Cortex 62: 2018 Yearly Themes
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is it too late to wish you a Happy New
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Year I don't think it's too late to wish
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you a happy Court Xmas yeah I feel like
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we need to really do that before because
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court Xmas has happened if we say it's
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going to happen now that's not true
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right because there will be more soon
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but we have had we had a lot of cortex
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misses in last year though let's be real
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right there are a lot of them so we're
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there I don't know it felt like they
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were so they were so few like court Xmas
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is such a precious time and I guess that
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ties into your 2017 theme was it no wait
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mine was the year of less right you will
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like year or something or other that no
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one could work out you don't remember my
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theme for the year I'm disappointed you
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don't know her Mike Mike confusing
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poorly articulated theme for the year I
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didn't know I didn't it's written in
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front of me and I still don't know what
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so we are gonna we're gonna talk about
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our yearly themes but we're gonna talk
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about last year's we're going to
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evaluate how we performed against our
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yearly themes so we kind of established
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these in episode 44 of cortex and spoke
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about them a little bit more in episode
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45 if you're catching up it's probably
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worth listening to those as well so you
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can hear us establish our themes
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my theme of 2017 was the year of Les
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which was your 2016 theme right that was
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where that debuted is the year of Les
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we've done this for three this is the
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the third time that we've done becoming
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a real tradition yeah I think that the
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2016 one wasn't as like set in stone
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like there wasn't a set in stone it was
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just like something you mentioned that
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was what you were thinking about in that
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year right but then I think I might have
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been in 2017 where we started to like
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think about this as a thing that doesn't
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we started to lock ourselves in mm-hmm
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check out like a narrow tradition going
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which is important yeah I guess I find
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traditions to be very important in
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podcast people can look forward to it
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and it's something that is obviously
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cool on because I had people even in
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person told me when are you doing the
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2018 yeah episode so people like it yeah
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I've got to say a people that people do
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like it I had a number of
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we'll mention him person to me as well
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like they were thinking about their own
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themes for the year and I've seen a
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bunch of chatter on the core-tex
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subreddit about what people are going to
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do for their own games for the year so I
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do say I think people like it and you
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know when we started talking about this
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I just again reiterate that I really
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much prefer the idea of a theme versus a
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goal I still feel the need right now to
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to be able to back out and say like you
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don't necessarily need a theme every
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year it doesn't need to be a tradition
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we don't absolutely have to do this
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maybe some year it doesn't make sense to
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do right but no but that that year will
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just be the year of no theme right so
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that that's how that works right okay
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that's how that works that the yearly
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themed stuff was so much better than
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resolutions because resolutions are dumb
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what you're doing is creating a basic
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idea or framework that you can build
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many goals and resolutions in throughout
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the year yeah you know like instead of
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me saying oh my new year's resolution is
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to hire somebody it was no I'm gonna be
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doing a year of less and then part of
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that might be doing this but I want to
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so it works way nicer because it's more
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open-ended it's just a phrase as opposed
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to like a thing that has an actual like
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binary yes or no did I achieve it and I
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think that is a much nicer way to think
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about my working life so I appreciate
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that introduction to the idea yeah it's
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it's way better for the reasons you said
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I also like the idea that you don't feel
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as bound by it like if someone sets up a
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theme for the year and they realize
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halfway through the year it doesn't make
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it is not the same thing as like oh I've
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said the goal that this is the year I'm
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going to be really healthy and now I'm
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just a big fat failure right it's it's a
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different it's a different thing of like
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I want to adjust the theme midstream you
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know like it's it's a much better way to
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think about things and again like I'll
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say that these are like my personal
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feelings on it so for my company we have
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goals and objectives that we want to hit
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right relate it around hard numbers and
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percentage increases of those numbers
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but for myself personally I don't really
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like to set those really really rigid
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goals as such and and I think it works
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better like a company is made up of a
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selection of people and I feel like that
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the goals if you if you want to
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look at like Oh what will I revenue be
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like or how many listeners what we have
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right there are types of things setting
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goals and objectives for those make
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sense because it is vital for the
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existence of the business that those
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things remain or grow where like for me
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personally it is not vital to my
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existence as to whether I well maybe I
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was gonna say whether I go to the gym
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three times a week or twice possibly it
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is maybe that's a bad example but like
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it is not vital to my existence of like
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oh how many books am I gonna read this
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year like I don't I don't live or die on
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that metric yeah I was just starting to
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laugh because I was thinking yeah it's a
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theme is personal to an individual which
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is also why it wouldn't make sense for a
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company to do like I was thinking if Tim
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Cook came out one day was like we
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haven't we have a theme for the year for
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Apple right and like what's going on
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with Apple this year he's like our theme
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for the year is beauty it'd be like
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uh-oh in real trouble because it's also
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just like what does that mean to people
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right you need to then let up have all
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these bullet points so I it's like that
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out here if you're a company you need
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some goals right you need some metrics
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but for your flourishing as an
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individual human a theme is a much
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better framework in which to operate so
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tell me Mike how did your year of Les go
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so I actually had two yearly themes one
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of them established itself halfway
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through the year that's see they're very
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open to change I did a I took it and
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turned it right i innovated on that on
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the theme idea and we'll get to the
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second one in a minute but mike the one
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that i established last year the
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beginning of the year was the year of
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less because i had spent a year talking
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to you and looking at all the things
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that you were doing and the improvements
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that you were making on your working
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life and throughout those conversations
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i decided that there were things that I
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needed to do for mine and one of the big
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big things for year of less was to get
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help to get some kind of assistance and
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I did we hired an assistant and this
