Author: Karol

How To Get Hired When “Nobody” Is Hiring

If you do this you will get hired …

The masses seem to believe getting hired these days is like winning the lottery. They’re thankful when it happens, but their chances are astronomical.

This is simply not true. If you want a job, they’re out there. If you want a job with someone who’s doing things a little differently, the jobs are definitely out there.

But that’s not good enough. That’s not actionable. Based on conversations with myself (don’t worry, I don’t *usually* have them out loud or in public) and some of my entrepreneur friends, here is how to get a job in any job climate:

Step 1) Stop thinking like the masses.

The masses believe getting hired is difficult because the masses go about it just like everyone else, which is why they’re “the masses.” It’s difficult to stand out from a crowd when there are hundreds or thousands of applicants for a single position. You might be thinking, “Well, that’s how the job application is set up. What am I supposed to do?”

That’s a great question. Lots of companies are still living in the 1900s and aren’t interested in hiring exceptional people in an exceptional way. It’s your choice whether you want to work for a dinosaur or not. (And even if you do, I still think my thoughts in this article are relevant.)

If you look at thought leaders like Seth Godin or Ramit Sethi, do you think they hire people in the traditional way? Not a chance.

Even big companies like Viacom are getting the picture. Last year Jen McCoy wanted to move from Florida to New York City to work for a company doing social media. She had no prospects lined up and didn’t have many contacts. What she did was create a website stating her plans and within weeks MTV (owned by Viacom) hired her to run their MTV News twitter as well as write articles for their website. Was that position listed on Monster or any other job seeker website? Maybe, but probably not. As far as I know Jen created that job out of thin air by being creative …

Which brings me to my next step …

Step 2) Get creative, even if you’re not.

I hate it as much as anybody when somebody tells me to “get creative” or “think outside of the box.” For the most part those are baseless, empty, useless statements from someone who has nothing of value to say. Also, I’m not a particularly creative person so when somebody says that it particularly irks me.

The beauty of the masses is they make it easy for you to get creative because they’re so incredibly, uncreatively, lame.

How does the following look for the regular job hunt? Search online, submit resume, wait. Search online, submit resume, wait. Search online, submit resume, wait.

Does that work? Yes, sometimes. Is it creative? Not at all. Does it put you in any kind of position of power? No way.

Another example of getting creative: Susan Lewis wanted a job. Nothing special there, right? But Susan Lewis got creative, and instead of “looking for a job” she decided to “hire a boss.” Much more fun, right? Beyond that, she created the website SusanHiresABoss.com, got the word out, and guess what? She found a boss.

Here’s the simple reason why any smart entrepreneur or manager will always hire people like Jen or Susan: they need creative people who take action! Which brings me to …

Step 3) Get off your ass and do something.

If nobody knows you exist nobody will hire you. Setting up a website and reaching out to people publicly seems like a daunting task, but you can break it down into smaller, less-daunting tasks. Just get it done.

Bonus: Do This and I Guarantee You Will Get A Job Within The Next 60 Days

This is definitely not for the masses. This is for the bad asses. Work for free.

Not forever, of course, but for a single project or X amount of time. A “trial run” so to speak.

Example:

Let’s say someone came to me (or created a website or blog post) and said:

Karol, I want to be your affiliate manager. I don’t have any experience right now so I’d work for free for 60 days. Here is what I would do in those 60 days:

  • Point 1
  • Point 2
  • Etc.

After the 60 days are up we can discuss if you’d like to hire me on for the future. If not, we go our separate ways with no hard feelings.

How likely do you think I would be to hire someone who put together a risk free proposal such as this? I’ll give you a hint: I’d hire them.

Am I even looking for an affiliate manager? Not necessarily. But I’d be dumb not to accept a well thought out proposal that has virtually no downside to me.

By the way, this same type of thing will work for almost any position, not just an affiliate manager. Just think “what’s in it for them?” What can you offer the potential employer? How can you increase their business or save them money or save them time? Smart business people want all of that and more.

Working for free also gets you over the biggest stumbling block any entrepreneur or hiring manager has: “Will this person be a good fit?” It’s impossible to answer that question before hiring somebody. Once someone is hired it’s a big mess to fire them. But if you put all the risk on your shoulders it’s completely up to you if you keep the job.

What’s it gonna be? Are you going to complain there are no jobs or are you going to create the job you want?

BTW, here’s a proposal I wrote for HowAboutWe.com today. This isn’t exactly what I’m talking about in this article, but then, I’m not looking for a job. Update (11:25am): They already got back to me. They said they’ll support the project on their site, but won’t pay for any of it. :)

If you like this article, spread the Facebook love:

There Are No Important Lessons In This Article (or What It’s Like To Step Away For 3 Weeks)

In which I discuss the results of my 3 week “breaking free” experiment …

Last Monday night I flew back to the US from the UK after 3 weeks away from commitments.

A lot of people requested feedback about how it went. “I’ve heard doing that is good, let me know how it goes.”

I’ll spoil the surprise: it didn’t go anything like I thought it might and instead of leaving me refreshed and recharged I came back more burnt out than I’ve felt in a long time. To the point where I didn’t even post an article last Thursday, which I believe is the first time that has happened since I started this site.

Part of the burn out may be due to the illness I contracted that still hasn’t fully gone away. (The cold that just won’t quit.)

But a lot of it was due to sensory overload. I seem to have forgotten that tour is not a particularly relaxing experience. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s go, go, go. Privacy (of the creative variety) and quiet time (again, of the creative variety) are virtually non-existent, so expecting any sort of creative recharge was short-sighted on my part.

