Get Out. Get Moving. Start.

Action always beats intention.

A dream you don’t have to fight for isn’t a dream—it’s a nap. One changes your afternoon. The other changes your world. Keep fighting.

See the Quitter Conference Live Online!

Quitter August 29, 2012 • Comments

Last week the Quitter Conference sold out! That’s awesome, but what about the folks on the waiting list? Or folks who couldn’t make this one? What about everyone who didn’t have the funds to travel this time?

Fear not, we’ve got a plan for you too!

For the first time ever we’re simulcasting the Quitter Conference.

Starting on Friday, September 21 at 6PM CDT we’ll be live streaming the Quitter Conference. You’ll get to see the brilliant opening with Al Andrews and then I’ll present the first two sessions, “Figuring out what your dream is” and “Facing your fears.” Right after the last session, at around 8:30PM, I’ll join you in a live chat to answer any questions you have.

Why aren’t we live broadcasting Saturday too? Because apparently live streaming an event is expensive. There’s a satellite truck and a team of engineers and a crew of tech folks. (Who knew? I thought it was just a big green button.) In order to keep the cost down, we’re going to focus on Friday night this time.

For the next 48 hours, you can join the simulcast for only $9.99! That’s 50% off the regular price. (On Friday night at midnight the price goes up to $19.99.)

Sign up today! (If you’re outside of the United States, call Customer Service at 888-227-3223 to order a ticket.)

I feel like we’re about to take a big, Tron-like leap into awesome. I hope you’ll leap with us.

Click here to sign up for the Quitter Conference Simulcast!

VIDEO: 15,000 still photos + brilliance = 1 amazing music video.

Creativity August 23, 2012 • Comments

In Dream Music II, Marc Donahue and Sean Michael Williams took 15,000 still photos of Beau Brigham and created one of the most visually stunning clips I’ve ever seen. It took 6-8 hours of work for every 3-4 seconds of footage. The snowboard, the way his mouth follows the music, the scenery, this thing is ridiculous. Prepare to have your definition of the word “cool” rewritten. (Via This Colossal)

http://vimeo.com/47793390

5 AM is My Lunch Hour.

Quitter/ Writing August 22, 2012 • Comments

(Today’s guest post is by Jim Woods.  You can follow Jim on Twitter and check out his blog here.) 

Jon often recommends waking up at 5 AM to work on your dream. When I tried this approach, I often found myself snoozing on the keyboard or running on empty by mid-afternoon. My body completely rebelled, and it eventually led to exhaustion. Instead of getting frustrated and giving up, I found a more balanced approach to pursuing my dream.

Instead of waking up 2 hours earlier, I get up half an hour earlier. Because it’s not a shocking change to my body, I adjusted to this pretty easily. This half hour is warm-up time. I know I’m not really awake yet, so I might just read a rough draft or glance at some notes I’ve made. I know my energy level is not up yet, so I focus on tasks that don’t require much energy.    

Keep Reading —›

Make sure you’re not one of these 23 people.

Misc August 21, 2012 • Comments

There are only 23 people left who are supposed to come to the next Quitter Conference.

That’s the exact number of tickets we still available.

I’m not sure who those 23 people are, but if you’re one of them I want to make sure you come to the conference. If you’re not, no big deal. Maybe I’ll see you at the next one.

So who are the 23?

I think they are:

