Last week I shared about a trip I was about to embark on with my sixteen-year-old son. The idea came from a conversation we had a few months ago, about a desire to do something one-on-one with each other, and he suggesting we do something we’ve never done before. I suggested that we take a trip and let serendipity guide us. We’ll make no plans, and see where we end up and what we do...
As you read this I’ve gone on an serendipitous adventure with my youngest. The plan is that there is NO plan. The only thing known is that we’ll be gone for 2 nights. Fully lead by serendipity. We will leave our house, and randomly choose a direction. We’ll follow instinct. After that, who knows what will happen or where we’ll end up. I’ve chosen to go with only one...
My Uncle Ugor just passed away. I’m actually attending his funeral as I write this. He spent a week in palliative care before he passed, and during that time my cousin’s asked for anyone that had stories to share to share them now while he could still hear them. I sent this. I was told he he got to hear it and was deeply moved. For that I am grateful. To Uncle Ugor from Christopher...
A paradox is generally defined as something (person, situation, action) having seemingly contradictory qualities or phases. I’ve come to the conclusion lately that my life is full of paradoxes, and they leave me in a state of feeling like I’m supposed to be doing something about them. However, what if by their nature of being a paradox, there wasn’t actually anything to fix or change? Because...
This week I came across a “Life Report Card” I wrote for myself in 2017. This was arguably a low period in my life when I was in crisis over what to do about leaving my company. I was dealing with huge imposter syndrome, feeling like a complete fake and my life was going to come crashing down. I was avoiding talking to my business partner for reasons unknown to me. I suffered terribly and hadn’t...
You’re feeling frustrated. I can understand. It seems like you’re marching around in the dark trying to figure out which way to go. Every time you think you’ve made some progress you’re back to the same old habit of trying to figure out what’s next. Sometimes it feels like two steps forward, and two steps back. But is that really true? Take a look at where you’ve been, what you’ve done...
Chris, this is Chris, from one week in the future. Through a miracle of science I’m sending this letter to you after being in Dubai for COP28 for five days that you will receive before you depart for the airport. I know you’re feeling nervous right now, no matter how much preparation you’ve done. You’re wondering what will happen. I’m here to make things a bit easier since I have some details for...
“Freedom” is a huge value of mine. For my entire life I’ve lived a life of freedom and possibility. I haven’t had a “job” since I was 20 years old. Since then, I’ve worked for myself, doing what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. Part of what motivated me was that I needed to make a living. I just happened to choose things that I was extremely passionate about. I lived on the edge and forced...
Frolic 100 member Tim asked me about my referencing my “Hierarchy of Needs” in some recent articles. I decided to answer his question for everyone, and also clarify my understanding of it. This information is easily searchable on Google, but there’s only a single place on the entire internet which is my explanation of it. Right here. When I refer to a Hierarchy of Needs...
The first weekend of August in Canada is a long weekend: three days during the height of summer. It’s a nice midway peak to the summer holiday and also serves as a permanent reminder of one of the most depressing moments in my life and how far I’ve come since. Exactly 15 years ago, I was a struggling comedy hypnotist, facing a precarious financial situation due to having gone through bankruptcy a...
A truth I’ve been discovering about the super-rich and powerful is that they are no smarter than any of us. When Elizabeth Holmes, the convicted fraudster of Theranos, was able to get hundreds of millions of dollars from super-powerful people, I realized she only accomplished this simply because she got into the same room as them. They were blinded by a fraudster like what can happen to anyone...
I’ve been on a “news diet” for several years now. This practice has come to mind again with all the turmoil and world events, which can seem quite overwhelming. We used to live in a world where news was delivered by newspaper once a day, and nightly TV news. Then in the 1980s that changed to 24 hour news channels (that needed content to fill). That expanded, and expanded again...
This week I woke up with a waking thought. In my bedside notes I wrote: write your own obituary. I’ve barely read obituaries. I don’t know what goes into them. I haven’t had a lot of death in my immediate circle, so it’s nothing I’ve been exposed to much. A dear friend of mine reads obituaries and appreciates the good ones. We’ve spoken about how frustrating it can be for her to read a poor one...
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...
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...
I’ve come to the sad conclusion that there are a lot of people that will sabotage your attempts at success. I think everything I’ve ever done, or attempted to do, there was a countless amount of “helpful” advice from people telling me it wasn’t going to work. They will try to talk you out of it or tell you it can’t be done. Why? Perhaps they want to validate...
I’ve been spending a lot of time lately researching and being inspired by the idea of “double bottom line” businesses. “The Bottom Line” is a basic tenet of capitalism. Profit. You have to make a profit, and that is the most important part, and actually the only part that matters since you don’t have a business without it. Lately it seems this alone...
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’ve added a new task to my daily routine: Add to my List of Gratitude. Feeling gratitude for the things in my life gives me happiness. The task is simple. Open up the Word doc I keep the numbered list and take no more than 5 minutes to add to it. I have to add at least 1 per day, but can add as many as I feel inspired to in that time frame. If I don’t take all 5 minutes, but added to...
Below is a story that’s been around since the 1960s, and has been adapted many times. I first read it in Timothy Ferris’ 4 Hour Workweek book. I like the story quite a bit and think of it often and how it can relate to my life. For the last 20 years or so I’ve worked from home on my various businesses. I’ve resisted changing things up too much. Choosing to live the life I...