I hope this is reaching you as you’re finishing another day at your job.

The goal of Excitement Sessions is to help people go after that professional thing they can’t stop thinking about. Often times, when you’re thinking about it the most is right when your current professional day comes to an end.

I imagine you got done doing something that isn’t that thing you actually want to do…

I reference stats like this all the time — 33% of the world's employees say they are thriving in their lives overall. There is a good chance you’re one of the 67% (or more) who don’t finish their professional day doing something they truly want to do.

… and you’re likely finding it hard to make time to start working on the thing you actually want to do.

Because it is hard. It is hard to make a pivot to doing something you actually want to do while there are so many other things going on.

What is the worst is that if you can’t make time to work on what you actually want, you’re going to continue doing what you don’t want to do.

It’s a vicious cycle.

If the above sounds like you, perhaps we should talk!

How I time block

1. I use a spreadsheet to allocate my time in 30-minute buckets for the categories I need to achieve: Health, Build (my projects), Freelance (contracts for sports work), Open (contracts for other work), Personal (time for me), Family (time for me with my family), Sleep

2. I revise this calendar 3-4 times per year, usually around the football and basketball seasons and the school year, because I broadcast those sports and have children (fall - football; winter - basketball; spring and summer)

3. Once I like the allocations (the spreadsheet totals the hours I’m committing to each), I translate those over to my Google Calendar

4. I then accept that time is finite — I cannot create more time, and therefore, cannot put categories on top of one another

5. So with that acceptance, when something “comes up” — a meeting with a co-worker or boss; donuts with my son; drinks with a friend — I swap times on my Google Calendar so that I don’t delete the time I’ve committed to

6. I re-allocate when things aren’t working well

If you found this newsletter useful, will you please share it with a friend?

My plan for this Substack is to take something that I think about during Excitement Sessions LIVE or throughout my day and share it with you so that you can feel reassurance, hope and support and can make your thing a reality.

What’s something that you can’t stop thinking about? What’s keeping you from making it happen?

It took 918 days. It was grueling. There has been adversity. But it was worth it.

Here are the 3 steps from my experience that you can use to avoid being overwhelmed by the adversity you'll face so that you don't stop and successfully pursue that thing you want to see in the world.

1. I already knew this was my path a long time ago

I started thinking about going out on my own 15 years ago.

One day, I called up the college I still contract with as its play-by-play broadcaster and got an agreement to revamp their video-streaming strategy. As I started that project, I began to realize how much I enjoyed avoiding group decision-making, seeing my creative ideas become reality, and having more control of my time. It made me crave doing more on my own, but my wife and I would find an excuse or alibi as to why it wasn't the right time.

The reality is, much like was the case when we had our first child, or changed from one employer to another, or moved from one city to another -- it's never really the right time, so you might as well get started.

2. There will be your version of adversity

For me, it has been debt.

My strategy didn't include adjusting our family's lifestyle to the loss of a steady income. Admittedly, I pushed for us to do even more spending on experiences in the first year than we had done in the prior 10 years of living. I attribute that to not really living my actual path for over a decade, and as a result, I overcorrected.

While I suspect you'll have something similar, it won't be insurmountable, especially if you have reassurance, hope and support from others.

3. How you reframe your adversity will be important

Like I said, we have accumulated a lot of debt, and as I write this, we are neither out of that debt nor navigating having it easily.

However, there are many career paths - let's term them callings - that accumulate significant debt. My brother-in-law is a chiropractor, and he's made reference to the amount he pays in student loans each month. In 2023, the National Library of Medicine lists chiropractic with a combined undergraduate and graduate debt of $136,234. If I spend the equivalent on interest as I build out my thing, then I'll consider that my graduate degree.

Whether your finances, your relationships with other people, the perceptions about leaving an established professional life, etc., what matters most is how you reframe your adversity.

It is obvious to me that I am meant to work outside of traditional employment, and when the road got difficult, it has been challenging to stay the course. Reframing adversity has been key for me continuing my pursuit of what I know is my truth.

If I had, I would have went to Syracuse.

Seriously - if you ever want to be a sports broadcaster, go to Syracuse. "Everybody Up, Let's Go Orange."

