This begins a month of really diving into what Value of Simple stands for and why we've gathered to help each other liberate our time, money, and talent.
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Holy crap.
It's been over two years since I wrote my first blog post on November 27, 2010. I've been blogging for two years?!
Wowzers.
I'm going to explain how far I've come since that first post (only good for a laugh these days) and show the invaluable lessons I've learned.
You can even read my first year blogging recap, but the context isn't necessary. Like my one-year anniversary, I'm marking this second year with a little of everything.
Join me for story time and to create a benchmark for what's to come a year from now.
This Could Get Serious
Most of the articles I created before March 2, 2012 – my last day working a corporate job – weren't all that great. Some of them were so unredeemable that they were deleted when Enlightened Resource Management became Value of Simple in July.
I'm proud of some earlier articles, but I simply didn't have the time, focus, skills, and energy to create consistently badass content until quitting my job.
Since March, I've been working my butt off to make a ripple in the Internet and spark positive change. I gotta tell ya, becoming dedicated to teaching others how to simplify, organize, be money wise, and find their “why” has been immensely rewarding.
Some of the best ways I've been a catalyst for other people's personal renaissance were in creating things like:
- The Personal User Guide: Who's nutty enough to create their own Personal User Guide (and make it public) so anyone can understand what makes a person tick in ten minutes or less? Apparently I am. And a number of folks have joined me to transparently celebrate who they are.
- The Continuous Creation Challenge: It started with a personal 72 hour challenge in April and blossom into a shared 120 hour challenge in September. I have big plans for the Continuous Creation Challenge! Those include building resources that will make planning and experiencing it as amazing for everyone else as it is for me.
- The 27 Simple Sages Article: This was intended to be my big splash in rebranding this website. 5,000 views, 43 “Likes,” and 50 tweets later, I'd say the Simple Sages helped me succeed with this one.
- Smart and Simple Matters: Launching my online audio show and the episodes so far has been more fun than anything else I've done. I absolutely, positively love doing the show. And people love listening or reading the episodes too. Damn it feels good to know I'm making waves with SASM!
- Start Investing with $100: It was only two weeks ago that SIW100 launched, but already I've felt the impact. To my students' confidence, to my personal bottom line, and to the increased respect I've received from a number of people.
I could keep going, but this isn't a “Joel's 2012 highlight reel” and it's not to showcase the lowlights either. I've pointed out plenty of my faults and plan to call out more later this month.
Let's hit the main event and discover what invaluable lessons year number two revealed.
Lessons Learned
This could easily be an epic 4,000 word post. However, I'm keeping this shorter to save other lessons learned for another day. As these biggies are revealed, think about what takeaways you can act on from one or all of the lessons.
Help Until It Hurts … and Then Keep Helping
Maybe it was Keith Ferrazzi's influence from Never Eat Alone and Who's Got Your Back (affiliate links). Maybe it was a strange experiment with Help Day.
Whatever it was, this year was focused on helping my friends, family, peers, online communities, neighbors, random strangers, and everyone else in between.
I spent so many more of my resources helping others this year than any other year. Sometimes until it literally hurt (like back pain from digging holes in a garden on Help Day) and sometimes until the mental strain got too big (like punishing my brain coming up with the perfect name for a friend's new website).
You know what?
The more I helped everyone else, the more help was available to me. I can't begin to explain how many people are willing to help you deeply when they know you're ready to help them too.
Always Seek New Communities
I've joined or embraced many communities in the past year.
Podcasters, Toastmasters, Puttypeeps, and Bootstrappers.
Blogging Bootcamps, a Comment Cartel, one Mastermind, and Product Creators.
Curators, Spreadsheet Makers, Bodyweight Exercisers, and Paleo Bakers.
I could go on.
Each of these communities has given me something – a tool, mindset, resource, or support – I couldn't get anywhere else.
The awesome part for you is that each of these communities has made me a better content creator (except maybe the Bodyweight Exercisers and Paleo Bakers).
I'm a better public speaker, leader, writer, blogger, idea generator, and entrepreneur because of them. I'm a more ethical, organized, thoughtful, smart, passionate, creative, simple, and money wise dude based on their help.
I believe you can never have too many friends. I also believe you can never have too many “people.”
