I know this one is going to go long, so I won’t waste time on an intro.
If you’re interested:
I will pause for my typical “pat on the back for consistency”, however. This time, I’m proud to say that I actually finished this post early. And I only mention that because it is a new feat.
Yay.
I actually completed this post in May.
But.
No further delay.
1. My Hero’s Journey
If you read April’s personal growth post, you’ll remember a dramatic section about how I’m a terrible roommate… or something like that.
Perhaps I make too big a deal of such situations:
I really hate to fail… especially with people.
Generally speaking, I need plenty of “Suck My Thumb and Cry Like a Baby Time” after such episodes. This is my way of describing periods of general self-pity where I prefer to smoke, drink, binge on netflix, and play video games. After all, the alternative is facing my emotions head on, integrating my losses, exercising forgiveness, and moving on in a healthy way. What sort of madman would want to do that? Distraction is sooo much easier.
And yet:
I know the serpent is one of my spirit animals.
Throughout my life I have “broken myself down and built myself back up, better” (aka. shed my skin). I’ve been saying that since middle school. And this is just another of those times. A small one, certainly… but build myself back, I must.
This fall wasn’t far. So the rebuild is just a continuation of a theme… a theme I might as well write about here.
What is the “hero’s journey”?
More importantly, what is my hero’s journey?
I was first introduced to the concept by listening to Brian Johnson. But I’ve heard it mentioned by other people I follow, such as Robin Sharma and Ray Dalio. It may or may not be accurate to say that Joseph Campbell coined the phrase. Whether he came up with the phrase or not, his work introduced the concept to many.
This documentary about Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey has been on my “to watch list” for awhile now:
We finally knocked out it, during our May 6th mastermind group. And it was friggin’ awesome. It’s one of those films that have a potential to light a fire under your ass. Or, at least that is the kind of effect it has had on me.
And that only makes sense. The more I remind myself of my “why’s”, the less I care about “how’s”. When I’m focused on my goals, I GET SHIT DONE. Challenges, obstacles, impediments, and other negative nouns get smashed through.
So this month, I dove back into the life I want to create for myself.
And to keep that momentum going, I’m going to make my first promise of new content on this blog. Once upon a time, I wrote a post I titled Motivation. It was on the old zachbradshaw.co, before the .com (this site) was available. It’s about time I redid it. Moreover, I’m going to expand and build upon it.
In June, I plan to make “My Hero’s Journey” known… or at least what I believe it to be. Of course, heroes don’t always know their true destination. But an intended destination is important. You have to have a story to be the hero of it. And all we can be is the hero of our own story.
Feel free to watch me succeed and fail as I attempt to live up that standard.
2. Financial Literacy Binge Fest
For the longest time, I cared not for money.
Now, I realize just how important it is. My big goals require big money. Some of it is about financial freedom. But most of the time, it’s because I’m trying to do epic shit. I literally just want to build the world my sons deserve. And there are a lot of pieces to that pie… expensive pieces.
Luckily, I think I have another century or so on this planet to make my waves.
That’s good. Because big money takes time to get. Sure, there are short cuts. But as Grant Cardone says, “Don’t get rich quick. Get rich for sure.” And that is what I plan on doing. I will probably become a certified financial planner. But that is only part of a larger vision. And I have other pieces to perfect first.
In the meantime, I #AlwaysBeLearning. May was big on passive income and investing.
My highlights here get out of hand.
Sorry that I am not sorry.
Of course, I found someone new and watched all of his videos.
Here’s only a fraction of the YouTube views he earned from me this month:
He’s a financial planner with online businesses. Just the kind of guy I want to learn from.
YouTube knows I’m on a passive income kick so it also served me another YouTuber, Pat Flynn.
He’s another online guy. I didn’t dive as deeply with him, but I definitely recommend him as a “make money online” teacher.
Here’s a couple videos I liked:
I also get down with Robert Kiyosaki.
I’ve read Rich Dad Poor Dad and loved it. Then, Jeff Rose reminded me of him. And YouTube served him to me in related videos.
I ended up watching all the way through this playlist (short, pitchy videos).
I’m current on this playlist as well. It has some flaws and they are still releasing content.