1. A college senior who doesn’t want to waste a single day at the wrong job when they graduate.
2. A stay at home mom that’s had a dream for a few years and needs a push over the edge to start it.
3. A 27 year old guy who knows exactly what his dream is but doesn’t know where to start.
4. A 27 year old guy who doesn’t have a clue what his dream is but knows he’s not doing it right now and wants to figure it out.
5. A 42 year old woman who spent 20 years working for someone else and is curious what it’d be like to work for herself.
6. The dad who has a thousand good ideas but doesn’t know which one to actually focus on.
7. A recent college graduate who keeps getting told this is the worst economy to find a job in, but knows this might be the best economy to chase a dream in.
8. A discouraged guy who wants to meet 300 people who believe in his dream.
9. A retired steel worker who has dreamt for decades about something different and now suddenly has the time to do it.
10. A lawyer who became a lawyer because everyone told her she would be an amazing lawyer and now she’s not so sure that she wants to be a lawyer.
11. A customer call center representative that loves helping people at work but also wants to help people in Uganda without quitting her job.
12. A 45 year old woman who has been running from a dream for years but it refuses to keep quiet and it’s time to really try it.
13. A young girl who started a non-profit 6 months ago and needs help figuring out how to harness all the creative ideas she has.
14. The son that was told by his parents that his dream “would never work.”
15. The 25 year old who refuses to accept that “being an adult” means being miserable at work for 40 hours a week.
16. The cynic who would never attend one of these things and thinks this list is kind of dumb but there’s a money back guarantee so if he doesn’t love it at least he didn’t spend a dollar.
17. The husband with a wife who has always believed in him more than he’s believed in himself.
18. The 62 year old who refuses to believe fear when it lies and says “it’s too late to dream.”
19. The high school student who isn’t going to wait for permission or the “right age” to dream.
20. The youth pastor who has a new dream that might take him new places.
21. The executive who knows that even people who don’t paint or play the guitar can chase a dream. Dreams aren’t just for musicians and artists.
22. The California resident who knows it’s not easy to get to Nashville but if chasing a dream was easy everyone would be doing it.
23. The person who didn’t fit a single description on this list but is coming to the conference anyway.

If that’s you, sign up today. We’re about to sell out and I don’t want you to miss this experience if you’re supposed to be there.

If that’s not you, that’s OK too. You’ve got somewhere important you’re supposed to be instead on September 21-22. I hope you have an amazing weekend too.

I’ll see 23 of you (and a whole lot of other people) one month from today in Nashville,

Sign up today.

Jon

Be this duck.

Leadership August 20, 2012 • Comments

This week, you will have the opportunity to sit on your talent.

To walk when you could actually fly.

To hold your tongue when you know you’ve got a great idea.

To let fear win the day when there’s a smoldering bit of boldness you need to act on.

When presented with the choice to accept average this week, I want you to remember this photo.

I want you to be this duck.

Because all the ducks on the sign have the gift of flight, just like all of us have some innate ability inside.

But only one of them is daring to use it, the rest are walking. And it doesn’t look like he’s having an easy time, does it? He’s not soaring. His wings aren’t spread in a heroic V like a hawk high above the trees. He’s struggling, pushing agains the sky with everything he’s got. He’s going to fly, not walk. And I hope you will too.

Be this duck.

Sunday Summary – Week 32 FinishYear

FinishYear August 19, 2012 • Comments

Week 32 of FinishYear is done! August is halfway done. (It’s not too late to join FinishYear with us! Here’s what we’re doing.)

For the last 8 months we’ve been sharing a quick summary of how we did that week on our Finish List.

Here’s my list of goals, and the summary of the progress I made:

1. Make the Quitter Conference awesome for people who attend.
The awesome was huge this week. I announced 4 amazing speakers who will be joining us at this year’s Quitter Conference for the first time. We’re almost sold out and I’m getting really excited about how fun this one is going to be! (If you want to join us on September 21-22, sign up today!)

2. I am going to finish reading 12 non-fiction books this year. One per month.
Almost done with the latest book I’m reading, which is called “18 minutes.”

3. I am going to finish running the Nashville half marathon Saturday, April 28th in under 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Done! Good week on this front. I went to the gym 3 times and ran 3 times.

4. I am going to finish writing a new book in 2012.
I turned in the rest of the book! That means I’ve turned in two rounds of edits and we’re closing in on a completed manuscript!

5. I am going to finish a box of thank you cards this year as a sign of my gratefulness.
No cards. This is not surprising.

6. I am going to finish handwriting out the entire book of Proverbs in a moleskine notebook.
Finished!

That’s how I did.

How was your week?

What on your Finish List went well? What on your Finish List needs more attention next week?

