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Tag: community

How to create your future

Last weekend my team and I organized the first free outdoor film festival in Pokhara, Nepal. From crowdfunding to logistical planning, we spent months outlining how the event would run. Through hard work, grit, and perseverance, we turned what was once a dream into reality: Over 400 attendees enjoyed films in three different locations throughout the city. Popcorn, prizes, and toys were distributed. People who had never stepped foot in a movie theater were inspired by Rocky, Titanic, and Pocahontas. The smiles were priceless. And it was all set beneath starlight skies.

Plenty of times along the way we could have given up. When we first launched our crowdfunding campaign, I spent several days riddled at home with anxiety, wondering how and if we were really able to pull this off. We could have let frustration win when we were sent to yet another government office for another stamp or another signature. We could have shrugged our shoulders and moved on to another idea when we were questioned, “What is this? Who watches movies outside?” or asked about the motive of our program. We could have quit when we were laughed at.

But we didn’t. Even when we knew people were watching us, hoping we’d fail, we kept going.

And that, my friends, is how you create your future. You keep going.

When the naysayers doubt your dreams, even when you doubt your own abilities, keep going.

Your future is ready for you to create it.

Give thanks

The ability to show and express gratitude is one of the greatest gifts we can give to another. Gratitude is a powerful tool, one that can shift perspectives and brighten a dreary worldview in an instant.
A dear friend in Nepal once told me, “It is always possible to look up and see who is above you. People driving cars. The airplanes. My father said we have to also look down. There is someone wanting what you have.”
Thanksgiving has become one of my favorite celebrations for that reason: The gift of reflection, of simple joys, of quiet thanks shared with friends and loved ones.
To search for blessings during the toughest moments requires diligence and responsibility but also practice. Today’s a great day to start.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Want to have meaningful conversations at your Thanksgiving dinner table but not sure where to begin? Check out Seth Godin’s Thanksgiving Reader.

Intentional spaces, event planning, and work that matters

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with Will Bachman on his podcast Umbrex. We talk about my dinners in New York, my work with Seth Godin, and what I’m doing now in Nepal.

Listen here.

Consider this your friendly reminder that it is never too late to start.

SEO fundamentals

Most small business owners have heard of SEO and know this is the secret sauce that can push your content up the list of search engines. But many do not know exactly what it entails or how to put it into practice. Here are some SEO basics:

Research

You have to know not only what your competition is doing but what your customers are searching for. If you are promoting and producing content that is irrelevant to consumers’ needs, all of the coding and keywords in the world cannot help you. You need to know your own brand and the words that your audiences associate with your brand to be most effective. Google Ads Keyword Planner can help.

Organization

The way your structure your site and individual pages will help search engines place priority on your content. Deciding which keywords you want to emphasize can help you think through the pages you have  already created and the ones you need to build in order to meet your business goals. It is tricky to rank for words that are not included in your pages, so think about the keywords and phrases you want placed throughout your site.

Links

Links help show that your content is valuable. By sending audiences not only to relevant pages within your site but also to other sites that have equally valuable information, search crawlers can recognize you’re not producing spam or junk merely for the sake of SEO rankings.

Results

The whole point of SEO is to connect with a wider audience. Monitor your website’s traffic to make sure what you are doing is working. See where traffic is heading and how long they are staying. Hosts like Squarespace have analytics tools built in, or you can use Google Analytics for more in-depth data comparisons.

Unhappy? Change one thing.

Unhappiness and discontentment feed off each other. When one thing goes wrong, it is easy to focus on all that is negative. One issue then consumes your energy and colors your entire life. It’s a spiral that winds downward, and quickly, if you’re not careful.

Feeling miserable? Find one thing you can change. Just one thing. Drink lemon water in the morning. Take a group fitness class. Carve out time to take a long walk. Set up a coffee date with a friend. Plan a vacation. Download a new podcast.

By shifting your attention, you’ll begin to redirect your focus towards experiences you look forward to. Feelings of excitement will gradually overpower those negative ones.

Of course life doesn’t always go your way, but by choosing to chase the positive, you’ll be closer to living a life you don’t want to escape from.

Collaboration over competition

A scarcity mentality sees just enough, a limited pile of resources from which to draw. This kind of thinking breeds competition: “If she is earning that much money, there’s less for me.”

Collaboration, on the other hand, is rooted in abundance. With plenty of supplies and stock for all, there is no need to edge out another in order to gain. In fact, those who come out on top are the ones who have spent time cultivating partnerships and collaborating with like-minded organizations.

Entrepreneurs too often scan for potential threats when they should be looking for ways to build relationships. The most successful leaders realize that in an interconnected world, collaboration is key to solving complex problems, establishing communities, and inspiring new generations.

It is no longer enough to be first; the system with the most users, the most clients, and the most buy-in is the one that will stay ahead of the curve.