Love Your Work

Sometimes, to make a breakthrough, you have to partner up with "the man." Sometimes it's worth it. But, don't jump at every chance you get. I recently had an opportunity to join a podcast network. In fact, it was a very good podcast network. But, I turned it down. Since writing this article, I've watched this podcast network do very well. Meanwhile, I've struggled to grow this podcast. In fact, my downloads went DOWN for the first time since I started a year and a half ago. Some of that is from Product Hunt shutting down their podcasts section, and it's hard to know what else has caused it. As I'll say in this article, it's totally possible that I made the wrong decision. But, it still feels right to me. This article originally appeared on kadavy.net. Sponsorshttp://kadavy.net/premium Show Notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/podcast-network-podcast/

May 5th, 1979. It was a jovial atmosphere. A new person was coming into the world. But as soon as the child was born, the room went quiet. The doctors predicted the baby wouldn't make it through the next 24 hours. Now, over 35 years later, as that baby, now an adult, would joke in his TEDx talk – all of those doctors are dead. And Sean Stephenson @theseantourage is the only doctor that remains. Sean Stephenson was born with brittle bone disorder. His growth was stunted, and he's suffered hundreds of bone fractures throughout his life. But his condition has armed Sean with superpowers. He discovered that he has the power to rid the world of insecurity. In fact, it's become his life's mission – what he was born to do. Sean Stephenson is a therapist, an author, and a motivational speaker. I first came across his work when a friend shared a video on Facebook. I was immediately struck by Sean's positivity, and I became an instant fan. As someone who has struggled with insecurities – like everyone does, whether they accept it or not – Sean was immediately disarming to me. He's is uniquely qualified to help people break through the stories they tell themselves. Not just because of his life experiences, but also because of his training. We'll get into how Sean discovered his superpower, and what he's learned about bringing growth into his life. Sean's Facebook Page Sean's ebook "How to Stay Positive When Life Gets Sean's free "Principles on How to Live an Empowered Life" Sponsorshttp://kadavy.net/premium Show Notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/sean-stephenson-interview/

Routines can reduce cognitive friction and boost your productivity. But do you really want to do the same thing every day? You know I think productivity is all about mind management, not time management. Routines are useful for managing your mind. On this episode, I'll tell you how having a weekly routine can help you boost productivity and be more creative, without boring yourself to death. This article originally appeared on Medium. If you are listening to this before 5pm PST on Friday May 5th, 2017, pay close attention. Stop whatever you're doing, and go to gettingartdone.com. I'm writing a new book. It's called Getting Art Done, and you can preview it for free if you act fast. If you ever have trouble bringing your work into the world. This is the book for you. It will give you actionable steps to break down fear and self doubt, and make your art real. Go to gettingartdone.com and sign up for email updates. That's gettingartdone.com. Do it now before the timer on the website runs out. Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/weekly-routine-podcast/

Ned Scott (@certainassets, Steemit: @ned is trying to reinvent the way content gets made. He wants you to get paid in the process. Ned is the co-founder of a cryptocurrency called STEEM, and he's CEO of a website that runs on STEEM, called Steemit. Basically all of the actions that you would normally take on a site such as Reddit – writing posts, upvoting, or commenting, mines the STEEM – that's S-T-E-E-M – cryptocurrency. You can then cash in that cryptocurrency for the currency of your choice. The attention economy and digital distraction You've heard me talk about the economics of digital distraction on the podcast before. Hooked author Nir Eyal and I talked about it on episode 21. Companies such as Facebook steal your attention, because the current models of supporting content creation incentivize them to do so. For example, because the bulk of Facebook's revenue is from ads, they want you to spend as much time on your news feed as possible. This then incentivizes content creators to create the most attention-grabbing content possible. They'll use tactics such as inciting rage – even if it means ruining an innocent person's life. We saw this tactic backfire when Gawker outed a closeted gay executive. Or, they'll just plain lie – which is something we're seeing with the current "fake news" crisis. The incentives of the attention economy By the way, I discussed some of these incentives with Ryan Holiday on episode 31. Ryan wrote a great book on the subject with Trust Me, I'm Lying. Will STEEM incentivize different behavior? Well, that remains to be seen. Many journalists are currently paid by the page view. I have journalist friends who have worked at a respectable newspaper, and their performance was measured by the page views on their stories. Think about that for a second. They weren't allowed to own stocks because it would be considered a conflict of interest in case they had to write about one of those companies, but somehow being rewarded by the page view is not a conflict of interest? So if journalists are no longer paid by the page view, but instead by their work being upvoted – the incentives will shift somehow. It's hard to say whether it would be good or bad, but they will shift. Spending attention vs. spending STEEM My theory is that we spend our attention far differently from how we spend our money. We're wired not to see the fruit in the bush, but rather the tiger behind the fruit in the bush. With STEEM we aren't spending our money, per-se, but there appears to be a different psychology to upvoting on Steemit. I'm sure those incentives bring along other quirks. From what I've seen, the most popular content – hence the content that has earned the most money – on Steemit is about STEEM. Content like this podcast, I guess. Other than that, like I say, it remains to be seen. To wrap your head around it, I'd recommend signing up at Steemit.com, and looking around. By the way, my Steemit username is kadavy, so let's connect there. Can you earn money on Steemit? I've been a STEEM user (@kadavy), or rather I've used the website Steemit (yes, it's a little confusing at first), for several months now. I've converted some of my STEEM to Bitcoin, just to run a test. So far, I've earned spendable money for using Steemit. And, as I record this, the total value of all of the STEEM that is out there is at over 50 million dollars. Where does that money come from? How does STEEM work? Why might it work in the long run? and why might it not work? Ned and I will talk about all of that and more in this conversation. Remember, none of this is investment advice, just an exploration of a potential new way to incentivize content creation. Seth Godin interview coming soon! A very revealing Seth Godin inteview is coming soon. Make sure you're subscribed, so you don't miss the episode. Sponsorshttp://freshbooks.com/loveyourwork Show Notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/steem-podcast-ned-scott/

