Work Life Play With Aaron Mchugh

Alex Woodard reminded me of how pliable our lives and dreams are if we let go. Alex's story is a powerful example of driving hard towards his goal of playing his music to thousands. On the eve of achieving his dream, the bottom fell out. His record contract vanished, his dog died and his dream became a nightmare. Enter stage left; he received a letter from a fan telling her story about loss and love. Alex decided to write her (Emily) a song based on her letter and send it to her. A new dream was born, For the Sender, became the project of Alex and team publishing books and music inspired by letters from the senders. Today he plays for thousands of people, raises money for charity and collaborates with top musicians. The irony is his original dream had similar ingredients, but once he let go of his desire for fame and fortune, his career took off as his story is rewritten focusing on others.

Shawn Askinosie's book might change your life if you allow it.  Meaningful Work is not a book about “saving the world”— but it is about how businesses can and should solve problems in the world, and how positive change begins with individual action.

My top ten reasons why I believe we won't change. 1-No guarantees of an outcome. 2-We really aren't yet in enough pain in our current reality. 3-The devil I know is better than the devil I don't. 4-A template was installed in us a long time ago that is difficult to refute. 5- It's easier to bitch and complain than to do something about it. 6-We convince ourselves that everyone else must have won the golden ticket, found a shortcut, has a rich uncle, got to skip to the front of the line and bypass all the pain, the risk and the uncertainty. Or we're tell ourselves we're too old, beyond repair, too... 7-We've believed a story that isn't true that only we believe. Everyone else around us sees past our living myth. 8-We're so busy managing our life, we don't realize there's a problem. We ignore the warning signs. We hold other priorities. 9-We refuse to allow transformation-fold our arms and say "this is how I am, this is how it will always be". And we get busy dying. 10-We fail to see that LIFE is an invitation

Today is the Ryan Miller Show. I've titled this episode, Who Am I as we talk about their creative work in the world through 08Left, Mango Ink and his upcoming show on May 3rd in Spokane, Lights Like Us.

Kristy Dickerson, keynote speaker, businesswoman, and active CEO and co-founder of Start Planner has devoted her life to providing hope for individuals who are looking to achieve balance, success, and happiness in their lives. She has been featured in numerous national media outlets and has shown thousands of others how to be productive, efficient, and live more fulfilling lives.

This is your permission slip to cut yourself some slack. Take a break. Take a day off. Skip school. Skip work. Wear flip-flops. Punt on a meeting. Say No. Don’t go. Stay home. Call in sick. Be late. Take a nap. Do half as much and call it good enough. Tell “perfection” to take a flying leap. Go on a two-week vacation. Use your floating holiday tomorrow. See a movie at lunchtime. Stay in your jammies all day. Order pizza. Watch Netflix all day. Sleep in. Schedule a meeting in your work calendar titled “Strategy planning” and go take a walk outside. Take a nap in your car at lunch. Let the kids do their laundry. Order takeout. Cancel plans with friends. Don’t attend the school fundraiser. Turn your phone off and let it go to voicemail. Go off the grid. Catch your breath. Be kind to yourself and say “enough, I’m tired.” If you wrote yourself a permission slip for rest, what would it say?

My guest today is Jesse Mecham, author of his new book You Need A Budget. The money powers our lives and is a resource required for living the life we want. Jesse's team, and I agree, believes that when you approach your money with intention, you can more predictably influence the desired outcomes. I love Jesse's message, and I'm convinced that regardless of how much or how little money we have, we can give our resources purpose and clarity.

Ben Moon is a Pacific City, Oregon based photographer and filmmaker who enjoys working with a diverse range of adventurers, athletes and musicians. Surviving cancer in his twenties inspired a greater connection and appreciation for others and the natural world. Ben finds human emotion to be a source of constant fascination. He is best known for his viral short film Denali, which explored the friendship between Ben and his dog. #DenaliFilm on Vimeo.com/122375452

Part 2 of my interview with Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. In this episode, he continues with practical advice on getting clear on the bigger picture and enabling for more regular course corrections. Even Greg struggles to be an Essentialist all of the time. Where and how do you start with Essentialism? How do you begin taking back control over the minutes and moments that you can influence? How to focus on the things you can control. Download the full Q&A Essentialism Transformation guide at aaronmchugh.com/lessbutbetter

My interview with Greg McKeown, author of the New York Times Bestseller, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, produced poignant questions that warrant an accompanying question guide. I believe lasting transformation can occur when we internalize these issues and principles. Greg delivered so much succinct and dense insights during our interview that I chose to break the conversation into two parts. I hope that you will earnestly consider the implications of these questions in your work, life and, relationships. 
 What is Essentialism?

“Essentialism is not one more thing-It’s about a whole new way of doing everything. Doing less, but better, in every area of our lives.” Our Challenge “We forget that we don’t have to do 
what we’ve done in the past.” The benefits of Essentialism
 “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.”  Download the Transformation Q&A guide from my interview here.

Ashton Gustafson believes that there is more to life than prestige, accomplishment, trophies and ladder climbing. He believes that if we listen, taste, and smell the melody, the texture, and observe the nuances-we will find what we are all looking for. Ashton leads a rich podcast called Let The Music Play and has killer guests like Rob Bell and Richard Rohr to top chefs. Ashton loves life and is incredibly curious. 