As my dad would say, who are your “people?” What groups do they belong to? How can you find and join communities that have a message or mission that resonates deep inside?
Earn and Re-earn Everyone's Attention and Respect
Who consumes what you create and what action do they take from it?
Those two questions are holdovers from last year and are just as relevant today.
Nobody just gets a community that will keep coming back. You have to earn and reearn the right and privilege of people's attention. You have to earn and reearn everyone's respect, even from folks who have stuck with you for years.
The goal at VoS is to have you absorb what I create and take positive action as a result.
Sometimes it's:
- Physical like getting into bed and practicing dying
- Mental like extracting superpowers from your weaknesses
- Digital like curating the heck out of your experiences
- Simple like sharing a link to quality content to benefit someone else
But if you're not taking action, I'm not doing it right.
Cultivate Family and Friends Support
Friends and family will naturally support who you are, what you do, how you achieve your goals, and why you operate a certain way…to an extent.
The first time you take their support for granted is the first time you start to lose some of it. Cultivate support when you don't need it so that it's freely given when you do need it.
Support from our most important people, who also empower most of our success and happiness, is like being physically healthy. I always say:
Our bodies show amazing resiliency when necessary, as long as we treat them well before it's necessary.
I constantly remind myself that the things I depend upon don't just let me depend upon them without intentional cultivating.
Start thinking about what lessons you can act on now that I've shared my biggest lessons. If you don't act, I'm not doing it right.
Do You Want to Help?
With the help you've already provided, I had almost as many visitors on July 9, 2012 as I did from December 2010 to December 2011. As much in a day as a whole freakin' year!
Do you want to help make VoS ten times better in year three? Here are some simple things you can do right now to empower us all:
- Leave a comment about what you'd like to see more and less of. It can be specific like “More podcasts about digital organizing” or general like “Less text. Keep it brief, man!”
- Contact me about what you need to sign up or stay signed up to our email newsletter
- Make others aware I exist. You can do it your own way, but tweeting about me or an article (like this one) and leaving a written review of Smart and Simple Matters in iTunes help a ton.
Thanks again for reading! It's truly special to share myself, my resources, my ideas, and this space with you!
What are the biggest lessons you've learned this year? And which of the three simple ways to help us did you just complete?
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Special note: The winners of the two Start Investing with $100 scholarships are Emilie and Jim! Congratulations to you both and I'm excited to see you on the inside of SIW100.
Congratulations on 2yrs.
I really enjoy your work and your blog. “The Personal User Guide” is great. That is the type of work that I’d love to see more of.
Dan Garner
Hi Dan,
Did you publish your own Personal User Guide somewhere? I’m always interested in reading other people’s guide, so hit us with a link if we can view it online (or email yours to me if you don’t want the whole world to see it).
I already have some plans to make a bunch of additional free resources in 2013. I don’t know if any of them will have the scope of The Personal User Guide, but cumulatively, they’re going to add up to some serious value. I hope you and everyone else likes spreadsheets too!
Wow, Joel! This is a big milestone and a beautifully written blog post to boot. You really are an inspiration for both joining AND giving back to communities.
Let me just say- thank you. I’ve been enjoying your blog as a regular reader and enjoy catching your podcast while I’m driving to and from the office… er… tiny house construction site.
Thanks buddy. After writing this post, I was talking to Melinda about the recap from my first year blogging and the similarities in writing style and communicating concepts today’s post has. Originally, I didn’t really like the first year blogging recap, but I suppose it was actually half-decent. Even if I’m not always pumped up about my ability to persuade and inspire via the written word, I am always pumped up about what I have to write about.
FYI: Consider this a hat tip right back to you. I’ve been digging Cloud Coach for a while and appreciating pretty much everything you have going on in your life (tiny house definitely included).
A fine post, Joel! I hope I have that much to say after 12 years of blogging. Jeez! I love the helping other until it hurts idea, but I noticed that it only works when I help those who want to help themselves. Then I can give the shirt off my back and it feels great to see them succeed. Also, some families are not that helpful, but if yours is, that is a fantastic advantage! Congrats on all of it!
I don’t take my amazing wife, son, and the rest of the family for granted for a second. It’s truly is an advantage and I wish more people had the same one.
