Have you ever dreamed of traveling the world but the constraints of life got in the way? Our guest this week dreamed of taking a year off to explore the globe with her family, and she made it happen. Here’s how.

Do you know where most of your customers live, or how much your market is willing to spend on your art? If you think those questions don’t matter to being a successful artist, think again. Justin Vining is a painter based in Indianapolis, Indiana who has gone from bare bones living to having a comfortable and healthy income from his art.

Do you think it’s never too late to be an artist? Or is there a cutoff point in life when to give up on your artistic dreams? Our guest for today is shaking up the notion that you can only pursue your artistic path when you’re young. Lisa talks about what happened on her artistic journey in this episode of The Portfolio Life, including how many years it took for her work to become a part-time source of income and then a full-time source. You’ll definitely want to hear her inspiring journey, and her advice on how you can follow suit.

Do you know what the biggest secret to a successful life is?

Be generous.

It's so simple and yet so easy to ignore. Here's why:

We think that being generous is something we do once we get famous. And that's not how it works at all.

These days, it's easy to be famous. There are more influencers on Instagram than there have ever been famous people in the history of humanity. And our culture just keeps intoxicating us with the allure of more attention, and that it's an easy thing to chase.

I used to think a lot about my funeral. I wanted to do great things and be remembered by people. I wanted them to say nice things about me after I was gone. I thought I was talking about legacy. But really it was all about ego.