But I didn't because I chose my school solely because two people I knew who were older than me said my eventual choice "was cool."

I'm not really painting a very good college brochure, am I?

Finally, when I at least transferred to the University of Oregon, it had an actual journalism program, and I chose to focus on the 'Electronic Media' path.

As an aspiring radio play-by-play voice, the emphasis wasn't necessarily as useful as I would have hoped. It was geared more for TV than radio.

What I didn't realize at the time, though, was by just being exposed to the world of TV equipped me with skills I wouldn't need for years later.

Too often, I think we worry too much about having the right experience -- actual resume experience -- when we think about making a career change, especially early in our professional lives ... in our 30s.

Here are 3 steps you can take to overcome your worry if you want to make a career shift in your 30s:

Step 1: Don't disqualify yourself from opportunities

It is more valuable to push someone else to tell you no than to say no to yourself.

A decision to not go after something that sounds interesting to you only because you don't believe you have enough experience is the only certain no that exists.

Instead, when expressing interest, focus on what you've seen and learned - whether it is on your resume or not. Insight and creativity can often provide more value to the company or client than a checklist of credentials.

Step 2: Recognized the value of your exposure, not just your experience

I have not worked a day in my life in bona fide television. Never a local news reporter nor producer.

But because I was around people who were doing it well, I was able to absorb things that they did and build a data base of knowledge.

For instance, TV news shows are built into blocks -- A block, B block, etc. I didn't need to ever use that in a professional setting until nearly 20 years after I left college when I applied that structure to a show about esports on the internet.

I would not have gotten that opportunity if I would have led with my resume, but I did succeed with it because I leveraged my exposure.

Step 3: Put yourself in rooms where the work is happening

The world of education isn't the only place to gain exposure to professional endeavors -- although everything from YouTube to the U (Miami) are wonderful ways to go about it.

Think about knocking on the door of your local art store or using a skill you have to benefit a local relator if you are interested in getting into real estate yourself.

Even just buying someone a coffee can unlock a few weeks of seeing how they got to where they are.

Offer to do something for them before asking for their help, and you'll likely get a yes if you try enough times!

Since transferring to the University of Oregon after my freshman year, I had always worked full-time at AT&T while taking a full-time class schedule. When I graduated, I was still working in the retail space, and my manager approached me about becoming an assistant manager. Not having a different plan, I said yes, and over the next few years, I went through the corporate management track.

The best thing that happened to me was my boss demoted me.

The meeting happened over three years after I had graduated from college, and as I reflect on that moment, the reality is it was the best thing that could have happened to me.

I became unstuck and realized that all I accomplished since graduation was wasting time going after things I was truly excited about.

When I was 30 years old, I went through the book What Color Is Your Parachute?, and it helped me get focused on the actual work I was meant and always wanted to do. Here are 3 ways you can feel unstuck based on what I learned through that book.

1. Write stories from your past professional experiences and find common themes

Write at least seven stories about your past working life where you remember doing things you liked.

Search your database for moments that made you smile, where you were doing tasks that were good. Make each story a page or two, and once you're done with one, read through it and highlight verbs and skills you used. Repeat until you have your seven stories, and then start extracting the words you highlighted.

What commonalities did you find, and how are they linked?

2. Compare your past experiences into a 'like' and 'disklike' list

Take the things you liked from your past experience stories and put those into a list of 'likes.'

Now, go back through your stories and pinpoint anything that made you feel ick or pain -- the things you dislike. Put those into a separate column next to your likes under the header 'dislikes.' Brainstorm the opposite of each dislike and write those in a third column across from the corresponding dislike.

What do you notice about the words in the third column compared to your 'likes' column? Anything similar? Circle or highlight those.

3. Be choosy when comparing outcomes one-on-one

Start comparing each like to one another.

Look at your first like and compare it to each other like down the list, one-by-one. Decide which of the two you like better, put a tally mark next to that word, and move to the next comparison. Repeat until you've compared every single word to one another, and then write a new list of likes in voted order -- with your most tally-marked word at the top followed by the next and so on.

Deeply think about the top words on your new list and use those to guide you into your next professional choice.

What options exist out there where you can do as much of your top choices as possible?

