The Entrepreneur Ethos

Today, I have a conversation with Leslie Watts, an author and Story Grid Certified Editor. Leslie and I are in Nashville where we’re learning how to tell better non-fiction stories and to launch her new book, What’s the Big Idea?, which she wrote with Shelley Sperry. We talk about the three things she tries to do every day to be happy, productive, and be at her creative best. 

I first met Leslie in 2016 at the first every Story Grid event in New York City. After that, we kept in touch via a study group that morphed into the Story Grid Editor Roundtable Podcast.

She’s also the captain of Writership, which is her blog + podcast + editing services. She’s also active in the Story Grid community on both their blog and on the Story Grid Editor Roundtable, which I was a proud member of and left to start this podcast. 

One of the reasons Leslie is such a great editor, among other things, is because of her editing philosophy. Quote: 

I believe writers become better storytellers through study and practice and that editors owe a duty of care to help writers by offering specific and supportive guidance.

Leslie not only takes us through the three daily habits she tries to do to stay happy and productive but also talks about the writing process and how Natalie Goldberg’s writing retreats give her a creative edge. She also happens to be my editor for my memoir, so I can attest that she lives by her words. I’ll someday share the memoir with everyone once it’s done.

You’ll probably hear some background noise and a siren or two since we were recording this in the common room at the Stay Alfred at The James in The Gultch neighborhood of Nashville. 

Now, let’s get better, together.

Actions to Try or Advice to Take

Have Daily Habits: Leslie has three and her day is much better if she does all of them.

Read wide and Deep: Read all sorts of books and stories from all over the place. Don’t limit yourself. You’ll find some gems.

The Problem is the Problem: Don’t beat yourself up about challenges or messing up. Focus on the problem and only the problem. You are not the problem, the problem is the problem.

Links to Explore Further

Natalie Goldberg and Writing Down the Bones

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Ravi Kurani and I talk about startups, aliens, and why it’s important to have persistence when trying to bring a new idea into the world. Ravi’s company, Sutro Connect, is transforming the way pool and spa owners take care of their water. Their smart water monitor automatically measures water parameters and sends it to the cloud. With these measurements, pool and spa owners can know what chemicals to put in their water to keep it safe. If you have a pool or spa, you should check it out.

Ravi has been working on this idea for the past five years and it’s near and dear to his heart because as a boy, he worked at his father’s pool store and as a pool boy. I met Ravi a couple of years ago through The Hustle Ambassador Facebook group and now help him with Sutro’s PR & Marketing.

We talk about a wide range of things including impact investing, safe water, aliens, coronavirus, and persistence. The one practice that we dig into is how to take time to get clarity on what you’re working on by cleansing the mind and getting rid of your mind’s TV static. Doing that can help you open your mind to new things.

You might hear some voices in the background. No, those are not aliens but a lively meeting in the next conference room. For some reason, our soundproof room did not mute it out. I guess that’s what you get when you record live and in person.

Now, let’s get ready to get better together.

Actions to Try or Advice to Take

Links to Explore Further

Zen Center mediation

Bikram Movie and Wild Wild Country

Keep In Touch

Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on the podcast, I’m talking with Grant Faulkner, executive director of NaNoWriMo. He talks with me about how writing a novel in a month is a great metaphor for being a productive leader and artist. 

NaNoWriMo is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides tools, structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals and build new worlds — on and off the page. Their claim to fame is in their namesake -- National Novel Writing Month, which happens every November. I personally have done NaNoWriMo twice -- once for a yet unpublished novel and once for the memoir I’m working on right now.

Writing a Novel is a lot like any other kind of project where you’ll have a crisis of confidence in what you’re working on. We all have the shiny new object syndrome when that happens and Grant gives some advice on how to handle that along with insights on how to jump-start your creativity.

I interviewed Grant at the 2020 San Francisco Writers Conference at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown San Francisco. I’d like to thank them for letting me crash a conference room. They are some great people. You’ll hear why during the interview. You might hear some background noise and me fumbling a bit with the microphone. Apologize ahead of time for that. 

Now, let’s get better, together.

Actions to Try or Advice to Take

Do a Time Hunt: Take a week and figure out where all your time is spent. Log in all and see where you might have some free time confetti.

Find your Time Confetti: Small blocks of time (~10 minutes) to achieve progress towards your goals. Look for them around checking email and social media.

Make Your Creative Time: wake up early, go to bed late, don’t watch NetFlix, or stop reading the news.

Start Everyday Anew: The past is the past. Try and start your day fresh from what happened yesterday.

What’s the most important thing: What prioritizes to you have in a day and what’s the most important thing to get done independently of whether or not it’s fun for you.

Renew your self-confidence: You cannot make or even market something if you don’t believe in it. Renew your self-confidence even when things are not working out.

Links to Explore Further

Author Hugh Howey -- self-publishing success and self-confidence.

Keep In Touch

Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Entrepreneur Ethos Podcast, hosted by entrepreneur and author Jarie Bolander. We'll dig deep into the traits, values, and beliefs that drive entrepreneurs to create an independent life that completes them as well as what all of us can learn from them.