Do you feel safe here?

Google’s PILab identified psychological safety as the biggest differentiator between highly effective and less effective teams. Psychological safety is a general term for team members’ willingness to take interpersonal risk as they work together. Members of psychologically safe teams are more likely to feel included, accepted, respected, and to feel safe to take risks, to admit mistakes and to show vulnerability.

What can you do to build psychological safety?

1. Include each team member in social activities, such as lunch or ping pong, especially when he or she is not part of the ‘in crowd’. In meetings, formal or informal, make sure they feel invited to contribute.

2. Accept others for who they are, even when there are things about them that you may not like. Keep in mind that they are people — not just co-workers who are instrumental in getting your job done.

3. Listen to what your team member has to say and make sure you’re on the same page; don’t simply wait for the end of their speech to continue your argument.

4. Recognize the contribution of others - acknowledge their contribution. You’ll discover that sharing the pie of credit with others makes the pie larger.

5. Show vulnerability and admit mistakes — recognizing your own imperfections and mistakes relieves you from the need to project the image of perfection.  It also makes room for others to do the same.

6. Make room for conflict — it is okay to strongly disagree. Having said that; focus on the conflicting ideas, not on the people who advocate them.

Travis wants to go back to school so he accepts a job at Google. On his first day he ends up getting on a bus to Apple, not Google.

The rest of the story is about how introspection into ones own strengths and weaknesses can lead you to companies like Google.

Music produced by Morqix: https://soundcloud.com/morqix/body-symmetry-chakra-collab

In this episode, we unravel a thread of an idea and watch it unravel into a fantastic walkthrough from Travis around some potential actions we could take to get started as a public speaker.

5 fears I have

1. Everyone will think I’m a fraud

   Impostor syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments. Despite external evidence of their competence, those with the syndrome remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve the success they have achieved.

   A month before his death, he reportedly confided in a friend, saying “the exaggerated esteem in which my lifework is held makes me very ill at ease. I feel compelled to think of myself as an involuntary swindler.”

   Solution: Realize that Everyone else feels like that. Become okay with it.

   Psychological research done in the early 1980s estimated that two out of five successful people consider themselves frauds and other studies have found that 70 percent of all people feel like impostors at one time or another. So get over it.

2. I am a fraud, and everyone will find out soon

   This week I published a video in which I invited another developer to do a code review of my JS. So far 3K people have seen it. So now they know.

   Solution: Okay, now they know. So now I don’t have to worry that they will find out, because that already happened. What now? Keep moving.

3. I will run out of ideas

   This is kind of a new one for me. Now that I’ve been sharing ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for a while and sometimes I sit down to spit out a new piece of content and I feel like the well is dry.

   Solution: Sean McCabe of Seanwes suggests to “Don’t worry about repeating yourself. People need to hear things multiple times and there are always new people finding your show or blog.”

4. People will loose interest in what I’m doing

   I’ve always been afraid of getting old, But now I’m afraid of becoming irrelevant. My work relies on myself being able to have relevant ideas and being able to mold something meaningful from them.

   Solution: My value is not the work I did yesterday. My entire body of work speaks for itself.

   Solution: People only care about your work as long as it benefits themselves.

   I googled “people will loose interest in my work” and every result was about people struggling with their own work ethic. No one cares about you, relax. Then make something that helps someone.

5. It will never be this good again

   In economics and decision theory, loss aversion refers to people's tendency to strongly prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. Most studies suggest that losses are twice as powerful, psychologically, as gains.

   Living like this is like driving while looking solely in the rear view mirror. It’s impossible to make good decisions.

   Solution: Maybe you are right. YOLO!

How to get better at making things, or HOW WE REALLY CREATE!

Have you ever read something or heard someone say something so wonderful and powerful that your heart starts beating almost right out of your chest? I love those moments. I live for those moments.

A few years ago I watched a series of lectures by Kirby Ferguson. The title of the series is called Everything Is A Remix. I've discussed these lectures before. They are paradigm shifting. I recommend them. Especially his TED talk called Embracing the Remix. In fact, if you want to stop listening to this just to go look them up on YouTube I think you would be glad you did.

Anyhow, in his lectures Kirby talks about the three key steps of creation. They are Copy, Transform, and Combine.

Copy

No one starts out original. We cannot create anything new until we have a solid foundation of knowledge and understanding in our line of work. Copying is how we learn.

