What if we were more supportive of each other?

I think about this concept a lot. Like, a lot a lot.

From where I sit, the most important thing we can do to help create a more beautiful world is to support the things we believe in.

I try to be extremely conscious of every dollar I spend to ensure it is going to things I believe in. I briefly wrote about this in another lifetime: Intentional Currency Flow.

Intentional currency flow and conscious spending is one of oh-so-many ways to be supportive.

The path of the Creator is seldom an easy journey that is always up-and-to-the-right explosive growth. There are many battles, struggles, obstacles and roadblocks behind the scenes that go unnoticed.

This is a call for more compassion, more support, more love for the things we want to exist in the world. If we see someone doing something that we believe in:

• Let them know you believe in them and what they are building
• Buy their product or financially support their vision
• Ask them questions to learn more of their story
• Refer a friend or make a connection for them to someone that they should meet
• Send them a random message to let them know that you are thinking about them
• Share their message on social media or with friends and family

There's so many ways we can be more support of those taking bold leaps to bring their creations into existence. Sometimes a few nice worlds will mean more than you'll ever know.

I had two opportunties today to support people building things I believe in, and it made me more aware of how a little bit can go a long way.

When we support more of the things we want to see in the world, their chance of survival increases. That leads to better products, services and innovation in the marketplace. Whether you are the creator or supporting the creators or both, remember that we are all in this together and we have the ability, moment to moment, to make things just a little better than they were.

What is the purpose of meditation?

First let me start my saying that I am not qualified to answer any questions about meditation other than my own direct experience.

I have been practicing meditation for the last three years under the guidance of some incredibly knowledgeable individuals, and yet meditation is prehistoric. It literally has been around longer than we have recorded history! (So cool) I feel like I'm still on the first or second step of a very long journey, so anything that comes next is from personal experience and not expertise.

I first became interested in meditation by listening to the Tim Ferriss podcast (thanks Tim!). He'd interview world class performers, experts and wildly successful people, and the topic of meditation would come up over and over again. Once I made the plunge into the world of meditation, I was hooked.

So, what's the purpose of meditation?

Honestly, that question is like asking what's the purpose of writing. It could mean so many things to so many different people. Meditation can be useful for reducing stress, increasing calmness, finding inner peace and on and on.

Here's what can be difficult about meditation:

The purpose of practicing meditation isn't to become better meditators.

When we practice soccer, piano or ballet, we are doing so in order to become better at playing soccer, piano or ballet. With meditation it's different though. There's no such thing as a perfect medtiation session.

What's extremely interesting to me is how we can use meditation to help us be better leaders and creators. And in this regard, I've found two types of meditation to be most useful.

Mindfulness Meditation

The first type of meditation that I've found particularly useful as an entrepreneur and leader is a mindfulness practice. There are many styles and types of meditations that can accomplish this, and generally these bring awareness to our thoughts.

Mindfulness meditations help us become more present in our day to day interactions. It's about becoming more comfortable with our own mind and thoughts. This creates more self-awareness which then allows us to make better decisions and be better leaders.

I've seen such profound effects in my own personal awareness over these past few years. This particularly shows up when things may not be going so smoothly. I've noticed how differently I now show up when new obstacles and challenges present themselves, and it is FASCINATING. I'm not perfect, but I'm way better.

Insight Meditation

I have "found" many answers through meditation. There are certain types of meditation (Vipassana in particular) that help us create space in our minds where the answers can come to us. I've found it similar to discovering new ideas in the shower or solving problems in my sleep, only this is a much more intentional approach.

Insight meditations have helped me to approach problems from new and unexpected perspectives, detach and untangle myself from messy situations to see what I'm not seeing and to create space for entirely new ideas to come through. Without going too far down the rabbit hole, I've found that many times I've already had the answers and just needed to be in the right headspace to receive them and understand them.

