From the time he was a kid, Sean McCabe was obsessed, strike that, possessed, with letters.The shape. The form. The curves and nuances. Not just the fonts you see on computers, but the ones drawn painstakingly by hand, what's come to be known as hand-lettering, consumed him.A few years back, Sean began posting his work online. Nothing happened for the better part of two years. Then, lighting began to strike. In part, riding along with and, in part, helping to fuel a massive resurgence in both the practice and demand for hand-lettering, Sean's posting began to catch fire.People wanted to not only buy his work and hire him, though, they also relentlessly asked "how" he did what he did. Both as an artist, and as a professional who'd built a career hand-lettering.That demand kicked off a journey Sean never saw coming. One that's now led him into what he terms the next "season" of his life, moving away from the practice of hand-lettering and into his role as a leader and teacher in the business-side of art. He's built a tremendous educational resource with his Learn Lettering course, a broadcast-quality podcast and video series with a global audience and an emerging career as a keynote speaker. And, there's lots more in the works.In this week's episode, we dive into the exact steps along his journey. We explore how he developed his skills as a hand-letterer, then shifted his focus to cultivate the same depth of expertise in business and media. Sean is incredibly transparent and generous and he also shares a mountain of strategies for building not just a business, but a life. In fact, this conversation was recorded during one of his "7-week sabbaticals," a one-week window that he takes work-free every seven weeks. We talk about how that began and, also, how sacred and important it has become.Oh, and P.S. - An all-new Learn Lettering 2.0 classes will launch on July 27th, 2015. I was a student of the first one and I was blown away by both the depth of the content and the production values. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How often have you put off doing something uncomfortable and told yourself the timing's just not right?The timing will be better when, if, then, because, after.So you wait. And you wait. And you wait.Did you do what you said you were going to when you got more money, more time, more resources, more stability? More often than not, you probably didn't.Sometimes, bad timing is a legitimate issue. But, equally if not far more often, it's not. Instead, it's an excuse for avoiding the uncertainty of doing something new. It's not based on sound analysis and intelligent exploration, but rather fear and avoidance. Driven largely by the desire to not have to wade from a place of certainty back into the uncertain abyss, even when that place of unknowing is the gateway to stunning possibility.That's what today's Good Life Project Riff is all about. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Curiosity acts as a powerful ignition switch for an extraordinary life. It deepens connections and enhances happiness by helping us understand human motivations. There are two forms of curiosity—state and trait—that can both be nurtured through varied experiences. Engaging in new activities and meeting different people can uncover hidden passions. Plus, there's magic in deliberately wandering, whether in familiar or new places, allowing us to embrace the unknown and spark extraordinary moments in daily life.

After years of launching, building and selling technology ventures, Brad Smith was at a crossroads. Starting almost accidentally, he parlayed a self-taught expertise in computers and then design into a series of ventures that kept him busily creating. But when the company that bought his last venture was sold, destroying his ability to run the business the way he wanted, he realized it was time to exit.He took a wild contrarian leap away from technology and joined the team at The Great Discontent to help take their soulful online magazine and grow it into what is quickly becoming a stunningly beautiful "artisanal" print magazine. Some would view this move as nuts. I mean, print is dead, right?In this week's episode, we explore his sometimes crazy journey, his entry into entrepreneurship and his journey through various startups, mergers, burnout, pulling the kill switch, self-care, time off, the timing of opportunities, making something extraordinary to help people, and returning to the roots of what inspired you in the first place.Check out our offerings & partners: My New Book SparkedMy New Podcast SPARKEDVisit Our Sponsor Page For a Complete List of Vanity URLs & Discount Codes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was a moment that nearly brought me to tears...As an entrepreneur, a writer, a creator, a big part of why I do what I do is simply the hardwired need to create. I do the thing I "can't not do."The process of creation breathes me.Being able to write, to build, to produce, these things all light me up. But there's another part of the equation. It's the part about how the things you create land in the world. How other people experience them.It's part about whether they matter not only to you, but to those who might, in some small way, engage with what you make. To those who might just be left changed, or at least moved in a meaningful way.Often times, you never get to see this part.But, every once in a while, you stumble onto them. This week's Good Life Project Riff is about one of those moments. It happened through pure serendipity. It involved a guy named Steve and a venture he called Exit Plan B. The image in this post created by him.Neither of us knew what was really happening or how we'd truly affected each other until we'd been working together for months.Until the moment everything came full circle. And it left us both jaw-dropped.Enjoy the story! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In January 2013, Susan Cain published a book that would spark a global conversation and change the world. Her stunning, international bestseller, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, gave voice to nearly a third of the human race, those who'd often walked through life believing that their quiet nature, their love of smaller groups, individual conversations and solitude was something "to be fixed." Something that would hold them back in life, keep them from the good jobs and from rising to embrace their potential.Quiet was shock to the system. It validated this often-maligned social orientation with a fierce attention to science and revealed the stunning creative and social power of introverts. Cain let the quieter set, of which I am a member, know we're okay, better than okay, we are blessed. She also pulled back the curtain on how society and the corporate world build structure and culture that supports and rewards extroversion, while downplaying the value of introverts and stifling their ability to do the often game-changing work needed most.This week's conversation with Susan features not only what her book and ideas have done to the lives of millions, but also what the book has done to and for her. How it's changed her, thrust this previously introverted, solitude-loving writer onto the global stage and how she has found a new normal in her role as a leader and a public introvert.Follow Susan: Website | TwitterCheck out our offerings & partners: My New Book SparkedMy New Podcast SPARKEDVisit Our Sponsor Page For a Complete List of Vanity URLs & Discount Codes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One the fastest ways to accelerate your growth, personal or professional, is to seek out and ask for guidance from mentors. People who've been where you're looking to go and are open to sharing their stumbles, wins and wisdom.But, there's something that often happens when a mentor gives feedback that does not validate or, even worse, straight-up shoots down what you want to do. You fight the feedback, and often, the mentor.When I'm in the playing the role of mentor and this happens, it's not unusual for me to ask a mentee who is refusing to open to a new possibility or give up a position or decision that's being proven increasingly wrong..."how's that working out for you?"Why this refusal to open to the input of those we seek to guide us is pretty interesting. Because you were looking for the wrong thing. You wanted validation, but the mentor's job is to speak truth, at least their truth.Because, when you're trying to create something great...You don’t need validation, you need truth.We talk about this phenomenon and what to do when it happens in this week's short and sweet Good Life Riff. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Want a job at Google, a gorgeous hideaway on Airbnb, a spot on the Stanford faculty, a romantic partner or even a kidney?Good news, bad news. You have a say, but so do they.It's all part of a phenomenon called "matching markets."Markets are what make businesses possible. But not all markets operate on the exchange of cash for goods. In fact, some of the most important markets go so far as to outlaw cash. In other markets, like romance, many societies just find cash morally repugnant. And, no matter how much you may want something, there's another person who'll have a say in whether you get it.When you understand these often complex and hidden markets, the nuanced rules and games that get played, you end up in a better place to both get what you need from them and give more effectively to those you seek to serve.That's what we're talking about in this week's conversation with Nobel Prize-winning economist, Stanford professor and author of the fascinating new book, Who Gets What - and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design, Al Roth.This discussion pulls back the curtain on why we are willing to do so much, for one thing, person or opportunity and yet so little for another and how that is redefining our options, how they are presented, and how much control we really have over any of it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You want to be a better writer, write and study the craft of writing. Want to be a better maker, make more stuff and study the art of making. Want to be a better entrepreneur, build more businesses and study the process of birthing businesses.But, don't stop there. The really big leap, the thing that launches you from really good to world-shaking, is not skill. Transcendent output happens when you go beyond craft and do the work to become a better person.Because WHO you are flows into and through your work as much as HOW SKILLED you've become.This is what we're talking about in today's Good Life Project Riff. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tamsen Fadal is an award-winning broadcast journalist and television anchor on the evening news in New York City.She's worked incredibly hard to get where she is, traveling the world, entering war-zones and extreme settings, giving a voice to the voiceless and a serving as a trusted guide through times of extreme tragedy, disaster and misfortune.While she'd become comfortable being the face and voice of the news, though, she never thought she'd actually be the news. But, that's exactly what happened, and not in a good way, when her relationship with her husband and business partner in a match-making side-business fell apart.The news hit the papers and she was faced with not only navigating the extraordinary pain of a crumbling love, but the surreal task of doing it all under the microscope of the media, while also being the media. The tabloids and the internet were not kind. She was, after all, a very public person and someone positioned as an expert in finding love. And, now she was struggling.She would've loved to just pull back, to work things through in private and recover. But, it was her job to show up and put on the face of calm confidence on television.She found herself living two lives. Cool, upbeat, friendly newscaster by day and the falling apart human by night.In this week's conversation, we dive into Tamsen's life in journalism, the moments that have forever changed her and how the media is evolving. And we talk about her relationship, surviving what should be private in the most public way and then rediscovering her sense of identity and healing. She shared much of this journey, as well, in her new book, The New Single.This conversation is not just about transitioning from a marriage, it's about how to move through shattering challenges in life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.