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10 Ways to Create a 'HIT' Podcast Episode from Pat Flynn

Pat Flynn

I recently made a somewhat last-minute decision to attend the Podcast Movement Conference in Chicago. To be frank, I was coming off of a Tony Robbins event, and I was mildly concerned that I wouldn’t be dancing, hugging, or high-fiving nearly enough, but I figured there had to be other perks, right? So I dropped the $500 on the ticket, cashed in some airline points, and I was on my way.

Since The Bold Life Movement Podcast is less than 6 months old (but already at 29 episodes!) I was confident there was something valuable there for me to learn.

Enter, Pat Flynn and his incredible breakout session. 

If you’re not familiar with Pat, he’s been in the entrepreneur and podcasting game for awhile. He’s an OG, and best known for his podcast, Smart Passive Income

It’s easy to get fomo during breakout style sessions because there’s so many interesting things happening at once! Should I learn about monetization, or is storytelling more important? Would it be more lucrative to learn about systems and automation or how to drive more traffic to each episode?

You can see my dilemma. Fortunately, I knew that Pat would deliver, and deliver he did. For anyone interested in Podcasting, read on. For I give you the 10 tried and tested, Pat Flynn methods for creating a HIT (Highly Intentional & Targeted) episode. 

Before we dive in, it’s important to understand the #1 rule for creating HIT episodes. If you don’t follow this rule, then you can’t be assured that each style of episode will achieve its potential.

The Golden Rule: Treat each of these episodes like an EVENT. 

What this means, is that you plan ahead. Pick a launch date and market the episode ahead of time. The goal is to create BUZZ around these episodes. You want to tease people about what’s coming. 

One way to do this effectively is to leak clips from future episodes at the end of current episodes. People love a good teaser. 

Utilize your email list, and tap into your network (and the network of your guests) to help promote. 

Share out to Social media, talk about it in FB videos, and really treat it like it’s something special. 

So, now that we know we all mean business here, on to the meat of this post. Here are the 10 ideas for creating a HIT episode, courtesy of Pat Flynn: 

1. Round up Episode
A Round up episode is a great way to engage listeners, or other podcasters for more exposure.

The concept is that you pick a central theme or topic, and have experts and/or listeners provide their perspectives. They can send in audio using something like Speakpipe.com, or submit answers via a survey. 

By engaging listeners, they feel involved and are more likely to listen to the episode and share it out. If you choose to elicit the thoughts of other podcasters, they’ll likely share the episode out to their list, which gives you more exposure. 

To beef up the episode and help it flow together, add your thoughts in between answers. For creative marketing around this episode, you can put the submitted answers on social cards for easy sharing. 

Here’s an example of this type of episode: Patflynn.com/227
 

2. Interview a Forum Owner
Pick the brain of someone who has a built in following, by interviewing a forum owner. These can be individuals with large FB groups, or leaders of Linkedin Groups, membership sites, etc. Chances are good that these guests will share the episode out with their communities, and engagement is likely to be high since those members have proven interest in the topic, and trust in that individual. 

It’s a win-win for everyone. More free content from someone the members trust, added credibility for that forum leader, and increased exposure for you! 

My recent episode with Jill Stanton from Screw the Nine to Five is a good example of this: theboldlifemovement.com/029

3. The Burst Strategy
The burst strategy is fun, because it’s like a mini series! People love binge watching or binge listening, and your show should be no exception.

What this looks like: instead of releasing one episode, you release 2 or 3 at once. Each episode is connected by a central theme or guest. 

I’ll be utilizing this strategy with my release of the two-part interview I did with Nat Eliason, coming out August 10th. Nat had so much great content to offer, that we recorded two separate episodes. The first focuses a lot on building a lifestyle business, and in the second episode we dovetail into writing, specifically about writing things that can be considered taboo. He shares his vision for the book he’s currently working on, about how men can have better sex. It’s such an interesting and personal combination of interviews and I love the idea of releasing them back to back. 

Be sure to subscribe on iTunes to get access to them when they are released on August 10th: bit.ly/tblmpodcast
 

4. Share-for-Share
Share for Share is kind of a quick win strategy. The concept is that you have someone on your show, and they return the favor. You both gain access to the others’ listeners and email list by promoting the respective shows. It’s valuable for your listeners because they get access to someone who you clearly share values with, AND they get to experience you in a different context as a guest on the other host's show. 
 

5. Contests
Promoting contests is a good way to help your episode go viral. With an app like KingSumo, listeners are motivated to share the episode with more people, because the more entries into the contest that they drive, the more entries they earn. 

You can swing this one of two ways: Promote the contest before the episode is released, and announce the winner on the show. Or promote the contest after the episode to increase how many shares you get. 
 

6. The Challenge
Challenges are a growing trend when it comes to community engagement and growing your following. Simple Green Smoothies is one of the best examples of the Free Challenge method. Multiple times a year, they create buzz around their free 30 day smoothie challenges, where they give away 30 different smoothie recipes for free via instagram.

Their followers increase, and engagement is epic because people love to share the beautiful images, the valuable content, and most of all, they love to share with their friends that they’re accomplishing something difficult. 

If you can cultivate a challenge around one of your episodes, then you can drive listenership because people will want to share their progress publicly. 
 

7. The Poster Boy Episode
The Poster Boy episode is pretty simple. Emulate someone you admire, and then talk about it. For example, I’m releasing a 2-part series next week, a la Pat Flynn, and I’m writing about it in this post. 

Another, non-podcast-related example would be the JP-Sears inspired video that I created recently. This appeals to my audience because they get to see a different, more playful side of me, but it also appeals to lovers of JP (and Tony Robbins) and that encourages shares and exposure from a new audience. 


Poster Boy episodes are also a great way to gain the attention of those people you admire, because tagging them in the social shares could catch their eye. If you can emulate your mentors AND have them share it out to their followers, even better.  
 

8. Podcast Carnival
The Carnival method, or the “mash up” method, is a bit more intensive logistically, but has the potential for a big payoff. For this type of episode, you join forces with other podcasters, and you release 4 different episodes over the course of 1 month (this is assuming there are 4 of you total). 

The intention is to pool together the hosts of similar podcasts to tackle the 'burning questions' of the collective listeners. This type of episode requires some pre-lim marketing and planning as you want listeners to submit their questions, register for the call series, and subscribe to EACH show. The result? Each of you get access to this new list of subscribers, and each show now has additional listeners subscribed on iTunes. 

Check out Pat's slide to see what I mean: 

 
 



The listeners get exposure to different show styles, and get added value in that particular genre. A possible example would be joining up with Business Podcast hosts to answer questions on all things marketing. 
 

9. Round Two - The Follow Up Episode
The Follow Up episode is great for a few different reasons. Listeners love a good “where are they now?” story, so bringing back an old guest is great for your long-time listeners, and encourages newer listeners to go back and listen to old episodes. This can also be really valuable for listeners if the original episode garnered a lot of questions and engagement. Bringing back a particular guest, or elaborating more on a specific topic, provides answers to listeners’ questions and gives them more of what they’ve proven to like. 

This is great for topics or niches that have a lot of layers, or require a lot of explanation. It can also be beneficial for past guests who are now launching a new project or book, or who want to provide updates on the projects they discussed last time they were on the show. 
 

10. Niche Specific Show
While you may think that going super niche will alienate a lot of your audience, you’d be surprised. By sporadically offering super-niche episodes, you’re showing love to a subset of listeners who may not have otherwise tuned in. Most people have a variety of interests so by attracting listeners based on one topic, you may be able to convert them into long-time listeners, and simultaneously show your broader audience that you have layers and a breadth of knowledge to share. 

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What Really Happened at the Tony Robbins Event in Dallas

Tony Robbins Dallas UPW

Earlier this month, I experienced one of the most exhausting, and most rewarding weeks of my life (isn’t it funny how it works out like that?)

I spent 5 straight days working 17 hour days as a volunteer for the Tony Robbins event, Unleash the Power Within.

BUT THAT’S SLAVE LABOR KIM! HE DOESN’T PAY YOU??

No, if he did it wouldn’t be called volunteering. If he paid us, then we wouldn’t be donating our time and it would actually take away from the experience. It’s called contribution for a reason.

Since this particular UPW made national news with 'millions burned at the firewalk', or whatever the headlines read, I wanted to take a moment and share some behind the scenes truth about what really goes down at these events. 

I won’t address the firewalk sensationalism too much, this article did a great job of that, instead I’ll share four of my favorite moments from the event:

1. From Homeless to Hired, Meet La'Ve Jackson.

If there was ever a story to remind me of our ability to change lives in an instant, the story of La’Ve is it. As fate would have it, on the day of the UPW conference, La’Ve was posted up outside the venue selling newspapers. At nine months sober, he was doing what he could to get back on his feet and selling the Street Zines was his way of making an effort to deliver value.

When Paul, one of the UPW crew members, initially encountered La’Ve, he didn’t give him much notice. Something called him back though, and a few minutes later he learned of La’Ve’s perseverance and determination to turn his life around and get clean. 

Back inside the event Paul had the revelation that we were there in Dallas to serve people. There was no difference between this man on the street corner outside, and the thousands of participants inside who had paid to attend. So Paul took initiative to help in whatever way he could, and the results were nothing short of magic.

Paul joined up with some other crew members and together they pooled their money to buy La'Ve a ticket into the conference. My words will never be able to do justice to the joy that radiated from La'Ve, and everyone he met during those 3 days. His gratitude and willingness to play full out 100% led to some truly miraculous changes throughout the weekend. 

 
La'Ve Jackson UPW
 


While attending, he was offered not one, but TWO job offers, and another attendee even gifted him access to Mastery University, which includes three future events and months personal coaching ($10,000 value).

The communication and support inside the UPW Facebook groups is unending-- It’s amazing anyone gets any work done--but because of this strong community support, I’m confident La’Ve will be held accountable to continue onward and upward. 

This was easily one of the most moving stories I’ve ever been fortunate enough to witness. Don’t take my word for it though, check out this video that was created to tell La’Ve’s story. 

If you feel inclined to support La'Ve on his journey, check out this GoFundMe that the crew created for him.

2. The Power of a Simple Smile. 

One of the side effects of crewing is that you find yourself smiling 30 hours a day. You also develop a tendency to say hi to EVERYONE and genuinely want to connect with them. I know, bizarre. 

Some of my favorite moments from the event involved connecting with people I would likely never have gotten to chat with. All possible simply because I was being open, rather than closed off and in my head, or on my phone.

During one of my many trips to the ladies' room (17 hour days mean you’re drinking LOTS of water) I started chatting with the restroom attendant, Ora. I told her she had the best earrings, and conversation ensued. I found that she was genuinely happy to be doing her job and helping us ladies do our biz in a more pleasant environment.

When I saw her later in the day, she remembered our connection, said “My friend Kim!!" and reached out to give me a hug. Cue the heart bubbles. 

This woman is trapped in a bathroom for 9 hours cleaning, she easily could have made some comment about how the paper towels go IN the bin, not on the floor next to it. But no, she was warm and joyous, and her ‘friendship’ is one of the memories I’ll cherish most about those few days in Dallas.  
 

3. When finding your tribe leads to finding true love. 

As a crew member, there are endless perks. Discounts on events, becoming best friends with Tony*, a lifetime supply of alkalizing super foods*, getting to dance on stage, behind the scenes peek at how this event goes off, etc.

Hands down, one of the best benefits of crewing is immediate access to people who share your values and are up to big things. If you’re single, it’s like a real-life dating app, but all the people who don’t get you have been filtered out. 

Stories of new romance abound, but there’s nothing like witnessing these special connections in person. On the last day of the event, at our all-hands crew meeting, we all received a special surprise as one of our crew members got down on one-knee and proposed to his girlfriend in front of everyone. Their love story began when they connected at a UPW in 2015, both adamant that they manifested the other into their lives and that our little family made it possible. 

If you’re one of those people who feels like “there’s no good guys/girls left” then I strongly encourage you to put yourself in more situations where “the good ones” are. By that I mean, join communities where you’re likely to share values with people. Surround yourself with people who want to contribute value to the world, who want to have fun, and do activities with these people that allow you to organically connect. 
 

 
 


4. Getting access to the Ultra Spiritual. 

Just as TR events draw countless opportunities for potential friendships, partnerships, romantic connections, etc. They also have the tendency to draw some established influencers and well known names in the world of business and personal development.

The Dallas event was no different, and front and center at this past UPW was none other than JP Sears from the famous youtube channel Awaken with JP.  

Many attendees snapped selfies and connected with JP over his hilarious Ultra Spiritual videos, and his graciousness was evident throughout the event. His ability to be present with each person and stay down to earth despite his recent fame was so fun to watch. No doubt attributed to his enlightened state and vegan diet...

As an ode to his work, and in the spirit of keep life light and fun, I created this JP-inspired video to help UPW attendees re-integrate back into society following the event. 

Take it with a grain of salt. (Organic, Pink Himalayan salt, of course). 

There are hundreds of memorable moments I could share from my time crewing at the TR event, but these few should offer a taste of what to expect should you ever find yourself curious about attending. 

I always love hearing others’ stories of transformation and growth (and I’m equally happy to answer any questions) so if you’ve ever been to a Tony Robbins event, or want to know more, leave me a comment below!