What's your thing you want to see in the world?

I felt like I was doing a lot of work that was good, but not great, while still having to deal with small pieces that I considered bad or unfun. Here's what happened when I really honed in on trying to use my best skills as often as possible.

1. I figured out what my best skills are

It is difficult to target work that uses your best skills as much as possible ... when you don't know your best skills.

The answer can be easy to figure out. Consider writing 5-7 stories of moments from your past professional experiences where you remember being fulfilled ... or happy ... or successful. Set a timer for 20 minutes and target no more than a page and a half or so, and as you flesh out the narratives, re-read your own story and look for action words. (Note: This is an exercise from What Color Is Your Parachute? Worth a look if you're interested in this post.)

Bold the words you find and put them in your best skills bucket. That's a good start.

2. I tried to provide a win-win solution for both me and the company

Truth be told, I didn't necessarily want to leave my company -- in fact, I still contract work with them to this day. But I knew I couldn't keep doing the exact job I was working.

I looked at all of the pieces of my job description, categorized them into great, good and bad buckets, and reworked a new version that would help me do more of the best stuff. In that scenario, I'd spend the most time using my best skills, and the company would get better outcomes because I was motivated and utilizing my best abilities for those tasks. For anything in the bad category, I pitched exploring how those could be moved into someone else's job description who had skills that complimented the work better. (Anyone love organizing historical records for me?)

Since I've already shared I didn't stay in that job, you might have already concluded that the company didn't go for my pitch, but I felt good knowing I tried to come up with an alternative solution that would benefit us both.

3. Roadmap what using your best skills outside of your current company or situation might look like

Since I now knew my favorite skills, I could approach a new reality targeting work that used those specific things ... and say no to the stuff that didn't.

Turns out, there are a lot of places that needed the things I was best at on a regular basis, and when I wasn't obligated to a specific number of hours for a full-time job, I was able to create a customized work week that allowed for those opportunities. Plus, because each opportunity was stand-alone -- one job for one company for a smaller amount of time -- I was able to negotiate how much I was paid for each individual job.

As a result, I've replaced my full-time income working 12-20 hours per week on average over the last two years ... all while using my best skills more often.

My challenge for you is to imagine what your professional life might look like if you used your best skills more often each day.

It has been 1,049 days. It has been grueling. There was adversity. But it was worth it.

Here are the 3 steps from my experience that you can use to avoid being overwhelmed by the adversity you'll face so that you don't stop and successfully pursue that thing you want to see in the world.

1. I already knew this was my path a long time ago

I started thinking about going out on my own 15 years ago.

One day, I called up the college I still contract with as its play-by-play broadcaster and got an agreement to revamp their video-streaming strategy. As I started that project, I began to realize how much I enjoyed avoiding group decision-making, seeing my creative ideas become reality, and having more control of my time. It made me crave doing more on my own, but my wife and I would find an excuse or alibi as to why it wasn't the right time.

The reality is, much like was the case when we had our first child, or changed from one employer to another, or moved from one city to another -- it's never really the right time, so you might as well get started.

2. There will be your version of adversity

For me, it has been debt.

My strategy didn't include adjusting our family's lifestyle to the loss of a steady income. Admittedly, I pushed for us to do even more spending on experiences in the first year than we had done in the prior 10 years of living. I attribute that to not really living my actual path for over a decade, and as a result, I overcorrected.

While I suspect you'll have something similar, it won't be insurmountable, especially if you have reassurance, hope and support from others.

3. How you reframe your adversity will be important

Like I said, we have accumulated a lot of debt, and as I write this, we are neither out of that debt nor navigating having it easily.

However, there are many career paths - let's term them callings - that accumulate significant debt. My brother-in-law is a chiropractor, and he's made reference to the amount he pays in student loans each month. In 2023, the National Library of Medicine lists chiropractic with a combined undergraduate and graduate debt of $136,234. If I spend the equivalent on interest as I build out my thing, then I'll consider that my graduate degree.

Whether your finances, your relationships with other people, the perceptions about leaving an established professional life, etc., what matters most is how you reframe your adversity.

