I’m Relaunching this Blog as Something that actually Matters

29 Jul

This post has been a long time coming.

Last night was one of those nights.  I was just sitting back, sipping on a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, reflecting on the last couple years of my life.  Wow.

I have workshifted in over 30 countries. Co-launched a project to help a school in Tanzania.  Built a pretty neat twitter application.  Produced a 65 day road trip project across North America.
Launched a series of Shakespeare-related projects with one of the most important cultural institutions on the planet.  Architected a new model of experiential philanthropy with a fellow co-conspirator at GHNI in Kenya and Ethiopia.  I’ve managed to find a way to work (and travel) with my beautiful wife full time, and we spend 75% of the year adventuring around the globe (close to 200,000 miles) while working on our projects.  To some, no doubt, my life may seem frenetic.  But, if you were to go back in time 5 years and ask me to articulate my dream life, it would be exactly as it is now.

But.

I have one lingering issue.  This website.

The Time has come for this site to Grow Up

One of the major shortcomings I’ve had in the past couple years, I feel, is the lack of attention I’ve given to this platform – my own website.

What are some of the major problems as I see it?

My posts have been haphazard in schedule.
I write about some of my ideas, but very little about how I do what I do.
It’s very difficult for you to follow where I am or what I’m working on or how I’m doing it.
And most importantly, in my heart I know that of all my projects, I’ve given it the least of my attention.  And that is pathetic.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and have been quietly planning a relaunch for some time.

What you can expect from me next?

* I will be relaunching this website in mid to late August, and it will be called The Pursuit of Everything.

* I will not be posting anything until then.

* I will be publishing specific goals I intend to achieve throughout the year.  Some of these are business/writing related, some are travel related, and some are just crazy things I’ve always wanted to do, but for some stupid reason never have.

* I will start publishing regularly two times per week. Probably Mondays and Thursdays, to ensure enough space between the two days.

* I will create an easy way for you and I to possibly meet up (yes, IRL!) while I’m on the road in or around your town.

* I will show you where I’m traveling and how I manage to do it so damn much.

But most importantly

* I will focus on helping you make things happen.  In business.  In life.  And in Adventuring.  To stop doing what you think you’re supposed to in order to be happy, and to start sketching out a  pursuit of everything.

What does this mean for you?

* Basically, this means I’m going to be spending a lot more of my time thinking about you, and how I can help you change the world.

* If you’ve subscribed, either via RSS or Email, you won’t have to do it again, so no worries.

* If you wish to unsubscribe at this point, you can do so at the bottom of the last email you received from me.

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Like I said, I will not be posting here until I relaunch.  But I will talk about how I plan to relaunch and the steps that are going into launching this major project on my new Facebook page . So, let’s hang out over there for the next month.

 

Dream Big, Right? A British Independence Day

4 Jul

Martyn & AJ

Two years ago, almost to the day, I was in London speaking at the same conference I am speaking at this week.  A few hours after the talk, I received this email with the subject heading “Dream Big, Right?”

____

Hi guys, especially AJ.

I was at the conference in London yesterday and have been inspired so much that I want to bounce the essense of my dream vs perceived boundaries to see what your lowdown is.

Bio: I am a disabled guy, used an electric wheelchair since 3 yrs old. had ups and down like all people but with the odd extra complication due to access to places and attitudes of some less cool people. nonetheless I have a degree in economics and MA marketing, work full time for a disability charity and while single now I have had my share of beautiful girls. a normal life right…

In working for and understanding disability more broadly I love and hate my job. The vision is perfect = equality for disabled people, but I get frustrated at methods and restrictions of large corporate sign off style situations. I have had all sorts of ideas of doing this my own way but have been refining the messages, mediums and worrying around business models and so on.

Then I saw AJ and basically thought this is do-able. My vision is also equality for disabled people but in laymans terms where everyone gets involved in all different way. I’ll tell my story, get the tribe online and in the end give info, funds and empowerment to disabled people trapped in poverty and inequality.

Key question is beyond a website, some blogs, pictures, videos and possibly some broader stories with monetary needs, how does one make a social business to pay your own rent and satisfy the cause and morality?

Best wishes and thanks so much for inspiring me to really start thinking about this. It will happen, just a question of when.

Martyn

____

The next day

I met Martyn at a Starbucks in central London.  From the second I met him, there was no doubt in my mind that this guy was going to change the world.  Since that meeting,  I’ve basically put Misfit, Inc behind whatever he does.

It’s now two years later.  Almost to the day.  And today Martyn is celebrating his very own Independence Day.  He just left his job, is fully self employed, is living out his dream and is empowering disabled folks all over the world.  I cannot express how happy I am.  What was once a fantasy is now his life.

Lesson 1

Don’t ever discount the power of sharing your dream with others.

Lesson 2

Sometimes people are inches from remarkable.  If you can be the one to give them a little lift. Do it.  In the end, your life will be measured by what you gave not by what you accumulated.

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If you think this post is valuable please consider Retweeting, Sharing on Facebook or emailing this post to someone you know who really needs it. I would truly appreciate it. :)

 

A Happy Misfit’s Soliloquy

8 Comments

29 Jun

Never in the entire course of human history will there be another human exactly like you.  Stop second guessing yourself. Tomorrow is a fallacy.  You have right now or you have never. Lead.  Push the button.  Start some trouble.  Launch your project. And once you’re done. Do it again. 2011 is exactly half way over.[.....]

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A Short Tale of Legendary Brownies

10 Comments

9 Jun

“People will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you make them feel.”  Maya Angelou Let me tell you a true story. My friend Ben runs the best coffee shop in Stratford-upon-Avon.  He doesn’t sell many items beyond coffee, but every single solitary cake, flapjack, scone,[.....]

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The Paralysis of Waiting

12 Comments

23 May

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2 Things You’ll Never Learn

20 Comments

16 May

Failure Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement. C.S. Lewis There is a lot of “business speak” out there about this, but it is the truth.  Nothing in life will prepare you for success like failure.  The cycle goes something like this: Plan. Prep. Launch. Re-work. Repeat.  The more experienced the artist, the[.....]

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Any child can poke holes in a balloon

8 Comments

12 May

It doesn’t take much to be the guy in the room who says no to everything. It’s not hard work to identify the general excitement behind a new idea or the momentum of a new direction and call out all the possible ways it could fail. Anybody can do that. Any three year old kid[.....]

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When Madmen Lead the Blind

30 Comments

9 May

13 days after my fourteenth birthday, my father passed away. Losing a parent at that age is very difficult.  Even more difficult was watching my mother lose her husband.  Saying it was a terrible year doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the excruciating anguish and confusion and rage.  But unlike Hamlet, for me[.....]

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I am Terrified of Flying: A Treatise on Fear

26 Comments

21 Apr

People think I’m fearless.  But I’m not. I’m scared of flying. No, I’m not kidding.  Many moons ago when I had just begun my nomadic tendencies, I took a short trip from New York to Austin with a two hour layover in Houston.  On this particular trip, my fear of flying had gripped me so[.....]

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3 Types of People That Never Ever Seem to Fail at Anything

17 Comments

18 Apr

As far as I can tell, there are three types of individuals who never ever seem to fail at anything. Masters of Doing Lots and Lots of Nothing The people who spend all their time working on many different things at once.  These people are always very, very busy. So busy in fact, that they[.....]

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