Jon Acuff's Blog, page 48

How to get motivated every time you open your phone this summer.

According to the calendar, summer officially started last Sunday, but according to the #DOSummer2015 hashtag on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, it’s been in full swing for a couple weeks.

In fact, as of Monday over 10,000 people have downloaded the #DOSummer Checklist!

Already working on the checklist? Awesome! (Don’t have one yet? It’s a simple, free PDF that will help you work through all your goals this summer. Click here and I’ll send it to you.)

I thought it would be fun if every time you opened your phone you got motivated to stay on top of your DO Summer goals, so I created these lock screens. The goal of DO Summer is to help you spend 1,500 minutes doing something awesome this summer via 15 minute chunks of time.

It’s impossible to climb a mountain with one step but you’d be surprised how easy it is to knock things out in 15-minute segments. Every time you open your phone, you’ll be reminded to complete another 15 minutes of something you care about. Click the links below to open a new tab and save the one you want.

OPTION 1

640 x 1136 (might work best for iPhone 5)
750 x 1334 (might work best for iPhone 6)
1080 x 1920 (might work best for Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5)

OPTION 2

640 x 1136 (might work best for iPhone 5)
750 x 1334 (might work best for iPhone 6)
1080 x 1920 (might work best for Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5)

Hopefully you can make one of these three resolutions work for you, depending on the phone you have.

(For iPhone users, save the image on your phone and use as wallpaper. They work best if you turn “Perspective Zoom” off and pinch the image so it fits perfectly into your screen size.)

Don’t forget to post your updates every Monday with the #DOSummer2015 hashtag!

The post How to get motivated every time you open your phone this summer. appeared first on Jon Acuff.

Short cuts are fun, but fictional.

My friend produces albums. (If you live in Nashville for longer than 19 minutes you too will be able to say that sentence.)

He often meets young musicians and noticed that their narrative is changing. The new thing that fresh off the bus musicians  tell him is, “If you produce my EP for free, I’ll split the licensing money when the songs get put into commercials and TV shows.”

At this point, my friend tries not to giggle, because saying that is akin to saying, “I’ll split my Grammy money with you.” He also knows that in 8 years of producing albums, the biggest check he got for licensing a song for a commercial was $5,000, split 6 ways. Granted, once you’ve netted a cool $833.33, you’ve got it made. You can now buy 1/74th of a Rolex President Watch.

When you move to Nashville it takes longer than an hour to get a song on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. It could take a whole weekend to get a record deal. Headlining tours sometimes take an entire month for you to land.

It’s a real hassle and the worst part is that it’s not just the music industry. Turns out it takes a lot of hard work to accomplish anything lasting in any industry.

Short cuts are fun, but fictional.

Don’t lose hope when you don’t get one.

Don’t give up because a producer won’t cut your album for free.

Don’t feel like a failure because you failed to win the lottery.

Put your head down, work three part time jobs and sing your heart out. Save up to get one song recorded. Turn that into two. Work that into three.

It might take you years, but that’s OK.

Slow success turns into long success. Quick success enters and exits our lives at the same speed.

Slow success turns into long success. Quick success enters and exits our lives at the same speed.
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A stupid lie I believed when I quit my last job. (And why you shouldn’t believe it.)

“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

That’s one of those syrupy, motivational statements you see floating about the Internet. It’s often plastered on a photo of someone standing on a vista overlooking a mountain range, the ocean, a unicorn or all three if you happen to live in the Pacific Northwest where those items are all found.

Is it true though?

If you find something you love doing, will you never work a day in your life?

If you discover a passion that fills you up, will you ever have to work again?

If you dig up your calling from the millions of options and find the “one,” does your sense of work end?

The short answer, for the population of people who are no longer reading long blogs, is no.

The long answer, for those who like long form ideas, is still no.

I spent 15 years working in corporate America. Twenty-one months ago, I had a huge Do Over and ended up writing full time. I secretly believed that since I loved writing, I would never have to work again. I thought that any sort of drudgery or disappointment or hard work was behind me.