Transform

Taking an idea and creating variations. Major advances are usually not original ideas, but the breaking point in a long history of progress by many different individuals.

Combine

The most dramatic results happen when various ideas are combined together. By connecting ideas together, creative leaps can be made.

As Kirby outlined the progression of a creative work, he led my attention from entertained to interested, from enthralled to moved and transformed.

I grew up in the post-industrial american school system. We are trained to obey, repeat, and memorize. There is nothing creative about the training I received as a child. In fact, creation — as outlined by Kirby to copy, transform, and combine — is looked down upon and smothered by threats and shameful labels. We have a strange obsession with being original, and often confuse that with being authentic.

Imagine the freedom and validation I felt when Kirby outlined my secret shame as a strength. I had, as a young and aspirational creative, been secretly copying the works of those I admired for years. I repurposed and recomposed their own ideas to meet my needs. I did it in the shadows. Hoping to never be discovered. Never wanting to be branded a plagiarist or unoriginal.

But now Kirby tells me its okay. Not only that, it's the correct path.
 

Insight / Tips

As I look back over my personal history I can see that these steps of creativity of (copy, transform, combine) are not just descriptive of a creations lifespan, but also that of the creator itself.

When I was a boy I would steal my Mom's tracing paper and trace my comic book pages for hours. I would get lost in the lines and curves. I didn't understand it at the time, but I was learning about scale and contrast, light and shadow, hierarchy and story telling. I was just trying to draw a cool superhero, but I was being trained by my generations masters.

Eventually I could draw the characters from memory, after a little while longer I could improvise their poses and create my own little silly stories. I would mix styles and place my favorite characters in scenes that I had seen in movies or read about in books.

Soon enough I was creating new characters made up of elements of my favorite heroes. Wings and claws, guns and katanas, glowing fists and belts with far too many pouches (it was the 90's after all.)

Only now I can look back and see own my personal progression through the stages of copying, transforming, and combining to make something new and personally valuable.

It might be fun to someday outline the various influences that combine to make the DevTips style of videos.
 

Task

Recognize and celebrate the origin of your ideas. Be honest with yourself and your audience. Enable yourself to have a real conversation about your work, your passion, and your influences. 

Being aware of how creation comes about will make you more open to the things that you can draw upon and use to create something new.

Or as Kirby puts it:
 

Our creativity comes from without, not from within. We are not self-made, we are dependent on one another. Admitting this to ourselves isn’t an embrace of mediocrity and derivativeness — it’s a liberation from our misconceptions, and its an incentive to not expect so much from ourselves and to simply begin.

#The loss of thought

Most of us have problems or ideas that we want to solve or elaborate on and one of the hardest parts of these problems and ideas is finding the time to think about them. Have you noticed that most of the time when you are taking a shower or a bath, you somehow come up with something brilliant or insightful? Something actionable?

There are many things in our lives that require our attention some are important and some aren’t, either way, our time to think is lost and taken away from us.

So what is unique about the shower or bath that allows us to think?

It is one of the only moments that is built into our routine where we don’t have gadgets, internet, family, peers, or pets fighting for our attention. In the shower, you are still, contemplative, with yourself. You have, by accident, built in time to think.

Imagine if you had more time to think and reflect? How many more problems could you find solutions to? How many different and brilliant ideas could you uncover?

So for the next few minutes, Travis and I are going to get out of your way and give you the time you need to think. Reflect on how you are going to start your school or workday. Reflect on how your day ended. Reflect on what you can start doing, continue doing, and stop doing immediately.

Thank you for listening and enjoy the next few thoughtful minutes.

Questions we discuss

• How long have you been doing DevTea?

• What is the elevator pitch of DevTea?

• why did you start?

• What is the most popular episode about?

• What is your favorite episode about?

• How much time goes into an episode?

• What before that? Anything public?

• You have a very clear message on DevTea, What was involved in developing that unique voice for yourself?

• I've noticed that you've incorporated more hard skill based discussion into Devtea, what difficulties/ insights have you come across from trying new things?

• If you were to coach someone in gaining their own unique voice, where would you start?

• Where do you turn for content ideas?

• We were recently asked this: Once you make awesome content, how do you get people to notice it?

• You recently co-founded a podcast network, spec.fm. What is your goal there? Why start a network?

• What has been the outcome so far?

• What do you hope your listeners will take away from the work you do?

