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Speaking of launching...

This is the best thing that has happened to my week. Ever. Seriously. Even though that sentence doesn't make sense. You have no idea how much I appreciate the really intuitive flow of information, the time saving of knowing what stuff I don't actually need to read, and the relief at the level of confidence I have that I am getting the best information and that I will be completely covered. I will GLADLY write a review of this. Let me know when you're ready to launch and I'll schedule to post the same day. I hate when my reader fills up articles all about the same book launch, but I'm too ecstatic about this to not tell everyone! Seriously, thank you. You're not charging enough for this.

All that said...

Definitions make me vomit.

I contract them out.

Yes, I'm for real. I think of relationships this way.

New people renew you with new energy.

Run a full scale design and branding studio while on a month and a half cross country road trip. Twenty-two cities, dozens of meet ups, handling sponsorships and blogging for three separate blogs, and.....having the busiest month my business has ever seen. With five sites to design and build before pulling back into Seattle on August 14 (that's from contract negotiation all the way to launch), this is going to be a busy trip.

I am so stoked!

This is the perfect opportunity to document and share the difficulties, the advantages and the trouble shooting of running a service based location-independent business from the road.

I've been out of Seattle (and the luxury of my apartment/design studio) since June 15th. Three weeks of chasing loose internet connections, rescheduling client phone calls and forgetting to post blog posts, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this whole ordeal.

The first couple of weeks I spent in New York was a fun collaboration of spurts of intense work interrupted by the need (and desire) to socialize with my couch-hopping host at the time. The interaction usually begins with an awkward walking around the room, comments on what I'm working on, and an obvious feeling of guilt or discomfort that they should be interacting with me or entertaining me because I'm their guest, to which I respond with an equal feeling of guilt or discomfort that I should be interacting with them so they don't feel so uncomfortable.

Balancing a natural inclination toward socialization and the dire need to get work done in the few hours I'm actually able to proved to be the first difficult task.

Lesson #1 learned: Get up before your host, if you can, and work like a madwoman before s/he gets up. Enjoy coffee and breakfast completely with them and let them in on what you're working on, even if they don't get it. Attempting to work and socialize usually results in more awkward "I should be..." thoughts which will inevitably derail your work.

Alternative: Stay with bloggers. They are more comfortable skypeing with you anyway.

I have one more week here with the oh-so-ambitious Colin Wright of Exile Lifestyle as we prep for the most epic road trip of forever: The Status Quo Smackdown Roadtrip 2010! We threw our launch party at Matsuri here in NY last Thursday and the blackmail that came out of one night seems to have set quite a precedent for the summer...I'm not scared. Not at all. But perhaps Colin and Ash should be. (Just kidding?)

The Blog:

We've started our Live Blog where you can follow us on the road, check out all of our photos, videos, and blog posts from and about the meet ups, talks, and adventures we're embarking on. We've also introduced the hashtag #the3some for anything having to do with this road trip, so watch for that on Twitter if you're eager to stay the utmost up to date!

The Cities:

We've officially decided on 22 cities to touch down in and have some fabulous people set up as Cogs in each who have begun to plan some of the craziest events I've ever been coerced into doing! So far we've got lobster boating in Portland, ME, private dance lessons in New Orleans, a nude photoshoot in Los Angeles, a tour of the Googleplex in San Francisco, and so much more! If you'd like to get involved, or join in the general meet ups or help promote any of these events, please contact either me, Colin or Ash to find your local Cog! The more people rallied up for each city, the more fun and beneficial these events will be for everyone!

The Goods:

Want to sport some rad digs? (I did just say that.) We've set up a t-shirt store through Skreened! We even have an "I hosted #the3some" for all you peeps so charming enough to let us take up your couches and extra rooms on our journey! Look for more designs and fun goodies up there soon!

So go! Go! Go! Get involved!

I can't wait to meet all you lovely peeps when we get to your city!

Lastly, thanks to our Sponsors for making this happen:

Blogger Beats and Beyond Blogging have been so generous (aside from being rad)! Check them out to thank them too!

I'll let you take a guess what a Sabertoothed Crotch Cricket is. Go on, take a guess.

(Sidenote: Because the fabulous Mr. Carl will be in Seattle this week, I'm postponing the interview post until I can get it in person with him! Woohoo! So hold your horses and help me out here!)

I just realized this is not the first time I've mentioned crabs on this blog. No, I don't have them. Please don't be offended, any of my readers who might have crabs. But seriously, you should just start calling them Sabertoothed Crotch Crickets. I promise it will make the whole experience that much more....cartoony.