What Happened and What I Learned

1) I didn’t want to check e-mail often while on tour. After a couple days I checked (as I said I would, in case there were emergencies back home) and I had hundreds of messages in my inbox. I immediately archived everything, but the thought of coming home to thousands of messages a few weeks later didn’t leave me with a sense of joy. So I checked e-mail more than once/day just so I could archive it. I responded to a handful of e-mails in 3 weeks and I used Boomerang to send a few messages back to me 3 weeks later, but for the most part I archived everything without reading.

2) I didn’t want to check facebook at all while on tour. I got a message from a friend in London that I needed to respond to, so I logged in for that. Then I logged in randomly otherwise. On one hand I think facebook is useless, but now I’m moving towards the thinking that it can be useful, and definitely more useful than twitter. I also think I’m going to begin actually accepting facebook requests from people I meet, even if we only met once. For years I’ve used facebook as a private “friends/family only” type of thing. But as a traveler there is a lot of benefit in having even superficial relationships with people all over the world. It goes like this: meet someone once for a brief period of time. Add them on facebook. Keep in touch superficially. Maybe visit them at some point in the near or distant future. While going solo is fun, it’s also a lot of fun exploring places with friends. From now on I’ll try to keep this in mind and maybe even seek people out on facebook who I’ve met in person.

3) I didn’t want to use twitter while on tour. I did log in, especially towards the end of tour, but I didn’t actually “use” twitter.

All in all, I feel like these were mostly failures. I didn’t step away as much as I could have.

4) Traffic, engagement, and new e-mail subscribers to this site were below average and RSS subscribers were flat while I was away. I’m actually surprised by this since I still had articles being posted. Lack of engagement makes sense since I didn’t have comments turned on for my articles, but I was expecting much more engagement with the guest posts. I also had the articles tweeted out and posted to facebook, so I’m surprised that there wasn’t more traffic/engagement from those two sources. I don’t know what to make of it except maybe what I wrote didn’t resonate with you.

Revelations

I didn’t expect to have any huge revelations, but I did have a few moments of clarity about Ridiculously Extraordinary and life in general. Here they are:

1) I’m not a blogger.

I’m an entrepreneur who simply uses a blog as an outlet. While my income comes as a result of things that happen or people I meet through this blog, a lot of it comes from endeavors that would make money without the blog. What I mean is, when you have a product for sale most of your sales don’t come from your own audience. If you’re blogging just to make sales you’re blogging for the wrong reason. Hour for dollar it’s more profitable to create products and find joint venture partners (people who will review and write about your product) than to simply blog to get traffic. You don’t need a blog to build an online lifestyle business. Read that again, get it ingrained into your skull. That shit’s the truth.

2) I’m unsure of the direction of RE.

But I’ve always been unsure. This is nothing new. The reason I love writing here so much is because I can write about whatever the hell I want. And I know that absolutely kills me as far as any kind of branding is concerned. I’m OK with that.

3) Doing what I want is not only desirable, it’s necessary.

I can’t run this site if I’m sitting in one place twiddling my thumbs and not coming up with fun events, such as the roller coaster tour. In that regard, this site is branded. The point is, you wouldn’t read these same words if they were coming from somebody who was living a normal life. I probably wouldn’t even have much to write about if I was living a normal life.

4) Schedules Are Necessary, But Not

My Monday/Thursday and sometimes Saturday posting schedule isn’t necessary, but I need to do it anyway. If for no other reason than I enjoy it. That said, I realize that the world doesn’t end if I skip a day, or a week, or whatever arbitrary time frame. This revelation makes me feel great, because I used to put a lot of pressure on myself to post even if it was incredibly inconvenient. While I will still put a lot of pressure on myself, I’ll be at peace if I have to skip a posting here and there. If I decide to do another X-week break from commitments (highly likely) I will probably not schedule anything new to be posted.

5) Chasing Money Is Not Of Any Interest To Me, But …

I’ve always wanted to start and sell a company for a significant sum of money. I’m in no great hurry to do this and I know something like what I’m doing here could never be sold. (Not that I’d want to sell anyway.) I’ve considered documenting the process from idea to execution, but this isn’t a top priority. When or if it becomes a top priority is when I’ll begin focusing on this goal. And rest assured, once I focus on it, it will happen. But my current priorities are doing exactly what I’m doing.

Questions/comments/want to play Slappy Fruit Hands? You know what to do …

What Would You Do To Change The World?

A fantastic group of glorious people answer this question …

Last month you may recall I had a guest post not-contest. As a consolation prize for everybody who submitted a guest post but didn’t get one of the 3 available guest post slots, I offered an opportunity to be involved in this group post. Everybody below submitted their answers to “What would you do to change the world?” before I left on tour (sorry to anybody who didn’t submit their answers in time). I’m just getting back to the US today and am probably still in the air as of this post going live. I scheduled this post 3+ weeks ago, just as I did all the other posts over the past 3 weeks.

To recap the previous 3 guest posts (please don’t submit guest posts as I don’t accept them; this was a one-time “let’s see what happens if Karol leaves the country for 3 weeks and doesn’t look at his blog” thing):

Thanks to everybody who submitted guest posts. And thanks to everybody who submitted their answers below! Some really great stuff here …

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We are all changing the world every day–it is my goal to make sure that I am doing everything I can in the NOW to leave the world better than before I arrived.  I try to bring relentless optimism to every task I do and every person I meet so they are energized, encouraged, and uplifted through our interaction.  By living a conscious, purposeful life and helping others do the same, I am making the world a happier and more fulfilled place one person at a time.

Jaime Willis writes about success, achievement, and personal growth at http://velocitygoals.blogspot.com.