I did it! I chased my dreams. Forget chase, I caught them! The hope I first found in the third grade of writing for a living had been realized. I didn’t really know what it meant to be a writer, but now I was one. I assumed it came with a lot of scarves, coffee and ink stained hands. I might have to apply myself to my writing, but my days of working were over.

Imagine my surprise, when on the other side of the largest career transition I’ve ever known I found a tremendous amount of work waiting for me.

This was a supreme disappointment that took me a solid year to grapple with. (My wife Jenny might argue I am still struggling with it.)

I don’t know whether to call what I experienced entitlement or disillusionment but either way, I was overwhelmed by the sharp needle of reality that burst my bubble of dream chasing.

I am here, with work weary hands, to say that I’ve tested the theory “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” And it’s not true.

It’s actually quite terrible and the reason is that it encourages people to quit their pursuits much sooner than they should have. What happens is that you buy into the lie that chasing a dream will be one long parade of butterscotch rainbows.

The only way you’ll know when you made the right decision is that you’ll encounter a never ending assembly line of joyful tasks in your day.

When this doesn’t happen, when some part of your dream sucks, and it will, you start to feel like you failed.

When faced with the inevitable work, struggle and hardship that accompanies anything you do in life, you will question yourself.

Did I choose the wrong passion? Did I pick the wrong thing? Surely it wouldn’t be this hard if I had made the right decision!

Then you’ll quit or pick something new to do. Until that new thing gets difficult too and then you’ll switch again, forever chasing a work free dream. (A lot of marriages crumble this way, as we get addicted to the myth that real relationships don’t take real work.)

In Chapter 21 of my new book Do Over, which is titled “Grit is a choice not a feeling,” there’s a specific action plan to deal with the work your dream generates. I wanted to make sure you had some real steps to follow.

If you don’t have the book yet though, I’ll still leave you with a bit of good news.

“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” is not true, but something even better is. That statement should be edited. It should read:

“Do what you love and you’ll love the work you do.”

You’ll work harder than you ever have before in your life.

You’ll scale mountains that are in the way of your dream.

You’ll make phone calls that make you want to throw up a little bit.

You’ll put your pride aside and ask for help in ways that make you feel uncomfortable.

You’ll work and it will be difficult, but it will be meaningful.

You will see that each step has value. Even the busywork, even the stuff that is just flat out miserable matters in the light of the bigger story.

Don’t believe the motivational hype the Internet tries to serve you.

Big dreams and hard work are not enemies. They’re actually best friends and you don’t get one without the other.

Big dreams and hard work are best friends. You don’t get one without the other.
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Please stop telling me you’re too busy.

Please don’t tell me you’re too busy to look for a new job and then show me your perfectly detailed fantasy football team.

Please don’t tell me you’re too busy to write your novel and then give me intricate plot details about the six television shows you’re watching.

Please don’t tell me you’re too busy to update your resume and then update your social media accounts incessantly.

We are a busy people. Our clocks are thin and tired, our schedules full and bloated.

But somehow we find a way to give our time to a host of wonderful distractions.

There is a reason the average 21-year-old has played 10,000 hours of video games.

There is a reason the average American watches 35 hours of television a week according to Nielsen.

There is a reason American companies lose an estimated $6.5 billion during the 15-week fantasy football season.

Time is a squirrely thing. It only goes where you tell it to go. It has no mind of its own. It won’t naturally gravitate to things that matter or work you really care about. It always looks for the easy way out.

This summer, I dare you to rescue some time. Not all of it, just a little. I’m talking about 15 minutes. I don’t care how busy you are, you have 15 minutes hidden somewhere in your day.

I dare you to rescue that tiny amount each day and then watch what happens this summer. That first 15 minutes will grow into 30 and then 45 and then 60. By the end of the summer, you will have worked for 1,500 minutes. You will have 25, on purpose, goal-crushing hours under your belt.

I’m rescuing my time this summer because I love Netflix too much. If I open up the app, it’s all over. I can’t just watch one episode of a TV show. My hours will be swallowed up by show after show after show. So instead, I’m going to DO Summer.

