Categories
Lifestyle Productivity Routines Wellness

Soul Sabbath: Finding Restorative Practices on Days Off

I’m engaging intentionally in rituals that revitalize my spirit.

Whether our work schedules are full-time, part-time, Monday through Friday, shift cycles, homemaker, or solopreneur, our bodies and minds require therapeutic rituals of restoration. We ignore this reality at our peril.

There are times when we all wish we had the endurance and tenacity of machines. When life’s realities confront us and we feel the plates of responsibility slipping, our response can be — like Boxer in George Orwell’s Animal Farm — “I will work harder.”

I will get up earlier, go to bed earlier, allow myself fewer moments of wasteful leisure, invest more in relationships, and just generally dig deeper to put every waking moment to productive use.

And yet, when we systematically deny ourselves opportunities for rest and rejuvenation, this approach inevitably fails. Sleep deficits start to accumulate. Stresses build. Our tempers grow short and our bodies succumb to illness.

As the fog of physical and mental fatigue sets in, our decisions become more irrational and selfish, and we lose the emotional margin required to invest with passion and energy in the people and priorities dearest to us.

We’ve all been there.

It’s from these experiences that I’ve learned to craft the sorts of cathartic experiences that my spirit needs each weekend. No, my weekends don’t perfectly resemble the strict adherence to sabbath instructed in the Abrahamic religions, but in my way I’m paying respect to the core principles of sabbath-keeping that these faiths advise and I believe our bodies and minds require.

With that said, here are some of the revitalizing Saturday rituals that most resonate with me. Some are small, some are more significant, but all contribute to a process of spiritual healing and rejuvenation that puts me in a good position for another week of productive work. My hope is that one or more of these may plant in you a seed of inspiration that leads to more life and catharsis in your days off as well.

  • Friday family fun nights. My weekend starts with spending quality time as a family. This might look like dinner at Chipotle, a walk at the beach or by the river, and a board game or movie (with Mom’s awesome popcorn, of course). The formula can be simple, but it’s the time together that counts.
  • Saturday morning sleep-in and reading. This is the one morning of the week that I can afford to sleep in until 8 or 9. Rather than launch immediately out of bed, this first hour is a great opportunity to lazily read my Kindle and cuddle with my partner. Both are wonderful.
  • Bakery and Starbucks. This family tradition is only a couple months old, but I like it a lot. By late Saturday morning, the four of us walk to a neighborhood bakery for fresh Italian flatbread and then hang out at our local Starbucks. This is what Gordon Neufeld calls “collecting” — the idea of emotionally connecting with our boys before we begin our own activities of the day. With a Pike in hand and feeling well-slept, I’m in the mood to chill for sure.
  • Family chores. No, our housework list doesn’t look like rest from a distance. But as I make the bed, fold and sort laundry, tidy up belongings, file papers, collect garbage, and clean our three bathrooms, I get into a very settled and centered headspace. While I’m doing these tasks, the rest of the family is doing their parts to clean every floor and surface of our home as well. It’s a house reset that satisfies.
  • Audio bliss. During all of my sorting and scrubbing, I’m listening to great audio content that I missed during the week: scripture, education podcasts, productivity podcasts, and even YouTube videos I’ve bookmarked on my ‘Watch Later’ list. If I can do some learning and growing while brushing a toilet bowl, that’s a win.
  • Purging. I try to take a few minutes each Saturday to perform a few simplifying activities. I might rid myself of a clothing item, a phone app that I no longer use, or a DVD that I haven’t watched in years. These activities only take a couple of minutes but are oddly satisfying. One of the hidden rewards of this ritual is that I’m forced to take stock of what I do have and inevitably rediscover some treasures in the process.
  • Date time. Saturday nights are dedicated to keeping the fires of love burning! Date Night often includes Happy Hour at our favorite restaurant, some financial budgeting, calendar updates, long-term planning, and decision-making. Once these gnarly but important bits are done, we try to go for a walk together — outdoors, weather permitting.
  • Chill time. Saturday is really our one guilt-free Netflix session of the week. Although it’s a challenge for my wife and I to find a title we’re both interested in seeing sometimes — our Netflix profiles are ridiculously different — we can usually find a compromise and enjoy some screen time together. Some Saturdays, we spend late-night wine time with other couples and build relationships in cozy living rooms — every bit as good as Netflix.
  • Sexy times. Ha, let’s face it — we all wish we could have more of these. If you’re in a committed relationship, you know the connecting quality that only physical intimacy can provide. If it’s not happening on the weekends or your valuable days off, it may not be happening at all. My wife and I value our relationship too much to let that happen. Thus, weekends = magic.
  • Worship. The restful elements of my weekend are capped on Sunday mornings by awesome times of worship with my family and church community — perhaps the most life-giving ritual of all. We pray, sing, reflect, learn, encourage, laugh, talk, and build relationships. As we leave the neighborhood school facility that houses our faith community, my heart is always full and encouraged.

Once this worship time is over, I’m immediately back into work mode: publishing my latest episode of the Teachers on Fire podcast, responding to emails, evaluating student work, planning for the school week ahead, studying for my Master’s degree, and any number of other workish activities that get caught up in the swirl of life. It’s fully game on.

Rest time is over … but if all of these restorative practices are behind me, I’m feeling fully emotionally, physically, and spiritually charged and ready to go.

Where are you on this business of recharging? Do you set aside time for cathartic practices on your days off, or do such moments prove elusive in the face of competing priorities? Do you have a life-giving ritual on your days off work that you would recommend? Let me know in the comments below.

Categories
Content Creation Entrepreneurship Gig Economy Lifestyle

Indulging Dreams of the Laptop Lifestyle

“What if next year we just quit our jobs and worked from home?” I asked my wife. She stared back, her eyes trying to gauge exactly how serious I was.

Photo Credit: @RawPixel

My wife and I both work full time.

During the ten months of the school year, my teaching position consumes at least 50 hours a week (that’s eight hours at school plus at least two hours split before and after work each weekday). Throw in a little more time spent in the evenings and weekends, especially during weeks with special events or reporting seasons, and I’m closer to 60 hours/week.