Warren Buffett (@WarrenBuffett) and I were neighbors. He lived in his famously modest house on Farnam. I lived in a $535-a-month 1-bedroom, in a basement with moldy carpet, several blocks down, on 49th. I used to live down the street from the famous mega billionaire, Warren Buffett. I never even saw him, but his presence taught me a lot. This article originally appeared on Medium. Sponsors http://freshbooks.com/loveyourwork Show Notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/warren-buffet-lessons-podcast/

Jorge and Tanja wanted to travel the world, dance and party. It turns out, they were able to do that and make more money than they ever imagined they would. Jorge and Tanja wanted to make it as a professional Salsa dancing couple. They aspired to travel the Salsa circuit, to perform in competitions, and they figured they could make ends meet teaching classes in their home city. But the Salsa world was crowded. To make their debut as a dancing couple, they found they couldn't get a slot as Salsa performers. So, they put together a performance dancing Bachata. Bachata is a Dominican style of music first recorded in the 1960's. (Medicina De Amor is played at this point in the intro.) In recent years, Bachata has been remixed with current pop hits. Bachata is kind of Salsa's little cousin. (Latch Bachata Remix is played at this point in the intro.) Bachata wasn't as popular as Salsa, so Jorge and Tanja were able to make an appearance. The performance – danced to Xtreme's "Te Extraño" – ended up on YouTube. And it exploded. Their debut performance has amassed nearly 100 million views, and it's launched Jorge and Tanja – and Bachata dancing – into super stardom. Today, 9 years later, Jorge Burgos and Tanja Kensinger are known as Ataca y La Alemana (joint Instagram). They're Bachata royalty. They travel the world, run conferences, and their dance company, Island Touch, has dance teams all over the world. Sponsors http://freshbooks.com/loveyourwork Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/ataca-la-alemana-interview/

I take focus seriously. The way I see it, being productive is not about time management. It's about mind management. If you're fully-focused on the task at hand, you can have way more creative output. So, I experiment a lot with ways to deepen my focus. Some of the methods I've settled into are unconventional. I'm going to share them with you today. This article originally appeared on Medium. Sponsors http://freshbooks.com/loveyourwork Show Notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/10-unconventional-podcast/

Ryan Hoover (@rrhoover) loves software products. He wanted to share new software products with other people who love software products. So, he started a little email list. There were a few dozen people on the list. They were submitting products to the email list, so Ryan got to learn about new products every day. But the email list grew rapidly. Once it got to a few hundred subscribers, Ryan decided it was a time to build a site. Three years later, Ryan sold his site, ProductHunt, for about $20 million. I don't spend much time in Silicon Valley these days, but I've at least heard that Ryan Hoover is kind of the golden child of the valley. He's perfectly executed building ProductHunt, and most importantly, building the community that drives ProductHunt. And I think you'll notice in this conversation. I actually got kind of frustrated talking to Ryan. He seems to have always made the right decisions. I think some people are able to do that, but I'm not one of them. I think it's actually hard to learn from people who do things right. That's why, on Love Your Work I'm always digging for the ways my guests have changed over the years, and where they went wrong along the way. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel you can learn more from hearing about how someone changed than about how they executed everything right. In any case, Ryan's story is a great example of how you can build something explosive by starting with something you're curious about, and building a genuine community around it. Show Notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/ryan-hoover-interview/

Learn how to hijack habits you don't want, and replace them with habits you do want. I'll specifically be talking about how to replace a Facebook habit with a book-reading habit. That's what I did, and that's what worked for me. But, you can try this with any habits you want to hijack. This article originally appeared on Medium. You can follow me at kadavy.net/medium Don't forget to take the Love Your Work survey for a chance to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card: http://kadavy.net/survey Show Notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/hijack-habits-podcast/

One day, Joanna Wiebe (@copyhackers) was hanging out on a web forum, helping a few startup founders with their copy. The next thing she knew, she had an inbox filled with requests for her help. So many people needed her copy help, that she couldn't help them all, so Joanna released some ebooks, under the name Copy Hackers, and made about $30,000 right away. Since then, Joanna has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs with their copy. But the more time she spent writing copy, the more she realized that all writers struggle with one thing: facing the blank page. Joanna has built a new app, called Airstory, to help serious writers collect together all of the pieces that make good writing, and make it happen. I immediately found it interesting, I've learned the hard way over the years that writing is not linear. Airstory helps bring the research and collaboration components of writing into a single cohesive experience. Joanna and I will talk more about how to keep the creative process going smoothly. Plus, she'll share some great tips on doing customer research – I especially like her hack of combing through Amazon reviews. Learn how, by following her passion, improvising with what she had, and facing her fears, Joanna has gone from her day job, to an information business, to building Airstory. Take the listener survey (before April 7) for a chance to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card: http://kadavy.net/survey Show Notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/joanna-wiebe-interview/

How do you feel first thing in the morning? If you're human, you're probably at least a little bit groggy. You aren't thinking straight, you can't focus. You're a wasted morning just waiting to happen. So, the first thing you do is reach for the coffee. I have a suggestion that may help you get more out of your mornings. Are you ready for this? I think you'll hate me for it. Well, I think you should let the coffee wait. I promise, I can explain. You see, that groggy feeling you have in the morning. You can do some amazing things in that state. It's the subject of this week's episode. This article originally appeared on Medium. You can follow me on Medium at kadavy.net/medium. Before I begin, how would you like a $20 Amazon Gift Card? Sound good? Well, I'm GIVING AWAY a $20 Amazon Gift Card every Friday from March 10th until April 7th. All you have to do is go to kadavy.net/survey and answer our short listener survey to be entered to win. It's seriously short. It will take you less than two minutes. I promise. Remember, I'm giving away a gift card EVERY WEEK, so, the sooner you answer the survey, the more chances you get to win. You only have to answer the survey once, and you'll get up to 5 chances to win. This episode comes out March 9th, so if you go to kadavy.net/survey and answer the survey RIGHT NOW, you'll have a very high chance of winning a $20 Amazon gift card, because I'm giving away a gift card TOMORROW. Again, go to kadavy.net/survey for a chance to win a $20 Amazon Gift card. Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/write-first-coffee-later/