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We are currently changing the world by contributing to other people in meaningful ways. We organize local charity events (e.g., feeding the hungry at a local soup kitchen, building homes for people who need them via Habitat for Humanity, and we donate our time to various other charities and organizations). We also help people live more meaningful lives with the essays we write at The Minimalists.

Joshua Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus write essays about minimalism and living a more meaningful life at http://theminimalists.com.

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I listen to other points of view, especially ones that contradict my own, and I hope others do the same so we can focus on understanding each other and break down barriers.

Jonathan Vaudreuil writes about persuasion and marketing for start-ups at http://www.jonathanvaudreuil.com.

—

I would change how people with physical and intellectual disabilities are treated and perceived. I work toward a world in which they are celebrated instead of marginalized. My hope is that people with disabilities will be welcomed to share the unique gifts they have to offer. My dream is that people with disabilities become a vital part of the conversation on what it means to live fully.

Caroline McGraw writes about “how to see disability as opportunity” at http://www.awishcomeclear.com.

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I would convince the world that, if you’re willing to work for it, any of your dreams are possible.

Tom Meitner writes about smashing through your everyday barriers at http://www.thepracticalnerd.com.

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I’m on a mission to show people that there is no set path in life. We are in charge of creating our Dream Life. A world filled with people pursuing their passions will lead to higher levels of creativity, happiness and kick ass awesomeness. There is no end to the way this will change the world – new inventions, cures, paradigms – but it will certainly be epic.

Mallory Kimble writes about following your passions and living your Dream Life at http://untietheribbons.com.

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I have a small post-it note next to my monitor. It says: “Make an Impact!” The ultimate goal for me. I know that there’s no way of measuring the actual results, but I don’t care. It’s my personal thing and I can make it whatever I want, right? I see it every day.

Making an impact on the whole world at once is not an easy thing to do, that’s why I aim at something more realistic – making an impact (a positive one, of course) on one person at a time. Sometimes by doing a small favor, sometimes a bigger one. It doesn’t matter, as long as I don’t ask for anything in return.

I advise you to do the same. Now the interesting part: At the end of the day you’ve improved one life. At the end of the week you’re up to 5, maybe 7. After a year you’re at 300+ … guess what … you’re changing the world right there. In a sentence, my advice (and my approach at the same time) is: focus on the little things and actions, they add up quickly.

Karol K. writes about marketing, blogging and online business design at http://newinternetorder.com.

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The first time I read your question, I was thinking in terms of wishes. If I could have any wish that is outside of my power, it would be to amplify the entire human race’s sense of empathy, so that everyone would be more considerate of other humans, other animals, and the entire planet.

On the other hand, if you’re asking about what I would do – that I can do – to change the world, my answer is that I want to nurture a sense of wonder in everyone I can reach. It’s so easy for worries, irritation, and simple habit to drown out the sense of wonder and deaden our appreciation of life. I want to work to counteract that.

My vocation is writing fantastic fiction, and while my stories reflect aspects of the real world instead of taking place there, I like to think that they can inspire people to look at their own lives with a little more wonder, joy and appreciation.

Anthea Strezze writes about writing and posts short stories and snippets of fiction at http://AntheaStrezze.com/blog.

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My purpose is to inspire and empower people to put themselves first. As a coach, I am here to help women find the freedom to live their lives the way they’ve always dreamed of. When people decide to get radiantly healthy, find peace within themselves and live their purposes, it inspire others to do the same and creates a different world. That’s the world I want to live in.

Jackie Vecchio writes about cultivating true health and unlimited joy at Unseen Life.

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Change in the world begins with me. So to change the world, I would:-

  • Eat less, exercise more
  • Sleep less, write more
  • Accumulate less stuff, share much more
  • Stop seeking perfection, settle for excellence
  • Surf the internet less, meet more real people
  • Think less, speak more and share my wisdom
  • Stop wasting time, create more special moments

Arvind Devalia writes about how to make it happen for a better you and a
better world at http://www.ArvindDevalia.com/blog.

—

If I could change the world, I’d make it mandatory to teach kids three things: 1) outside approval is not necessary to run your life, 2) that little voice in your head keeping you safe is your biggest roadblock to success, and 3) advice (unsolicited or requested) from those who’ve never reached your dreams is toxic.

There are so many of us who’ve wasted YEARS of our lives, because we were held back by one of these three reasons. Imagine how much happier we’d all be if we truly understood our real potential for greatness. I’d change the world by making sure everyone who bought into the American dream understood that that meant the death of their own dreams. I’d also make sure everyone knew that it’s never too late to live life based on your own dreams, on your own terms.

Anilia writes about personal development and goal-setting for entrepreneurs at http://www.motivatedsista.com.

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I’d change the world by changing the education system to encourage kids to experience as much as they can at a young age and find things that they love to do and continue that philosophy throughout their educational years. Instead of churning out good little robots that pass standardized tests, we would encourage free thinking, individualism and the joy of purpose, rather than looking for what has the highest pay.

Sarah St John writes about her journey to find freedom at http://www.thefreedomdream.com.

—

Your turn:

What would you do to change the world?

Discover Why Intermittent Fasting is the Secret Gateway to Superior Health

Obesity is out of hand. Today Matt Gartland tells us about something known as I.F. …

This is a guest post by Matt Gartland of Modern Audacity and Random Acts of Greatness.

Put down the fork. Drop the taco. Whatever you’re eating right now…stop!