It is obvious to me that I am meant to work outside of traditional employment, and when the road got difficult, it has been challenging to stay the course. Reframing adversity has been key for me continuing my pursuit of what I know is my truth.

--
🎙️What’s the thing you can’t stop thinking about? Join me for our next public Excitement Sessions LIVE

I remember a lot of late nights in the editing lab to meet deadlines. There were some fun projects, and there were some more tedious. I also recall not necessarily falling in love with the art.

But by the time I was done, I had useful knowledge and decent expertise with video editing.

My realization was I made a mistake assuming everyone else had a similar ability.

When I shared with others that I had this skill, they often shared how impressed they were that I could do that.

The more I listened to those instances, I realized that it was possible -- maybe even likely -- that I believed everyone else's abilities were the same as mine. Especially, in the example of video editing. As more people got smartphones with cameras, I felt confident that most understood video editing techniques and "everyone knew how to edit."

I couldn't have been further from the truth.

I imagine this has happened to you, too.

When you envision the possibilities of your thing that you want to see in the world, and then you see people on social media having success in that area, you might feel like they have something you don't have. Perhaps, you believe that need has been completely met and there is no space for someone new.

It's unlikely.

We all have talents that we undervalue.

There is only a small difference between the people at the top of the industry that you want to enter, or the people who post about success with their business or organization, and where you are right now. Especially when you've already had formal training or experience in that area.

The gap is likely not that big.

I remember my first day on an ESPN set.

I've been a play-by-play sports broadcaster for 25 years, but on this day, my role was talent stats and my job was to feed information to the on-air talent. The first game of the tournament ended, and as I looked around the booth, I had the realization that if the play-by-play person didn't return for whatever reason, I could put on their headset and, at worst, deliver an average broadcast. I've even heard network TV talent share the same sentiment: the difference between them and others in the industry isn't that big.

As you think about the person online or in your industry who is doing what you want to do, consider the gap between you and them might not be that large.

And if that is true, what can you do today to become someone another person will look up to someday?

Especially when you like the security of working for another person or company, going out on your own can be daunting.

That said, your current role may not be in the exact area of the company that you want. Or, perhaps, you're doing fewer tasks each day that you truly enjoy.

Regardless of why you want something else, here are 5 key steps for pitching a new role at your company.

1. Identify the unmet need or gap.

You likely already know this answer because it is what is eating at you. Each week, you're noticing something that needs to done, whether it's brand new to the company or a way to do the work differently, and you are confident you're the person who can do it.

2. Develop a clear and concise proposal.

Brainstorm a wide variety of ways that you can solve the need or gap, and then consider which of those ideas you think will provide you the most daily fulfillment while also solving the problem. Start with that idea as you develop your proposal.

3. Align your idea with company goals and values.

Look through your company's mission statement and corporate values, and see where your solutions align. Perhaps your leaders have recently launched a strategic initiative or plan, which provides a ripe opportunity to speak their language.

4. Gather supporting data and evidence.

What other companies have done something similar to what you're proposing, and what were the results? Scour your LinkedIn network or search Google News and blogs talking about the subject. A potentially positive side effect: Perhaps you'll run into someone who is offering the opportunity you're seeking!

5. Schedule a meeting with your supervisor to present your proposal.

Especially as you get set for an annual or quarterly review, be ready to have an answer for the question about your future with the company. Be specific on timelines, such as "I'd like to see us here by Q2" so that you create a sense of urgency. Consider sending a proposal preview 24-48 hours before the meeting.

Of the five steps above, where are you at in your pursuit of something more meaningful at work? What roadblocks are you running into when executing one of the steps? Consider sharing your answer in the comments or joining our next public Excitement Sessions LIVE.

This is what happened to a friend of mine. His story described when he was in middle school, and he had an idea for such a product before CamelBak existed. When he told his teacher, the feedback he got was that it was a dumb idea -- and that moment has stuck with him to this day.

The reality is no one will ever feel as strongly about your gut feeling as you will.

In fact, it is very likely that even those who truly support you will not feel as strongly about the thing you've always wanted to see in the world as you do. So, the road to making your thing a reality is already long enough. Please don't waste time with those who think it's a dumb idea.

What can you do instead?

