Finding Your Sweet Spot
Your "sweet spot" of effectiveness is discovered through active contemplation, not passive reflection. The broader your base of experience, the more patterns you will be able to discern.
Finding Your Sweet Spot
Articles about passion
The Value Of Unnecessary Creating
The Value Of Unnecessary Creating
Don't expect your job to contain all of your creativity.
Limitless (with Laura Gassner Otting)
Limitless (with Laura Gassner Otting)
You proably have goals you'd like to pursue or dreams you'd like to chase. It's also likely that there are limits that you encounter as you pursue them. However, some of those limits are self-imposed. On this episode, Laura Gassner Otting is here to teach us how to bust through those artificial limits with insights from her new book Limitless.
Finding Your “Sweet Spot”
Finding Your “Sweet Spot”
On this episode, we share some principles for navigating to your sweet spot, and operating in your area of maximum effectiveness.
Finding Your “Sweet Spot” Of Effectiveness
Finding Your “Sweet Spot” Of Effectiveness
Where do you add the most value?
Chasing Dreams (and When To Quit)
Chasing Dreams (and When To Quit)
People love to encourage you to chase your dreams. They mostly mean well. What they don’t tell you is that you are probably going to fail a lot. And, the problem with pursuing a dream is that it’s hard to know when to quit. On this episode, we discuss the difficulties of giving up a dream, and how to move on when it's no longer a part of who you are.
Changing The World One Step At a Time (with Scott Harrison)
Changing The World One Step At a Time (with Scott Harrison)
Scott Harrison is the founder of Charity:Water, and organization dedicated to bringing fresh drinking water to areas of the world in need. On this episode, he shares how he transitioned from in-demand night club promoter to on-mission advocate for those in need, and offers lessons for how each of us can pay attention to the clues in our lives to discern how to create deep impact. Scott's new book is called Thirst.
Discover Your Productive Passion
Discover Your Productive Passion
What gets you out of bed in the morning? What keeps you going even when you face difficulty and overwhelming odds? For many people, the answer is something other than the tasks or the job. Rather, it's something deeper and more closely knit to their sense of purpose. On this episode, we discuss a few questions you can ask to help you identify your "productive passion".
Make Your Contribution
Make Your Contribution
Is passion important? Surely. Is it the most important factor in doing great work? I have my doubts. Some of the most effective contributors throughout time have been marked by two characteristics: they were (a) reluctant, but (b) resolved. They saw the great task before them, but they were determined to surmount obstacles because they recognized an opportunity and felt the urgency of the moment. Do not be dulled, friends. Do not allow the lull of comfort to cause you to abdicate your contribution. Stay sharp. Keep your edges. Nothing – NOTHING – is worth giving up the most precious thing you have to offer.
Finding Your “Sweet Spot”
Finding Your “Sweet Spot”
What could you be better at than anyone around you? It's a question worth exploring.
Podcast: Secret Work
Podcast: Secret Work
You are known for your public work, but you're defined by your "secret" work. On today's episode we discuss the importance of having work in your life that no one sees as a means of developing skills and cultivating passion and curiosity.
The Power of Onlyness (with Nilofer Merchant)
The Power of Onlyness (with Nilofer Merchant)
You have an idea inside of you that could change the very world around you. And, many people allow those ideas to die on the vine because they lack the courage to take the first step, or the community around them to support their efforts. Today's guest, Nilofer Merchant, has just released a book called The Power of Onlyness: Make Your Ideas Mighty Enough To Dent The World, and she shares stories of people who have taken their idea from hunch to impact and changed the world in the process.
Podcast: Being An Evangelist For Your Art (with Mike Quackenbush)
Podcast: Being An Evangelist For Your Art (with Mike Quackenbush)
When you create art for a living, it can sometimes be difficult to talk to others about what you do. That's especially true when others don't have a grid for your core area of passion. In this episode, I have a fun and wide-ranging conversation with Mike Quackenbush, who is the founder of Chikara Wrestling, about how he developed his love for the art of professional wrestling, and how he shares that love and passion for his craft with others.
Podcast: How To Live A Good Life (with Jonathan Fields)
Podcast: How To Live A Good Life (with Jonathan Fields)
What does it mean to live a good life? How do you build your life and your work in such a way that it reflects the best of who you are? On today's episode, Jonathan Fields shares insights about all of this from his new book How To Live A Good Life.
Podcast: Going All-In On Your Idea with Jane Chen
Podcast: Going All-In On Your Idea with Jane Chen
Jane Chen is the co-founder of Embrace Innovations, a company that's created an innovative product called the Embrace Warmer. It helps mothers of pre-mature babies living in developing countries keep their baby warm at the fraction of the cost of a typical incubator, and it's a complete game changer.
Podcast: Meaningful and Contributive
Podcast: Meaningful and Contributive
Ever feel disconnected from your work, or wonder if you're making the right choices in your career and life? In today's episode we share a simple framework for identifying activities in your life and work that will make a difference, and how to navigate closer to your "sweet spot".
Podcast: Alan Siegel On Simplicity In Everything
Podcast: Alan Siegel On Simplicity In Everything
Alan Siegel is a legend in the world of branding and design. He is the co-founder of Siegel + Gale, the founder of Siegelvision, and the co-author of the book Simple: Conquering The Crisis Of Complexity. In our conversation, Mr. Siegel shares practical tips for seeking simplicity in your work and cultivating empathy for the people you serve.
Discover What’s Worth Working For, Then Spend Yourself On It
Discover What’s Worth Working For, Then Spend Yourself On It
I just spent years researching and writing a book about voice. Voice? Seriously? Why would I do that? Honestly, if I offered you ten potential books to read, and a book about voice was among them, I'd guess that the voice book would probably be among the least...
Podcast: Tending The Flame
Podcast: Tending The Flame
In your life and work, you are the keeper of the flame. It’s your job to keep the fire burning, whatever it takes. It’s essential to your ability to thrive, and build a body of work that you point to with pride.
Podcast: Mitch Joel on Following The Muse
Podcast: Mitch Joel on Following The Muse
A few months ago, I heard Mitch Joel in conversation with Seth Godin on the podcast Six Pixels of Separation, and I knew I had to have him back on to chat about careers, fear, failure, and building a body of work that is substantive. Mitch is president of Mirum, a global digital marketing agency, and author of the book Ctrl Alt Delete. We talk about career paths, embracing the "squiggle", and the line between following your muse and being flighty.