How to enjoy yourself at a conference

1. Focus on the people you meet.

   • the most valuable part of the conference is in the hallways between sessions.
   • Not your heroes
   • people looking at their phones / get off your phone
   • be brave
   • Don’t have agenda, other than being interested in people

2. Have an open schedule, go to all the parties and don’t be lame. Be in introvert when you get home.

3. Make yourself easy to connect to after the conf

   • having a card is basic
   • make a sticker, or something fun
   • have a reason that they should remember you
     • make a little project, have a giveaway, write a medium post or something.

4. have a system for recording who you meet.

   • note who they are AND WHAT YOU TALKED ABOUT - jog their memory later

5. Follow up with ppl you met after you get home

   • email
   • twitter
   • linked in
   • again, have a reason

Travis tell Los how to write an email. Sounds basic, but you'd be surprised. You should listen.

How to write an email that gets noticed.

1. Write a concise, quickly actionable subject line.

2. Quickly introduce yourself and if appropriate what makes you worth a damn. Or pay a simple - yet well considered compliment.

3. Quickly to the point. Keep it focused.

4. Don't attach anything

5. Proofread. Omg proofread.

6. Make your request of the recipient quickly actionable.

   • what do you think of x, vs do you agree with x?
   • what can you donate, vs can you donate x?
   • would you like to have a call, vs can I give you a call Tuesday morning?

7. Design your email so that their response can be as quick and simple as possible.

8, End happy

SPECIAL EDITION: Trav and Los look at the reactions to Google's new logo, and then give their own.

Los talks about a powerful skill anyone can obtain without a mentor or teacher.

In this episode Trav and Los talk to you about not limiting yourself and what you can do to expand you capacities.

Stop Limiting yourself! Medium article referenced: https://medium.com/life-learning/bruce-lee-doesn-t-care-if-you-die-if-you-don-t-do-this-one-thing-ac06cf597e58

Share To Win! Why You should be a publisher

I’ve talked about why you should be a publisher before. — travandlos.com/18

What should you share?

Scoop up the scraps of your work and spend a few minutes putting them in a format that you can share. You we talked about your process. Share that.

• Share your notebook
• make voice recordings - podcast!
• scrapbook
• take photographs of your process
• make videos of yourself working
• Share your research
• your references and inspirations
• drawings
• plans
• sketches
• user interviews
• pinboards
• prototypes
• demos
• diagrams
• collections
• stories

Austin Kelon says “this isn’t about making art, its about simply keeping track of what's around you.”

Sharing your work is the only way to get interest in the things you do. Share your creativity, get discovered.

Trav tells Los about meeting a designer who took a stand for what he believes in.

The Full Process

Eddy said that the whole time He was thinking “Process” — as in big company bureaucracy and red tape. It's not about that. I want to talk about the Creative Process.

Why have a process at all?

I get emails a lot from people who are frustrated with their own work.

• This is partially the crucible of creative education. Just the fact that you do suck and you need just to do the work and get better with time.

• The other part is that they are not working the right way. It’s like trying to drive to disneyland with a map of Texas, or no map at all.

  • trying to design before all the questions are answered
  • I sometimes get comments from people complaining about the first few videos of my start to finish series because we don’t touch code until the fourth video.

Some Reasons

1. Remove the stress of creating Ex nihilo (out of nothing)
2. Prepares your mind for creative influences
3. the process can actually be the source of the solution
4. Makes it easier to work with a team
5. Showing process gives more credibility to your client or boss
6. Helps you to be organized and to maintain many projects at once
7. more

What is the process?

Discover -> Make -> Observe -> Repeat ->

|——––––––––––– ask questions –––––––––––|

"To follow the process you need to calm down and follow the process" 1. Discover

On the Wistia blog Jeff Vincent remarks that “your initial meeting, or creative discovery call, is the first – and most important – step to collaborating on a creative project. This meeting lays the groundwork for you and your client’s working relationship, outlines your process, and establishes the direction your [ project ] will take.” [source]

In the discovery phase you need to

• determine success metrics
• identify stakeholders
• determine the target audience
  • develop empathy for them. learn to care about what they care about.
• nail the core message
• gather inspiration
• make a plan for the production phase
• DOCUMENT!

2. Make

This is where your unique skill, vision, and value come into play. Just make stuff.

3. Observe

This is where you take your creation and you ask the hard questions. Compare the results to your success metrics. Did you succeed?

None of this should be a surprise you you because in the process you need to be asking questions the whole time. But this is the phase where you really test your ideas. Put your prototypes in the hands of users. Do some multivariate testing.