If I play the numbers, then seven out of 10 people reading this article are fat. Here are the hardcore inconvenient truths…

  • 74.1% of adult Americans are clinically overweight or obese (1)
  • 25.0% of teenage Americans are clinically overweight or obese (1)
  • 1.6 billion (yes, BILLION) people are overweight or obese globally (2)

It’s a dark and demoralizing reality, one that you likely don’t need me to describe to you. But you likely do need me to share some promising news about a timeless healthy lifestyle strategy that’s making a proud comeback in a big way.

intermittent fasting

I’m talking about intermittent fasting. And it could just be the ace up your sleeve to win the war against unwanted blubber.

Have I tickled your interest and imagination?

I hope so because remarkable health is a must in anyone’s pursuit of a Ridiculously Extraordinary life. The bold don’t acquiesce to fatness. They torch it on their way to elevating their energy levels, self-confidence, self-esteem, and overall abilities.

Sound like the types of results you want? Then your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to learn about and experiment with intermittent fasting.

Let the games begin!
Continue reading “Discover Why Intermittent Fasting is the Secret Gateway to Superior Health”

Preventive Measures (or Why A 25 Year Old Princess Pumped Putty Into My Ears)

One of my biggest fears is going deaf. This is what I did about it …

As you know I’m currently not on a digital sabbatical. I’ve simply broken free from commitments and stepped off the treadmill for 3 weeks. We’re now 2 weeks into it. If you need to get in touch please wait until I’m back from touring the UK with my friends The Swellers. You can follow our adventures by following them on twitter:@theswellers.

The problem with insurance companies is they don’t want you to prevent illness, and then they bitch and moan when you get sick or injured. Interestingly, as much bitching and moaning as they do, many of them still manage to eek out tiny profits. (If tiny is billions of dollars.) In case that wasn’t clear, these slimy bastards are pulling in ridiculous amounts of cash.

If insurance companies weren’t imbeciles they’d require preventive care and make even more billions. (How? Charge the same premiums, but pay out less benefits since less people would go to doctors.) But this isn’t an article about stupidity. This is about taking your health into your own hands.

The physical ailment I worry about most is going deaf.

It’s right up there with dying. I’m not joking. Anybody who knows me knows I love music and my life would be markedly worse without it.

To illustrate my point: Last year I went to a show in Detroit and forgot ear plugs. I went roaming Woodward Ave, walking into liquor stores and anywhere else, asking if they had ear plugs. It was to no avail. Finally I called my friend Jessica and told her that she’s not allowed into the show unless she finds ear plugs. (She was nice enough to do just that! Thanks Jessica!)

Music is important to me and I’d like to enjoy it forever. Hearing it is different than enjoying it. Hearing music with a ringing in your ear (or other ear damage) is not enjoyable. Additionally, once you learn an instrument you hear music differently than non-musicians. You know what I mean if you’re a musician. You have no clue if your idea of musicianship is Rock Band.

The point is, ear plugs are a preventive measure that I take seriously. Lots of people think ear plugs look dumb and getting a ringing in their ears after a concert is a sign of pride. I guess this is an article about stupidity. ;)

Here’s the problem with store-bought disposable ear plugs (which is what most people think when you say “ear plugs”): they muffle the music you paid to hear. Which is another reason lots of people don’t wear them. It makes the concert going experience immeasurably worse.

I travel with lots of disposable ear plugs and use them regularly. I’ve never particularly enjoyed them, but I’d rather listen to a muffled concert than lose my hearing and never listen to a concert again. That said, I knew there were other options.

So I did what any normal person would do: I made an appointment with an audiologist to get a pair of custom non-disposable ear plugs made specifically for musicians and other people consistently exposed to loud noises.

Following is what that process is like …

I met with the Doctor and his assistant Val (student studying to be an audiologist) and he explained 5 different types of hearing loss. One is genetic and the others can be prevented. (Did you know diabetes can cause deafness? Me neither!) He asked me why I want custom ear plugs, and where they’ll be used. This is because you can get different inserts that have different levels of noise reduction. More on that later.

The Doctor left and Val conducted a hearing test. I hadn’t done one of these since high school, although this one was a little different. I sat down in a sound proof booth and Val inserted ear bud headphones into my ears.

She tested the softest sound I could hear in varying frequencies. Any time I heard a sound I was to press a button. Then we did essentially the same test with over-the-ear studio headphones (the big cushiony can-like things).

The results of my hearing test were explained and it was onto the fun stuff …

Making a mold of my ear canal!

First Val inserted a little foam piece with a string into each ear canal. This prevents the mold putty from getting into the ear canal and makes it easier to pull the mold out. She mixed up the putty, inserted it into a large syringe, and forced it into each ear. We waited 5 minutes for it to harden, she pulled them out, checked with the Doctor to make sure they looked right, and I was on my way.

I was told it would take up to 2 weeks to get the custom silicone plugs back, but I asked if they could rush it since I was leaving the city soon. It took 5 days.

Total time at the audiologist: 45 minutes

Total cost: $215. $150 for the plugs (including 1 pair of noise reduction inserts), $25 for hearing test, $25 for molds, + tax.

Additional interchangeable inserts, which come in 9db, 15db, and 25db noise reduction cost $70 each. The inserts are what actually reduce the noise and the custom plug simply creates a perfect seal in your ear. The Doctor recommended the 15db to me and explained this is 5 times quieter than normal unprotected sound and will be great for my use, so that’s what I went with. I can still hear a lot when wearing them so I’m considering getting the 25db inserts for sleeping.

How they feel: When I first got them back I didn’t have anywhere to test them. Meaning, I wasn’t planning on going to any loud places. So I just put them in while working to get a feel for them. The left plug felt weird after a short while. Eventually it got unbearable. I went back to the audiologist the next day and they shaved down a bit of the plug. The process took another 30 minutes.