Find spaces where you can get reassurance, hope and support. With Excitement Sessions, our goal is to believe in what you're building and, one-by-one, eliminate roadblocks that are keeping you from making your thing a reality.

Ideas are rarely perfect, and the amount you will learn once you start the process of putting it into the world will likely be enlightening. Sometimes, it may be overwhelming.

But it isn't dumb. It's far from it because it is your thing! And only you can feel that feeling with the level of intensity that you do. While you shouldn't expect others to have that same level of enthusiasm or belief that it is possible, it isn't unreasonable to expect them to not tell you that it is unrealistic or idiotic.

Go for it! Go with your gut.

There was little more I could ask from them. They both had good pay for the industry and area. I had autonomy with each. Each day, I worked on tasks I enjoyed.

But they didn't fulfill my curiosity to see what else I could do.

If you've always had something you wanted to see in the world, perhaps you've felt this way, too.

Here's what I learned leaving the best jobs I'll probably ever have

1. I got started

I realized there's never a perfect time to begin.

Whether starting while still employed, starting after saving a targeted amount or starting with others in local meet-ups, the key is to just start.

Consider reading the book "Start" by Jon Acuff

2. There aren't enough supportive voices

I know I'm on the right path, and occasionally, I meet others who encourage me.

Other times, I share what I'm working on and get a response that is far less supportive. Not everyone is comfortable with pursuing their own thing, and that's okay.

Perhaps consider spaces where you can find reassurance, hope and support.

3. I've discovered more possibilities to use my best skills than I ever thought I would

When I got started, I was already in agreement with what skills I enjoyed using the most and understood how they could help other people. (If you're not sure for yourself, please consider reading this.)

What I didn't expect was how many opportunities exist to use those skills to be valuable to others and organizations.

By telling other people and searching keywords relevant to what I do best, I've found more than I could have ever imagined.

My wife and I were a few years removed from having our first child, and despite working in likely the best radio job in the industry where I was paid well and had autonomy, I knew it wasn't exactly what I was looking for.

I felt like I was never going to find exactly what I was looking for.

I wondered if that specific job wasn't going to work, especially because it supplied so many pros for a job in the radio industry, then how was anything ever going to work.

Things started to change when I read What Color Is Your Parachute?. I had heard about the book and decided to do some Google research. When I read the subtitle, "Your guide to a lifetime of meaningful work and career success," it felt right to put in the work. My hope was I could figure out what besides play-by-play broadcasting would bring me fulfillment.

As many weekday nights as I could set aside, after working the daytime doing a transition job where I sold industrial supplies (but knew nothing about industrial supplies), I went to a McDonald's with good Wi-Fi and worked on the chapters of the book.

Working through the activities from the book, I identified moments in my professional life when I was the most fulfilled, what exact tasks I did during those times and started to compare aspects of my work one-against-one.

The outcome was certainty around the skills I enjoyed using the best and the types of work I should pursue that utilized those skills the best.

I talk with people often who feel like their is something missing from their professional life. Some know that is the case, and others elude to it through the stories they tell about what's not enjoyable or what's missing.

I believe there is a ton of power in being self-aware about the tasks you truly enjoy doing and trying with every ounce of your being to agree only to work that matches those skills.

If you're feeling stuck in your career, it was experiences like this that helped me get unstuck and start having as much happiness in my professional life as I have in my personal life.

Perhaps we can work together to help you do the same!

I felt like I was doing a lot of work that was good, but not great, while still having to deal with small pieces that I considered bad or unfun. Here's what happened when I really honed in on trying to use my best skills as often as possible.

1. I figured out what my best skills are

It is difficult to target work that uses your best skills as much as possible ... when you don't know your best skills.

The answer can be easy to figure out. Consider writing 5-7 stories of moments from your past professional experiences where you remember being fulfilled ... or happy ... or successful. Set a timer for 20 minutes and target no more than a page and a half or so, and as you flesh out the narratives, re-read your own story and look for action words. (Note: This is an exercise from What Color Is Your Parachute? Worth a look if you're interested in this post.)

Bold the words you find and put them in your best skills bucket. That's a good start.

