in, I could see it would need more time.

I'veThen I started making plans for the big trip I'm starting later tonight. I'll be in Central America this weekend, enjoying cheese empanadas and café con leche while working from the road. Then, I'm going across the Atlantic for visits to the Ukraine, Cyprus, and Cape Verde. On the way back I stop off in Pittsburgh for a talk before continuing home.

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