I am sure you have had those perfect, amazing moments where everything just seems to work. Often called “flow states” or “peak experiences”, we produce some of our most amazing work during those times, and experience a breadth and depth of humanity that is not often seen. This is my journey from being burned out and exhausted to finding a workable way to get to a flow state on a daily basis. (more…)

I think it started with my recent post about business cards, actually. But I really noticed it when I logged in to my LinkedIn account recently.

Encouraged by Seth, I am slowly getting into the habit of typing all the names and email addresses of people I meet at conferences into LinkedIn. After going to BarCampBank SF last weekend, I logged into LinkedIn, and there was my current job description: “Temporarily retired” at “my house.” For the first time, it wasn’t tongue-in-cheek humorous anymore. It actually made me cringe. (more…)

I’ve had “write the results of my ‘no complaining’ week” on my to-do list for a few days now, since it officially ended midnight between Tuesday and Wednesday. Today is Thursday, so I’m a bit behind in writing it. I knew there was a reason I hadn’t written it yet, and now I know why — I hadn’t learned the lesson behind the week yet. Tonight, just a few minutes ago, I finally got it. (more…)

One of the great bonuses of “temporarily retiring” is that I have had a lot of time to think about where I want to be in life, where I am now, and how to get from here to there.

Really, I wouldn’t trade this period of reflection for anything. I have come up with great business ideas. I have learned Internet marketing and blog-writing skills that have helped me to grow this blog from 2000 unique visitors per month a few months ago to nearly 10,000 this month. I have been able to commit serious time to writing about beliefs I am really passionate about.

The one thing I want to do before I jump back into the business world, though, is to do something seriously personally challenging. I did start working out three times a week, which is good, but not challenging enough by itself. I wanted something that made me cringe to do it… and would have significant opportunities for my personal growth, as well. (more…)

“grandma’s decreipt house”
by tatterh00d
Licensed under Creative Commons

I did the math, and I think our society has been sold a pile of crap that we’ve bitten on hook, line, and sinker. I’m not going to mince words or try to make this sound nice, because we’ve been duped, and we have every right to be upset about it. (more…)