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person has been excellent for us and
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we're giving more and more and more to
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them and it was a lot of work to get
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going my gosh my gosh was it a lot of
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with the interview process and then
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after all of that you've got a like help
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train someone right you can't just be
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like oh you go do your job can you
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remind me when when in the year did that
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happen like when did when were you doing
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interviews at the very beginning of the
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year I think it was maybe like February
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or March or something like that okay so
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it was very early in the year I just
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wasn't sure it was very early yeah um we
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did it I mean just going through I don't
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know if I spoke about at the time but
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I'm happy to say now I think we've got
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like a hundred and fifty applications
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for the job and we took ten people to
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interview now we thought our ten
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people's flight that's ten hours and we
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did it in one week it was like it was
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tough it was a lot of work to go through
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all of that information and 150 is a lot
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when it kind of gets a little
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mind-numbing because so many people
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write the same stuff right I mean that's
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the way that it's funny
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you kind of think and I know I've been
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in this position you think that there is
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a specific way in which you should apply
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for a job right the things that you
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write and things that you say but the
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problem with that is you then just blend
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in to like to everybody else like going
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through some of these applications I
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kind of was unable to tell where one
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person ended in the next person began by
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the end of it yeah yeah and then but
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you've also got the the opposite problem
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if you try and stick out too much you
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maybe take a bit of a risk it is a
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tricky thing to apply if it's a gel it's
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a delicate balance yet because if you
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stick out too much now you're the weirdo
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all right and like okay this is the
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application that sticks out way too much
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there are certain types of jobs where
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it's easier like with yours people were
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able to provide you with a piece of work
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right and so there is like a an
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entertainment quality value which makes
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somebody stick out I guess but for me it
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was just like write me a cover letter
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like that was what I wanted to see and
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it's always just text I mean and so yeah
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it felt like it was blending in a little
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bit but I don't know maybe it's just
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because I don't like to read I didn't
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enjoy it who knows no but it's it is
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it's going to be the case that when you
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when you start talking about
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hundred and fifty people applying to a
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thing they said this is where again like
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people then start falling into
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categories like you're mentally you
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can't deal with a hundred and fifty
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people in your brain and so you start
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like bidding people into groups and then
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that's where it's like uh other day like
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I have a lot of sympathy for everybody
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applying to any kind of job because
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that's that's part of what the trouble
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is is like trying to try to indicate to
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the person who's reading the
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applications what kind of person you are
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and and like that you can do the job and
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like how how do you signal that when
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your only tool is a resume it's it's
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incredibly different and the issue is it
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if you as the hiring manager want to get
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this done in a timely fashion there is
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nothing you can do than to just
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disregard some people right oh every if
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and it's a shame and I wished it kind of
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wasn't like this and you could in theory
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if you had a month to make your decision
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going through the resumes then you could
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read every one and consider them all but
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if you weren't trying to fill a position
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which typically whenever you're trying
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to fill a position speed is always good
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right yeah that's right there is just an
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unfortunate part of it in that you have
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to disregard some applications I mean
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and I'm I hired when I was working at
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I used to hire as well as part of what I
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did it was the same thing there as well
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it's like some people you just like I
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can read this and feel like I have a
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good sense of the type of person you are
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and you're not the type of person I want
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for this job and it's like but have I
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really looked at it in detail
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unfortunately not but this kind of
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nothing you can do about it
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so sympathies to anybody applying for
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but anyway it really is the interesting
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thing I probably could have predicted
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this but it's good to know that whilst
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it is all great to have to do less work
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of my own right so I have somebody who's
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able to take work away from me and do it
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for me that's actually not the value the
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value is less aggravation I have less I
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find myself being less annoyed
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because there's this thing I have to do
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right I am able to move around some of
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the tasks that are less enjoyable or
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just things I've done too many times you
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know like there was some weekly tasks
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right which I've been doing for three
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years every single week and it was like
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a spreadsheet based tasks and so I get
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no joy out of this anymore I used to
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enjoy it but I don't like it anymore and
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I could sit down to do it on like a
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Sunday evening or a Monday morning and
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it was like oh here we go again right
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and being able to pass that stuff away I
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have way less tasks that I have roll my
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eyes at now and that has been a
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wonderful result of my yearly theme is
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it is not basically it's like a year of
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less comma work slash annoyance and
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that's very great right the other thing
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that I did as part of my year of less
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was time tracking and that ended up
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becoming a thing that I would eventually
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start doing was like tracking my time
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and the benefit for me is that time
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tracking has had and continues through
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highlight areas that I was spending too
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much time in right everybody like all
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here are the things I'm spending too
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much time in this blah blah blah blah
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blah but it hasn't again that that was
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what I expected would be the case right
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like oh it would tell me the things I'm
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spending too much time in and then I
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would stop doing so many of those things
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right that was my initial thought that
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was my hypothesis in the same way that
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like hiring an assistant means I will do
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less work but the result has actually
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been time tracking has helped me
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highlight how much work I actually do
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and those numbers make me feel
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psychologically better because anybody
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that runs their own business especially
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but anybody that is very invested in the
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work that they do the can can get into a
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situation where it's on your mind all
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the time yeah so you feel like you're
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working 24 hours a day so to be able to
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look at graphs and chance and say like
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Oh on Monday I actually only worked for
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five hours not 23 there is like a sigh
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psychological benefit in that for me
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where I don't feel like I'm as busy
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anymore because I actually have some
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stuff that I can point to yeah I think