Naming something does two things for you. It makes it yours, even if it's not (I don't want your crabs, you can keep them) and it gives it a personality (I'm ending the STCC jokes here, because this has WAY TOO MUCH potential). I've written about the value of a name before and this is not another personal branding post (can we PLEASE have another one of those?!)

No, this is about the purpose of just about everything I've done in the last 25 years (the first year was a freebie because I can't figure out how pooping, crying and sleeping fits in to my plans for world domination).

Get ready. I'm about to floor you. Blow. Your. Effing. Mind.

I'm creating a product.

What? No surprise??? Oh...this is the thing with lifestyle designers? How'd I miss that?

Okay, okay, seriously. I was writing a delightful little bio for myself for out WBSQ media kit and as I was proclaiming my awesomeness oh-so-nonchalantly, it actually struck me that I've had every intention of turning this blog and my experiences starting businesses and switching jobs (read:careers) into a product. A series of guides, if you will. Though they'll probably look nothing like guides by the time I'm done with them and will likely be far more useful.

You're getting this fresh and raw, folks, so forgive the lack of specifics at this stage. What it all came down to, as I was writing this bio and formulating this product in my head, was that I don't have a name for it.

What it is: I'll be breaking down the system to approaching new skills in a way that allows you to conquer them quickly.

What it is not: Finding loopholes in the rules to win championships. (I heart Tim Ferriss but I don't want to be him. I look better in my Vibrams. 'nuff said.)

I'm not interesting in winning (Gasp! But you run a blog about challenges!), I'm interested in taking on new challenges, bettering myself, not getting bored, and mostly, helping you guys do the same.

I've got a couple of tentative names floating around my head, but nothing that's struck yet as a stroke of genius. So this whole long freaking story in a nut shell (or short paragraph if you have an aversion to nuts) is:

I want to know how you name your projects.

Where do you get your inspiration? How do you decide on the one? How do you get over the fact that you will never come up with a name that beats Sabertoothed Crotch Crickets? (Thanks to Colin for the help with that one, you sicko).

One of those ideas you slyly test out as a joke...

Every had one of those jokes turn into someone else's action? Someone else's credit? Someone else's tagline?

It's like watching your ex walk hand in hand with your...other....ex...(what? That doesn't happen you?)

Oh the jealousies! Oh the mean reds! Oh the injustice of it all! Oh the...what the eff man, give it a rest!

Ideas are free. One of the beautiful things about living in the information age is that the currency is free and actually gains value the more it's spread around!

Hurray! Your idea was shared! Anticlimactic though it may seem to fellow look-at-me-ers to not have your name attached, it's all out there now. Ideas have a sneaky way of finding the most efficient platform for realization. They're selfish little buggers like that.

In a world full of ideas, it was never about your ego anyway, trust me, I know, this is a constant battle! Don't let the fear of someone sweeping the rug out from under you and taking all your brilliant plans and turning them into brilliant actions keep you from sharing your thoughts. They'll take them, if they're worth taking. Consider it an honor that your ideas were so good they were worth stealing!

You'll think of more. Unless you stop sharing, in which case you'll probably stop thinking about anything but that fear ever again. That's a promise.

Oh! And the best part about ideas! They don't expire! You can still act on it and that idea thief probably worked out all the kinks for you. BONUS!

So, what have you got to say for yourself? pssssst....this is where you drop down to the comments and let me know! Swearsies I won't steal!

Now Announcing...

Status Quo Smackdown Roadtrip 2010

(brought to you by Way Below Status Quo)

Originally, the plan was to drink our way across the states meeting al the bloggers we're e-friended (like befriended! get it? Ok, I've been up all night, let it go!) along the way. As we talked it over and brought Colin in on the plan, we realized this is a prime opportunity to provide value to the community we've all become such a big part of.

A brief background

Colin and I founded a mastermind group in Los Angeles (not knowing such a thing was actually a thing!) called (jokingly) Way Below Status Quo. This group had the mission of challenging the status quo in the business world (and our personal lives) in favor of progress and innovation. We brought together a diverse group of young innovative people once a month to for an evening discussing business and tossing out ideas and new approaches over a few bottles of wine.

With only a loose agenda in place as a starting point for each meeting, Colin and I watched (and questioned and encouraged and prodded and poked) as the group quickly took over, fired up at the opportunity of these new connections and having the place where it was safe to ask if there was another, better way.

Back to now

We want to bring this group to you. We want to see what you with it! As of now, each city stop is fairly unstructured, we're flexible to the needs and wants of each place, be it a series of talks, business consultations, just meeting for drinks, or larger events! Most of all, the three of us want to be the catalysts for this movement. Let's starting getting ideas off the ground and start shipping, start shaking things up! We're looking to step in so far as needed to get the conversation and exchange of value started!

So how do you get involved?

