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There's never been a better time in history for someone to make money remotely. Especially last year with COVID and the mass adoption of remote work.

There's a massive community online, that's growing every year, of digital nomads. People that freelance or start a business that affords them location independence and flexibility to design the lifestyle that fulfills them.

This is actually something you can do, and sooner and easier than you may think.

And today, we're going to talk with someone that's done it and, and discuss the real talk of what that lifestyle is like.

Jules Costa is a content and communications specialist, who built a career on a $200 laptop during the pandemic and visited over 21 countries before the age of 24.

Some of the topics we dove into:

• The struggle with balance, moderation, and inner insecurities as an entrepreneur.
• Are entrepreneurs "wired" differently?
• Self-regulation and "unplugging" in an always-on society.
• Social media and the illusion of connection and learning.
• Starting out, and finding mentors to guide your transition into freelance.
• How the nomadic life is waking up in a new reality every day.
• What it's like growing up with entrepreneurial parents.
• Internships as a low stakes way to split test career paths
• Imposter syndrome and reframing it as beneficial.
• Pricing, self-worth, and how fear of rejection is limiting your income.
• Burnout and the early warning signs.
• Navigating grief and mental health with clients and coworkers.
• Anthony Bourdain and what is on the other side of escapism.
• Coming to terms with death.
• The "Groundhog Day" of long-term full-time travel and how it changes you.
• Tribalism, reality distorting algorithms, and how things changed after COVID.
• Gen Z being arbiters of their own reality, TikTok and the rise of nihilist meme culture.
• Lifestyle design, digital nomads, and arbitrage.
• Space capitalism and the existential dilemma ahead.
• Crypto, decentralized finance, and the coming disruption of power structures.
• Hurdles to mass adoption and reframing how the public perceives cryptocurrencies.
• Bad user experiences and unconscious desires.
• Elon Musk, and the financial incentives bottlenecking global innovation.
• And so much more.

Connect with Jules on Instagram: @julesontap

Music by Kirby Johnston – check out his band Aldaraia on Spotify

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Do you ever feel like we're now living in some sort of alternative reality?

Like there was some glitch in the matrix and we diverged into some other universe in the simulation?

Sam Harris has a line "most people spend every waking moment of their lives in the 'movie' of their lives."

What happens when the illusion of that movie is broken?

Today Josh speaks with Sam McNerney about the Insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th, "alternative realities", the subterranean spaces online that fueled them, and the repercussions that occur when those "alternative realities" conflict with the "real world."

Some of the other things we dive into are:

• The growing division between Joe Rogan and his audience.
• Declining trust in institutions, mental viruses, and the rise of the conspiratorial "They."
• Bad incentives and how COVID was handled so poorly.
• Astroturfing, the "stolen election", and who influenced those that stormed the Capitol.
• Do we live in a "post-truth" world of alternative realities?
• The gamification of the media.
• How could we align the incentives for real institutional change?
• Can the next generation escape these feedback loops? How do we inspire that in a demoralized world?
• As a society, what are we optimizing for? What metrics do we measure that success by?
• How do we align the politically and socially divided on long-term goals?
• And much more.

Sam McNerney is an applied behavioral scientist, market researcher, and brand strategist based in Brooklyn, New York. He has worked with brands such as Walmart, Procter & Gamble, and CitiBank.

As a writer, he has interviewed business and academic leaders including Arianna Huffington, Andrew Yang, Jonathan Haidt, and Charles Murray – and his essays have been featured in publications like The Washington Post, Psychology Today, and Scientific American.

Now as an independent consumer insights specialist, he specializes in using surveys to help businesses answer questions about their customers that unlock the greatest value.

Connect with Sam:

• Website: sammcnerney.com
• Twitter: @SamMcNerney

Music by Kirby Johnston – check out his band Aldaraia on Spotify

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Today Josh speaks with Mark Cann about how to open up with others, be vulnerable, make friends, and grow your network authentically.

Today we dive into:

• The differences and the best approach for both introverts and extroverts.
• Learning how to tell your story in an authentic way that resonates.
• How to be a good listener and ask good questions to get to truly know somebody quickly.
• Addressing the myth that people "don't want to have authentic conversations."
• Overcoming scarcity bias and reframing rejection.
• How to approach strangers and make friends while traveling.
• Approaching sales as genuinely helping people — not selling or pitching.
• How to authentically connect with people at networking events.
• Networking during a global pandemic.
• How online networking apps like Lunchclub are a fantastic low-risk way to start meeting new people and growing your network.
• The future of co-working in a post-pandemic world.
• And much more.

