Episode Summary:

On this very special episode, I have a conversation with my good friend Miles DePaul about a recent challenge we both took on. The Trust30 challenge was something I heard about late in the month of May and something that Miles, myself and many others took part in throughout June. We go over what the challenge is and what it meant to us. I strongly encourage the listeners to check out the Trust30 website and follow along with the conversation. We truly hope you enjoy it, this one was very different! (Runtime 41:05)

Sources for the discussion:

http://ralphwaldoemerson.me/

Overcoming Uncertainty - #Trust30 Day 29

Today's challenge ... was very much a challenge. I'll be honest, I have not fully thought through the entire breakdown of it; however, I do have an overarching life goal.

I want to be a teacher.

I am not sure of all the uncertainties I have around it yet simply because I know it's a goal that I won't be pursuing for a long time. I still have to acquire enough wisdom to be able to share with minds who will one day be much wiser than myself.

I think the biggest uncertainty I have is trying to figure out when that time will be. When would I have acquired enough knowledge? For now, my answer is to keep learning and one day ... I guess I'll just know.

Alive-est - #Trust30 Day 28

Today's challenge was a fairly easy one for me to answer because not too long ago I had a one-of-a-kind experience.

I recently was at an event called the Steel Rail Sessions. The event took place mostly on a train. The train was full of people from my community and you could almost feel the friendships forming around you. There were moments where I was able to feel the cool wind blow by as the train rattled along. It was the entire experience of this event that made me feel the most alive.

Forming friendships makes me feel alive. Next time I have to create something, I'll think of the feeling I get when I find a friend.

Personal Recipe - #Trust30 Day 27

These last few challenges have been quite exciting. It will be nice to reflect on today's challenge in even a year's time to see where you stand. Here is my simple answer:

I never want to be someone who failed to follow through, so here's my personal recipe to prevent myself from becoming that person:

1. Find new challenges to commit to.

2. Engage in the challenge to the best of my abilities.

3. Share my story with someone else (friends always help).

What's your personal recipe?

Call to Arms - #Trust30 Day 26

Walk in everyday with a purpose. Think about something you want to ship and make sure that before you leave, you ship it. There will be no room for people who give up, even when all around them is falling apart. Challenge yourself to become the best possible version of who you can be and do the work required to get you there. Oh, and have fun ... but more importantly, make sure others are having fun too.

Most Ordinary - #Trust30 Day 25

Today's challenge helped shed a light on something I truly believe in ... admitting the truth about yourself.

Despite what each one of us do to seem outstanding, there will always be a time where we are just ordinary. I am so inspired by people who live the most ordinary lives, yet do work that is somewhat extraordinary. I am sure you can think of your own examples.

I think comparing ourselves to others is human nature. It's not always a bad thing but you should only use it as an indicator to gauge your own potential, rather than your own incompetence. Here is one of my false comparisons:

1. I will never ship as often as Seth Godin.

However ... I can aspire to do just that.

Intuition - #Trust30 Day 24

Today's challenge is by far one of the most interesting yet. This is yet another one where I think everyone should take a minute to read, have a think about ... then share with someone. Intuition is a very cool concept and personifying it is certainly taking it to the next level.

Here is my idea of what my intuition would look like and tell me:

He would be an amalgamation of a military man, Garfield the cartoon cat and Sherlock Holmes. Probably dressed like the latter, act like the former and have the whimsical nature of the middle. He would also be a few years older than I am (I like to plan ahead). When we sat down to dinner, he would most likely say the following ...

"Don't ever let what you're doing, get in the way of what you want to do."

Somewhat non-sensical, somewhat wise and mostly proverbial. Sounds about right.

Have a look at the challenge and introduce me to your intuition ...

Courage to Connect - #Trust30 Day 23

I am actually not going to answer today's challenge on this post. I think it would be a little lame to write about who you want to connect with, rather than spending the same amount of time actually trying to connect with that person. Instead I am going to pose a simple question:

Once you do connect with this person, what will you talk about?

I guess the challenge did ask that in a way, because it asked you to reflect on why you want to meet this person; however, I think you should take it a step further. Sometimes, it can be intimidating meeting someone like that so it may be nice to have a plan. Of course, with that said ... it's even nicer when the plan gets tossed out of the window and the conversation goes where it naturally wants.

Here's another thought too: Why must we build up courage to talk to one person in particular ... when was the last time you had a small (but meaningful) conversation with a perfect stranger? Doesn't that require some kind of courage? For those of you who've been on an elevator lately ... was the silence extremely awkward? What will it take for you to break it?