I’m definitely not crying about this situation. I’m fully aware that a ton of professionals and entrepreneurs spend far north of 60 hours per week.

I’m just calling things as they are.

Both my wife and I are very thankful for our current jobs, which allow us incredible opportunities to build relationships, serve others, grow, learn, and utilize our skills. My job in particular allows me the amazing honor and privilege of pouring love, life, and hope into dozens of young adults every day. It facilitates the formation of meaningful friendships with other like-minded professionals with whom I share significant ideals, values, and passions. Every staff team at every school I’ve served with has felt, to some degree, like a family. These are monumental blessings for which I am truly and deeply grateful.

All of that said, I can’t help but notice the ways the world has changed in the last ten years. I can’t help but notice the economic opportunities that technology has produced. I can’t help but notice that online marketplaces reward creativity, passion, and consistency over time. And it’s fun to dream, periodically — however silly our dreams might be — about the possibility of completely flipping the script of our current work lives and working from our laptops.

Rest assured, we’re nowhere near making the leap today, this year, or even next year. We’re well aware that a leap of this magnitude would likely take a year or two (at minimum) to properly set up and plan. Until then, we’re only dreaming.

But How Would You Replace Your Current Incomes?

We’re not exactly sure. Most likely, the laptop lifestyle formula would include some mix of income streams from online sales, marketing services, online courses, book writing, and content creation. How much of the pie each of those slices would make up would likely be determined by the response of the market vs. the passion and time we invest into each. Along the journey, there may be other streams that we discover, too. But those five would likely factor into the mix in some form or fashion for the foreseeable future.

Still just dreaming here … but what follows is a little thinking aloud about the pros and cons of the laptop lifestyle. By now, maybe I’ve lost you — the concept is so ridiculous and laughable that the only reason you’re still reading is to see how deep this madness can possibly go. But maybe you’ve had similar thoughts: like me, you’re not close to making the laptop leap, but a spirit of entrepreneurship tugs at you as well.

If that’s you, consider these pros and cons.

What’s the Draw? Some Pros of the (Successful) Laptop Lifestyle

  • Freedom of location. Working from home, Starbucks, oceanside cafes, or even in foreign cities would become everyday options. Our workspaces would be limited only by our access to internet.
  • Freedom of activities. This is a joy of entrepreneurship — the right to choose your own work and align your productive activities with your creative talents and passions. Come on — that’s a big deal.
  • Freedom of time allocation. The laptop lifestyle wouldn’t necessarily free up more discretionary time — in fact, it might even cost us more hours than we currently work. But it would produce greater freedom and control in terms of how and when our time is allocated.
  • A higher income ceiling. Don’t misunderstand me. I harbor no romantic delusions regarding the ease or size of incomes that our new laptop lifestyle would generate in the short term. But the salary grids that my wife and I are currently paid on? Gone.
  • Online work is scalable. If you make canoes or quilts, your sales are ultimately limited by your health, energy, and time. But most online work is scalable, meaning it has the potential for limitless growth and reverberating benefits. Digital products, in particular, can generate incomes for years after their creation. That’s an upside worth considering.
  • New challenges, new growth. I’m a big believer in the power of the growth mindset. New adversity, obstacles, and opportunities would require skill acquisition and development. It would require some trailblazing. And we’d learn and grow — however uncomfortably — every step of the way.
  • Being able to work together. Call us sappy, but even after four years of marriage, my wife and I still love each other’s company. The freedom to work in the same physical spaces would be really, really cool. Sure, entrepreneurship would test us in new ways. But I have no doubt that our relationship would grow stronger than ever.

Cons of the Laptop Lifestyle

  • Loss of community. As I said earlier, my wife and I enjoy the relationships formed in both of our current organizations, and those relationships would be sorely missed. By contrast, entrepreneurship can be a lonely and isolating venture.
  • Loss of defined mission and purpose. Both of our current organizations also serve people well. Like really, really well. Service is an integral part of their missions, identities, and cultures. It’s worth acknowledging that we’d have to work very intentionally to embrace a similar ethic and avenues of service to others. That would be a spiritual necessity.
  • Loss of external accountability. Sure, maybe this one could go in the pros list, stated as ‘not having a boss.’ But there’s something to be said for the work we produce and the hours we keep when we’re working under the accountability and direction of others. With those accountability structures removed, it would be up to us to engage in productive activities in timely and market-appropriate ways.
  • Loss of predictable incomes and benefits. Let’s end with the obvious. We both currently enjoy good incomes, generous health benefits, and dependable retirement contributions. Those would all go bye bye with a leap to the laptop lifestyle, obviously, and all the usual costs of living would be immediately thrust upon us. Not only that, we’d be permanently accepting the uncertainty of variable income streams. Not a big deal for couples already in sales, for example, but a very big departure for us.

The laptop lifestyle is an interesting conversation, and if nothing else, this post was worth writing just to arrange my thoughts a little more clearly. For now, our $4,000/month housing costs mean that “little matter” of financial insecurity on our cons list is a big enough deal that we can’t take our dreams too seriously. But the appeal of the laptop lifestyle is there, nonetheless, and it feels good to acknowledge it. It may not be a reality in two years, three years, or ever … but we want to continue to dream and remain open to possibilities.

Have you ever had thoughts about jumping from a guaranteed income into entrepreneurship or the laptop lifestyle? I’d love to hear and learn from your thought process — please share in the comments below.

Categories
Growth Mindset Lifelong Learners Productivity Reading Technology

7 Reasons Why You Should Own a Kindle

This device has single-handedly redefined my reading life and put my learning in overdrive.

Last year my wife bought a Kindle. I was unimpressed — largely because I’ve always been a big fan of the physical properties of my books. Whether it’s the quiet authority of hardcovers, the friendly personality of my flexible paperbacks, or the way my pens and highlighters connected me with the works I so admired, I wasn’t about to trade my connection with physical books for the unfeeling grey void of a digital screen. No freaking way.