Mark Cann is an entrepreneur, growth marketer, speaker, and outreach specialist. For the past 16 years, he has been a consultant, strategist and successfully led business development teams, including working with the team at Vungle which exited in 2019 for $750m. Mark currently is the Founder of Growth Warriors where he helps B2B companies grow through outreach and lead generation.

Connect with Mark:

• LinkedIn: @MarkCann
• Website: growthwarriors.co
• Twitter: @MarkyCann

Music by Kirby Johnston – check out his band Aldaraia on Spotify

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Today Josh speaks with Sam McNerney about the history of propaganda (public relations) and how it established the incentive models and feedback loops that have led to the increasing division in our current political and societal landscape.

Today we dive into:

• Propaganda, the work of Edward Bernays (the "father of public relations" and nephew of Sigmund Freud), and how he applied Freud's framework of psychology to be utilized to influence the public at large.
• How PR has shaped and gamified our culture.
• Is there objective truth anymore?
• The erosion of trust in America of institutions.
• BDSM and what it teaches us about the subjective nature of power.
• Incentive structures, false narratives, and levers of control.
• Could a Lincoln or Marcus Aurelius-like altruistic leader succeed in today's political environment?
• Joe Rogan, alternative news sources, and the rise of trusted individual voices.
• Alex Jones and censorship.
• Mob psychology and the culting of America.
• QAnon and Antifa supporters have more in common than they think.
• How we're both coping with all of this personally.
• Cortisol and stress cycles.
• Wim Hoff, cold showers, and breathing techniques.
• Meditation, the nature of consciousness, and the illusion of the self.
• Focus, ADHD, and the downstream effects of Adderall.
• What are Sam and Josh are both optimizing for in their lives?
• And much more.

Sam McNerney is an applied behavioral scientist, market researcher, and brand strategist based in Brooklyn, New York. He has worked with brands such as Walmart, Procter & Gamble, and CitiBank.

As a writer, he has interviewed business and academic leaders including Arianna Huffington, Andrew Yang, Jonathan Haidt, and Charles Murray – and his essays have been featured in publications like The Washington Post, Psychology Today, and Scientific American.

Now as an independent consumer insights specialist, he specializes in using surveys to help businesses answer questions about their customers that unlock the greatest value.

Connect with Sam:

• Website: SamMcNerney.com
• Twitter: @SamMcNerney

Music by Kirby Johnston – check out his band Aldaraia on Spotify

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Life is like a video game. You can be a passive player that follows the guide, or you can pave your own path on an epic journey into the unknown. So what are you optimizing for in this game you're playing?

What if you took a step back and looked at your life as the game designer, rather than the player?

What if you approached your own life like a user experience problem?

Zaid Hisham is a Nielsen Norman Group-certified Strategist who over the last 15 years has worked with clients such as Expedia.com, Intel, and Microsoft to elevate the user experience of their products and services.

Now he's applying his expertise to helping individuals design a life that fulfills them.

In this episode we dive into:

• What a user experience is.
• How it differs from traditional design.
• The myth of working at a huge corporation.
• How his experience with Expedia.com completely transformed how he approaches UX with clients now.
• How he has applied those principles for optimizing his own life.
• His journey with working on ADHD, stuttering, and childhood trauma.
• How hiring personal coaches has changed his life.
• And much more.

Follow Zaid on LinkedIn – or to work with Zaid to design your ideal life, book a session with him at ZaidHisham.com

Music by Kirby Johnston – check out his band Aldaraia on Spotify

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There are over 600,000 active podcasts right now. That's a lot of noise. Why the hell start another one? Today we're diving into why I'm doing just that with my guest Zaid Hisham. 

Zaid is a user experience strategist (ex: Apple, Expedia.com, Intel, Microsoft) and as a professional problem solver, he is an absolute wizard at asking the right questions. I think this gives you a taste of what's to come. Welcome aboard.

Music by Kirby Johnston – check out his band Aldaraia on Spotify