How do we use our time well?
So many of us haven fallen asleep at the wheel of our own lives.
Me, included. Have, in the past. And, will again. Because I’m human, just like you. Fumbling and stumbling, trying to see more clearly, connect more deeply, and grow more alive through the joyful calamity of it all.
Thing is, we’re made no promises. Another hour, day, month, year, or decade. We just don’t know. It’s time to step back into the driver’s seat. To feel more alive, and less alone. Not someday, but now. That’s what Awake at the Wheel is about.
What you get as a FREE subscriber.
Weekly Wake-up Calls - every Sunday morning, you’ll get a fresh wake-up call post like this one exploring a topic that is central to feeling more alive and less alone, often in an unconventional or novel way, along with a juicy journal and conversation prompt to help apply the insights, and share the experience with friends.
Access to community & conversation - I’d originally paywalled the comment section in order to keep it safe. But, the longer I spend on Substack, the more I’ve come to see how beautifully and respectfully the majority of those in the community share and interact. So I’ve removed this limitation, everyone is free to join in the conversation. That said, I still do reserve the right to remove or block anyone who leads with disrespect, denigration, or flagrant self-promotion.
I’d love to keep as much of my work as possible as accessible as I can to the greatest number of people. That’s how you scale impact, and build community. So, at least for now (this may change, if it’s not sustainable), when you become a free subscriber and reader, you get all of the above.
That said, I am asking for something in return…
Take a moment to share one Wake-Up Call that strikes a chord.
That’s how you can say thank you, and help me grow this amazing community of humans looking to feel more alive, and less alone.
Become a free subscriber now, then share any essay, feature or other offering that resonated!
What you get as a paid subscriber.
SPECIAL NOTE
As part of my Reader Appreciation Drive, you can become a paid subscriber at a 90% discount. That’s only $1/month or $10/year! THIS IS VERY LIKELY TO CHANGE SOON!
When you become a paid subscriber, in addition to all the above, you’ll get exclusive access to:
Periodic Awakened AMA sessions, with me, and a rotation fun guests, from iconic authors and makers to entrepreneurs and leaders in spirituality, business and whatever else feels exciting.
Access to the full archive - While nearly all content is free upon publication, it also all eventually rolls into paid archives.
A way to say thank you, to support this work - In a poll I conducted, 50% of people become paid subscribers simply to thank and/or support a creator whose work made a difference to them. If my work lands in a meaningful way in your heart, mind, and life, and you have the ability to support it, I’d be grateful for your kindness.
Try it for a month, or even a year.
About Me
I’m the dad of a daughter whose every move beats my heart (I generally don’t post photos, that’s her life and story to share). The husband of a woman who has blessed every breath I’ve taken for over 30 years. And, I’m a Maker, I live to love, and to create.
At various times, I’ve made my bones as a lawyer, multi-time founder, 6-time author, keynote speaker, yoga teacher, blogger, educator, podcaster, painter, maker, and executive producer.
For more than a dozen years, I’ve hosted one of the most popular podcasts in the word, Good Life Project®, boasting more than 100-million listens and views. I still can't fathom how it’s grown into what it’s become, but I’m grateful for the community, the impact, and my big-hearted and wise team.
They say, “don’t meet your heroes.” They lie.
I’ve spent time with everyone from Anne Lamott, Elizabeth Gilbert, Brené Brown, and James McBride to Peter Frampton, Macy Gray, Matthew McConaughey and others who’ve been knighted, won Nobels, Pulitzers, Oscars and Grammys, made world-changing scientific breakthroughs and led social change. Every one was, and is, my teacher. Every conversation, a gift.
Along an ambling professional path, I investigated insider-trading as an enforcement attorney for the SEC, fumbled my way through mega-deals at a big-firm in NYC, then “threw it all away” to make $12/hour as a personal trainer and learn the wellness industry from the ground-up. Soon after, I opened my own facility. Our ethos was “do the opposite of convention.” To everyone’s amazement (mine, included), we thrived. I eventually sold my interest, and took time to start following a creative impulse to write. And, break all the rules I’d learned as a lawyer.
A year later, in the shadow of 9-11, having self-published my first “alleged” book, I found myself deepening into Eastern thought and movement. Opened a yoga studio in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC, then spent the next 7 years breathing, moving, studying, and teaching thousands, training hundreds of teachers from around the world, and building community.
All of it, from my time taking depositions under the cover of secrecy in a windowless, cinderblock government box to bringing students out of Savasana after 90-minutes of sweaty collective effervescence, was a PhD in the human condition. In what makes us tick, or not. In how we see and believe and act, both when around others, and, more interestingly, when we think no one’s looking. In how we meet and make our worlds. And what inner and outer rules guide the pursuit.
This all led me back to writing, where, in 2008, I began my journey as an author in earnest, writing a series of award-winning and bestselling books. Among them — Career Renegade (Penguin Random House), Uncertainty (Portfolio), How to Live a Good Life (Hay House), and SPARKED (HarperCollins).
Then, there’s one more book that took four years, has a single copy in print, and will remain a mystery to all but one of two humans who hold my heart, and will for life.
All of which launched me into the world of public speaking, and along with our team, gathering community for a wonderful series of retreats, events, programs and even a five-year stint running an adult summer-camp that reconnected thousands of attendees to what it means to drop the facade, reconnect to meaning, play and joy, and come back to life.
In 2018, following a deep curiosity around the world of work, and how to make it better, I launched a research initiative that developed the Sparketype® Assessment, a simple, freely-available tool that identifies the essence of work that makes you come alive. More than a million people have completed this assessment, generating approximately 50-million data-points. It’s grown into one of the largest-ever global studies on work-life fulfillment. Take it now, if you haven’t yet, it’s totally free and may reveal something powerful to you.
Somehow, this “long, strange trip” has led to features in The New York Times, Inc., Oprah Magazine, FastCompany, Shondaland, Success, Forbes, Harvard Business Reviews, The Wall Street Journal, SELF, Vogue, Yoga Journal, Allure, The Guardian, Inc., ELLE, Outside, yada yada yada. Why they cared, not entirely sure, but it’s been fun.
More than anything, I’m a dad, husband, friend, and Maker who just wants to spend my time loving who I love, helping others, and making things that move people.
I look forward to sharing, learning, and deepening the connection here at Awake @ the Wheel.
