Balance Beam

Sometimes agendas and itineraries are important.

Structured, punctual, and organized. Knowing where we are headed and what we are doing. It becomes necessary in our life, at times.

But so does discovery and veering off course. So does spontaneously making a decision and living with the consequences. We can’t script every aspect of our lives.

Routines and calendars and schedules can box us into a corner. They can limit us to explore the far edges we haven’t considered. We can become frustrated.

We haven’t figured it all out yet. We still have room left to explore.

Let’s not give up on reaching outside our comfort zones.

That’s how innovation happens.

It’s where new ideas form.

It’s where we find new life.

Sometimes it’s necessary to calculate every minute but it can be just as important to wander off the path with no sense of time or direction, as well.

We need to give ourselves both.

It’ll give balance to our complex and uncertain lives.

Balance Beam2022-10-09T20:44:19-04:00

Passion Bucket

If you’ve said to yourself “I don’t know what I’m passionate about” then you’re in luck.

You should consider yourself grateful.

Because now you get to explore. You get to tinker. You get to try things. You get to figure it out.

You start to rule out things you don’t like and keep putting energy into the stuff you do.

When we don’t have anything we are truly passionate about it gives us agency to lean into new experiences and try to discover what we may like.

It all comes down to a choice. A choice to choose a small amount of discomfort in order to discover new things.

Things we might become insanely passionate about.

Don’t give up because you haven’t found your passion yet.

That’s the exciting part of the journey.

Keep searching.

Passion Bucket2022-10-07T20:01:59-04:00

Forge Your Own Path

Throughout life you’ll be knocked down, told you’re not good enough, picked on, called names, passed over, and laughed at. Nobody is immune to these sorts of things.

But life is what you make of it and you have the ability to be strong, be positive, and have the courage to forge your own path despite what others may say.

As long as you know you are okay with being different, pointing the compass in a different direction will be much easier to do.

The self-discovery that you can choose your own adventure opens up a whole new path in the woods and will help you navigate a clearer path toward future happiness.

Lean into it. Turn your walk into a slow jog and start picking up your pace.

Forge Your Own Path2021-12-14T22:03:44-04:00

I Don’t Know

Sometimes saying “I don’t know” is the first step to a new discovery. The admittance that we are naked with our knowledge, vulnerable with our thoughts, and open to what will come next might be all we need to break out into a brave new direction.

That single truth of acceptance is the catalyst for change.

I Don’t Know2021-06-22T21:37:50-04:00

What are you great at?

Greatness is hard for an individual person to conclude on their own. Although we might be able to lay out several areas that are worthy of the answer we can often skew the results with what we want to consider our “strengths” when they may not exactly be that. Ego gets in the way a lot.

If you want to know what you might be great at, ask your closest friends. Pick 3 for starters.

Ask them “if they had to pick the one thing they feel you are great at what would they choose?” This can be any number of things like writing, listening, compassion, organizing, etc. There are no wrong answers.

When you start to see patterns in your friend’s responses you can lean into their answers and start to discover where the truth lies.

We may not want to always admit or accept what others see as our great attributes but respecting the results of our close friends will get us on a path to happiness much quicker than going about it alone.

Try it and see how different their responses are from yours. You may save yourself a heck of a lot of time not going down the wrong path.

What are you great at?2021-06-01T20:21:19-04:00

Dozen Months of Discovery in 2020

discovery

It’s 2020 and the Dozen Months of Discovery have begun!

Part of the premise of the Just Get Started Podcast is to get out of your comfort zone and try to accomplish things far greater than you ever imagined. Whether it is changing your eating habits, a better fitness routine, starting a business, etc. At the micro-level, everything you do has to be “started” at some point but are we truly pushing ourselves outside our comfort zones as much as possible and learning new skills or knowledge that can become valuable. Or, maybe it doesn’t become something valuable but you can say you tried it because it was interesting at the time. That’s okay, too.

That, my friends, is the whole premise of the Dozen Months of Discovery.

12 months to have 12 new challenges or adventures. This could be anything from committing to a workout plan one month to learning how to play the piano another, learning a language, or detoxing from Social Media. Whatever it is you have to invest time into it and you have to practice but more than that you must create a different mindset and the focus on accomplishing the challenge must be present every day. We (and I certainly mean me) say over and over “I wish I could do….” Or “I wish I tried….”. As the old saying goes, “You can wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one gets filled up first”. 

Stop wishing. Why not go out and do it? I know your answer. I don’t have time. It may actually take less than you think. Malcolm Gladwell famously wrote that you need about 10,000 hours to master a skill. But I’m not asking you to master a skill, I’m asking you to try and learn something new whether it be a new skill or just challenge yourself to stick to something for an extended period of time. So, how long would that take to try?

Well, someone already did that research for me and his name is Josh Kaufman. Now, Josh did a phenomenal Ted talk about this topic and, in short, concluded that to learn and be good at a new skill it would take about 20 hours. I highly recommend you watch the entire Ted Talk here – How to Learn Anything in 20 Hours – as it provides a lot more context.

Also, Podcast Guest (Episode 76) Scott Young and his book “Ultralearning” is a fantastic guidebook of some useful techniques and stories to speed up your learning and actually make it sticky.

So, the question I posed to myself a little while back and will pose to you right now is…How far did you advance yourself this past year? How much more could you have done that would have led to increased skill development, more fulfillment or joy in your life, new doors being open…all of it….How far did you push that needle? 

Get out of your comfort zone and try to make the next year your best year even. You certainly won’t get there by doing the same thing you are doing now. You must broaden your horizons and I think this is one way to do it.

