January 2011
30 posts
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December 2010
39 posts
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#YearInReview
Yesterday Seth Godin posted his #YearInReview noting what he shipped in 2010.
This might be a useful exercise. Doesn’t matter whether it was a hit or not, it just matters that you shipped it. Shipping something that scares you (and a lot of what follows did) is the entire point.
[Funny, it’s actually difficult to publish a list like this… maybe that’s another reason...
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Watchbigbags:
Dealing with vulnerability and shame all boils down to our desire to love ourselves and others. We must accept that we are enough.
You cannot dull your negative emotions without dulling all of your emotions, and dulling your emotions makes it impossible to live and love life. Shame, fear, failure, and vulnerability are all proof that you are alive. Appreciate that.
Beautiful.
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“As the number of apparently significant digits in the data available to us goes...”
– Seth’s Blog: Folk wisdom and proofiness (via davidhoffman)
YES!
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“Being right keeps you in place. Being wrong forces you to explore.”
– Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven B. Johnson. (via dumplingboy)
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In search of a few web / design accomplices
When I won’t be helping Seth Godin and Amazon reinvent publishing in the new year, I’ll be working on my passion project. If you’ve been following me over the last year, you might know this project to be called “The Aha Moment” or some variation of this. Turns out Oprah kind of owns that term so I’m planning to do a little rebrand.
My mission in life is...
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Watchtwenty-ten in rewind: wow, what a year to remember!
nearly a year ago i quit my job, sold all of my belongings, and jumped on a plane to new york. with little certainty of what was next, i was on a mission to experience the answer.
from freelancing with some of my favorite internet companies to co-starting Nightowls to meeting wonderful people & playing with them excessively to seeing momma...
the only goal with every person you meet is to love them. whatever that love means or becomes, it’s always about true love.
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everything in life begins with love. in all relationships, in our work, in our encounters with random strangers, everything is connected and we should love accordingly. we only give when we love.
I recently asked my Twitter friends: “What fear is holding you back?” Their responses included:
failure
abandonment/rejection
intimacy
success
being broke
not being good enough
I think the last one — not being good enough — is actually at the root of all the others. We fear we’ll fail because we’re not good enough. We fear we’ll lose our relationships, that we’ll be abandoned, that we’ll...
“When you’re a kid, it’s simple. Christmas is magic. It’s a time of miracles,...”
– The Wonder Years (via ericazucco)
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On living outside your comfort zone
There’s a distinct difference between doing what feels right and feeling slight discomfort along the way & doing what feels wrong and feeling torn up in the process.
Slight discomfort means you’re growing and opening yourself up to situations that challenge your comfortable behaviors. These experiences will help you learn and grow in unprecedented ways. You may question yourself...
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Help Me Bring My Momma to New York!
Chicago is nice but it’s no place like New York!
My mom is an incredible entrepreneur, flooring contractor and new development specialist hailing from Chicago. I feel like her time in Chicago is long-over and I’m eager to have her join me in New York! The good news is that she’s very open to living in the same city as her baby, especially if I can help her land some work....
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experience the answer
crazy is staying comfortable in the familiar. irrational is doing work you don’t enjoy. unrealistic is thinking that you can’t evolve, change and grow as you go.
life is a colorful adventure made of happy yellows, sad blues, romantic reds, mysterious blacks and many more colors in between.
we can’t predict what will happen so we might as well start experiencing the answer instead.
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There's no one right way to do things
When I applied to be part of The Domino Project, Seth Godin’s new brainchild, powered by Amazon, the application process was inspiring yet intense. Most of the questions came fairly easily and actually helped provide some clarity for me in terms of where I’ve been and where I’m going.
There was one question specifically that annoyed me as it made my head hurt a bit:
Skill...
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Relationships either work or they don’t. You either treat each other like gold and it feels good or it doesn’t feel right at all. When it’s right, embrace. When it’s wrong, let go. It’s better to walk away from situations that aren’t right than hold on for something to change or magically evolve. You’ll end up closing yourself off to new and better...
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Mr. @notoriousMPD has serious photo skillz!
I’m very fond of my new Domino Project teammate’s brilliant photo skills. Michael has a way of capturing raw beauty and I particularly like his aesthetic. Check out his photos here and hire him (email michael@micheldudell.com) to shoot your portrait!
A few of my favorites…
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Why slow meaningful growth wins
A friend asked me this morning how he can grow his Facebook page to 1000 fans.
Apprehensive about his approach, I asked two questions:
What’s the purpose of the Facebook page?
Why do you want 1000 fans?
I ask these questions because it’s far more meaningful and sustainable to engage with and focus on the fans you currently have verses the ones you wish you had.
Instead, I...
What you feel tells far more than what you think. Be aware of how every interaction and moment makes you feel. In that lies the answers to your most important questions about life.
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“the difference between failure & success lies in your goals and intent. if...”
– thoughts on the plane from JFK to ORD…
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What are you working on?
If someone asks you that, are you excited to tell them the answer?
I hope so. If not, you’re wasting away.
No matter what your job is, no matter where you work, there’s a way to create a project (on your own, on weekends if necessary), where the excitement is palpable, where something that might make a difference is right around the corner.
Hurry, go do...
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on the other side of fearless & effortless play
Krystal, my best friend since birth, was over tonight with her four year old son Jay. He is incredibly intelligent, very curious and has an adorable lust for life. I lit a fire and Krystal and I enjoyed a glass of red wine as we watched The Holiday. A moment of complete and utter bliss.
Jay, full of vigor and energy, was playing with his trains, drawing transformers, and running around the...
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why not to focus on "what"
I frequently hear people talk about not knowing what they want to do.
“I’m unhappy in my job but I don’t know what else to do.” “I make a lot of money but don’t feel satisified with what I do.” “I don’t know what to major in because I don’t know what I want to be.”
The inherent problem with this way of thinking is the focus on what. What we do is far less important than why we do it. What we do...
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chivalry is not dead
I love my friend Shannon’s Chivalry Is Not Dead Acquaintance Cards.
Tie line & more coming soon from him. Watch out!
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“Push to improve metrics & the metrics will improve for a while. Teach a...”
– Simon Sinek
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