It struck me this week at how much life has changed from this birthday to the last. It got me thinking about how life was going currently, what I’m working on right now… and what was doing a year ago and I’ve come up with one consistent theme –

I don’t consistently dream big enough.

Here’s why – last year at this time I was looking forward to an easy week of work (3 days with Thanksgiving Holiday) and wasn’t really sure where life was taking me. Some recent interpersonal breakthroughs and healing were happening but professionally I really didn’t have much of a plan.

And then WHAMMO! In the week of my birthday a scandal had broken out at my workplace and as a result I was probably going to be laid off. Looking back now it was very Charles Dickens “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” There was the struggle to keep it together and at the same time I was a ball of anger.

It was the worst because I didn’t know what was next. It was the best because of the same reason. I was emotionally kicked out of the safety net I had created for myself. It was like that moment in Fight Club where Ed Norton’s loses his apartment and his world crashes – it was no different for me.

I tried to find work all over Virginia and came up with nothing. I contemplated moving to DC when I was offered a really neat chance. The option to move to LA and work on a film project. Move to the west coast AND have a paying job. I didn’t have to worry about housing or transportation. The decision wasn’t that hard considering my alternatives.

So I moved and met a great group of people. A community of people who care about excellence, each other and making the world better than the way they found it. I’ve been handed some really amazing opportunities and blown some along the way too. This year hasn’t been easy but I’m enjoying the stretching.

I’d view this last year as a HUGE success for me and I’m very thankful and overwhelmed with gratitude to my community here and back on the east coast.

If I can encourage you, I’d say this; take the risk, dream bigger, imagine yourself doing what you love. Seek out the tools to do what you’d like to do, research, stay up late, wake up early, talk with your friends about what you’re doing and working on. It’s scary but it’s worth it. Malcolm Gladwell just released an extract from his new book Outliers on “pure Genius” and he says it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert on something. It breaks down to 2-3 hours a day for 10 years. We take for granted the genius that we see in The Beatles, Rockefeller and Bill Gates. Gladwell shows it was their passion and their pursuit that made them stand out. Read it here.

So why don’t we try it as a bit of an experiment. The conversation goes 2 ways. I’ll start with telling you some of the things I’m thinking about and working on and then you can leave me comments or send me an email with what you’re working on and any feedback you have on what I said.

What I’m working on – (there is no cohesion to this list, it’s all stream of consciousness)
I’m trying to figure out a pitch to get funding on a short film that is set in an independent bookstore. I thought that the short split into 3 webisodes combined with a fun website that encouraged visitors to the site to connect to their local bookstore. As far as I know it hasn’t been done before but experience tells me their may be a reason for that.

In December I’m taking some serious time to travel and see everyone in my family. Make those connections stronger and really enjoy my family. I plan on doing some serious reading.

The Drop – it’s come to an irreversible point. A decision has to be made to continue with it or not. I really like the idea of talking to people about what music they are into and what I’m listening to at the time. I’ve got a great bunch of people around me who are ready to move forward but I’ve got to get it all together. My hesitancy is that I foot the bill for the Drop and it needs a new financial model. The audience is still there (average monthly podcast downloads this year are approx 16,500)

Web development – I’ve really been enjoying working with some incredible non profits this year that have incredible heart to help people. To me this is a double whammy, doing fun work and giving these organizations the tools that fortune 500 companies haven’t even put into effect yet.

With the SAG strike looming, business in SoCal would change pretty drastically if the strike actually happens. (AND another year of awful TV, tell me a story – not Flavor of Love) I wonder if there would be a market then for digital TV stations – how fast could I collaborate to have one started. Could quality independent content trump reality TV? What do you think?

Ok, that’s it for me – your turn. Dan@PortnoyMediaGroup.com