2. I tried to provide a win-win solution for both me and the company

Truth be told, I didn't necessarily want to leave my company -- in fact, I still contract work with them to this day. But I knew I couldn't keep doing the exact job I was working.

I looked at all of the pieces of my job description, categorized them into great, good and bad buckets, and reworked a new version that would help me do more of the best stuff. In that scenario, I'd spend the most time using my best skills, and the company would get better outcomes because I was motivated and utilizing my best abilities for those tasks. For anything in the bad category, I pitched exploring how those could be moved into someone else's job description who had skills that complimented the work better. (Anyone love organizing historical records for me?)

Since I've already shared I didn't stay in that job, you might have already concluded that the company didn't go for my pitch, but I felt good knowing I tried to come up with an alternative solution that would benefit us both.

3. Roadmap what using your best skills outside of your current company or situation might look like

Since I now knew my favorite skills, I could approach a new reality targeting work that used those specific things ... and say no to the stuff that didn't.

Turns out, there are a lot of places that needed the things I was best at on a regular basis, and when I wasn't obligated to a specific number of hours for a full-time job, I was able to create a customized work week that allowed for those opportunities. Plus, because each opportunity was stand-alone -- one job for one company for a smaller amount of time -- I was able to negotiate how much I was paid for each individual job.

As a result, I've replaced my full-time income working 12-20 hours per week on average over the last two years ... all while using my best skills more often.

My challenge for you is to imagine what your professional life might look like if you used your best skills more often each day.

Here are a few reasons why:

1. Writing does not come easily to me -- or it certainly feels that way. As a long-time broadcaster, I feel more natural in front of the microphone, and even to some degree, on video. I tried to speak and use the transcription for text-based posts, but it didn't necessarily feel better or more natural.

2. I believe writing will help me have the impact I want to have on the world. I imagine many people get more value from the written word than other forms of communication, so I might as well test that hypothesis.

3. It's a challenge. While I admit that I am the first to ditch things that I'm a) not intuitively good at and b) have no interest in getting better, I do like the idea of improving when it is something that doesn't feel like pain. If I'm being honest with myself, writing doesn't feel painful; it just hasn't felt like fun either. Perhaps with some practice, it'll get better.

Over the next 30 days, I plan on writing about self-awareness, intentionality and time blocking.

I'm excited to add writing as a tool in my toolset to encourage people to go after the thing they've always wanted to see in the world.

It turns out that I'm not very good at writing. I have always been somebody who has spoken — used the written word little — in order to be able to communicate to other people.

Going further into the world of radio or other areas where communication was a key part of the work that I did, I avoided as much writing as possible. I don't even like email. Email is tough for me … because it's slow … and it doesn't adequately come across the way that I want — and I believe this, because I've gotten that feedback.

Feedback is good to receive. And if you can, avoid going to the negative side of feedback, and try to getting into the world of benefit of the doubt. It is helpful if you can kind of have an introspective reaction to feedback. Not everything somebody says about you, especially things that people say about you indirectly, is likely true. But when you get feedback from somebody, especially if you solicit that feedback, there's got to be an element of it that is fairly accurate.

So try to use the benefit of the doubt to listen and understand what could be true. And if it is even 50% true, 25% true, how can that change the way that you approach something?

I had somebody who I reached out to cold via email when I was trying to make a career change, and I asked to learn a little bit about the work that they did. They agreed. Thankfully, I showed up and talked to them for a good amount of time. And at the very tail end of the conversation that person said, “I'm really happy that you showed up today because you're so much better in person than you are in email.”

Recently, my friend, Josh*, who I really admire and does great work, told me that I write emails way too formally. I even write text messages way too formally — it's true. And I'm not surprised because the number one skill that I possess is talking, and so it's okay to know that my ability to talk does not translate into the written word.

It's part of the reason that I transcribe all of the writing that you find on this Substack because, honestly, I'm much better in person than I am in email.

*Josh runs Intelligame, which connects video games to the real world where he has deep, mindful conversations about the crossover between those two.

I did something a while ago called What Color Is Your Parachute? It's a book that was written by Richard Nelson Bolles.

It was a really fun experience because, when I did that book, it helped me understand the value of self awareness and being certain of the things that you're best at *that also* provide value to someone you're doing something for — usually some sort of employment or a project.

