Never Normal

In this episode we discuss:

• How do you survive during an unpaid sabbatical?
• The psychological stress of not having a salary
• What Vikram learned about psychology from Elon Musk at University
• The 2,000 year old ritual that Tim Ferriss still practices to prepare for adversity 
• If you want to start something new, should you burn your bridges or leave yourself an escape?
• Overcoming the limiting belief that you are your job
• The massive lie hidden in our education and employment systems
• The creative approach to work that unites the greatest thinkers from Richard Feynman to Ernest Hemingway, David Ogilvy, and Richard Branson
• Tactics for tapping into your subconscious mind to overcome creative blocks
• Dealing with the mental struggle of asking your first clients for money
• Why Vikram (an economist) and his brother Mrinal (a designer and developer) started teaching traditional Indian dance classes
• The common denominator that determines your success in any business or job
• Should you "scratch your own itch" when starting a business?
• How to deal with starting a business and having zero customers show up
• The Magic of the Internet, Micro-niches, and following your own passion
• How the internet is "undoing the industrial revolution" for creators
• Going in to "Fear Mode"
• Balancing "scale of impact" vs "direct impact"
• What if you could keep your job and pursue your passion?
   

Links to Resources and Books Mentioned:

• Vikram on Twitter (https://twitter.com/vsethco)
• Bounce Bhangra Website (https://bouncebhangra.com/)
• Bounce Bhangra on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/bouncebhangra/)
• Tim  Ferriss on Practicing Poverty (https://tim.blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/137-tim-ferriss-how-to-practice-poverty-and-reduce-fear.pdf)
• Kevin Kelly's essay "1,000 True Fans" (https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/)

Jonathan Hillis is the founder of Creator Cabins. It began as a single cabin in the Texas Hill Country, a place for creators to gather together to work on exciting projects 'IRL'. They've since launched a token and formed the Cabin DAO and now they're expanding into a decentralized city.  

Prior to founding $CABIN, Jon was Director of Product, Shoppers, and Marketplace at Instacart, where during the pandemic, he grew their workforce of shoppers 5x.

Jon also recently published an excellent essay on the history of centralization and decentralization cycles in Western Civilization.

We cover all of that and more in this episode. Enjoy!

In this episode we discuss:

• Decentralization and centralization cycles throughout history
• Are we headed for collapse? Civil war? What about America vs China?
• What role will decentralized cities play in the future
• Creating a playbook for future decentralized cities / nodes 
• Opportunities for blockchain / innovation in government
• Why are all the "internet intellectuals" moving to Austin, Texas?
• How the gig economy helped pave the way for Web3
• Is remote work a disadvantage for young people starting out in their careers?
• What people and companies get wrong about 'hybrid' (office/remote) work
• Why Jon left Instacart (after growing their gig work force 5x)
• Promises and perils of working in the gig economy
• Is it fair to criticize Web3 for not living up to it's decentralization ideals?
• How to make it as a creator - what are the most relevant skillsets / experience to have today?
• Six ways to make $100,000 as a creator on the internet these days
• Overcoming the "ickyness" of sharing your life and work on social media
• How to succeed by finding community / "your corner of the internet"

Links:

• Jon's essay: A brief history of decentralized cities and centralized states (https://creators.mirror.xyz/s9h4_PQAcJyqgC0rnsWjw9geU2wJs-IBPXIzHhgi-P8)
• Jon's essay: Six economies of online creators (https://www.meatspacealgorithms.com/six-economies/)
• Clay Christensen's theory of Disruptive Innovation (https://hbr.org/1995/01/disruptive-technologies-catching-the-wave)
• The Nature of the Firm by R. H. Coase (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0335.1937.tb00002.x)
• My first impressions of web3 by Moxie Marlinspike (https://moxie.org/2022/01/07/web3-first-impressions.html)

In this episode we talk about:

• “The Great Resignation” happening now. Why are workers quitting jobs?
• What is a sabbatical?
• What forced Vikram to re-evaluate his life and confront his own mortality
• How do you arrange a sabbatical with your boss?
• The two things you need to do before you can ask for extended time off
• “Hunting like a lion” at work
• Managing your schedule and your energy to do your best creative work
• How to play to your strengths and gain leverage in negotiations at work
• So you’ve arranged a year off… now what? How should you use that time?
• A fateful first stop in Dubai, leaning in to serendipity and where it leads
• What a 10 day Vipassana silent meditation retreat teaches you
• How to get out of your head and back into your body
• Eastern vs Western views of time. “Transcend and include”
• Zooming out to see the “upward Spiral Graph”
• What is Hindu philosophy, once you strip away all the mythology?
• Mysticism and the power of direct experience
• Consensus mechanisms and why crypto gives Vikram hope for humanity

Links to Resources and Other Books Mentioned:

• Vikram on Twitter
• Bounce Bhangra Website
• Bounce Bhangra on Instagram
   
• Confessions of an Economic Hitman
• Vipassana
• Ido Portal
• Wim Hof
• Mammalian Dive Reflex

Justin Gary is an award-winning game designer and entrepreneur.

He started his career in gaming at the age of seventeen when he won the Magic: The Gathering US National Championships. Justin then escaped from NYU Law School to pursue his dream of becoming a professional game designer.

He's since made games for global brands including Marvel, DC, World of Warcraft, and Bakugan. In 2010, Justin founded his own publishing company, Stone Blade Entertainment and released the hit deck-building game, Ascension. 

 Justin has taught creativity principles at the Wharton School of Business and to companies including Twitter, Zillow, and Google. Earlier this year, Justin and I launched Quality Questions (https://qualityquestions.co/), where we collect and send questions that help you apply the key lessons from self improvement books and lectures to your own life. 

Justin's latest project is the Level Up habit journal (https://justin-gary.lpages.co/level-up-habit-journal/), 

In this episode we talk about:

• Running a creative company remote vs in office 
• Learning to prototype games as a fully remote team
• The two weeks that changed everything ("It was a shock to us. Why weren't we doing this before!?")
• How not being allowed to come to the office turned into a new marketing strategy for Justin's company
•  The "kick in the ass" that finally prompted Justin to move out of his apartment
• "Fear setting" - What's the worst that could happen when you move out to travel?
• "The opportunity is never going to be better than now..."
• The mindset shift Justin had to make to become a digital nomad
• Being conscious of when your assumptions no longer hold
• Optimizing for "being open to what presents itself" and "Get what's good where you are"
• What was harder about being a digital nomad than Justin expected
• Nightmare in Costa Rica
• "Discomfort is the price of admission"
• How to balance the trade off between comfort, adventure, and productivity
• How things change once you've been a digital nomad for years
• How to plan travel when you have unlimited options
• Building travel around your bucketlist 
• The "positive pressure" effect of only being in a place for a short time
• The "surprising best part, by far, of being a digital nomad" for Justin
• What Justin would do differently if he started again
• When you should be willing to spend instead of saving money
• Preserving your morning routine as a digital nomad

Books and Products Mentioned:

• The LevelUp Habit Journal (https://justin-gary.lpages.co/level-up-habit-journal/)
• SolForge Fusion (https://www.stoneblade.com/solforge)
• Ascension Tactics (https://www.stoneblade.com/tactics)
• Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer

Follow Justin:

• JustinGary.com - Justin’s main website
• Think Like A Game Designer - Justin’s book, course, and podcast on Game Design
• @Justin_Gary on Twitter

Kevin Maguire writes "The New Fatherhood" a weekly newsletter dedicated to "Helping dads be better dads."

Kevin is also a former Google employee and the founder of QuickHatch (https://quickhatch.xyz/) where he uses Design Sprint thinking to help bold companies solve complex problems in record time.