Tim Ferriss famously printed his book cover options out and took them to the local book store. He sat with a counter and clicked it when ever someone picked up that cover design. After a few tries he had a winner. Have you seen the cover? It looks like crap, but it works. That’s the beauty of it. It doesn’t matter if it’s pretty, it matters if it works. He wasn’t trying to impress people on dribble, he was trying to sell books. It’s different.

I got a question in an email last week. “how do you know that some design is right when you work alone? Do you have some procedure you follow?”

I said: “Usually before you start designing you have a set of requirements or goals. If your design meets those requirements then it is a success. Easy!”

His reply: “You know is not that simple. :)”

4. Repeat

Repeat doesn’t need to be at the end. Repeat is a theme that happens through out, just as you are asking questions throughout the whole project you are committing to a cycle of question, try, test, repeat. Micro cycles and macro cycles.

Eddy says me: “is point #4 doable in the real-world?? A full-process designer is more concerned with process than outcomes, trusting that good process will always lead to good outcomes. What if you do some work and you learn that you had some incorrect initial assumptions?”

So yes, this process accounts for that because you should be using it on the micro and macro level, asking questions throughout, discovering, making, observing and repeating.

In this episode Trav and Los talk about what you can do, such that, people will want to listen to you.

Trav and Los have a late night chat about how we are beginners, amateurs, and experts all at the same time.

We refer to this medium article on Shuhari: https://medium.com/designing-atlassian/shuhari-design-mastery-378e78e7d062

Full-Process Designer

1. A full-process designer concerns themself with the entire creative process (Reflect -> Make -> Observe -> Repeat)

2. A full-process designer does not let the excitement of starting a new project carry them past the important initial steps.

3. A full-process designer has focused their skill set on being able to take an idea from inception to completion, yet is able to interface with, and welcomes the collaboration of others more specialized in their vertical.

4. A full-process designer is more concerned with process than outcomes, trusting that good process will always lead to good outcomes.

5. A full-process designer is not confined by tools or trends although uses these things to achieve the desired result.

6. A full-process designer documents their thinking and will never expect someone to understand their vision without context.

7. A full-process designer can lead as well as follow.

8. A full-process designer asks questions throughout the entire process.

9. A full-process designer understands how to create as well as sell their work.

10. A full-process designer understands that the quality of the conversations held are largely responsible for the outcome of the process. The quality of the resulting product reflects the quality of the creative process—and the curiosity and determination of the participants.

Question: How are you a salesman?

Mark Landis

• There is a Documentary about him on Netflix, it’s called “Art & Craft” — he’s one of the most successful art forgers. It’s quite amazing he would recreate Picaso’s, among other
  things magic markers and canvases bought at walmart.

• He convinced over 45 museums to hang his paintings on their walls.

You or I could not tell the difference between an authentic Picasso and one from Landis. So what makes Picasso’s work with millions and Landis’s a scam?

The story!

“You might think that the pleasure you get from a painting depends on it’s color and it’s shape and it’s pattern. And if that’s right, it shouldn’t matter whether it’s an original or a forgery. — but our brains don’t work that way —When shown an object or given a plate of food, or shown a face, people’s assessment of it — how much they like it, how valuable it is — is deeply affected by what you tell them about it.”

— Paul bloom, Psychology Professor

So this is where I say that every successful artist and creator is a salesman.

Are you placing your work on in your portfolio unaccompanied by context or explanation?

A smart creative displays case studies, not portfolio projects.

If you think your art speaks for itself. You are wrong.

In this episode we remove a word from our vernacular and rethink our habitual sentence structures for better conversations.

TL:DL;

• Remove "Just" and structure your sentences in a "yes, and..." format! Listen through for the full details!
• "No, But!" is more of a mindset to avoid than the word itself. The use of the word "but" is still good to use to contrast ideas!

Learn how to steal a college education. Hack that education! If you have access to the internet, then you have access to all the knowledge you need. What is hard about learning is not knowing what you don't know. We talk you through a simple exercise to learn what you don't know.

Travs Thesis

Burn out happens when you don't believe in what you are doing.

Avoid Burnout

Los says that if you want to avoid burn out, you should not burn out.

Overcome Burnout

Trav says that if you are currently experiencing burnout, you should try to find a shoulder to lean on.