It has you compare your likes head to head, meaning you whittle the whole thing down from the many things that you truly enjoy doing, and pit them against one another. So you can figure out, of all of those things that you enjoy doing, which do you like doing *the most* — and that was super valuable for me.

In that process, there were a whole bunch of job titles or career fields that this book has you look into, not only through yourself, but by also asking people you know what things they think you'd be good at. I still have that list, and I bring it up today because part of what made me spark the idea of starting a Substack and getting the help other people win mantra out (into the world) was because of a mastermind group that I'm part of through a workshopper certification I hold.

(As a workshopper, I can help people who are sick of endless meetings or feeling stuck get out of that situation by facilitating workshops that create a clear way forward that is very understandable and accomplishable.)

In that mastermind, a lot of folks have asked me if I had ever considered being a motivational speaker. And the reality is that I have. Not only because it's fun to perform on a stage or talk to a microphone and be in front of a group of people, but also because I believe self awareness is such a key to having long-term success. And I really do enjoy motivating people, which happens to be my eighth favorite skill — that came from What Color Is Your Parachute?

So, this Substack is also part of being able to continue to help people believe in the things that they are hoping to accomplish with their lives - and know that it is possible!

I had this vision for something called “The Pot.”

It made me think of Facebook friends because I've been on that platform since it showed up. In fact, I've been on that platform since it was available only to colleges.

So it's been a while.

The reality is over the time of being on Facebook, there has been X amount of friends that I've met and added to my friends list that made me wonder — as it became more difficult to find the value that Facebook provides long term — I wondered if there was a way to use some of the inherent wonderfulness of something like this, where you can keep people connected over the course of decades, and then be able to shift that into something almost new or even more valuable.

And so I had this idea for something called “The Pot.” When I got back from a really fun 30th birthday trip, where we did eight ballparks in nine days (or seven ballparks in eight days), I had a whole bunch of people ask me about that trip, saying “I've always wanted to do something like that, but I just don't know how.”

So I figure that that is the case with a lot of people; that they have this thing that they want to do, but they're not quite sure how or if they'll ever actually accomplish it.

And everybody is likely in that boat.

If that's the case, and you have so many people on this platform like Facebook — I think I'm connected over 500 people — then how can you use that power for something that solves this problem of: can I ever actually take this trip that I want to?

The pot was having everybody contribute a small amount that they felt comfortable submitting. Could be $1. Could be $10. Then every year, based on the projections, we could grant one wish for someone in that group.

The concept behind this Substack is very similar. We can have an opportunity to keep people excited about something that they're working on, but also eliminate some real roadblocks that exist, like funding.

So maybe “The Pot” is still a very good idea. But this (Substack) could also be another one.

People want to talk about themselves. It's really fun because that's an interview conclusion that I learned being in the broadcast media. But the reality is when people have something that is successful or something that they feel passionately about, or something that has received recognition that they're also proud of, people are excited to share that knowledge with other people.

So having something like an excitement session or blog post that talks about the idea of helping other people win is really leaning into this idea that if you ask somebody for knowledge, they're likely eager or willing to talk to you about it.

The protective nature of intellectual property is real. And somebody's not going to open up their blueprints to show you how they made an award winning design, necessarily. Maybe they will. But what they might do is say this is something that was really impactful to me when I started and allowed me to make this … or helped facilitate me making this, and if I pass that same information on to you, maybe you'll be successful.

I tend to buy in more to the idea that people are more excited about other people doing something similar to them than necessarily the opposite.

So, if I start a morning radio show that plays games, and somebody else starts a morning radio show that plays games, we're likely going to normalize or amplify the genre to the point where maybe it will hold more clout when it comes to people thinking that is real.

One of the biggest mistakes that I made was — somebody else in the media business told me in the mid 2000s, if not slightly earlier, closer to the change to the new millennium — that podcasts were going to be just as legitimate as radio someday. And I scoffed at that.

Maybe the discussion was more around blogs versus newspaper, but it was the same kind of concept is something that was new at the time, eventually becoming as legitimate if not more accepted than the thing that had been around for decades. I was skeptical, and it turns out I was wrong.