Peter Bragiel wanted his own travel show. So, he got a camera and started traveling. At first, not much happened. Peter Bragiel just kept stowing the tapes away in a box. But, eventually, his adventures got bigger, and his videos got better. He's travelled the entire trans-Siberian railway, he's canoed the entire Mississippi river, and he even rode a tiny scooter, with a maximum speed of 29 miles-per-hour, across the United States. Peter's adventures are released on his YouTube channel, under the brand In-Transit TV. And Peter makes a living off of these travel videos. He's worked with brands such as Range Rover and American Express. He also learned Spanish using Rosetta Stone, as preparation for a sponsored trip to Cuba. (He ended up crashing a vintage car during the shoot. You'll hear about that, and what they did about it.) This week's episode is a great story about making dreams happen. How did Peter finally get the courage to publish his videos? How does he plan bigger and bigger trips? Why did Peter – who worked as a runway model in Milan, and an actor in Los Angeles – reject the gatekeepers and choose himself? I can't help but feel, after listening to this conversation, that Peter and I are a lot alike. It seems like he has always felt compelled to travel and make videos, even if it didn't immediately make sense. I know I'm always spending hours on things that don't immediately make sense. I especially liked hearing about how things he wrote in his journal years ago, eventually came to light. I think this is important to be aware of. Your subconscious is always trying to tell you something about your destiny, so it pays to listen. Sponsors http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/treehouse Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/peter-bragiel-interview/

Rejection hurts. Sometimes it hurts a little more than other times, but it still does hurt. But, rejection is a part of life. If you never get rejected, you're not really trying. In 2016, I quadrupled my creative output. But, I got rejected harder and more frequently than any year before. I'm hoping for bigger and better rejections in 2017. I reviewed my 2016 rejections, and it didn't feel good. I had to relive them all at once. But, it was a valuable exercise, and — if nothing else—you can take some sadistic pleasure in reading about them. Sponsors http://kadavy.net/freshbookshttp://kadavy.net/treehouse Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/top-rejections-podcast/

Hugh MacLeod (@hughcards) is a hero of mine, who helped me find my own path. It was 2004, I was sitting in a gray cubicle in Nebraska. And I discovered a PDF on the Internet called "How to be creative." I read it, and it was one of the most moving and inspiring things I had ever read. You know how sometimes you read something and you're like "yes! That's exactly what I was thinking! Except I didn't have words for it." This little PDF was like that for me. It was subversive, and edgy, and bold, and spoke to the non-conformist part of me that wanted to live outside of the template. And it had these brilliant little cartoons in it. They were all the same format. And small. Very small. It turns out they were all drawn on the back of business cards. Hugh MacLeod, the man behind this PDF had been drawing these cartoons for 7 years by this point. I came across his blog, called Gaping Void, and found more bold thinking and brilliant cartoons there. It was one of the blogs that inspired me to start my blog in 2004. I even put it in my "blog roll." You see, there was no Twitter or Facebook, so that's how you would connect people and ideas. You'd just put a link to their blog on your blog. And that's how you would say "listen to this person. This person has things to say." Since then, Hugh's cartoons have been seen everywhere. He's built a consulting business around the cartoons, helping companies define and express their culture. Companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Volkswagon, Zappos, eBay, and Intel. Hugh even illustrated a book with Seth Godin. Well, I'm very excited to be connecting you with Hugh MacLeod's ideas today. Listen to this interview to discover how to overcome perfection paralysis in your work. How do you discover your creative DNA? How do you fill your work with the universal truths of human experience, to make it resonate with others. And ultimately, how, and why, do work that serves others. Sponsors http://kadavy.net/freshbookshttp://kadavy.net/blogtutorial http://kadavy.net/treehouse Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/hugh-macleod-interview/

I talked about minimalism with some of my guests. I talked about it with Craig Benzine on episode 39, and with James Altucher on episode 53. I'm not an extreme minimalist. I don't count the number of things that I own, trying to keep the number down. I consider myself to be a practical minimalist. I have just enough things to improve my focus, but I don't have so many things that it hurts my focus. I recently went minimalist when I sold most of my things and moved to Colombia. In this episode, I'll share just how being a practical minimalist helps me focus. This post originally appeared on Medium. You can find it and follow me at kadavy.net/medium Sponsors http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/treehouse Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/practical-minimalism-focus-pod/

Vinnie Lauria found his calling after backpacking around Asia. He had just sold a company. He had just gotten married. He feared that if he spent a year traveling, he'd run out of money, and he'd run out of momentum. He worried it would be career suicide. But his wife, Kristine, pushed him to seize the day. They sold everything, gave up their apartment in The Mission and hopped on a one way flight across the Pacific, planning to come back in a year. Throughout his travels, Vinnie kept doing what he does best. He was meeting entrepreneurs everywhere he went – Korea, Japan, China, Indonesia, India, you name it – all over Asia. Along the way, he stumbled across a unique opportunity. He noticed there was a gap in funding for entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia. All of the Venture Capital firms were risk averse, and didn't invest with a Silicon Valley mindset. Meanwhile, there was an explosion of early-stage startups hungry for funding. So, with no investment experience to speak of, Vinnie partnered up with some friends and started a Venture Capital firm. Golden Gate Ventures is an early-stage VC firm in Southeast Asia. They've invested $60 in over 30 companies in 7 countries, including TradeGecko and Redmart. He and Kristine now live in Singapore, with their two children. They never did move back to San Francisco. Vinnie is a really close friend of mine. A year after I moved to California, I was pretty lost. I didn't like living in San Jose, and I didn't like the direction my startup was going in. I couldn't bear to give up and move back to Nebraska. Meanwhile San Francisco was just up the road, if only I had the courage to make the move. Around that time, I met Vinnie, and spent a lot of time with him and his now wife, Kristine. They were both adventurous, and had a bold perspective on living life. I did move up to San Francisco, and fulfilled a life-long dream of living in a bustling city. Vinnie always offered inspiration when I needed it. You'll see he's not afraid to do things that many people consider risky. He values adventure, and he's a big advocate of putting yourself in a situation where you have no choice but to succeed. As Vinnie likes to say "when you jump, the net appears." Listen to this episode for inspiration on making big changes in your life. Vinnie will share his story of quitting a secure job at IBM and moving across the country with no plan. We'll talk about how he used to live and work with as many as 12 people in a 3-bedroom apartment. He'll share his unique methods for managing the roughly 1,000 new people he meets every year, and how best to connect them. Overall, you'll hear how a guy from Long Island ended up founding a VC firm in Singapore. Sponsors http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/ac http://kadavy.net/treehouse Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/vinnie-lauria-interview/

