How A Lack Of Focus Kept My Friend Broke For 6 Years.

I see a lot of people who are not focused. They’re trying to do too many things and then wondering why nothing sticks.

My friend is one of these unfocused people. We worked together six years ago and when we parted ways, he was left broke (again). Six years on, he’s only just got out of being broke in the last few months.

What Do You Want?

“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.” — Confucius

The first question you need to ask yourself when searching for a job, determining your career path or trying to realize your passion should be, “What do I want?” Every plan and every action that you take should begin from that very simple question.

Belief Versus Doubt — Welcome To The Creative Mind

You have the angelic you on one shoulder, and the devilish you on the other. The battle of right vs wrong, good vs evil, and confidence vs crisis.

“It’s amazing that you have started a business. You are amazing. This isn’t something everyone is capable of doing you know” whispers the angel. You smile at the angel. The angel is lovely.

Why The Younger Generation Doesn’t Want To Own Stuff.

Baby boomers keep telling me I should own stuff. I’m not sold. In fact, I’ve done the exact opposite.

That nice BMW, sold; all of the stuff I never use like vinyl records and old posters, sold. Then there’s the technology. We’re all addicted to having the newest whatever and half the time it’s no different from the previous model.

3 Incredible Lessons of Success and Failure from Super Bowl Coach Bill Belichick

Bill Belichick, the man now synonymous with winning as much as any coach in American sports history, wasn’t always such a winner. He wasn’t handed a head coaching job overnight. It took him nearly to the age of 40 before someone entrusted a pro football team to his leadership. Then? He eventually was fired several years later. But that’s surely not how we know him today.

Your perfect life sucks, and so does mine

We’ve all heard that phrase, “I’m just going through the motions.” Sounds terrible, doesn’t it? When someone says that, we think they’re depressed. Something’s not right — maybe. But we all feel like we’re going through the motions sometimes. That’s part of adult life.

I Quit my Job …. Started my Startup and then Ruined my Life…

Corporate Job are Good…Startups are Better ….But Working For Yourself is the Best….

I was working for one of the top banking firms…

A banking life where you miss out on everything and everyone in life, except Excel spreadsheets…as I Say A life packed in a suitcase…..

How To Embrace Vulnerability As Your Greatest Strength

Born Vulnerable

“Vulnerability is about showing up and being seen. It’s tough to do that when we’re terrified about what people might see or think.” — Brené Brown

We All Have It Tough — It’s What You Do With The Struggle.

Lots of people who read my stuff email me with their struggles. They’re hoping that I will be blown away by how hard they’ve had it. They think it’s some sort of competition to see who has the most battle scars.

6 Golden Rules For Living A Good Life Now

You may think living a good life requires a vast change in circumstances to leave your old life behind.

While that may be the case, it requires throwing off the bowline and setting sail on what awaits ahead. It is likely to be smoother sailing than navigating the torrents of the grind associated with everyday living.

Stop Setting Goals

For a great many years — seven to be exact — I would do the same thing on my birthday. I would wake up in the morning and write down a set number of things corresponding to my age that I wanted to accomplish in the coming year.

Why Getting Everything You Want Can Make Your Life Worse

A lot of the things we want in life stem from our need for stability.

Most young people make critical decisions about their future lives and careers based on factors that they assume will give them some sense of predictability.

Diversifying Bitcoin? Take a Look at These Four Cryptocurrencies

Diversifying is a key component to capture growth opportunities and mitigate risk against crashes that may occur. This article is not telling you to sell all your bitcoin; it is an answer to the question: “what other coins should i be looking at?” Take a look at my previous article on Diversification against Bitcoin as a case study for diversification.

How To Write And Make People Feel Smart

he other day, I was struck by a quote I read. It was in a blog post about vulnerability by Adam Grant (Wharton professor and author of Originals). Here’s what he said:

“Good communicators make themselves look smart. Great communicators make their audiences feel smart.”

What can I write about?

That was one of the first questions that crossed my mind when I first picked up a pen almost six months ago.

It is still a question that I ask myself each day.

Coming up with a topic to write about was one of the hardest things I had to do. I had to consider a lot of factors before I chose a topic I would work with.

It’s time we figured out our direction in life. Here’s how to make it concrete

I had someone email me recently that their lack of purpose was driving them crazy.

They felt lost; trapped.

Surely the solution, if you are lost, is to figure out where you want to go. Right?

Isn’t it easy?

