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Doing Time In A Cave
I have been attracted to the Buddha for most of my adult life. I don’t know what it is or how it arrived, but he is silently looming by my side. Maybe it’s some leftover karma from another life, or perhaps the early exposure to Christianity drove me to find an alternative figure. However he showed up, I am grateful. A few books over my lifetime have had profound, lasting impacts on who I have become. One of those is Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. If you are interested in knowing more about the Buddha’s story, this is a wonderful expression of his life and message. It’s short and sweet. I…
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One Conversation Can Change Your Life
I worked for the federal government right out of college. It was the kind of job that came with a badge and a gun. G man, they called me. That is a real thing, that G talk. When you enter a government job you are assigned a grade level, GS-5, GS-7, etcetera—and when you get a promotion they bump you up a number until you reach 15. General Schedule 15 is the top dog. Ruff. Ruff.
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How To Start A Mastermind Group
It all starts with the desire to be better. That desire leads to a search for improvement. On my path, in particular, that search leads to taking online courses, attending seminars and conferences, joining entrepreneurial communities, and participating in masterminds. It was said somewhere that two heads are better than one—a mastermind takes the ‘more heads are better than one concept and makes it real. Essentially, it’s about finding like-minded people and building a community that offers support and guidance. The fundamental aspect of a mastermind group is a gathering of two or more people that agree to help each other become better versions of themselves. In most cases, the…
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Writing is Dying
A small part of me dies at the end of each sentence. Every period constructs my personal burning ghat, each coma suffocates an ember of my existence. This perpetual death is also the story of my life and worth dying for. Worth writing for. Remnants of myself are sprinkled among the unread paragraphs, the run-on sentences, and the obliterated adjectives. The poems that rambled in my mind and never made it into form, meet the unjust expression of non-expression. Yet, a hurricane of life blows inside of me. In moments of calm, it feels, I feel, barely palpable—like being softly kissed by stardust at twilight. I keep writing. I keep…
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Seth Godin Workshop
Last year I signed up for Seth Godin’s Creatives Workshop in his Akimbo offering.. Seth is a marketer and has been a mentor of mine for many years. I have read most of his books and his daily email is one of the few emails that I read on a regular basis. The Creatives Workshop is a 100 Day sprint within a digital community. Seth releases training videos on a weekly basis within the digital forums and his facilitators help shepherd the students during the course. There are zoom calls and an emphasis is placed on shipping something each day—which means that you are committing to showing up and creating…
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Piano-less Playing Granny
When I was a child my Grandmother had 2 pianos in the living room. I never saw her sit down and play them in 20 years. I was always banging on them as a little guy—secretly hoping that she would teach me. Then she died. I heard whispers from relatives later that she loved to sing, dance, and play the piano in her youth. I found an old newspaper article that celebrated her talents as a professional dancer—’Kathy was a ballerina savant’ it said. She never once talked with me about that part of herself. At some point in her life, before I knew her, she lost the energy to…
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How To Prepare For The Canton Fair
The Canton Fair is the largest product trade show in the world. It happens twice per year in both the Spring and Fall. The show is broken into three phases depending on the products that you produce. You can check out the product lists and see where your niche falls. Each phase lasts 5 days. The exhibit takes place in Guangzhou. Guangzhou is the fifth largest city in China—it’s about one hour by train from Hong Kong. There are 20+ million inhabitants as of 2020 and the skyline is expanding quicker than a bamboo plant. Pick A Phase 1, 2, 3 The first thing you need to figure out is…
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Tony Robbins Unleash The Power Within Review
Are you considering attending the UPW event and looking for an honest Unleash the Power Within review? In this article, I review my experience at Tony Robbins Unleash The Power Within, or as the cool kids say, UPW or #upw. This 3 ½ day event is designed to help participants unlock and unleash their inner strength and power. Unleash the Power Within emphasizes (un)conditioning oneself to achieve a peak state and explores key areas such as overcoming fears and self-limiting beliefs. The seminar aims to transform lives by encouraging individuals to try new things like fire-walking, meeting people, and actively engaging in personal growth and development. Tony UPW: Life Happens…
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Eye of Whale
Eye of Whale | 2018 | Oil | 5′ X 6′ | © Derek Dodds
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Past Reading Lists
I like to keep these reading lists to refer back to what I was reading and thinking about during the specific time. It helps me map out my journey. I rarely re-read books, but I do deep dive into authors that I resonate with and enjoy reading the back catalog of their writing. 2023 Reading List 2022 Reading List 2021 2020 Fiction: Non Fiction: 2019 Non-Fiction 2018 Reading List 2017 Reading List