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the phrase you used earlier in the year
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talking about this was was that you can
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talk back to your mind and I think
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that's that's a great that's a great
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phrase because it's when your brain
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thinks that you've been way busier than
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you actually are it's you know it's busy
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releasing all of the stress home
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hormones and worries that are related to
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that and it's it's a way to try to
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calibrate your brain to say I guess
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we're we're busy but it's not what you
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think it is brain so you can chill out
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we don't need to be at 11 on the anxiety
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meter of all the stuff that needs to get
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done we can take it back to a much more
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reasonable level and here's a
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spreadsheet that you can look at which
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proves this to you so I think that's a
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that's a really good point about the
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time tracking you know the service that
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we both use toggle they have good
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they're pretty good reports and when the
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Year ticked over a mutual friend
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Federico 40g he tweeted he's like he
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tweeted his graph right like his pie
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chart to show like how his workers per
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glass a good idea so I looked at mine
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and I again always find interesting
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things 50% of my working time in 2017
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was spent editing podcasts whilst 25%
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was recording this is not a surprise to
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me because I a some projects don't take
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twice the amount of time they take to
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record but some take four or five times
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right depending on what the the show is
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and what I'm doing and when I mean I
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kind of shared this online as well so
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thought it was very interesting and I
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had a few people reach out to me
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offering their editing services right
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mmm and it was like it is interesting
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that that is what people take from it
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they see that and they're like oh you
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must want to do less of it but I don't
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really like that's not what that means
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it's like okay I see it's 50% of my time
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but I consider that time valuable right
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and there have been projects in 2017
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that I have handed over to
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else I am just about to hand over
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another show to be edited by somebody
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else which is great because it's
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probably one that what I know this
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person can do it very well and there's
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no need for me to continue doing it
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anymore specifically so it's fine right
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I can hand that one over but I'm not
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dying to do that for any of the projects
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that I'm currently doing because we work
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with some very talented editors we have
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a few people that we work with real AFM
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who we give these projects to so I know
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there are people that can do it but I
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don't feel like I need to I want to like
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I think people look at some of like they
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look at podcast editing or they look at
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some tasks and they're like oh that's
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just like monkey work right you don't
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want to do that but I make podcasts
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that's my job like that's what I do and
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part of that is the editing of them so
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it's like would as someone's like all
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you do 25% of your time is spent hosting
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a show you should give I should do that
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for you right like I can take some of
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that time away for you and it's like
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well no right it's but it's the same
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thing to me and I think you would agree
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rightly you could hand over the editing
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of all of your shows but you choose not
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to it's it's something you can get help
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along the way but you still want to be
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involved in it yeah and like what you
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would you ideally want having brought on
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the assistant is to see that in the pie
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chart of your working life that a larger
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percentage of it is being made of what
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are the like the core value producing
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yep activities that you engage in and
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the editing is an example of something
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that it's like invisible work all right
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when a show is well edited people are
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not aware of it and so people can easily
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think of something like that as oh you
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can just have somebody else do that but
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for some of the shows that you work on
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they're like the the the voice of this
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show or the particular way that things
◼
►
come out is is really dependent on
◼
►
exactly the Edit I have to say I am a
◼
►
little bit surprised at though at the
◼
►
ratio of your editing time versus
◼
►
recording so I was surprised about it I
◼
►
but like I see it and I'm like okay
◼
►
right like it was a surprise to me but
◼
►
it's like if that's what it takes that's
◼
►
what he takes I mean okay I also say
◼
►
like bug us editing also includes all of
◼
►
the posting and all that sort of stuff
◼
►
so we can add a little bin one time on
◼
►
every time right like you know it might
◼
►
add like 15 minutes on every single time
◼
►
okay that makes more that makes more
◼
►
sense though actually in that ratio it
◼
►
includes everything that happens from
◼
►
the moment I open logic to the moment
◼
►
that the show is posted right Lee
◼
►
includes all of that stuff I had like a
◼
►
show posting thing for a while but it
◼
►
just seemed silly to me because it was
◼
►
just stopped one time I start another
◼
►
timer because by and large I post a show
◼
►
immediately after he's finished editing
◼
►
typically right like I don't have many
◼
►
shows that that's not the case so I kind
◼
►
of just leave that one that one thing so
◼
►
I mean the ratio I actually was kind of
◼
►
happy with that it's like I start with
◼
►
preparation double the amount of
◼
►
preparations into recording and then
◼
►
double the amount of recording is into
◼
►
editing it was like okay like that's
◼
►
that's interesting that's kind of how it
◼
►
breaks down for me so yeah I feel like
◼
►
all kind of worked out yeah I was just I
◼
►
was just pulling up my own report shows
◼
►
curious to see and of course this is
◼
►
it's not entirely fair but I was looking
◼
►
at with cortex like what is the ratio of
◼
►
preparation and editing versus recording
◼
►
time and mine is a lot closer to 5050
◼
►
but that's because I'm able to out I
◼
►
think about the farm out most of the
◼
►
work of producing cortex do you Mike but
◼
►
I was just kind of curious to see to see
◼
►
what it is that it's that for me the
◼
►
ratio on this show is a lot closer to
◼
►
5050 for how much time is recording
◼
►
versus how much time is involved in in
◼
►
absolutely everything else yeah and I
◼
►
guess it's worth mentioning that a vast
◼
►
percentage of my cast recording time is
◼
►
cortex that's I wasn't gonna ask but I
◼
►
figured that this is I know that this is
◼
►
the bulk of the work yeah in terms of in
◼
►
terms of any particular show how much
◼
►
time do you spend and I know that I
◼
►
place a heavy editing burden on you Mike
◼
►
and I apologize for that
◼
►
there is no I said as many times there's
◼
►
no apology needed like I am
◼
►
to do it because the show it all works
◼
►
out right like the time that I put into
◼
►
it the compensation works great like
◼
►
it's fine like I'm happy too like if the
◼
►
show is this show had like five hundred
◼
►
people that listen to it I wouldn't do
◼
►
this right but but it all works out at
◼
►
the end of the day so like I'm fine with
◼
►
it right like it all works out but it
◼
►
says the other thing like looking back
◼
►
on the year for you of trying time
◼
►
tracking like do you like you said with
◼
►
this show you feel like the amount of
◼
►
time you spend on it and the reward you
◼
►
get from it is is comparable do you feel
◼
►
like now with a year's worth of data
◼
►
that tracks well across all of your
◼
►
projects like do you feel that your
◼
►
projects get the amount of time that
◼
►
they deserve or do you feel like there's
◼
►
stuff that's over or under served I
◼
►
think by and large I am happy with the
◼
►
balance of my stuff especially because
◼
►
you know I've seen some of those things
◼
►
go down so some of again so I'm gonna
◼
►
put a link to this image in the show
◼
►
notes so people can see it and give a
◼
►
bit of color around a couple of things
◼
►
so you know you can see some of these
◼
►
things are self-explanatory right
◼
►
editing recording sure preparation
◼
►
sponsor booking that is like when we
◼
►
have a sponsor and we're inputting all
◼
►
of their information and dealing with
◼
►
contracts and stuff like that and also
◼
►
contacting new people it's all of that
◼
►
sponsor aftercare that's just a phrase
◼
►
that I made up that just means like
◼
►
answering questions and working on
◼
►
things that people need right so like
◼
►
you know our sponsors might need certain
◼
►
things that decreased significantly for
◼
►
me as the year went on because this was
◼
►
a lot of stuff that we handed over to my
◼
►
assistant is the aftercare stuff so like
◼
►
dealing with people's queries and
◼
►
questions and stuff like that the one
◼
►
that was really surprised about was hi
◼
►
how highly the Mac stories project I was
◼
►
just looking at this the fact that Mac
◼
►
stories even registers is a thing for
◼
►
the whole year is hilarious to me that
◼
►
was the production of the audiobook that
◼
►
I put together it was a significant
◼
►
portion of my year so that was a big
◼
►
surprise it taught me some some things
◼
►
to think about for the future if I'm
◼
►
ever going to do that kind of thing
◼
►
again because it also went higher than
◼
►
it's a real AFM general
◼
►
is typically whenever me and Steven have
◼
►
calls about the company I did less of
◼
►
that in time in the entire year.then
◼
►
working on the audio book so that was
◼
►
fun that was a fun thing to say but the
◼
►
overall balance of this list I am I have
◼
►
no immediate need to change any of it I
◼
►
am happy with it I did look by the way
◼
►
and cortex accounts for 10% of the
◼
►
overall editing time mmm which I okay so
◼
►
10 10% of that 50% yeah 10% of the of
◼
►
the 50% so it was about it was about 70
◼
►
to 80 hours right now that's interesting
◼
►
because I mean our show is effectively
◼
►
one every three to four weeks pretty
◼
►
much on that no no it no it's this wave
◼
►
more frequent than that it's no no it's
◼
►
about three because it used to be every
◼
►
two weeks most of the years one every
◼
►
month like a 2017 so we're about three
◼
►
weeks I would say is fine but every
◼
►
other show I do by and large is weekly I
◼
►
have a couple of fortnightly shows so
◼
►
10% of that overall thing is significant
◼
►
right there are some significant snows
◼
►
so that we're getting really into the
◼
►
weeds now but time tracking was very
◼
►
good because now I am able to value my
◼
►
doing nothing time significantly more
◼
►
mmm I don't feel like when I'm doing
◼
►
nothing when I am playing stardew valley
◼
►
I am not like I'm not working I'm not
◼
►
working I've not done enough today I
◼
►
don't worry about that stuff anymore
◼
►