I have an experiment for you. I know the holidays are stressful, over-scheduled, over-spending, over-eating and lots of time with friends and family. Here’s my idea-What if we left no good thing unsaid? We spend a lot of time with family during the holidays, and that can be very stressful. I heard once, “The reason they know how to push your buttons is that they installed them.” So if our buttons can be pushed quickly and we can push buttons with other people just as fast, what if we made a different choice this year? What if we lead with love and grace instead? One Christmas I realized I’d not entirely told my friends and family how much I loved them, individually, why I loved them. I thought maybe Norman Maclean was right, “It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us.” Why is it so difficult to speak a good word over the people we love most? At their funeral, we would gush “He was my favorite uncle, I loved how he always asked me about my life.” My challenge to us all is this holiday seas

Guy Kawasaki was chief evangelist of Apple during the early 1980's Macintosh era. In this punchy, simple and short conversation Guy answers the following questions: What are you best at? What are you most proud of? What piece of advice do you give that people fail to follow? How are you GREAT at writing books, speaking, starting companies, and evangelising change? What key lesson did Steve Jobs teach you? The full transcript from our conversation is available on the show notes here. 

My guest today, Brian David Crane decodes for us the challenges of living and working anywhere in the world like loneliness, developing community and being productive when on Tuesday at 2 pm there is always another waterfall to explore.  The best locations to be a Digital Nomad according to BDC: Bali Poland Colombia Mexico Canary Islands Cape Town Explore your muse on Nomadlist.com for the best places on the globe to Work, Life and Play.  Since 2014, he's lived on four continents, and traveled to over 40 countries. He's currently based in Asia on the island of Bali. You can find Brian's work here. 

I find asking for help to be difficult. The truth is I don't like to ask for help. I'd prefer to do things on my own, to grit it out, use endurance and perseverance to push through. In this episode, I share a compelling story of how I learned why we should ask for help. I found myself in a maze that I was unable to escape and asking for HELP turned out to be the secret for escape. I could use your help in a couple of specific ways. My website and email list for Work Life Play have both been hacked over this past year. You probably didn't even know that case in point. As an exercise in humility and as a practitioner of this idea, I would like to ask for your help in helping me regain some of what was lost. 1) Would you consider sharing this podcast with 5 of your friends? aaronmchugh.com/PodcastSubscribe 2) Would you consider signing up on my website to hear from me over email? aaronmchugh.com/lemonade 3) Would you consider visiting my Work Life Play store as part of your Christmas gift shopping? aaronmchugh.c

My guest today is Joanna Penn, New York Times bestselling thriller writer. She writes inspirational non-fiction for aspiring authors. We talk about the business of being a writer, her habits, and routines, how she shapes her environment to fuel her creative work and shortcutting the process to get into the flow. I learned a lot from Joanna and appreciated her insights derived from her experience of leaving her day job to build a successful creative empire. She has excellent advice for self-publishing and marketing authors and compelling ideas, mindset shifts to make the work happen. You can find her work at TheCreativePenn.com

Last month, I quit my job. I decided I needed to clear my head before starting a new gig. I just returned from a 3,000-mile road trip out west in our 1974 VW Bus. I put together a Best Of list from my experience. My Instagram @aarondmchugh feed has all of the photos I posted from five National Parks, the best hikes, the kindest human I met, quirky roadside Route 66 Wigwam Motel, impromptu unplugged acoustic guitar set in Sante Fe, to our favorite camp spots and sunrise. Full post details here: aaronmchugh.com/3000miles

In this episode, I recorded a dispatch update from my VW bus road trip from Colorado to California. I'm chasing wild as I visit National Parks and enjoy the drone of the highway. Thus far, I've visited Capitol Reef NP, Bryce Canyon NP and Zion NP. I laid down a few thoughts on the benefits of pausing to reflect during a change in season. Check out my road trip photos on Instagram @aarondmchugh

I met John Montgomery at an Explorer's dinner in Manhattan hosted by Stefan Loble (Bluff Works founder). Everyone invited had some new bent of curiosity that drove their exploration. John's is world travel. It all started when his dad used to load them in the family truckster as kids and go searching for anything new. John's spirit of adventure embodies the Work Life Play mantra. Hear John's heckle "Charlie Boorman and Ewan McGregor you guys might ride motorcycles across the world, but have you ever taken a trip with all four of your kids?"  "Should we buy a new car or take a trip?" The Montgomery tribe ops for experiences over more stuff.  Mosaico Travel Services delivers the finest in custom travel to Central America, South America, and Antarctica. These regions are our passion—our exclusive focus. We have a deep understanding of our destinations—knowledge built on the first-hand experience over decades of travel. Because we know these locations by heart, no other team is better prepared to plan and deliver

Morgan Snyder, host of Become Good Soil podcast, and my close friend interviews me on Work Life Play in celebration of this podcast reaching 100,000 downloads.  We titled it "Then and Now" as we retrace through our friendship over the last thirteen years. We talk through the original seeds of Work Life Play starting back when I'd run at lunch and shower with baby wipes before putting my suit back on.