We're well into 2017 now, and I've been reflecting on 2016. It was a great year. In fact, I more than quadrupled my creative output. I'm just talking about words published here. I'm not even talking about the weekly episodes I published here on Love Your Work. Almost every episode of Love Your Work so far has been in 2016. I spent much of 2016 experimenting with some methods of optimizing my creative output, and I'll be sharing them today. This post originally appeared on Medium. You can find it and follow me at kadavy.net/medium Sponsors http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/treehouse Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/4x-creative-productivity-podcast/

Noah Kagan first appeared on Love Your Work back on episode 41. On that episode, we talked about why discomfort is your compass, and learned that Noah even makes his bed in hotel rooms. I asked Noah to come back on the show because he had a blog post awhile back that I wanted to ask him about. It's called "my organization system," over on his blog, Okdork.com, and he talks pretty in-depth about how he manages his calendar week-to-week. I've been thinking a lot about managing mental energy throughout the week – after all, productivity – especially creative productivity – is more about mind management than it is about time management. So, listen to this show to hear, in-depth, how Noah optimizes his creative output by managing his mental energy. How does he get into flow? How does he juggle all of the details of running AppSumo and SumoMe? And how does he recharge? Noah is also joining the world of podcasters with his new show, Noah Kagan Presents. Noah interviewed me, and that episode should come out in a few weeks. Go subscribe to Noah Kagan Presents to be sure not to miss it. Sponsors http://kadavy.net/freshbookshttp://kadavy.net/ac http://kadavy.net/treehouse Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/noah-kagan-interview-2/

Over the past year, pretty much every week, I've released a new episode of Love Your Work. This will be my last episode this year. I'll be taking a break for a few weeks. We've come so far since exactly one year ago, when the first batch of episodes debuted. The show has now been downloaded over 200,000 times! If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you may have seen some of the growth charts. The downloads just keep growing week after week. I'm thrilled that the show is resonating with people, and I appreciate the subscribes and the reviews. I've had a great time over the past year, and I've learned so much from our guests. The show is really taking off, so why am I taking a break? I thought I'd share my thought process. I think it will make a good mini-episode in itself. Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/see-you-next-year/

There's this sort of productivity meme going around that you should make your bed. But, isn't making your bed kind of a waste? And isn't making your bed especially wasteful if you're busy? Here on Love Your Work, I've spent the past year interviewing some of the most successful entrepreneurs and creators. People like James Altucher, Jason Fried, Ryan Holiday, Laura Roeder, billionaire Steve Case, and many more. I wanted to get to the bottom of this meme. Today, on a very special episode of Love Your Work, we ask: do you really need to make your bed to be successful? Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/make-your-bed/

One of the best ways to impact others, while making money, is through building online courses. And, if you're considering writing a book, developing an online course is a great way to validate your idea, and see if your advice works. But, building online courses can be totally overwhelming. It seems there's so much you need to know about developing it, and marketing it. Then, there's all of the technical nuts and bolts for collecting payment, and delivering the course. Like many things, your vision of what your online course could be can get in the way of you even starting. I learned the hard way just how much energy you can waste with things that don't add value to your course. And, what I learned can be applied to product development at large. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/pre http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/8-things-online-courses/

James Altucher doesn't need an introduction for many of you. But for the rest, James is currently best known for his book, Choose Yourself, which is a National Bestseller, and which USA Today named in the top 12 business books of all time. You can buy Choose Yourself at kadavy.net/choose He also has a very popular podcast. The James Altucher show has featured guests such as Tim Ferriss, Dan Ariely, Peter Thiel, Coolio, and Jewel. James has published well over a dozen books, and first made his name as a financial pundit, writing for The Financial Times, and TheStreet.com. He's also appeared many times on CNBC as a financial expert. James has become a millionaire, then lost it all, multiple times. He's been an entrepreneur, a hedge fund manager, and even hosted an HBO show. He writes about what he's learned through the ups and downs of his life and career on his website, jamesaltucher.com. Popular articles include "How to be the luckiest guy on the planet in 4 easy steps," and "I want my kids to be drug addicts." Listen to this conversation to learn the hows and whys of investing in yourself, including why buying a house may be a terrible decision for you. James and I will also talk about our recent experiences with going minimalist. He has a method for getting rid of things that I wish I would have used. I really wanted to dig into how James has managed to be so prolific in his work. He produces a ton of work, It seems like he rarely doubts any ideas he has. It seems like it's always been that way for him. Which doesn't help much if you're struggling to be more courageous in your work. If you're someone, like me, who wasn't born thinking big, James will share his tips on how to make progress. As someone who has learned a lot from reading James's writing, I was also excited to learn more about how he approaches writing. James is going to share some absolute gold on writing that has already helped me make my own writing connect with others. Also, learn how my former neighbor, Warren Buffett chose himself. And, if you happen to be a podcaster too, I selfishly asked James how he connects with influential guests, and how he prepares for interviews. Even if you aren't a podcaster, his answers, of course, could help you connect with influencers, and help you get more out of the books you read. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/pre http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/james-altucher-interview/

One of the more subtle underlying themes of this show is that you should invest in yourself. There's a lot of noise out there you'll hear from others who want you to spend your money in ways that will benefit them. Ultimately, you have to be mindful in your decisions so that you're sure you're really investing in yourself. I'll be talking about that a bit more in my conversation next week with James Altucher. Look out for that episode to drop next TUESDAY. I'm going to release it slightly early so it doesn't interfere with Thanksgiving in the US. For now, I want to share my own story of choosing myself. This is about the time that I almost went to business school. What I decided to do next defined the course of my career. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/pre http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/my-40000-diy-mba/