because I have a much greater sense for
◼
►
how long it takes me to take care of my
◼
►
work and right it turns out it's not 15
◼
►
it's more like six or seven right that's
◼
►
typically my work amount in during a day
◼
►
but it's spread throughout the day right
◼
►
so it feels like the work day begins at
◼
►
8:00 and ends at 2:00 because my work
◼
►
happens at chunks throughout the day but
◼
►
once I got a better handle on how my
◼
►
time was spent which I did this year I
◼
►
was a time able to value everything more
◼
►
than before so that has been a great
◼
►
great goal for me a great thing
◼
►
to achieve yeah I think that that is I
◼
►
mean they're sort of jumping ahead a
◼
►
little bit this does tie into some of my
◼
►
own thoughts for the the previous year
◼
►
but yeah being able to being able to
◼
►
turn a bunch of that doing nothing time
◼
►
mentally from from like a like a guilty
◼
►
pleasure into no I'm just doing this and
◼
►
it's fine is a big psychological
◼
►
advantage and pick it is difficult for
◼
►
everybody but it is also especially
◼
►
difficult if you're a self-employed like
◼
►
this is the thing that I just when I
◼
►
talk to people who are self-employed is
◼
►
it is a constant refrain that it can be
◼
►
so you have so much that is under your
◼
►
control but it can be very difficult to
◼
►
enjoy your free time because there is
◼
►
this endless list of things that could
◼
►
in theory be done so it's it's really
◼
►
great to hear that that the time
◼
►
tracking is helping you feel like you
◼
►
have evidence to show your brain that
◼
►
you've done stuff you have a good
◼
►
estimate of how long things take you and
◼
►
then that that makes your doing nothing
◼
►
a relaxing time more able to be valued
◼
►
in in the moment so that that sounds
◼
►
like a really great improvement and
◼
►
another thing that I was even surprised
◼
►
to discover so I have no idea I don't
◼
►
know if anybody cares enough to pay
◼
►
attention to this kind of thing mm-hmm
◼
►
but I I would say this is probably a
◼
►
surprise for anybody that does pay
◼
►
attention including myself for the first
◼
►
time it may be my entire podcasting
◼
►
career 2017 was the first time that I
◼
►
have not launched a new show that I have
◼
►
been a part of I find this totally
◼
►
shocking I couldn't believe it I like I
◼
►
found it out by accident because I was
◼
►
for some other purposes I was looking at
◼
►
all of the shows that we've launched in
◼
►
2017 and I realized I'm not on any of
◼
►
them yeah yeah when you mentioned this
◼
►
to me I felt like it blew my mind
◼
►
I don't know surely you're wrong surely
◼
►
you're wrong but I'm not wrong I this is
◼
►
the first time ever and I was like wow
◼
►
this is a big surprise to me how do you
◼
►
feel about that what it tells me is that
◼
►
two-year theme I have had ideas that
◼
►
I've just not done because that's adding
◼
►
a new show is adding more and I mean I
◼
►
had some projects that I've been working
◼
►
on in 2017 that I killed at the last
◼
►
minute because I came to realize how
◼
►
much work they would have taken and I
◼
►
didn't believe that the valley would
◼
►
would be there ultimately evil
◼
►
creatively or financially so I decided
◼
►
not to go through with them and this
◼
►
isn't a thing so when we talk about my
◼
►
next yearly theme it is building on what
◼
►
I learned and how I think to go forward
◼
►
from it but this was a big surprise to
◼
►
me because I really do believe that this
◼
►
is the first time in seven years that I
◼
►
have not launched a new show in like an
◼
►
so I think that that tells me that the
◼
►
year of less theme was was a significant
◼
►
success because I internalized something
◼
►
and basically stopped myself from this
◼
►
habit that I have built up over the last
◼
►
seven years of every time I have an idea
◼
►
I just do it so I was pretty proud I was
◼
►
pretty happy to see that it's it may
◼
►
sound like a strange thing to do but but
◼
►
I I feel like I am so congratulatory
◼
►
towards you on that because it is really
◼
►
hard not to just go with all of the new
◼
►
projects and especially when you when
◼
►
you have the power to make those
◼
►
projects happen nobody's right yeah no
◼
►
exactly it's like nobody can stop you
◼
►
which is the best and the worst part of
◼
►
it right like you would you want to do a
◼
►
new project like there's nobody to stop
◼
►
you and and it's always like the new the
◼
►
new project is always more exciting than
◼
►
the current current project right it's
◼
►
always like ooh this new project so
◼
►
exciting is turning my head it's like
◼
►
well you know but it takes it takes a
◼
►
lot of recognition and ability to do not
◼
►
pursue all of those things so yeah
◼
►
whenever was you told me a couple weeks
◼
►
ago that you hadn't you know
◼
►
new show in 2017 and I just found it
◼
►
mind-blowing but I really do think it's
◼
►
great and I would also suspect that this
◼
►
is this is partly a better ability on on
◼
►
your part after having done this for
◼
►
many years to have a sense of what a
◼
►
potentially good payoff for a project is
◼
►
or isn't yeah when you're when you're
◼
►
newer it makes more sense to just like
◼
►
try a bunch of stuff and see what what
◼
►
sticks on the wall but you know now now
◼
►
that you are an established podcast
◼
►
person you have an established podcast
◼
►
network and you now have a better sense
◼
►
of the value of your time it makes less
◼
►
sense to go off on a whole bunch of new
◼
►
projects like they can be damaging in a
◼
►
way and you also probably have a better
◼
►
internal mental compass about what are
◼
►
the valuable directions to go in and and
◼
►
not everything that occurs to you that
◼
►
seems like a great idea one week is is a
◼
►
the following week yeah like I've made a
◼
►
conscious effort that if I have an idea
◼
►
I don't launch it quickly like I spend I
◼
►
have I have mean we've had shows that we
◼
►
even have artwork for that will never be
◼
►
used now I've seen some of that art
◼
►
we've seen some it's very nice it's
◼
►
wonderful it's actually one of my
◼
►
favorites ever but no one's ever gonna
◼
►
see it don't ask you won't see it sorry
◼
►
maybe I'll use it for something one day
◼
►
and if I ever use it then I'll tell you
◼
►
that that's what it that it was for the
◼
►
secret project but it was just the look
◼
►
I I kind of let it just a a little bit
◼
►
and decided that no I don't think this
◼
►
is the right thing for me to do so I've
◼
►
had a few things like that this year and
◼
►
I think it's been of great benefit and
◼
►
an essay it ties him to my 2018 theme
◼
►
which was all about in a bit because I
◼
►
still have I had a lot of things I love
◼
►
stuff to say this time
◼
►
halfway through 2017 I started my second
◼
►
yearly theme which will run until June
◼
►
of this year which is the year of
◼
►
positivity slash optimism I refer it to
◼
►
both things I can never remember which
◼
►
one it is but we'll call it the year of
◼
►
optimism right and it follows the Apple
◼
►
calendar year it follows the Apple
◼
►
calendar year so WWDC to WWDC so much of
◼
►
my life is focused around talking about
◼
►
technology with a significant focus on
◼
►
Apple anybody listens to this show knows
◼
►
that and 2015 to 2016 to 2017 there was
◼
►
a decline in overall excitedness amongst
◼
►
people that care about Apple products
◼
►
there was a lot more frustrations and
◼
►
they ever had been and this really
◼
►
culminated in the beginning of 2017 it
◼
►
was just a bad time there were no new
◼
►
products everyone was happy no matter
◼
►
what you liked there was nothing for you
◼
►
yeah I still think of this period of
◼
►
time in my mind as the the Apple Valley
◼
►
of darkness we were wondering it was a
◼
►
very it was a dark time if you cared
◼
►
about this stuff it was a dark time
◼
►
because everything that happened was not
◼
►
good then WWDC 2017 was like the apology
◼
►
year and everybody got something it was
◼
►
Tim Cook turned into Oprah and everyone
◼
►
got something right there was something
◼
►
under everybody's seat and we all got
◼
►
the thing that we wanted so I decided to
◼
►
make a concerted effort which I'm still
◼
►
working on that I would try and be more
◼
►
positive and optimistic when talking
◼
►
about technology because that's what I
◼
►
enjoy I actually don't like being mad
◼
►
about it I like to enjoy it that's why I
◼
►
talk about it's not fun so I've been
◼
►
focusing on that and of course you slip
◼
►
every now and then but the overall
◼
►
feeling is that it's gonna be cool and
◼
►
we're gonna enjoy it and it's gonna be
◼
►
great so I'm happier to talk about this
◼
►
stuff on shows now because I'm generally
◼
►
more happy about it so that was that's
◼
►
my theme so my theme for 2017 and I'm
◼
►
very happy with them yeah I feel like
◼
►
the the year of positivity at least from
◼
►
my subjective experience was it was good
◼
►
it's good timing and also sort of like
◼
►
good for your mental health because yeah
◼
►
it's like yeah I also listen to a bunch
◼
►
of these shows like the same shows that
◼
►
you listen to words like everybody's
◼
►
wandering through this valley of
◼
►
Darkness together and like yeah it is it
◼
►
is terrible but at a certain point you
◼
►
just get tired of listening to everybody
◼
►
talk about how stuff is terrible even
◼
►
when like I too am there in the valley
◼
►
talking about how things suck as well
◼
►
right like we're all here together but
◼
►
the this is one of these things where
◼
►
like for mental health sometimes you
◼
►
have to take a little bit of a like a
◼
►
revaluation and say like yeah stuff
◼
►
sucks but I'm gonna try to force through
◼
►
a thing and happiness is one of those
◼
►
those funny topics like it's a where you
◼
►
you can make things better through it
◼
►
through like a playing tricks on
◼
►
yourself and in in some ways like
◼
►
deciding that you're going to be you're
◼
►
going to have a more positive outlook on
◼
►
stuff you can make that start to occur
◼
►
and I think it also happened to be great
◼
►
timing and a good time to start it with
◼
►
the 2017 WWDC but yeah I'm very glad
◼
►
that were past that part and I have to
◼
►
say as a listener to your shows I was
◼
►
always glad when when you were doing the
◼
►
the year positivity and I feel like
◼
►
there were a few moments where it really
◼
►
came through they're like oh there's
◼
►
Mike being positive about stuff like I
◼
►
can hear him doing it and as a listener
◼
►
I was appreciative saying it's a mental
◼
►
health thing is a really good point
◼
►
because it was like I was just finding
◼
►
myself just being sad about the thing
◼
►
that I liked and then having to talk
◼
►
about it like three times a week every
◼
►
week and it's just like this isn't good
◼
►
for my overall feeling so I decided to
◼
►
make of change to it and to try and see
◼
►
the light side of things it's still a
◼
►
battle because I have a lot of opinions
◼
►
and sometimes my opinions aren't always
◼
►
that things are good but ultimately I've
◼
►
been very happy I mean this came out a
◼
►
couple of weeks ago when I was talking
◼
►
about my mic general contenders in
◼
►
technology which you decided to be a
◼
►
rain cloud over but we don't have to
◼
►
worry about things like that
◼
►
my general my general feeling about
◼
►
right now is that I'm very I'm very
◼
►
happy with my technology right now and I
◼
►
feel like I'm still on I'm still on the
◼
►
righteous path of the multi pad
◼
►
lifestyle even though some people
◼
►
decided to leave it so anyway let's talk
◼
►
about your incredibly confusing 2017
◼
►
theme the year of betrayal I think you
◼
►
can't let other people's happiness get
◼
►
today's episode of cortex is brought to
◼
►
you in part by our friends hover
◼
►
building your online identity has never
◼
►
been more important and havel will help
◼
►
you find the domain that shows the world
◼
►
exactly what you are passionate about
◼
►
when it comes to thinking about new
◼
►
projects there is never a better time
◼
►
than the beginning of the year and any
◼
►
new project comes with a new website and
◼
►
that website needs a wicked call domain
◼
►
name and that is why I have used hover
◼
►
for so long for this stuff any project
◼
►
that pops into my hand I will go there
◼
►
and just get the domain for it like what
◼
►
do you have to lose even if you just
◼
►
stick on to it for one year of a yearly
◼
►
theme right at least you've got it if
◼
►
the name is there you've got it it's
◼
►
locked down hover is super super simple
◼
►
they allow you to keep your domain
◼
►
separate from your hosting so you never
◼
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have to get stuck of a service that
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doesn't meet your needs and what I love
◼
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is that they have best-in-class customer
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support they have their hover connect
◼
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feature that allows you to connect your
◼
►
domain to any website builder with just
◼
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a few simple clicks they do personalized
◼
►
email that you can match your domain
◼
►
that's a super professional thing by the
◼
►
way you know grabbing a domain name of
◼
►
your own and setting up an email address
◼
►
rather than using Gmail or something
◼
►
that looks real good and and that's a
◼
►
great reason to get a domain I think
◼
►
most people don't really think of very
◼
►
much and of course who is privacy is
◼
►
free so bad guys don't get your
◼
►
information if you want to show the
◼
►
world what you're passionate about and
◼
►
set yourself up for your year hover is
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there to help make that first step
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head to hover comm slash cortex right
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◼
►
looking back on my my past year and had
◼
►
a at a confusing start with a terrible
◼
►
name which so I originally was calling
◼
►
it the year of Nu and then a listener to
◼
►
the show having having heard me try to
◼
►
wander through a bad description of what
◼
►
I was up to redubbed it's the year of
◼
►
redirection as you want actually doing
◼
►
anything new so maybe the funny thing is
◼
►
in retro I was I was going through this
◼
►
morning getting ready for the show and I
◼
►
was going through all of my records from
◼
►
the year and looking stuff over
◼
►
and it's funny to me because actually
◼
►
calling it the year of knew slash
◼
►
redirection is actually perfect because
◼
►
there were like a bazillion new things
◼
►
this year it just it just so happens
◼
►
that this stuff isn't really public
◼
►
facing to people but your year of new
◼
►
slash redirection actually ended up
◼
►
being just a perfect name for the year
◼
►
but while I was while I was going
◼
►
through the year I was thinking of it as
◼
►
the year of redirection and what this
◼
►
what this meant for me was trying to
◼
►
think more deliberately about how I am
◼
►
spending my time like what what things
◼
►
maybe have too much time where are some
◼
►
areas where I should spend more time in
◼
►
a different way than I that I currently
◼
►
was and part of this part of this was
◼
►
that going into 2017 I feel like I was
◼
►
dealing with a little bit of burnout so
◼
►
I was trying to think about how can I
◼
►
arrange my working life in a different
◼
►
way or how can I do a bunch of things in
◼
►
a different way in that upcoming year
◼
►
there is a little bit of a funny thing
◼
►
talking about this year because I
◼
►