But another reality was also at work at the time — a definite dissonance between my ideals and my reading reality. Even as an English major, an educator, as someone who actually writes for fun and genuinely geeks out over the artistry of wordcraft and prose, I just wasn’t reading the way I wanted to.

I mean, I thought of myself as a reader. And I actually was reading here and there, now and again. But I wasn’t actually making the sustained kind of cover-to-cover progress that I knew I wanted and needed in my life.

Time wore me down. Slowly but surely, the initial distaste I felt for my wife’s e-reader subsided. Finally, awash in required reading for my graduate studies, I caved and hit purchase.

And my reading has been forever transformed. That’s not an overstatement.

Here are the seven reasons why you too — and I’m looking at YOU, devout disciple and loyal defender of paper books — should venture out to the digital dark side and treat yourself to the Kindle experience.

1. It’s made for a powerful bedtime reading routine.

The light on the Kindle screen can be turned incredibly low and soft, so it’s easy on the eyes and doesn’t stimulate artificially the way the blue light from phones and tablets is prone to do. It’s incredibly lightweight and maneuverable, so yes — that hardcover Sherlock Holmes anthology is now a possibility at bedtime. I even like the unique slightly-gritty feel of the Kindle screen — a different sensory experience than the glass surfaces of our phones and tablets. And since it requires no lamp, it doesn’t keep my partner awake. Put simply, a comfortable bedtime reading routine has meant that I now read virtually every single day.

2. It tracks and stores all of my highlights.

I’ve been a highlighter since my undergrad years. I know not everyone takes in content this way, but I absorb nonfiction works in terms of gems and big ideas that I can return to, reflect on, and remix. When I realized that every one of my highlights was automatically synced and stored in my Goodreads profile, I couldn’t believe my good fortune.

Now, every inspiring line, every memorable quote, and every motivating concept is saved for me to tweet, share, email, post, and reflect on further. The same convenience applies to any book-based academic research. An absolute game-changer.

3. It lets me travel light.

I’ve got a funny story here. A few years ago I paid my parents a visit in another city. While staying with them, I hit a bargain book store and cleaned up. But my book savings cost me dearly at the airport when I went to fly back home — my suitcase was grossly overweight and I paid a heavy surcharge.

Now, packing a suitcase of books is admittedly a pretty dumb move and I’m sure not your reality. But I suspect you’ve felt the pain of having to narrow down your reading to 1–2 titles when hopping on a flight. With your Kindle, you’ll never have to reject your lovelies again.

4. Its real-time progress reports are strangely motivating.

Call me a stats nerd, but yes — I sleep better knowing I’ve read 2% more of Atomic Habits or Balance Like a Pirate before heading to bed. Maybe it’s just my own nerdy ritual, but it’s become so satisfying to nudge those percentages higher each and every day as I push my way through books large and small. Some nights I hit the hay utterly exhausted. But I’m never too tired to read 2% of a book.

5. It offers the Amazon advantage.

Come on — it’s Amazon! Because I’m logged into my Amazon account at all times on my Kindle, I’m able to add any book on the market in less than a minute.

Sure, you can point to the consumerism or impulsive spending tendencies that such power facilitates. But honestly — that’s pretty awesome power.

You’ve already embraced on-demand music on iTunes and on-demand video on Netflix. Why not embrace on-demand reading? It’s there at your fingertips.

6. Its cloud access extends across all devices.

Like you, I’m not such a big fan of reading books on my phone or PC. But the reality is that you’ll be caught Kindle-less on occasion. And you know what? Instead of checking email or surfing social media while sitting six carts deep in a Costco check-out line, you just might prefer the option of reading Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead. Admit it — it’s a nice option to have.

7. It’s ALL your books, ALL the time.

At the end of the day, the Kindle case comes down to the simple but profound experience of having all your books with you at once. Limitless, comfortable, and convenient reading that can’t be more accessible. That’s it.

Yes, going with an e-reader is a paradigm shift. It took me a while to choose screen over paper. But thanks to my Kindle, I’m now reading more often, finishing more titles, and learning and growing in ways that I never imagined possible.

And I get it — you love your paperbacks. But my advice is to give this powerful device a chance. It just might rekindle the reader inside you and ignite a passion for learning and imagination that you never knew existed.

Still not a Kindle convert? Let me know why in the comments below! Thanks for reading.

Categories
Education Family Self-Actualization

7 Lessons Learned in 2018

Looking back on a year of transformative experiences.

What follows is a look back at some of the key moments and experiences that taught me, shaped me, and propelled me forward in 2018.

Experience 1: A Breakthrough on Medium.

On January 7, 2018, I published 7 Keys to Winning the Morning on Medium. This was only my second piece on this platform, and the focus of the article was on my ideal weekday morning routine. Simple.

The post performed unbelievably well. To date, it’s received 3,800 views, 235 fans, a 55% read rate, and earned $192.

I was stunned.

For the first time in my life, my writing had actually earned significant engagement and even a monetary reward. Keep in mind that I’ve been writing sporadically for most of my adult life. Up to that point, most of those pieces had received little to no engagement.

Twenty years of crickets. And then this.

My Takeaway: More than anything, this experience put a wrecking ball to my writer’s imposter syndrome. It confirmed value in my writing, and cemented my resolve to write more often.

Experience 2: The Teachers on Fire Podcast.

On Saturday, March 24, 2018, I published my first episode of the Teachers on Fire podcast.

This came after months of dreaming and deliberation. It followed hours and hours spent listening to education thought leaders and amazing entrepreneurs like Pat Flynn, Gary Vaynerchuk, and John Lee Dumas. As I listened to their podcasts on my daily commute, I slowly started to believe that I could bring the same sort of value to the education space. Over spring break, that’s what I set out to do.

Truthfully, it was a rocky beginning, and my first recordings were technical nightmares. But I’ve kept with it, and since that day, I’ve slowly become a better podcaster. In May, I published 7 Things I’ve Learned from Podcasting, and my growth has continued since.