So here’s the challenge.

Pick 12 new skills/challenges/topics you think would be cool or interesting or maybe something you always wanted to learn. If you can’t think of that many then ask your friends and family or post online and ask your larger community to throw out ideas.

Next, write them down and share with the world those 12 you are going to learn.

Here is my working list for 2020 (I may slip in something if I come across it during the year and swap out with one already on the list but that is still to be determined)

January – No Social Media for 30 Days

February – 1 Hour of Stretching / Mobility work every day

March – Learn Spanish

April – Learn the Ukelele 

May – No Sugar (Less than 20g a day)

June – Conduct an Interview a Day

July – Plastic Free Month (Don’t use single-use plastics)

August – Learn Adobe Illustrator

September – Run a Mile a Day (With 20 LB Weight Vest)

October – Charity Month (Donate 30 Hours of my time)

November – No Complaining 

December – Random Acts of Kindness Per Day

Finally, each month you need to pick a goal (if it is a learned skill) so you have something to reach for by the end of that month. If you don’t pick a goal you can’t conclude if you truly learned anything. Don’t make it too easy but I’d rather it be achievable than overly aggressive.

Now, start with the first one on the first day of the next month and do it. Learn by taking classes locally, watching videos online, syncing up with a friend skilled in that craft, whatever. Invest around 20 hours that month and see what you can accomplish. 

I’m starting this endeavor on January 1st, 2020. My first monthly challenge is to not launch one social media app (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter) for the entire month. I’ll document each journey prior to starting and the week after I finish each month. 

If you are down to join, let me know and we can hold each other accountable. If not, we’ll catch you for the next one and I’d love to hear what you are trying to do to challenge yourself and push beyond your comfort zone.

Let’s crush 2020!

Carpe Diem,

Brian

Dozen Months of Discovery in 20202021-03-19T10:41:55-04:00

Dozen Months of Discovery – One Mic with Brian Ondrako

BRIAN ONDRAKO

ONE MIC: Dozen Months of Discovery

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This One Mic Session is a Reboot of an idea I tried 2 years ago…but just like life, sometimes excuses clutter your vision and momentum to accomplish things. So, it’s back to stay! The Dozen Months of Discovery.

Part of the premise of the Just Get Started Podcast is to get out of your comfort zone and try to accomplish things far greater than you ever imagined. Whether it is changing your eating habits, a better fitness routine, starting a business, etc. At the micro level, everything you do has to be “started” at some point but are we truly pushing ourselves outside our comfort zones as much as possible and learning new skills or knowledge that can become valuable. Or, maybe it doesn’t become something valuable but you can say you tried it because it was interesting at the time. That’s okay, too.

That, my friends, is the whole premise of the Dozen Months of Discovery.

12 months to have 12 new adventures. This could be anything from committing to a workout plan one month to learning how to play the piano another, learning a language, or detoxing from Social Media. Whatever it is you have to invest time into it and you have to practice but more than that is your mindset and focus on accomplishing the challenge must be present everyday. We (and I certainly mean me) say over and over “I wish I could do….” Or “I wish I tried….”. As the old saying goes, “You can wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which gets filled up first”. 

Stop wishing. Why not go out and do it? I know your answer. I don’t have time. It may actually take less than you think. Malcolm Gladwell famously wrote that you need about 10,000 hours to master a skill. But I’m not asking you to master a skill, I’m asking you to try and learn a new skill and become good at it. So, how long would that take?

Well, someone already did that research for me and his name is Josh Kaufman. Now, Josh did a phenomenal Ted talk about this topic and, in short, concluded that to learn and be good at a new skill it would take about 20 hours. I highly recommend you watch the entire Ted Talk here – How to Learn Anything in 20 Hours – as it provides a lot more context.

Also, Podcast Guest (Episode 76) Scott Young and his book “Ultralearning” is a fantastic guidebook of some useful techniques and stories to speed up your learning and actually make it sticky.

So, the question I posed to myself a little while back and will pose to you right now is…How far did you advance yourself this past year? How much more could you have done that would have led to increased skill development, more fulfillment or joy in your life, new doors being open…all of it….How far did you push that needle? 

Get out of your comfort zone and try to make the next year your best year even. You certainly won’t get there by doing the same thing you are doing now. You must broaden your horizons and I think this is one way to do it.

So here’s the challenge.

Pick 12 new skills/challenges/topics you think would be cool or interesting or maybe something you always wanted to learn. If you can’t think of that many then ask your friends and family or post online and ask your larger community to throw out ideas.

Next, write them down and share with the world those 12 you are going to learn.

Finally, each month you need to pick a goal that will be the accomplishment you are trying to achieve by the end of that month. If you don’t pick a goal you can’t conclude if you truly learned anything. Don’t make it too easy but push yourself.

Now, start with the first one on the first day of the next month and do it. Learn by taking classes locally, watching videos online, syncing up with a friend skilled in that craft, whatever. Invest around 20 hours that month and see what you can accomplish. 

I’m starting this endeavor on January 1st, 2020. My first monthly challenge is to not launch one social media app (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter) for the entire month. I’ll document each journey prior to starting and the week after I finish each month. Some other ideas I have are Stretching for 1-hour each day for a month and learning a new language over the course of a month. The list is still getting worked out and look forward to any suggestions!

If you are down to join, let me know and we can hold each other accountable. If not, we’ll catch you for the next one and I’d love to hear what you are trying to do to challenge yourself and push beyond your comfort zone.

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Dozen Months of Discovery – One Mic with Brian Ondrako2021-03-19T10:42:28-04:00
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