 

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Photo credit (top): Tony Robbins

The One Thing You Must Do to Achieve Any of Your Goals

Timely image via Momentum Dash. Why staring at this image daily changed my life.

Timely image via Momentum Dash. Why staring at this image daily changed my life.

Three years ago my life was completely different. I would drive an hour to and from work each day, and sit in a cube farm for sometimes up to 12 hours. Don’t worry, I’d get up to attend pointless meetings and spend frivolously at starbucks just to get some air. For the most part, though, I was heads down, and one client call away from a panic attack at any given moment. 

Growing up, I’d always had this inner voice that challenged authority, questioned the status quo, and to be fair got me into a lot of trouble... But one day, three years ago, I heard this voice loud and clear and knew she was right.

First she screamed "What the ACTUAL *F are you doing wasting your time at this office?" Then she lovingly suggested that I make a plan immediately to get out of this situation, and I dunno, start living my life the way I wanted to. 

This voice had a little encouragement from The Four Hour Work Week, but ultimately it was my own decisiveness that would change the course of my life. 

To this day, I credit my next step as the source of my success and happiness. And as the source of my knowing with certainty that we truly can create anything in our lives that we imagine. 

This one step is something that so many people skip, and yet when I tell it to you, you’re going to think it’s so obvious. 

So enough dancing around, the #1 thing that ANYONE should take when they are looking to make change in their life is to get SUPER freaken clear on EXACTLY what they want that change to be!

I told you it was obvious. I’m as perplexed as you that so many people never even make it this far.

So often people are too focused on what they don’t want, that they never even take the time to dream up what they do want, and to get so lasered in on it, that they become aware of all the opportunities popping up to make that desire a reality. 

When I decided that I wanted to move abroad, I was very clear on where. I wanted to live in Thailand. See above. I knew wanted to see that exact scene, and I knew it was possible because other people were already doing it.

To keep my mind right while I was still figuring things out, and showing up to the office each day, I made my desktop background almost the exact same image you see above, and I looked at it every single day. I day dreamed about how it would feel to sit on that island and what a liberating sense of accomplishment it would bring. 

Essentially, I was visualizing, but I didn’t know it at the time. I wasn’t really familiar with this practice yet, and just thought I was avoiding work to think of more interesting things. 

Of course, every other waking moment was devoted to taking action towards this goal, but that’s for another article. The important thing to note here is that without this crystal clear image in my mind of what I wanted, I wouldn’t have known what actions to take. 

Without communicating to the Universe what I was looking to achieve through my thoughts and  images I was surrounding myself with, it never would have known. I never would have known. It would have been so easy to just keep repeating the negative loop I’d played for so long about all the things I hated about my current situation. 

Don’t be confused, I haven't always been so aware of my desires. For months—nay years—I stayed in jobs I hated, and had a schedule I hated, and a commute I hated, and I was sure to let everyone know just how miserable I was. Other people were miserable too, so we bonded at happy hours and holiday parties. To to be honest though, if you asked me today, I wouldn’t be friends with the old me. 

She was negative and unmotivated, because she wasn’t clear on what she wanted in life. 

Don’t be like old Kim. 

Get clear on what you want.

Ask yourself these questions: Where is it, what is it, how does it feel? What kind of person has what you want, or does what you want to do? How can you act more like this person? Who are they connected with, and how can you start connecting with those people? 

Take the time to get really clear on the details, and then start surrounding yourself with reminders that this is what you want. Create a vision board, or write yourself sticky notes, or put the picture up as your desktop background. Whatever method works for you to keep your eyes on the prize. 

Just 3 months after I made the decision that I wanted to move abroad and ultimately to Thailand, I quit my job and boarded a plane for South East Asia. Three months is such a short amount of time for such a massive change to come to fruition!

Kimberly Rich Krabi

Above is a picture of me on that exact beach in Krabi Thailand. Not pictured are the tears I shed as I sat on that beach at night thinking to myself “I really did it. I really freaken did it!” 

Anyone can have these moments, but they’re hard to come by if you don’t ever take the time to decide what you want. 

A [Real] Behind the Scenes Look at Being a Business Owner

 
Don't be fooled... It's not all photo shoots and fancy lights!

Don't be fooled... It's not all photo shoots and fancy lights!

 

One of the biggest reasons for paralysis that many people have when it comes to starting their side hustle, or creating that dream biz, is that they think it has to be perfect. 

This perfectionism creates procrastination, and instead of just STARTING, just taking one small step toward their goal, they stay stuck. They continue talking about this big plan they have, or worse--complaining about their current situation--but they never actually do anything to change it because of their fear of not being good enough, smart enough, etc. 

The frustrating thing is that this misconception about entrepreneurs having their shit together from the get-go could NOT be further from the truth. 

Have you found yourself saying any of the following?

“But I don’t have an office/a warehouse/capital for inventory…"

“But I don’t know how to build a website…"

“But I can’t afford to hire employees…"

“But I don’t know anything about marketing…"

“But I have to hire a photographer and I can’t afford one yet…"

First things first. If you have a computer, you have an office. Congrats and welcome to 2016! 

Fortunately for the technically inept, one of the benefits of living in this day and age is that there are sooo many DIY options for creating a website, or an online presence. From Wordpress, to Squarespace, to Shopify, you can literally have a store front or blog up within hours. 

And with social media apps abound, often people can find ways to market their services, and even make sales WITHOUT a site. 

So I’m sorry to bust your bubble, but this excuse is null and void. 

What if you’re worried that your site will look ghetto because you don’t have the resources to hire a professional photographer? Got you covered. Lucky for you, there are now countless sites for accessing stock photos to supply your site, your social accounts, etc. Stocksnap.io and Pexels.com are just two that come to mind. 

The truth though, is that even your iPhone can produce internet-worthy snaps. 

Let me prove it. 

With the growing trend of people selling on amazon, I was invited recently to help a friend out by modeling for some photos that he needed for his new amazon product listing. His product samples were in, and he needed someone with a halfway decent face to pose with the products in a variety of ways.

In exchange for a free meal, I stood outside his home, in front of a white sheet and channeled my inner Chrissy Teigen (or my inner catalogue model…this is amazon after all).

The neighbors looked at us like we were crazy, as my friend swirled around me snapping pics with his iPhone. A few feet away, another friend fanned my feet with a broom to help fight off mosquitos as I dabbed drops of sweat from my forehead. It was 90 degrees outside with 80% humidity. Ah, the glamour. 

Really, there was nothing “professional” or “sexy” about the scene. It was just as ghetto as it sounds. 

But it was fun! And the truth is, with a little photoshopping, the pictures will look more than legit enough to bring in a few extra grand of passive monthly income for my friend. 

Being an entrepreneur is SCRAPPY sometimes, but that’s the reality of it. Sometimes you work so long you forget to eat, sometimes you’re answering client emails with no pants on, sometimes you literally don’t even know how you just got paid to do what you do, but because you have that fire in you, you keep going.  

Here’s another example. 3 years ago, I launched an commerce store selling watersports equipment. I remember the first time I got a sale, it was 12 a.m. Asia-time (where I was living at the time) and I was sitting in my bed wearing PJs and there’s a good chance I hadn’t showered in two days. (We call that "hustle mode").

When the notification came in, I ran into my roommate’s room screaming and pointing to my computer.

“NOW WHAT?!” I said. "Someone gave me money!" 

He looked up at me from his bed, “Fulfill their order?"

He, as you can tell, was an experienced entrepreneur. 

“OH RIGHT!!”

I ran back into my room, my heart pounding. This shit works! I thought. I snapped a selfie to document the ridiculousness of what being a real life business owner looked like (see below). 

 
Making that dough.

Making that dough.

 

And then I fulfilled my first ever order. 

The point is that most people don’t know what they’re doing until they start. You learn along the way, you get better at copywriting, sales, website design, and knowing your customers' wants through experience. 

Since done is so much better than perfect, and we’ve shown that so many excuses we have for not starting now are just BS, then there’s really nothing left to hold you back. 

If you’ve ever wanted to create a side business, or increase your number of revenue streams through entrepreneurial endeavors, there’s never been a better time. There’s literally countless courses and services to support you.

Being an entrepreneur is messy, and the reality is that most people are faking it until they make it. So start now. Make mistakes. Fail fast. 

Find people [like me] who can support you, who can help to give you the resources you need and who can hold you accountable for your goals and ambitions.

Here are some great resources to help get you up and running quickly: 

How to be happy when it feels like everything is going wrong

How to be happy

As I swung the door open to my apartment, the heat hit me like a wall. A steamy, dank, wall. I had been gone for eleven days and in my absence the air-conditioning had broken transforming my apartment into a tropical rainforest. 

I tried not to think about the fact that this was the hottest and most humid it’s been in Austin all year. What an inconvenient time this was to have my air-con flake on me.

After a long day of work, and then 8 hours of travel back to Austin this was the last thing I wanted to deal with. My bed was calling. My dog needed cuddling. (Read: I needed cuddling). She looked up at me like, “you abandoned me for long enough, and now this?" Her fur coat surely would keep her awake all night in 89 degrees. 

Even with all the windows open, the temperature would only drop by a few degrees, and the issue would have to wait until the next day to be fixed. 

I woke the following morning after an inevitably restless sleep, to find my internet had been shut off. Some issue with an expired credit card that I was never notified about. I swallowed back the tears as I sat on my couch sweating. “Everything is figureoutable, Kim. Everything is figureoutable."

As you read this article from your computer or phone, it should come as no surprise that the internet is pretty integral to the success of my career. Without it, there is no blog, no podcast, no clients. This would not do...

After a few minutes on the phone with the Internet provider, I was back up and running. I heaved a sigh of relief and immediately began stalking the property manager via email about getting the air condition fixed. I had two podcast episodes slated that day and I’d been waiting months for these interviews (one of them, years) and I didn’t want to have to cancel. 

In the end, they both had to be pushed out. 

“Not the end of the world.” I told myself. 

Instead I chose to look forward to a long catch up dinner with a close friend. But when I went to hop in my car to drive to her house, it wouldn’t start. 

You’ve got to be effing kidding me. 

I JUST purchased this car a couple months ago. And in that time, I’ve had it jumped on more than six occasions, and had it in the shop twice. I swore these issues were now behind me...

With Uber and Lyft now gone from Austin, transportation is much more limited for those without wheels of their own. 

After two failed attempts to jump my car with the help of some neighbors I reserved a Car2go, and started my walk in the 90 degree heat. 

Objectively none of the issues above are world-ending, life-shattering things. But the compounding effect of lingering stresses from the previous week, coupled with my expectations of coming home to my house as I left it, can render anyone a bit frustrated. 

So how do we deal when it feels like “nothing is going our way?” 

To say “stay positive” would feel a bit trite, so I’ll break down for you exactly how I coped. 

When I climbed in the tiny smart car, drenched in sweat,  the first thing I did was not check the mirrors, or even log into the dashboard system to start the car, and kick on the AC.

Instead, I let myself cry. I sat there, shoulders hunched, too big for this micro-car and just sobbed. Because the truth is that my body needed it. To be able to get past the stress, and frustration and choose happiness, I had to let myself release all of it first. 

So I sat there in this joke of a car and wept. 

Then I wiped my eyes, drove to my friends house, and spent the evening being as present as possible.

And here’s where I really became proactive about my emotional state...

When I got home, I wrote down all the things I had to be grateful for. Below are a few from the list:

  • Kind neighbors to let me work from their house while my air conditioning was getting fixed. 
  • Those same neighbors who helped me jump my car with not one, but TWO different cars. 
  • Who then offered for me to just take their car! 
  • A generous girlfriend to make me dinner, feed me wine, and gab with for 5 hours about all that we’d missed in each other’s lives in the past 11 days. 
  • Having my air-conditioning and my internet both back up and running within 24 hours! 
  • The amazing weekend I’d just had celebrating my friend’s wedding and getting to meet her gorgeous growing family. 

The following day, I did it again.

Again, I wrote down everything I have to be grateful for. 

  • Landing an interview with one of the writers I admire most, Chris Guillebeau
  • Knowing that I made that interview possible because I chose to put myself out there and trust that good things would come from it! 
  • Getting to work from home and spend time with my dog. 
  • On and on. 

The goal is to stay in a state of appreciation, because when you’re in this state it’s hard to feel frustrated or disappointed. 

I’ve written about the power of a gratitude practice before, and chances are I will write about it again. 

I think the trick to really getting the most from your active appreciation is to remember to give yourself space ahead of time to let yourself feel things that might not be so enjoyable or positive. 

It’s OKAY to not feel good all the time. The tricky part that so many people don’t employ is the steps to get back to good once we’ve let ourself grieve or thrash a bit.

At the time of writing this, my father hasn’t spoken to me in 5 months. We all have our shit to deal with, and sometimes that shit is overwhelming and it’s painful. But the trick is to rely on the tools in your toolbox that allow you to get back up and continue being intentional about your life and your happiness. 

It doesn’t feel good to share personal information about my family with the public, but I know that by showing that I’m human too, and my happiness is also a choice I make-- despite my circumstances-- it will better empower you to make the same choice when shit hits the fan.