In this episode we discuss:

• The three phases of scarcity that we experience throughout our lives
• What's missing from the existing advice for dads that prompted Kevin to start The New Fatherhood
• Writing a book one week at a time
• Putting the "dominoes" in the right order for your business to grow and succeed
• Struggling with screen time as a parent
• The training we get for becoming dads. What advice do new dads need to hear?
• Fatherhood lessons from Bandit the Dog and setting the bar higher for dads
• That hardest thing for me about being a parent
• Why did Kevin leave Google, one of the best companies in the world to work for?
• Moving away from San Francisco and the USA to optimize for family life
• Advantages of living in Barcelona and attitudes towards children in Spain
• There's more to life than "What's your name, what do you do?"
• The power of vulnerability, especially for men
• Should we encourage kids to play video games?
• How to approach choosing where to live with a family

Links:

• The New Fatherhood on Substack (TheNewFatherhood.org)
• The New Fatherhood on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/newfatherhood/)
• Selected issues from the New Fatherhood
  • How to choose where to live (https://www.thenewfatherhood.org/p/how-to-choose-where-to-live)
  • You are not your job (https://www.thenewfatherhood.org/p/you-are-not-your-job)
• Brene Brown on the Power of Vulnerability (https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability/transcript?language=en)
• David Brooks' book, The Second Mountain (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MC94WDB/)

In this episode we discuss:

• What is the Pathless Path?
• Why Paul left his dream job
• A letter Paul wrote to himself
• How do you get started on the Pathless Path?
• What quitting your job teaches you about yourself
• If there's no path, how do you know if you’re on the right track?
• Dealing with uncertainty
• What's next for Paul

Further Reading:

• Nat Eliason on "Reclaiming the Joy of Work" (https://www.nateliason.com/medley/283)
• What Ben Hunt calls "Industrially Necessary Work" (https://think-boundless.com/ben-hunt/)
• Andrew Taggert's "The Way Of Loss And The Way Of Wonderment" (https://andrewjtaggart.com/2019/09/12/coming-to-the-other-side-of-total-work-the-way-of-loss-and-the-way-of-wonderment/)

More from Paul:

• Paul's website Boundless https://think-boundless.com/
• Paul's podcast, Reimagine Work https://think-boundless.com/podcast/
• Paul's substack newsletter Boundless https://think-boundless.com/boundless-newsletter/
• And on Twitter: https://twitter.com/p_millerd 

In this episode we discuss:

• How Tom got started freelancing
• Landing the first client
• Do you need to be able to "sell yourself" to make it as a freelancer?
• Getting out of the "feast/famine" cycle that traps many freelancers
• What are the biggest mistakes that most people make when first starting out as freelancers?
• What would Tom do if he was starting over again today?
• Should you use marketplaces/platforms like UpWork to sell your services as a freelancer?
• Is it important to choose a niche? 
• Where Tom gets virtually all of his new leads from
• The advantages of "working in public"
• Finding success on Twitter
• Tom's viral Twitter thread on pricing freelance projects ( https://twitter.com/tom_hirst/status/1277933730078785537
• How to create additional sources of income as a freelancer (besides client work)
• Translating freelance expertise into creating and selling content online
• Tom's new agency, Run the Show (https://twitter.com/rtsagency) that specializes in Headless Wordpress
• What is "Headless Wordpress" and why would someone use it?

You can find links to all of the resources we discussed and more on Tom's website here: https://www.tomhirst.com/links/

In this episode we talk about:

• The difference between being a "digital nomad" versus actually settling into a new home in a foreign land
• What Serenity's life is like as a kid growing up in the Canary Islands
• Why Serenity started blogging about her adventures around Gran Canaria
• Why Shane (and Serenity's mom) want their kids to have the experience of growing up outside the United States

Links:

• Serenity's Blog: Traveling with Serenity (https://travelingwithserenity.com/)

Amanda Goetz is the founder of House of Wise, a luxury CBD brand for women. She's also the part-time Chief Marketing Officer for Teal. And she has a popular account with a very engaged following on Twitter. On top of all that, Amanda is a single mom with three young kids. 

