Career & Purpose

24 Apr

Posted at 08:53h in Career & Purpose, Entrepreneurship, Free Guides by

The experimenters manifesto

"Life is nothing more than a series of experiments. Test and share you ideas. Give them a chance to have an impact, and an impact you'll have."

Important Note & Warning: This is a special post — a manifesto and guide on experimentation & learning. It's in-depth and it's important. The whole thing will take you about 15 minutes to read and another 15 minutes to implement. I believe it will dramatically transform your career potential. That's exactly what it did for me. If you must, you can scan over the first part. But the next 9 steps are vital. I spent a lot of time making this as directly useful as possible. Please do something with it. I meant to write it a year ago. It's about time ...

Stacking the Deck in Your Favor & The Power of Feedback Loops

Just under seven years ago, I discovered a tool that completely transformed my career and ability to impact the world. It became the vehicle that allowed me to have the impact, lifestyle and experiences that I only used to encounter in the occasional book, movie or dream. And it took me four years to realize I'd found it. Without it, Live Your Legend wouldn't have a chance at existing.

16 Apr

Posted at 17:45h in Career & Purpose, Entrepreneurship, Free Guides, Productivity by

Focus is the key to the world

"Focus is the key to the world."

- William A. Dinsmore III (my dad)

Admitting Defeat to Allow Victory...

I have a confession to make. For the last few months I've been working on launching a top-secret project that I think could help this community in a totally new and fun way. I've briefly mentioned it in the past, and many of you have showed serious enthusiasm - which further fueled my distraction, I mean excitement... This is also what I was referring to in my interview with John Lusk on Difficult Decisions last week - so figured it's about time we make it public. To recap, here's the first item from my 2013 goals post:
"Launch a real-time fully-exposed case study on how to take a physical product from idea, to market testing, to manufacturing and to selling — all by using today’s online tools. This is going to be our biggest project EVER, and we are going to take you along for every step of the ride. Keep an ear out for the launch of the new site to track this project as well as what the physical product will actually be. I could not sleep this weekend because I was so excited for it."
Since then, my partner Nic and I have invested a few thousand dollars in branding, design, setting up web sites, and even hired an architectural designer to create high-end CAD drawings so we can manufacture our first physical product prototype.

What's the top-secret product you ask??

25 Mar

Posted at 21:32h in Career & Purpose, Emotions & Happiness, Simplicity by

discovering paradise

$1,000,000 in the bank isn't the fantasy. The fantasy is the lifestyle of complete freedom it supposedly allows.

― Timothy Ferriss

Today I want to tell you a 250 word story that changed my view of the world. But first I have to let you in on a little secret...

How Average People Can Feel and Live Like Millionaires

This morning I woke up to what I've decided is the most breathtaking morning view of my life. I'm writing from the deck of a modest thatched roof bungalow  set over a small soft sandy beach cove on the Island of Koh Lanta, Thailand. The hotel, if you can call it that, is aptly named 'Relax Bay.' Yesterday we upgraded to a 'VIP' room with air conditioning (last night had no AC, which made for a tough 85-degree high humidity night…). It's the only room in this cove that is actually on the sand. We have a full view of the private turquoise bay from our deck, where a nice little hammock also hangs.

The remote office

The real kicker? This experience cost me nothing...

19 Mar

Posted at 23:51h in Career & Purpose, Entrepreneurship, Productivity by

Redefining Real Risk

"The biggest risk is doing nothing."

After last week's post on Creating More & Consuming Less, I noticed one very common response. It's actually become a bit of a broken record over the past few years.

It all boils down to one word: Risk

A common response goes something like this:
"Thanks for the inspiration to get me creating things and doing work I love. But my situation is different. There's just too much at stake to take that kind of a risk right now. I'm not some carefree single 23-year-old. I have too much to lose. Plus I don't think I'm quite ready to start creating."
Their excuses go on...
  • I'm too old
  • I'm too young
  • I don't have enough experience
  • People won't value the things I create
  • My mortgage is too high
  • I don't have the support from the people around me
  • I have kids and a family to support
  • And on and on depending on how creative you are

The thing is these are all still excuses.

And after reading The Alchemist for the 7th time while in a jungle lodge in Northern Thailand last week (I reread it on most international trips), the topic of finding reasons to put off dreams could not be more front of my mind. In fact the name Live Your Legend was a direct result of reading the book while fly fishing in Patagonia a few years ago. You see, the only difference between the people who do something meaningful and the ones who sit in complacency as another 20 years go by is simple.

12 Mar

Posted at 21:16h in Career & Purpose, Entrepreneurship by
[caption id="attachment_7329" align="aligncenter" width="594"]Creating is more powerful than consuming Creating Value Outside of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep near Chiang Mai, Thailand[/caption]

"When in doubt, consume less and create more. The world will thank you."

After all of last week's talk about the importance of selling value to others, I realized we'd forgotten to cover an even more foundational step...and a decision we all face every day. Thankfully I'm constantly reminded of it as I explore Thailand. The above man seems to have it figured out...

