Serendipity

PolyOmega

Roasted Reflections is a collection
of writings I’ll be proud of forever
and this is the finishing touch…

As I think back, I was never much into reading or writing. I did what was required to play the game of school. Back in 2004, after earning a computer science degree from Loras College and as I started building my career, countless website proposals and client emails had to be where my proficiency with creative writing started to form. This was when the Internet was new, so every business owner began to realize they needed a decent website, even if they didn’t know why. My ability to translate nerd to normal (and normal back to nerd), helped me collaborate with leaders in countless industries. Hearing how people built their companies and helping to compile stories made content creation an indirect, but ongoing element to my early practice.

Writing was also important in my entrepreneurial ventures. It helped me launch The Iowa 3v3 Soccer Challenge and then a global social network for video game enthusiasts. The amount of content I forged into Gathering of Gamers and Tournament Seeker was epic. When I retired from web development after 8 years and  $1M+ in sales, a multimedia marketing move into home building also had me creating a castle of content and with each new side hustle, more words were always required. For instance, I designed everything on FliteBrite, OpenOpen, and Chatty, just to name a few.

I stretch back into the past, because it reveals how writing is fundamental to modern communication. AI and ChatUX is transforming how it’s done, but content creation has enhanced my career in digital marketing and has fueled all of my innovative aspirations. Along with articulating ideas in compelling ways, my writing has been focused on entrepreneurship for a long time. My own creative seasons have been enlightening, but all that I’ve learned from leaders like you, has been monumental in understanding the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Along with career nirvana for myself, I’ve seen how building a business activates an abundance of lasting purpose, shared motivation, and personal growth!

Alright, fast forward to January 1, 2020.

As I started writing my first book by copying the Table of Contents into a blank document, there was never a doubt I could articulate deep understandings into tight spaces. From start to finish, writing You Don’t Need This Book and building Pour Over Publishing to support the publishing process took 1.25 years. Toward the end of this journey, it became clear that BenMcDougal.com needed to be a more prominent place. Thanks to a lifetime of building online, as my personal website came together, I had a stockpile of content. Along with everything on different websites and throughout social media, I had crafted (37,456 words) for YDNTB, which delivered a wonderful well of my very best writing.

Extending my book with a blog was not the original plan. It felt important to make my website shine, but I had never published art on such a rigid timeline. Seth Godin suggests we ship art every day, so while I considered a daily blog, I had to be realistic. Everything I write about are relics for people who mean the world to many, so delivering on a promise was my only option. As I considered how often to publish new articles, feedback kept me grounded and I’m glad I chose to pursue a weekly cadence.

Over time, RoastedReflections.com has become a treasured library. Each writing is a chemical reaction. I thought deeply and challenged myself to write less, but to mean more. The challenge of compressing countless characters also led to many short titles. While my titles may not be obvious for first-time readers, I appreciate the allure of such mystique. Short titles deliver a punch and I’ve enjoyed forcing big ideas into tiny titles.

The organization of this library will continue to pay dividends as well. There are countless links between all 160+ writings. Primary categories kept me focused on timely/evergreen value for the right audience, while topic-based tags were applied for more precise exploration. Thoughtfully associating a unique emoji to each writing was fun as well.

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Listen to WHY I build.

What started as a marketing engine for my first book, soon became a part of my routine. Knowing an email would automatically pull from my blog every Wednesday morning, meant I needed to meet my deadline every week. The occasional glitch had me scrambling once in awhile, but I never missed a week. Such consistency required sacrifice, but significant learning was experienced along the way.

I learned how reading helps us understand the world, while writing helps us understand ourselves. I learned to feel when it was time to find direction. I learned to appreciate the release of articulating something everyone was going to see. As distribution channels grew, I learned how to counter the feelings of self-righteousness. I learned a lot of new words and that it usually took more than one pass to get each writing perfect. I learned the value of indexing my thoughts. I learned how writing helps improve the way we listen and speak. I learned that when we create something we’re proud of, external validation becomes inconsequential. I learned more about how generosity builds trust and what it means to be an author.

There are more takeaways, but it’s clear why I encourage everyone to write. If you’re afraid to write in public, start by journalling in private, but know this has layers of unrealized potential. Writing helps us organize, execute, and release ideas, but it’s not “art” until it connects with those we seek to serve. The best of intentions mean nothing until we ship it.

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“Change is inevitable.
Don’t fall in love with a medium.
Fall in love with the mission.” -Seth Godin

I’ve shipped my art and RoastedReflections.com will live on to nourish leaders who make a ruckus by fueling positive change in our connected era.

This may be the end to an epic streak, but the title of this closing chapter (PolyOmega) reminds us that endings are a beginning to what’s next.

I’ll continue to lead by speaking nationwide, over 5,000 copies of You Don’t Need This Book have been sold, You Don’t Need This Podcast is in full-effect, BEN BOT is online, fellow leaders are collaborating on Discord, community events are happening, and ecosystems are evolving.

Cheers to all who make work look like play and as we each pursue career nirvana, let’s keep building and stay connected in all that we do ▯

By Ben McDougal, ago

Executionist

Nobody cares about your great ideas.
They care how we make ideas happen.

