The Gently Mad: Life, Business & Entrepreneurship Without The Bs

I feel privileged to call Nathan Barry a friend. He’s one of the most generous people I know and the conversation we recorded a few months ago was a really great.   I’m excited to finally share it with you here. We talked about so many different things, but I think the theme of the show really came down to Nathan’s commitment to consistent daily progress. That was a huge takeaway for me because I so easily get caught up in big picture stuff and forget that the only way to actually get better at what I do is to show up every day and do it. Nathan is the author of three books on design and marketing and the founder of ConvertKit, an email marketing company for authors. Here are some of my favorite bits from the show: On Having Enough and Celebrating Small Wins “I think the biggest thing you can do is just keep slowly making progress and celebrating those tiny wins. Like if all you can manage for a particular day, celebrate that as a win. You made progress.” “Maybe I only did an hours worth of work today,

In this episode I talk about some things I've been lately that I think can help you change your life for the better in 2015.   Pick one goal and give it everything you’ve got Most people set multiple goals. I want to lose weight, I want to spend more time with my family, I want to make more money, I want to get out of debt, etc. Don’t do this. If you set 10 goals this year, all you’re doing is creating nine distractions to the No. 1 thing you really want to do. It’s a process of reverse-engineering. Decide what it is you want to do and then work backward to figure out what you need to do every day to achieve it. “If you would go every day to a very large tree and take five swings at it with a very sharp ax, eventually, no matter how large the tree, it would have to come down.” ~ Ron Scolastico Aim higher than you think is possible If you set a goal of making $20k this year, there’s a chance you’ll make it. But what if you set a goal to make $1 million? The chances are low that you’ll hit that goal, but

In this episode we're going to hear from a guy who has made the indiepreneur jump several times. In fact just recently before we recorded this episode he left a company he co-founded to start all over working for himself. The man in question is, of course, Caleb Wojick from DIYvideoguy.com. Caleb is one of my favorite people and over the last few months since we recorded this conversation has become a friend. He's helped me through a ton of stuff and this episode is a bit of a break from the norm in that it's literally packed from start to finish with great insight into how to make a living doing your own thing. Caleb teaches creatives how to make better web videos and makes videos for start-ups and solopreneurs. Here are some of my favorite bits from the show: On Producing Content and Building an Audience “Everything I do starts with writing, so the more I write, the more I can produce. If I just sit in front of a microphone and have a topic, that’s really hard.” “The first thing you need to do is gro

I'm a hardcore music lover and so is my friend Noah Stokes. We decided to do a fun episode where we thought we would play clips from our top five albums of the year and let the fighting ensue.   Turns out, our tastes in music are much more similar than we would have thought. This episode was a great break from the routine and if you're a music lover (and who isn't, really?), I think you'll enjoy it. As always, I had a great time talking to Noah. Enjoy the show! Noah's Top 5 Prince - Plectrumelectrum Beck - Morning Phase Iggy Azalea - The New Classic Ryan Adams - My Wrecking Ball Taylor Swift - 1989 Adam's Top 5 Jack White - Lazaretto Barcelona - Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 Daley - Days & Nights Bleachers - Strange Desire Twin Forks - Twin  Forks Bits & Bytes Mentioned in the Show TGM08 with Derek Webb Counting Crows The Decemberists The Flaming Lips Stone Temple Pilots Pearl Jam U2 Sia Radiohead Jack White's 2013 Grammy Performance It Might Get Loud Documentary Matchbox Twenty Third Eye

I remember when I first picked up Donald Miller's book, Blue Like Jazz, in a Barnes and Noble more than 10 years ago. It changed my life and he's since become one of my favorite authors of all time.  I was thrilled to be able to sit down with him at his office in Nashville and talk about writing, business, life and how to figure out what really matters in all of it. To say I was excited would be an understatement. I can't even pick my favorite parts of this conversation because the whole thing was so good. But I'll do my best. Here are some of my favorite bits from the show: On Writing and Work “If there’s one thing I do it’s that I just try to communicate everything in a clear and compelling way.” “Being a writer is very very difficult and I was just naive enough to *not* know I couldn’t do it.” “Writing is a craft, as romantic as it is, it’s also the same kind of work that a plumber does. Just have to show up every day and do it well.” “I was convinced the first book was gonna be a huge best-seller

Derek Webb has been one of my favorite musicians for as long as I can remember. He’s always managed to release albums that spoke to exactly whatever stage of life I was in at the time. After a 20-year career, and dozens of albums (as a solo artist and with Caedmon’s Call), Derek has decided to move more into the business side of the music industry as the President of NoiseTrade, a company he founded in 2006. We recorded this interview in person in Nashville a few months ago and I was amazed by how so many of his thoughts and experiences as a signer and songwriter applied to my life as an entrepreneur and online content maker. I have to admit, I was a bit star-struck during this interview and just sat back and let Derek do the talking. Which, as it turns out, was a good thing because he has so many great things to say about business, the struggle, and what it takes to make it. Here are some of my favorite bits from the show: On Career, Seasons and Success “You’re not owed a career. It is incumbent upon a