Head right on over to the Way Below Status Quo site, sign up to be a part, join the group closest to your city (or add your own!) and start talking, start asking questions! What can we do for you? What do you want to see/learn when we come rolling through your hometown? What can you share with the community?

All that said...

You wanna grab a drink in July?

Well, let me tell you! Go ahead. Pull up a chair, if you like. I'll keep this brief...

This blog (Find Yourself Lost) fit for a particularly moment in my life as I underwent some huge transitions (most of which I'm still reeling from!) but I'm ready now to move on from a blog that is a reflection of my life and take a more provocative stance in the blogosphere (this is not a striptease blog....well not yet anyway...we'll just have to wait and see!)

So what's the deal?

In addition to the sometimes infuriating, always engaging tid bits of brain juice I've been posting here, there will be regular challenges to get you (and ok, me too) to take active steps toward moving forward, saving money, getting the biz going, thinking differently, who knows!

Check out the first challenge

On the hot seat: Ashley Ambirge of The Middle Finger Project.

(ps...I'll be keeping this blog up for a while yet, but all new posts will be over at Instigationology.com. So...head over there already!)

Also also also: update your feed settings by clicking here!

Success is a booger of a keyword. That's right. A booger. It's one of those words with a million definitions that apply exclusively to the person using the word (if they have a high sense of self worth) or to everyone except the person using it (if they have a low sense of self worth).

Whoa. Let me step back from these lofty claims for just a moment here. What exactly am I claiming?

Success is such an over applied word that is has become meanful only in situations in which it is immediately defined contextually. So, to be successful, a person has to understand their own personal definition of success. I argue that it goes hand in hand with their sense of self worth. A valuable person is a successful person.

If you base your personal value on what you've accomplished, naturally a series of high accomplishments will equate a feeling of high success. The trouble this creates is in establishing a feeling of continued success without compromising opportunities for growth and development. What happens when you go through a downswing of accomplishments? A period devoid of motivation? Are you then suddenly an unsuccessful person? Are you then an unworthy person?

I don't think so. But I do think that belief exists. And I think that feeds into a belief that people are inherently successful or unsuccessful, which is a dangerous perspective as we begin to blow our accomplishments out of proportion to appear more 'successful' or 'worthy' by other people's definitions of the word than we are.

So, how do you measure such a subjective idea as it pertains to you?

I recently read an article by Malcolm Gladwell (don't worry, I'm only going to reiterate the relavent information here) in which he's interviewing a young man just out of college. He asks the guy, "Are you concerned that you will run into a problem you don't know how to solve?" And the guy responds, "Am I concerned that I will run into a problem I don't know how to solve, or a problem that I won't be able to figure out how to solve? I think that's the real question."

I think that's a true measure of success. You can quantify your level of intelligence by how much you've learned, the experiences you've had, but having the confidence to know that no matter what problem you're faced with, you having the ability to find the answer is perhaps the key to success.

Being a valuable person isn't something that you get once and have forever. It's the understanding that intelligence is malleable. It's a value system that isn't dogmatic, but flexible. A successful person, then, is someone who can gain something from any situation, not because they've done it before, or because they've read so many books about it, or because they have a lot of money and can buy their way through anything (lucky ducks!), but because they know there's something to be gained in any situation and they've learned how to look for it.

Stop feeling like the crab at the bottom of the tank. Re-evaluate your idea of success, make it one worth striving for continually, but not so unattainable that your sense of self value is compromised. Start standing on your own and seeing yourself as the valuable person you are, hottie! (Ok, the crab analogy is a bit of the stretch, but the photo was just so dang cool!)

And now you should download Jonny's ebook. Mostly because of his accent. And a little bit because of the backwards hat.

Of course in this moment of adrenaline pumped, hyperventilating terror, it’s only natural that the ‘logical’ course of action seems to be Run Like a Headless Chicken to Throw Advice Begging Bombs at Anyone and Everyone. My theory is that this form of external poll taking, or all-inclusive pro/con debating if you prefer, is a rapid attempt to lighten the load of the internal responsibility.

Wait. What? How is this logical? How many of these people have actually been where you are now? How many are now where you want to be? Are you really looking to live someone else’s life?

How can they offer relevant advice on a life they aren’t living?

We call on the collective opinion of the masses to support/encourage/pursuade a very individual decision.

No one else can give you advice on your life.

As daunting as this sounds because of the implication that now we actually have to take full responsibility for our lives and our decisions, it’s just as freeing a realization. It’s empowering to know that you are the indisputable expert on you. No one knows your strength and weaknesses like you, no one knows your dreams, desires and fears like you. No one knows your integrity or passion like you.

Trust yourself when it comes to the big decisions. Go after what you want.