Remember:

  • It’s okay to let yourself experience negative emotions. 
  • When you feel the world beginning to “happen to you” instead of “happen for you” recognize that, honor your body’s reaction, then put a time limit on it. 
  • Give yourself a few moments to grieve and thrash and release the energy. 
  • Then practice gratitude as if your happiness depends on it. (Because it does). 

 

 

How to Actually Connect with Influencers

Pictured: Kimberly Rich with Legal Expert Sarah Kornblet from SarahKornblet.com

Pictured: Kimberly Rich with Legal Expert Sarah Kornblet from SarahKornblet.com

I really wanted to name this post “How to get Chris Guillebeau to ask for your number” But it felt too clickbait-ey...

It’s also somewhat misleading. Not that that didn’t happen (because it did) but that’s not the point. 

I’m here to share how I’ve been able to successfully connect with people who inspire me, over and over, and hopefully encourage you to buck up and go out and do the same. 

Disclaimer: this is not for the lazy. Or the the faint of heart. This is not for people who are mildly interested in chatting with someone successful in their industry, or who just want something out of it, and aren’t willing to give. This is also not a magic formula that works for every person, all the time. 

But here’s how it’s worked for me...

It felt sort of serendipitous. I had been delaying for months to write the email, and hit send. I knew I wanted to tell Chris Guillebeau how much his conference WDS had impacted my life, but an email just felt so impersonal. And so not me. 

Fortunately, Chris is a busy guy, constantly putting out books. And Austin is a great destination for a book tour! So as luck would have it, he scheduled a book signing here in town to promote his new book Born For This, and I made plans to show up. 

While I could have waited in line to gush all over him, while he half listens, and half writes some inspiring but likely generic message in my new book, that just wasn’t going to cut it. I had to leave an impression. I had to really communicate the change that had come from something he created and shared with the world. 

So I created something and shared it with him...

I painted him a watercolor painting. Yep! Sound the crazy bells! (Because I don’t care). 

 
 

I created something that hopefully illustrated how genuinely grateful I was, but also a little bit about who I was. 

It helped that I was the first in line to give him this gift. I’d made the mistake at the Lewis Howes book signing of NOT being first (or last) and I wasn’t going to do that again. Protip: Chat ‘em up while they’re still fresh and energized, or linger 'til you’re the last person if you’re looking for better odds at securing a post-signing hangout. 

The exchange actually went far better than I thought. It’s super scary and vulnerable to do something different! Or to make someone something! You never know how people are going to react.

But that’s the trick. You never know how people are going to react unless you do it. 

Chris was so surprised, and impressed, and truly grateful, that he asked for my contact info on the spot. He said, he can’t keep every gift people give him, but that he’d be keeping this one. He pushed the painting to the front of the signing table and said “Let’s make sure people can see it!” (Cue cry-face emoji).

And within hours of the book signing he had texted me to say thank you. 

That’s right, someone I look up to. Someone who’s work has radically changed the trajectory of my life, was texting me to thank me! He told me to keep in touch and to let him know if he can ever support me in any way. 

It took a few minutes for me to pick my jaw up off the floor.

I can appreciate that Chris is just a person. He and I have dozens of mutual friends and he’s an incredibly down to earth human being, but this was special. It was another reminder that by being not just genuine, but authentic, you can really leave a lasting impression. 

 
Pictured: Chris Guillebeau & Kimberly Rich

Pictured: Chris Guillebeau & Kimberly Rich

 

So how did this experience compare to the other times in my life that I’ve been able to connect with people who are where I want to be? Who have large followings? Who I legit just want to be friends with? 

There’s three central themes, and 3 things you can do to move towards similar connections and relationships: 
 

1) Be Genuine

Above all else, you have to truly want the best for this other person. It’s from this desire that you’ll be able to deliver the most value, and that you’ll actually be able to connect with them. If you’re pretending to be something that you’re not, or they can smell your ulterior motive from a mile away, it won’t work. 

When I was interested in quitting my corporate job to move abroad, I reached out to anyone and everyone who was living that lifestyle. I genuinely wanted to be their friends. That came through in my messaging, and by finding common ground we connected. 

Some of those people introduced me to other entrepreneurs who would go on to hire me, host me, and even become like family over the next few years. We often joke about the early days, “Remember when I was that rando on twitter who would send you messages?? And now look at us!” And then we clink glasses and laugh like we've known each other for decades.
 

2) Be Creative

You don’t have to paint someone a picture to show your creative side. There are countless ways you can be different and stand out. 

Youtuber, Sara Dietschy recently made an epic ode to famous Vlogger and videographer, Casey Neistat. Her video taught “How to Casey Neistat a Vlog” done in pure Casey Neistat vlogging fashion, and it was SO good, that it somehow made it into Casey’s inbox. 

He was so impressed with her work, that he dedicated his Vlog that day to giving her credit and in turn growing her followers from 4,000 to 40,000 OVER NIGHT. 

Talk about ROI. 

Another great example, Podcaster Cristina Canters was able to get Pat Flynn on her show by writing a rap, and tweeting him the video as an invite.

She did her research and understood that he not only likes beatboxing, but likely gets 300-400 emails per day, and therefore a tweet had a better chance of standing out and getting added attention.

If you’re serious about leaving an impression, do your due diligence and get to know the person you’re looking to connect with. Often, if you’re already an avid follower you know more than you think. 

 

3) Be Persistent

If early efforts fall flat, don’t give up. Now of course, don’t go into full fledge stalker-mode--and if you do DEFINITELY don’t refer to this blog as a source of your inspiration--but instead keep yourself based in reality. Chances are, the person you’re reaching out to gets hundreds of emails, tweets, snaps, etc. per day. So if they miss yours, or don’t respond, don’t give up on life and go straight for the ben and jerry’s.

Continue to add value, continue to reach out, but look for new and different ways to do so. Maybe the mode of communication you chose doesn’t work for them. Maybe you’d be better served to meet them at an in-person event? Maybe you’re better off getting close to them, by getting close to people who are already close to them. 

Since meeting Lewis Howes at his book signing here in Austin, I’ve consistently sent him Snapchats for the past 4-5 months. I do this, because I know that someday it will pay off. I chose Snapchat, because I know he’s an avid user and he actually invites people to message him, so I don’t feel out of line.

The trick is to send things that are relevant, that are valuable, and that give him a sense of who I am and what we might have in common. And you know what? 98% of the time he responds! In fact, this weekend he even upgraded from text to video!

#progress.

One final piece of advice I have, is to be patient.

If you’re lucky enough to garner the attention of the person you admire, don’t bulldoze them with requests and ways that they can help you. How would you feel if every time you connected with someone they immediately shoved their book, or podcast, or resume in your face? You’d likely fake a phone call and high tale it out of there.

Same goes for busy, successful people. Respect their time, and respect that they don’t want to be used either. If a genuine connection forms, then they’ll be more than happy to help you out and support you in any way that they can. Work on making that genuine connection first.  

Find this helpful? Be sure to share with your peeps on Facebook and Twitter!

 

3 Things I Learned Celebrating my 30th Birthday

 
 

“You’re so negative” 

The words cut into me. I was 22, and days away from graduating and leaving all my friends, AND the person I was in love with, and here he was telling me that I was “so negative.” 

I later learned two things: the difference between lust and love.  And, that he was right. 

The anxiety of graduating college with no job, no plan, and no one else to commiserate with had created an anxiety inside me that manifested in the form of defensiveness, pessimism, and apparently, a general sense of “negativity”. I was one of those oddball December graduates, which meant that dozens of people who helped define me were staying back for another 6 months of partying, of getting to postpone responsibility, and of course classes and learning and what not...

I’ve never forgotten how it felt to have someone classify me as a negative person, and the older I get, the more I try to identify as anything but that. 

Turning 30, and getting the chance to reflect with close friends about who I’ve become, and how I show up in their lives, I’m insanely grateful to share that “negative” is no longer a badge a wear. I left that ugly thing in my early 20s and never looked back. 

Age has gifted me a self awareness that I wouldn’t trade for anything, and getting to celebrate my 30th with close friends, I was able to learn even more about myself AND about the needs of others. 

I’m lucky enough to have a group of friends in Austin who gather monthly for a “family dinner.” This usually entails some food theme of sorts, an opportunity for everyone at the table to share a few central things about themselves (for ex: the best part of their day) and usually a lot of wine. 

*Cheers!*

On Birthday’s though, we mix it up. Everyone goes around the table and shares their favorite memory, or what they most appreciate about the birthday boy or girl, and he or she gets to squirm in their seat, and receive the attention and love like a champ. 

So last week, 15 people, some close friends, some new friends, went around the table and shared how I’ve impacted their life. It was beyond humbling, and naturally I cried like the emotional being that I am. But it was also educational!

I learned so much about about how people perceive me, and what makes them happy. 


Here are three of the lessons I learned from the experience:

1. People crave community. If you can facilitate that for them, they will love you for it. 

Two of the guests on that night were friends who had recently moved to Austin. I invited them because I thought it would be fun, and thought it would be great way for them to connect with other entrepreneurs and other people I’m close to.

They explained that by welcoming them with open arms to one event after the next, including this intimate dinner, they immediately felt loved and at home in Austin. While this would be a positive experience for anyone new in town, it was especially meaningful given that they had just left a very close knit group in St. Thomas and they were nervous that sort of community would be impossible to recreate. 

I’ll be honest. I had no idea my efforts were that impactful! I genuinely wanted them around. 

Hearing this feedback though, reinforced how important it is to create this sense of belonging for people whenever possible. With this knowledge, I can do so more consciously, and hopefully by reading this post, you can too. 

Everyone wants to feel loved, to feel accepted, and to feel like they matter. If you can go out of your way to satisfy these needs for people, and to give them a sense of belonging, they will love you for it. And then maybe they will tell you at your birthday.

 

2. It can be important and powerful to hear how you show up in the world.

This is not to say “you should care what other people think” or “Only do things for the reward of feedback and praise” but instead, it’s to highlight the productive effects feedback can have. 

If I know that by doing X, I make the people around me feel good, I’m damn well going to do more of X. 

Think of it as market research for your social life. I’m confident that my presence in the world errs much more on the positive side, than the negative these days, because I recognize the work I’ve done on the inside. But hearing my friends echo that back to me reinforces the behavior. There’s nothing wrong with gauging from loved ones how you show up in the world and in their life. 

As with anything, use discretion when deciding who to solicit feedback from, but see if you can create opportunities in your life to do so. Family Dinners, special date nights, etc. If you can preface the request with an offer to do the same for the other person (AKA share with them what you most appreciate about them) chances are they’ll say yes. Unless they’re still working on their ability to receive words of affirmation, in which case you have my permission to sneak it in ; ) 

 
 

 

3. Know that your affect on people extends beyond what you can see.

Keep creating. Keep putting content out there, or contributing in whatever way you are meant to. You affect people even when you may be completely unaware of it. 

One of the most surprising pieces of feedback that I received was praise and support for my brand, The Bold Life Movement, and the impact it’s having. 

This was SUCH a good reminder, that even if people aren’t “liking” something on Facebook, even if they’re not a paying client, even if you don’t talk to them every day, they see you. 

This notion that people are being impacted without my knowledge is a fantastic reminder to KEEP WRITING. KEEP PRODUCING. 

This can apply to both business, and social dynamics though. For example, you may be having a conversation with someone and unbeknownst to you, someone else nearby is affected. Be it positively or negatively, your energy and your words penetrated their peripherals and they are now changed because of you.

Your effect on people is far beyond what you can even begin to imagine. 

So always be aware that people are listening, and people are watching (in a non-creepy way of course, but sometimes in a creepy way too) and try to show up in a positive way as much as possible.

If you’re someone who creates content to share with the world, keep doing that. Don’t let the ebbs and flows of likes, caused by the Facebook algorithm keep you from creating. You never know who needed to read that post, or hear that message. 

 

The One Thing You Can Work on Every Day to Have a Better Life

 
Kimberly Rich The Bold Life Movement
 

Think of a time in your life when things were at an all time low. Where it felt like every little thing was happening to you and nothing was happening for you. Where your energy was low, overwhelm was high, and hope was essentially non-existent. This could be attributed to a break up, a lousy job, family issues, or maybe all of the above simultaneously!

Now, just for kicks, think of a time in your life when things were at their best. Maybe you were cruising at work, and your boss was recognizing you for all your efforts. Maybe you were in a passionate, fun, loving relationship. Maybe you were traveling a lot, or a part of a really fun friend group that left you feeling supported and brought lots of laughter to your life.

Whatever it was that you felt fulfilled by, remember that time. 

How did your outlook on life differ in those times? 

In scenario one, were you cycling through disempowering feelings like frustration, impatience, inadequacy, or even helplessness? Did you spend majority of your time in these mental states? 

Likely, the answer is yes. 

What about scenario two. When things were reallllly jiving for you, were you primarily living in emotions of joy, inspiration, motivation, and gratitude? 

You see where I’m going with this? 

You may think, duh Kim, my life was on POINT, of course I was happy. When things were shitty, of course I felt low. Everything bad that could happen to me was!! 

But let me paint you a picture. 

