Aaron Draplin is not afraid to say what he thinks. I found myself resonating with so much of his story and especially his willingness to say what everyone is thinking, but is too afraid to say.

His own about page sums it better than I could:

Bred from the loins of the proud Midwest, this little fucker was squeezed out in Detroit, in the year 1973 to the proud parents of Jim and Lauren Draplin.

More About Aaron

@DraplinDraplin Design Co

What do you do when you have no good choices in front of you? Are you a failure if you quit or delay? I don't think so.

I talked to my Justin about my podcasting course and give you a behind the scenes look about what's been going on and where I'm at with the course.

Seth Godin says, in his book, The Dip:

"Sometimes we get discouraged and turn to inspirational writing, like stuff from Vince Lombardi: 'Quitters never win and winners never quit.' Bad advice. Winners quite all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time. Most people quit. They just don't quit successfully."

If you've ever created a product or wanted to, I hope this will be an encouragement to you.

Bits & Bytes Mentioned in the Show

Build & Launch Episode 12

The Dip ~ by Seth Godin

Real Life ~ by Justin Jackson

The 80% Principle

Marketing for Developers

Zen Founder

Barrett is an amazingly smart dude with a great story and super helpful advice. In addition to being the Director of Member Success at Fizzle.co, a training platform and community for honest independent entrepreneurs building businesses they believe in, he's also worked for Seth Godin & founded a company called Living for Monday.

We pretty much covered the gamut, talking about our common roots in the Southeast, our distaste for the current state of American education and how to do what you really want to do, plus a lot more.

As always, I had a great time talking to Barrett. Enjoy the show!

Bits & Bytes Mentioned in the Show

The Fizzle Show

FS089: Do Podcaster's have to Blog?

So Good They Can't Ignore You ~ by Cal Newport

TGM14: Seth Godin

TGM02: Chase Reeves

TGM11: Caleb Wojcik

TGM07: Corbett Barr

More About Barrett

@barrettabrooksBarrettBrooks.comFizzle.co

I was beyond excited to get to sit down with him and have a conversation about what actually matters in these little lives we lead and businesses we're trying to build.

Merlin is an independent writer, speaker, and podcaster based in San Francisco. You may know him from Back to Work, Roderick on the Line, and You Look Nice Today.

I loved these two quotes, which pretty much sums it all up for me:

“My narrative is that I’ve never known what’s coming next—I still don’t. I fell down the right set of stairs and have been surrounded by people who have picked me up and said, “Let’s try this again.” It’s been one anxious block of uncertainty after another.”

“…most of us are so stuck in this notion of how stuff should go that we want to find one of seven stories that matches our narrative. The fact is that most of us are wandering around, scared shitless, wondering what the fuck’s going to happen next.”

As always, I had a great time talking to Merlin. Enjoy the show!

Bits & Bytes Mentioned in the Show

TGMlistener.com

Jason Snell

MacBreak Weekly

TGM02: Chase Reeves

TGM14: Dancing With The Fear with Seth Godin

More About Merlin

@hotdogsladiesMerlinMann.comBack To WorkRoderick on the Line

But there are some principles here and I loved going through them because I really needed to hear it myself.

Everything I’m talking about is pretty much stolen straight from Seth Godin and how I’ve applied what he talks about to my own situation. So, all credit to Seth for his amazing work on this topic.

Bits & Bytes Mentioned in the Show

The Dip ~ by Seth Godin

Startup School

TGM14: Dancing With The Fear with Seth Godin

Stephanie is the cartoonist and writer behind ArtToSelf.com, sending you a daily personalized, inspiring cartoon and note to help you start the day from a positive place. She is also the cartoonist and money expert at EmpoweredDollar.com

On her website, she describes herself this way:

"If you asked me in this moment to describe myself in a few words, I’d say that I’m a curious, creative, contemplative, positive, spiritual, grounded, joyful woman who’s full of love. But in the not-so-good moments, I’d describe myself  as an over-analytical, obsessive, untethered, self-critical perfectionist. Ouch."

I fuckin love that because I feel the same way most of the time, except for the "joyful woman" part.

This was a great conversation. Stephanie's story was an inspiration to me to keep at it and I know it will be for you too.

As always, I had a great time talking to Stephanie. Enjoy the show!

Bits & Bytes Mentioned in the Show

Noah Kagan

AppSumo

BrainPickings

TGM14: Dancing With The Fear with Seth Godin

More About Stephanie

@stephhalliganArtToSelf.comEmpowereddollar.com

There are so many sleazy tactics and practices, half-truths and outright lies. If you’re not a part of it, you wouldn’t believe some of the things that people do.

Pat Flynn, on the other hand, has built a reputation for being an honest, completely above board kind of guy. And I was curious about how he did that? And more importantly, how do you stay true to yourself when money enters the equation (and in Pat's case, lot's of money)?

We talked about all of that and a lot more in this packed conversation. I learned a lot of things about Pat that I didn't know. What's the point of it all? Is he satisfied? Has his success brought the fulfillment he had hoped for?

As always, I had a great time talking to Pat. Enjoy the show!

Bits & Bytes Mentioned in the Show

Alex Blumberg and Gimlet Media

WTF with Marc Maron

On Being with Krista Tippett

The Tim Ferriss Show

Fizzle

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Pencils of Promise

Chris Ducker

Internet Business Mastery

More About Pat

@patflynnSmartPassiveIncome.comPatFlynn.comSPI TV

I decided to talk about exactly that in today’s episode. Really I was trying to encourage myself, but I hope it encourages you too.

It’s a marathon. Not a sprint. Keep moving. Keep getting better. Keep showing up. And good things will happen.

“Patience and perseverance have a magical affect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” ~ John Quincy Adams

Enjoy the show!

Bits & Bytes Mentioned in the Show

Jenn Going - Whole Life To Live

Stephen King Giveaway

Support the Show

TGM14 with Seth Godin

Mary Beth spent more than a decade in the financial planning industry before deciding she'd had enough of the corporate world and made the indiepreneur leap.

Now, she works for herself, shaking up the traditional views of that industry by focusing specifically on GenYers, helping them make smart choices with their money.

As always, I had a great time talking to Mary Beth. Enjoy the show.

More About Mary Beth

@marybstorjWorkableWealth.com

It was my honor to sit down with Leigh in Nashville last year and talk about her life, music, the struggle of being an artist and what has ended being the truly meaningful things in her life.

As always, I had a great time talking to Leigh. Enjoy the show.

More About Leigh

@leighannenashLeigh on Facebook