Caleb Meredith

"Burn out is when you tell yourself you don't believe in what your doing because that's easier than continuing"

Lukaz Morawski

"or when what you are doing becomes a routine"

Karim

"burnout happens when you are stuck in whatever you are doing. When you stop learning the fun in zapped !"

Priomh

"IMHO burnout happens as a result of not managing your burn rate. I am not referring to financial "burn rate", but physical and mental burn rate. It is so easy to get burned out if you are not clear aboutwhat you are trying to accomplish, so I somewhat agree. Not believing in what you are doing is a huge part of that.

"A common factor for my own burnout that I personally have found is that I am not addressing subconscious issues. Dave Allen gives some great advice on this and said the root of most stresses in life is not knowing what you want and not addressing the task at hand.

1. What are you trying to do?
2. How are you going to do it?
3. Write your answers down.
4. Execute on them A.S.A.P

Wash Rinse Repeat"

Mike Heitzke

"I don't disagree necessarily, but that sounds more like "What you realize right before you start looking for other jobs".
IMO burnout happens when there's no clear objectives, unclear/unrealistic timelines, a lack of direction, lack of leadership/ownership. Working on a project for any length of time that has any of these characteristics can burn you out."

G Bowden

"Back in the day a basketball coach I had once told me, "show my a player who is burnt out and I'll show you a player who doesn't recover properly"

Seye Kuyinu

"I don't agree. I think burnout has a lot to do with managing time and communication. You may love what you do and believe what you do but when you don't know when to prioritize and manage resources(both human and material"

Ben Regali

"Agree to disagree!

Sounds like a kick in the nuts to all people who worked hard on things they love and still had to experience burnout.

Edit: I don't think there is more than one reason why this happens, but being swamped and working too much are definitely one those reasons. People have different stress levels."

"Change will lead to insight far more often than insight will lead to change." — Milton Erekson

• Los sees this as a call to change your perspective and has found that moving your feet helps.
• Trav's take is that you should try to change something about your work and see what insights form.

Either way, Milton likes YooHoo! (Or Yahoo, lol :)

Before starting any project or sharing any work, first seek to understand the why? not the what.

In this episode we talk to you about why it's important to understand the why behind anything you are doing or will do.

Trav gives a live presentation in front of a small group about lessons learned after three years of podcasting. Thank you to invisibletalks.com for putting the event together!

Rejection

You are what you love, not what loves you. That’s from Adaptaion, written by Charlie Kaufman. I quoted that before, but I mis-attributed it.

The point is - so what? You will likely get rejected or even made fun of. So what?

"If you make things and share them, your heart will at some point be broken. If you never share, it will harden. Your choice." — Todd Henry

Obscurity

This one is easy. You already are obscure. So, move on.

Failure

What even is failure? On our patron podcast we talked about how failure is a necessary step toward success. All great works were born from great failures.

Starvation

“I’m not good enough”

I as reading a comic book this morning on the train, and one of the secondary characters has this kind of throw-away line. “Well, you have to be brave before you can be good.”

Parting thought

Dr Brené Brown has studied vulnerability for over a decade. One of the key things her research has brought to light is that there wasn't ever a single instance of bravery that didn't require being vulnerable as well.

Why you should start publishing today What is publishing?

• Creating content with a speciffic audience in mind.

Why you should start publishing today

1. You will become a better thinker
   Knowing a skill or a fact is something entirely different than being able to relate it to an audience in a relatable and consumable way. You learn to simplify and clarify, which is an invaluable skill.

2. You will be more intentional about your life
   Once you start writing about your life and the thoughts that shape it, you’ll begin thinking more intentionally about who you are, who you are becoming, and whether you like what you see or not. And that just may be reason enough to get started.

   Everything is a potential source for your next blog post or video or podcast.

3. You’ll develop an eye for meaningful things
   We pickup and discard valuable lessons every day. We have truly profound moments that never really crack through our ultra distracted attention spans.

   Being responsable to an audience forces to look at life with a new lens. You are more critical and observant of cause and effect around you. You learn to draw connections that you would otherwise have no real reason latch on to.

4. Make friends and meet interesting people
   This one is not hard to justify. We are on the phone right now with one of fthe coolest guys I’ve ever met and never would have had that oppertunity without making the descision to be a publisher.

5. You will be able to influence and inspire others.
   About 5 years ago I wrote a blog post in which I said (I know it’s tacky to quote yourself, but at least its not a tweet, thats always weird.) I said “To be a valuable person, to truly live an extraordinary life, you must strive to reach and influence as many people as deeply and as profoundly as you possibly can.”

