Jon Acuff - Author | Speaker

Hustle

Crying in airports gets old eventually.

Jon Acuff March 2, 2015 Airports 16 Comments

Airports

Last week, while flying to NYC to talk with Penguin about Do Over, I was reminded of a flight I took 6 years ago.

I had spoken at a conference using a vacation day and was returning to my corporate job. I didn’t have a book out yet and didn’t really believe I could be a writer.

I was spending my 10th year just working a job and the reality of the situation was overwhelming. I knew when I landed there was a pair of khakis waiting for me in the car. I’d change clothes in the handicapped stall at work and then go back into a sea of cubicles, the previous day at the conference disappearing into the reality of another workweek.

I started crying in the airport in Chicago because I didn’t want to go back.

To have the experience I had last week, to speak at the MOMA about a book I wrote, to have thousands of friends already pre-order it, to talk with a publisher who believes in me about the next one I am writing was overwhelming. (I instagrammed it in the moment because it hit me like some sort of crazy tidal wave.)

I’ve been through some difficult career transitions. I’ve gained some things and lost some others along the way. I’ve made mistakes, failed and fallen down so many times.

I will never tell you that life change is fast or easy. Nothing that matters is.

But I will always tell you it’s possible because I don’t cry in airports any more.

Hustle

Everything is a classroom.

Jon Acuff February 27, 2015 12 Comments

I talk to cab drivers.

I read menus at restaurants to grow my vocabulary.

I ask people I respect what books they are reading.

Why?

Hustle

Today is January 1st if You Want it to Be

Jon Acuff February 23, 2015 30 days, Hustle 10 Comments

Every day is January 1st if you want it to be.

There is no magic in January 1st.

The day itself is just a placeholder on a calendar.

But for some reason we think it’s the only time change can start.

We launch diets and businesses and new books and new dreams thinking that’s the perfect day to launch a Do Over.

And then we get to February. The momentum of the new year has long worn off and we think we have missed our moment to really shine.

But what if today could be January 1st?

What if everyday could be January 1st?

What if you and I were bigger than a day written on a calendar?

I have already failed at perfection for this year. The streaks I started in January have sputtered a bit. I haven’t run in a week due to a cold, books I promised to read sit quietly on shelves shaming me, pants stretching queso begs me to ignore healthier snack choices.

In years gone by, this is when I would have quit. Once the bubble of perfection is burst I tend to think, “Why bother anymore? If it can’t be perfect I might has well not do it at all.”

But perfection is a poison not a potion. It always promises things it cannot deliver.

Perfection is a poison not a potion. It always promises things it cannot deliver.

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What if you aimed for finished not perfect?

That’s what I’m doing this year.

I’m not going to give up just because it’s no longer January 1st and the promise of perfection has already escaped me.

I’m done with perfect. I’m done with New Year’s Resolutions confined to the month of January.

I worked with 10,000 people last year on the 30 Days of Hustle. I watched them lose thousands of pounds (collectively, not individually; that would be bananas). I watched them build businesses. I get the books they wrote in the mail.

Sometimes I have a hard time believing change is possible. There’s sooooo much fluff online about rosy sunrises, effortless passive income and turning a frown upside down as an instant solution to your problems. (Some of this I have contributed to at times.)

But, having seen what thousands of people accomplished when they went through the 30 Days of Hustle and having met hundreds of them at meetups, I’m a believer in the power of a Do Over.

I took the content of the 30 Days of Hustle and turned it into an eBook. Trying to manage 30 days of thousands of emails was a mess and the design of the original program was non-existent. I hired a graphic designer, I hired an editor, I hustled on the content, and I love how it came out. (Here’s a peek.)

Someday, I might sell it, but for now, it’s a resource you get for free when you pre-order Do Over.

And here’s what I’m going to do.

I declare that March 1 is the new January 1st. I think you and I and the wildly supportive 30 Days of Hustle Facebook group should launch a Do Over next week.

Did you know that when you get the 30 Days of Hustle eBook you get an invite to the private Facebook group? I’m talking about 11,000 of the most encouraging people you’ve ever met cheering you on each day.

