WC 006: A Work Ethic That Feeds on Passion

This week, I put in way more hours than usual, and I loved it.

I’ve been experiencing a bit of a paradigm shift in my own thinking around the future of work and community. I’ve allowed myself the space to give my attention to studying the implications of the Web3 revolution.

Brilliant friends like David Casey for example, have been nudging me in this direction for years, but until now I’ve kept my distance, because in all honesty, I’ve felt too busy with the immediacy of the projects right in front of me.

But this week felt like a breakthrough.

I’ve been rising at 3am, settling down in front of my computer within minutes, and getting lost in a coffee-induced flow.

Merging consciousness with an infinite loop of Discord feeds, endless bits of data coming my way at breakneck speed.

What does crazy look like for me?

I had a harder time than usual this week hitting pause for my morning walk routine with my wife (something I hold as sacred).

My desk became a scattered mess of books, written post-it notes, coffee cups, empty seltzer cans, and a variety of other odd assortments.

Mala beads, socks I pulled off my feet when I got a bit too warm, spare Apple Watch band, and a copy of The Social Token Revolution, by Eliot Couvat.

I’d blink, and it would be dinner time.

Yes, I’m aware that I sound a bit nutty right now.

But I’m asking myself, is this the nirvana flow state that we are all seeking?

So many productivity methods strive to deliver on this promise, yet these states can be so elusive.

To be clear, I didn’t spend my entire week lost down a Web3 rabbit hole.

I actually shipped a TON of actual deliverables that have nothing to do with creating revolution

Here’s a few:

• Created and deployed a new A/B testing framework for one of my clients to improve the opt-ins rate on a high priority funnel.
• Wrote something new every day.
• Demoed a new project management system for one of my partners.
• Migrated our students and all of our courses on to ThriveCart Learn+
• Delivered coaching calls for Automated Intimacy, and as a guest in another awesome community.
• Re-designed a community onboarding experience with one of my clients and planted the initial seeds of gamification.
• Worked on a new free guide breaking down The Mothership, our foundational tech stack within AI.

But here’s the point:

By realigning with my own passion of tech-enabled innovation in service of a better life, and a better collective world - I’m feeling alive again.

It’s not that this ever really went away, but if I’m not pushing the envelope, things can start to feel a bit stale.

I’m falling in love all over again with what I’m working on, the humans I get to work with, and the vision for how I see things evolving over time.

I’m loving every bit of it.

It feels joyful, playful, and on mission.

I don’t think it’s realistic to be operating at this pace forever, but for now, it feels right.

So yeah, it’s been a good week :)

The lesson in all this: love what you are doing, because you are doing what you love. If our work ethic feeds on passion, then this all becomes a playful game.

I’d love to hear from you… what gets you so lit up that you feel like you can conquer the world?

What do you do to stay in that state of extended flow and inspiration when it strikes?

And none of us are immune to energy fluctuations - how do you pick yourself up and keep going when it’s your job to ship?

Sending love.

May we lift one another up in experiencing more of the joy in our collective work, and offer each other support through the hard times when it feels in short supply.

Here's What I Want to Share This Week:

1. I wrote a quick post on 3 things you should be coaching in your application funnel if you are looking to create more ease for your and your future customer, while also feeling mega-confident to show up for the call. Check it out here.

2. I summarized my first week's action on Mirror, as part 2 in a ongoing series about this Web3 platform for creators. I believe Mirror may be a key player in the emerging social token revolution. Check it out here.

3. The community has been sharing awesome connections in the book publishing world via this thread. It's been amazing to see group members share their network resources so generously.

4. I documented a cool Drafts Pro action script for my fellow pkm geeks to create a "read it later" workflow in Obsidian. Check it out here.

Who We are Celebrating This Week: Julia Frodahl

Ry and I had the pleasure of meeting Julie for the first time last week.

Julia is the founder of the US-based program, "Training a Million Compassionate People", and a 6-week signature immersion program that helps people unpack fundamental and life-changing insights for living a more compassionate life.

Julie has been a yoga teacher, and long-time spiritual mentor through her private inner work practice, however it was particularly inspiring to hear about how her online compassion school has literally taken off in grassroots fashion over the past year during the pandemic.

Largerly by way of word of mouth, over 700 students have already taken the immersion, and Julie is on a mission to spread this work to over 1,000,000 people globally.

Here's a quick vid about what she's up to:

I, for one, am down for this and am strongly considering joining the next immersion that starts on February 26th.

This is not an affiliate offer, I just think that we all need more of this.

Anyone interested in joining me?

This Week's Curiosities:

How to Live (Link)

Cool new book by Derek Sivers, one of the OG’s in my book. Never been let down.

Single Malt Whiskey, An Ayurvedic Doctor’s Perspective (Link)

Ok, this is a pretty controversial topic.

I’ve been fortunate enough to study with Dr. Sumit over the past couple of months, and if nothing else, this book will may offer you an interesting perspective on the relationship between health and alcohol. Free if you are a kindle unlimited member.

The Creator Middle Class (Link)

Cool article on the rise of micro-communities and the emerging creator middle class.

Web3 Social Landscape (Link)

A nice overview of Web3 social that visualizes the landscape well.

Check It Out On Twitter 👇👇

Come join the conversation on Twitter, it’s much more fun with friends.