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Tag: adventure

The value of meeting new people (offline)

Hectic schedules and limited time pushes “meeting new people” down priority lists. But new people can add spark to your life. From work strategies to personal motivation, even brief encounters can leave a lifetime mark. A meaningful conversation can inspire you to try something new, do better work, become a more thoughtful person, or keep going down the right path.

Online we’re exposed to new tactics and images, but face-to-face encounters are more likely to contribute to trust and long-term relationships. These connections help businesses thrive. While it’s easy to forget a screen name, personal interactions build experiences that help tell stories. And in a world where storytelling and marketing drive results, representing your “personal brand” is key.

Meeting new people may also reveal unknown parts of yourself, creating self-awareness of your own expertise and highlighting areas that still need work. There are health benefits, too: improved cognitive function, physical health and creative power.

Our next dinner event is scheduled for May 31 in NYC. Send an email to info@projectexponential.com with details about your current projects if you’re interested in attending. Our dinners match those with complementary interests and skills, and space is limited to preserve intimacy and quality.

13 lessons to be learned from expats

  1. It’s OK to not understand everything that is happening around you all of the time.
  2. True friends will keep in touch.
  3. Don’t compare your life, your successes, your failures or your progress with anyone else.
  4. Take time to connect with the people around you. See them for who they really are.
  5. Never stop learning.
  6. Use social media sparingly.
  7. Drink alcohol in moderation.
  8. Build community. Seek out and find those who bring out your very best self.
  9. If you don’t know the answer, don’t be afraid to ask.
  10. It’s always helpful to research and gather information before making big decisions. In the end, however, let intuition guide you.
  11. Spend time getting to know yourself so you can acknowledge your weaknesses and strong points.
  12. Set goals that both challenge and inspire you.
  13. Write. Make time to dream, to reflect, to observe and to record. Situations are constantly changing, and your perspectives will shift as well. Writing your thoughts down can help you stay on track and grow.

Post modified from this Medium article, posted July 15, 2015.

Top 10 blog posts

Before I list the Top 10 most popular posts I’ve written, I want to acknowledge something big: Project Exponential is coming up on FOUR YEARS of existence, and I can hardly believe it.

I remember that first dinner as if it happened last month. I had to talk myself into calling friends and a few famous people I didn’t know all that well and ask them to join me for something new, an experiment of sorts. I was a nervous wreck in the days leading up to that initial event, second-guessing my planned ice-breakers and seating arrangement. At the end of the night I was so worked up, I couldn’t let myself admit a grand success had just taken place.

Countless dinners later, I continue to receive emails thanking me for thoughtfully creating these kinds of dinners: invaluable introductions; new friends, new ideas; old friends, old ideas; surprising conversations; delight. It’s all come together beautifully, and I couldn’t be more grateful to those who have participated and referred clients seeking meaningful connection.

Top 10 posts:
10. I stopped trying.
9. Figure out what you want to learn and go do it.
8. Stop trying to find your purpose
7. 7 sins of crowdfunding
6. The people in your life will make or break you.
5. 10 questions to ask at a dinner party (instead of “What do you do?”)
4. What brings people together?
3. A coffee riddle
2. 5 rules of hustling
1. 12 questions to turn small talk into real talk 

Thank you for your support, your daring, your ambition, and thanks for coming along this journey with me. Becoming an entrepreneur is not easy, and there are no roadmaps for the many winding, twisting roads you find yourself on. If you have a budding entrepreneur in your life, send them a note to keep going (or share one of these blog posts); if you’re thinking about getting started yourself, GO.

Search for meaning

The internet gives you many lives. You can write an article once, muster the courage to post it online, become disappointed when it falls flat and goes unshared, resolve to forget about it and write something else. Then one day, you wake up to an inbox of responses and questions as if this was a piece you posted yesterday.

This sometimes happens to me.

Lately, a few of my Medium posts have undergone rebirths, and I’ve found myself answering questions about the search for meaning and joy and life. “Should I go to a monastery?” “Do I need to volunteer in a different country to find myself?” “What advice can you give me to discover my passion?”

I don’t have any answers, really. I know that the answers we often want most are right in front of us. They don’t necessarily require a trip around the world, months spent in solitude, or someone else to show us the way. I wish I could tell you a perfect formula. I wish I had this formula myself three years ago when I first set out for Nepal.

But I think that’s my big secret. I stopped looking.

I was driving myself crazy with these exact same questions. I was browsing the self-help section for career changes, dog-eared my way through What Color Is Your Parachute, and still no answers. My journal was a messy scrawl of ink and tear, I mean, coffee stains when I got on that first plane to Kathmandu. I knew was I was hurting and raw and sick of feeling like crap. I wanted to feel good, both in the world and in my body and make a positive contribution somewhere. And this is how I found myself teaching English to a bunch of rowdy monks.

No, I had no idea I was going to start a Learning House. If you told me I’d spend the next three years of my life in Nepal, I would have laughed. But I did know that giving to others and empowering individuals through education brought me deep satisfaction. In this way, my focus shifted from myself and onto something positive. I stopped questioning and just did.

Meaning found me. I hope it finds you.

Get lost for awhile

Leave your phone at home. Lose track of time. Forget your schedule.
Close your internet browser. Call a friend.
Find a new restaurant. Drive out of the city.
Or ride your bike to the nearest town.
Play something new on the radio.
Hold her hand.
Draw, color, paint, read, build, bake.
Climb to the tallest building/hill/rock/mountain you can see.
Kiss his skin.
Cry until you laugh.
Laugh until you cry.
Walk. Skip. Dance.
Savor each bite.
Stop questioning.
Be grateful.

You have something precious

Several months ago I had the pleasure of speaking on the ChapterBe podcast. I talked about how I ended up in Nepal and lessons I’ve learned along the way. It was a great interview, punctuated with street dogs barking in the background.

The podcast highlights stories of people living across the globe who have made a commitment to live authentically, passionately, and with conviction. I was honored to be included.

We all have unique skills and stories that lead us down winding, magical roads. From the moment we wake up until our heads again find rest, our bodies are catapulted across spectacular terrain. Mothers feed families and dream of their children’s futures, fathers are forced to make decisions based upon their own life challenges, sons dare to become better than their parents, and daughters fight to turn dreams into reality.

My point is this: the lessons you’ve learned and the challenges you’ve overcome could help someone else facing a similar predicament. Have the courage to share.