I've also had other-worldly experiences with heart opening meditations, somatic meditations, collective and dynamic meditations, but mindfulness and insight meditations have been the most useful to me as a creator.

As we look to unlock the next level of the video game and build the things we are here to build, there's no doubt that meditation will be a key ingredient.

What happens when heroes become human?

Tim Tebow.

There's something about that guy that always felt super human to me.

I remember watching him win the Heisman Trophy and two National Championships with Florida. The speech he gave, which was quickly turned into a plaque, is the stuff of legends. He then did some fun things in the NFL and even in professional baseball. Tebow is on the short list of the closest we have to a real-life super heroes.

I had a chance to meet him a few weeks ago. I said to a friend before the meeting, "I normally don't get excited about meeting celebrities or famous people, but come on, this is TIM TEBOW. I feel like I have to get a selfie with this dude."

And then, when I had the chance to get a Tebow selfie, as people were lining up to meet him, something strange happened for me.

He became human.

I wasn't expecting that. In that moment, I no longer had a desire for selfie. I didn't feel the need to shake his hand or even ask him a question. It was enough for me to have listened to him share so passionately about what he was up to these days.

It was a strange feeling to have this larger-than-life inspirational celebrity figure transform in a few moments into another human on his path trying to do some good in this world.

Looking back now, I can now appreciate that this unlocked another level of empathy for me. I am forever grateful for that moment with Tim even though it will never be documented in the halls of Instagram.

Isn't blogging dying?

Probably, yes. It certainly feels like blogging is becoming a fossil of the days of internet past.

And I kinda like it even more for that.

There's arguably much better methods of marketing online these days. There's better ways to get content distribution. There's better ROI out there for getting eyeballs to see your message.

But.

I'm not writing again for page clicks. I'm not building an audience to monetize. I'm writing consistently again for these reasons (in order):

1. To clarify and simply my own thinking and understanding of things that are important to me
2. To establish a creative outlet for asking and answers powerful questions that are fascinating to me in the moment
3. To create a historical record of my own growth and development over time (some of those original blog posts are super cringeworthy)
4. To have something to share with people when these questions come up in coaching and leadership conversations when there's a desire to dig deeper

Any other benefits from publishing these posts consistently again feels like a bonus. And, since I'm on the subject, I'll share a few other random thoughts about what I'm doing here.

• I've decided to follow a Q&A format for these posts. I love questions. So each post will be a question that I've been thinking about, that comes up in meditation or conversation, or a question that I've answered too many times ;)
• I've decided to have a mailing list for this simply for ease of use for people who want to consume this content but don't enjoy the inconsistency of my writing times (I'll send out a weekly email with a summary of all of the posts for the week)
• I am always open to new questions or topics. If there are any specific requests, send them over and if they fit roughly into the intersection of leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship I'll do my best to simply my thoughts for you.

While blogging and short to medium length content is quite what it used to be, it all depends on what you are looking to get out of it. For me, it's the perfect format for clarity, simplicity, creativity and documenting my thoughts.

Now what?

Now what? is such a delightful question. Depending on the context and syntax, it has this amazing versatility to it, and I've been intentionally leaving more and more space to answer this question myself.

Now what? could be a wonderful question to ask at the completion of a major project or as we're about to hit a significant milestone.

Now what? could signify the closing of a chapter, the end of an experiment, a relationship, or a business.

Now what? could be a question that comes when seemingly all other options have been exhausted.

Now what? could reflect an openness to create with what the universe has given you.

I really like that this question seems to have a built in listening component to it. When I ask myself now what?, I am open and receptive to what answers will come through. I may have an idea or suspicion of what the answer might be, but just by pausing to contemplate this question I am leaving the door open.

One of the most powerful attributes I've seen in entrepreneurs is the ability to be flexible in their approach to solving problems. They have certainty in where they are going and simultaneously are open to all the avenues that will take them there.

When we ask now what?, we are allowing ourselves to be curious with alternative approaches that may not yet have revealed themselves.