realized that this again is one of these
◼
►
funny moments where I feel like I'm
◼
►
coming up against this this this edge of
◼
►
like being a private person who makes
◼
►
his living in a very public way and also
◼
►
there was just a bunch of stuff that
◼
►
happened business-wise that doesn't make
◼
►
sense really to talk about in a public
◼
►
way so I it's funny because it's like I
◼
►
had all of this stuff happen and I
◼
►
redirected a bunch of my energy and time
◼
►
on various projects but so I'm gonna
◼
►
have to talk about this in like kind of
◼
►
a high-level way but I'm aware of that
◼
►
because there's a bunch of places where
◼
►
it's like I just I just don't either
◼
►
want to or it doesn't make sense really
◼
►
to go into the details the lazer shock
◼
►
business is booming Mike don't tell
◼
►
people about the losers the volcano
◼
►
where extraction companies just it's
◼
►
working excellently you joke but you're
◼
►
closer than you think
◼
►
I'm still convinced that you are trying
◼
►
to build an office building I am
◼
►
convinced that this I absolutely 100% I
◼
►
believe that you are trying to build an
◼
►
office complex but this is
◼
►
these are the felt I'd love to do it but
◼
►
I've got to finish my clothing assembly
◼
►
line first right like there's only so
◼
►
much only so many industries and
◼
►
factories you can it's totally true but
◼
►
yeah so so there's a bunch of stuff
◼
►
which is not obvious to people but like
◼
►
one of the things that people who pay
◼
►
very close attention to the numbers
◼
►
would notice is like a thing that I
◼
►
decided to do which you were sort of
◼
►
referencing earlier is I very
◼
►
intentionally at the beginning of 2017
◼
►
decided to crank down my podcast output
◼
►
just a little bit so if someone is going
◼
►
through like how many episodes were
◼
►
published he's month you were joking
◼
►
about there being more cortex misses but
◼
►
they're totally were and that was that
◼
►
was a very intentional decision on my
◼
►
part this was something that we
◼
►
discussed and we worked out a good plan
◼
►
for the year and I think we were but I
◼
►
was very happy with the the output of
◼
►
the last year's shows as well and yeah
◼
►
it was less but I don't I actually think
◼
►
it was a positive impact on the show
◼
►
overall yeah and I have to say you you
◼
►
were great to work with during this time
◼
►
because like it's it is it is this like
◼
►
one person is saying like I want to pull
◼
►
back 15% right over the course of the
◼
►
year and it's like well it's a
◼
►
partnership like we work on this thing
◼
►
together but you you were great with
◼
►
this and so that was one of the big
◼
►
things with with the year of a
◼
►
redirection for me was like this was one
◼
►
area where I thought the podcasts are
◼
►
great they're a great way for me to
◼
►
spend my time but I was also aware of
◼
►
like man I have this little bit of a
◼
►
feeling of burnout that it's like every
◼
►
week there is a show to do and I need to
◼
►
have a few more times in the year where
◼
►
it's like okay I have one or two weeks
◼
►
in a row where there's no podcasts and I
◼
►
think this is this is the case of of
◼
►
being like being an introverted person I
◼
►
always do find that the podcasts are
◼
►
quite mentally draining in this very
◼
►
particular way and I just needed some
◼
►
little bit more time to like recoup from
◼
►
that that was a case where year of
◼
►
redirection was was great like just
◼
►
pulling back a little bit like I said
◼
►
about 15% was was fantastic and is one
◼
►
of these cases where it's like okay I'm
◼
►
taking a small hit business-wise but I'm
◼
►
getting a massive improvement like
◼
►
psychologically like I feel much better
◼
►
about this and I also think it made the
◼
►
shows genuinely better as well to have
◼
►
like more breaks I would say from my
◼
►
perspective less shows meant that I
◼
►
could prepare better for all of them so
◼
►
like the things that we were talking
◼
►
about and themes like I I was happier
◼
►
with our 2017 output than our 2016
◼
►
output because I have more time to come
◼
►
up with ideas and it is worth noting
◼
►
that this year will probably be pretty
◼
►
similar sometimes there's one sometimes
◼
►
it's two and that's kind of just how
◼
►
we're gonna be going forward because it
◼
►
fits into both of our schedules really
◼
►
nicely because in case you'd never
◼
►
guessed we travel quite a lot and
◼
►
sometimes it can be a nightmare for us
◼
►
to align our travel schedules like that
◼
►
is an example of the thing where in one
◼
►
way it sounds like an easy and easy
◼
►
thing to say like oh I'm just gonna pull
◼
►
back a little bit but I did this across
◼
►
like all of my various business
◼
►
endeavors was trying to pull back like
◼
►
15% like across the board and everything
◼
►
I'm involved with like in everything
◼
►
that I do and that ended up being like a
◼
►
whole year long project and it was like
◼
►
a very carefully managed thing and
◼
►
trying to like balance a whole bunch of
◼
►
inputs and outputs like that that was a
◼
►
really big deal but I feel like it was a
◼
►
huge success and a big win on my part
◼
►
and there were a number of times in the
◼
►
year where having that like extra 15
◼
►
percent of time really did allow me to
◼
►
redirect efforts and energy into other
◼
►
things that came up or things that ended
◼
►
up being new endeavors of one kind or
◼
►
another so it was it was really great
◼
►
for me and I'm so glad I did it but I
◼
►
remember at the beginning of 2017 like I
◼
►
was looking back through my my initial
◼
►
planning now it sounds like man I was
◼
►
really worried that it was
◼
►
make 2017 just a total disaster that
◼
►
little bit of a pull back but it didn't
◼
►
it was it was really a really a great
◼
►
decision a disaster in what way like
◼
►
I've never had things on regular
◼
►
schedules obviously but I feel like
◼
►
there's got to be some kind of minimum
◼
►
threshold below which you go that it it
◼
►
starts turning bad like and I was
◼
►
worried like maybe I'm closer to
◼
►
whatever that minimum threshold is then
◼
►
I thought and going like 15% less will
◼
►
bring me below that threshold but it
◼
►
turned out that's not the case so it's
◼
►
like everything keeps growing and like
◼
►
like we said the show was actually doing
◼
►
better than they were before so I was
◼
►
just worried like how close am I to the
◼
►
edge of too infrequent and maybe I'm way
◼
►
closer to that edge than I think but so
◼
►
now it worked out great and like I said
◼
►
for me personally it was really great
◼
►
and it was really important during a
◼
►
couple of times in the year in
◼
►
particular yeah so that that is like one
◼
►
of the most public facing ways that
◼
►
people can see something is different in
◼
►
in the year of redirection but you
◼
►
brought up you brought up travel Mike
◼
►
and this is where I feel like the year
◼
►
of new is is a thing because this past
◼
►
the amount of travel that I did exploded
◼
►
it just exploded in this totally
◼
►
unexpected way and I feel I feel like
◼
►
here's here's the best way I can because
◼
►
I was looking at like how much time I've
◼
►
spent in airports this year which is
◼
►
like phenomenal time but the thing that
◼
►
really the thing that really hit home
◼
►
which just happened yesterday was at the
◼
►
beginning of the year I sort of knew
◼
►
that I was going to be doing a bunch
◼
►
more traveling I had a vague idea that
◼
►
this was a thing that was going to
◼
►
happen in the year and I was talking to
◼
►
a friend of mine about it and he
◼
►
convinced me to sign up for one of the
◼
►
airline reward programs I was like I
◼
►
don't know if I should like who cares
◼
►
I'm just one point it's wild to me I
◼
►
come one well I just thought it was dumb
◼
►
right and and front and also like for
◼
►
most of my life the amount of traveling
◼
►
that I did was very little and it
◼
►
wouldn't really have mattered but so I
◼
►
signed up at the beginning of the year
◼
►
and you know when you sign up so I
◼
►
signed up with British Airways and it's
◼
►
like they send you a card and I'd like
◼
►
welcome to the peasant class of rewards
◼
►
right you get nothing except this card
◼
►
which now says that you're in are you're
◼
►
at the bottom of our caste system and
◼
►
so yesterday I'd literally got a golden
◼
►
envelope in the mail right the gold
◼
►
muffler was a great thing to get from
◼
►
British Airways yeah that I opened up I
◼
►
had like tissue paper and and this fancy
◼
►
thick paper and like they're like
◼
►
welcome to the golden God class of
◼
►
travel so I I have been on virgin for
◼
►
the last couple years and I've gone
◼
►
through that mm-hmm that whole thing but
◼
►
I had to take a few flights with BA this
◼
►
year because virgin didn't serve some
◼
►
places so I lost my gold status by like
◼
►
just a hair I lost it so I'm now
◼
►
switching over to be a because I've done
◼
►
bas before they're their progression
◼
►
through their system is much better like
◼
►
you get more for less with them so yeah
◼
►
I I'm going through that right now and
◼
►
probably by the end of the year I might
◼
►
get the gold because I have a lot of
◼
►
travel on ba this year including like
◼
►
all my honeymoon stuff so I think we're
◼
►
gonna be good yeah but it's like I have
◼
►
to say that when I got that golden
◼
►
envelope it was a real mixed feelings
◼
►
moment it was like oh god this is a
◼
►
physical manifestation of the subjective
◼
►
feeling like I feel like I've travelled
◼
►
a lot this year as like no here is
◼
►
manifest proof that the amount of travel
◼
►
I have done has just exploded like I
◼
►
counted up like even just just in the
◼
►
summer I think in the space of six weeks
◼
►
I stepped on ten planes like it was some
◼
►
crazy number like the whole summer of
◼
►
travel was was especially explosive and
◼
►
then this year was was on top of that
◼
►
a really new and very different thing in
◼
►
my life and it was also the case that
◼
►
had I not cut back on some other work
◼
►
stuff that would the combination of
◼
►
increased business travel plus
◼
►
maintaining the previous year's schedule
◼
►
that really would have been a disaster
◼
►
because we we certainly ran into enough
◼
►
times this year of just trying to
◼
►
coordinate both of our schedules that it
◼
►
was it was really hard or we were really
◼
►
running up against some very narrow
◼
►
windows of time we live in the same town
◼
►
but I think we have seen each other more
◼
►
this year overseas oh yeah yeah without
◼
►
a doubt that that is the case it's it's
◼
►
been an interesting it's been an
◼
►
interesting experience and I also feel
◼
►
like travel I've traveled so much I have
◼
►
become a very fundamentally different
◼
►
person with travel I'm now I'm now the
◼
►
kind of person who doesn't have a lot of
◼
►
stress cutting it real close getting to
◼
►
an airport I'm so I don't think I'm ever
◼
►
gonna get there I never thought I would
◼
►
be there either but I've I have become
◼
►
that guy my thing is now I don't think
◼
►
about the fact that I'm gonna be getting
◼
►
on a plane very much before I do it
◼
►
right like I know that like before I
◼
►
started traveling a bunch of times every
◼
►
year like thinking that I'm about to get
◼
►
on a plane to go to America or whatever
◼
►
was like a big thing that was in my mind
◼
►
for a bit right but now it's kind of
◼
►
just like I'll pack but I'm not really
◼
►
thinking about it and I packed the day
◼
►
before and then I just wake up and go to
◼
►
the airport like it's like going to get
◼
►
such a terrible thing to say I guess but
◼
►
it's like going to get a train now
◼
►
because I fly so much right and and the
◼
►
reason we both do this is basically
◼
►
everybody that we work with by and large
◼
►
lives in America so there's so many
◼
►
businesses that occur which require us
◼
►
to be on the other side of the ocean so
◼
►
that I do it so many times now that it's
◼
►
it's like any kind of form of transport
◼
►
which is a way healthier way to consider
◼
►
air travel because you don't fret about
◼
►
it I always found myself writing about
◼
►
it because they there are so many things
◼
►
about the process that are meant to make
◼
►
and I'm now happier that I don't need to
◼
►
do that yeah I agree there's a lot of
◼
►
travel threading that is gone part of
◼
►
that is being part of a members rewards
◼
►
program which has which has advantages
◼
►
like for me a huge psychological
◼
►
advantage is being able to pick a seat
◼
►
further and further ahead in time so
◼
►
it's like I know I really do not want to
◼
►
be penned in in a in a window seat on an
◼
►
airplane if I can possibly avoid it and
◼
►
so like get it getting an aisle seat is
◼
►
extraordinarily psychologically
◼
►
important to me when I'm flying and so
◼
►
being able to like book and get that way
◼
►
in advance makes a big difference but
◼
►
yeah also just like the pure familiarity
◼
►
with travel has has definitely decreased
◼
►
the amount of fretting and has made some
◼
►
things possible which would have been a
◼
►
huge a huge deal like an inconceivably
◼
►
large deal otherwise and I'll just I'll
◼
►
briefly relay a story that I feel like
◼
►
encompasses the entirety of of my travel
◼
►
year but I had traveled so much this
◼
►
year that come December I had decided
◼
►
there's going to be no more travel I
◼
►
cannot do any more flights it's too much
◼
►
it's all too disruptive I don't want I
◼
►
don't want to do it and it's like that's
◼
►
one of the reasons why I was really
◼
►
interested in going to pod con but I was
◼
►
like I can't get on one more plane
◼
►
because it's I've just flown too much
◼
►
this year and it's a long one it takes a
◼
►
long getting it to Seattle turns out
◼
►
yeah it takes a long time to get to
◼
►
Seattle but I was thinking like oh but I
◼
►
can stay in great master time it'll all
◼
►
be fine right as I ever start trying to
◼
►
scheme it out but the rational part of
◼
►
my brain said like too many flights dude
◼
►
you just can't do this decide that there
◼
►
is a travel veto on December no more
◼
►
traveling and I decided it and I thought
◼
►
okay that's great and then four reasons
◼
►
for make sense that I can't go into the
◼
►
details we'll just say that this is one
◼
►
of the the many problems of being a
◼
►
self-employed dual citizen we're one of
◼
►
those citizenships is America America
◼
►
makes it real difficult for
◼
►
self-employed people living abroad but
◼
►
it turned out I found out on Christmas
◼
►
Eve that I needed to go to America to
◼
►
sign a document before the end of the
◼
►
year and so I ended up
◼
►
at the very last minute between
◼
►
Christmas and New Year's buying a plane
◼
►
ticket to go to America for 36 hours to
◼
►
return and fly back before New Year's
◼
►
and while like that was an enormous pain
◼
►
there was a part of me which because I
◼
►
had done so much travel I was like you
◼
►
know what I can just deal with this
◼
►
right it's not it was not something I
◼
►
wanted to do but had I not done a ton of
◼
►
flying otherwise that would have been a
◼
►
incredible psychological problem but I
◼
►
was but but I just I just had this
◼
►
feeling of resignation of like I guess
◼
►
I'm going to America for 36 hours to
◼
►
sign a single piece of paper that had
◼
►
before at the end of the calendar year
◼
►
like okay here I go yeah that really
◼
►
summed up a difference in you like and I
◼
►
noticed it because we were chatting over
◼
►
Christmas mm-hm and I knew I was seeing
◼
►
you over the New Year's period and you
◼
►
told me that you were getting on a plane
◼
►
and I was like that's a different man
◼
►
what I loved about that though is even