If you’re with me, sign up to get the free PDF I created to track time. Pick one skill you want to give your 15 minutes to and then get going.

Time won’t find you. You have to find it.

Time won’t find you. You have to find it.
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Get started right here.

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I got fired from a job because I didn’t listen to Louis CK

I got fired from my second grown up job.

I was 23 years old and working at a small startup tech company as a writer.

I lasted there about 4 months until they let me go. It was the right decision on their part. I was a terrible employee.

When they would give me feedback, I would ignore it and instead write what I wanted to. When they would correct me, I would inwardly roll my eyes, disappointed they were unable to fully recognize my genius. When they would ask me to work harder or redo something, I would huff and puff at the inconvenience they had just thrust upon my day.

One afternoon, they had experienced enough of the Jon Acuff show and fired me.

The problem wasn’t my age, I know lots of wonderful 23 year olds who are capable of amazing things. It was my attitude that blinded me to the simple fact that I was there to do the work they hired me to do, not the work I wanted to do. I was their employee. You would think that arrangement would be painfully obvious and yet, so many people, of varying ages, seem to forget that.

Have you ever hired a developer to build a website? Sometimes in the middle of the project, as you give feedback on changes you’d like made, they get frustrated. They revolt and act like they are client. As you write an apologetic email to them, expressing your regret that you see a few things they need to fix, it will hit you, “Wait, I am paying them money. I’m the client. I hired them to do work, not the other way around. Why do I feel guilty right now?” (Great developers, and there are many, know that if you want to absolutely dominate the marketplace, you should never make a client feel like this.)

Comedian Louis CK commented on this phenomenon recently on Late Night with Seth Myers. When he was in his mid 20s, writing for the Conan O’Brien show, he forgot how work worked.

“I was in my twenties, so I just thought that I wanted to get my stuff on the show. Now I know that I was working for people that I should have been helping because they were giving me money. If somebody hires you to do anything and they pay you money that you then go live your life with, you should really want to do anything that they need. At the time I didn’t believe that.”

I didn’t believe that either and I got fired.

You will too if you’re not careful.

Whether you’re 23 or 53, don’t show up to work like they’re doing you a favor. Show up like they are paying you to do something and then go do that something. Show up helpful. Show up grateful. Show up humble.

Want to win at work? Show up helpful. Show up grateful. Show up humble.
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Listen to Louis CK.

It just might save your job.

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I got fired because I didn’t listen to Louis CK

I got fired from my second grown up job.

I was 23 years old and working at a small startup tech company as a writer.

I lasted there about 4 months until they let me go. It was the right decision on their part. I was a terrible employee.

When they would give me feedback, I would ignore it and instead write what I wanted to. When they would correct me, I would inwardly roll my eyes, disappointed they were unable to fully recognize my genius. When they would ask me to work harder or redo something, I would huff and puff at the inconvenience they had just thrust upon my day.

One afternoon, they had experienced enough of the Jon Acuff show and fired me.

The problem wasn’t my age, I know lots of wonderful 23 year olds who are capable of amazing things. It was my attitude that blinded me to the simple fact that I was there to do the work they hired me to do, not the work I wanted to do. I was their employee. You would think that arrangement would be painfully obvious and yet, so many people, of varying ages, seem to forget that.

Have you ever hired a developer to build a website? Sometimes in the middle of the project, as you give feedback on changes you’d like made, they get frustrated. They revolt and act like they are client. As you write an apologetic email to them, expressing your regret that you see a few things they need to fix, it will hit you, “Wait, I am paying them money. I’m the client. I hired them to do work, not the other way around. Why do I feel guilty right now?” (Great developers, and there are many, know that if you want to absolutely dominate the marketplace, you should never make a client feel like this.)

Comedian Louis CK commented on this phenomenon recently on Late Night with Seth Myers. When he was in his mid 20s, writing for the Conan O’Brien show, he forgot how work worked.