The mission of the Teachers on Fire podcast is to profile agents of growth and transformation in K-12 education. On my show, I interview education leaders from across North America and around the world. I ask these education leaders to share their highs and lows, their passions and goals, and the voices and resources that inspire their practice today.

Despite some difficult challenges and stressful moments, the podcast has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I now receive encouraging testimonials after every episode, and my listenership grows every week. Each guest stimulates my own thinking and practice, and I learn something from every conversation. There’s a lot to celebrate and a lot to look forward to.

My Takeaway: When it comes to trying something new, it’s not always the right move to wait until you have it all figured out. My first episodes were rough, and I had a ton of learning to do around equipment, applications, recording techniques, publishing, workflow, and promotion.

But I was taking action. I was experimenting, failing, improving, and learning. I refused to let fear of failure stop me. And that’s the takeaway that I want to pass on to my boys and students.

Experience 3: Five Weeks Away.

In July, I spent five weeks (Monday through Friday) studying at Vancouver Island University. I’m in the middle of a Master’s program there, and the program hosted some on-campus courses during those weeks. My MEdL will open all kinds of career opportunities for me, and it’s something I should have completed a decade ago.

The five weeks spent away from home were not easy. Yes, I love learning and love engagement, and I loved seeing more of my brother and his family (they graciously put me up in his home for the entire five weeks). The in-class learning was amazing and the collegial relationships were rich during these five weeks.

But it was tough to be separated from my family for this period. I missed my wife and stepsons a lot. And I missed our typical summer adventures of swimming, hiking, paddleboarding, and canoeing. Although we did our best to fit these activities in where we could throughout the summer, the reality was that the best weather weeks of the year were sacrificed in the name of my degree.

My Takeaway: When a partner and parent decides to pursue further education, the whole family sacrifices to make it happen. Count the cost before you build the tower.

Experience 4: A Mountaintop Moment

Sleeping bags set up on top of the Stawamus Chief

On Tuesday, August 14, I convinced my family to climb a local mountain and camp out overnight. The conditions weren’t perfect: forest fires throughout the region were obscuring the normally glorious views. But the timing was right, and with no end of fire haze in sight, we decided to go for it.

It turned out to be an absolute blast. Our boys conquered the climb like nobody’s business, leaving me and their mom far behind at times. Bugs and wildlife weren’t a factor, other than some friendly chipmunks in the morning. Even with heavy smoke in the air, the views at the top were majestic.

We had the mountain to ourselves for the whole evening. With boulders for beds and stars for our ceiling, we spent the night in sleeping bags, talking ourselves to sleep.

It was one of my favorite family memories of the year.

My Takeaway: In the busy seasons of life, make sure to carve out some mountaintop moments — the stuff of memories and stories for years to come. Although we all love our home time, nothing beats getting out of the house and enjoying screen-free adventures together. Don’t let the busy seasons keep you off the mountain.

Experience 5: A New School

In September, I took a new teaching position at a large school close to my home. This change came after eleven years spent at my previous school, a place that I had come to love and one where I had built many meaningful relationships.

The new position came with a few surprises. For one, I now teach more students and prepare lessons for more courses than ever before. Great teachers that I expected to partner with this year decided to serve with other schools instead. And of course with any new school comes new expectations, and in some cases, that means saying goodbye to freedoms that I’ve enjoyed for many years.

There’s a lot to celebrate in my new workplace, though. My school has a great reputation and a high commitment to excellence. The community is strong, progressive, missional, and enjoys solid parent support. Professional engagement around Twitter, YouTube, edublogs, and books is by far the strongest of any team I’ve ever served with. Administrators have been gracious, encouraging, and open-minded. My colleagues are positive, supportive, keen to improve their practice, and I already love them dearly. It’s a place where I can grow, thrive, and contribute.

A good friend once told me that he believes educators need a change in scenery every seven years or so. Work in a different environment, take on some new challenges, learn new curriculum. Whatever the change looks like, the key is to keep it fresh, to keep growing, learning, and evolving.

I agree. And that’s what’s happening here.

My Takeaway: Professional growth often requires professional change. Don’t get so comfortable in one environment that your own learning starts to stagnate. Sometimes keeping it real means moving on and redefining the journey.

Experience 6: Turning 40.

I finished my fourth decade in October. 40 years is obviously a pretty big milestone — one that gets a lot of attention in our culture.

My wife planned an amazing evening of celebration for it. We got an incredible deal on a very large suite in a 5-star hotel, and we partied with family, relatives, and friends from every corner and circle of my life. Best of all, two of my three out-of-town brothers were able to join me.

I don’t think of myself as a big one for celebrations. In the past, I’ve let my birthdays slip by without so much as a stir.

But my dear Filipina wife was having none of it this time. She made it a big deal, invited a ton of people, and I’m so glad she did.

It was an incredible evening shared with most of my favorite people on the planet. It was a night to soak up the love, and that’s exactly what I did.

My Takeaway: Like them or not, celebrations are an important part of the rhythm of life. Savor them when they come. Enjoy the milestones and practise gratefulness for the meaningful relationships you enjoy. Because people are the stuff of life.

Experience 7: Bracing for Impact.

In October, my family got braces. All four of us accepted the prospect of various bits of metal and plastic in our mouths for the next 1–2 years.

I’ve had a bad overbite my whole life, and my bottom teeth also have crowding issues that show up right at the centre of my smile.

Braces have been a long, long time in coming for me. With two robust health benefit plans now in the family, it was finally time to take action.

The first few days were horrible. The Invisalign braces weren’t painful as much as they were simply uncomfortable. My mouth had been invaded by foreign objects. It was harder to speak and snacking was suddenly awkward.

Since that first week, however, the experience has gotten a lot better. Strangely, I now look forward to putting the next new teeth trays in my mouth each week. The tension I feel on my teeth at the beginning of the week reminds me that my smile is incrementally improving.