3 years ago, I was working 12-14 hour days at a job that no longer suited me. My clients were miserable, which in turn made me miserable (or so I thought). I felt undervalued, unmotivated, and stuck. I was living at my mom’s house because I didn’t want to sign another lease, knowing in my gut that the Washington DC area wasn’t right for me anymore, and my desire to live abroad was stronger than ever. 

I felt trapped and helpless and the more I played these songs in my head, the more they rang true. 

But then, something happened. 

Within a span of 3 months, I connected with an entirely new community of people, who were located all over the world. I landed a new position which would afford me the ability to travel full time. Thousands of dollars came to me unexpectedly and I was able to pay off lingering debt. 

How did all this seemingly good fortune happen so suddenly? 

The truth is simple. I decided it would. And by deciding, my entire emotional state shifted. 

NOTHING about my external reality changed. The commute was the same, friends were the same, clients were the same. Everything that was outside of me stayed consistent.

The difference, and the catalyst to the amazing change that was brought into my life, was the change I made on the inside. I decided that I was no longer available for that life. That I would be moving abroad within 6 months, because it was important to me. And I took immediate and massive action. 

This empowering decision created a new emotional home inside me. I was excited, and motivated, and hopeful! 

I focused on the fact that this was happening (that it was CERTAIN), and every single day until the point that I boarded a plane for Europe, some new opportunity was uncovered for me, because now I was available to see it. 

In order for things to change for you, YOU must change.

So how can you start changing your emotional home TODAY in a way that will create positive change in your life? 

Step 1: Change your vocabulary.
Eliminate the words that put you in a low state. Words are so powerful, that even if you’re NOT feeling tired or overwhelmed, if you’re so used to identifying with those, and you keep saying them, they will make themselves true.

Your thoughts become the things in your life, so choose different words to think about. 

The strongest force in the human personality is the need to stay consistent with how we define ourselves.

That means that step one is to choose new words to define ourselves, our surroundings, and our experience. By conditioning yourself to use these new words, you’ll be conditioning yourself to feel them and be them. 

Step 2: Think of emotions as something you DO, not something you feel. 
Often we give control to our emotions, and let them steer the wheel, when in reality we are the master of our universe. Since it can be hard for some people to accept the old adage “control your emotions don’t let them control you” if we think of emotions as an action, we’re able to quickly nip it in the bud.

Since we know that realistically no one can make us do anything, but it’s more difficult for people to accept that the truth is also no one can make us feel anything,  we have more power over our emotions of we decide that we just don’t do them anymore!

Some emotions you might give up doing: overwhelm, self-pity, impatience, inadequacy. 

Tell yourself that you don’t do that emotion anymore, and replace it with a new emotion that you would like to be doing. This may take practice, but then again that’s why we call it conditioning!

Step 3: Ask intelligent questions. 
Which of these is more empowering? 

“How come I never seem to earn enough money?” vs. “How can I earn an extra $5,000 this month?” 

One opens the door for opportunity, while the other just leads to further frustration and a continued negative state. 

You can see, if you ask a shitty question, you’re going to get a shitty answer. Or another way to phrase that is, if you ask a disempowering question, you’re going to get a disempowering answer.

Set yourself up for success by asking intelligent questions!

-----

By taking responsibility for our emotional state, we take responsibility for our experience. Since it’s often difficult to go from suffering to enjoyment, instead focus on moving into a state of gratitude, and watch how much easier Steps 1-3 become. 

You got this. 

The One Thing Humanity Suffers Most From

 
you. are. enough.-page-001.jpg
 

I bet it's not what you think...

Did you know that one of the biggest causes of suffering is simply that we feel we are inadequate? That we are unworthy? 

Where do you think self-sabotage comes from? Why do we "ruin relationships" when they're going so well? Why do we think of our greatest fears right when we're in the middle of having the best day ever?

I'll tell you why.

Many of us are programmed at an early age to think that we are not pretty enough, not smart enough, not funny enough, not a good enough son or daughter.

So how are we supposed to enjoy happiness in our life, if inside we're holding onto this belief that we don't deserve it? 
 


There's one shockingly simple trick to help you start. 

And that trick?

To tell yourself, you are enough. 

I know, it seems too easy. BUT DON'T EX OUT OF THIS POST. I'm serious. 

Affirmations, inspirational calendars, sports coaches giving motivational speeches before a big game; these are all examples of different tools used to change our internal beliefs about what's possible. What we're capable of. And what we deserve. 

Even if you don't want to spend the time to watch this video, do one thing for me. 

Just this one thing! 

Write I AM ENOUGH on your mirror in big letters. Leave it there for one month and read it to yourself every day. 

If in one month you haven't felt a shift, you haven't noticed that you feel even that much more capable, deserving, and happy, then take it down. Take it down, and email me to tell me it had no impact on you. 

But if you DO notice a difference (which you will) then PLEASE write me and tell me. 

What if "enough" doesn't resonate with you? Maybe you need to be more specific. If that's the case, then please, do that. 

Here are some other examples of things you could write to remind you how ENOUGH you are, right now, just as you are, just as you've always been: 

  • I am a great wife/husband
  • I am a great boss/employee
  • I am a fantastic writer
  • I am HILARIOUS
  • I am a great daughter/son/brother/sister
  • I am a great lover

Whatever thing in your life you have self-doubt around, or guilt, or a lack of worthiness, flip that bad boy and tell yourself you are the BEST at that thing that there ever was.

Because you are more than enough. 

The Top 4 Takeaways from 4 Days with Mike Dooley

This past weekend I attended a conference hosted by the one and only Mike Dooley (author of the daily emails, Notes from the Universe). I became certified to teach the principles in his bestselling book, Infinite Possibilities. (woohoo!!)

It blew my mind, melted my heart, and lit a fire under me in ways that I’ve been struggling to articulate. 

With a little journaling, and a lot of caffeine, I’ve been able to process, and now compile the top 4 things I’ve taken from my time with the master of Thoughts Become Things.

 

1. Prioritize visualization. 

Mike is a big proponent of visualization, conscious thinking, and doing what he calls “Living as if” to attract the life and circumstances that you want most. There are endless examples of successful millionaires, celebrities, athletes, etc. who utilize these tools to achieve their goals. 

The biggest mistake he sees people make, though? 

NOT actually doing it! 

He uses teeth-brushing as an example. We’re told this will improve our lives, and we take this information as truth. So much so that we prioritize this activity on a daily basis. Maybe even multiple times a day! (I approve). 

We even have a special place in our home where we do it. And most of us spend time and money to go out into the world and purchase tools that will make us more efficient at this practice. 

All because someone told you it was necessary to be a healthier (ergo happier) you. 

Mike argues, that visualization is no different. For something that only requires 5 minutes of our time (max!) per day to achieve, it often gets pushed under the rug. 

Ask any Olympian, or miraculous survivor of some chronic injury or desease, chances are they will tell you that they won or overcame their ailment because they saw themselves doing so. 

Don’t believe it? Give it a shot for 1 month. See what opportunities start coming your way to support that vision. 

Top 4 things you can do to ensure your visualization practice is as effective as possible?

  1. Keep it brief and only visualize one goal at a time. 
  2. Think of all the details (the sights, sounds, textures, etc.)
  3. FEEL into it as much as you can. SEE yourself being happy and let yourself smile if that’s the emotion you’re going for. 
  4. ACTUALLY DO IT. 

2. Take your “Live As If” game to a whole new level. 

In addition to visualizing the life you want, Mike proposes that you start living as if you’ve already achieved these desires now. Start talking as if it’s your reality. Start acting as if it’s already happened.

But what if you’re not very good at visualization? Or you’re having trouble feeling into the emotion of “Living as if” because you think you’re full of shit.

Not to say you haven’t tried. Maybe you’ve even set up a special visualization chair and you tell all your friends and family that you’ll be sending the jet to pick them up for dinner on Sunday. 

If you're having trouble visualizing, acting 'as if' or feelingggg the emotions of your mindset practice, whatever the reason may be, make the reality of your desires as tangible as possible. 

Let me give you an example:

At the Infinite Possibilities conference, there was a 'Come as Your Future Self’ party. We each were invited to dress up, bring props, and come with details of our future life, and act as though it was already happening in real time.

To really get into the character of future Kim, I painted a Bold Life Movement branded shirt because I know that future me will have a SUPER strong, recognizable brand with ample merch for my Bold Life Ambassadors. It felt really amazing to walk around all night being recognized for my well-known brand and the impact it’s had on the lives of so many people. 

The thing that gave me the most *feels* though was my 'Bestselling Book.'

I created a book cover in canva, printed it out, and wrapped it around a book I already owned. Holding that book in my hand felt so real. I was utterly giddy when I walked out of Office Max with a copy of MY BOOK in my hand. 

I spared no detail in the design. I included everything from an author bio, to a Foreword by one of my mentors and ‘future friends.'

When I shared pictures of me with this book on Facebook, I received so much support that I’m confident half the people who commented thought I actually had released a book already. And let them! 

The more you act as if your dreams and desires are real, the more the Universe starts to shift things into place to accommodate.

3. Be visible. I cannot emphasize this enough.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, or an employee. Whether your desires are for a better career, or a better relationship. You HAVE to put yourself out there. 

If people don’t know who you are and what you have to offer, how will they now to buy your products or services, or give you that promotion? How will they know to ask you out? How will they know to offer you that book deal?

With the internet, it may seem like there are endless ways in which you could be visible, and that’s true. So pick the best ones for you. But be sure to pick!

Whether it’s Facebook, twitter, instagram, or Linked in. Utilize those tools, but not JUST those found on the internet.

Be visible in an elevator with strangers, as well. Attend events, and be visible by getting on stage whenever possible, asking questions, volunteering, etc. Go to meet ups in your area, or join Toastmasters if the thought of talking to people scares the shit out of you. Get practice at being visible, and get out there. 

The life of your dreams is not going to find you sitting on the couch at home with your vision board.

I was sure to MAKE myself known at this conference and on the last day someone came up to me and said the kindest words.  He gave me a pin that his group leader had gifted to him, that read “I believe in you.”

He said to me, “Of the 150 ppl here I believe in you the most. I already see everything you shared in your vision happening for you. You're unstoppable."

I was beyond touched.

I’ve shared before how being visible on twitter changed my life and let me quit my corporate job to travel. The same is possible for you. Get out there and let your mind be blown by what happens.

4. Stop searching outside of yourself.

This resonates a lot with me because I'm a coach. It's SO easy to 'compare and despair' in this industry when you're inundated daily with the successes of others.  But in the end it doesn't matter how other people run their programs, or communicate their message. I feel most fulfilled when I'm being authentically me, and it's only then that I attract the clients who are the best fit. 

This nugget of advice can apply to anyone's life, though. 

Take what feels right from your advisors, coaches, friends, parents, etc. and leave what doesn't.

If you're struggling to make a decision or decide your next path in life, look inside for what excites you the most and go with it. Trust your gut, as they say. 

You will attract the people you're meant to work with, be in relationships with, and learn from by BEING YOURSELF.

By acting as authentic as possible your impact on those around you and the ripple effect that can generate will be greater. 

Lastly, have fun!

 

New Year's Cleansing Ritual to Kickstart 2016

2016.jpg

I don’t know about you, but I find something so therapeutic about rituals. Be it daily rituals--like morning yoga, or practicing gratitude--or rituals that stem from specific events or dates. 

This year, I wanted to incorporate some sort of ritual into my New Year’s celebration so instead of just sipping bubbles and blasting Adele, we included a sort of “cleansing” ritual into our night. Don't worry, there was still plenty of bubbles, and endless Adele.

I found it so helpful in preparing my mind for the new year that I wanted to share it with you. It’s not too late for you to hold your own mini-ceremony of letting go. 

Here’s how it went down:

I sat with one of my closest friends, and we each wrote a list of all the things we wanted to leave behind in 2015.

All the things we wanted to release, or let go of. 

Here are some examples of things you might write: 

  • Resentment towards ______ for _______.
  • Bad habits that don’t serve me, like _______.
  • Laziness
  • Limiting thoughts about myself like _______.
  • Attachment towards ______ [insert person, thing, etc.]

Once we had our list, we read them aloud to each other.

Side note: I made sure to do this with someone that I trust, who I knew would be comfortable getting just as vulnerable as I did, and also would not pass judgement on the things I wanted to release. I mean, this shit was personal.

One thing I didn’t anticipate was how different our lists would be! That being said, both of us felt inspired to add to our own lists new things stemming from items that the other person had shared. 

So once we read our lists out loud, (and took a big gulp of champagne) we headed outside to burn those bad boys!

This is where the “release” part really comes in. We did not take pictures of our lists or document them in a journal.

The point was to get them out, then burn them up and let them disintegrate both in front of our eyes, and in our minds and hearts. 

We felt lighter instantly. 

Just as you clean house to make room for new additions, it’s good to cleanse your soul every once in a while to make room for new thoughts and feelings that promote the things you want for yourself. 

We’re only 2 days in, it’s definitely not too late to hold your own “letting go” ritual. If you’ve set new goals, or resolutions for the coming year, I highly encourage you to make room for those new positive vibes by sending off any old, un-productive feelings or habits into the ether. 

