Love

Serendipitist

Do things always seem to work out for you?

Internal narratives and external experiences make the cultural consequences of serendipity hard to refute. Serendipity may be pseudoscientific, but things we dedicate attention to will attract more of the same.

The appetite for welcoming serendipitous collisions is often enhanced by the optimism that an entrepreneurial lifestyle constructs. No matter the source or how often stars align, many of us are or have the potential to be a serendipitist.

Serendipitists seek adventures that invite, sometimes even require, different layers of serendipity. The extent to which you control what you’re able to control (a dichotomy within stoicism) while also letting the winds of happenstance guide you through a sense of abundance determines how often we experience this charming phenomenon.

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What’s normal for a spider is chaos for the fly.

Leaders who manifest serendipity are often called lucky. Both require proficient preparation, openness, and timeliness, but serendipity is deeper. It calls for earned trust and perseverance. Serendipitists realize good fortune is not an accident and they share this mantra in their creative practice.

Serendipitists show up.
Serendipitists say yes more often.
Serendipitists assume positive intent.
Serendipitists seek to understand.
Serendipitists are empathetic.
Serendipitists stay curious.
Serendipitists are generous.
Serendipitists kill with kindness.
Serendipitists fuel positive change.
Serendipitists have fun and die empty.
Serendipitists play long-term games.
Serendipitists are consistent.

When you sense serendipity, recognize the blessings that come from this positivity we squeeze into the universe. As we keep serendipity brewing, we make new dots to connect and can invite others to turn up their own serendipity even more.

Brewed From Within
#112 📖 Life & Happiness

By Ben McDougal, ago

One & Only

The weight of one is heavy. Something so rare makes us feel like we have only one chance to get it right.

If the one-and-only is inanimate, we never want it diminished. If it’s alive, we seek the futile tranquility of immortality. The desire for everlasting sustainability pressed against the tension of time can make oneness a bit overwhelming. This emotion can devolve into a fear of change and selfish preservation.

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Freedom awaits on the timeline of now.

Being present is hard when we’re always reflecting on the past and thinking about the future, but what choice do we have? Altering the past is not an option. All we have is now, but the present never stops passing. Time becomes an endless transition. Within the blur, gratitude provides peace. It invites us to cherish our one and onlys.

Such admiration acknowledges the past, allows the present to be a gift, and instills renewed optimism for what’s next. For all that is one and only, we say thank you.

Brewed From Within
#117 📖 Life & Happiness

By Ben McDougal, ago

Love Letters

Relationships with a loving spouse may be the single most impactful element of an entrepreneurial lifestyle.

Co-founders in life may not fully understand their partner’s ambition, but with trust minted, healthy individuality allows each person to achieve more.

To visualize how trust creates exponential opportunity, imagine one of your hands is you and the other hand is your partner. First, put your hands together and make the shape of an A. When relationships are built this way, a line of trust is established, but the top point of constant contact limits how far each line can go.

Now, use your hands and make an H. The center line of trust remains, but now there’s room for individuality. Each of the two horizontal lines can continue to grow beyond what would have been possible alone.

Individuality can feel apathetic, but when two people trust each other enough to build their own neon future, a brilliant fabric is set free to shine. This fabric becomes unbreakable as threads of intention weave together with boundless love. The result is a home team with exponential potential.

Even with trust-enabled individuality, a shared appetite for risk depends on current events, the environment, engaged networks, and what resources our partners provide. The quiet truth is that stability is paramount when there is a singular source of financial income. With multiple sources of income, there may be more comfort in the unknowns that come with building something new. Current situations will always present limitations, but love and respect shimmers when we produce more than we consume.

If creation brings us to life, how do we increase a partner’s appetite for calculated risks? When our art becomes a way of being, life-work balance is seen for what it actually is: a fanciful distraction reserved for the status quo. Harmony then awaits those who encourage the creative seasons of their forever friend. This unselfish support fuels positive momentum that strengthens our partners. Setting this example adds space for our own explorations. As both partners keep their promise while also quitting the right things at the right time, trust thickens and the loving leash is lengthened with even more freedom to flex.

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Results add up as promises are kept.

We may all have a creative spirit, but when a shared appetite for risk is applied, the innovative spirit gets stirred into a recipe that’s tasted with endless variety.

It’s seen as students tinker without permission needed. It’s indispensable intrapreneurs fueling positive change in existing companies. It’s volunteering for a cause, side hustles that evolve a diversified career portfolio, and founders solving problems with pain-killing solutions.

Humans seek purpose, love, peace, and happiness. Often, the partners we choose have the most direct influence on our ability to coordinate this quadrivium. With a home team advantage tuned in trust, our work can be ambitious. As our communities blend in, full alignment results in career nirvana.

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I am nothing without the love we share.

Be kind to yourself by choosing a partner wisely. As you build with co-founders in life, be your best knowing that when the credits roll on a life well-lived, your loved ones will be first, last, and all that’s in between.

Brewed From Within
#116 📖 Life & Happiness

"Dedicated to my co-founder in life and our startup that pays in love."
By Ben McDougal, ago