My Takeaway: Besides giving me newfound empathy for all my middle school students with braces, my journey with braces is building character: patience, consistency, and perseverance. As I wear these things for the next year and a half, I can’t take days or chunks of hours off. These teeth have to stay with me through thick and thin, no matter what. The payoff doesn’t happen if I slack off.

2018: A Year of Transformative Experiences

A breakthrough on Medium. The Teachers on Fire podcast. Five weeks away. A mountaintop moment. A new school. Turning 40. Bracing for impact.

These are the events that shaped my 2018. Together, they transformed me as a person, an educator, and leader. There was some pain, but a whole lot of gain. I am not the same person I was a year ago.

Here’s to more growth and transformation in 2019.

Categories
Content Creation Creativity Mindset Productivity

Mandate to Create: 6 Reasons to Write Over Netflix

When it comes to leisure time, the choice often comes down to creating or consuming.

@TimCavey on Instagram

I enjoy Netflix as much as the next person. There’s nothing like settling in at the end of a long day to the drama of Narcos or the amusement of The Office. My affection for the world’s greatest video streaming service hasn’t gone away, and there will always be a time and place.

But I don’t watch Netflix as much as I used to.

Last spring I made a personal commitment to create more and consume less. It was a significant shift, and I’m happy to say it’s stuck.

Since then, I’ve come to view my time differently. Among other things, I’ve reordered my days to go to bed earlier (ie. less Netflix) and get up earlier (ie. more creative time).

The results have been transformative.

This isn’t a dump on streaming video services. I’ll always save some room in my schedule for entertainment experiences — particularly those shared and enjoyed with family. But my priorities and management of time have permanently changed. Now, when scraps of discretionary minutes emerge, consuming media is no longer one of my first thoughts. Instead, it’s creation.

What I mean by creative work

For some, creation looks like cooking or gardening. For others, it’s vlogging, composing music, or building boats. For my wife, it’s carpentry. Creation takes many forms.

For me, creative work has taken the forms of writing and podcasting. Over the last year, these two activities in particular have energized me, inspired me, and redefined my ideals. I’ve created more content than ever, and I feel like I’m just getting started.

Create > Consume

I’m an eighth grade teacher, and one of the signs on my classroom door reads “Create> Consume.” It’s become my mantra and a regular rant. Our digital natives are keen on consuming, but what are they creating? That’s the challenge I put to them regularly.

Lately I’ve started the business of unpacking the motivation that now drives me to create first and consume later. Why do I spend valuable minutes crafting sentences and recording interviews instead of watching the next episodes of Black Mirror?

6 Reasons why ‘Create> Consume’ has become my paradigm

  1. Creation is cathartic. For me, writing is my jam. It’s rejuvenating — a deeply enjoyable deconstruction of all those fleeting wonders, regrets, and ruminations that appear randomly in my consciousness but don’t have the chance to take full form, definition, and expression on their own. It’s a process that helps me look squarely at life experiences, critically reexamine my positions, and thoughtfully clarify my intentions. It’s an experience that helps me know and understand myself. At the completion of every written piece or journal entry, I feel a sense of satisfaction and renewal. Whether you’re writing a song, planting flowers, or building a coffee table, there’s something cathartic about pouring an authentic part of yourself into a product.
  2. Creative work makes the world a better place. Creative activities contribute things of beauty and utility to our world. If consumption is an act of taking, creation is an act of giving. Sure, by watching The Office for the fifth time I’m not harming anyone — I’m simply enjoying the creative labours of others. But how can I actually add value to the world around me? How can I help, inspire, teach, amuse, or positively provoke others to action? Creative actions offer the power of betterment.
  3. Creation builds impact and legacy. Gary Vaynerchuk talks about how legacy is currency — how he measures the impact of his life not by how much money he makes but by how many people come to his funeral. Creation is not about earning cheap applause or padding one’s ego before death, but it is about making a dent in the universe. Creative activities have the power to change the environment and — if we create with persistence and excellence — leave a lasting positive impact. Brendon Burchard sums up our mandate this way: live, love, and matter. I like Netflix, but I don’t want my viewing to be part of my legacy.
  4. Creativity has become a critical skill. Our evolving economy has less need for automatons, more need for creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. Progressive school curriculums across the planet are shifting from content acquisition to skills development, from memorization to mindset. Design thinking and makerspace movements are pushing young learners toward cycles of ideating, prototyping, testing, and making that will guide them throughout life. It’s never too late to start developing the skills and habits of mind that make us more relevant, helpful in service, and valuable in the marketplace.
  5. Creative work produces personal growth, expertise, and self-actualization. When we shift our minds and energies from ‘entertain me’ mode to creation mode, we tap into our true talents and strengths. We connect with our life’s purpose and our deepest passions. We engage in activities of personal meaning and significance. We face our deepest fears, challenge our intellect, embrace uncertainty, and take calculated risks. We reinforce previous abilities and — through repetition, adaptation, and improvisation — we refine our craft and create with stronger proficiency over time. If 10,000 hours is the measure of a master, every minute invested on that formative journey is well-spent. The creative process helps us feel alive.
  6. Creative work builds new relationships and broadens opportunities.Writing and podcasting have connected me with people around the world that I never imagined possible just a year ago. Because most creative work takes us into the marketplace of ideas, we’re drawn out of our comfortable silos and into new relationship with others. The internet age allows us to connect with like-minded makers, creatives, and audiences the world over, and those relationships connect us exponentially with new learning and opportunities.

“Creativity is not a ‘talent,’ like the ability to run fast. Creativity is what makes us human. Creativity is what makes us happy. And creativity is something you can nurture, expand, grow, and learn.” — from Intention: Critical Creativity in the Classroom, by Amy Burvall and Dan Ryder

Creative work isn’t always easy, or safe, or comfortable. But it’s worth it. It’s in our design, our destiny. We were made to create. So get started.

What creative activity or project have you been dreaming about but have yet to put into action? I’d love to hear about it. Please comment below.