I know how fortunate I am to have their help in so many ways. I mean, who else do you know that has a mom who wants to edit all the stuff they write and is really frickin’ good at it? But as you mention, giving help is only useful if the person on the receiving end wants it and will do something positive with it. Without the desire to be helped and to use it as a force for good, there can be tremendous amounts of frustration and wasted energy.
By the way, don’t sell yourself short. You have plenty of cool stuff to talk about already with your blog.
Thanks for the kind words Joel. I echo Erin’s curiosity about how you nurture so many relationships. That is remarkable stuff to be sure.
Yeah! Congrats! I love the aspects you’ve chosen to highlight as well.
I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned this year is to trust myself. I’ve always been one to follow other people’s advice and seek out the “right” way to do something before taking a single step forward. And while I still do to some extent (I’m not trying to go totally rogue!), I’ve realized that I really am capable of figuring things out and finding a path that works for me. And you’ve certainly contributed to that, so thanks!
I don’t know if you feel something like this would have a place on VoS, but I would love to know more about how you nurture so many connections, keep in touch with such a wide and varied network, that sort of thing. I am in awe of your ability to do so much along those lines when I can hardly keep up with a small circle!
Looking forward to the next year (and the next, and the next…) 🙂
Erin, I could absolutely write a book length post about how I create and nurture so many connections. Most of it would probably be irrelevant to you and everyone else though because a lot of people lack the desire to create and maintain what I feel I need to have. “How to” stuff is only useful if you want to be able to do it, right? If you do, we should talk about it. At any rate, I’ve added your great idea to my overflowing list of future blog posts.
By the way, I love how you’ve learned to trust yourself and your instincts. Going rogue in the pursuit of self-awareness sure is fun! I hope you give us an annual recap of your blogging and life lessons too. Because let’s face it; if it comes from your mind and your fingers, it has amazing written all over it.
Joel, your love for your work shows through in the enthusiasm and quality of the blog! Congratulations on 2 years and on the awesome transformation you’ve made with it.
There’s a lot of valuable information just in this one post … there are areas here that I did not even realize were on your blog and now I want to explore them! It’s impressive that you have been able to close the door on the corporate world and step into the world of doing what you love.
Hi Patti,
I’m happy to hear that my enthusiasm shines through. That’s not the tricky part though. The tricky part is taking my love for this and having other people convert it into seriously liberating their time, money, and talent. Maybe this post will help someone do that and if so, I’m glad. I’ve closed the door on the corporate world, but there’s still a lot of work left to do to ensure I’m never someone’s employee again.
Enjoy your exploring and let me know if you want to see more or less of something once you have a fuller picture of what I’ve created so far.
Congrats Joel, you are definitely rocking it out for your peeps! Great success for the next year!
Nobody gets where they want to go by themselves Lori. I love publicly calling out what people and communities have a huge role in shaping me into the man I am and contribute heavily to any success. I’ll keep rocking it out for my peeps, especially the wonderful folks at A-List Blogging Bootcamps!
Hey Joel,
Congratulations on all that you’ve done to help others with VoS! I love the picture of you, Melinda, and Grant! Keep up the good work, my friend.
Congrats on 2 years! I love hearing about the experiments you do– it’s so cool to see all the stuff you do with your time.
Hey Joel,
Congratulations on hitting the two year mark!
Two things I really appreciate about your blog and would love to see more of, are the the depth of content in your posts (your guide to professional organizers sticks out in my mind) and your podcasts.
I love to read, but seem to retain more when I listen to audio. So I like to throw your podcasts onto my ipod so I can fill my brain up while running errands, or just mooching around.
Depth and audio. Got it Dave. That won’t be a hard request to fulfill because those are two things I just naturally enjoy and strive to create for Value of Simple. I would like to average more than one podcast every other week but I need to figure out where I’m going to get the time (or consolidate the process) to pull it off. The way I do podcasts takes a ton of work, which is both a good sign and bad sign. Thanks for your input!
Some great takeaways, Joel! Congrats on what sounds like a really life-changing second year. At the risk of being too cheesy, I think the only thing the site needs more of is you… more of your awesome exuberance and enthusiasm and genuine willingness to try new things and look at things in a new way.
