Step 3: Lessons learned in business, professionalism, and life.

Can't we all just get along?

Unfortunately not :(  But you have to keep trying right? Also no.

But it's a good thing to try to get along with everyone right?  Yes, but sometimes getting along means not engaging with everyone who crosses your path.  Even if they want to!  You have to trust your gut about what's a good fit or not, and stop trying to make EVERYTHING work, just for its own sake.

Trust me, I take every opportunity to blame myself for relationships that go south, but the truth is, the red flags were there all along, but I was hunting for the exception, trying to prove that I could make it work through sheer power of will.  Nope.

Listen now!

 

P.S. I was wrong, it's Wanda who has one of my favorite quotes from Bojack Horseman: 

The final, belated, episode of season 1!

Well, it's taken a while to get this episode out, but it was time.  While the first couple of episodes of this series are about limiting or reducing certain distracting elements from your life, this time around I wanted to talk about the ways we shut ourselves off from new experiences and how we can open ourselves up to new things to enjoy.

Finally watched it, and yes, I have thoughts.

In my latest blu-ray binge I caught up on La La Land, brought to us by the same folks behind Whiplash, and just like Whiplash, I have thoughts.  They share similar themes about ambition and life choices, which I didn't expect, but was happy to find.  Since then I've also seen a lot of reviewers that really worked their asses off to make sure they miss the actual point of the film— incredible!  So forget them, listen to my ramblings and unearth the true wisdom behind Ryan Gosling dancing.  Ryan Gosling dancing.

Listening to this episode is not as good as Ryan Gosling dancing, but you should still listen.

People love to hate on social media, but really we just need to be more mindful.

It's nigh impossible to go within 5 clicks of any online publication without hitting an article trying to capitalize on being either pro or anti social media.  Critics are eager to heap on the blame for just about everything on social media.  While I'm not going to deny that social media has brought out a wonderfully dark and horrible side of humanity, it isn't new, it's just now becoming common public knowledge.

As always my stance is one of moderation and meditation.  It's not about trying to blame or praise, but rather looking within to judge whether this is a tool to help you move forward, or a stumbling block holding you back :)

Listen to episode 19 now!

Are you a mix of the 5 people you spend the most time with?  Maybe, maybe not, but they have an undeniable affect on you...

Regardless of how you feel about the pop-psych idiom that you are a combination of the five people you spend the most time with, you can't deny that there are certain aspects of your personality that come out around certain people— especially if they have a dominant personality!  In this series of episodes I'm going to be talking about the different aspects of the environment you create for yourself throughout your life, and encourage you to think about how that has molded you into the person you are.

Listen now!

You worked yourself to the bone to become a successful agency owner— but how do you stay true to yourself when that means leaving what you've built behind you?

This week I happened to catch Kyle Maurer, former owner of RealBigMarketing and brand new disciple of Pippin (easydigitaldownloads.com), while he was in town and we were able to sit down and talk about how he got into running his own agency– and how he recently got out of it.

Kyle offers up a ton of wisdom in this episode, and every digital agency owner I know will relate on a deeply personal level to his struggles with the agency life and his ultimate departure.  He was able to stay true to his own desire for autonomy while also respecting his limitations, and focusing on doing what he is best at, and offers him the most satisfaction.  I'd call that a resounding success!

And as a special treat, ie on a whim, we laid down a folksy rendition of Strangers by The Kinks.  It's a beautiful trainwreck, just like everything else about this podcast, so buckle up!

Listen to episode 17 now!

And sometimes it's your own damn fault.

Two weeks ago I broke one of my cardinal rules, and while the price I paid wasn't as costly as it could have been, it wasn't pretty either.  Sometimes you work too much, you let things get to you, and eventually all of the stress you're trying to keep under wraps decides to come out and play.

Sometimes you trip, sometimes you fall, sometimes you lay there a minute and feel sorry for yourself.  But if you're here today, you've pulled yourself up every time and gotten right back to it, so good on ya!

Listen to Episode 15 now!

Imposter syndrome strikes again

But this time we did it LIVE at WordCamp Jackson!  Mike Hale joins me to talk about Imposter Syndrome and we get some fresh perspectives on all of the ways this insidious little bug in our collective ear is hellbent on sabotaging our positivity!

Listen to EP14 now!

What is the price of greatness?

That is one question posed by the 2014 film Whiplash.  And it's a question near and dear to my own heart.  But it's also not the only question posted by the film, and it's certainly not the only question I've been asking myself since watching it.  The whole experience of the film resonated with me on a subatomic level, using some sort of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff to connect me via some loosely construed string theory-esque quantum magic with my past self, laboring under a cruel mentor, building websites.  It made me question some of the conclusions I've made since, and how to think about ambition in my daily life.

Listen to episode 13 of Step 3 now!

What are we waiting for?

When we're kids, we need our parents' approval, we need their permission.  When we go to school, we need our teachers' approval, and their permission.  When we go to work...and so on.  The thing is, outside of those controlled environments (and inside for that matter!) we should be able to give ourselves approval and permission, but we don't, and it's easy to see why!  We so rarely give ourselves permission to relax, to be happy, to say no (especially to say no), meanwhile our life ticks away while other people wind up making our decisions for us.  That's not living is it?!

In this episode I talk (for far too long) about that daily struggle, as well as some of the super personal moments in which I needed someone else's permission to grow as a person.

Listen to Episode 12 - Permission to Land