Mindset

Perpetuity

There are infinite ways in which perpetuity could be good or bad, but proficient happiness, trust, love, hard work, fun, generosity, learning, wonder, and action seem like safe bets.

As we traverse the entrepreneurial lifestyle, setbacks are inevitable, but each conquered setback makes us more resilient. As resiliency bonds with wisdom, focused determination makes setbacks less distracting. Eventually, setbacks become more like interesting obstacles for trained problem-solvers. This seasoned mindset welcomes suffering and unlocks the wild cards of consistency and persistence.

Passion is overused as a motivating factor, and enthusiastic storytelling is easier for extroverts to fake. The key to lasting success is more like an energizing obsession that makes us build when others don’t. We savor the quests we were called to pursue and push through the dips that make others quit. We don’t need a map and find comfort in the unknowns, as we all continue making a ruckus every step of the way. Ω

Brewed From Within
#125 📖 Life & Happiness

By Ben McDougal, ago

Innovation Curves

Things happen. Trends occur. Economies shift. Technology jolts the systems. Culture changes.

Time will do its thing.

Amidst change, it’s easy to hold on to what worked before. Innovation curves are hamster wheels that are hard to stay ahead of. The term innovation creates circular conversation; it is abstract and often over-used. Everyone experiences innovation, but just because we try something new doesn’t mean we’re a thought leader on change. Gurus will guide, and teams can make it easier to stay ahead of your own innovation curves, but it’s never easy, straightforward, or constant.

When stagnant, work feels like work. Stay ahead of innovation curves by maintaining what built existing momentum. Keep delivering on the promise, then experiment to remain in-tune. Stay thirsty enough to tinker. Add diversities. Revisit early moves. Understand the risks. Remain connected to end-users to grasp reality. Own what’s needed and hold on tight.

Time will still pass, and every story will end. The best ones are those we get to finish on our own terms.

Brewed From Within
#68 📖 Technology

By Ben McDougal, ago

Adapttitude

Rachelle Keck is the 14th president of Grand View University. Students join us in-studio as we discuss the energy of leadership. We also talk about writing a book and how to leverage an adapttitude, which is an attitude that fosters an aptitude for adaptation.

After an extended break that celebrates Playforce Principles and Seth Godin’s Real Skills, we navigate the ROI of higher education, cosmic curiosity, and what’s worth sacrificing to achieve progress. We close with a viking story from Rachelle, on how she burnt the ship by selling her law practice to pursue more grand adventures.

LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS
LISTEN on SPOTIFY

BONUS MATERIALS

https://Wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachelle_Keck

https://Grandview.edu/about/about-gv/president

https://x.com/rachellekeck

https://linkedin.com/in/rachellekeck

http://Adapttitude.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

Roasted Reflections Break: Playforce Principles

EP9 – Future of Work 🎙️ Nancy Mwirotsi

EP31 – What is School For? 🎙️ Russ Goerend

http://YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

Roasted Reflections on Discord

http://BENBOT.ai

By Ben McDougal, ago

Aphorism

Personal truths around life, health, wealth, and happiness evolve from entrepreneurial endeavors. As our own truths evolve alongside an observant mindset, learning to clearly articulate thoughts is transformative.

Knowing oneself can be parlayed with mindful aging to create more heartfelt conversations. How we explore big ideas depends on the environment, people you interact with, and knowledge you pursue.

The pursuit of building a business causes people to be more contemplative about other aspects of life. This makes me thankful for my own entrepreneurial experiences but, more important, for the immeasurable blessing it can be to expand our minds by plugging into startup communities and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

A willingness to show up and the trust built through such generosity allows leaders to become a part of so many other startup stories. As mentioned throughout YDNTB, consistent action over the long run is required, but insight learned along the way provides a path to understanding for anyone, on almost any front.

As we support entrepreneurs through the art of connection, the invitation to have more diverse discussions is unlocked more often. Whether it’s strategic, tactical, or philosophical, what a gift toward open-mindedness this becomes.

Adam Grant reminds us that, along with the value of stimulating conversations with agreeable peers in a support network, it’s also important to weave in the perspectives from a challenge network.

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Smart people change their minds all the time. Discovering you were wrong and are now less wrong can feel charming. This is not incompetency. It’s being honest, respectful, and willing to grow.

Challenge networks consist of disagreeable people we trust to point out blind spots. This helps to overcome weaknesses with feedback we may not want but need.

The peculiar interactions within a challenge network also unlock humbling opportunities to be wrong. This intellectual humility helps avoid misguided confidence and brings us closer to different forms of truth.

Brewed From Within
#51 📖 Leadership

By Ben McDougal, ago

Oversubscribed

It’s a go-go world of busy, busy, busy.

With days scheduled from start to finish, what time is left for random acts of conspicuous kindness, a bit of serendipity, or just saying yes to more adventure?

Coordination often requires thoughtful preparation. There is value in staying organized, but over-planning is a trap. The thirst for productivity has made busy feel likened to being successful. How often do we hear pride disguised as disgust when someone complains about the constrictions of their frantic calendar? Yes, prerequisites include hard work, a healthy obsession, and endless sequencing, but unique opportunities emerge when we’re not captive to a calendar.

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Planning is based on fear.
Doing is based on success.

Renting time can be lucrative, but there are ways to efficiently get things done without falling victim to a stacked routine of back-to-back everything.

Meetings led by talking heads, fracturing lunch affairs, and youth sports are all common versions of this trap. Each activity is cool, but when combined, your days become booked and you have something to do every night. To keep fluidity flowing, schedule fewer meetings next week but retain an eagerness to meet anytime. Instead of lunch, sip brews on either side of the day. Along with standard stuff, consider adventurous ways to share time. Audibles include parlaying a first meeting with an event, going for a stroll, and nature is always nice. This breaks routine. Conversations can be more provocative, as a shared encounter adds depth to any relationship. Lastly, appreciate limitless play, but organized sports will not define a child’s future. In fact, it more commonly limits the experiences a family enjoys together. The game resets at puberty, and at a societal level, playing sports as a career is a fantastic dream, but more often an accepted fallacy. Organized sports deliver camaraderie, fitness, teamwork, loyalty, problem-solving, business opportunities, and a competitive rush, but camps provide these benefits with less time and cost required.

Comfort without a plan leaves space for the unexpected. Things will not always work out, but if calendars remain a tool to keep our promises while staying quietly organized, complacency can be replaced with serendipity. If you feel oversubscribed, fly with fewer plans to let the voids of no agenda unravel a freedom to be your best.

Brewed From Within
#120 📖 Life & Happiness

By Ben McDougal, ago