Since that time I’ve used the plugs extensively and they have been phenomenal. It’s really fun to experience true-to-sound live music while knowing my hearing isn’t getting damaged.

If you’re a grown adult and musician or live music lover I highly recommend looking into custom ear plugs for yourself. Sure $200 sounds like a lot, but they last a long time and it’s a small investment in your health compared to the benefits you receive.

Don’t expect your insurance company to pay for your plugs because they don’t care about your health. Do it for yourself because if you don’t take your health into your own hands nobody else will.

By the way, I asked on Facebook a few weeks ago what preventive health measures you take. Here are those responses. Feel free to comment on that if you want to add yours.

Keep Ramming Your Head Against The Wall and The Wall Will Crumble

About how to keep going even when you’re not producing outstanding results …

This is a guest post from Tanja Hoagland at www.minimalistpackrat.com.

I’ve got two questions for you:

1) What ridiculously extraordinary thing do you want to do?

2) Why aren’t you doing it right now?

I suppose I’m an under-achiever because my first ridiculously extraordinary goal in life was basic. I didn’t want to work for someone else. You read that right. My goal wasn’t to be self-employed. It wasn’t to build a huge business empire. I just didn’t want to get up and clock in at nine on Monday morning.

Slacker of the year award? Heh. Not a chance in hell. I had never moved my way up past the bottom of the totem pole. We’re talking cashier jobs, stocking jobs, and the height of my glory, a newsletter design job making eleven bucks an hour. And let me tell you, people at the bottom of the totem pole work just as hard as those at the top. They’re just working hard for other people instead of themselves. It was difficult to create something successful out of my life with no real equity, no possibilities of real equity and the most dreaded fact of all, squeezing in “real work time” after a full 40 hours every week.

Evidently I wasn’t alone in my dissatisfaction with the working world. A poll from Gallup shows that less than 50% of people are satisfied with their work. Less than 50%! That’s a lot of unhappiness rolling around. But hey, I had my ridiculously extraordinary goal in hand and I was gonna succeed at it.

I’m nothing if not persistent. I kept ramming my head against that wall. I knew I could say good-bye to the world of bosses. I knew that my previous attempts at businesses had failed. I knew that meant it was time for a new approach. With that persistence in hand what was my second magic ingredient? I believed I could do it.

What you believe you can achieve. It sounds like a cheesy motivation poster hanging on a wall. But wait, did you know there’s really something to that? Yeah. Researcher Harold Stevenson from the University of Michigan found that student’s beliefs about their chances of achievement affected their ability to achieve. Jennifer Mangels appeared in the Oxford Journal with similar research results, that belief about success influences the outcome.

With these two magic ingredients you can make anything happen. It’s a serious mojo combination. What does belief and perseverance look like in action? I’ll use myself as the example.

1) Create a vision for what you want. (Having my own business and being my own boss.)

2) Look at the costs of achieving that goal. (Spending my spare time working my butt off to make it happen.)

3) Decide if those costs are worth it. (They were.)

4) Researching the hell out of how to meet your goal. (Researching successful business models. Investing in training programs. Studying people who have done it.)

5) Creating a never-ending amount of belief and perseverance. (Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.)

In a previous post Karol said, “Throwing away your TV and working from 6pm – 10pm every day and all day on weekends is an attempt at an idea.” I’d say Karol is steering us in the right direction with that.

I found an online website building system and worked on my goal every day and on weekends for a couple years. I committed myself to its reality and took the action steps I needed to make it happen. I’m not telling you what that online website system was because that system doesn’t really matter. What matters is I got up off my butt and I made a decision.

I gave myself serious consequences for failure. I was over thirty with a nice pile of failed business ventures under my belt. I made the decision that if this program didn’t work I was going to give up completely on my ridiculously extraordinary dream of not having a boss. I’d buckle in, settle down and work my way up some ladder somewhere. That led me to the most important decision of my life.

I made the decision that this program was damn well going to work for me.

I put the fire under my butt and told myself this program HAD to work. I kept clocking in, doing the 9 to 5. Then in my spare time, and I mean every waking spare moment I had, I worked on my goal. Even when my results were pathetic I kept going. Let’s digress into what pathetic means for a moment. I mean 5 cents a day pathetic for months. I mean an insanely grand $5 a month after a full year of busting butt. I kept typing out pages. I kept learning from my mistakes. I kept studying the big dogs. I kept moving forward. Even when that wall didn’t budge after two years, I kept ramming my head against the wall. I kept ramming and ramming and ramming until I did it.

You wondering what happened? Fast forward three years and my first site is now at 60,000 + visits a month with just under 20,000 of them being repeat visitors. My honey and I are both self employed with our online business. It’s ridiculously extraordinary and now we’ve got to up the ante and come up with some bigger dreams.

What’s it gonna take for you? What does it take to achieve something ridiculously extraordinary?

Thomas Buxton is a smart guy you might not know (he just happened to abolish slavery in the British Empire back in 1833). He said, “With Ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance all things are attainable.” He knew how to succeed.

You gotta have belief and perseverance. A solid goal and some serious research help a lot. But if you really want something you gotta believe it in the marrow of your bones. And then there’s a little something called getting your ass in gear that has to happen in the middle of the equation. That’s called perseverance. Belief and perseverance. Some “git up and go”. Some bam. Keep ramming your head against the wall and the wall will crumble.

Now this is where I’m supposed to tell you that I’m now making a million dollars a month and if you sign up now you can too. Let’s scratch all that, because the reason I wrote this has nothing to do with what my goal was. The reason I wrote this was to light the fire under your butt and get you moving towards whatever the heck it is you absolutely freakin’ want to be doing, what your soul is begging you to be doing. It might be climbing Mount Everest, it might growing rare orchids, it might be having a baby. It’s your goal, not mine. So back to you. Let’s answer those questions again with a new perspective:

1) What ridiculously extraordinary thing do you want to do?

