Jon Acuff - Author | Speaker

Do Over

The kind of story that stops you in your tracks

Jon Acuff July 24, 2015 7 Comments

In one of my first visits to Thistle Farms, a non-profit organization in Nashville, a woman in the program told our group a story.

When she was 12, her mom trafficked her to her drug dealer. She traded her for drugs and for the next two decades she was prostituted across the country.

Geranium pouring I have an 11-year-old daughter. Hearing stories like that is overwhelming.

How do you not respond when you bump into something like that?

The problem is that the issues seem so complex and impossible to solve. We’re talking about homelessness, drug addiction and prostitution. Where do you even start? Can one person even make a difference?

But then you meet Becca Stevens, the founder of Thistle Farms. Then you see a Thistle Farms product at Whole Foods that the women in the program have made with a label that says “Love Heals.” Then you hear the 12-year-old girl who is now in her 30s tell a different story. A story of hope. A story of handmade candles. A story of healing. And you realize it’s not impossible. For 18 years this organization has been giving women new stories, new jobs and new homes.

Hope like that is contagious and the first time I went to Thistle Farms, I knew we were going to do something awesome together someday.

Well, now it’s time.

On Friday, August 14th, I’m holding an event at Thistle Farms in Nashville called, “Brighter!”

I’ll be sharing about how we all get Do Over moments in life. (You may have noticed a tweet or 1,000 about how keen I am on the idea of starting over.) I’ll be talking about the time I lost my creative voice and what it took to get it back. And I’ll be challenging you to use your voice, too. I’ll also be giving you a sneak peek at a project I’ll be launching this fall.

Hope Candles There will be music, food and a lot of fun. Best of all, all the proceeds will go to Thistle Farms.

Space at the beautiful Thistle Stop Café is limited, so don’t wait to buy tickets.

Buy yours right here!

On Saturday, August 15, from 8AM – 12PM Jenny and I will also be making candles with the Thistle Farms team. Our goal is to finish 2,000 candles. I’m pretty sure I can do 500 an hour by myself, but I’m terrible at estimating things. It would probably be better if you were there too. If you’d like to join us there are a few volunteer spots open. Email Stacye to RSVP!

If you’ve ever been to one of my events before you know how fun they are. If you haven’t, this is the perfect one to check one out. Grab your ticket right here!

Sometimes, the world feels dark, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s not impossible to make it brighter. All it takes is a candle and a little bit of hope.

Uncategorized

Our calendars call us on the lies we all tell.

Jon Acuff July 21, 2015 11 Comments

“I’d rather binge watch Netflix than see a book I wrote on a shelf in a store.”

“I’d rather follow the plots of seven different television shows than cut the grand opening ribbon at a store I own.”

“I’d rather play Candy Crush than get in shape.”

“I’d rather stare at my phone until I get lost in a digital haze than build a relationship with the people I’m actually in the same room with.”

No one ever says horrible things like this.

No one ever makes such proclamations.

At least not with our mouths.

Most of us declare things like that with hands though.

Most of us proclaim things like that with our calendars.

Most of us shout things like that with our phones.

Most of us would cringe if we were honest for 30 seconds about the things we donate our time to.

Do Over

Exciting news about the release of the Do Over audio book!

Jon Acuff July 7, 2015 4 Comments

“When is the audio book for Do Over coming out?”

I’ve had a handful of people ask me that question at live events this spring and summer, and it always sounds a little anti-climactic when I respond because the answer isn’t, “this Tuesday!” or “in two weeks, but I can hardly wait because I had so much fun recording it!”

The answer is, “It’s already out! It came out when the book did, on April 7th.”

See, wasn’t that a little underwhelming?

But wait, how about if I let you hear what the first few minutes of the book sounds like for the first time ever? That’s exciting news, right?

Here you go, the first four minutes of Chapter One, in which I tell you about what a terrible mailman I was:

(If you’re reading this blog post in an email, you might have to click here to listen to the audio on my site.)

The clip sounds a little tinny because we had to MacGyver it to put it on this blog, but I assure you the real thing is silky smooth like Jodeci. (Keeping relevant with my modern pop culture references!)

Why should you listen to the audiobook?

1.I read it myself and it’s a lot of fun!

2. I added bonus material that’s not in the printed book.

3. It’s perfect for a long commute, work out or summer road trip.

So yeah, the exciting news is that the Do Over audio book is available today! The catch is, it has been for three months.

You can get your copy on Amazon as an Audible download or in CD format.

Character

How to look good on the Internet.

Jon Acuff June 30, 2015 social media 16 Comments

Last Wednesday, my wife and I took our daughters to the new American Girl Doll store in Nashville.

My kids had gift cards from a friend and were eager to snatch a doll from the cold hands of the grave. That sentence took a dark turn but American Girl Doll will “archive” dolls, taking them off the market for years if not forever. My kids have decided this marketing method is akin to killing the doll. Occasionally they will say chilling sentences like this to me: “They killed Samantha but now they brought her back, so she’s like zombie Samantha.”