Louis CK’s simple advice for handling online haters.

Social Media August 17, 2012 • Comments

Recently, I read an article where comedian Louis CK told comedians how to handle online criticism.

Part of the problem, he said, was that “comedians can’t take criticism.” I think he was right, but I think it’s more than just comedians who can’t take criticism. I think most humans can’t take criticism. Especially online.

So here’s Louis CK’s simple advice to comedians (and me and maybe you) for handling online haters.

“If you don’t like the person, stop googling yourself every ten seconds. Cause nobody’s making you read it.”

That is perfect.

The best way to handle online haters?

Don’t.

If you ignore haters and don’t go looking for it, you’ll be surprised how very little of it finds you.

Question:
Have you ever googled yourself? (I’ll go first. I have, a lot. And the results very rarely made me feel better.)

Big Crazy Awesome Quitter Conference Announcement!

Quitter August 16, 2012 • Comments

Over the last few years I’ve had the opportunity to meet and be inspired by some awesome people. When we started planning this September’s Quitter Conference the team had a conversation and said, “If there’s anyone who could really help the attendees who would it be?” We made a list of some of our favorite people on the planet and then we asked them.

And they said yes!

In addition to me, here are four of the most brilliant people I’ve personally learned from that will be sharing ideas with you at the Quitter Conference.

(Don’t miss your chance to attend the Quitter Conference. We’re headed toward another sellout. Sign up today!)

Al Andrews
I wrote about Al on Monday. He’s one of the wisest, most generous people I’ve ever met. Every other week we meet for coffee. This year I convinced him to come share the incredible thoughts on dreaming he has with you directly instead of me just telling Al stories from stage.

Al is the founder and director of Porter’s Call, a ministry of counsel and support to recording artists since 2001.

He is the co-author of The Silence of Adam and has recently self-published a children’s picture book, The Boy, the Kite and the Wind.  The latter is part of a project called ‘Improbable Philanthropy’ that raises funds primarily to support charities benefiting children. You can follow him on Twitter @itsalandrews.

Jeff Goins
Jeff makes me look incredibly lazy. His hustle (and the brilliant things he does online) while absolutely killing it at a fantastic day job right now is unbelievable.

Jeff Goins is the Communications Director of Adventures in Missions. He is also an author, blogger, and speaker. His eBook, You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One) was an Amazon Best Seller and has been downloaded over 30,000 times. He released his first print book, Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams into your Comfortable Life, in August.

Jeff’s blog (Goinswriter.com) was voted one of the “Top 10 Blogs for Writers” in 2011. You can follow him on Twitter @JeffGoins.

Alli Worthington
A few months ago, I got to speak at the BlissDom Conference. I’d never experienced a tribe that was so tightly connected, focused on the future and supportive of each other. How did they get that way? The brilliance of Alli Worthington and her team.

In 2008, Alli Worthington founded Blissfully Domestic magazine, one of the most trusted women’s destinations online.  She is the co-founder of the wildly successful BlissDom Conference. After only five years, BlissDom is now the largest International Women’s Social Media Conference.  Her recently released ebook iPhone Photography- The Visual Guide teaches the best tools and techniques for photo editing, organizing and blogging on the go.

Alli’s online home is AlliWorthington.com where you can find her sites, daily pictures and a link to her favorite online hobby, Twitter. You can follow her on Twitter @AlliWorthington.

Matt Chambers
While most people are busy talking about changing the world, Matt Chambers is busy actually doing it. His creativity and ability to actually execute it is unbelievable. And he has six kids, so unless you have seven don’t try to tell Matt you’re too busy to change the world.

Matt is the director of SafeWorld, co-founder and CEO of gener.us. He has humanitarian projects up and running in Uganda and Haiti, and has consulted for other charity and business groups in ten other nations around the world. He’s an advocate, speaker, writer, leader, and learner. He writes daily at ethoshift.com. You can follow him on Twitter @chambers_matt.

This is without a doubt going to be the best Quitter Conference we’ve ever had!

Click here to sign up today.