“Everything good that’s happened to me over the last five years is the result of starting a blog. Of putting my thoughts and words down on the page.” One of my favorite conversations so far, Corbett Barr (if that’s his real name) is the real deal. Corbett and I spoke at length on this topic and it's one of my favorite conversations so far. I've wanted to get Corbett Barr (if that's his real name) on the show for a long time and when we finally made it happen, I didn't want to waste a minute of it. We really covered the gamut in this one, folks. We talked about taking risks and pursuing our dreams, audience building (how to do it and how NOT to do it), product building, entrepreneurship as a lifestyle, what “success” really is and so much more. Corbett is co-founder of Fizzle, a community and video training libraries for people working to become self-employed. He's also one of those guys who just exudes wisdom. It kind of pours our of him like sweat. So get read to get a little Corbett wisdom sweat on you.

Justin is a product-maker, interview and host of his own podcast, Product People (url) and one of the best thinkers about what makes products work and how to get inside the minds of your audience. We talked about one of my favorite topics, Seinfeld, and how comedy relates to our work as content producers. We also dove into, music, film, Steve Jobs and whether genius is innate or if it can be learned. Here are some of my favorite bits from the show: The Secret to Being a Great Writer “I don’t think people really like my writing, but they just like the idea of what I right about.” “I think that’s what I’m actually good at, is kind of identifying something deep inside people’s guts that they’ve felt, but never been able to verbalize.” One Product Making and Psychology “Time and attention is a form of currency and if you can figure out how to get people to spend their time and attention on something that you’ve created, there is a transaction that goes on there.” “One of the problems I see people having

Many friends have told me I'm not promoting this show or my contest enough. I don't know what else to do, so I'm doing this. Hope you have a great weekend. Enjoy!

This marks my first "solo" show ever. I had the content all planned out and then decided to change it up last minute. In this "inbetweenisode" I talk about why it's important (and OK) to take big risks. In fact, it's necessary if you want to accomplish anything that matters. Sure, you can play it safe and follow all the rules society has set on us, but that's the path that leads to regret, my friends. Often the most rewarding things you do in life are the ones that look like they simply can't be done. Some wise words to get your juices flowing "First you jump of the cliff and you build wings on the way down." ~ Ray Bradbury "A ship in harbor is safe – but that is not what ships are for." ~ John A. Shedd "It seems to me that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don't. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever." ~ Philip Adams "Before you can be creative, you must be courageous. Crea

Two of my favorite topics of discussion are the over-connection world we live in and how to intentionally cultivate creativity in our lives. Jason and I dove headfirst into both of those topics as well as many others. And I couldn’t think of a better person which whom to have this particular discussion. Jason SurfrApp is hands-down one of the most brilliant people I know. I’m privileged to call him a friend and this conversation is definitely in my top 5 of the first 4 episodes of TGM. Wait… Who knows what he really does at the Jason HQ, but officially, he’s a entrepreneur, best-selling author, creative thinker and a self-described “action taker and unconventional marketer”. I loved Jason’s take on business, social media, finding balance and meaning on our lives and businesses. Here are some of my favorite bits from the show: On being over-connected and addicted to social media “There were so many big companies that came to me and wanted to give me thousands of dollars if I could just come with a creativ

Whenever I talk to Chase Reeves it’s like two little rabbits hopping all over the place chasing a carrot through the world of philosophical meaning and existential angst. In a good way. ;) Chase is a designer, educator and co-founder of Fizzle.co, which is hands-down the best online community for people who want to make a living doing something they love. Check out the contest to win a full year of Fizzle for FREE. He’s a self-described “weird mix of business, design, marketing, tomfoolery, cocktails, marketing, design, flahoolick, and cocktails. Most of his friends say he’s the most indelicate person they know.” Here are some of my favorite bits from the show: Art vs. Artifice “We live in a world of shit and yet we desire and dream of making something good. And in order to make something good we have to fool ourselves into trying, first of all, in a world where only shit things get big, and then if we really want that thing to have a change of getting big or to be seen by a lot of people, we have to wra

It’s finally here, folks. The Gently Mad has been rebooted. I’m hoping it’s more of a J.J. Abrams style reboot than a George Lucas one, but only time will tell.  I did 59 episodes of the old show (which is still in iTunes if you want to peruse the back catalogue) and I’m super excited about relaunching and what’s to come. In this episode, I dive into why I decided to reboot (despite being told it was a dumb move), what you can expect from the new show and how it will be different from the old one. One of the biggest changes is that the new show is going to air three times a week. Monday and Wednesday will be interview shows and Friday will be my “experiment” day. Some Friday’s will be solo shows, some will be Q&As, who knows what’s going to happen. I’m going to be trying all sorts of things just for the fun of it and hopefully, your enjoyment as well.