Bon voyage bad ju-ju! Hello to a happier, healthier you.

Wishing you the best start to a new year!

 

The Compounding Effect of Consistency

I recently listened to a podcast featuring John Maxwell, a New York Times Best-Selling author and world-renowned leadership coach. He was promoting his latest book Intentional Living: Choosing a Life that Matters. 

One of the things that stuck out to me the most in this interview was the power of what he called, "compounded consistency." 

This is the compounded effect of consistent [read: daily] action we put towards the unsexy, unexciting tasks as we to work towards our mission. 

He is one of many people I’ve heard lately harp on the effects of consistent action. Yes that includes things like, social media, communicating with your audience consistently so they don’t forget you, and routinely evaluating what is and isn’t working. 

But it also means just being consistent about your intention. Not expecting to get everything right the first time, not expecting to be an overnight success. 

Waking up every day, and setting an intention that aligns with your mission and then CONSISTENTLY working towards it. 

Even when you’re feeling stuck. 

Even when you’re feeling uninspired. 

Even when you’re doubting yourself. 

These are just some of the benefits of taking routine and consistent action towards a life that you love:

Consistency builds momentum.

Understanding the power of momentum is key. How do you think major athletes continue to break their own records? They understand the benefits of their efforts, and instead of quitting the moment they achieve their goals, they forge on with equal or greater intensity. 

Building momentum is the toughest part, but once you’ve created these consistent habits, it becomes much easier. 

People often quit the moment they start to see good results from their action. Big mistake. 

Maintaining a habit of consistent action each day will build the momentum you need to change your life or business. It is a million small actions compounded over time that have the greatest effect.

Consistency means you’re making progress even when you’re not “feeling it."

So often we take a TON of action when we’re feeling excited or inspired. We’re optimistic and enthusiastic and this fuels our mind and our body as we work toward our goals. 

But what about the days you’re not feeling inspired? What about the days you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed? 

If we let these ebbs in inspiration derail our progress, we’ll soon find ourselves back at square one. Taking SOME form of action every day ensures that we’re always making progress, even when we don’t feel super high vibe. 

The twist? Achieving things and making progress will actually help you get back to that inspired place of action quicker! So keep taking baby steps, even when you’re doubting yourself or the process. 

Consistency maximizes your time. 

By now, you probably know the dangers of “multi-tasking” (no I don’t mean texting and driving, though that is ill-advised). What I mean is the time-lost by switching from one task to another because of the mental ramp-up period required for each. 

The same goes for creating good habits in your life and business. To achieve new goals, we must create new habits. If it takes at least 30 days to create a new habit, then it makes no sense to quit on day 28. 

If we’re investing time and effort towards our goals, then quitting or pausing when things get tough only increases the amount of time required to reach that goal. Sticking with SOME form of action daily will save you from having to re-create habits that proved fruitful (or might have if you’d seen them through). 

Consistency increases your odds to success. 

At some point, it becomes a numbers game. If you’re working out every day in some fashion, it is extremely unlikely that you will not reap some sort of health-related benefits. 

If you are working on your entrepreneurial journey with intention every day, it is extremelyunlikely that you will NEVER see the fruits of your labor. You may have to switch gears, or rebrand, or revisit your “why” a few times. But consistent daily action will yield results. 

Be open to the fact that they might not be on your timeline, and be ready to receive them when they come. 

Keep taking consistent action every day, and you'll be amazed at the shifts that can happen. 

How to use discomfort to achieve greatness

In the past 36 hours I’ve done 4 things that scare the shit out of me.

Four things that make me feel exposed and vulnerable.

The truth is, that really should be the norm. It’s usually when I put myself out there that the biggest shifts happen in my life. 

I want to share what those things were (yet ANOTHER vulnerable position to be putting myself in) in hopes it will inspire you to get out there and take some risks. To get out there and share your goals or triumphs with people so that they can support you. And maybe even be inspired by you!

So what did I do? 

#1

Tuesday night I attended a book signing. Lewis Howes was in town to promote his book The School of Greatness. I would say he’s currently one of the top people in this "industry" living a vision that is similar to mine: premium coach, published author, keynote speaker, successful podcast, and promoting a mission that benefits the greater good. 

Three years ago, my role models were two dudes who had started a podcast about living a location independent life. They had a huge following, ran a successful membership community of entrepreneurs and lived wherever they wanted. 

I knew I HAD to get close to these guys. So I did everything in my power to know who they knew, be where they were, and make sure they knew my face and remembered it. 

Eventually I ended up working with them for a couple years, and we even lived together and traveled a bit overseas.  The point is that I knew I had to get near them, and I made it happen. Lewis is that new person for me now. 

He’s a human, he’s not perfect. I don’t idolize him. But I respect the process of mentorship, and I know the effects of being close to people who have what you want and do what you want to be doing. 

So when it was my turn to have my book signed, and get my big bear hug, I asked if he and his posse were grabbing food after the book signing, and if I could come. 

BOLD. I know.

 


Let me clear, a book signing is NOT the optimal place to get close to someone in Lewis’s position. He’s exhausted and bleary eyed from shaking so many hands, and connecting with so many fans; it can be really difficult to transcend that gap from fan to friend in that atmosphere. 

So I wasn’t hurt or surprised when he said he may just be heading back to his hotel to crash, but if I was still around at the end and they were going somewhere, I was welcome to join. 

I know when to play the long game, and I didn’t stick around (it was close to 10 at that point, and there were still dozens of people in line) but I told him he’d see my face again, and I know it’s true. 

If you know my story, then you know that I’ve found my success and opportunities through showing up at places that my mentors are. (Lewis calls it “stalking” and said he used the same tactics to befriend people like Tim Ferriss and later land Tim's book agent for his own book deal). 

Asking someone with 150K instagram followers, and a NY Times Best Selling book if they want to grab food is NOT easy. But in the end we’re all just humans, and I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t.

I also know there’s a better chance he’ll remember me for having asked, than for just saying “thanks for writing this book, love your message.” 

#2

Earlier in the evening, prior to my foray into rejection therapy, I also took advantage of the Q&A time and asked a question in front of the entire group. Lot’s of  people did, so you may think that it’s no big deal, and maybe it wouldn’t be for some. But standing up in front of 150 people to share anything makes me sweat. A lot.

Before asking a question, each person was also required to share what they were most grateful for. I knew I had to stand up and make myself visible - something I’ve decided I will ALWAYS do now, when given the chance - but I also knew that what I was grateful for would make me feel exposed. 

Photo Credit: @joshuadphotography

Photo Credit: @joshuadphotography

I told Lewis (and the room full of people) that I was most grateful for the conference that I first saw him speak at. That conference, and Lewis’s speech among others, made an impact on my life so great that my entire path and purpose have unfolded since. 

Typing it, saying it, whatever the medium, admitting that publicly is ALWAYS gut-wrenching. 

#3

The third thing that I’ve done this week to put myself out there was to admit publicly that I’m starting a podcast, to start asking people for interviews, and to say “yes I know what a challenge it can be, but it’s important to me, and it’s part of my vision.” 

Collaborating with inspiring people, and interviewing game changers (world-changers) as a means to provide free content to my followers is something that has been on my mind for months. 

I’m finally moving forward with it, and it just feels right. Knowing the difference between what is right for other people, and what is right for you and your business is something that takes time to hone but is integral to feeling fulfilled and finding success. 

Receiving positive feedback (both internally and externally) has reassured me that this is a good step for my business, and makes all the nerves about launching well worth it. 

Spoiler: I've already got some AWESOME interviews lined up and I'm really stoked. Stay tuned for details.

#4

The final thing I did recently to stretch myself and be more vulnerable was on more of a personal note.

Following the book signing, I posted a picture yesterday and included in the caption a note about the effects that Lewis’s speech had had on my ability to be vulnerable. And namely how that had impacted my once-rocky relationship with my Dad, for the better. 

Admitting publicly anything about your family can make you feel SUPER exposed, but I find that when people I follow share things in an authentic way, it helps me connect with them.

It helps me feel less alone if I’m struggling with a similar insecurity, or family issue, or whatever the topic may be. 

If any content I ever put out can help people to ditch their ego, act out of love, and change their lives and relationships for the better, then I know I’m on the right path.

Part of living a bold life, is showing up in your relationships in a bold way and owning the fact that you are 100% responsible for everything that you bring to it.

Do you bring love and acceptance or bitterness and resentment?
Do you bring ego and entitlement, or compassion and humility? 


Understanding that we can't change anyone but ourselves and taking initiative to do so will benefit your life and business in ways you wouldn't even be able to imagine. 

So what's the point of me telling you about all the things that made me sweat and cry this week? 

I want to encourage you to always seize opportunities to step outside your comfort zone, to show up in a vulnerable way and let others connect with you on a deeper level.  

Being genuine and taking risks adds a richness to your life that wouldn't exist if you were to continue to play it safe.

What ways can you show up more this week?
How can you put yourself out there and live a bolder life? 

What awesome things will you miss out on if you don't? 

Hugs & Love,
Kimberly

The Paris Attacks - On Grieving Privately in a Social World

“Bonjour! Como sa va?"

I realized late last night that my dad had used these words in his most recent text to me. 

“Be back on the 22nd. xx"

He was traveling (he’s always traveling) and so I didn’t think to ask where. 

So 11pm last night it occurred to me that I didn’t know where he was, and that there was some chance he was in a French-speaking country (despite that the fact that he wasn't *technically* speaking French), and therefore some chance he was in Paris.

It was a long shot, but I immediately jumped to conclusions and went into slight panic mode.  I texted him, I called him, I Facebook messaged him, I did all the things. 

I stalked his most recent photos, and those on his wife’s page. Nothing since October 10th! Loads of pics from their trip to New England in early October, but nothing since! 

So then, I did the only thing left to do; I waited.

If you ask any of my friends, they’ll tell you that I never know what’s going on in the news. It’s a conscious choice. Like not doing mushrooms. (I just know myself! It wouldn’t be all rainbows and giggles and walls that taste like candy).

Some people always know what’s going on in the world because it makes them feel like they can make a difference. Or because they feel it’s their responsibility to be in the know. Some watch because they are gluttons for punishment. 

I’m none of these. I’ve chosen to free my mind of the negativity and apply my efforts towards spreading love and abundance, instead of focusing on hate and poverty.

Sometimes though, I feel like I need to at least have a general understanding of what is happening to exist as an adult in society. 

While my social media feeds filled with images of the Eiffel Tower and mentions of the “paris attacks” I found myself thinking What happened?? Did someone crash a plane into the Eiffel Tower?? What is the french government doing in response? What is my government doing?? 

So I did what I never do, and I looked. (Ignorance is bliss, but walking around not knowing if there is even an Eiffel Tower anymore borders on obnoxious in my book). 

So I looked. I read one article to get the details, and then I shut my computer. I didn’t binge. I didn’t go down a rabbit hole of masochism, from one horrible image to the next. 

I just needed to know the facts, and then I needed to react in what way felt right for me. 

For thousands of people, that means posting images of the Eiffel Tower. It means changing their profile pictures and making a public statement that they know what happened, they are in shock, they have an opinion, and now you can see that opinion in image-form across their social media platforms. 

This has never felt right for me. 

When the White House made history a few months back and the entirety of my Facebook wall became a beautiful collage of rainbow profile pictures, I left mine be.

In 2006 when 32 lives were taken just a half mile from my house at Virginia Tech, I didn’t change my profile picture to a ribbon. I left it be.

While these acts of support feel right for soooo many people, they’ve just never resonated with me. I feel uncomfortable and inauthentic and then I wonder things like "When is it okay to change it back? Does it send the wrong message if I change it too soon?" which only furthers the point that this just isn't the right response for me.

I wanted to write this article for anyone else who’s ever felt the same way.

As social media continues to play a growing role in our lives and the way we “express ourselves" I wanted to create a conversation and a safe space for people who feel like they just don’t want to react, and grieve publicly in the same way as "everyone else."

There can be this pressure to follow the masses. You didn’t put a rainbow on your profile pic, does that mean that you don’t support gay rights? 

I (and all the people in my life) know that there is no place for homophobia in it. Or hate of any kind. That I support equal rights for everyone, but following a trend and changing my profile picture just isn’t how I show it. 

You didn’t say anything about the Paris attacks, don’t you have friends that live there??

I’m saying something in my own way. With this article. I’m sharing the fear, and the pain, and the utter disbelief that I’ve experienced in the past 15 hours by writing about it. And by using this opportunity to embrace anyone else who reacts, or supports, or grieves in their own way, which may or may not include a public post, a profile change, etc. 

The point of this article is not to call out people who immediately post a picture or change their profile or make their position known. That is 100% their prerogative and hopefully a reaction that feels comfortable for them. The intention with this piece is to support the individuals who prefer to react more quietly, offline,  or--God forbid--not at all.

At 2 am I finally heard back from my dad. 

“Paris airport flying out” was all he said. 

Do I wish he’d typed more? Of course. Do I wish he’d called and told me he was safe and that he loved me? Yes.

I felt helpless and I needed him to comfort me.

But he was safe. And he was doing all he could to get himself and his wife out of Paris efficiently.

He was responding in the way that he knew how. It took me writing this article to realize that, and to let the heartache which had turned to anger subside as I read my own words. 