In this episode we discuss:

• How Amanda launched House of Wise while she was still VP of Marketing at The Knot Worldwide 
• Building something new versus managing what you've already built
• "You have more options than you realize" 
• The importance of empathy when raising capital from investors for a start-up while still working a full-time job 
• The mission behind House of Wise and how it's creating new paths for women to build wealth
•  Overcoming stigmas around self-care, CBD, and affiliate marketing
• Why it's important to build a business in a space that you care deeply about 
• Amanda's journey from not using cannabis to starting her own CBD brand 
• Why Amanda started a business at a time when most people would be looking for financial stability and job security
• Amanda's "shadow work" that led her to freedom and rediscovering her true self
• Making space in your life and to follow your intuition and explore new ideas 
• How "childhood trauma" shapes our adult decisions
• How Amanda landed a "fractional executive" role at Teal
• The benefits of building a personal brand
• How Amanda changed her mind about who can succeed on Twitter

Links:

• Amanda on Twitter
• House of Wise
• Teal
• "What Do You Do with an Idea" (book)
• Lasting (App)
• Become a Wise Woman

In this episode we discuss:

• What pushed each of us to become digital nomads
• What's holding most people back from going nomadic?
• Will there be a new wave of nomads post-COVID?
• What people struggle with once they go nomadic
• Alex's experience traveling abroad during the pandemic
• How our travel styles change after years of being digital nomads
• Traveling to countries where you don't know anyone and dealing with loneliness on the road
• Alex's "Pop-Up Coliving" experiment in Medellin, Colombia
• How to meet people and make lasting connections at conferences
• The origins of Airbnb and how Alex got started building coliving communities
• How to meet more people and make friends while coworking
•  Staying productive with the pomodoro technnique
• Setting boundaries and meeting friends during the pandemic
• Keep communities going when everyone is stuck at home

Links to People, Articles, and Books Mentioned in this Episode:

• Alex on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexsalinsky/)
• Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H6JBFOS/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1)
• Christine McDannell  - Coliving Consultant (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinemcdannell)
• How to Meet People While You Travel and Avoid Becoming a Lonely Digital Nomad (https://nevilleamehra.com/digital-nomad-guide/how-to-avoid-becoming-a-lonely-digital-nomad/)
•  

In this episode we discuss:

• Reviewing 2020 and setting goals for 2021
• What do you do with goals you set for 2020 but couldn't accomplish?
• How Justin conducts past year reviews (and why it takes him a lot less time than it used to)
• "Aggressive but achievable" goals
• What it means and what to do if you have a goal that just doesn't get done
• Why you should beware of chasing "Laser pointer goals"
• How to make difficult things like going to the gym more fun. 
• The lesson from reading Neil Strauss's interviews with hundreds of rock stars and other celebrities, and how it changes the goals you should set. 
• “Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.” — Zen Kōan
• Unveiling your next goal or the next "layer of your karma"
• Combatting "shiny object syndrome"
• Justin's superpower "Rule of 3" for goal setting 
• My "master goal" that makes all of my other goals possible
• How to build an audience. 
• My goals for 2021 - Creating value for others and creating consistently
• How to use Leading indicators instead of Lagging indicators when setting goals
• Replacing SMART goals with a PACT
• Designing your ideal day
• How to actually get the benefit from self improvement books and lectures
• A Great Question Can Change Your Life - Get One in Your Inbox Every Day
• Quality Questions (https://qualityquestions.co/)
• Closing the year in gratitude

Links to People, Articles, and Books Mentioned in this Episode:

• Tim Ferriss - Forget New Year's Resolutions and Conduct a 'Past Year Review' Instead (https://tim.blog/2018/12/28/past-year-review/)
• Everyone Loves you When You're Dead (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007MAU4SO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1)
• Chris Bailey (https://alifeofproductivity.com/)
• Billy Broas (https://www.billybroas.com/)
• James Clear's 3-2-1 Newsletter (https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1)
• SMART goals are not so smart: make a PACT instead by Anne-Laure Le Cunff, Ness Labs (https://nesslabs.com/smart-goals-pact)
• Quality Questions (https://qualityquestions.co/)

Jonathan Stark is a former software developer who is on a mission to rid the world of hourly billing. He is the author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts, the host of Ditching Hourly, and he writes a daily newsletter on pricing for independent professionals.

In this episode we discuss:

• How Jonathan Stark went from working a typical job to becoming coach for independent software developers
• Why is hourly billing so bad?
• The problem with growing your business by hiring more people
• What are the alternatives to billing by the hour?
• How else can you price project based work?
• What is value based pricing?
• How you should create and structure your proposals to maximize your income AND the client's happiness
• How to deal with (inevitable) scope creep on a fixed price project
• Avoiding adversarial client relationships by aligning your incentives with your clients
• How many options should you offer in a proposal and why?
• How can you figure out how valuable the work is to the client
• The importance of uncovering an actual business outcome
• The exact questions to ask a prospective client before giving a price or writing a proposal
• How to get a prospective client to sell themselves on working with you
• The important question that most people are too afraid (or too shy) to ask
• You have more options than you realize!