Why Your Writing Isn’t Where You Want It To Be

Every so often people reach out to me — with varying degrees of self-assuredness and aggression — wanting to “know” or “talk to me about” my writing, my “process,” and, above all else, what “secret” I’m using that they can lift and duplicate in their own work.

My Powerful 1-Hour Routine For Quick Success On Medium

“Tom, are you serious? What human can write an entire article in 15 minutes?”

Okay, first off, let me introduce to you Parkinson’s Law.

In the 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferris used Parkinson’s Law to write a 30-page thesis paper in 24 hours. Here’s his definition..
“Parkinson’s Law dictates that a task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion. If I give you 24 hours to complete a project, the time pressure forces you to focus on execution, and you have no choice but to do only the bare essentials.”

How to improve your design process with copy docs

Organize your writing with this easy method

Many user experience writers (UX) and content strategists are familiar with design tools like Sketch, InVision, and Balsamiq. These are great resources for a team to share feedback on wireframes, mockups, and prototypes.

What product have you recently seen that made you think ‘this is great design’ and why?

We’re back for 2018. Sorry for the gap between questions, we needed a break. Hope you had a good one.


20 Designers, 20 Weeks, 1 Question Per Week

Learn from twenty experienced designers as we go deep into one question every week.
This week we look at products the designers love.

How focusing on the customer (not the competition) brought us over 1 million new signups in a year

Last February, we launched a new product version.

We had spent nearly all of 2016 revamping a core feature and we were excited about what we’d built.

But shortly after the release, our design director found a discussion thread on Designer News.

All the data we lost to incompatible APIs.

On February 2015, Vint Cerf, also known as the father of the internet, issued a warning to humanity - that of a possible dark age and a lost generation simply because the systems of the future will not be able to render the files of the present.

If Children Wrote Crime Fiction

Crayons would be at 76% of the crime scenes but not all. The best colors would be scattered throughout the county. Each with a different clue specifically written with broken language.

Day 18: Building An Agency From Scratch — My NEW Cold Email, Something Personal + Updates

In case you are new to this meaty little series, I’m documenting everything (raw and real) out in the wide open as I attempt to build a highly focused social customer service agency, work several jobs, deal with anxiety, and fear of the unknown.

How to Write Compelling Articles That Get Read and Shared

5 steps I’ve followed to craft trending Medium articles

Recently, I was talking to a friend who was feeling disappointed with her blog posts. She’d publish a post, and all she’d hear were crickets. Even after promoting her posts, hardly anyone was commenting or sharing her articles.

Happiness is Overrated

Not too long ago, I was floating in the crystal-clear Pacific Ocean, the water lapping against my back and saltwater seeping into and out of my pores, the hypnotic rush of the waves providing the back-beat for the symphony of seagulls. I didn’t notice. My body was in the water — my mind was somewhere else.

41 Fundamental Life Truths I Have Discovered This Year.

This year has taught me so much about life and what it really means. It surprises me how little I know and how much there still is to learn. A truly fulfilled life is only possible when you commit to continuous learning.

10 Habits That Are Holding You Back From Reaching Your Potential

“Do you really need to add more good habits? When you want to be, you are super productive. Lacking good habits is not your weakness, but your bad habits are.” — My wife

14 Brutal Truths Every Entrepreneur Needs To Hear

Nine out of ten startups will fail.

50% of new businesses will not make it past 4 years.

You should just stop now.

Here’s why:

Seven Steps To Learn and Master Anything As Quickly As Possible

I hate learning.

I wanted to learn how to trade stocks and I ended up losing my home.

I wanted to learn how to play chess better and in one of my first tournaments I threw all the pieces on the floor and cried.

I wanted to learn to play poker and I lost about $20,000 the first ten times I played.

This Introvert is Over It

“Are you shy?

Throughout my childhood, I was frequently asked this question by my classmates and teachers. Slightly confused I would say, “No, not shy… just quiet.”

On a one to one basis, like with my two best friends, I was talkative but when I was in a large group setting, I felt out of my element and would go into a shell. I used to find myself wishing I was more extroverted. I wanted to see what it felt like to be on the other side.

41 Short And Powerful Quotes To Make You Feel Unstoppable

Over the course of my first 30 days writing on Medium, I noticed that, with reason, what gets highlighted the most are powerful quotes from wise and/or “successful” people.

Nurture Your Mind

“You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace.” — Frank McCourt, Angela’s Ashes

How To Change Your Life In 30 Days

Your identity is not fixed, but highly fluid.

Your identity follows your behaviors.

How does this work?