 

Categories
Business Communication Entrepreneurship Productivity Smartphones Social Media Technology Twitter

5 Reasons to Niche Down on Twitter

Why multiple Twitter accounts will actually simplify your life and improve your focus.

Photo credit: rawpixel on Unsplash

You like Twitter, but you’re using one account for news, politics, sports, humor, inspiration, and work. You can do better — a lot better. To fully optimize your Twitter experience, you need to create niche accounts. Confused or unconvinced? Here’s the what, how, and why.

What I Mean

What I’m recommending is that you create multiple Twitter accounts — preferably one for every major domain in your personal and professional life. Start with two or three and then consider adding from there. Here’s why.

5 Reasons Why You Need to Niche Down on Twitter

It lets you stay in one headspace at a time.

I’m a teacher. When I want to look for education inspiration, I open my teacher Twitter account. I don’t want to see sports headlines or the latest comments from Donald Trump. I want to read education gold that will continue to inspire and transform my practice. By only following committed educators in this account, I set parameters for the content I see in my feed.

You’ll tweet to an audience who cares.

My sports fan network doesn’t care about the latest big ideas from my teachers’ conference, and my education network doesn’t want to hear about how my favorite team is doing in their big game. Misdirected tweets will only irritate your audience and cost you followers. Instead, add value to your network by tweeting the right content to the right audience.

It supports intentionality on social media. 

I have a handful of accounts at the moment, but I’m only checking a few on a regular basis. Other accounts are for occasional amusement and take up little of my attention. Since my Twitter time is limited throughout the day, I want to be able to make thoughtful and discriminatory choices about which content I’m consuming and where I’m engaging.

It facilitates professional networking. 

I use my professional and podcasting Twitter accounts to reach out to other educators via direct message. That works very well when I use niche professional accounts that make it very clear who I am and what I’m all about. I suspect that wouldn’t work as well coming from my sporting account.

It’s convenient. 

Despite what you might expect, it’s not much of a hassle to flip back and forth between accounts. The Twitter app makes it quick and easy, so don’t let the hassle factor discourage you.

Nothing but Wins

It’s been a few years since I split my Twitter presence, and I absolutely love it for all the reasons listed here. My content, engagement, and feeds have never been richer or more focused.

If you’re looking to get more out of Twitter, it might be time to niche down.

Categories
Career Entrepreneurship Gig Economy Goals

Why I Won’t Tell My Sons to Just Follow Their Passions

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Ignore the money and just follow your passions.

This is the career advice offered to students by some teachers today. It’s an appealing and romantic message, and these educators mean well.

What they mean is this. Don’t allow yourself to be pushed into a professional track not of your choosing. Don’t enroll in a 5-year university program and take on the burden of student debt due to the dictates of society. Don’t enter the proverbial rat race of corporate America for some vague promises of security and stability. Just because your parents want you to become a doctor or lawyer doesn’t mean that’s the path for you. Instead, identify the areas that you feel most passionate about and work in those spaces.

Fulfilling Work

I agree with all of those sentiments. And I agree that the most fulfilling work we can do as human beings is the work that doesn’t feel like work. The most fulfilling work is that which best aligns with our natural curiosity, competencies, and interests. This is work that adds value to the lives of others and energizes our own souls in that process.

An Economy of Opportunity

It should also be said here that I’m also quite in favor of no “job” at all — at least, not in the traditional sense of working for an employer. Though I’m not living entirely in this space myself, I’m a big admirer of entrepreneurship, self-employment, and creative work. Unlike some of my peers across K-12 education, I’ll actually defend and support a student’s ambition to adopt “professional YouTuber” as their career track of choice — keeping in mind the tremendous amount of hard work and sacrifice required to bring dreams of that sort to fruition. It’s the 21st century and a global internet economy, after all. The secure career jobs of yesteryear are vanishing in the wake of a rapidly evolving and responsive marketplace. Work is free for the taking and creating more than any time in history.

Meaningful Learning

So yes: explore and develop natural passions and inclinations. It is precisely this ideology that is at the heart of some of the most exciting trends in education today, including inquiry-based and project-based learning. These are practices that produce deeper and more meaningful learning because students are freed to direct the focus of their own learning activities instead of merely following traditionally narrow parameters as prescribed by the teacher. Education is rightly becoming more and more about following curiosities and exploring natural interests — learning to learn instead of memorizing large bodies of content of very dubious long-term value.

Dollars Matter

What I’m not a fan of is the idea that as educators we should coach our students to completely ignore dollars. Because in a world of expenses, dollars matter. They just do.

As our young learners mature and progress through the system, I believe we owe it to them to offer them some frank advice about the financial implications of the work they choose to pursue. That’s a controversial suggestion in some circles, but I stand by it.

My Story

I graduated from university in 2001. Fresh-eyed and full of ideals, I signed my first contract at an independent school in an urban area of a large city. Tuition was intentionally low so that lower class families could attend, and as a result, my first salary was a whopping $24,000.

The mission and vision of the school shaped its culture, its tuition, and therefore its salaries, and I was completely on board. But the reality was that after deductions, my bi-weekly paychecks ran in the mid-$800s. Working hard into the evenings as a rookie teacher, I was hard-pressed just to spend within my means — let alone pay off my $12,000 of car debt or start to put any savings away. I worked at that school for the first six years of my teaching career, and although my salary grew incrementally each year, the marginal increases weren’t significant enough to alter my financial picture very much.

In today’s world of rising housing costs, gas costs, and grocery costs, I would be a little concerned if one of my two stepsons took a job paying $24,000 annually at 21 years old. That’s just not the kind of income that will allow them to save up to buy a car, a ring, a wedding, a property, provide for children, or attempt any number of other rites of adulthood that we might hope for them in terms of building a future for themselves and their families.

If we’re being honest, $24,000 a year is much closer to a recipe for living cheque to cheque and serving the masters of Visa and MasterCard. That’s not an automatic scenario, by any means — disciplined financial stewardship should happen at any income level. But incomes below the poverty line trend in the direction of very challenging financial realities.

