I seem to go through fits and starts of wondering “What’s Next?” It’s made more complicated for me because for the first time in my life I’m in the fortunate place of creating from abundance. I have money and resources, and I definitely have the time. I have all the passive income I need from my business ownership. Every time I’ve answered “What’s Next?” in the past, it was coming from a place of...
I was recently invited and challenged to attend an event in San Diego this August. This triggers a lot in me. The short version of this is that over 20 years ago I was caught, detained and deported for working in the US without a visa as a DJ. This happened in 2000 (prior to 9/11 when we took the border much less seriously). The last time I tried was in 2005, when I was denied entry and held...
There’s a quote on my wall. It’s unattributed and I don’t know the origin. When I Google it, nothing much comes up. I don’t even remember where I got it from, but it made enough of an impact I wrote it down and put it on my wall. It says: Give people what they need, not what you want them to have. There’s so many times in my life, every day, that I want so much for people. And the cold reality is...
This past week I participated in an exercise, and was asked to come up with a 6 word mission. This is what immediately came out of me: Share my story, change the world. I was struck by how true that simple statement is for me. How I’ve been living in to it. You are a part of it. Every week I share my story. I do it because for too long I ran from telling my own story. It took me 14 years to...
One of the questions I’ve asked myself in recent years is why did things get so difficult for me later in life? Things like my imposter syndrome turned into a full-on crisis. The things I did to protect myself, like hiding from people, had me acting in completely unreasonable ways. I was afraid to speak up at my own family table. I spent years on stages and somehow got to the point where I felt...
On my recent “Ask Me Anything” someone inquired about what I refer to as “deep work”. This is an abstract thought and term, and this morning I was inspired to write this article about it. I would describe it as a culmination of everything I’ve been doing these last 4 years. Of a journey looking inward. Of understanding myself. Of healing. Of learning what drives me, and why I do things. Of...
Here is a capture of the Ask Me Anything I hosted on January 3, 2022. It was an experiment of me testing myself, showing up in a different way, sharing my wisdom in whatever way it was called upon, and kicking my year off in a strong way. Topics included Blue Ocean Strategy and using “pain” in your marketing, amongst anything and everything else that came up. I was very...
I’m trying something different this week. Instead of writing “What do I need to hear most right now?” I’m writing this article for 1 person in the Frolic 100. This is for Shannon. Shannon in an email to me had shared about the challenge of being on social media while creating a coaching business. This is what i was inspired to write. There’s a business metaphor that I love called “blue ocean...
A colleague once offered some constructive feedback, they said “You sure want me to like you” in response to one of my posts. I can see why they thought it, I write a lot about myself, my experiences, the things I’ve learned. The thing is, they had it wrong. It wasn’t that I wanted them to like me, it’s that I wanted to like myself. Almost everything I write about for the Frolic...
Something I felt very strongly back in the 1990s when I was part of the newly created rave scene was a feeling that we were onto something bigger. That we had the ability to change the world. When I speak to older ravers these days and bring this up, they enthusiastically respond with a “Oh my god, yes!” as they remember that feeling. Unfortunately, that moment in time passed. And then I realized...
I was chatting with a reader of my recent book (Unorthodox Success, Secret Shame) and they shared something with me. “Reading about you wrestling with your shame made me reflect on where I had shame in my own life. I realized I’ve been too ashamed to admit I’ve been in an abusive relationship. I was too ashamed to admit it to anyone, including myself. Once I realized that, I left my boyfriend.”...
I’ve realized the words I have the hardest time hearing are the ones I want to hear the most. Of the impact I made simply by showing up and being me. Every day I find ways to do that, but I’ve begun to notice if you actually remark that you were impacted the way I wanted, I have a hard time hearing it. I have a very re-enforced habit of self-validation. I don’t need anyone to tell me I’m being...
