As I sat to write this week’s article that famous quote from Back to the Future popped into my head from out of nowhere. It’s the scene from the very end of the first movie. Doc has just returned from “the future” and now he’s taking Marty back to the future. Marty: Hey Doc, you better back up, we don’t have enough road to get up to 88. Doc Brown: Roads? Where we’re going, we...
I just did an exercise to “write down 5 things you’ve accomplished this week” and it was actually hard to come up with the list. Without intention, I realized I had cut my schedule way back in response to over-scheduling myself. When the Covid-19 lock-downs hit and things got serious I rallied to support people. I scheduled Zoom conferences, connected with new people, wrote a lot and worked on my...
The world is changing in ways we can’t even prepare for. A month ago seems like a year ago. What next month, or next year will look like is impossible to predict. I only control the things I have control over. For me, in the immediate short term, is that my family and I are safe and have the things we need. Then it’s the “What’s Next?” question. As an entrepreneur...
I recently did an interview for Rich Litvin’s podcast called 1 Insight (link below). He spent some time with me pulling my story out and what really drives me. One of my take-aways from it was this idea that I’ve always done things my own way, creating new things no one else sees. I thrive on hearing the words “It can’t be done”. While we’re in the middle of...
The doldrums is a sailor’s term for when they are at sea caught in calm, monotonous, windless weather. It’s a term that I’ve learned can also apply to times in your life, and certainly has in mine. The doldrums generally follow exciting times, times of tremendous growth and commitment to your goals. After having achieved some success, things begin to taper off. This is...
I’ve always been forced into action, usually for straight up survival reasons. If I didn’t make money, if I didn’t generate income, I’d be screwed. Often the things I did ran their course, and it was time for me to move on. There was no choice about it. For the first time in my life, I’m not in this position. I’m in a very comfortable place, yet I’m...
For so many people, whether or not they will voice this, when asked “What do you want?” the (secret) answer is: “More”. More money, more “stuff”, more house, more vacation, more whatever. The thing is, when you get “more”, the answer still remains “more”. I can remember 10 years ago figuring out my monthly budget. If I could generate...
There’s a scene in the 1993 Tom Cruise movie The Firm that I think about often. The lead character named Mitch, played by Tom Cruise, is having a meeting with an FBI agent at a dog race track. We see the Greyhound dogs whipping around the track chasing a mechanical bone. Mitch: Doesn`t the dog ever get the bone? FBI Agent: Yeah. When it happens they can never get that dog to run again. For...
Upon reflecting my story so far, and the distinct chapters I’ve lived, I begin to see a clear pattern. The things I’ve done all have had exciting periods of explosive growth. Of creation. Then things plateau, which is not terrible either. Often that’s the period of seeing some return on the sacrifice I made during the growth period. Eventually, however, the plateau turns into...
As the new year (and new decade) begins, I get very reflective. I’m coming off of what ended up being 2 years off. And by off, I mean off of traditional work. Just over 2 years ago the decision was made that I would step away from my responsibilities at Stealth Seminar, that a new team would come in to replace my work. I had reached the limits of my abilities, and it was time to change...
I’ve come to embrace the idea of living with paradoxes. Two completely competing thoughts or ideas or states of being, that both can be true even if they counter each other. The most recent example was with my son’s performance in high school. His grades leave something to be desired. I want to really push him to get those grades up, at the same time I acknowledge that the life...
This is a video capture from my book launch for my memoir, Requiem for My Rave. It’s available now through Amazon. More details click here.
I used to be ashamed of my lack of official education. I don’t have a single piece of paper with my name on it. I lost interest in high school and never even finished. Now, after all these years, I realize I’m a life-long learner. I found my own way to learn. Being part of a class curriculum isn’t part of that. Being an entrepreneur means I don’t have to prove myself to...
The Toronto Star did a feature on my past as a rave pioneer and my new memoir REQUIEM FOR MY RAVE. What is an interesting addendum to this story and relevant to my blog here is that a company then contacted me out of the blue and offered to mount it for me. I admire their “blue ocean” strategy of contacting people who appear in newspapers. This company is based in the US, so I assume...
My memoirs of my rave years has just been released, titled Requiem For My Rave. A requiem is an act of remembrance. The second part of the title refers to “my” rave. This thing that I created and suffered in service for. I started writing the book at the conclusion of my rave company, Hullabaloo, in 2005. I finished the first draft in 2009. I then hit “save” and ten years...
One of my biggest regrets is how many years I suffered needlessly because I didn’t value my own work. Here are some pics from 20 years ago, February 1999. Me DJing in front a literal sea of people at the International Centre just outside of Toronto. People paid and traveled to come to see me. I had sold hundreds of thousands of CDs at this time, and my rave company, Hullabaloo, was at its...
I came across this great article and video about how Entrepreneurs are helping shape the Flint, Michigan despite all the scandals and bad news coming from there. “Starting a business in an impoverished city in the midst of a public health crisis sounds counterintuitive at best. But Flint’s new founders have their reasons. Rents are low. Competition is scarce. And most important: The city...
I came across a quote this week referring to the end of the “one act life”. How everyone should expect and embrace doing different things over their lifetimes. The era of a job or career for life is behind almost all of us. As entrepreneurs, we have such flexibility with this. I pondered all of my own acts so far: ACT 1 – My early adulthood saw me take the next step from the job...
Previously, I’ve written about a new business taking 3 years. I think that’s a good number. There’s a lot you don’t know at the start that you will learn over 3 years. I try to get people to focus on a 3 to 5 year journey, since that’s far more realistic than overnight success, or a direct arrow up. As I reflect when writing on this blog, I can put a date of when...
I like this proverb quite a bit. I don’t think people realize the situation they are in when they owe money. You have this thing hanging over you and everything you do. A pet elephant that needs to be fed. I have made a decision to live debt free. Not only do I not carry credit card debt (paid off every month), I aggressively paid off my house. All large purchases are saved for in advance...
I’ve been watching the ongoing discussion of social media with great interest. It’s been an interesting decade since Facebook took over. I was an online pioneer, but the one place I never transitioned to were the big social media platforms. I resisted at first because I could see how much time people spent on them. This was apparent right away. I made a conscious decision that my time...
I read a lot of articles these days about maintaining a Work/Life Balance. It’s good that people realize the importance of having a healthy life outside of their work. I’m not sure when it started to be looked at as more important, but it’s something I’ve always lived. A friend of mine used to joke that I was “successfully underemployed” because my work week...
I came across a quote this week from Arnold Schwarzenegger about how he is NOT a self-made man, despite often being described as that. Everyone needs help and gets help to be a success. People like to say they are self-made, but leave out parts of their story. Usually those parts are not insignificant. I like to think of myself as bullshit free, and I like to think of myself as self-made because...
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson posted this recently, talking about how a dream of his was crushed but only now many years later does he see what opportunities opened up because of it. I really related to this because I have a similar story. I file this one under “Hard lessons learned”. Back in 2000 I was in the peak of my DJ career. I was performing around the world...
Recently, a visual metaphor appeared to me. I saw myself paddling a canoe down a river. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about “what’s next?”. The canoe metaphor gave me permission to just enjoy the journey, that this is exactly where I’m supposed to be, and there is no rush. As I pondered this metaphor some more, I also realized I can’t see far ahead...