   A few weeks ago here on this podcast I said that ”webs of weak ties are how ideas are spread”

   So basicly, start blogging and live an extraordinary life.

6. Build Confidence
   Like anything, putting yourself out there becomes easier with repetition. Standing up in front of people and relying a clear message, wether it’s to an audience of 1, or 100K, is a great way to build self confidence.

7. It feels really good when people appreciate you

   I’m not talking about an upvote or a like. I’m talking about when someone takes the time out of their day to thank you for being an instrument in changing their life

8. An audience is a hard-won, yet valueable asset that you can leverage throughout your entire career

   • recommendations
   • job oppertunities
   • buy your product
   • promote your product
   • provide resources
   • offer moral support
   • provide man-power
   • be social proof
   • be your friends

In this episode we teach you some tips and tricks that will help you define the type of feedback you want from your peers or clients.

We talk about the importance of active listening and what you can do to get better at it.

Link to the article Los reads from: https://medium.com/designing-atlassian/how-to-get-better-at-listening-956736d499d8

Kirshnamurti: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiddu_Krishnamurti

Here are the points we discuss from Trav's Book of Knowledge

1. Whatever you do; do the best you can because the work will live forever.
   — Jackie Chan

2. You can deal with anything today if you have a compelling future
   — Tony Robbins

3. You will never influence the world by trying to be like it. 

4. Most people focus on a few strong ties. But webs of weak ties are how ideas are spread.

5. You don’t need to know everything about everything to do anything.

6. If you describe the problem better than anyone else, people will believe that you have the best solution.

7. Do this, or don't this. Choose.

8. You are what you love not what loves you. (In reference to having your self-esteem be built on the opinions of others.)

9. Most of the people we see in the arts are not there because they had the most to offer, but because they wanted to be there the most.
   — Jerry Seinfeld

10. I keep track of my successes by counting my failures
    — Walt Disney

11. We are all a little stupid and a little brilliant.

12. End Strong.
    People remember the end. You can have a slow start, and a weak middle, but make sure you end strong.

13. You can suffer from anxiety and not know it.

14. There are finite and infinite games. You want to play the infinite game. 

15. Take this seriously. Not personally.

16. If I fall in love with my songs, I'll never write music.
    — Kyle cease

17. All of your plans are stupid. All plans are stupid and a waste of time, until they work, then they are totally worth it. And you never know what plan will work, so you might as well get started on your stupid plan.

Part 2 of Trav telling Los about his new Polyphasic sleep schedule

I’ve been on this schedule for a month, here are some of my insights:

1. Days are long again, like when I was a kid. Days are not really a thing, but you track time by events or phases. I got to work. I come home. I have family time. I have DevTips time. It’s not really night and day anymore. the sun is up sometimes, and it’s not other times. I loose track of the weekday really easily.

2. You are adding to your lifetime. Not piling on years at the back, filled with medications and other issues. I’m living longer than most people today.

3. I feel more connected to the earth, to the rhythms of nature more than the concerns of the humans around me. I feel different than everyone. Like I know something they don’t. Like I can see something beautiful that they just walk by. When my colleagues come into the office in the morning (its morning for them) I’ve been awake for 8 hours and have been making videos and stuff for a long time already.

4. People are really accepting of my new schedule. It’s not really that hard. I take naps at work, which is probably the coolest thing ever. I’ve left meetings to nap. I’ve napped at other peoples offices. It’s not really that weird, and people are very understanding.

5. I get a lot done. A lot.

6. It’s not easy, and I’m not perfect. It’s cold these days and my bed is so warm and comfy. I’ve overslept a few times. Those days are hard, I feel like I’ve let self down, and there goes that days extra time. It’s easier to stay up late than wake up early. But I’m focusing on not throwing in the towel on the larger picture when I make small immediate mistakes.

Polyphasic Sleep

• What is your most valuable resource?

• How would your life change if you added 4 to 6 more waking hours to your day? What would you do?

hours gained over time

• 16 hours becomes 20 per day
• That’s 28 hours a week
• 336 per year — 42 work days (month and 1/2)
• I call this new month “Slumbtember”

Have you ever struggled in getting a job? What do you do during a phone interview? How do you approach an in-person interview? How do you negotiate an offer? What do you do in your first 90 days to keep the job? Tune into this weeks podcast and get some insights into "Interview Hacking"

We discuss all of these and more during this late night podcast.