“I was in my twenties, so I just thought that I wanted to get my stuff on the show. Now I know that I was working for people that I should have been helping because they were giving me money. If somebody hires you to do anything and they pay you money that you then go live your life with, you should really want to do anything that they need. At the time I didn’t believe that.”

I didn’t believe that either and I got fired.

You will too if you’re not careful.

Whether you’re 23 or 53, don’t show up to work like they’re doing you a favor. Show up like they are paying you to do something and then go do that something. Show up helpful. Show up grateful. Show up humble.

Listen to Louis CK.

It just might save your job.

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Are you ready to DO Summer?

Next to relationships, skills are the most important thing you can have when it comes to chasing a dream. Whether you want to write a book, start a business, like your current job more, or turn a hobby into a job, you need skills. That’s why 25% of my new book Do Over is dedicated to helping build your skills.

The challenge though is that skills get sharp slowly and dull quickly.

Skills get sharp slowly and dull quickly.
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Not this summer though.

We’re going to work on our skills together. We’re not just going to talk. We’re going to do. We’re not just going to dream. We’re going to do. We’re not just going to wish. We’re going to do.

DO Summer is simple.

1. Pick one skill you want to work on.

It can be a completely new skill or something you used to love that fell behind in the busyness of life. It can be career related like working on your resume or life related like jogging for better health. (I’m picking writing for mine because I didn’t write for a solid month and could feel that skill getting rusty.)

2. Work on the skill for 1,500 minutes this summer in easy 15-minute segments.

I’ve created a free worksheet that helps you track time in 15-minute chunks. Each time you knock out 15 minutes, color in one of the boxes on the sheet.

3. Read the quick, weekly skill tip I email you each Monday from Do Over.

You’ll get 60 seconds of I dare you to be awesome content for the next 12 weeks.

4. Share your results each Monday morning online with #DOSummer2015

I’ve been blown away by how motivating a little visibility is when I use my Fitbit step tracker with friends from the Internet. You’ll be surprised how encouraging having other people cheer you on is. As part of DO Summer, you’ll also get invited to the exclusive, private 30 Days of Hustle Facebook group for wildly fun accountability.

That’s it. At the end of the summer, if you spend 1,500 minutes on your DO, you will have invested 25 hours in a skill. There’s no telling what positive habits, life changing opportunities and unexpected adventures you can stir up by doing something so simple.

The challenge starts Monday, June 8th and will run until September 8th. (Invite a friend to do it with you if you really want to increase your results!)

I dare you to DO Summer with me!
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To get the worksheet for free sign up below! You’ll get all of the encouraging emails I send about the challenge as well as my blog ideas.

Email

Name



First




Last

You ready to DO Summer?

You ready to make a small investment in your big dream?

I am.

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49 words about the economy.

The economy will never be perfect enough for you to be brave.

If you were waiting for that to happen, go ahead and cross that off the list of “Reasons you’re not doing what you’re supposed to do.”

Hopefully that list is getting shorter, because your days certainly are.

The economy will never be perfect enough for you to be brave.
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P.S. I’m doing a free event in Salt Lake City this weekend! Don’t miss it. Sign up here!

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5 Things Veterans Should Know About Their Career Do Overs.

(Last Tuesday, I spoke to someone in the military who purchased 100 copies of Do Over. He gives them out to people leaving the armed forces as a way to help the transition to civilian life. This is going to sound stupid, but I honestly never realized what a huge Do Over moment that was. I’ve never served in the military, so I had a hard time grasping the nuances of what it means to start the next chapter of your life that way. I asked my friend Dave Burlin to write a post about that, as it is something he’s personally experienced. More than that, his mission is to help veterans go from “Discharge to In Charge,” and he gave a TedX talk on that very subject. Here’s Dave on what it’s like for veterans to change careers.)  

5 Things Veterans Should Know About Their Career Do Overs. – By Dave Burlin

As a Marine Corps Veteran I have launched many career do overs, from the leap out of the Marines, to the world of digging ditches in the oil fields of Northeast Oklahoma, to working with “at-risk” high school dropouts in a residential “boot-camp for life” program.