Being able to appreciate anything, even if it feels like competition that furthers the purpose of the thing that you want to put out there probably is still pretty valuable.

There are so many things that should be in this world, but they lack initial funding to get off the ground. And I've learned firsthand — and I'm not the only person who has — that when you're trying to do something like go out on your own and create something that you've always wanted to create, financial limitations make it extremely difficult. And so a lot of times people run into situations where they can't leave their job because they need the financial stability. But they then have to put so much extra time into something that they're not very passionate to do.

When you have something like what we're making with Help Other People Win, we can literally do that through financial resources, because — let's say we grow this thing to 1000 subscribers, okay? So you have 500 more than we were initially looking for, and 500 times 20 is roughly $10,000 a month, where we would be able to provide four $2,500 scholarships to people who need some extra cash to buy capital for something that they want to, or for people to travel to the thing where they're going to meet with a person that will ultimately make them successful.

There's been a lot of those stories that I've heard over the last decade where “I went to so and so's office; I went to the place where so and so works, and that gave me a chance to ask them a question that I've always wanted to ask or be available to work for them for a month,” right? If you had $2,500 that would get you 10 hotel nights, somewhere where you could spend a week plus with somebody or you could get a $500 airline ticket and what — 10 nights worth of hotel rooms. Is that right? 200 times 10 is 2200 times. See my math sucks, but that can be hugely impactful, right?

Because even one of my projects - GMS - I know that if we were wanting to do a growth campaign, if we were to go to something, we would have a lot of success with that because as the person who started that thing, primarily with my brother in law, I've always been very successful in person. So that would be a game changer for that if we're trying to solve a growth problem.

So what could be if we decided to go through with this and make this a thing that reaches — let's just call it four digits worth of people. 500 Subs is my baseline number. And once we get 500 people, anything over that into the 1000s is going to make this thing a bigger deal, right?

Getting people fired up about what could be. Could we offer a question queue? Could we offer - I wrote down RSVP tokens where the longer you've been subscribed, or whatever the case may be, could you use those tokens to be able to participate in more things first. Could we…

• Take the excess amount and create a bank to provide people

• Could we give a thank you gift?

• Could we send gift cards out to say thank you for contributing.

I don't even think I wrote anything about the idea of being able to you know do more with it.

The dreaming nature of this conversation could keep this from being a cesspool of negativity — and it's not an escapism. It's more trying to have voices that help you believe that it's possible. There seems to be enough potential conversation that you're not going to be able to pull this thing off. So why not have a space where you can hear that you're capable. And you just got to keep working at it. And not everyone will succeed. I get that but a lot of times, having belief in somebody can make a big difference. I've seen that in sports. Other places.

What's an excitement session? An excitement session is a place where people can come together that is very similar to a coaching call, but it's not designed to be expert down to non-expert.

Instead, the format of excitement sessions is to bring people together with that same kind of momentum because you're gathering in the space and you're all trying to be successful at something. And we can spend the amount of time that we have looking into a topic.

In the world of marketing on YouTube, there's a person who I've watched him Devin Nash, and Devin takes out the notepad and shows key points and takeaways from the conversation real time, and I really like that because the uncovering of what we're trying to get answers to is happening in real time; although Devin's coming from a place of more expertise than I am necessarily.

But if someone's limitation, is rooted in a hypothesis — “Well, I want to start a cooking blog. But there's so many cooking blogs that are out there.” — Then we can work on trying to disprove that theory by showing what is unique about that person, and what their specific type of cooking blog could provide an audience, right? But we could look up, you know, Google searches and look for proof of concept and all these other things that people need. And we could do that, you know, multiple times per week and from my side, right now, that would be a trade of time for money, but it's also super scalable.

So, as we get more than 1000 people; we get more than 10,000 people. I'm going to be able to bring in other folks who have the skills to facilitate these kind of conversations and help search for the answers and give that power of having a team with you, a group with you.

The RSVP tokens that we talked about could be used to hold a spot for your question to get asked in the next excitement session. So yeah, it's really helpful to have a team of people behind you because you don't feel alone, even though everybody is likely pursuing their own thing; although, we have a group subscription to where you could have multiple people from a team also participate as well.