Still, I thought them worth embedding:
Hopefully, this is the last long list of embeds in a monthly personal growth post.
As you’ll see in #5, I’ll be organizing them elsewhere.
3. Business Growth Log
This could become another monthly series.
For today, I’ll throw it here.
This month, our focus has been on Mitersawreviews.biz.
I am partnering with the site’s owner to redo the site. Obviously, it is a miter saw review site. It has been dead for several years. In that time, several new saws have come out. So the main thing we need to do is review those saws. We also need to update the old saw reviews. This month, we created a new review prototype and researched the new saws. We updated a few reviews and added two new saws. Next month, we should get the rest of them done.
Speaking of next month:
(Public) June Business Goals
- MiterSawReviews.Biz – Update all reviews. Review all significant new saws. Redo rankings.
- Work From Home Junkie – Make public. Complete 1st guide. Complete intro post.
- Greensboro SEO Pro – Service current clients. Update brand and marketing plan.
- Other Marketing Brands – Optimize website backends. Complete sitemap skeletons.
- Personal Brand – Make site presentable. Optimize network. June personal growth post +1.
Again, I’m not sure what this list will look like moving forward. It could get it’s own series starting in two weeks or it could run as my #3 here through 2018. My ideas tend to have a mind of their own; the best I can do is shepherd them into some sort of productive state.
This is but one iteration of that process.
Day by day, I become a more proficient delegator. This gives me more opportunities to do what I do best. Perhaps my most valuable traits are my curiosity and confidence in my ability to learn. The more I can play this role, the more successful my businesses will be.
For the first time in my life, I realize that I am sitting at the beginning of a major paradigm shift (I “missed” the Internet Boom.). Within that shift, all I smell is opportunity for the know-it-all in Zach Bradshaw.
So…
4. My Blockchain Education Continues
This has been an interesting month in crypto.
But I guess you could say that in every month since I’ve been involved (Dec ’17).
I’ve kept up with my boys Ivan, Datadash, Carter Thomas, and Suppoman. I’ve looked over a ton of different projects. I’ve locked in positions on sh!tload of altcoins. And generally, I’ve kept on learning.
I promised no more long embed lists here, but two of the best crypto videos I’ve seen came out this month. And I think that anyone involved in crypto could benefit from these.
This one is great for those who do not understand the uses of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
And all cryptocurrency traders and investors should see this one:
Lastly, I cannot wait to start Ivan on Tech’s blockchain coding course.
Beyond that, I’ll leave my other learnings for:
5. My Best Resources
I am full of unsolicited advice.
I have a tendency to high-jack conversations and word-vomit all over people. Diet. Psychology. Neuroscience. Personal finance. Online business. Blockchain.
Well that sh!t is annoying. And I don’t want to be annoying.
At the same time, people often ask me where I learn stuff. I often refer to “YouTube University”—my way of saying that most of it is online for free. Don’t get me wrong, I literally pay $1000s of dollars every year on self education. Almost all of it is online, via video, audio, and/or text. I don’t discriminate on learning methods. Wherever the knowledge is, I will seek it out, understand, and apply.
Sounds real smooth. But the truth is, I wade through an enormous amount of crap as well.
That’s why I think that creating best resource lists out of the things I study is a good idea. It will help me find what I need later. Plus, they will make it easy give people solid study materials.
At the very least, it will help me stop ruining these monthly posts with ungainly numbers of videos.
Now, they can fit nicely into their own designated pages.
Here’s the start:
- Health
- Work From Home
- Copywriting
- SEO
- Social Media
- FB Ads
- Financial Freedom
- Investing
- Crypto
- Training Wishlist
For now, these pages are only placeholders as I organize my info over the course of June.
I’m sure the topic list will expand. And I’m sure that each of the lists will continue to grow. I plan to evolve right along with them.
Stay tuned to ZachBradshaw.com and you might be able to keep up with me.
Almost to the halfway point of 2018.
5 Monthly Personal Growth Posts down, at least 7 more to go.
Don’t have much for a clever conclusion. But I do appreciate you taking the time to read these 1700+ words of mine.
Until next time. :)