If you’re in, if you’re done with thinking change is only something that happens in January, join me and few thousand new friends.

There are only 2 Steps. 1) Pre-Order Do Over today and then 2) Fill out this form. You’ll get the free copy of the 30 Days of Hustle eBook and an invite to the private Facebook group.

Step 1: Pre-Order Do Over from any of these fine retailers

Step 2: Fill out this form.

Starting March 1, we’ll all go through the 30 Days of Hustle content day by day in the private Facebook group.

Perfection is dumb. Finished is awesome.

It’s time to hustle!

Hustle

The moment I knew I had a bad job.

Jon Acuff February 20, 2015 bad job, Hustle 274 Comments

I once worked at a company that started serving dinner in the corporate cafeteria.

They announced it under the guise of convenience. “Now you can have dinner options you can bring home to your family!”

Despite the upbeat email, everyone at the company knew this was a terrible sign.

Let’s be honest, what family wants you to bring home a styrofoam container of office cafeteria spaghetti and sadness? Have you ever eaten lunch in a corporate cafeteria (that wasn’t Facebook or Google) and thought, “I wish I could have this for dinner, too! You know who would love eating this? My family!”

Uncategorized

Discover More Time with This One Exercise

Jon Acuff February 19, 2015 7 Comments

(This is a guest post from Jessica N. Turner, who just released her first book The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You.)

It’s a new year, which means more people are going to the gym and tracking what they are eating. Apps, fitbits and newsletters all help keep folks accountable.

What would happen if we were as diligent with knowing where our time went as we were about what food we were eating?

It’s actually not as hard as you think. And with 168 hours in a week, you can definitely make time for you, your dreams and the things you love.

The best way to find pockets of time (or fringe hours, as I like to call them) in your day is to track your time.

Tracking your time is an easy, eye-opening exercise to really understand how you spend your time each week.

The exercise is simple. Download this spreadsheet, or just use a notebook or calendar. Then for one week, track everything you do.

Meetings.

Laundry.

Meal prep.

Kid pick-up.

EVERYTHING.

At the end of the week take a look at where your time went. Really look at your time sheet and ask yourself these questions as you review your days:

• Where did I spend my time?

• What items are nonnegotiables (e.g., work, taking kids to school, etc.)?

• What time was wasted?

• What activities could be streamlined in my schedule? (For instance, does doing laundry every day make sense, or would it be better to do it as a marathon on one day?)

• Am I doing too much? Do I need to be better at saying no?

• Did I do anything just because it would have made me feel guilty to not do it?

• Would it be helpful to ask for or hire help for any of the things I spent time on during the week?

• Did I take time for myself? If so, how much time?

• Overall, how did I feel this week? Happy? Tired? Stressed? All of the above?

How did these emotions impact me and my activities?

These questions are just as important as the tracking itself because you are able to really dig into your time habits and where you would like to spend your time.

Once you complete this exercise, you will be able to more clearly see how you really spend your time and the choices you need to make to be a better steward of it.

Making time to do the things you love doesn’t have to be a dream. Track your time and discover your fringe hours.

(Follow Jessica on Twitter, and grab her book here: The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You.)

Character

10 things fear fears.

Jon Acuff February 16, 2015 Fear 17 Comments

Sending a book, a project, a business or anything else you care about into the world is a nervous experience.

It’s easier to hide the things you care about in a quiet drawer in your house than it is to share them.

This is why so many people have “someday dreams.” Things they will do “someday.” It is far more comfortable to talk about what you will do someday instead of actually doing something today.

Now, a few weeks away from launching my new book Do Over, I wrestle with all the fears that come with releasing something. It’s available for pre-order and I’ve been blown away by how many people have already purchased it, but still there is fear.

This weekend though, I sat down and wrote a list of the things fear fears. For fear is not brave. There are some very specific thing that make it quake. Should you ever find yourself afraid, remember this list and then go out and find as many of these as you can. (Except for #8 of course.)

Things fear fears: Community, action, alarm clocks, truth, hustle, focus, sunrises, hope and you.

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Fear