Dan Ariely is a researcher on the forefront of behavioral science. He specializes in understanding irrational behavior, for example, why do people take less candy if you give it out for free, than if you charge a penny for all the candy you want? Dan actively works to find ways to change behavior for the better using this knowledge. Dan is a professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University. He's also the founder of the Center for Advanced Hindsight, which helps companies improve well-being using behavioral science. Dan has also co-founded many companies, including a productivity app called Timeful. I worked with Dan on Timeful, and Google bought the company. Now, some of Timeful's features, such as "Goals" have been integrated into Google Calendar, impacting what must be hundreds of millions of people. Dan's numerous TED talks have been viewed nearly 15 million times. He's the author of three New York Times best-selling books, including Predictably Irrational. He has a new book called "Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations," which you can buy at kadavy.net/payoff. In Dan's new book, he unlocks the secrets of motivation, whether you're motivating others, or yourself. Listen to this interview to learn why bonuses can reduce productivity, what is it that people really want from work? How does Dan – who is a self-proclaimed bad manager – manage a big lab of talented people? And how can you hack your own motivation using behavioral science research? Sponsors http://wpengine.com/pre http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/dan-ariely-interview/

The current productivity wisdom is all about getting things done. Now, productivity is about making creative breakthroughs happen. Getting Things Done brought us beyond todo lists and priorities, and made us think about breaking projects into actions, and giving those actions contexts. By considering the context of our todos, and by giving ourselves a place for the "someday maybes," we freed up our minds from the overwhelming wave of clutter delivered by our newly-digital world. GTD was the killer tool of the knowledge worker. But, in an increasingly distracted world, where even knowledge work is threatened by technology, productivity needs to evolve once again. This article originally appeared on Medium. You can follow me on Medium at kadavy.net/medium Sponsors http://wpengine.com/lyw http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/productivity-isnt-gtd/

Nir Eyal, author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, has been on the show before. We had a little debate about digital distraction back in episode 21. Nir and I have both been exploring new book ideas independently, and practicing writing about those ideas, somewhere within that space. I've been leaning more into the productivity space, which you've heard a lot of on this podcast. So, we recently had a call where we discussed where we were headed, how we're testing out new ideas, and how we might position new ideas. We figured, just in case, we'd record the conversation, in case it would make a good podcast episode. And I think it will make a good episode, especially if you're an aspiring author who wonders how to home in on the right book idea. We'll talk about writing for Medium.com, and why it's such a powerful tool for testing out new ideas. I'll get very specific about my process for analyzing ideas I write on Medium, and how I decide what's worth pursuing further. We'll also talk about the psychology of book positioning, book marketing, and coming up with titles for books – a bit of an extension of the book marketing conversation I had with Tucker Max on episode 29. Note that I say "we," and I'm aware I ended up dominating the conversation. This is something I do when I get too excited about something. Still, it should be useful. And if you have no book-writing aspirations, it will be a perhaps unsettling behind-the-scenes look at how the sausage is made. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/lyw http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/medium-book-marketing-nir-eyal/

If you have certain behaviors that you want to encourage in your life, you can be intentional about making them happen. Here's a trick I devised to make it easy to do things that are good for me, and a little harder to do things that are bad for me. This article originally appeared on Medium. You can follow me on Medium at kadavy.net/medium Sponsors http://wpengine.com/lyw http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/make-it-easy-podcast/

Jocelyn K. Glei is author of Unsubscribe: How to Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done. You can buy the book at kadavy.net/email It's an awesome book that I really wish I had when I was first trying to get things done with email in the working world. I've since gotten my email decently organized, just through learning the hard way. Still, Unsubscribe had some very useful ideas and tools for me, I'll be exploring it all in my conversation with Jocelyn today. Listen to this episode to learn how you can keep email from distracting you from your important work, how can you use it to move projects forward, to build relationships with influential people, and how can you use it in a way that will nurture the relationships that you do have? Sponsors http://wpengine.com/lyw http://kadavy.net/treehouse http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/jocelyn-k-glei-interview/

Back when I was writing my first book, I was shocked how hard it was. I was spending all day just trying to get into that flow state. So, here's one way I've found to help make that flow state happen on demand. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/speedy http://kadavy.net/treehouse http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/yolo-blank-wall/

Cards Against Humanity's Max Temkin (@maxtemkin) is co-creator of Amazon's #1 selling card game – actually the #1 seller in all of the whole Toys & Games category. It's a game for horrible people, and it's also America's #1 gerbil coffin. You've probably played it before. Max Temkin and his friends were self-described "nerds." They didn't play sports, they didn't have girlfriends, and they were bored. So, they played lots of board games. They played Balderdash so much, they couldn't even play it anymore because they knew all of the words in the game. They became game connoisseurs. They played so many games, they had to make their own. Cards Against Humanity started as PDFs you could download and print out. The game is still available this way, for free, on their website, but Cards Against Humanity has independently produced and sold their game, making millions in profit. Listen to this interview to learn how to make a good impression on notable people, how to be ready to act when luck comes your way, what deep two psychological phenomena made Cards Against Humanity so explosively popular, and why it's important to figure things out for yourself. Also, learn how Max and team made $70,000 by literally selling "nothing," and nearly $4 million selling bullshit. I mean actual shit from bulls. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/speedy http://kadavy.net/treehouse http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/max-temkin-interview/

This week, I share you a story of failure. I know everyone seems to be obsessed with failure lately, and I always thought it was strange. I didn't usually look at things as failures, but as lessons learned. Well, in this case, I really tried for something, really thought I would succeed, and I really failed. Or at least I felt like it. In actuality, it could just be another lesson learned – another step on the path toward meeting my goal. This is an article that originally appeared on Medium. You can follow me on Medium at kadavy.net/medium Sponsors http://wpengine.com/speedy http://kadavy.net/treehouse http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-work-episode-44-failed/