He was responding in the way that he knew how. 

Tomorrow I will pick myself up, and get back to working on my life and my business as best I can. You will probably receive a newsletter from me about financial freedom. But today I’m grieving the loss of innocent lives, and I’m sending out love in all the ways I’m comfortable with, and capable of. 

That includes writing this article. I want to hold space for people who have felt pressure to react to world events publicly, and any shame or guilt with not feeling authentic in doing so. We’re all in this together, but we all deserve to share--or not share--in how we react to things.

We all deserve to respond in the way we know how. 

Praying for paris,

Kimberly 

The Daily Practice That Has Changed My Life

You know when you learn about something new and you start to see it everywhere? Or another common example is that you buy a new car and then everyone and their mom seems to drive that car now?
 

That’s what practicing gratitude has been like for me. Now that I’m including it in my daily habits, it’s showing up everywhere and my friends are sharing that they have been doing the same!

Since I’m not one to hog the wealth, I’ll go ahead and tell you how it has really improved my life and how you can use it to up your happiness as well!
 

First, I have to tell you, this weekend was one of the most love-filled weekends I’ve experienced in Austin. I spent Friday with one of my closest friends, whom I met through improv class (proof that you should get out there, invest in your hobbies, and connect with other hilarious humans). We had one of those fluid evenings where everything is easy, everything is fun, and the drinks are free flowing.
 

At one point we made friends with some people who were in town for Formula One and we laughed and chatted for hours. It was one of my favorite evenings because I am so energized by meeting new people. Especially when they understand the meaning of good banter.
 

I went home feeling so grateful for the opportunity to fulfill my extroverted tendencies and for ability to befriend people quickly.
 

Full disclosure, this is something I actually write in my gratitude journal. “I am grateful for my ability to talk comfortably with strangers, and to connect with people quickly.” 
 

By showing gratitude for this quality in myself, I’m able to experience these moments more frequently and really appreciate them. The more introverts I surround myself with, the more I realize that this ease of communication and connection with new people is not a global trait, and it’s something a lot of people struggle to do.
 

So I make damn sure to show the Universe how grateful I am, and I welcome opportunities to use this skill!
 

Saturday night was just as delightful. I’ve been really focusing lately on my desire to host and attend dinner parties with good friends. A girl wants what she wants!

There’s something so intimate about gathering around a table of good food with people who support you, love you, joke you, etc. Why do you think Pinterest is overflowing with tips on how to host a good dinner party??
 

On Saturday night, a close friend of mine invited me to join a “Family Dinner” night with her group of friends. (Thank you Universe!!) We drank wine, told stories, made fun of each other, supported each other. 
 

As part of their Family Dinner traditions, we even went around the table and shared "The best thing that is going on in our life right now" and “The best thing that happened in our day.” 
 

Sound familiar? Those are gratitude practices.
 

Even when I’m not intentionally sitting down to write in my gratitude journal, or expressing gratitude internally as I go through my day, I’m still being presented with opportunities to feel appreciation and recognize all the things I have going for my life. And it’s not even Thanksgiving yet!
 

Getting to participate in Family Dinner was one of the most special experiences I’ve had in Austin. As an only child, and avid interloper, I can tell you there is nothing more magical than other people welcoming you into their home as one of their own.
 

I woke up Sunday morning, and through my daily gratitude practice, I knew that that day would bring just as much joy as the previous two. 
 

But, I feel the need to pause for a second to clarify something. 
 

Does practicing gratitude mean that every day is easy 100% of the time? No. Sometimes things happen that cause us pain, derail our mood, or flat out rip us apart. It’s okay to feel these feelings. 
 

The importance of practicing gratitude is evident even more when things feel like they're going to shit. Because by actively choosing to be grateful for the lesson in that moment, we’re able to get ourselves back on track more quickly, and to be present in the next moment allowing it to bring us joy. 
 

So in terms of my weekend, Sunday was not a total cake walk. Even before the day had really begun, I had to have a tough conversation with someone I care about, and it left my heart aching. 
 

BUT. I knew that my practicing gratitude for all that situation was teaching me, I would be able to pull myself out of the funk and make the best of what was left in the day.
 

I knew that was true, even though I was feeling sad.  Even though it was cold and rainy outside.  Even though I easily could have crawled back in bed with a season’s worth of grey’s anatomy and just wallowed. 
 

Instead I let myself feel (because the reality is that suppression is not in my repertoire, even if it were a healthy tool) and then I pulled myself together and went to meet my friends for a goodbye lunch. 
 

As a fun exercise, we decided to share what we are most grateful for about our friend who is leaving town. It was far more emotional than one would expect for a lunch in a public place, but that’s why it was so awesome!
 

We all had really amazing things to share about this person, and she was able to really see how much she is valued and loved. Who doesn’t want to feel that??
 

I received this text later that night that actually moved me to write this post: 

Gratitude Text

If you could make people feel like this everyday simply by telling them how special they are, why would you not??
 

The next day I received another message in which a friend shared some of the biggest things they’ve learned this year. Guess what made an appearance on the list? 
 

Gratitude.jpg

There it was again, gratitude. Everywhere I look recently gratitude has been popping up. It’s effect on my life has been profound and I now see that I’m not the only one in my network experiencing this shift. 
 

If you want to harness your ability to create more positive experiences (and more abundance) in your life, the real truth is that you have to get really good at being grateful.
 

Be grateful for what you have, be grateful for what you do not yet have. Be grateful for the good times, and the bad. Be grateful for everything from your ability to walk, to your ability to crave a pizza and have that shit show up at your door 30 minutes later! #magic
 

If you’re interested in bringing more of what you want into your life, and enjoying each day on a deeper level, here are some exercises you can start practicing today: 

  1. Write down 10 things your grateful for every morning, and every night. Really feel into it, say them out loud! Look your dog or your partner in the eye and say “I’m grateful for this cup of coffee! It gives me superpowers! I’ve always wanted superpowers!"
     
  2. If you want to take it a step further, write down something you're thankful for, then write down three reasons why you’re thankful for that thing.

    It can be a person, a place, an event, an object. Doesn’t matter. Next, write down 3 ways that you could show gratitude to that person/place/thing if you wanted to.

    You don’t actually have to do it, but you will start to signal to the Universe that this is something you want more of because you’re focusing your energy on it. You’ll also just feel really good because your brain is firing off the same way it would if you were actually experiencing that person/place/thing in real time. Yep, I know, it’s pretty cool. 
     
  3. For those who reallllllly want to take this gratitude thing to the max, you can even go one step further. Practice completing step #2 for different areas of your life, then after you’ve done a few, move to something that has actually been causing you stress or anxiety or anger. Write down that person/place/event/etc. and complete #2 for it!

    By now you should be in such a good vibration that you’ll be surprised how easily you can come up with things you appreciate about what you just wrote. The quickest way to change how you feel about something is to start focusing on all the good aspects of it, because pretty soon that is all you will see. 

    It may be tough the first time or two, but you will start to get familiar with the sensation of showing gratitude for things that bring you angst or anger, and by feeling into how you would show this person appreciation, you’ll actually shift your thoughts and feelings. Since you can’t actually change other people or circumstances, you can only change yourself, this is a GREAT tool to have in your emotional arsenal. 

 

So spend the next week really feeling into what you have going well in your life! If you write down someone’s name, I encourage you to share that with them! Tell them why you wrote down their name. Not comfortable with it? Read my text above again. Now imagine you have the capacity to make someone feel that good, because you do. 
 

Feeling bold? Leave me a comment below sharing one thing you're grateful for! I'd love to hear it, and it may even spark some appreciation in someone else!

How to get $1.2 Million from Richard Branson

A couple weeks ago, I went to a book signing here in Austin. My friend Taylor was launching his book The End of Jobs, and decided to co-host a meetup with two other authors that were in town promoting their book 2 Billion Under 20. Don’t let my extraversion confuse you, meetups are not generally my favorite things. I’ve talked about my aversion to “networking” in another post, but my desire to connect with new people, and my enthusiasm for all things The End of Jobs pulled me out of the house and downtown to mix and mingle.

Per usual, I was glad I went as it was truly an inspiring and eye-opening event. The other two authors at the meet up, Stacey Ferreira and Jared Kleinert, were not only successful entrepreneurs, but they were both under 25. One of them, I later learned, was in fact 19.

That’s right. By 19 Jared had built 2 businesses and written a book. I’m pretty sure by 19 I had managed to skip at least half of my 8 am classes, and attend all of the “Welfare Wednesdays” at the Sigma Chi house. Impressive, I know.

For the record, I ended up getting straight As and transferring to a bigger better school, and I turned out all right and my mom loves me…

Point being, these kids had chops. They were doing big things.

And even more importantly, they were on a mission to show the world (especially other millennials) that anyone under 20 has the potential to do big things. Technology and the accessibility of knowledge means that any teenager can pretty much learn any skill and affect any sort of change they wish to make, just as much as any “adult”.

I was so intrigued by these two.

Stacey and Jared told me about how they had met at the Thiel Foundation Summit. As in Peter Thiel, as in cofounder of Paypal. In case you don’t know what the Thiel Foundation Summit is (I didn’t), it's a gathering of young entrepreneurs, hackers, scientists, etc. who are looking to change the world.

They gather to inspire each other and collaborate with one another to build new companies and even new technologies, all with the goal of affecting a positive change.

Did I mention these people are all under 20?? Okay, just making sure.

A handful of the attendees, including Stacey, are part of the Thiel Fellowship Program. This program may be controversial to some, but I think it’s amazing. Probably not shocking given a lot of the content on this blog...

The Thiel Fellowship is a grant - a $100,000 grant (!) - given to young applicants who show promise and passion for achieving big things. The money is then used over a 2 year span to pursue their business and personal growth. The not-so-fine-print states that all the fellows must participate in the program away from university. AKA they must drop out of college to get the dough.

I won’t go into the “you don’t need college to have a successful career” spiel in this post. One of my favorite writers, James Altucher, says it better anyway. If you’re interested I’ll let you pick from a variety of his articles on the topic.

I know, I know, I’m halfway through the article, and I haven’t yet mentioned Richard Branson. I’m getting there.

So after Stacey and Jared blow my mind apart with the reality of this amazing subculture of under 20-somethings doing ridiculously big and inspiring things, I learn that Stacey and I actually have something in common. Other than wanting to inspire people, and write books, and wear peplum well.

Earlier, I wrote about my foray into the world of location independence, and how I used twitter as a vehicle to accelerate that journey, and it turns out that Stacey’s story of early entrepreneurship began in a similar way.

When she was 18, she and her brother had just moved to LA to focus on their business and try to hunker down for a few months to build their technology company. Their parents had said, if you want to skip college to build a business like an adult, then you need to move out and support yourself like an adult.

So there they were living in LA, sharing a room, writing code all hours of the day, when they saw on twitter that Richard Branson was hosting an open meet up in Miami in just 2 days. Anyone that could donate $2000 to the charity he was supporting, could fly out and meet him for cocktails.

Both Stacey and her brother were too young for cocktails, but they knew that this would be a game-changing move and they needed to try nonetheless. So they tweeted back that they were not 21, but were really interested in meeting up with Branson, and was there something that could be worked out.

Branson’s assistant told them that if they could pull together $4000 to donate, then they were welcome to attend the meet up.

Stacey and her brother didn’t have $4000 + airfare (remember, they’re sharing a small apartment in LA eating ramen and coding all day) so they reach out to their parents for help. They did what any parent in that situation does, and they told their budding entrepreneurial kin to provide a business proposal.

One badass business proposal, and 48 hours later, Stacey and her brother were on their way to Miami to meet up with Branson and his business partners. They were able to impress Branson, as much as they had impressed their parents, and the $4000 loan was quickly repaid.

Stacey walked away from that meeting with $1.2 Million dollars in funding for her new company My Social Cloud and would go on to sell that company before the age of 21.

You can build and sell a multi-million dollar company, but you can't legally have champagne to celebrate the sale? Makes sense...

I digress.

Jared and Stacey are just two of the people I've encountered lately who are walking examples of everything this site stands to teach.

By being bold, taking risks, and ignoring societally imposed (or self-imposed) limitations, you can go on to do really amazing things. There's no such thing as "too young." There's no such thing as "not college educated enough." Many employers would disagree, but then that's why you opt to employ yourself!

Jared and Stacey's book 2 Billion Under 20 is full of amazing stories of young people doing inspiring and interesting things.  They took it upon themselves to show the world what their generation is capable of. I can only hope that older generations can feel inspired to follow in their footsteps.

Richard Branson_dreams
Richard Branson_dreams

So. How does one get $1.2 Million dollars from Richard Branson?

We already know how Stacey did it, but these are the fundamental principles I've come up with.

1. Shed your limiting beliefs. If you think you're too young, you are. If you think your idea isn't good enough, it isn't. Whatever you think is your truth because you create your reality.

Eliminate any negative internal dialogue because successful badass people don't cater to that. Billionaires, dream employers and dream clients don't cater to that. They show up for people who believe their worth. So know you're worthy and get over the rest!

2. Be clear on your purpose. Be so confident and clear on your ideas and your pursuits that you let the money (or the job or the relationship or whatever opportunity you're after) come to you.