Money Isn’t Everything

Don’t hear me extolling the glories of money too highly here. Money is simply a medium of exchange. It doesn’t have the power to produce happiness — and happiness can certainly be found outside of the American Dream. Money doesn’t have the power to create passion for work activities where that passion didn’t exist before. But it does have the power to create options. To reject that reality is intellectual laziness.

Free to Chart Their Own Course

Ultimately, my stepsons will still be free to choose their own career tracks. And their parents won’t be pressuring them in any one direction. The reality is that one of them may choose to work for an NGO that builds sewer systems in Haiti, with a subsistence income similar to my first teaching salary. My wife and I wouldn’t shut that down — we’d be genuinely proud of their attitude of service and their contributions to our world.

A Call for Some Coaching

What I do intend to do is simply coach them along the journey. Help them to think about the implications of their work and career choices. Recognize that the financial decisions that they make in their 20s will reverberate in some ways for the rest of their lives.

Here’s the summary of my message — my advice to my stepsons and any high school student who will listen. Dream big dreams for your life. Yes, explore and develop your creative passions. Find fulfilling work.

But in that process, keep an eye on the dollars. Because dollars do matter.

Categories
Content Creation Education Entrepreneurship Growth Mindset Podcasts

7 Things I’ve Learned from Podcasting

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Photo Credit: Matt Bosford

I published my first podcast episode in March of 2018. It was a rocky beginning, but it followed months of dreaming, thinking, and deliberation. I was finally taking action, and it was an exciting start.

I’ve published new episodes every week since. In some ways it’s been more of a challenging experience than I would have ever imagined. But I’m learning, improving my craft, and enjoying the process.

Why start a podcast based on interviews with educators?

One reason I began the podcast was to address what I saw as a hole in the education podcast space. There are many education podcasts currently available, but few that I found personally stimulating. I just wasn’t finding many real stories of real educators working in the trenches, partnering with their students, sharing the ecstasy of victories and learning from the agony of defeats. These stories were hard to find, and they weren’t being told in compelling ways.

I was also interested to find out what other educators are reading, listening to, connecting with, and depending on in their classrooms. What voices and resources are inspiring great practice? I continue to believe that I can bring these stories and testimonials to the education world in a way that will invigorate educators and lead to improved learning outcomes.

K-12 education is at an incredible place right now. Within the last decade, professional learning and networking has absolutely exploded, thanks largely to social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram. Today’s teachers, administrators, and influencers now have incredible opportunities to plug into rich, real-time pipelines of best practices, ideas, and exemplars from schools across North America and around the world. I’m energized by the idea that I might be able to play a useful role in building these networks of learning.

Another reason that I began the podcast was the powerful motivation I took from entrepreneurship thought leaders like Gary Vaynerchuk, John Lee Dumas, and Pat Flynn. Months of listening to these three voices in particular (and several other great podcasts) convinced me of two foundational ideas.

  • It is still possible to create content of value and significance. It’s easy to feel that in the the din of noise and distraction we hear and see online, there’s no opportunity or reason to add your voice. But the truth is that we all have content to offer, content that can add value to the marketplace of ideas.
  • Audio is about to get a lot, lot bigger. Although podcasts have been around for about 15 years, they’ve only started to go mainstream in the last five or so. In addition, the confluence of smart home devices (Google Home, Amazon Echo), rapid improvements in voice-to-text smartphone technology (Siri, Bixby, Cortana), and a societal shift toward on-demand infotainment (Netflix, YouTube) are all pointing to exponential growth in podcasting and audio publications in the very near future. It’s a good time to get in.

What I knew at the start

I didn’t know much about podcasting in the beginning. My primary resource was the hundreds of hours I’d spent listening to podcasts over the last ten years. I knew what I liked, what worked well, and what didn’t. I also watched a few how-to tutorials on YouTube to get a sense of what went into good interviewing and podcasting.

I had recently heard of a new app called Anchor. Anchor is a free podcasting platform that allows you to record and publish audio content in a matter of minutes. Unbelievably, Anchor also distributes your content across most podcast distribution platforms, including iTunes — all for free. Anchor looked like a good place to begin my audio publishing career.

One thing I didn’t have was a lot of expensive equipment. I had an iPhone 8 with earbuds, a Surface Pro computer with Adobe Audition, and a low-end microphone called a Blue Snowball. That was it.

I could have waited around before launching to gain more proficiency and acquire more knowledge and better resources. But I was keenly aware that many creators never actually create because they get caught in overthinking the process. Paralysis by analysis. And so I decided to just do this thing and learn as I went.

7 things I’ve learned from podcasting

  1. Embrace failures. Right from my very first episode, I’ve experienced more technical problems and glitches than I would have thought possible. At times, the Anchor app has crashed mid-interview, requiring me to reconnect with guests and ask them to repeat their last comments. Another phone-to-phone recording service has rendered in poor quality, and a laptop-to-laptop recording service has delivered inconsistent results as well. Every crash and recording glitch is discouraging and tempts me to pack it all in. But instead of quitting, I’ve learned to double down and stay the course.
  2. Always learn the craft. When I began this journey, I didn’t know the first thing about Adobe Audition — audio software I’d long owned but never used. The controls seemed overwhelming, and I wasn’t even sure how to import my audio — let alone edit it. But little by little, I’m learning and improving. By trial, error, and YouTube tutorials, I’m gaining confidence and expertise every time I edit an episode. Although the challenges don’t always feel good in the moment, it’s gratifying to look back and see how far I’ve come.
  3. Forgive yourself quickly. I’ve learned that after virtually every single interview, I’m going to have regrets. Why did I say that? Why didn’t I ask the guest this question? Why did I laugh so awkwardly? And on and on it goes. It’s important to recognize that regret and self-doubt can paralyze if we allow them to. I have to force myself to try to take something from my mistakes, shake them off, and move forward.
  4. Twitter is incredibly powerful. Professionals of any sort stand to benefit enormously from plugging into a vibrant professional learning network, and to that end, Twitter is king. In my first eleven months on Twitter as @TeachersOnFire, I connected with over 1,100 educators across the United States, Canada, Asia, and elsewhere. Many of my interviews have come from those connections. And I’m just getting started.
  5. Be content with incremental growth. Even though I get more listens and subscriptions to my podcast each week, growth is slow. I’ve learned not to expect the hockey stick curve and exponential growth rates that I experienced with my very first posts on Medium. And that’s okay. As long as growth continues, that means my ceiling is still an unknown quantity. And that’s motivation enough.
  6. People are generous. I’ve been amazed by the willingness of other education professionals to partner with me to prepare for and give a great interview. My requests are almost never declined — all it takes is an honest, humble, and respectful ask. Part of that might be a credit to the network-ability of the education community, but I suspect it’s also a function of human nature. You’ve just got to put yourself out there and ask.
  7. Real people and real stories make the best content. At the outset of the podcast, I had to choose between formats: monologue, interview, or a mix of both. It turns out that the interview format takes more work pre and post-production than one might think, but the content is exceptional. Guests offer a rich variety of experiences, perspectives, and suggestions — far more than I could possibly conjure up on my own. Best of all, every interview stimulates my own thinking and takes my learning in new directions. I’m directly benefiting from the process.