Join in :)

Today we talk about the fear of success and how to manage that fear! Enjoy :)

Setting Goals and achieving them

1. Only work on one thing at a time
2. Make changes during periods of calm
3. Make your goal as clear and specific as possible
4. Set things up on autopilot (routines)
5. Make to-do lists
6. pre-commitment
7. Tackle the tough things first
8. Keep yourself and your surroundings tidy and clean
9. Surround yourself with those who have similar goals
10. Delay gratification instead of nixing it altogether
11. remove deterrents. Don’t make the right decision over and over again.

In this episode we talk to Alex Tran about being a Junior Designer and his journey into design

Travis and I go to a meetup. We meet Travis McCleery. He is awesome. He comes and podcasts with us! Yes, we are winning at life.

We take a look at how Travis ends up at Evernote.

Find Travis McCleery on twitter with the handle @cleerdesign or take a look at some his work here http://cleerdesign.com/

1. Break it down

• Make a list of the small parts of your project.
• Anthony Trollope, a 19th century writer said “A small daily task… will beat the labour of spasmodic hercules"
• Do anything to move the ball. Don’t end the day having done nothing to progress your work.

1. Rely on your preparation

• Day work and Night work
• leave your work half finished and now all you have to do is complete your idea.

1. Get a ritual

• Woody Allen famously said “80% of success is showing up”
• put your shoes on
• loses idea of a token.

1. Harness the power of Frequency

• frequency makes starting easier
• frequency keeps ideas fresh
• frequency keeps the pressure off
• frequency sparks creativity
• frequency nurtures frequency

1. Prune the branches

• Eventually the new branches will steal resources from the initial branches. Eventually the entire vine will succumb to systemic mediocrity.
• Cut out anything that is not essential

We don't have the luxury of inspiration. Inspiration is a nice companion on our journey to brilliance, but it is not a necessary companion at the beginning of the journey. Inspiration tends to join you when you are already on your way.

• Todd Henry

Mustache, Mustache, Mustache, Mustache.

00:00 - Trav and Los catch up. Travis misses Los' touch.

4:00 - Travis has a few questions for Los before we start...

5:22 - "How did you switch careers?"

10:53 - Los is charismatic during interviews

15:13 - Los' parents are hustlers

17:40 - Twelve-year olds are useless

19:30 - Los started businesses when he was 16

32:03 - We often don't recognize the things we are passionate about

35:43 - Working with small businesses

42:30 - Care about your clients

47:32 - Los' client management style

59:49 - "Are you human?" — Los' dad

1:12:39 - Los gets mad inspirational and junk!

1:18:00 - Trav and Los sing!

1:21:00 - Trav and Los want to fight you

1:23:00 - Los reads some tweets or something

1:22:20 - "Corndogs for everyone!"

1:23:00 - Goodnight :D

06:18 - Travis and Los sing to you

02:10 - Travis reads an iTunes podcast review

06:50 - Light housekeeping

08:40 - Trav and Los rejected from a podcast network??

11:30 - Los shows up

16:30 - Travis talks about his mentoring sessions

29:48 - Travis continues to ramble... (ramblings with Travis)

32:48 - Question: How do you manage all your creative interests?

34:20 - Travis talks about creative interests

36:19 - Enjoy the work for itself

36:50 - Los starts to answer the question

37:44 - Travis gets real

38:44 - The importance of establishing your passion

40:40 - Los applies advice to himself

44:06 - What a modern designer uses

46:44 - Los sweats

50:00 - Travis is reserved on the notion of "Say NO"

55:48 - Los is frustrated with saying "no" and "yes"

56:18 - We question our effectiveness

59:40 - How do you determine what your passion is?

1:00:00 - Bro, you have to pick one.

33:23 - I sent out a weird birthday email - http://travisneilson.com/notes/7-birthday.html

2:10 - The worst part of birthdays

6:46 - @_ellenbrook released a product called http://morningpages.net

9:40 - Travis has a man-crush on Jack Conte - http://youtu.be/mZ02alEkbLw

10:57 - Peter Hollins and Jackie Evancho Rocked the house - http://youtu.be/9VdwDiedS0Y

13:02 - What is Patreon? - http://www.patreon.com/

19:51 - Eff an umbrella, gimme a poncho!