Having such clarity around the use for the money gives it a reason to find you. Investors' money wants to go somewhere, that job you want is created to be filled. So get clear and get out of the way.

3. Ask. Be tenacious. Be bold and freaking ASK already. If you don't send the tweet, or the email, or if you don't *show up* you're just leaving the money and the opportunities sitting on the table for someone else.

What proverbial $1.2 million dollars have you left sitting on the table because you just didn't show up to ask? What life-changing opportunities are you foregoing because you're letting your self-doubt or your fears keep you from them?

Ditch your excuses, get clear on your goals, then articulate the hell out of them and let the universe freaking deliver.

5 SIMPLE TRUTHS TO HELP YOU DOMINATE THE WORLD

This year was my first time attending the World Domination Summit and I have to admit, it was impressive. The production quality alone was far beyond any other conference I’ve attended (except maybe SXSW, but that’s in a different league altogether). WDS is exactly what the name entails: it’s a gathering of entrepreneurs, speakers, writers, leaders, humans, who are creating things that actually affect the world in big ways. The core themes of the conference, for those who aren’t familiar, are Community, Service, and Adventure. If you hate those things, you’ll probably hate this blog and I’ll bid you adieu now.

The truth is, it’s amazing what can be accomplished when you have [a budget] and a strong commitment to the attendees. Creating an unparalleled experience was a top priority for Chris G. and his team, and it showed in everything from the quality of speakers, to the world-record breakings, to the closing party.

My notebook is full of inspirational takeaways and action steps, but in this post I’ll narrow it down to 5 key takeaways. Five ways that WDS inspired me to live a bolder, more interesting, more purposeful life. Oh, and to dominate the freaken world.

1. Be Vulnerable.

Throughout the week in Portland, I’d see people hugging and sometimes weeping while they appeared to share a moment about something personal. This could be between two friends, or two people that just met that day. It didn’t matter. The reality was that WDS provided a safe, almost summer-camp-like vibe for the attendees to come as they are, and leave as they want.

Admittedly, the part of me that grew up in the “real world” where people don’t embrace strangers for long periods of time in public, would witness these interactions and start to get uncomfortable.Don’t they feel awkward that people can see?

It wasn’t til my own repressed bullshit spilled out my eyeballs did I think, hey maybe these people are onto something.

The truth is, it’s not until people start being real, that these moments of intimacy actually happen. When people start being vulnerable and realize that they aren’t even remotely “cooler” or “tougher” than anyone else, that’s when it gets good, and that’s when change happens.

The most memorable example of this (for me) was a speech by internet marketer, and former pro athlete, Lewis Howes. His presentation resonated with me for many reasons. He used narrative and humor so effectively—two things I strive to do—that 3,000 people couldn’t help but listen to every word he said. We were engulfed in his story so much, that when he finally stripped off his alpha male facade, we were completely rocked. ROCKED I tell you!

Photo Credit: Armosa Studios, WDS 2015
Photo Credit: Armosa Studios, WDS 2015

This successful, masculine, attractive man, (hey! I’m human.) stood on stage and shared incredibly personal details. An auditorium full of people, males and females, cried as Lewis explained that he had been sexually assaulted as a child by his babysitters’s son.

He spoke of the effect it had on his life and relationships, as he kept that secret for over 25 years. He told us of the overwhelming fear he had when he finally told his family, and then subsequently shared his story on his podcast.

He told us of the impact it had had on his followers. The overwhelming support he had received for being so vulnerable and for showing other people that they’re not alone. That by sharing our vulnerabilities, we can truly help others to be able to do the same and move past the traumas and the baggage in our lives.

If you’re squeamish about emotions, and honesty, and being REAL, then this blog is probably not for you.

There will be plenty of sass--fret not--but there will also be raw and sometimes vulnerable things shared, because only through that realness can real change be made. Both in ourselves and in others.

Vulnerability affects change
Vulnerability affects change

I became friends with someone recently (a very impressive young woman who I’ll cover in a separate post), but after we made it Facebook offish, I noticed this quote on her wall. I don’t know who Oceana Pleasant is, and it doesn’t really matter.

The point is that this message of vulnerability leading to a greater reach and a greater influence has been following me around ever since WDS. Hence this blog. And hence why Be Vulnerable is #1 on my list of takeaways.

So this week, try and look for opportunities to be vulnerable. With friends, with family, maybe even at the office. If you find it easy, dig deeper. You’ll likely experience what Brene Brown calls a ‘vulnerability hangover’ where you ask yourself “Why did I share so much? What was I thinking??” but she goes on to explain it’s in these moments of exposure that we can start to see profound change and meaning in our lives.

2. Treat Everyone like it’s their birthday.

11 yr old Kid President was one of the most charismatic speakers to grace the stage at WDS. I’ve never seen Obama speak in person, but I like to think he’d be just as suave and quick witted.

Kid president is known for his youtube channel where he encourages people to be better humans through humor, dancing, and general awesomeness.

One of the simplest, yet most impactful, things he said was to “Treat everyone like it’s their birthday.”

Treat Everyone Like It's Their Birthday
Treat Everyone Like It's Their Birthday

It’s so easy to be grumpy cat when you’re out running errands and it’s a million degrees, or you’re at the doctor’s office because you have an ear infection for like the billionth time. But what if you bucked up a bit and instead oozed generosity in all those situations?

What if everyone you encountered each day, it really was their birthday, wouldn’t you wish you had been nicer to them?

The cashier at Target, the receptionist at the doctors, the guy that checks you in at the Jiffy Lube. Your girlfriend or boyfriend. Your teacher. Your mom.

James Altucher, one of my favorite writers, puts it like this: Treat everyone like it’s their last day on earth. Not your last day. This isn’t about ballin’ out, and flying to Rome to eat gelato. This is about them. If everyone you encountered, you knew it was their last day on earth, how would you act differently?

3. Share what you know.

Jeremy Cowart was another speaker that really spoke to me. Both literally and figuratively, I supposed. His presentation was unique in that the entire speech was expressed using photos and mixed media. He put every word on the screen in a way I had not seen before. He’s a true artist.

Jeremy spoke of his early struggles to see himself as a photographer (he is world renowned and has worked with hundreds of celebrities, artists, musicians, etc.) and he spoke of his philanthropic efforts through projects like Help-Portrait and Voices of Haiti.

But the thing he said that was profound enough to take make my list was something that hit a bit closer to home. Jeremy told us that he and his brother Mike, also a fellow photographer, had attended a Father Daughter dance in early 2014. There his brother snapped an amazing picture of Jeremy and his daughter in a snow machine that they had brought out on the dance floor. The picture would be the last one that Mike ever took of Jeremy as he died suddenly a few weeks later.

If you follow Jeremy’s blog, he shares the full story of grief through images.

Through his brother’s death, Jeremy was able to grasp the fragility of life in a way that he hadn’t before and he realized that he owed it to his children, and to his brother’s children, to share what he could with them before his time on earth was up.

So he created SeeUniversity.com, where he has loaded dozens of videos on every possible topic from photography, to business, to personal development. Everything he knows and everything he has learned, he has shared so that his children (and any followers who apply to join his list) can learn from it.

He preached that you are always ahead of someone. There is always at least person, if not hundreds or thousands, who can benefit from your knowledge and your unique perspective. No matter how insignificant you think your skills are, share them. They could open a door for someone else, and they could change their life.

Are you really good at coming up with recipes? Do you have a knack for writing jokes? Are you an excel wiz? It doesn’t matter what it is, you are better at something than someone else.

So write it down, record a video, compile the content through images. Whatever medium works best for you, just share what you know.

4. When you see people as just your platform, you eventually stand on top of them.

In the entrepreneurial world, I can tell you, it’s really easy for people to get caught up in the numbers. How many people are on your list, how many conversions did you get, how many downloads?

It can be easy to forget that every data point is a person. Someone that bought your product, joined your list, or signed up for your course because they trust you and they think you can provide value to their lives.

Jon Acoff hit the nail on the head with this quote, "When you see people as just your platform, you eventually stand on top of them." Instead of looking at people as a platform for your business, ask yourself how can I help? Am I doing what I said I would? Am I actually making people’s lives better with what I’m offering?

The same applies in the corporate environment. Rather than prioritize our own personal agenda and trample each other on the race up the corporate ladder, instead we can work to raise each other up. Celebrate each other’s successes, and constantly ask, how can I help?

5. You can do anything.

I wish I could convey the energy that exists when you get a room full of people who want to positively impact the world. It may sound cult-y but the truth is, I can’t imagine a better koolaid to be drinking.

The reality is that anyone who has ever created something that radically impacted the way we all live today was just a person like you and me. The difference is that they took action and worked hard. Really hard.

With technology what it is today, our reach is faster and farther than it’s ever been before. People can source materials, or get funding easier and from more sources than was possible even 5 years ago.

Want to start a foundation to put kids through school in Africa? You can. Want to write a book and sell it to thousands of people on amazon? You can. Want to create a piece of luggage that charges your phone? You can!

You Can Do Anything
You Can Do Anything

Jeremy Cowart's speech emphasized not only that we teach the world all that we know, but also that our ability to make an impact is literally limitless.

We are capable of anything if we can conceive of it.

There are countless quotes and texts that serve to inspire us with this same message. I'll give you one, just to prove how easy it is to google these things. Nelson Mandela said, "It always seems impossible until it's done."

Point being, it's true. Whether Jeremy Cowart said it on stage at WDS or Tony Robbins said it on stage at one of his conferences, or Napolean Hill wrote it in a book about getting rich, if you can think of it and set your intention to make it reality, then it is inevitable.

Another speaker at WDS said that we were 'a room full of wizards.' With the power to change the world. The truth is that we all are.  Not just the 3,000 people who attended WDS.

Whether you grew up on Harry Potter and can appreciate a good wizard metaphor, or not, you are capable of doing ridiculously amazing things. So go do it already.

Why Public Nudity is Like Chicken Soup for the Soul

Spanish Nude Beach
Spanish Nude Beach

It started in Berlin. I was living there for the summer and my boyfriend and I were having dinner with some friends we’d known in Chiang Mai. We were sitting outside at one of my favorite Turkish restaurants in Neukölln (This one, it’s delicious. You’re welcome.) and they were telling us about all the different things they’d already done in Berlin that day. They ate burgers, here, saw a statue there, went to a nude bathhouse. A coed. Nude. Bathhouse.

Hold the phone.

Now these are two grown heterosexual American men. Call me a prude, but I was shocked. Mostly intrigued, but also shocked.

What did they do there? They said they had gone for over 4 hours. Were they just sitting around holding their junk in a steam room that whole time? Not possible! They’d die. (Don’t fact check me on that. I don’t actually know the length of time a human can physically spend in a steam room before kicking it.)

Throughout the conversation, they seemed perfectly at ease with the whole thing, and were even talking about going back before they left town. There were apparently multiple steam rooms, and saunas, and cold plunge pools, and even a DJ and a bar!

Needlesstosay, I was sold. I needed to go to the coed nude bathhouse.

My boyfriend (bless him) was always open minded about these things, and supported any opportunity that came about where I could celebrate my womanhood and my body without shame. He was in.

So the next day we looked up the Liquidrom Bathhouse, and hopped the U-Bahn. When we got there, we forked over our credit cards, and headed to our respective changing rooms. Well, not until after I grilled the front desk man about every possible detail.

Where was nudity mandatory? In which pools were swimsuits mandatory? Was there a limit to the number of drinks a person could order? Was he sure there wasn't a limit?

I was such an American.

So we go into our change rooms, and immediately something feels off. My boyfriend had walked into the room next to me, but I could still feel his presence. Not in like a “he’s always with me” kind of way, this isn’t that kind of post. But in that he was literally. Still. Right next to me.

I looked up and realized that I could see in the entire men’s changing room. And that they could see in ours. There were no walls! What was the point of the whole separate door charade??

We laughed awkwardly, and gave each other that “We got this” look of support before stripping down to our skivvies and heading out the other side of the locker room to the unknown.

What we found was incredible.

Everywhere we looked, men and women were lounging naked, drinking cocktails naked. Sitting in glass-walled saunas naked. And no one seemed to give a DAMN that people could see their naked bits, and they could see everyone else’s.

Liquidrom Saltwater Pool
Liquidrom Saltwater Pool

We spent the next four hours canoodling in the hot tubs, on the lounge chairs, and in the saltwater pool room with the DJ.

Other couples all around us seemed to be doing the same thing, so we didn’t feel like it was taboo to show affection. Remember, NO ONE CARES YOU’RE NAKED. It’s Europe. They have advertisements on the subway showing more skin than you do at the beach in the states. Bless your heart.

The liberation we felt after that experience was hard to shake. And why should we?

A year later, we found ourselves in Spain and decided to venture out to a nude beach to bare it all once again. Spanish people are not new to the concept of going topless, much like other parts of Europe.

That being said, you’d think it would be easier to access the nude beaches. We took a train an hour or so north of where we were staying, and then hiked a good 30 minutes along the coast. It was beautiful, of course, but damn the sangria from the night before was showing her face with every minute that the sun beat down on us.