After 10 years of wearing one uniform or another, I jumped into the wedding industry as a wedding DJ with the goal to change the world one dance floor at a time. Now, I am currently preparing to launch my greatest career do over into the world of entrepreneurship, and Jon Acuff’s book, Do Over, has become a compass for this challenging feat.

Along the way I have found several Veterans on their own paths to success, and I’ve learned that there are 5 things all Veterans should know about their career do over:

1. This could be the most challenging thing you have done.

So many Veterans define bravery as an emotion or action on the battlefield. The bravery it takes to come back into a world that may not understand everything about us will take the same kind of grit that it took for us to sign a blank check in the first place. After all, we all committed to the greatest do over of all when we made the choice to leave our lives and join the service.

2. You are not alone.

Plans change. Life happens. There will be days in transition from service to civilian life where you have no control. Adversity happens and your “jump” will quickly turn into what feels like a “bump.” Know that there are Veterans that have been out longer than you have been alive. Some have been out for months, some have been out for decades, but they have the “cheat codes” to help you along the way. As one of the most fraternal tribes on the planet, where you find one Veteran, you will always find five more. Invest in these relationships, they will be there when you need them the most.

3.You have more skills than you think.

The military forced productive habits into what you do everyday. Showing up on time (or even early) is a skill. Ironing your uniform and being prepared for an inspection is a skill. Providing candid feedback after a training exercise is a skill. Communicating orders to your team from a higher authority is a skill. Never stop learning. Much like the military is ever-changing, you have to know the world around us will continue to change. Embrace the change and continue to learn new skills and invest in your education.

4. Just as plans change, dreams do too.

I remember telling everyone at one point or another, “I am a lifer.” I could see 20+ years in the Marines, retiring as a salty Sergeant Major, and all the life stories that go with it. That dream changed. Your dream may change with the seasons of your do over. Boot camp was a season. Your first duty station was a season. The first deployment? You guessed it, season! You will go through many seasons in your transition, and although it is a bit cliché, “Knowing is half the battle.” Don’t get stuck by thinking a season is forever. It’s not, it’s just a season.

5. Be ready for unexpected opportunities.

The most difficult concept for me to accept in civilian life is that there are people out there that genuinely want to help you. Civilians, veterans, it doesn’t matter. People want to give you money to support an idea before you even have a website. They want to help you advance in your career. They want to connect you to people that will help our dreams come true because you have character. It will be uncomfortable to accept help if you don’t have a true understanding of “why” they want to help. But therein lies the miracle of an opportunity.

In the next few years, more than a million Veterans will be returning home to join over 8 million who have served. I believe that we are the key to building a stronger America. It has been an honor to serve this country, and I am excited to see where we go from here. With no formal education, but a passion for helping people and the willingness to hustle; I would have never imagined I could own my own business and help Veterans’ across the country believe they can do the same.

Jon wrote three words at the end of his book that have stuck with me. The words are “Apparently, I can.” I believe those words about me and I believe them about you.

Today’s guest post was written by Dave Burlin. For more from Dave, follow him on Twitter.  

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Excuses are like rabbits.

The only things that reproduce faster than rabbits are excuses when you’ve got important work to do.

Everyday when I sit down to work, here are the excuses I make:

1. It’s too early too write.

2. It’s too late.

3. Do I have the right music to write to?

4. Didn’t I just shazam a song last night that I wanted to write to? I should look that song up on spotify and then explore that musician’s entire catalog.

5. I need to return some emails.

6. My inbox is a mess, I won’t be able to focus until I reach inbox zero and it’s tidied up.

7. Have I tweeted enough today?

8. Have I been tweeting about queso too much lately? It’s enough already. I probably need to find something else to tweet about. A new dip? Salsa? Is that going to be my new go to tweet dip? Do I need to go completely off the ranch and tweet about something like Grape Nuts cereal?

9. I should go see what my kids are up to. A better dad would be spending every waking moment with his children. Telling them stories, whittling them things out of fallen branches that have exited the tree but entered our lives.