Mark Manson is known for writing personal development advice that doesn't suck. He writes at markmanson.net, which has more than 2 million readers a month. Mark writes about a variety of topics, including happiness, self-knowledge, habits, and relationships. You've probably read Mark's work before. Big hits include "Fuck Yes or No," "In Defense of Being Average," and an article by the same name as his upcoming book: "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck." I love Mark's writing because it cuts right through the usual self-help nonsense you read that may make you think that all you need to do is follow your passion and think positively and you'll somehow magically become successful. Instead, Mark encourages you to see things as they are, to find comfort in discomfort, and to accept that when you try to have it all, you really end up with very little. So, this interview is great for anyone ready to face the hard truths in life in pursuit of being the best version of themselves. Find out why mark starts off his new book telling you "don't try." How can you find fulfillment and shut down unhealthy cycles in your life and relationships. How can travel clean away your biases and insecurities. If you're living or considering living the digital nomad lifestyle for awhile, how does Colombia differ from Brazil? How can you get the benefits of travel without leaving your hometown? And how does your lifestyle change when your values change? Sponsors http://wpengine.com/speedy http://kadavy.net/treehouse http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/mark-manson-interview/

On Tim Ferriss's podcast, Malcolm Gladwell urged his 30-year-old self to "Leave North America…. Which is — despite the fact that it pretends to be the only place that matters — is not the only place that matters." I recently moved out of North America myself, and I share my thought process in this Medium article (which also appeared on Observer). Sponsors http://wpengine.com/loveyourwork http://activecampaign.com/loveyourwork http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/leave-north-america/

Noah Kagan is a close friend of mine who has been one of my secret weapons in my own battle as an entrepreneur. Years ago, when I first started out on my own, and I was wandering from cafe to cafe in San Francisco, working on a Facebook app, Noah Kagan invited me to bring my laptop to his office space. He was building his own Facebook app empire at the time. We'd get burritos in South Park, in SOMA, and Noah always had fresh ideas. Ever since then, whenever I've struggled with motivation, whenever I've felt overwhelmed in my business, I've asked myself What Would Noah Kagan Do? Noah is now best known for AppSumo, which is a daily deals site for digital goods, and also SumoMe, which is a little toolkit you can install on your website to grow your audience with email sign-ups, a share widget, click heatmaps and a bunch more tools. You may have also heard of Noah because he's missed out on some big exits. He was #4 at Mint, which sold to Intuit for $170 million, and he was #30 at Facebook, which is currently valued at more than $350 billion, but he got fired after 8 months. So, Noah potentially missed out on easily more than a hundred million dollars. Most people hear that, and it sounds totally devastating. But, I know Noah, and I don't think he would change a thing. That's because Noah has injected his own personality and his own unique way of doing things into his business. And he's found success his own way. He's done that better than anyone I know. He works really hard, but he always makes it fun. In fact, I sat down during a retreat he organized with his company in Chicago. The retreat even had a t-shirt, and Noah was of course wearing it. I can recall many different 2-minute conversations I've had with Noah that have lead to big breakthroughs, and – wow – we have more than an hour here. Listen to this episode and learn about continuous improvement: How does Noah keep improving in his business – specifically when it comes to running webinars? How do you incentivize others to be selfish and get them to share? How do you balance the art of a business with the operations? How do you find complementary team members? How do you pick your battles to have the biggest impact with the least headaches? Why is discomfort your compass? Why might you want to read the same book over and over again? and more... Sponsors http://wpengine.com/loveyourwork http://activecampaign.com/loveyourwork http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/noah-kagan-interview/

Google Calendar has been adding new features lately. You can find time for your goals, and set reminders, for example. I played a very small part in these features, but I learned a lot about my own productivity in the process. This post originally appeared on Medium. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/loveyourwork http://activecampaign.com/loveyourwork http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-your-work-episode-40-three-productivity-lessons-from-google-calendar/

Craig Benzine hit rock bottom when he wasn't getting any tables at his job as a waiter, and he feared he wouldn't be able to pay his rent. So, he started making YouTube videos. Okay, that's not the first thing I'd advise you to do if you're having trouble paying rent, but it worked for Craig. He's built a life and living for himself making videos featuring clones of himself, imaginary whales, explosions, beards, and coffee. Craig is known on YouTube and elsewhere as WheezyWaiter. And he also runs a channel called The Good Stuff where he teaches you all about things like renewable energy, robots, and albino squirrels. He also appears on a channel called Crash Course, where he's the U.S. Government and Politics instructor. If all of that weren't enough, Craig is also in a band called Driftless Pony Club, and they have released 6 albums since 2004. I dabbled with making silly YouTube videos myself several years ago, and that's when I first discovered Craig's work. I couldn't figure out how on earth Craig was managing to make a video every single day before going to work. It was inspiring to watch, and at the same time it made me feel totally inadequate. Fortunately, I got to sit down with him in Chicago, and ask him how he does it. You'll learn about how Craig uses habit-building and constraints to increase his creative output. How does he manage to put out so much great work. You'll notice also how Craig works with his productivity cycles. He knows the best time of day for his creative work, and he makes the most of it. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/loveyourwork http://activecampaign.com/loveyourwork http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/wheezywaiter-interview/

We all have habits that we'd like to build. But we usually aim a little too high. If you understand that the building of the habit is in itself something to achieve, then building good habits will be easier. This article originally appeared on Medium. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/loveyourwork http://activecampaign.com/loveyourwork http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-your-work-episode-38-build-the-habit-first/

David Kadavy (that's me) being interviewed by Almog from the Unstagnate podcast. He did such a great job of researching, and teasing out the things I've been thinking about a lot lately that I just had to share it with you, which he was kind enough to let me do. In this discussion, I'll share the rituals and thought frameworks I used to write my first book, Design for Hackers, in half the time of most books like it. Bear in mind that's total time from book deal to book release. It actually was 12 hours a day of agony, but I'll tell you about the cohesive personal productivity system I've devised to make my flow states happen at the right times. You'll also hear the story behind how that first book even happened – how I had set up my entire life so that when something like that opportunity came along – I would be ready for it. Also, how did I get the opportunity to work with behavioral scientist Dan Ariely, on features that are now being integrated into Google Calendar, such as "Goals" and "Reminders." Find out why you might want to grab a pen BEFORE you grab your morning coffee. How to create a virtuous cycle of productivity to train yourself to focus more deeply. Why is it so important to develop a well-defined worldview? How do I weigh the pros and cons of various ways of naming things, such as my book Design for Hackers, and this podcast, Love Your Work? How does the name of this podcast tie into landing big guests like Steve Case and Jason Fried, and how do I convince such busy people to be so generous with their time? Sponsors http://wpengine.com/loveyourwork http://activecampaign.com/loveyourwork http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/david-kadavy-podcast-interview/