When we finally reached the stretch of shore deemed naked-territory, we ditched our sweaty suits, and cuddled up under an umbrella. Groups of Spanish people chatted around us as we all just hung out with our stuff out. It was refreshing and liberating and one of the moments I’ve felt most alive.

The ocean breeze, the gritty sand. My white ass out for the sun to scorch. The sheer amount of fucks not given. It was awesome.

I look back on my time in Vietnam, when I would go to the sauna and cold plunge pool at my gym. All of the women there were butt-ass naked. Except me. I wore a bathing suit. They would sit in the sauna giving each other massages—naked-- and I would sit there in my Victoria’s Secret bathing suit, hiding.

Why?

They had lady bits. I had lady bits. Who carrrres?

I feel regretful that I was so embarrassed. How good would that cold plunge pool have felt without my bathing suit as a barrier? How much more relaxed would the sauna have made me feel if I wasn’t so busy trying to sit comfortably with a stick up my ass?

I feel grateful for having had such a supporting partner to usher me through those moments of liberation. And for always supporting my desire to be nude behind closed doors, and sometimes outside of them.

There are enough things in the world to be anxious about, our bodies don’t need to be one of them. (Pssst, half the world is working with the same goods you got. It’s nothing they haven’t seen before!)

Does this mean I’m one of those "free-spirits" who walks around all my American friends in the nude now? No. I respect that people have boundaries, and societal norms would have me wear clothes in most social situations in America.

I am however much more inclined to bare it all, and not think twice about doing so. I’m much more inclined to support anyone who feels comfortable with their body enough to bare it, or who wants to feel that way.

Life is short, go swim naked once in awhile.

How I Used Twitter to Quit My Job and Travel

I’ve always hated the word “networking”. It makes me think of college career fairs. You know the ones. You’re carrying a leather resume holder that you bought at the school bookstore, wearing the grey pant suit you bought at Express. At this point, it probably smells like B.O. because you can’t machine wash those things and what college student is getting shit dry cleaned on the regular.

If you’re a girl, you have those stereotypical black pointy toed heels on, because god-forbid you show your toes at a career fair. You’re supposed to approach potential employers and act like you have acquired some sort of skill set at your overpriced university, while meanwhile all you want to do is take their free mints and airplane-shaped paper clips and run. (Thank you Boeing, I still use those).

What were they even hiring for? What did a Marketing Major really know how to contribute to a company at that point? The answer: nothing. No one was hiring anyone with Marketing degrees! HA! I might as well have majored in liberal arts.

The point is, for someone who prides herself in being outgoing, “networking” events always made me feel forced and unnatural. And sweaty.

I’ve since grown out of that to a degree (alcohol helps) and can comfortably approach strangers at these once-dreaded “networking” events.

But what if I’m trying to network with people who aren’t nearby? How do you go about doing that?

A lot of people would say LinkedIn. And good for those people. I’ve yet to master the Facebook of professionals.

For me, the secret was Twitter.

Two years ago I successfully networked my way out of a 9-5 job--and around the world--through my use of twitter.

It wasn’t about followers. I think I had like 30 at the time. Yeah… I was a big deal.

It was about conversation. I engaged people I wanted to know in conversation. I didn’t ask them for anything, I didn’t try to sell them anything. I just wanted to talk to them. And somehow this made them want to talk to me.

I’ll give you a little backstory… I was working a 9-5 job at a Web Marketing Agency in Maryland. I had attempted to take my position remote, and failed. I was working 12-14 hour days on the regular and it was making me miserable. In addition to the fact that I would go to sleep thinking horrible things about mean clients, I knew that I wasn’t living the type of life I always pictured for myself.

Traveling 10 days a year and maxing out PTO in the process just wasn’t cutting it.

Enter, The Four Hour Work Week. I won’t dive into the book in this post, but let’s just say it’s a game changer. For me and millions of other people who have fantasized about slow travel and being their own boss.

So there I was, riding the Tripper Bus back to D.C., after spending New Years Eve in New York with my friends, when I finished the 4HWW. It clicked in THAT moment. My life would be drastically different in 6 months and I knew it.

Anyone who has ever had one of those "holy shit" clarity moments (some people call them "aha moments") knows what I'm talking about. From that moment on everything just seemed to fall into place.

I recently heard it referred to has "Pronoia." Instead of thinking that the universe is conspiring against you, instead you feel like the universe is conspiring to help you.

Fast forward a few weeks later, I had started throwing money at any info product or online community that would take me. Digital Nomad Academy led to Location Rebel, led to CopyHour. And ultimately, the DC.

Often those communities are targeted towards newbs who want to start a business and quit their jobs to travel. Ideally working 4 hours a week on a mostly passive-income-generating business. (Of course that’s not how it works for most people).

The DC was different though. I had to have a business to get in! That made me want it more. I knew if I just got into this community that everything would change.

So the only logical next step was to befriend everyone I could who was inside the forum and hope for the best. Hope that I could learn from them enough to get my own thing going and get accepted.

I took to twitter and started following everyone I could. Note: once you’re inside the entrepreneurial, location-independent, internet marketing world, you realize how small it really is. This is probably true for most subcultures.

It was pretty easy for me to see who was connected to who, and actually where in the world they were living.

Following Sean Ogle of Location Rebel (and a former Tropical MBA/ DC Intern) led me to Derek Johanson of Copy Hour. Derek was in the DC at the time and seeing who he was chatting with on Twitter led me to a whole slew of people.

There was a big DC contingent in Chiang Mai back then, so I started following anyone who was using the DC Chiang Mai hashtag. It snowballed.

Maneesh Sethi was another person I began following through Derek and one day I saw he was hosting a meet up in New York. Derek Johanson would be there, along with Derek Halpurn and some other people that were doing business online.

As if I needed an excuse to skip work and go to New York….

2 Days later, I took a half day from work and hopped the train to NYC. I was the only female at this meet up of successful internet entrepreneurs. I was the only person who didn’t have a business. And guess what? It didn’t matter.

We drank beers, we talked travel, and to this day I still count some of those people as friends.

How I Quit My Job to Travel
How I Quit My Job to Travel

A couple weeks later Derek referred me to the DC (along with another person that I’d connected with on Twitter) and I was in! I finally got to give them my money and pretend I was an entrepreneur. All of a sudden my conversations were moving from Twitter to inside the forums, and people were treating me like they knew me.

A few weeks after that, the creators of the DC posted a job opportunity for the Community Manager. I applied, and because of my twitter stalking networking, they already knew who I was. My ability to connect with people across the world who had no idea who I was made them think, "hey maybe she's good with people?" A pre-req for managing them, it would seem.

So I got the job. (I hope you saw that coming. So much build up and all...)

And 2 weeks later I moved to Vietnam.

The End!

Not really, that was just the beginning. But it was a start that would not have come to fruition if I hadn't used the resources available to me to MAKE SHIT HAPPEN.

If you want something, don't be scared to do unconventional things to make it happen.

I didn't have a business. It didn't stop me.

I didn't know anyone living the life I wanted. It didn't stop me. It was out there. I had read it in a book (!) and that was enough for me to get started.

I may have had an advantage, in that I've always been comfortable getting to know people virtually (my AIM game was strong in my youth) but the reality is that anyone can do this.

Here are 3 tips to start networking on twitter today:

1. Find the right people to follow

Understanding who you want to be talking to (and why) is step one. In my situation, I just wanted to talk to people who were doing what I wanted to be doing. Who were living where I wanted to be living.

I could tell who was influential, and who would be likely to respond, based on their tweets with other people. It may sound like a lot of work (and perhaps creepy) to go through people's twitter history, but I assure you it's worth it. Some of those original tweets I sent were to people I have since lived with and become best friends with. We've seen each other in countries all over the world, and it all started with a single tweet.

Follow people who look like they will engage in conversation!

2. Retweet. Retweet. Rinse. Repeat.

Retweeting content of people you follow is one of the quickest ways so show them that you're interested in what they have to say, and you're willing to share it. If you're uneasy about sending them a tweet, and they haven't yet followed you back for you to send a DM, start by retweeting.

Be sure to balance retweets with original content of your own. If people do take note of you, you want your twitter log to have show some representation of who you are. Avoid looking like a retweeting robot.

3. Learn their lingo.

If you're naturally a sarcastic person, but the people you follow seem to be more literal, avoid banter in the early stages. On the other hand, if people you want to connect with seem to respond well to humor and wit, offer it up freely. Give people a reason to bond with you. 140 characters is not a lot, so use every one of them wisely.

If you combine these tactics, and are able to offer up some value to the people you're looking to connect with, you'll be ahead of the game.

*****

I'd love to hear stories of how other people have used Twitter in a bold way to make strides in their business, or in their life. Leave a comment below or send me an email to tell me about it!

The 3 Things I Learned at 8,500 Ft.

Climb that Mountain
Climb that Mountain

I took this photo last week on Bear Peak Trail in Boulder, Colorado. Since I was pretty sure I was going to black out and fall off the mountain, I wanted to make sure the whole thing was well documented so they’d have pretty pictures to show at my funeral. My iphone case is seemingly sturdy so I was confident it would survive the fall and rescuers would be able to salvage my photos.

I agreed to go on the hike for my friend’s birthday under the pretenses that we would be back by 6pm, and I’d be in for a mild to moderate workout. I had work to do, and I wasn’t trying to exhaust myself to such a point that I wouldn’t be able to function.

Can you see where this is going?

After stopping at Sprouts to grab some snacks and Bhakti we headed for the trail. Side note: if you haven’t had Bhakti Chai, you’re missing out. It’s a crazy combination of ginger and chai that tastes exactly like it sounds.

I was told that the trail is mostly flat until it juts up and that’s where shit gets real. After 40 minutes of “flat” I was worried that the altitude and my inability to do “fit” would pose a problem. I was struggling to breathe and the real hike hadn’t even started.

As we got closer to the flatirons a storm rolled in that threatened the entire mission. Since getting struck by lightning on these peaks is a legitimate concern, we hid under some trees and ate hummus while it passed. I’m pretty sure I was taught that “under a tree” is not the best place to be during a storm, but who am I to question these things.

Eventually the rain stopped and we picked up our packs again. I was sure we only had an hour or so left to the peak and I was excited!

After what felt like DAYS, and a dozen “we’re almost to the first landing!” I was starting to get skeptical. And by skeptical, I mean impatient. This was not moderate. This was hard as shit. I took it upon myself to ask another hiker who was headed down the mountain, how much time is left? Really?

He said 20 minutes to the first landing, then another 20 to the summit. Okay, finally some numbers that mean something. Thank you for managing my expectations kind stranger!

I should note that this stranger also told us, he’d been up on the peak when the storm passed and had to hide under a rock to avoid the hail that was raining down. These Colorado storms don’t mess around.

It should come as no surprise that we did not reach the first landing after 20 more minutes. Eventually we did and it was beautiful, but DAMN was I getting stressed.

Bear Peak Trail
Bear Peak Trail

At 5 o clock (4 hours into the hike), we still had not reached the summit. By this point, I had cycled through every motivational cliche I could think of.

“You can do anything.” was my flavor of choice and I had it playing on repeat. I knew if I just kept up with the 22 yr olds a little bit longer that it would all be worth it. Think of the social media opportunities at the top!!

Despite the fact that my legs were surely about to stop working and I was seeing spots, I was feeling anxious about the fact that work was becoming less and less likely. I don’t like letting my clients down, and I don’t like being in situations I can’t control. The reality was that I was trapped on a beautiful mountain in Boulder and I had no idea when I’d be getting off it. (I know, life is tough).

The closer we got to the summit though, the less I cared about pushing work to the next morning. This view was something I would never forget, and I doubt that the project management back at my laptop would really stick with me past the weekend.

Also, I WAS ACCOMPLISHING SHIT.

So 25 hours into the hike, we summited. (okay it was more like 5 hours). I hadn’t died!

I was confident that I might, sitting there on the peak, but I hadn’t yet!

If you’ve never summited a peak--and I hadn’t--it’s pretty badass. Once the trail fades away, there’s nothing left at the top but rock. Rock on rock on rock. Which somehow doesn’t budge out of place and send you careening to your death. Or maybe it does sometimes?

Either way, there we were. Perched on top of these precarious rocks at 8,500 feet just staring down the side of a mountain. I had no regrets.

I had told myself “you can do anything” and I was right.

So what did I learn?

Well, I took from that experience [yet again] the fact that I really value people managing my expectations. I feel anxious and chaotic when it doesn't seem like people are giving it to me straight. All I can do with this knowledge is try to manage the expectations of others. Show them respect by always being upfront and then letting them decide for themselves how they want to proceed.

I also reiterated to myself the value of just living. Getting outside. Away from my desk and just living. The truth is that I tend to be really good at pushing work for the pleasure of the moment, but the hike supported my instincts to do so. I was right where I was supposed to be.

The biggest takeaway for me though was my ability to do. anything. Have I mentioned how hard the hike was? Because it was hard as shit. But I did it! It’s comforting to have that knowledge for the next time I want to do something and feel like I can’t.

tldr:

  1. You can do anything. Seriously!
  2. Manage Kim’s expectations whenever possible.
  3. Go climb a mountain. There’s a slim chance you won’t learn something along the way.