◼
►
when I checked in the gate agent looked
◼
►
at my ticket and she's like hey come to
◼
►
it was totally nuts but I felt like that
◼
►
was the perfect encapsulation I decided
◼
►
there's no more travel and of course at
◼
►
the 11th hour something else comes up
◼
►
which is like this is mandatory travel
◼
►
you have no option about it like okay
◼
►
guess it's gonna happen so I feel like
◼
►
looking back on my past year the the
◼
►
amount of traveled the amount of new
◼
►
locations like that is a huge difference
◼
►
in in what was occurring over the
◼
►
previous year the other major thing
◼
►
though which was related to my year of
◼
►
new and your redirection was while you
◼
►
were doing time tracking for the first
◼
►
time last year I was deciding to try to
◼
►
time track everything in my life for the
◼
►
previous year and I have to say I feel
◼
►
like that was also a really great thing
◼
►
to do and I've really appreciated
◼
►
this I don't know I don't even know how
◼
►
to phrase it but I feel like there is I
◼
►
don't know how to say this in a way
◼
►
that's not gonna sound to people like
◼
►
it's a bad thing because I mean it's I
◼
►
mean it in a very good way but I feel
◼
►
like having done this for a long period
◼
►
of time of trying to keep track of not
◼
►
just working hours but also like leisure
◼
►
time or socializing time or any any kind
◼
►
of time I really have like a mental
◼
►
clock in my head that is running and
◼
►
that will that will sound bad to people
◼
►
but what I mean by it is I feel like
◼
►
it's established a real kind of in the
◼
►
moment presence in a lot of the things
◼
►
that I do so like again like so the
◼
►
worst way that people would think about
◼
►
is like if I'm socializing with someone
◼
►
I do keep track of my socializing time
◼
►
but it's not like I'm there on my watch
◼
►
and it's like oh god how much time am i
◼
►
spending with this person bleep bloop
◼
►
ten personality points allocated yeah
◼
►
it's it's much more this feeling of like
◼
►
I have decided to spend time with this
◼
►
person and I'm going to be as mentally
◼
►
here in the moment as I possibly can be
◼
►
and I feel like this is this is a mental
◼
►
improvement that has been booted up in
◼
►
my brain by trying to always have a
◼
►
timer running in the background so that
◼
►
I'm just time tracking my entire life so
◼
►
I feel like it has made me much more
◼
►
present focused then then would
◼
►
otherwise than would otherwise be the
◼
►
case so I'm I would not recommend that
◼
►
everybody do this thing that I have done
◼
►
like I really think it is on the edge of
◼
►
crazy to try to time track an entire
◼
►
life but I have found it really good and
◼
►
it has it has been a worthwhile thing to
◼
►
do after having already been four years
◼
►
familiar with the idea of doing just
◼
►
time tracking around more
◼
►
specific activities yeah I I think I
◼
►
have an example of this too because
◼
►
ultimately think that what you do is way
◼
►
more than I would want to do but once
◼
►
you get into time tracking as a concept
◼
►
that exists in your life you're able to
◼
►
apply it some different things so as is
◼
►
always with human beings I am trying to
◼
►
make a more concerted effort of taking
◼
►
care of my health and right now that is
◼
►
meaning to exercise more now I'll give
◼
►
you a fact about my curly my curly hates
◼
►
exercise I have tried so many different
◼
►
things I have never ever enjoyed
◼
►
physical activity I didn't enjoy being
◼
►
in school I just don't I for whatever
◼
►
reason I'm not good at any of it and I
◼
►
don't like it but it's just how I am I
◼
►
that I do not get a good feeling from
◼
►
going to the gym no matter what I do I
◼
►
just don't I know that this is something
◼
►
that people get and whatever and
◼
►
endorphins and blah blah blah I never
◼
►
get a good feeling out of it yeah those
◼
►
people that's my feeling exactly the
◼
►
only type of activity that I enjoy is
◼
►
swimming I like to swim I'm pretty
◼
►
decent at it I enjoy it
◼
►
and it's I believe to be a pretty good
◼
►
workout now the problem problem that I
◼
►
have is that there where I live there
◼
►
are not a lot of places I can swim so I
◼
►
have to travel somewhere to go to a pool
◼
►
and travel back and the problem that I
◼
►
was seeing was I believed that it was
◼
►
taking too much time for me to complete
◼
►
this activity and it was eating into my
◼
►
days to significantly so I decided to
◼
►
time track it I was like let's find out
◼
►
shall I like it I've had this feeling a
◼
►
bunch before so let's find out I was
◼
►
right it was taking too much time so I
◼
►
have optimized some of the travel to and
◼
►
from the place that I'm going to so like
◼
►
I've tried to find ways to cut down the
◼
►
travel time and to build it in two days
◼
►
differently but I got the answer that I
◼
►
needed from actually doing some
◼
►
real-time tracking to see how many hours
◼
►
this thing was taking you know I was
◼
►
finding that it was taking me like
◼
►
three hours to do 45 minutes of swimming
◼
►
right well that's not good is it right
◼
►
like that's not efficient so I've found
◼
►
ways to cut that down by like a third so
◼
►
it's like okay so let me try and see how
◼
►
can build this in some yeah that that's
◼
►
just something like a an example of when
◼
►
you get into the time tracking mindset
◼
►
you can use real data to prove theories
◼
►
or disprove theories and then action
◼
►
upon them that's that's what the benefit
◼
►
for me is of seriously time tracking but
◼
►
I am NOT I am NOT of the inclination to
◼
►
to do what you do yeah like I don't want
◼
►
to track the time that I spend playing
◼
►
Nintendo like I don't I don't need to
◼
►
see that right like I'm good let's just
◼
►
assume that all of the time that isn't
◼
►
what time is spent playing Nintendo and
◼
►
then was good you ever see this this is
◼
►
why I like doing the whole lifetime
◼
►
tracking because a thing that we when we
◼
►
get to what are themes for the next year
◼
►
are I'll talk a little bit about more
◼
►
but it does then if you're trying to do
◼
►
the whole life tracking there is there
◼
►
is data in like the missing data and
◼
►
that's an interesting thing to look at
◼
►
is to say like oh when you know I'm
◼
►
awake 16 hours a day and like but how
◼
►
many hours did I actually get in the day
◼
►
and then that that missing piece becomes
◼
►
an interesting piece of data of like
◼
►
where did that time go or why is it that
◼
►
during this week or this month I was
◼
►
clearly way worse at time tracking than
◼
►
than other times and so I like having
◼
►
that because I feel like there is this
◼
►
sense of like information in the
◼
►
negative space of the time tracking if
◼
►
you're trying to be really complete in
◼
►
in what's occurring but we can talk more
◼
►
about that later but I mean I guess I'll
◼
►
just say that the year of new in the
◼
►
year redirection was sort of vague much
◼
►
more vague than the year of less was for
◼
►
me which I'm where there's really
◼
►
precise meaning but I still feel like a
◼
►
lot of what I was trying to do I did I
◼
►
feel much better about my work-life
◼
►
balance there were some things last year
◼
►
that made me think about like I just how
◼
►
I how I spend like family time I wanted
◼
►
to try to increase that like that is
◼
►
definitely a thing that I accomplished
◼
►
you know there were a bunch of just like
◼
►
new things that I did new experiences
◼
►
like there's some new business ventures
◼
►
but there was a bunch of like new stuff
◼
►
that was great because I had been able
◼
►
to redirect how I spent some of my -
◼
►
yeah into those new things I asked the
◼
►
balance like it wasn't that you was
◼
►
necessarily seeking out these new things
◼
►
but by redirecting your time new things
◼
►
could but could come to you it's kind of
◼
►
like if that is the way I think that you
◼
►
ended up balancing out cuz I don't know
◼
►
if you necessarily set out the year to
◼
►
be like I need some new business
◼
►
ventures don't necessarily that was what
◼
►
you were thinking like when you open up
◼
►
space the thing to become available so I
◼
►
feel I feel like that was that was
◼
►
really good I guess in some ways I feel
◼
►
like I had much more of the advantages
◼
►
and fewer of the disadvantages of being
◼
►
a self-employed person during the year
◼
►
of redirection like I think that's
◼
►
that's largely what happens like I did
◼
►
some analysis I did like a like an 80/20
◼
►
analysis of where where are the pain
◼
►
points in my life and where are the
◼
►
benefit points in my life and realized
◼
►
that was a little bit off and worked to
◼
►
reduce the things that were causing pain
◼
►
and increase the number of things which
◼
►
were causing enjoyment so I feel like
◼
►
that that's the summation of like your
◼
►
redirection ended up being the year that
◼
►
I was able to benefit more from being a
◼
►
self-employed person than I had in
◼
►
previous years yeah cuz you could do
◼
►
whatever you wanted right there was more
◼
►
of that feeling of like I can I can pick
◼
►
and choose and do the things that I want
◼
►
to do without the feeling of like I am
◼
►
bound into the things that I must do
◼
►
there was kind of a bit more flexibility
◼
►
in there yeah I mean I always think this
◼
►
that there's a it's a thing I think I
◼
►
see with a lot of people and it's very
◼
►
natural for it to happen but it's like a
◼
►
phrase but there's like there's this way
◼
►
that being successfully self-employed
◼
►
you can end up just building yourself a
◼
►
golden cage and I feel like in 2016 I
◼
►
came a little close to that edge or
◼
►
closer to that edges and I really want
◼
►
to be and that's the thing that I'm
◼
►
always very conscious of and then like
◼
►
2017 was was writing that ship
◼
►
a little better this episode of cortex
◼
►
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◼
►
have two themes for 2018 and starting
◼
►
out which is also being coupled with my
◼
►
theme which is running into a June yeah
◼
►
so you're gonna have three overlapping
◼
►
themes that's gonna happen oh yeah yeah
◼
►
well okay so it will make sense when you
◼
►
hear them so so one of the themes of my
◼
►
year is the year of adulting I am gonna
◼
►
become a serious adult this year is it's
◼
►
time to get serious because this year I
◼
►
turned 30 years old and I'm getting
◼
►
married it's pretty serious yeah I feel
◼
►
like these are pretty serious big adult
◼
►
things that will occur so that I know
◼
►
that's just gonna be a prevailing thing
◼
►
in in my life this year I don't believe
◼
►
there are any significant actions to it
◼
►
but they are just guiding a lot of
◼
►
things that are happening so especially
◼
►
it is guiding a lot of activity and
◼
►
focus this year in in a way that I am
◼
►
going to take my foot off the gas a
◼
►
little bit more with some work stuff
◼
►
this year because I have a very serious
◼
►
big event going on so that that's kind
◼
►
of a thought and really I don't think
◼
►
that it will no one will see it right
◼
►
now it's kind of in a way less than what
◼
►
you did like I'm not gonna pull back on
◼
►
a bunch of stuff but it's just informing
◼
►
some things that I'm gonna be doing and
◼
►
kind of how I'm gonna be approaching
◼
►
some projects that are existing and new
◼
►
because I'm gonna be having this this
◼
►
this huge thing going on in my life this
◼
►
year which I'm very excited about but
◼
►
it's obviously gonna make an impact on
◼
►
me which is a great thing about being
◼
►
self-employed is that I'm able to make
◼
►
those decisions right and and it was
◼
►
like it was like when I when was buying
◼
►
the house and I remember saying on the
◼
►
show about like it's like a job of its
◼
►
own and I don't know how people I just
◼
►
don't know how people do it including me
◼
►
I don't know how I did it and it's a
◼
►
similar thing like getting married it's
◼
►
like a job of its own and that's why
◼
►
there is an entire industry of wedding
◼
►
planners that exist because it is like a
◼
►
big huge project to manage yeah it's a
◼
►
giant logistical challenge on many
◼
►
levels yeah probably the biggest
◼
►
logistical thing that I will have be
◼
►
involved with so yeah that's that's
◼
►
informing a lot so that's one thing but
◼
►
there's there's less kind of actions
◼
►
from there and okay so this this might
◼
►
sound in contrast to the previous thing
◼
►
that I just spoke about but let me try
◼
►
and explain 2018 will also be for me the
◼
►
year of branching out so
◼
►
I have some things that I want to do I
◼
►
have some new things that I want to try
◼
►
and I want to see if it's something that
◼
►
I'm able to do so like one of those
◼
►
things is more live shows I love doing
◼
►
live shows and but they are there
◼
►
they're real bear to arrange and we did
◼
►
more in 2017 than we've done in 2016 and
◼
►
I want to continue that I don't have any
◼
►
handle on what that's gonna be I have no
◼
►
plan we have no plan like significant
◼
►
plan right now but we want to do more of
◼
►
them right so we want a trip we want to
◼
►
hopefully do one at wEDC
◼
►
this year which we didn't do last year
◼
►
so you know no plans but it's just hopes
◼
►
and so that is a big thing because it
◼
►
doing anytime you add another live show
◼
►
into the calendar like it's a it's a big
◼
►
logistical challenge and I am very lucky
◼
►
in that I have Stephen to manage that
◼
►
stuff Stephen is very good at putting
◼
►
together live shows my co-founder a
◼
►
relay event it's something that he has
◼
►
developed in his skill set but for me if
◼
►
I'm if I'm involved in hosting them that
◼
►
is huge for me so like before I do any
◼
►
type of live show I go into an almost
◼
►
catatonic state okay I talk to anybody
◼
►
and I really get kind of like focused on
◼
►
it in a very significant way it like for
◼
►
like an hour before I'm like sick I I
◼
►
don't even know what it is I don't know
◼
►
if it's nerves I don't know where it
◼
►
comes from it's I don't know if it's
◼
►
stage fright I don't know what it is
◼
►
because as soon as we start I'm great
◼
►
fine I can do them but I I feel like I
◼
►
always need to prepare more and so I
◼
►
kind of get into this like zone for a
◼
►
while so they're always a lot to do but
◼
►
it's something that I get great pleasure
◼
►
from when we do them I love doing it so
◼
►
we want to try and do more of that
◼
►
and then trying new ideas is probably
◼
►
the bigger thing for me and I've made
◼
►
hints to this in the past that there is
◼
►
an idea in my brain which is it is a
◼
►
podcast idea I don't I don't know if
◼
►
it's ever going to happen because it's
◼
►
thing else that I have done but I have
◼
►
been stewing on this idea for about six
◼
►
months and it won't go away it keeps
◼
►
yeah that that's what like so that's
◼
►
that okay so that's one of the big
◼
►
things right 2016 Mike would have
◼
►
already launched this project right
◼
►
right but 2017 Mike learned to wait so
◼
►
I'm still sitting on it but it's
◼
►
something that I really want to do and I
◼
►
saw Hamilton last week in London and
◼
►
it's only made it worse
◼
►
because Hamilton was created by one
◼
►
person and it is this incredible
◼
►
incredible thing which I urge anyone to
◼
►
go and see if you can because it's
◼
►
probably the greatest single piece of
◼
►
meteor I've ever consumed it is a tour
◼
►
de force I can't believe it here like I
◼
►
haven't seen Hamilton I was aware
◼
►
whatever was like last year when I first
◼
►
came out that I started hearing
◼
►
everybody in the world
◼
►
talk about an overhype this thing and I
◼
►
got like sick of hearing people talk
◼
►
about Hamilton and I was like this is