My youngest, Connor, had a pretty clear idea of how he wanted to dress for Halloween this year. An anime inspired “Cat Maid”. My wife, Robin, helped him create the costume. And then in was time to take it to school for Halloween this past Friday. Connor was happy and excited to wear it, and of course there’s the risk of what can happen at school around the other kids. Later that...
This past week I was reconnecting with a colleague and she shared her difficulty with scheduling creative time. “I find I fill it with busy work, not particularly creative”, she said. I realized in that moment I never schedule creative time. I simply allow myself enough free, unscheduled time, to seize the creative spark when it hits. For example, today, as I’m writing this, I have a single thing...
This past month I was volunteer part of a team putting on a large personal growth event. “Chris, you’re an amazing speaker. When you’ve spoken in the past, you’ve always had the biggest turnouts. You said you want to increase your impact at the event so we’ve come up with an opportunity for you to do that by coordinating the speakers for this event”, I was asked. Yes, “on paper”, it makes sense...
(Chris’ note: This article was hard for me to write and share. I’ve realized I can be vulnerable about all sorts of challenges in my life, past and present, but the one thing I get scared to do is talk about my successes. I know this is fueled partly by my complex relationship with money, how I value myself, and societal lessons that no one likes a braggart. And at the same time I...
My wife and I have been making incredible progress in our couples’ therapy. We started it not to save or repair our relationship, but to “up level” it. Both of us had a goal, of imagining 5 years from now looking back and realizing we had grown in ways that we didn’t know possible when we started. We’re a year into the weekly therapy, and things are starting to snowball. I didn’t realize how much...
I can’t believe it but this is the 200th article I’ve written for my blog (now the Frolic 100). Committing myself to writing once per week to share my wisdom with the world was the very first step I took in my recovery from my imposter syndrome crisis. My website (chrisfrolic.com) was a literal blank page for several years after I left the stage hypnosis business. I sat in the...
“You’re polarizing, but I’m really into you”, I was told this by someone in my circle recently. They didn’t mean it as an insult, and I didn’t take it that way, but it was an interesting comment to be on the receiving end of. I sat with it for a moment, and then I realized how OK I was hearing it. There is nothing I’d want to do different about how I show up these days. I find moments of feeling...
This summer my family was invited to stay for a weekend at the summer camp my oldest kid normally goes to. Because of covid they’ve been unable to operate as normal for 2 summers. As a way to do something, they invited a handful of families to enjoy their property, in a socially distant manner. I haven’t done anything or gone anywhere since covid has started, so this was a really nice offer that...
I recently shared a fear of mine that I experience every single time I host a Zoom event. There’s a moment, maybe for a few minutes, as I sit ready but before people connect, that I wonder if anyone will show up. That I’ve become aware of this voice is progress. That I speak it is progress. AND it is still present. It was present last week during my book release. Dozens of people...
This past week I was inspired to complete my next book. There’s a feeling I get sometimes, of “Fait Accompli”, and knowing that something will happen with complete confidence. I sensed it, and decided to take it on fully. I’ve had some clarity recently on who it is I want to help. In the end, it’s always a version of me. I’m the greatest expert on myself. I...
Pinball has been a hobby of mine for almost 10 years. “A world under glass” is often how each game is described. There’s something really engaging about watching all the physical interactions of the ball, as it moves around the playfield, up ramps and down again, getting rocked around by pop bumpers, the lights flashing in your face, the “clackity clack” noise of all the solenoids firing. The...
Back in 2005 I retired from being a full-time DJ and rave promoter and started a new pursuit – comedy stage hypnosis. I was driven simply from having had an experience years earlier of being one of the volunteers on stage and wondering “What the hell just happened?”. As my DJ career wound down, I knew I needed to find something else. I decided to indulge in my curiosity and take...
My wife, Robin, and I have been doing weekly couples therapy for the past year. We started just before the covid lockdowns hit in March 2019 and we still see our therapist together on Zoom every week. Our goal was after over 20 years together, we both aspired to grow our relationship to a place we don’t even know exists. It will only be knowable when looking back. I want to look back 5 years from...