Do you have a big daunting project that you just can't seem to get started on? Try the "First-Hour" rule. This article originally appeared on Medium. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/loveyourwork http://activecampaign.com/loveyourwork http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/first-hour-rule/

Dr. Terry Wahls (@terrywahls) is an inspiring example of turning a struggle into an opportunity, but I was more interested in her area of expertise. You may have already seen the inspiring TEDx talk of Dr. Terry Wahl's. She has MS, and was confined to a wheelchair for 4 years. But, using her knowledge of biology, Dr. Terry engineered a diet based upon paleo and ketogenic principles to feed the power centers of her cells. Now, she rides her bike to work, and is out of the wheelchair. Dr. Terry is now running clinical trials based upon her diet protocol, and has written a book. I recently picked up, The Wahl's Protocol to seek relief from chronic inflammation, and I've implemented her diet with great results. I have less pain, more energy, and I've also noticed my mental performance improve. You can pick up the book at http://kadavy.net/wahls In this interview, we cover some of the building blocks of Dr. Terry's diet: What really does "paleo" mean? How does this "ketosis" thing you've heard about so much lately really work, and what does it mean for your health – especially for epilepsy and cancer? What does someone really mean when they say a diet is "detoxifying," and how does detoxification work? What are the challenges in proving and implementing dietary treatments, and how do you evaluate the potential upsides or downsides of experimental approaches in general. We'll even talk about stem cell transplants, fecal transplants, and the microbiome. If you or anyone close to you is battling an illness, you may find something useful in this interview, and even if you are healthy, you'll hear interesting and exciting things on the frontiers of health. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/loveyourwork http://activecampaign.com/loveyourwork http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/terry-wahls-interview/

This is an article that originally appeared on Medium. It was later picked up by The Atlantic's Quartz. Give yourself permission to do nothing once in awhile. You may be surprised how productive it makes you. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/loveyourwork http://activecampaign.com/loveyourwork http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-your-work-episode-34-productivity-hack-do-nothing/

Elise Bauer's SimplyRecipes (@simplyrecipes) is where I go when I'm searching for a recipe. I always find something healthy and delicious, with clear instructions and beautiful photos, all posted by Elise herself. Honestly, I probably don't have to type in the "simplyrecipes" part because the site is extremely popular. It's been featured in Time Magazine and was named the #1 food blog by the Daily Meal 4 years in a row. Whatever I'm looking for, I find it, because Elise has posted about 1,600 recipes over the past 15 years. She started SimplyRecipes when she was so sick, she had to move back in with her parents at the age of 40. At first, she was hand-coding her recipes in static HTML and just posting them to her personal site, Elise.com. Now the site has grown so massive, she recently sold it to Fexy Media, but still handles all of the cooking and writing and posting of recipes. I wanted to bring Elise's story to you not only because I love SimplyRecipes, but also because she has such a great story. As you'll hear in the interview, during a difficult time, she took the little things that were good in her life and expanded on them. She doubled down on love and built something great. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/loveyourwork http://activecampaign.com/loveyourwork http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/elise-bauer-interview/

A/B testing is a really hot topic in entrepreneurship. Fortunately, I think people have started to come to their senses with it. It's not that it doesn't work if you really know what you're doing, but it can really lead you astray when you are early on in a project. I've heard Ramit Sethi mention recently that he wasn't really A/B testing until he was at about $1 million revenue. I recently heard Noah Kagan say "almost nobody should be A/B testing." In this article, I share my experiment with A/A testing, and some of the misleading "results" I discovered. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/loveyourwork http://activecampaign.com/loveyourwork http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-your-work-episode-32-stop-ab-testing/

How can your ego hold you back in your aspirations, your successes, and in your failures? Ryan Holiday (@ryanholiday) covers it all in his new book, "Ego is the Enemy." You can buy it at kadavy.net/ego As Ryan talks about in the discussion, he sort of wrote this book for himself. Ryan had an unusual amount of success very early in life. He dropped out of college at 19 to apprentice under author Robert Greene. He worked for a Beverly Hills talent agency, advising multiplatinum musicians, and he was the head of marketing at American Apparel by the time he was about 21. In addition to writing books, Ryan helps other authors market their books. He's worked with authors like Tucker Max, (who we spoke with on episode 29), Tim Ferriss, and James Altucher. In this discussion we talk about how to recognize how ego holds you back in all aspects of life and work, and what to do about it. There are lots of helpful thoughts about how to balance your passion projects with your day job, and we also talk about so-called "pageview economics," something Ryan has a lot of insight into. If you want to know how media works, you should also read his first book, "Trust me I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator." You can find it at kadavy.net/trustme Sponsors: http://wpengine.com/loveyourwork http://activecampaign.com/loveyourwork http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-your-work-episode-31-ryan-holiday-tame-the-enemy-inside/

The places you invest your money, and the objects you surround yourself with both have a huge influence on how you spend your time and energy, and buying this $600 lamp helped me read more books. This article is available on Medium. You can just google $600 lamp, or go to http://kadavy.net/medium Sponsors http://kadavy.net/treehousehttp://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-your-work-episode-30-buy-a-600-lamp-read-more-books/