◼
►
ridiculous whatever like everybody's
◼
►
just like a fad but then I felt like my
◼
►
mind was changed because I last year I
◼
►
watched Moana and I was like man the
◼
►
music in this was just amazing it just
◼
►
made this this was so fast like this
◼
►
music is great and I thought like this
◼
►
is one of the best movie watching
◼
►
experiences I've had in a really long
◼
►
time and and I did a thing which I never
◼
►
do which is like who made this movie
◼
►
looked at when it's like Oh turns out
◼
►
that the guy who made Hamilton did all
◼
►
the music for this I was like ah okay
◼
►
maybe this Hamilton thing is worth
◼
►
seeing great Hamilton is in London it's
◼
►
gonna be here forever please try and get
◼
►
tickets to it and I advise anyone to do
◼
►
what I did because I think this is great
◼
►
don't listen to the music beforehand
◼
►
experience who will do that who with so
◼
►
many people because honestly you can and
◼
►
it's fine and you can get it but see it
◼
►
so obviously I am no delusion of
◼
►
grandeur here I don't think I can create
◼
►
something that is of the scale
◼
►
Hamilton ya see that's what I'm hearing
◼
►
Mike's gonna make Hamilton - what Mike's
◼
►
working on Jefferson right now but it
◼
►
was it was just because what what I want
◼
►
to do is a big is a big project is a
◼
►
huge project it's something I don't know
◼
►
if I have the skills or capabilities to
◼
►
do but seeing something created by one
◼
►
individual is very inspiring to me
◼
►
because it's like well it shows that
◼
►
people are able to do these types of
◼
►
things so maybe I can make something
◼
►
that's okay so it it's only basically
◼
►
what is happening to me is I have this
◼
►
idea and everything is inspiring me
◼
►
right so many things I'm seeing alike
◼
►
pushing me to be like see you can do
◼
►
this stuff people can do this stuff
◼
►
maybe you can so it's only feeding the
◼
►
flame and yeah people could probably
◼
►
guess what I have going on in my mind if
◼
►
they pay attention to the clues you if
◼
►
you guess it you're probably right
◼
►
but it's it's a project that I don't
◼
►
know if I had capability to do but 2018
◼
►
I will make the decision by the end of
◼
►
this year I'll have IVA done it or I'm
◼
►
never gonna do it I'm setting that for
◼
►
myself it's like you can't keep doing
◼
►
this forever if you want to try and make
◼
►
a go of this thing you've got to do it
◼
►
this year so we'll see that's that's so
◼
►
my bigger theme this year is branching
◼
►
out trying some new big projects but
◼
►
also being mindful of not just trying
◼
►
anything and everything that comes to my
◼
►
mind like I learned in 2017 well I look
◼
►
forward to seeing your enormous project
◼
►
at some point we're not coming to coming
◼
►
to Broadway but I think that like what
◼
►
you just said there is also like a great
◼
►
a great point about like deciding that
◼
►
you're gonna do this thing or you're
◼
►
gonna have to let it go like and exactly
◼
►
why you can't just keep having it in the
◼
►
back of your mind for forever and I
◼
►
think that's a it's an interesting it's
◼
►
an interesting point to have with that
◼
►
so yeah I wish you I wish you all the
◼
►
best of luck with that Mike thank you I
◼
►
hope it I hope it turns out
◼
►
and all the live shows you're gonna
◼
►
arrange that we're gonna do right are
◼
►
you gonna how many live shows do you
◼
►
want to commit to 1000 committing to
◼
►
zero right X World Tour gore-tex World
◼
►
Tour how many dates do you have zero so
◼
►
what's your theme for 2018 okay so we
◼
►
need a little bit of a run-up to this
◼
►
because when I was recapping my year
◼
►
mostly talking about how it was great
◼
►
thank you every direction very happy
◼
►
things worked out well but there's an
◼
►
alternative name that I could have given
◼
►
that year looking in retrospect and I
◼
►
think I could have called 2017 standing
◼
►
now at the beginning of 2018 the year of
◼
►
chaos because what a really bad name to
◼
►
give it proactively obviously
◼
►
proactively does not the name to give
◼
►
the thing but retro actively I think I'm
◼
►
going to always think of 2017 as like
◼
►
this year of chaos because this year was
◼
►
just a year where I felt like I never
◼
►
had any real consistent schedule for any
◼
►
significant length of time I feel like
◼
►
things were just all over the place and
◼
►
again I do like to try to verify this
◼
►
kind of stuff so when I was like
◼
►
reviewing all the documentation I had
◼
►
from the previous year the data totally
◼
►
bears this out that that last year was a
◼
►
year that was just all over the place in
◼
►
every metric I can think of and so like
◼
►
one of the things I was mentioned before
◼
►
about the negative space and time
◼
►
tracking I was looking over the year and
◼
►
I could see like I want to see how well
◼
►
did I do with this time tracking and my
◼
►
mental my mental framework is that on a
◼
►
on any particular day I should have 12
◼
►
hours like 12 hours is the bare minimum
◼
►
of competency 14 hours is good and like
◼
►
16 hours is the theoretical maximum of
◼
►
how much time I would be tracking in a
◼
►
and the median day for the whole year
◼
►
was like 13 and a half hours which I was
◼
►
pretty happy with but if you break it
◼
►
down by months some months I'm tracking
◼
►
fifteen and a half hours a day like I'm
◼
►
doing great and a couple of months
◼
►
particularly in the summer and in April
◼
►
I've got like six hours a day right like
◼
►
total disaster across the board in terms
◼
►
of the time tracking and it's like yeah
◼
►
I remember those months I remember I
◼
►
decided like the hell with this I can't
◼
►
possibly do with it all so I just had
◼
►
like a string of zero days in a row
◼
►
because I'm like I can't I can't
◼
►
psychologically deal with this today I
◼
►
just got too much and I looked at things
◼
►
like records of exercise and like
◼
►
records of health and it's like crazy
◼
►
lines all over the place of like how
◼
►
frequently frequent were you exercising
◼
►
it's like crazy or like like things with
◼
►
like other health stuff like diet stuff
◼
►
it's like okay it's like okay great I
◼
►
have this stretch of time where
◼
►
everything is perfect numbers really
◼
►
focusing on and then it just was ghost a
◼
►
total disaster later and like I think a
◼
►
huge portion of that was just I am NOT a
◼
►
person who was used to the travel so
◼
►
it's like I can see that it's like the
◼
►
calm pond of my life is totally
◼
►
destroyed with ripples and waves every
◼
►
time a rock of an airplane is thrown
◼
►
into it and it's like this this really
◼
►
takes things out of place but even on
◼
►
top of that like I can I can just see
◼
►
again from the records like I was really
◼
►
bad last year about things like weekly
◼
►
reviews and trying to stay on top of
◼
►
stuff I think it wasn't wasn't helped by
◼
►
my like sort of abandoning task managers
◼
►
for a while as well which like went into
◼
►
this theme of like a year of chaos yes I
◼
►
still I honestly still can't get my head
◼
►
like I don't feel like I was ever
◼
►
satisfied with the reasoning in which
◼
►
you were doing it like yeah it just
◼
►
never clicked for me I feel like that
◼
►
that was a mistake that you made in the
◼
►
year well I think I needed to pull back
◼
►
from some of that stuff that that was a
◼
►
little bit of like redirection like I'm
◼
►
going to just like let this kind of go
◼
►
so what I feel like with last year and
◼
►
had this this experience where
◼
►
high-level things were really great it
◼
►
was a really successful year but unlike
◼
►
the low level it was totally this this
◼
►
like year of chaos so my theme for the
◼
►
upcoming year is the year of order that
◼
►
there is going to be order in 2018 oh
◼
►
yes chaos to order so good
◼
►
yeah you've you had a brain wave when
◼
►
you came up with that one I like it it's
◼
►
been itching it's been under my skin for
◼
►
you know maybe since mid-december I
◼
►
started was thinking about this because
◼
►
as we were coming up to our your themes
◼
►
I was like I don't really have a theme
◼
►
like I'm just wishing what like whatever
◼
►
and as I started to think about I was
◼
►
like this is what it is it's the year of
◼
►
order is 2018 and I've sort of started
◼
►
on this in some ways but there's that
◼
►
there's like a sentence in my mind which
◼
►
I feel like is this this guiding
◼
►
sentence for the year which is like the
◼
►
work isn't the work the system is the
◼
►
work and so I feel like I've set up a
◼
►
bunch of stuff already to try to help
◼
►
with it's like okay in the morning like
◼
►
you get up in the first thing that you
◼
►
do is is the writing and like it doesn't
◼
►
matter how much you write her if it's
◼
►
good at all because the system is the
◼
►
work the work isn't the work like one of
◼
►
my real focuses this year is I'm still
◼
►
expecting that there's going to be a lot
◼
►
of travel like I can already see my
◼
►
calendars has a bunch of dates already
◼
►
in the future like oh god here we go
◼
►
but I think there can be a real
◼
►
difference when I'm going I'm going into
◼
►
the Year expecting and acknowledging
◼
►
like there is going to be travel there
◼
►
are going to be disruptions but I cannot
◼
►
allow them to be as disruptive as they
◼
►
were last year because I feel like last
◼
►
year I was really caught off guard by a
◼
►
lot of that kind of stuff so for me one
◼
►
of the things is like re-establishing a
◼
►
very clear schedule and sequence of
◼
►
habits to follow like that is one
◼
►
the big things for me in the year and
◼
►
it's really interesting because I'm
◼
►
coming back to you off the off the end
◼
►
of a of a gradation off in the snowy
◼
►
wastelands meditating on this idea of
◼
►
the year of order you're on a leadership
◼
►
my wife literally has started to call
◼
►
these things that I do she's like you
◼
►
going on corporate retreats for one like
◼
►
that's what you're doing yeah and I
◼
►
guess that is 100 percent the case set
◼
►
up a little table name plaques and then
◼
►
you move around the table depending on
◼
►
what what you need to be talking about
◼
►
you know yeah we do we do I mean there's
◼
►
there's brainstorming on whiteboards of
◼
►
like where's the company going to go for
◼
►
the next year how do you build the human
◼
►
pyramid but so like here's the thing
◼
►
that was interesting to do so I I had
◼
►
actually set up as part of the year of
◼
►
redirection I had set up in advance this
◼
►
period of time at the beginning of 2018
◼
►
dedicated great incorporated company
◼
►
retreat and because it was really useful
◼
►
last year and like I want to do this
◼
►
again next year but I was really aware
◼
►
that when I do these trips normally I
◼
►
can very quickly get into like a great
◼
►
schedule and I had a freaking rudl time
◼
►
this year forcing my brain back into
◼
►
this regular schedule and I was just
◼
►
like ah I can see like I'm just not used
◼
►
to this because my year has been so
◼
►
chaotic that my brain is like bucking
◼
►
the idea that we've got a we've got to
◼
►
bust out the order again and it was just
◼
►
it was an interesting experience to have
◼
►
like it's taking me a lot of time to
◼
►
force this change and it reminded me of
◼
►
back back when I was adulting and when I
◼
►
did my teacher training program and
◼
►
realize like this is the first thing
◼
►
I've ever come up against in my life
◼
►
where I can't just slack my way through
◼
►
and I actually need to figure out like
◼
►
how to organize myself to be able to to
◼
►
get things done and I remember that was
◼
►
a really difficult mental time of like
◼
►
and I'm so used to just sliding on
◼
►
through life but suddenly I can't do
◼
►
that now and I have to like become a
◼
►
different person in order to succeed in
◼
►
so being being on my like corporate
◼
►
retreat I was just aware like man this
◼
►
is real evidence that the past year has
◼
►
been a very chaotic year because this
◼
►
thing which is normally not a lot of
◼
►
effort for me to do to like click back
◼
►
into a regular schedule is actually
◼
►
quite hard for me to do like even things
◼
►
like waking up at a consistent time in
◼
►
the morning like just brutal but it's
◼
►
evidenced like when I look at my health
◼
►
data like my sleep schedule it's all
◼
►
over the place for the past year so
◼
►
that's that's a big part of it is this
◼
►
idea that like it is the routine like
◼
►
the routine is the work the work isn't
◼
►
the work and I'm really going to be
◼
►
focusing on that a lot that's one of the
◼
►
really big things there is a there is
◼
►
like a little sub part of the year of
◼
►
order which I haven't haven't quite
◼
►
figured out precisely what this is yet
◼
►
but it comes out of the time tracking
◼
►
which is this idea of like a war on
◼
►
unintentional 'ti so one of the things
◼
►
with time tracking that I actually
◼
►
mentioned in that those early episodes
◼
►
is I do try to keep track of what I
◼
►
think it was like unintentional time
◼
►
where I'm doing something but it's not
◼
►
really like on purpose I'm not being
◼
►
intentional about the thing that I'm
◼
►
doing and so I have this idea that like
◼
►
part of the year on order there's like a
◼
►
sub front which is the war on
◼
►
unintentional 'ti and so that that can
◼
►
be things like for example social media
◼
►
like spending less time on social media
◼
►
or the time that I spend on sotell me
◼
►
social media is more intentional rather
◼
►
than unintentional so that's that's a
◼
►
thing like looking over my time tracking
◼
►
data is I find the amount of
◼
►
unintentional 'ti time registered in the
◼
►
last year it's like it's too much I
◼
►
don't like it and I feel like I want a
◼
►
much higher percentage of the time in my
◼
►
life to be intentional versus
◼
►
unintentional so that's that's another
◼
►
like part of this idea but that part is
◼
►
than just the idea of like 2018 is the
◼
►
year of order I'm gonna bring order to
◼
►
the world so jealous of your name you
◼
►
really went from just like atrocious
◼
►
name to excellent name right 2017 was
◼
►
just bad name and 2018 is real good name
◼
►
but it has to be because I really think
◼
►
I could not survive another year of
◼
►
redirection like I think I would just I
◼
►
would just lose it if I had another
◼
►
unstructured year like that the
◼
►
redirection year was like a just a
◼
►
course correction change you can't do
◼
►
that every year forever like that's an
◼
►
exam out yucks right like restructuring
◼
►
things take some time and you do it once
◼
►
and then you do it again in like five
◼
►
years time like it would be pointless to
◼
►
do what you did last year every year
◼
►
because you'd never get anything done
◼
►
constantly changing your business but
◼
►
not actually producing anything it's not
◼
►
really a benefit to that now so anyway
◼
►
year of order 2018 oh man I just as you
◼
►
said that I just got a push notification
◼
►
that just says to work on big project
◼
►
idea calling to you Mike
◼
►
I want to thank fresh books for their
◼
►
support of this show please take it upon
◼
►
yourself if you are a freelancer to sign
◼
►
up for fresh books now is the time I'm
◼
►
gonna mention it again it's new year's
◼
►
time it's time to make some changes make
◼
►
this your yearly theme to get your
◼
►
finances in order and one of the ways to
◼
►
do that is to sign up for fresh books we
◼
►
have been using them for our invoices
◼
►
since day one of real AFM and it has
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drastically reduced the amount of time
◼
►
aggravation and hassle it takes for me
◼
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to get my job done fresh books can save