Links:

• Jonathan's free Value Pricing Bootcamp (start here)
• Lots more free resources on Jonathan's website
• Alan Weiss  who helped inspire the "Why conversation"

In this episode we discuss:

• How Francis manages to hike through snow without a warm jacket (or underwear)
• Practicing discomfort and gratitude
• The two traits Francis learned from spending five and a half years in Africa and traveling to all 54 African countries
• Falling in love and getting married in Africa
• The benefits of growing up with exposure to multiple cultures
• Collecting "cultural souvenirs" as we travel
• Why the idea of "cultural appropriation" makes no sense
• How the weather changes culture from Africa to Europe to SE Asia
• What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us
• The role of history in American, European, and African cultures
• How the Moors shaped modern Spain
• Slowing down in Spain and reevaluating what's important in life
• Francis provocative writing style and why it's so hard to write a book about Africa
• Reverse culture shock on returning to America after a long time away
• The East Coast mentality and "default question"
• What the rest of the world thinks about Americans that we don't realize
• The three areas where America is hands down the greatest country in the world
• Where Francis plans to go next and making the most of life before we move on
• What it means to "Hike your own hike"

Links:

• Francis' Website (https://francistapon.com/)
• Francis' First Book Hike Your Own Hike: 7 Life Lessons from Backpacking Across America (https://francistapon.com/Books/Hike-Your-Own-Hike/)
• Francis' Second Book The Hidden Europe: What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us (https://francistapon.com/Books/The-Hidden-Europe/)
• Francis' Patreon Account (https://www.patreon.com/ftapon) - Get access to "The Unseen Africa" book as Francis writes it 
• Francis' TEDx Talk "How and why travel transforms you" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2Bd8pNYH8A)
• Francis' TEDx Talk "Bring Out Your Inner Black Sheep" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVfADBIsgB8)
• Francis' TEDx Talk "7 surprising lessons from picking up 3,000 African Hitchhikers" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WxfRLByD60)
• The Jacks R Better sleeping bag that Francis uses and recommends:  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CfBrJX5zoU)
• Francis' gear list from hiking the Continental Divide Trail (https://francistapon.com/Travels/Continental-Divide-Trail/CDT-Gear-List)
• The Time Paradox book by Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd (https://www.amazon.com/Time-Paradox-Psychology-That-Change/dp/1416541993)

In This Episode We Talk About:

• The best way to get started making money online
• The mistake we both made when we started out and what we recommend doing instead
• How to build a "bridge" from traditional 9-to-5 work to working online
• How to approach freelancing and whether or not you should be willing to "sell your hours"
• The 6 levels and 19 types of online businesses according to Niall's framework
• Why online contests aren't a good way to get started for most people
• How to become a famous YouTuber or Blogger, even if you're starting from zero
• What you should do before buying an expensive online course (and how to get three top-rated online courses for $30 - $40 total)
• What you're really paying for when you enroll in a premium online course
• What Niall would do differently if he were to create another course
• Getting feedback on your first attempts (avoiding the indifference of the internet)
• What to look for in a course about making money online
• How to find a great community of like-minded online entrepreneurs, creators, YouTubers, etc.

Links:

• Niall's website - eBiz Facts (http://ebizfacts.com/)
• Niall's newsletter - eBiz Facts Weekly (https://ebizfacts.com/subscribe/)
• Niall's framework for thinking about online businesses (https://ebizfacts.com/start-earning-online/types-of-online-business/)
• Sean Ogle - Location Rebel  (https://www.locationrebel.com/)
• Jack Butcher (https://twitter.com/jackbutcher) / Visualize Value (https://www.visualizevalue.com/)
• Nathan Barry's Article on the "Ladders of Wealth" (https://nathanbarry.com/wealth-creation/)
• David Perrell (https://www.perell.com/)
• Mr. Beast on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/MrBeast6000)
• Udemy online courses (https://www.udemy.com/)
• Seth Godin's Akimbo Workshops (https://www.akimbo.com/workshops)
• Indie Hackers (https://www.indiehackers.com/start)
• Product Hunt (https://www.producthunt.com/)

After recording this episode I did a little digging for the sake of nostalgia and found the old "plant growing" game I mentioned to Niall. It's called "Lunar Greenhouse" and it was released for the Apple II. You can find a video of the game being played on YouTube.