10. That’s an interesting line, “exited the tree but entered our lives,” maybe I should write a poem.

11. Is that the mailman I hear? I bet walking to the mailbox would inspire me.

12. I’m thirsty.

13. I’m hungry.

14. It’s easier to start something at the top of the hour. Who sits down at 8:43 and does anything worthwhile? I’ll wait until 9:00. That’s a legit starting line.

15. Should I periscope right now?

16. Have I checked Facebook Messenger lately? It’s my least favorite inbox but I should still keep an eye on it.

17. Has anyone texted me today?

18. Let’s take a quick look at the Internet. Just for a second. Five minutes tops. I’ll just once one video and look at 7 funny photos. Get the creative juices flowing!

19. I should get a juicer. People do that lot these days. I should be one of those people.

20. What’s on Instagram today?

21. Am I talking about Do Over too much or not enough? Maybe some people are exhausted hearing me talk about it. Nah, screw that, that’s fear talking. I write one book every two years and this one came out a scant 6 weeks ago. It’s also my job! If someone says, “You tweet about Do Over too much!” I’ll respond, “Do you go to work Monday through Friday?”

22. That’s too passive aggressive to tweet. I wish I wasn’t so passive aggressive. What’s the alternative? Aggressive aggressive? Or just being honest? That’s probably a better approach.

23. “Aggressive Aggressive” would be a good band name, not as good as “Furious George,” but close.

24. I should clean my office. I’m pretty sure Ben Franklin or Abraham Lincoln or Solomon said something about a clean desk mattering. I can’t do any work of significance until this entire surface is clean.

25. Which is the best thing for me to work on right this second? Maybe if I spent a few minutes prioritizing, sharpening the saw as Covey would say, I could work smarter not harder.

26. Is that the UPS truck I hear? Oh, sweet music to my ears. Have I ordered anything from Amazon lately?

27. I should go running. It might rain later. Can I sneak in a run? I don’t want to have a dadbod.

28. Maybe I should stare out the window for a few minutes. I think that’s something writers do, it’s a moody thing. Grab a cup of coffee, maybe put a small exotic bird I own on my shoulder and just soak in the day as it unfolds over the horizon.

29. That actually might be a pirate I’m thinking of. They sure got big these last ten years! You know who has had it rough lately? Mullets. Man, of man, did they dominate the early days of the Internet. My kids will never understand the cultural power mullets and the discussion of mullets used to have.

30. What time is it?

31. I should make tea. Tea would help me get something done.

32. I’m a terrible friend. I should call some people just to encourage them.

33. “This track is fire!” Why is that thought in my head? I’m going to work that into a sentence. Maybe that will be my new catchphrase. When queso shows up at the table at a restaurant, I’ll shout “This track is fire!” and everyone will be pleasantly intrigued at these new things I’ve started to say.

34. That’s stupid. Who blurts out “This track is fire?”

35. I need to shower. If I was clean then I could probably get so much done!

36. I should eat something. Something paleo, I’m not sure what that means but it was fun to say. What if we lived the rest of our lives like cavemen? I’d probably throw a lot more spears during the average workweek and be mystified by fire.

37. Does anyone have a wooly mammoth throw rug? How rich would you have to be to rock that? Regular billionaires would come over and say, “Is that bear skin?” And you’d chuckle quietly and say, “No, that’s wooly mammoth. You’ve probably seen it painted inside cave walls by people who were on the paleo diet.”

38. I swear I really do hear the mailman this time.

That’s only a snapshot of my day. There’s more where that came from and there always will be.

The closer you get to work that matters, the more excuses you will encounter. Life has a tendency of offering us hiding places at every turn. That’s all an excuse is, a hiding place that promises to keep you safe from doing something difficult or scary.

Excuses are hiding places that promise to keep you safe from difficult things. Ignore them.
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Don’t hide.

Expect excuses. Make fun of them. Laugh at them. Share them with friends. And then do your work anyway.

Life is too short for hiding.

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