This tribute to action was originally titled execution, but that’s insufficient. To honor such ingenuity, let’s loudly celebrate those who apply action to nudge the world, by calling them executionists.

Executionists appreciate planning, but don’t get stuck in endless brainstorms. They’re not rushing into bad ideas, but they are often the first to tinker. Action-based execution is why the title of my book (and podcast) will remain true. It even grounds the preface of You Don’t Need This Book, which I thought might be neat to highlight here:

There are good reasons why we have so many clichés about talk being cheap. Action is required when it’s time to get things done. Cheers to so many who don’t stop at ideas. Heretics who build when others don’t. Leaders who choose to make a ruckus without permission and in doing so, go beyond the status quo by evolving ideas into reality.

Executionists keep the promise.
Executionists leverage uncertainty.
Executionists perpetually learn by doing.
Executionists connect dots with real skills.
Executionists courageously communicate.
Executionists take time to be detailed oriented.
Executionists stay organized to be efficient.
Executionists add pieces to the puzzle.
Executionists enjoy shifting gears.
Executionists are Serendipitists.

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After three years, decisions were made to spin away from the weekly cadence of my writings. Fresh episodes of YDNTP will continue brewing innovative energy each week and occasional contributions may still land into Roasted Reflections, but these last few writings of 2023 are a closing finale.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Overbooked

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, welcoming serendipity, or just saying yes to more adventure?

Thoughtful preparation is often required to coordinate whatever it may be. There’s value in staying organized, but over planning is a trap. The thirst for productivity in an industrial age has made busy feel/look successful. How often do we hear pride disguised by disgust, in the tone of someone explaining the constrictions of their overbooked calendar? Yes, it takes boundless hard work, a healthy obsession, and endless sequencing to be remarkable, but unexpected opportunities emerge when we’re not captive to a calendar.

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A lack of routine may slow down time.

Renting time can be lucrative, but in our connected era, there are ways to efficiently get things done without falling victim to a back-to-back life. Perhaps being comfortable without a plan can leave space to connect more interesting dots? Things will not always come together, but if the calendar is a tool to keep promises while staying quietly organized, complacency can be released and replaced by unplanned experiences that keep us open to next.

As we sip on another holiday season, see how it feels to fly without a plan. May voids filled with no agenda unravel a freedom to be your best.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Horizons

From the ground, our view to the horizon is 3 miles. Peering atop the highest observation deck in the United States, humans can see up to 50 miles on a clear day.

While the foreground of daily activity occupies so much attention, our cumulative culture has always looked to the edge for answers. Whether it’s cresting through the clouds on a flight, that inspiring view from any rooftop, or the simple pleasure of walks around the neighborhood, we love the hope-filled distance of any view. Beyond these moments of beauty, how can we think about edges as we keep building?

Action is obviously required, but staying wild and thinking BIG takes practice. Busy can be addictive and the close proximity to how time is spent makes everything feel pressing. The closer the deadline, the more attention it’s given. Keep the promise of what you’re building, but finding time to think is a mental exercise that nurtures gratitude and often attracts fresh opportunities.

To avoid self limitation, collide ideas into more weird conversations. We can chat with anyone online, so leverage our connected era, but then pour in the serendipity! Show up and with your own eyes, get interested.

As boundaries come and go, avoid where the sidewalk ends and there’s no need to always be first in line. Skyline views await us all from anywhere. Build like this. Linchpins go beyond brainstorming and instead, edgecraft ideas toward reality. Lean into Playforce Principles and continue to ship on the timeline of now. Along with that prerequisite, stay open to next and feel different momentums converging toward that next horizon.

No matter how you get there, the edge is wonderfully wild. Every horizon is different and gratitude ensures we don’t go numb to the raindrop of time we have on earth. Perhaps the thesis of this riff is that one horizon is not the only endpoint. Each extent is just too cosmic to ever be the same. Trap time and enjoy sequencing distant views to hug the curves toward your own horizons.

By Ben McDougal, ago

First Steps

Watching toddlers learn to walk is adorable. This right of passage also reminds us how fresh motivation may be needed when progress seems to stall.

At first, early moves felt natural and crawling has done the job. As children see what’s possible, expectations are raised. With parental guidance, promising signs are filled with excitement and success feels within reach. Time passes though, and sometimes that loving motivation can lose its luster. Progress stalls and concern can start to brew, but what if the breakthrough is just waiting for a fresh source of encouragement? Even when it’s on accident, as new motivation is introduced, almost all at once, progress proceeds. We scramble for the camcorder and those precious first steps are enjoyed by all. Six more weeks of practice is needed, but this achievement renews momentum that keeps our little ones moving forward.

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For parents smiling as they read this, know that Pure Wonder, #1 DAD, Winding Whys, Training Wheels, Playforce, Santa is Real, and many of the emerging episodes from You Don’t Need This Podcast are just as fun!

For students, entrepreneurs, and intrapreneurs building around new ideas, the dance with innovation may also require shifting gears once in awhile. Next time an engine stalls, step back to consider that alternate angle, talk to peers with different perspectives, take a little time away, or show up unannounced to adapt and get back in business.

By Ben McDougal, ago