2) Why aren’t you doing it right now?

Tanja Hoagland is a minimalist, entrepreneur, and author who speaks out on her blog Minimalist Packrat.

How To Step Off The Treadmill (Before You Fall and Hurt Yourself)

In which I realize I’m on a treadmill that I think I can’t stop. Spoiler: I’m wrong …

As you know I’m currently not on a digital sabbatical. I’ve simply broken free from commitments for 3 weeks. We’re now 1 week into it. If you need to get in touch please wait until I’m back from touring the UK with my friends The Swellers. You can follow our adventures by following them on twitter: @theswellers.

Last Monday I stated that I lead one of the most stress free lives possible. I’d like to re-phrase that. I have a lot of stress, but it’s mostly good stress. Eustress. Launching a product is stressful, but feels great. Writing a book is stressful, but feels great. Figuring out how to establish sponsorships for RollerCoasterTour.com is stressful, but feels great. Thinking about doing a 3 month road trip around the US is stressful, but feels great.

That said, I realized that maybe being on the blogging treadmill is bad stress.

I love writing and I do it every day, but sometimes I don’t want to release my writing to the world. Sometimes I want to keep it to myself. It’s not for selfish reasons, it’s just a lot of writing isn’t meant for the world to read. Which means I regularly have this feeling that “Oh crap, I didn’t write anything for my blog, and it’s post day tomorrow!”

Even though I have 50+ article drafts (some ready to go at a moment’s notice, some not even close to ready), that last feeling is not a eustress feeling. It’s straight up regular bad stress.

On the other hand, it’s necessary. I know if I stop writing publicly on a regular schedule (every Monday & Thursday, sometimes Saturday) then I’ll go weeks and maybe months without doing it. The momentum will die and that will be that. Like a lot of people in this day and age, focus can be an issue for me. I like to work on new projects. I don’t usually stay with the same thing for years upon years. I’ve gone from eBay to infoproducts to SEO to PPC to blogging/infoproducts (among a few other things) in the past 11 years.

The one constant is that I like to be in hustle mode, in the thick of things, back to the wall. Once a certain level of success is reached it’s easy to get complacent.

That all said, Ridiculously Extraordinary is the first thing I’ve done that I can see myself doing for life, in various iterations. I know it will evolve and will take different forms, but the general concept of putting my writing and other creations out into the public is a keeper.

How To Keep From Falling Off The Treadmill Before You’re Thrown Off

The last thing you want to happen when you step on a treadmill is to get thrown off. An injury can be just as stressful as running too long on the treadmill in the first place.

1) Be Mindful

You have to be mindful of what’s going on and realize you’ve actually stepped on the treadmill. Many of us don’t even realize we’re on a treadmill, running hard, but not going anywhere. If you’re going through the motions then you’re on a treadmill.

2) Step Off / Slow Down

It’s OK to take a break and step off the treadmill. If nothing else, decrease the speed and incline for a few minutes to make it a little bit easier while you catch your breath.

3) You’re A Machine, But You’re Not

The human body is the greatest machine ever built. But if you run a machine (like a treadmill) at full speed without stopping it will break down. It’s better to step off and slow down before you get to this point, because a breakdown will cost you more than a break.

4) Plan For A Big Return

I don’t mean you need to plan for a dramatic return. But when you take your break have a plan in action to get right back into the thick of things. A break can easily turn into more. It’s all about your mindset. If you use your break as a creative recharge as opposed to “I’m ignoring everybody/everything and running away from life!” you’ll come back from your break reinvigorated.

If you’ve ever been on a “life treadmill” I would appreciate sharing this article on Facebook/Twitter as a reminder to yourself and your friends that there are options …

How To Be Extraordinarily Happy – In Work and Life

The winner of the guest post not-contest Jennifer Gresham with a fantastic article about happiness …

This is a guest post from Jennifer Gresham at Everyday Bright. Jennifer was the winner (if you want to call it that) in my guest post not-contest. This article immediately resonated with me and I hope it resonates with you as well. Thanks Jennifer!

My friend Jim works a job he hates, but he doesn’t see a way out. Here’s a guy who is incredibly smart and talented, but for whatever reason, he’s been unable to negotiate a new career. And he’s miserable.

He recently asked me, “What if I’m just not a happy person? What if I try to change my job to something better and I’m still unhappy?”

This isn’t a dumb question. But if you follow the science of happiness as I do, the answer isn’t exactly clear either.

The science of happiness

Back in the 1970’s, research showed both lottery winners and recent paraplegics reverted to previous happiness levels within a short period of time. This led scientists to believe there was a happiness set point, essentially a happiness cap determined by our genes. Accordingly, your decisions and circumstances in life didn’t have long-lasting impacts on your happiness level.

Then positive psychology came along and said, yes, there is a happiness set point, but it only accounts for about 50% of our happiness. So of the portion that’s within our control, what makes us happy? Sadly for Jim, the positive psychologists say relationships account for 40% of what we control, and only 10% arises from our circumstances, including our jobs.

In a review of the positive psychology literature Penelope Trunk said

The thing that increases our happiness is our relationships. A job cannot make those better. However a job can make you so unhappy that you can’t relish the relationships in your life.

I agree. I had what anyone would call a great job. I was the Assistant Chief Scientist for a lab that examined ways to improve human performance. I guided the work of hundreds of super smart scientists and engineers alongside my boss, who is one of the best leaders and mentors I’ve ever met.