And congrats, Emilie & Jim!
Your comment about me showing through more in posts is spot on Sarah. I’m still figuring out how to do it with the written word without it being way over the top. ‘Cause I’m a way over the top kind of guy sometimes and that might not make for the best blog posts. Yet another reason why I want to move away from the text-based medium and more into audio and video. Great comment though and it’s what I continually need to hear.
Congrats Joel on two successful years. wow! you’ve come a long way. Appreciate the sweet photos of your family and following your journey.
I agree with Dave, I love that there’s an audio component that I can listen to on the go. Sometimes the reading is too much. So, yeah, from one long-winded blogger to another Let’s keep it Brief! (as much as we can anyway!)
Word counts are for people without much to say, right Sarah? 🙂
Thanks for the comment and the good vibes!
CONGRATULATIONS – Great idea to detail your achievements both for you and for your readers, I’m working on my 2012 list, I think you’ve inspired me to publish it. Keep on doing what you are doing and here’s to another great year at VoS
Congratulations on two years, Joel. That’s great!
I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve read about your tips on organization, and I’m always interested to hear more.
Hey Joel,
This is a great post about all you’ve learned over two years. So much of it resonated with me that I’m having a hard time deciding what I liked best!
In answer to the question at the end of your post, this year, my accomplishment was learning that things take longer than you think they will, always, but that you’ll get there eventually. I don’t think this was about patience for me, as much as faith – learning how to have it, learning to hang onto it, and learning that things work out in the end.
I can’t think of anything I’d like to see more or less of, as I’m pretty much new here. I am interested, however, in what Erin asked about how you keep so many connections going. I hear what you said about how-to’s only being useful if you really want to do the thing, but I’d love to know how you go about it, if you do share that information someday.
Congratulations on two years of blogging!
Hey Megan,
I agree. Most tasks in life take longer than you think they will if you’re honest about counting the total energy and time from the moment you prepare until the moment you transition into something else. The “doing” is only part of it. I equate it to eating dinner at home. You need to get the food out of the fridge or cabinets, prep it, cook it, eat it, clean up after your messy two-year-old son (that might just be me), do the dishes, and then wipe down the counter tops.
If you’ve accomplished having faith in yourself and your circumstances this year, then that alone should make for a great one! Having confidence or patience is one thing. But having faith? That’s advanced level confidence, patience, and a whole bunch of other traits wrapped up into one.
I will take your comments echoing cj and Erin’s about relationships to heart. I hesitate to create content about growing and maintaining a rich set of connections because there’s a ton of great stuff out there about it already (I’m looking at you Scott Dinsmore of Live Your Legend). But if people really want the “Joel flavor” of relationships, I’ll find a way to provide it.
“I had almost as many visitors on July 9, 2012 as I did from December 2010 to December 2011. As much in a day as a whole freakin’ year!”
That is sweet dude. And I know the feeling. The traffic I got last month is equal to the traffic I got in the previous six months combined.
Focusing on how you can help others… not always easy, because it’s a long-term strategy. But definitely the best way to go.
Congrats on two years, and lots of progress!
As for what I’d like to see more of… perhaps free money giveaways?
Woot woot Amit! I knew you were rocking it lately, but I didn’t realize how much. I might be coming to you for the free money giveaways instead of the other way around. 🙂
Congratulations! I love that you have continued to evolve and create new work. I did love the continous creativity challenge. I was challenged by the sheer time involvment and giving up other time sapping activities. I will definitely check out the $100 investing info. too. I find your posts the perfect length. If I run across a lengthy post – I skim. So my advice to is to keep it the length you have been.
Thanks Jane. I need constant reinforcement that the length of the content I create isn’t turning them off.
Congrats on 2 years, Joel!! =) I’m afraid I can’t offer much in the way of what I’d like to see more/less of…I’ve been in hibernation mode and so far away from the blogosphere. 🙁
But I love the energy here. You’ve always struck me as a very professional, helpful and genuine kinda guy. I like the way you do things. So I *did* share via Twitter!
Thanks for the comment and social media love Kaylee. You know you’re always welcome to ask me to lend some of my energy to any of your creative pursuits. I’d love to see what you have planned for us when you come out of hibernation mode!