In This Episode We Talk About:

• After traveling to 55 countries, where is Niall considering making his "homebase"
• Why Niall chose to travel around the world for 44 months without flying
• Writing a book while crossing the Pacific Ocean on a cargo ship from Japan to Peru
• The teenage dream that led Niall from Ireland to living in New Orleans
• Why Niall eventually left that life behind and gave up a U.S. green card
• Niall's fallback plan in case his digital nomad dreams didn't work out
• The book that changed Niall's life and sent him on the path to building his business
• The best ways to get started making money online
• How Niall finally "cracked the code" to making more money from his blog
• How much money Niall has earned and spent living as a digital nomad and making money online since January 2011
• "New Level, New Devil" and Niall's grand vision for eBizFacts
   

Links:

eBizFacts - Niall's excellent website full of resources and unbiased advice about making money online (https://ebizfacts.com/)

eBizFacts Newsletter - All the best information, links, tools, and more that Niall finds each week (https://ebizfacts.com/subscribe/)

The Cargo Ship Diaries - Niall's book about circling the globe in 44 months without flying (https://www.amazon.com/Cargo-Ship-Diaries-countries-flights-ebook/dp/B00JDNAQ36)

In this episode we talk about:

• What is graphic recording
• How Verity got her first gigs as a graphic recorder after studying textile design and working in sales for 20 years
• Blogging from an iPod touch in Argentina and how Verity rediscovered and reignited her creativity in South America
• The benefits of solo travel with no set itinerary 
• How to build your portfolio before anyone is willing to hire you
• The power of constraints - "You become more creative the more limited your resources are"
• How Verity adapted to working during the COVID-19 pandemic by teaching her skills to peers in her professional community
• How Verity got over 100 people to express interest in her Masterclass in less than 36 hours

Connect with Verity:

• Verity's Website (https://www.thinkdoodly.com/)
• @Think_Doodly on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/think_doodly/)
• @Verity_Ink on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/verity_ink/)
   

Other Links / Tools Mentioned in the Episode:

• Sketch Note Army on Twitter (https://twitter.com/sketchnotearmy)
• Mosabi (https://mosabi.co/)
• Gumroad (https://gumroad.com/)
• Steve Jobs Stanford Address ("Joining Up the Dots") (https://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die)
• Nine Coliving in Tenerife (https://www.ninecoliving.com/)
• Nomad City Conference (now RePeople) (https://www.repeople.co/en/conference/)

In this episode we talk about:

• Why Taren left his original career as an investment advisor
•  How trying to "beef up his resume" while applying for (and getting rejected from) MBA programs started Taren on the path to social media success
• Why Taren doesn't advise people to "follow their passion" and what he did (and recommends doing) instead
• Our shared belief that traditional resumes are obsolete, and how to promote your skills instead
• Fighting back against corporate office culture ("well, that's how we've always done it here")
• Sages, sign posts, and strugglers  -- how to deal with "imposter syndrome" and give advice to others, even if you're not a credentialed expert (and why credentials might not matter)
• How long it took Taren from starting to post videos on YouTube until it became a business
• How to know whether you should "burn your boats" and go all-in or play it safe and "don't quit your day job" 
• How Taren used Kickstarter to raise $45,000 and how he tests ideas before he starts projects 
• The first time Taren got recognized by a fan in public 
• How often you should post videos on YouTube  for best results
• The difference between playing with your own money vs. someone else's money and the advantages of bootstrapping vs taking money from investors
• *** The exact step-by-step process that Taren uses to figure out what to talk about, how to get views on his video, and grow his audience on YouTube (and his website)  ***

Follow Taren:

• Triathlon Taren on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1AKDrz2GvLxD29W9tow66g)
• Taren's Website (https://triathlontaren.com/)
• Triathlon Taren Podcast (https://triathlontarenpodcast.libsyn.com/)

Other Links / Tools Mentioned in the Episode:

• SEMRush (https://www.semrush.com/)
• Ahrefs (https://ahrefs.com/)

In this episode we talk about:

• How Anna went from growing up in the poorest country in Europe, having "never seen a lawn mower or a laptop" in her life, to becoming the successful online entrepreneur based in Australia that she is today.
• What it was like going to high school in rural Virginia for one year as a foreign exchange student
• Anna's experience moving to Malaysia for her first job straight out of university.
• How breaking up with her boyfriend started Anna on the journey to finding her passion and starting a business around it
• The 99 day challenge Anna assigned herself and how it changed her life forever
• Why women pay Anna to help them with their love life
• The simple, but effective marketing "funnel" Anna uses to get new coaching clients
• How Anna deals with her "haters" online

Anna's Work:

• Claimed Webinar - Start here to discover Anna's work
• Anna's writing on Medium -  (including her "99 Days of Wander" series that started it all)
• Claimed Podcast (formerly Girlskill) - Anna's bi-weekly podcast that "provides women inspiration, tools and resources to embrace their wild, feminine nature so they can attract and keep a masculine man."
• ManInside show - Anna's Previous (Now Retired) Podcast. You can also read about why she stopped that show and the lessons she learned here.

Additional Links:

• 1000 True Fans Essay by Kevin Kelly
• Tiny Little Businesses by Andre Chaperon
• David Deida -  Author of The Way of the Superior Man, the book that popularized the concept of polarity in relationships (you can read/listen to a free chapter here)
• AIESEC - Student Leadership Organization
• Mindvalley

In this episode we talk about:

• How Valerie went from being an adult who had never set foot on a plane or ship to visiting all 50 states, going to dozens of countries, and becoming a travel writer.
• Some surprising benefits of cruising and Valerie's favorite cruise routes and ports 
• Valerie's quest to visit 100 National Park sites in honor of the centennial anniversary of the NPS
• Tips for making the most of any trip to a National Park
• How Valerie got her first job in the cruise industry, even though she had never been on a cruise or even seen a cruise ship in person 
•  What it's like to live and work aboard a cruise ship
• How to get a "dream job" working for a company like National Geographic 

Books Mentioned:

• Valerie's Sea More book series
• Cruise Confidential by Brian David Bruns (the infamous American waiter) 
• Forever Nomad by Tynan (who writes on cruises)

Links:

• Valerie's Travel Blog - The Road Lots Traveled
• @valeriedperry on Instagram
• Find a National Park near you

Justin Gary is an award-winning game designer, author, and speaker. He started his career in gaming at the age of seventeen when he won the Magic: The Gathering US National Championships. He went on to play Magic professionally for several years, winning a Grand Prix, Pro Tour, and World Championship along the way.

Justin dropped out of NYU Law School to pursue an opportunity as a game designer. He went on to lead-design the DC Comics: Infinite Crisis set and create the World of Warcraft Miniatures Game. Justin left his job as a game designer to start his own company.

In 2010, he created the smash hit deck-building game Ascension. Justin’s latest project, Ascension Tactics just raised nearly half a million dollars of pre-orders on kickstarter, more than triple the original goal. 

In this episode we talk about:

• What Justin learned from playing Magic professionally and the biggest distinction between those who succeeded as professional gamers and those who didn't (9:40)
• How Justin found the courage to quit in the middle of law school and pursue his passion instead (19:40)
• How you can tell if you are on the right path in your own life, or just following someone else’s plan (22:30)
• The key to happiness that most people get backwards (40:30)
• How to get started as a game designer (44:45) -- like most of what we discussed in this episode, these principles apply to any creative work (art, starting a business, writing, etc). 

Books Mentioned:

• Open by Andre Agassi
• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
• A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative by Roger VonOech

Links:

• JustinGary.com - Justin’s main website
• Think Like A Game Designer - Justin’s book and podcast (look out for the online course coming soon)
• @Justin_Gary on Twitter