And yet … I got euphoric every time I took a day off. Although I enjoyed the higher purpose that came with leading in a large, government laboratory, the bureaucracy was slowly driving me insane. Before long, I was getting snippy with the very family I loved.

But that’s not the whole story.

Does our work really matter?

Science says we are pretty lousy at predicting what makes us happy. Part of the problem is that most of us don’t spend any time at all figuring out what brings us fulfillment. We don’t take a class on it in college and our parents likely didn’t provide very good role models.

What we do know is that Nature abhors a vacuum. If you don’t have a definition for success, society is more than happy to supply one for you. By and large, that definition calls out money, power, and prestige as the ultimate indicators of a good life.

Let me be clear: there’s nothing wrong with making money. I’m all for it. But I think we’ve got it all backwards. We chase after jobs that pay a lot and hope we like them. I think we should chase after jobs we love and hope they pay a lot.

Because at some point you realize a person who “lives” for the weekend has reduced their enjoyable life span by over 70%.

This is where I have a problem with the “relationship only” model of happiness. If our work didn’t matter, you’d think that ultra rich people would be the happiest people on the planet, since they’d have a lot of time to focus on nurturing great relationships. There should be a big correlation between having so much money you don’t need to work and off-the-charts happiness. But there isn’t.

In fact, the research shows the connection between money and happiness evolves from a sense of status. It’s not the absolute value of your salary that matters, but how much higher it is than those around you (sounds like some pretty healthy relationships).

I’ve been told on more than one occasion that most people don’t “live to work” but “work to live” and I should stop spouting this “follow your passion” BS.

But I can tell you that once I figured out what I really wanted to do with my career (and more importantly, found the courage to go do it), my happiness soared. Something really profound has happened: I love my work so much that Monday is now my favorite day of the week.

When I admitted this fact to my husband, he was worried (needlessly, I might add). In my experience, there are two different well springs of happiness: relationships and a sense of personal achievement. The question is how to design a life that maximizes both.

Overcoming average

Psychological research is tricky. It relies on surveys where not everyone agrees on the definitions. It has a hard time accounting for variation, on both an individual and day-to-day level. And like most science, it searches for a universal truth that may not exist.

We know that when it comes to emotions and stock markets, the “average” response may be of little value. What makes someone else happy may not make you happy, yet we continue to act like there’s only one definition of success (and only one path to happiness).

I told Jim I could be sure of one thing: while he might not naturally be the happiest guy, a job he enjoyed would make him happier than one that didn’t.

The secret ingredient to getting that sense of personal achievement is to find work that encourages flow, which is derived from four qualities:

  1. stretches a person without defeating him
  2. provides clear goals
  3. unambiguous feedback
  4. a sense of control

The idea of flow came from researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, but it’s quite similar to the ideas presented by Daniel Pink in his book Drive, who calls for more autonomy, mastery, and purpose. In either case, it is possible to transform work from something of a burden or a chore into something rather exhilarating.

This is what people refer to when they tell you to “follow your passion.” The problem is that most have no idea how to discover their passion and so assume is it mythical at best or a scam at worst.

Don’t take my word for it. Do your own experiments–pull a Gretchen Rubin and tweak your life until the foundations of your happiness become clear. Research may say we’re lousy at predicting our own happiness, but I’ll say there’s also no one better.

In other words, if you want an extraordinary life, why design yours according to the responses of average people?

Jennifer Gresham is a Ph.D. biochemist who left her job to become a writer. She blogs about finding the clarity and courage to design a fulfilling career at Everyday Bright.

The Art of Breaking Free

Sometimes you need to change your routine …


As of today, and for the next 3 weeks, I am officially unavailable. No e-mail (I will check it randomly for emergencies since I will be overseas and won’t have a phone), no twitter, no facebook.

Last month I asked for guest post submissions. Those will be posted for the next 3 Thursdays. I’ve also scheduled 3 more of my own articles for the next 3 Mondays.

This is NOT a digital sabbatical. I will have my computer with me. I will have my Kindle because I enjoy reading. I’m still going to go on Skype to call my Parents. :)

This is what we’ll call Breaking The Pad: Experiencing Creativity By Fucking Up The Routine.

Why am I doing this?

After reading Chapter 9 (Relaxation) in Transcend I realized I need to break free from commitments, if only for a short while. My upcoming Roller Coaster Tour, while fun, will be very stressful. Lots of driving, lots of video taking, lots of logistics.

“Taking breaks from your routine works wonders when it comes to stress management.” – Excerpt from Chapter 9 of Transcend.

In general, my level of stress is very low. I have enough money to do whatever I want, I have awesome friends, I put quality food into my body, this blog is thriving, and I’m almost always in a good mood. I actually like to say I live the most stress free life in the world. But I still have a routine and commitments.

It got me wondering. What would happen if I stepped away from the routine and the commitments for a short while?

Then I saw this video from Stefan Sagmeister called The Power of Time Off. Every 7 years he shuts down his design company and takes 1 year off to explore his creativity and anything else he desires.

I was a little bit envious when I first watched that video. “Wow, that is so cool. What a bad ass!”

Then I remembered: “Wait! I can do that! I have Ridiculously Extraordinary Freedom!”

When an opportunity came up to spend 3 weeks with old friends I had to take it. This wasn’t an easy decision as I had a few other options. If you’ll recall my Making Decisions article, this is the decision that I ultimately decided on (although I was much more vague in that article).

Does this mean I’m not working?