23:36 - Voice actors documentary - http://www.iknowthatvoice.com/

25:51 - Using Patreon to increase value to listeners

34:19 - Having a pay-community can increase interaction quality

36:37 - Travis might be afraid of rejection

38:59 - Travis wrote a note for his birthday

41:22 - “That one movie” - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0841046/

Travis’ interactive birthday poems: http://travisneilson.com/32-years-of-poetry/

Travis takes Los to the airport while they discuss the best way to find and engage mentors. Review the podcast so far (00:00:01)

• It feels good to make, to publish
• Brocasting is fun
• Put in work up front to find your rhythm and voice

Finding a Mentor is like dating (07:17:16) Best Practices in contacting a mentor (16:24:12)

• Choose the platform you contact them on carefully
• Keep a good tone, be thankful
• Try to offer value right away
• what can you supplement their operation with?
• who could you introduce them to?

Some don'ts

• Ask for a job
• Ask for help right away
• Correct their mistakes
• Gush

Value based relationships (33:44:11)

• You need to provide unique consistent value over time
• Offer value right away
• Don’t stop!
• Be ready, they will naturally offer value in return
• Show a lot of gratitude about any help you get. Make a big deal about it.

A few action steps (56:23:05)

• Make a list of potential mentors
• Note where best to make contact
• Contact them all
• Give first
• Be consistent, be ready

Be sure to tweet us @TravAndLos

How to be self-learning

I want to talk about the most impactful concepts I’ve encountered and developed while optimizing my learning. This episode is two parts.

Part 2 Intro (00:00:01)

6. Focus on Productivity (00:02:18) Hardest thing about learning is often finding time to do it. Working to become more productive will create the time and willpower you need. Focus on habits to increase productivity.

7. Mix it up (00:12:08) There are multiple ways to learn today so mix it up. Books, magazines, blogs, audiobooks, articles, podcasts, lectures, movies, documentaries, online video, apps, music and debates. Listening to experts disagree with each other is a great way to approach a topic with an open mind.

8. Avoid Confirmation Bias (00:23:09) Remember to always keep an open mind and seek out contradictory opinions. This will keep you more balanced, informed and objective on the topic. It’s easy to limit your consumption to content that agrees with you.

9. Bring your friends (00:45:06) Surround yourself by other people that are interested in the same things you are, it makes the learning process more rewarding. Book clubs, meet-ups, dinners or just spending the evening talking with someone close to you are great ways to grow and support each other.

10. Relate as you go (00:48:29) If you can attach a new idea or concept to something well established in your mind, grasping and remembering concepts becomes a breeze. I can retain new information well when I can draw connections to things I have experience with. At least Isaac Asimov thinks this is were great ideas come from.

Outro (01:03:00)

Most important part to learning is putting what you have learned to use.

Be sure to tweet us @TravAndLos

How to be self-learning

I want to talk about the most impactful concepts I’ve encountered and developed while optimizing my learning. This episode is two parts.

Part 1 Intro (00:3:43)

Summary (00:8:13)

1. Follow your curiosity (00:11:13) This is your compass for self-learning, and immersing yourself in the things that interest you is the best way to digest and make sense and understand your topic to it’s core.

2. Write it Down (00:16:53) It took me some time, but once I started organizing my thoughts on paper or computer I noticed a profound change. Our brains are capable of amazing things, but by trying to depend on your brain to remember all of your ideas and to-do’s, takes a drastic toll for it to operate at its best.

3. Find your Ambassadors (00:20:09) This is important. Choosing the right people to take advice from in life is one of the most important skills to have. Yes, a skill. Look for people that are humble, compassionate, and above all else are authentic/real.

4. Tune your speed (00:41:16) Finding the optimum balance between speed and comprehension is an ongoing process. Always be pushing yourself to find that sweet spot. Sometimes that means slowing down and at times that means speeding it up. Always be on the lookout for playback speed options in your audio and video apps.

5. Plan on Teaching (00:44:02) Everyone knows that the best way to learn is to teach it, and by opening myself to the possibility, I increase my overall understanding. Sometimes the way to create good habits is to trick ourselves into it.

Outro to Part 1 (00:48:08)

Trav and Los intro you to the podcast :)

Trav and Aidan talk about the art of podcasting and how Aiden thinks about the work he is currently involved in.

Trav sits down with Aidan Simpson to talk about how his life experiences contribute to the creative work that he does today.

Travis talks with Chas about trying to balance pleasure and purpose to find happiness

In this episode Trav and Los talk about Craft & Launching & Balance & Dark UX Patterns

Episode Sponsor:
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