Tucker Max (@tuckermax) is best known as a self-proclaimed "asshole." He has written three NUMBER ONE New York Times best-sellers, including "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell." He is only the third writer EVER to have three books on the nonfiction best-seller list at the same time. Tucker is a book marketing GENIUS, and it shows in this interview. Since I've been trying the crack the positioning code for a new book lately, it was such a privilege to get Tuckers insights on what makes a book successful. As Tucker will dissect for us, there's a big difference, psychologically, between an article someone will click on and read on the web, and a book that they will dig into their pockets to pay for. It's absolutely essential to understand this if you plan on writing a book. By the way, this psychology is relevant to the conversation I had on episode 21 with Nir Eyal: just think of how differently Facebook would be designed if you were PAYING for it! Anyway, Tucker is using his book marketing Jedi-mind tricks to run a really exciting new business called Book in a Box. They help you take your knowledge, and turn it into a book. It's not ghost writing, which we'll get to in the interview. Amongst many things, Tucker will dissect for us the difference between a good click bait title, and a good book title, how to feel fulfilled in your life to break free of social media, and how Hillary and Trump brilliantly "flip the frame" on each other. In case you couldn't tell by now, this episode is more NSFW than usual. Enjoy it with your headphones on. Sponsors Treehouse: http://kadavy.net/treehouseAudible: http://kadavy.net/audibleActive Campaign: http://kadavy.net/activecampaign Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/tucker-max-podcast-interview/

Tuesday was the 12-year anniversary of my very first blog post. On this week's show, I'm bringing you the top lesson that I've learned from 12 years of blogging. That blog post could easily be the worst blog post I've ever written, but it's actually the best blog post I've ever written. I'll explain why in this short article. You can find this article on my Medium profile at http://kadavy.net/medium Sponsors Treehouse: http://kadavy.net/treehouse Audible: http://kadavy.net/audible Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-your-work-episode-28-start-where-you-are/

Jeff Goins is the author of The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do. In The Art of Work, Jeff explains why finding your calling doesn't always follow the neat storybook path that you expect. You have to listen to your life, engage in painful practice, and build bridges all to let your story emerge. In this discussion, we talk about how clarity comes with action, what makes practice deliberate practice, and why frequency matters more than quantity. He'll also share the most cringe-inducing story of asking someone out I think I've ever heard. Don't worry, there's a lesson to be learned from it. Here's the interview. Sponsors: http://kadavy.net/treehouse http://kadavy.net/audible http://kadavy.net/activecampaign Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-your-work-episode-26-jeff-goins-listen-to-your-life/

I recently turned 37, and this is everything I've learned so far. I originally wrote this post on Medium. Here's the text of the post, in case you're reading this description: 37 LESSONS FROM 37 YEARS I have been alive for 37 years. Here is everything I've learned: 1. Whenever possible, act now. 2. You're worth so much more than your eyeballs. 3. What you think is "all in your head," may actually be in your body. Find a good doctor. 4. Trust your subconscious. It knows your path better than you do. 5. Get therapy. 6. You're bombarded with mediocre opportunities. 7. Thus, it's your challenge to ignore mediocre opportunities. 8. You're bombarded with mediocre friendships and relationships. 9. Thus, it's your challenge to ignore mediocre friendships and relationships. 10. Most people are dying to distract themselves from their own thoughts. 11. There is a lot of money to be made in distracting people from their own thoughts. 12. Thus, everything around you is built to help people distract themselves from their own thoughts. 13. So, ignore most everything, and make space for your own thoughts. 14. Nobody reads the whole article before commenting. 15. Nearly everybody is "juicing." They're making themselves sick trying to catch up with one another. 16. Thus, your challenge is to catch up with your self. 17. You can only know so much. 18. And, your brain is ruled by biases. 19. Thus, you can hardly trust what you think you know. 20. And, you can only know so much about a person. 21. So, if you feel jealous when comparing yourself to someone else, you're wrong. 22. Take improv classes. It will get you out of your head, and into the moment. 23. Take voice lessons. It really is possible to improve your singing. 24. Only sing in a key that is comfortable for you. 25. Take lessons in a social dance (Salsa, Swing, Tango, etc.) You'll learn to cooperate, and you'll have instant community anywhere you travel. 26. Traveling sucks. It's much better to live in different places for short bursts. 27. What you think is a personality flaw may just be the bad influence of the place where you live. 28. What you think sucks about where you live may just be a flaw in your perception. 29. If you merely suspect something is holding you back. It's not. You are. 30. When you dream of something, that thing seems impossible. 31. When something you dream of feels impossible, it makes you unhappy. 32. Thus, be comfortable with where you are. 33. But still, dream, while being comfortable with where you are. 34. When you use a bookmark, you invite yourself to forget what you've read. 35. Thus, don't use bookmarks. 36. Smart people do dumb things when the pressure is on. 37. Even though it's cliché to end a list with something pithy, it ties it up nicely. Clichés are clichés for a reason. Sponsors http://kadavy.net/treehouse http://kadavy.net/activecampaign Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-your-work-episode-25-37-lessons-from-37-years/

Steve Case is the former CEO of AOL – America Online. Many of you probably chuckle when you see someone with an email address that ends in AOL.com, but for me and many millions of others, AOL was our first contact with the Internet. Steve has a new book out called The Third Wave. The premise is that the first wave of the internet was building the infrastructure – things like getting computers with modems into people's homes, and getting them on the internet, the second wave was software-focused – things like Facebook, and now that we have all of that built out, it's time to change more entrenched industries like Healthcare, Food, and Government. Steve stresses that perseverance is going to be critical in the Third Wave, which is something for all of you Lean Startup practitioners to consider: you can't necessarily abandon your idea because you don't get traction right away. You'll also have to form partnerships – sometimes with big, entrenched organizations that are slow-moving. So, opportunities to create something world-changing by just writing a few lines of code are becoming scarce. I really enjoyed the book – especially the parts about the early days of AOL. AOL had a huge impact in the 90's, and I remember flipping through channels and seeing Steve on CNN giving some kind of Senate testimony. I don't remember what exactly he said, I just remember thinking it was really next-level stuff to my 17-year-old brain. It was the first time I had any awareness of how entrepreneurs and technology shape culture and shape humanity. I hadn't realized before reading the book that it took AOL about a decade to really get traction, so it was interesting to hear those stories of the perseverance that is going to be so critical in the Third Wave. I think Steve's theories about the Third Wave make a ton of sense. Thanks to having infrastructure, we had a good decade or so where our world was reinvented by software, but now there are big challenges in changing slower-moving industries. Even if you're a solopreneur like me, even if you're an employee for life, and you don't have interest in disrupting entrenched industries, it's important to think about these larger trends and how they effect the world around you, and your relevance. Sponsor: http://kadavy.net/treehouse Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/steve-case-podcast-interview/