Yes and No. Much like Stefan, I’m going to do a lot of creative stuff.  A lot of writing and reading and singing and playing guitar and exploring and talking and not talking. The difference is I’ll be on a 3 week rock tour of the UK with my friends The Swellers. (Note: I won’t be playing with them, I’ll just be hanging out on tour.) If you’ve been here since the early days you’ve probably already read my article about What It’s Like To Tour With A Rock Band. That article also featured The Swellers when I toured with them for 3 weeks around the US in 2008.

We’ll be hitting England, Scotland, and Ireland! I’ve never been to the UK so this will be a great time to explore and spend time with some of the most creative people I know.

Interestingly enough, it has been exactly 6 months since I arrived back on US soil. I almost can’t believe I’ve been in the country that long.

Where am I headed?

  • 03.28 – Austin > Chicago > London
  • 03.29 – Oxford
  • 03.30 – Liverpool
  • 04.01 – Cork
  • 04.02 – Dublin
  • 04.03 – Belfast
  • 04.05 – Glasgow
  • 04.06 – Edinburgh
  • 04.07 – Newcastle
  • 04.08 – Manchester
  • 04.09 – Birmingham
  • 04.10 – Norwich
  • 04.12 – London
  • 04.13 – Bournemouth
  • 04.14 – Plymouth
  • 04.15 – Falmouth
  • 04.16 – Cardiff
  • 04.17 – Nottingham
  • 04.18 – London > Chicago

After we get into Chicago I’ll head to Michigan, where I’ll work on getting things finalized for when Roller Coaster Tour begins on May 21. :)

Meet Ups In The UK?

Probably not. Like I said, I won’t be checking e-mail or twitter. And I won’t be on my own schedule. If you want to come to a punk rock show then feel free. I’ll be the tall guy hanging out somewhere. :)

Comment Moderation

I was unsure what to do about this, but I’m going to turn off comments on my articles and leave comments open for the guest articles that will appear for the next 3 Thursdays. I won’t personally respond to any comments for 3 weeks.

It Won’t Even Look Like I’m Gone

I’ll be using Twuffer to schedule out my Tweets of articles and hopefully Facebook feed integration will work. :)

Thanks for being awesome. If you need to get in touch please wait until I’m back in the US, unless you’re interested in sponsoring RollerCoasterTour.com. ;)

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Of note: I decided to stop the one day per month Mind Control Method: Goal Setting For Smart People sale. It was a fun experiment, but too much work coordinating one day per month. So now Mind Control Method is available forever! To pick it up just click here.

Business Funding Through Kickstarter (Bearded Bros Organic Treats Inside!)

How BeardedBros.com used Kickstarter.com to get their business off the ground …

If you don’t already know, I regularly help fund businesses on Kickstarter. Every couple weeks I login to the site and search for vegan or vegetarian (veg*an) companies. So far I’ve “backed” (Kickstarter’s term for putting money towards a project) 4 successful veg*an companies, 2 musicians, and 1 soon-to-be successful veg*an company. You can view my Kickstarter profile here. Usually I back a company with only $10-$20. It doesn’t take much to help a new business get off the ground. That’s the power of scaling using the Kickstarter platform.

The way Kickstarter works is the business (or artist or other) submits a proposal with how much money they want and what kind of rewards backers will receive. Backers get different rewards based on how much they give to the project. If Kickstarter approves the proposal the project goes live and it’s time to get the word out! If the amount of funding needed is reached then the project is successful and backers are charged. If it’s not reached then the backers don’t have to pay anything. There is no risk to you if one of the projects you back isn’t funded.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris and Caleb from Bearded Bros, an organic snack food company I backed (with $10; as my reward I got 2 energy bars) a couple of months ago. I e-mailed them once the project was successfully funded and, knowing I’d be in their hometown of Austin, asked if I could pick up my reward in person and also interview them for RidiculouslyExtraordinary. As smart business people they said yes. :)

Also! Chris and Caleb were kind enough to offer a 15% off discount code (expires March 31) to y’all: ridiculous

Just type that in when you check out from their store and you’ll get 15% off their organic energy bars.

Watch the interview below … (Click here if you’re viewing this via e-mail and can’t see the video.)

Video notes:

  • 00:00 – Introduction
  • 00:20 – Why they used Kickstarter.
  • 00:40 – The process for submission to Kickstarter.
  • 01:05 – How much they raised.
  • 01:16 – Why funding didn’t take off in the beginning.
  • 01:55 – Why they chose the name Bearded Bros.
  • 02:34 – Are they real brothers?
  • 02:50 – Using social media to spread the word.
  • 03:35 – Different Kickstarter backing levels.
  • 03:58 – The excitement of getting fully funded.
  • 04:38 – How to get an extra $10-15 from each backer.
  • 04:58 – How much Kickstarter takes from the funding total.
  • 05:20 – How long it takes to get the money once fully funded.
  • 05:43 – Getting started before all the money came in.
  • 05:59 – Using friends/strangers to figure out the direction for their flavors.
  • 06:49 – The power of co-working space.
  • 07:38 – Some of the challenges of their business.
  • 08:02 – The love of healthy snacks & business.
  • 08:35 – Hitting the streets to get the product out to stores.
  • 09:40 – Final thoughts about starting a food company.

Websites mentioned:

Kickstarter.com
BeardedBros.com
@BeardedBros

If one of your goals is to start a small business then one of your other goals should be to support small businesses. So check out the Bearded Bros and buy their awesome energy bars. They’re organic, vegan, gluten free, and exceptionally tasty. (I’m serious. They are really good!) I recommend the Ginger Peach flavor, but you know, that’s just a rec. Do what you will. ;)

P.S. The 15% off coupon code is: ridiculous – use it at beardedbros.com (expires March 31).