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up to one hundred and ninety two hours
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for freelancers with their cloud
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◼
►
you what you need to be focused on you
◼
►
can automate late payment email
◼
►
reminders so you don't have to spend
◼
►
time chasing people you can even see
◼
►
when somebody's looked at your invoice
◼
►
so you just know you know it's there you
◼
►
know it's been opened you can even see
◼
►
if it's been printed it helps put an end
◼
►
to those guessing games it's more than
◼
►
just invoices you can set up projects
◼
►
and shared documents you can also have
◼
►
all your expenses run through it is a
◼
►
full system if you're not using fresh
◼
►
books yet now is the time to try it
◼
►
because they are offering an
◼
►
unrestricted 30-day free trial for
◼
►
core-tex listeners with no credit card
◼
►
required just go to fresh books Comstock
◼
►
or tax that is fresh books calm slash
◼
►
cortex and when it tells you how did you
◼
►
hear about them say that you heard about
◼
►
them from this very show our thanks to
◼
►
fresh books for their continued support
◼
►
of the cortex podcast and relay FM so I
◼
►
asked from the cortex Twitter account
◼
►
which is at underscore cortex FM if
◼
►
you're interested in following the
◼
►
account for some ask cortex questions
◼
►
related to yearly themes we have
◼
►
answered throughout the course of this
◼
►
conversation a lot of them there were
◼
►
actually quite a few a surprising amount
◼
►
of people that wanted to know about time
◼
►
tracking so there you go you've got it
◼
►
right those people those of you who care
◼
►
about time tracking you've definitely
◼
►
got that conversation this time but
◼
►
there were a couple that I wanted to ask
◼
►
you and for us to think about Toni asked
◼
►
how do your themes inform your use of
◼
►
devices and all your favorite apps now I
◼
►
could say for me the one of the big
◼
►
projects I'm trying to work on requires
◼
►
a lot more planning than usually a show
◼
►
that I would do requires it means more
◼
►
writing to it it needs more thought it
◼
►
needs more outlining so I am more
◼
►
heavily using notes than I would
◼
►
typically I will be using bear more for
◼
►
longer pieces of writing and I'm
◼
►
thinking about using something like an
◼
►
app like mind node which is like a mind
◼
►
mapping application to try to scrape out
◼
►
some some big things some big
◼
►
overarching ideas and to try and get my
◼
►
thoughts more compiled so I think that
◼
►
because of the way that meaning new work
◼
►
the themes always inform the app choices
◼
►
because this is how we get our work done
◼
►
is with these apps so it does change I
◼
►
mean I guess for you year of order will
◼
►
mean finally getting your project
◼
►
management in check yeah we can talk
◼
►
about that on another show yes I'll say
◼
►
two years ago one of the things that I
◼
►
did which I need to do again for a
◼
►
variety of reasons is I actually sat
◼
►
down with good notes my my favorite
◼
►
handwriting app and I was just writing
◼
►
out what all of the devices were in my
◼
►
life like okay which which iPads and
◼
►
computers do I have like where are they
◼
►
like what's here's I have a phone I have
◼
►
a watch and I just sat down with that
◼
►
list for a long time and sort of thought
◼
►
very intentionally about what our each
◼
►
of these devices for and so I think this
◼
►
is a thing that people don't really do
◼
►
like they just sort of happen to let
◼
►
devices do whatever but I'm a big fan of
◼
►
artificial restrictions around devices
◼
►
and I'm definitely intending to again
◼
►
sit down and really think through like
◼
►
what is the minimum viable use for the
◼
►
various devices in my life like I'm not
◼
►
interested in devices that can do
◼
►
absolutely everything all the time I'm
◼
►
interested in being really intentional
◼
►
about what they can do so when I was
◼
►
doing it two years ago part of what I
◼
►
was thinking about is like what
◼
►
notifications can be seen where and you
◼
►
know what devices do I have access to at
◼
►
different times in the day and so
◼
►
therefore what kinds of things do I want
◼
►
to be able to do on them and then
◼
►
setting up the devices as much as it was
◼
►
possible so that those actions are the
◼
►
only things that are possible to do on
◼
►
those devices so I feel like the year
◼
►
theme fits into that because it's it's
◼
►
the idea of what do you want these
◼
►
devices to do for you in your life and
◼
►
yeah with the year of order I definitely
◼
►
have a bunch of restructuring to do with
◼
►
all of the devices in my life and
◼
►
Jonathan asks what tools or mechanisms
◼
►
you use to keep track of your yearly
◼
►
themes do you review your progress
◼
►
frequently do you do anything like this
◼
►
there are things like I have a bunch of
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questions that I kind of work through
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and yeah one of the one of the questions
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is it's nice I need a question but it's
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like it's a note at the top of the
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document that like this is the year of
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and that's a thing that just exists to
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keep it to keep it more present in my
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mind as the years going along
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what about you I don't say I don't think
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I have a necessary structure because
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like the first time I did it was last
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year and the thing that I was doing
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which is time tracking in and of itself
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is a review which is constant right so
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it wasn't really like I had to sit down
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and I don't do the reviews the way that
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you do that's not a thing that I do mmm
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especially as well a lot of my work is
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kind of itself structured in that way
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that's true yeah I am very focused on
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quarter-to-quarter because that's how my
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business operates so I don't really have
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to sit down and do a performance review
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of myself because that I can see it on a
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spreadsheet how the business is doing
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and course-correct where needed I mean
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maybe if I want to continue doing my
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year of branching out it might require
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more reviews because these are things
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which are bigger than numbers these are
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different things like last year I could
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still really look at numbers more and
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those numbers were in over themselves
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just easy to see how it was going but my
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branching out stuff it's a lot more
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fluffy then last year's goals right so
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it may require some progress reviews I
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haven't worked that out yet
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but it's probably something I should
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think about and Jeff asked what is some
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advice you would give to someone looking
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to get their theme in place Oh number
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one advice don't don't try to do it
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quickly yeah like don't listen to this
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show and think I have an idea for a
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theme and as my theme for the year is
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going to be this I like I think what has
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happened in all of these cases is it's
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been a kind of slow build this idea of
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like hmm I think I need a theme for the
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►
year or or like what is my theme for the
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►
year going to be and it's useful to have
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that as something that's on the back
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burner and not something that you just
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instantly decide because if you feel
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like you go into the state where you are
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thinking about what the theme should be
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I feel like that helps you be more
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observant in your own life about what
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needs to happen like that's definitely
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year we're coming out of the year of
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chaos I thought like oh my chaotic life
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doesn't need a year theme but simply
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being aware like oh I'm gonna talk to
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Mike about it at the end of January
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started booting up a little process
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where I noticed and thought much more
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about how my life was going into things
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that I wanted to change in my life so
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without a doubt dude don't be hasty with
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your year themes right like let it
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simmer for a while like the idea of
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yearly themes came to me when you
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started talking about the year of less I
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didn't have a theme and yeah I have a
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theme the next year because we spent the
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entire year talking about themes so it
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like was embedding in my mind so
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honestly I would say try if you think
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that yearly themes are good they aim to
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have one in 2019 like spend this next
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►
year with that in mind and you know
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maybe you could do what I did maybe in
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June come up with a six month themes
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like a theme for the rest of your year
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but if something isn't jumping out to
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you immediately like of course that's
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it's the clouds of parted and the idea
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►
has come to your mind then just spend
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some time rolling around this idea in
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your brain that you want to have a
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yearly theme listen to us talking about
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our themes as we progress throughout the
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►
year and stuff like that and then work
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out what yours could be just through
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kind of like osmosis of having this
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thinking don't push it or I might
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suggest if you want to get started a
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►
little sooner it might be perfectly fine
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►
to do like how I review my life in terms
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of like seasons like thinking about
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things more intentionally every season
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►
well take me maybe start smaller called
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►
gray quarterly like it's much better it
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is much more romantic like to call it a
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►
season right of course it is but is that
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►
what we is that how we think about work
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►
now I really appreciate the vague
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►
boundaries of seasons I don't like the
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►
precision of the quarter I like the
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►
vague boundary of the season right so I
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think also maybe breaking it down into
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►
into smaller chunks like that might
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►
might be helpful for just starting out a
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►
little bit but yeah I think that the not
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►
starting urgently is the main thing yeah
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until next time until next time
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good luck with your year themes