It works based on two very important psychological concepts:

1. Self-signaling: which means that, as a person, you evaluate and judge yourself the same way you judge others — based on behavior. So, if you watch yourself do something, you identify yourself with that behavior.

Maya Angelou: How to Find the Courage to Live Life to the Fullest

Before Maya Angelou was an author, she made a living as a dancer and a performer.

Her career began in San Francisco clubs and later took her around Europe. In the process, she released albums, performed in films, and learned multiple languages. Yet, it was writing that truly excited her, and in 1959, she moved to New York City and started publishing.

Want To Become A Multi-Millionaire? Do These 15 Things Immediately.

“The greatest reward in becoming a millionaire is not the amount of money that you earn. It is the kind of person that you have to become to become a millionaire.” — Jim Rohn

Most people wish their circumstances would magically change for them. They don’t have the desire to become better themselves so they can proactively improve their own circumstances.

The Moments No One Wants to Experience But Everyone Needs To Succeed

There is a critical moment that must come in every person’s life — particularly when we’re young. It’s a painful moment, but a necessary one.

It’s when all the illusions they have about themselves are exposed and blown apart.

How To Identify And Overcome False Limitations In Your Life

Before 1954, the common belief was that man was not physically capable of breaking the 4 minute barrier — that man could not run a mile under 4 minutes. It had never been done before. For years, men had attempted to do so and failed.

You’re Not Lazy

have a voracious, insatiable appetite for self-help. We live in an era where you can literally google how to do anything you set your mind to. Hell, this blog space is chock full of clickbait-y ruminations on how to get what you want. To wit, here’s just a snapshot of what just whizzed past my Twitter TL:

How to Unlearn Limiting Mindsets and Become the Best Version of Yourself

“Remember: we all get what we tolerate. So stop tolerating excuses within yourself, limiting beliefs of the past, half-assed, or fearful states.” -Tony Robbins

Most people are not the best version of themselves right now. Not even close.

All Strength Comes From Repetition

The biggest mistake you can make is to ignore the basics in your profession. This is true no matter what you do, where you live, or who you are.

When you ignore the foundation of what makes you a good person, athlete, friend, entrepreneur, student, etc., you will never be consistent.

How To Be Incredible — Comfort Zone Challenges

I saw a speech recently that was all about getting out of your comfort zone. Atthe end, we were all given a piece of paper with more than 100+ challenges to try. What was strange for me was that I had done more than half of them.

Your Self-Talk Is Driving You Crazy: How To Change What You Say To Yourself.

On a drive down the Great Ocean Road in Australia, my girlfriend said to me “Tim, I notice that you create unpleasant names for drivers that do silly things on the road or don’t drive how you would like them to.”

Why Even Ambitious People Rarely Become Successful

Success is not extrinsic.

It’s not measurable.

“Success” can only truly occur internally, because it is based on emotion. At the most basic level, success if your relationship with yourself. Most people are living a lie. They purposefully ignore and distract themselves from what they deep down want for themselves.

My dad voted for Trump. I did not. Yet we spoke about Trump and politics for nearly 3 hours (and learned a few things).

My dad voted for Donald Trump.

I did not.

My dad loves Donald Trump and is encouraged by what he’s seen over the past 8+ months in office.

I hate Trump and all that he stands for. My hatred has grown over the past 8+ months.

Situational Assessment 2018: the Calm Before the Storm

This series began in 2015 with an effort to do a broad assessment of the various risks present in the total global environment. Last year (almost precisely 365 days ago), I focused specifically on the political situation in the United States and outlined what I considered to be the essential fronts of a new and important kind of war:

How we develop products for 3.2M users

For the last year, we’ve been working on a new idea.

It took our team 326 days to bring this new idea to life, but it took me 10 years to create a smart product development strategy — to find the best way to dream big, work smart and give our customers the very best we have to offer.

How To Make Finding Customers Easier Than Ever Before

It can seem like finding new customers for your business is always a bit magic.

You put a little bit of social media, a little bit of content marketing, and a little bit of good old fashion person-to-person outreach in your cauldron. Then you say the magic words.

HTTPS explained with carrier pigeons

Cryptography can be a hard subject to understand. It’s full of mathematical proofs. But unless you are actually developing cryptographic systems, much of that complexity is not necessary to understand what is going on at a high level.

Want to Earn More Money? Take a Look at These 4 AdWords Features

How many hours each day do you spend on your smartphone? Whether you’re checking your email, searching for a business, or reading the latest stories from Inc., most of us are constantly connected.