Podcasting hasn’t been all fun. Between contacting potential interviewees, scheduling and conducting interviews, editing audio, writing show notes, publishing, and promoting, each episode adds at least six hours a week for this little passion project — no small sacrifice.

But podcasting has been a fantastically positive journey. Every new episode and guest represents new things learned and a new relationship formed. I’m offering value to the education community and improving my own practice. Last but not least, I’m putting myself in uncomfortable spaces that force me to grow as a person.

And that’s reason enough to continue.

Categories
Business Content Creation Entrepreneurship Podcasts Productivity

10 Creative-Entrepreneurship Podcasts That You Should Be Listening To

Whether you’re investing in a serious side hustle, playing with a personal passion project, or building a small business, turn your commute into a daily motivation seminar by tuning in to these fantastic podcasts. Here are ten shows that I’ve come to know and love:

  1. Entrepreneurs on Fire. John Lee Dumas is the consummate host, interviewer, and teacher as he interviews business leaders and entrepreneurs on a daily basis. With a polished delivery, great sense of humour, and applicable strategies, every episode brings valuable insights and encouragement. JLD offers a host of free resources through his website and posts a new 20-minute episode every day.
  2. The Gary Vee Audio Experience. This guy comes with a serious language warning, but nobody matches Gary Vaynerchuk for sheer drive, intensity, and motivation. Extolling the virtues of patience, gratitude, and the still-underrated power of internet platforms, Gary reminds his audience that there has never been a better time in human history to build a scalable business and thrive. Length and style of content varies widely, from random 8-minute raw conversations to 50-minute conference addresses. New content is posted daily.
  3. The Fizzle Show. With weekly episodes coming out every Tuesday, hosts Chase Reeves, Corbett Barr, and Steph Crowder bring common sense perspectives and advice to the matters of building a successful side hustle or small business. Reeves brings the energy and humour, Crowder chips in with thoughtful perspectives, and Barr brings authoritative insights born from years of start-up experience. Listen to this trio for long and you can’t help but love them.
  4. The Tim Ferriss Show. Although not strictly limited to creative-entrepreneurship themes, no top ten list in this space would be complete without mentioning the Tim Ferriss Show. Tim is still one of the world’s top podcasters, publishing wide-ranging weekly interview content that consistently touches on business and entrepreneurship. Although I’ve learned to skip through the first five minutes of ads, Tim has a methodical interview style, speaks well, and draws applicable conclusions with legendary finesse.
  5. Growth Everywhere. Host Eric Siu runs a slightly less polished version of Entrepreneurs on Fire. He keeps his interview show moving quickly, and guests share about the highs and lows of building successful companies — mostly in the tech sector. New episodes are posted daily.
  6. The Brendan Show. Brendon Burchard spins nothing but positive energy healing, and self-improvement. With a mix of positive rants, excerpts from High Performance Habits, and clips from speaking events, this author and speaker brings fresh perspective and energy to every stage of business and creative activity. While parts of his content might strike some as fluffy, I like his brand of practical, forward-thinking optimism.
  7. The Smart Passive Income Podcast. Pat Flynn is another friendly voice in the same space and style as John Lee Dumas and Eric Siu. As the title suggests, his focus is on the strategies necessary to build passive online revenue streams through blogs, ebooks, online courses, and other forms of scalable content. New podcast episodes appear weekly.
  8. The Brian Buffini Show. With 45-minute episodes released weekly, Brian and Dermot Buffini offer a mix of high-profile interviews and well-prepared content related to building a successful business. As Brian Buffini likes to remind his audience, his personal story includes going from a young immigrant $200,000 in medical debt to building the largest real estate coaching company in the world. Like Gary Vee, this immigrant to America says there’s never been a better time to build a business.
  9. The Blog Millionaire. Host Brandon Gaille delivers short, well-prepared and smoothly delivered content related to building a successful blog. Tips are right to the point and extremely practical: search engine optimization, how to build great headlines, and how to assemble great content efficiently. Gaille also shares honestly about the struggles he’s encountered in his business and personal life, and how he’s overcome them to build a blog with over 1M unique visitors per month.
  10. Side Hustle School. Chris Guillebeau delivers daily stories of side hustle successes — passion projects that cash flow positively and grow to become significant sources of revenue. What this podcast lacks in exciting delivery it makes up for in the tales of people who are finding innovative ways to earn money doing things they love to do.

If you listen to junk radio during your daily commute as I did for many years, try changing things up. Trade the sports news and crappy radio commercials for the kind of quality content that will expand your perspective and give legs to your dreams. If you’re new to podcasting, start exploring the Podcast app (in iOS) or download the Podcast Addict app (in Android) to get started. If you’ve been sitting on a creative dream for a while, it’s time to get started.