To Consume or to Create - The Golden Question

Two weeks ago over some Tumeric Spice tea at Samovar, my buddy Jonathan Fields casually smiled as he said "You know I don't really read that many blogs anymore." Then it got me thinking…most people waste their lives consuming things. When I first started my business I noticed myself spending a lot of money. And this wasn't money needed directly for the business (it only required about $67 to start), but I was buying all kinds of books on passion, career, entrepreneurship, sales, marketing, etc. I hired coaches, purchased courses and attended seminars. I also subscribed to (and actually attempted to read) 30 or so of my favorite blogs. Over the course of a year the cost, both in time and money, started to approach a rather ridiculous number. I was learning a ton, but I noticed I was creating very little of my own work.

The consumption was killing me.

Even when I did create things, it was often because I'd read the latest post from one of my mentors or just finished a recent bestseller. All it lead me to do was create a much lower quality version of the same idea I'd just consumed. I was stuck in this trap. And it's a valley every one of us stumbles into on the path to living our legend.

05 Mar

Posted at 05:00h in Career & Purpose, Influence & Negotiating by

The Passion Trap

"To sell is human."

- Dan Pink

How to Fail at Helping People...

For every crazy hobby and passion in the world, I've seen an example of someone who's absolutely crushed it. Everything from knitting to gardening to dancing to fishing. What's possible just blows my mind. But the sad fact is that these people are still very much the exception, not the rule. But they don't have to be. Most passions and hobbies don't make a dime, and among the ones that do, few make enough to cover more than a nice meal out each month. But why is this? What separates the millions who love playing chess on the weekends from the few who have become highly sought after and highly paid chess teachers and coaches? What separates those who save their vacation days to take a two-week trip each year from those who've turned their passion for travel into a way to fund their lifestyle? There is one thing that separates a hobby or passion from a business or career. And it's dead simple...

31 Jan

Posted at 02:00h in Career & Purpose, Entrepreneurship by

You are already an expert find people to help

"The law of work seems unfair, but nothing can change it; the more enjoyment you get out of your work, the more money you will make."

- Mark Twain

You're Already an Expert - Start Acting Like it.

Everything we do at Live Your Legend is based on what all of you ask for - through surveys, emails, comments, tweets, snail mail, you name it - we are always listening for your biggest challenges and how we can build things to help. As it turns out, the #1 most requested resource by all of you, by a long shot, is a tool to show you how to become an expert who people are willing to pay for your help. Today we are going to answer that exact question, and I am very pumped about it! About a year ago a friend introduced me to a guy she thought "I could learn something from." Despite the fact that I have more to learn than most, emails like that always tend to put my guard up. But then, from a standing start, Jason Gracia went on to teach me some of my most powerful lessons in online business, and more specifically, how to build a very specific business around a passion, talent, strengths or expertise. His process blew my mind.

24 Jan

Posted at 00:24h in Career & Purpose, Life on Your Terms Interviews, Productivity by
Debra Russell

"God grant me the creativity and willingness to make the most of the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

- Debra Russell's take on the Serenity Prayer

Today we have a very special article and interview I've been dying to publish for months (plus there are a few free tool downloads down below too!). Life is not meant to tackle on your own! Which brings us to today's topic...

Who's Debra Russell?

Most of us know who the author of Awaken The Giant Within is. In fact, most of us have learned a ton from him and his work. His stuff has changed my world in more ways than I can count -- from starting the businesses I have to switching to eating mostly plants, and plenty of things in between. But as I've realized the power of teams, I've come to pay more attention to the people who support the rock stars. Many of you probably hadn't heard of Debra Russell until earlier this week. She gave top-tier support to one of the top personal growth figures for decades. She was the one on stage pumping up over 4,000 people at his live events and changing their lives when he wasn't on stage.

03 Jan

Posted at 10:06h in Announcements, Career & Purpose, Free Guides, Productivity by
2013 Goal Setting Guide

"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we hit it."

~ Michelangelo

Update: Check out the 2014 Goal Setting and Action Workbook here!

The Big New Years Announcement: To celebrate 2013 and the official opening of goal-setting season, today I'm releasing the totally free (and newly designed) 2013 Goal Setting and Action Workbook.

Last year this was downloaded over 18,000 times in a matter of weeks and is consistently the #1 thing people thank me for.

The best part? It's 100% free to you. Like totally free. No email required. No nothin'. Just a good old fashioned no-strings-attached gift.

This is how we do things at Live Your Legend. Over 95% of what we offer is totally free and we promise to do everything in our power to make our tools as useful and directly applicable as possible.

And with what we have planned in the weeks and months to come, I promise you this is just a taste. It's just one of the many free tools in our Passionate Work Toolkit that's available to every email subscriber.

Read on for a recap of 2012 and a hint of what's to come this year, or download the full 2013 Goal Setting and Action Workbook by clicking here.

Some people claim they don't need to set goals to make big progress.

I am NOT one of them.