Eric Upton is one of my students with a success story that makes me smile.

In this conversation, Eric talks about how we crossed paths, about where his career has gone since that time, and what he feels is in store for the future. A true example of how it's possible to reinvent your work, your life, and even your world.

Spiritual Foundations

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

(Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV)

Eric describes the first major step of his journey like this, "Phoenix was not a place that we'd ever thought about going to, or moving to, or living in, but the more we prayed about it and looked into it, the more it became clear to us that [Phoenix] was where God was leading us..."

This exemplifies the verses above and is a good reminder to try to recognize God's plan ("plans to prosper you and not to harm you"). And yes, sometimes it may not be obvious. Sometimes you'll need to put in the work ("Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.")

Tip of the Week

This week's tip is an addendum to last week's tip: Be intentional with Social Media.

Social Media plays two roles in the life of an entrepreneur. At any given time it can be either:

• The driving force behind building your brand (creation)
• An endless waste of time (consumption)

Now, I know that consumption can be part of a productive business strategy (e.g. reading what your audience or potential audience is saying about your business or industry. Gauging response to your latest campaign. Keeping an eye on your competition.); however, you know what I'm talking about when I say "endless waste of time" - The infinite scroll to see what catches your eye...not that finding out how your "friend" that you haven't seen since high school is coming along with the shed he's building isn't fun, but it's probably not going to advance your agenda.

This is why you must be intentional with social media.

I recommend you schedule separate times of day for consumption and creation. Decide when you will use social media as one of the most powerful (often free) tools in history and separate that from the time when you're just getting a thumb workout...clicking like on the latest Doug the Pug content.

An Interview with Eric Upton

Ever asked yourself something like, "Isn't it too late for me to start doing this thing since I've spent so many years doing that thing?" I'm sure your internal dialogue is more eloquent, but you get the idea.

Even when transitioning into a career that you know will make you happier, you'll probably spend some time doing some soul searching (praying, talking to family and friends, etc.) before you make the move.

And then, after all of that self-reflection, conversations with those closest to you, prayers and everything else you've done to affirm your decision...it's still scary.

That's not a certainty for everyone, but for most of us, fear and anxiety are simply a normal part of this process. The key is how we respond to that fear.

As Eric put it in our conversation, "Operate in spite of fear...move toward boldness even with the fear that's attached to it."