Internet

While we were in the store, I took a photo of my daughters and was going to post it on Instagram. I was planning to caption it with this:

“How do you balance business travel and home life? You take your kids to the American Girl Doll store at 10:45AM on a Wednesday.”

That’s a true idea. I’ve learned in the last two years that part of the key to travel is that when you’re home you need to really be home. I need to take time during the week to be present with my family. Morning daddy/daughter dates, early afternoon adventures and summer Fridays when I stop working early help offset the days I travel. It helps with parenting and it helps with marriage, too.

Right before I posted the photo, I asked myself in the middle of the mall, “Why am I really doing this?”

I wasn’t posting the photo to help other business travelers with an idea that worked for me.

I wasn’t posting the photo to share a fun family moment.

I wasn’t posting the photo so that years later I could dig back through digital archives and remember that time at the store.

I was posting that photo because I wanted strangers to think I was a good dad.

I was posting that photo because I was worried that strangers thought I traveled all the time and was a bad dad.

I might not have vocalized it, but what was really going on in my head was this:

“I bet some people think I’m never home. I post photos of my travels, but not a lot of my home life so it probably feels out of balance. If I share this photo of the American Girl Doll store, maybe people will think I’m a good dad.”

That thought in itself is ridiculous, but here’s where it gets super stupid.

I was ignoring my kids to write a caption for a photo I was sharing in order to convince people I was a good dad.

In summary, I was being a bad dad in real life in order to look like a good dad on social media.

Hitting pause before I hit publish gave me a second to realize a few things.

1. No one online has ever said I’m a bad dad.
2. Even if strangers online said I was a bad dad, who cares? They don’t really know me.
3. Sometimes I miss moments in my attempt to document them.

That third one is a bit of an epidemic right now and the reason is that a significant shift happened in social media a few years ago.

We used to use social media to document moments we experienced. Now we use it to create moments so that we can document them.

We once used social media to document moments we had. Now we create moments just to document them.

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We stage our lives because the whole world is a stage.

Instead of being present to a moment with my kids, I tried to use the moment to create a message about who I was as a dad.

Don’t do that.

It’s dumb.

Post lots of photos. Share lots of updates. Have a ton of fun on social media. I love it and will continue to use it in healthy ways. I am going to wear out the Acuff family hashtag, #WickedAwesomeAcuffSummer but only when my motives are honest.

Hit pause before you publish.

Don’t perform for strangers you’ll never meet. Be present to the people you’re actually with.

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Skills

How to get motivated every time you open your phone this summer.

Jon Acuff June 26, 2015 1 Comment

According to the calendar, summer officially started last Sunday, but according to the #DOSummer2015 hashtag on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, it’s been in full swing for a couple weeks.

In fact, as of Monday over 10,000 people have downloaded the #DOSummer Checklist!

Already working on the checklist? Awesome! (Don’t have one yet? It’s a simple, free PDF that will help you work through all your goals this summer. Click here and I’ll send it to you.)

I thought it would be fun if every time you opened your phone you got motivated to stay on top of your DO Summer goals, so I created these lock screens. The goal of DO Summer is to help you spend 1,500 minutes doing something awesome this summer via 15 minute chunks of time.

It’s impossible to climb a mountain with one step but you’d be surprised how easy it is to knock things out in 15-minute segments. Every time you open your phone, you’ll be reminded to complete another 15 minutes of something you care about. Click the links below to open a new tab and save the one you want.

lockscreenoptions

OPTION 1

640 x 1136 (might work best for iPhone 5)
750 x 1334 (might work best for iPhone 6)
1080 x 1920 (might work best for Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5)

OPTION 2

640 x 1136 (might work best for iPhone 5)
750 x 1334 (might work best for iPhone 6)
1080 x 1920 (might work best for Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5)

Hopefully you can make one of these three resolutions work for you, depending on the phone you have.

(For iPhone users, save the image on your phone and use as wallpaper. They work best if you turn “Perspective Zoom” off and pinch the image so it fits perfectly into your screen size.)

Don’t forget to post your updates every Monday with the #DOSummer2015 hashtag!

Hustle

Short cuts are fun, but fictional.

Jon Acuff June 23, 2015 8 Comments

My friend produces albums. (If you live in Nashville for longer than 19 minutes you too will be able to say that sentence.)

He often meets young musicians and noticed that their narrative is changing. The new thing that fresh off the bus musicians tell him is, “If you produce my EP for free, I’ll split the licensing money when the songs get put into commercials and TV shows.”

At this point, my friend tries not to giggle, because saying that is akin to saying, “I’ll split my Grammy money with you.” He also knows that in 8 years of producing albums, the biggest check he got for licensing a song for a commercial was $5,000, split 6 ways. Granted, once you’ve netted a cool $833.33, you’ve got it made. You can now buy 1/74th of a Rolex President Watch.

When you move to Nashville it takes longer than an hour to get a song on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. It could take a whole weekend to get a record deal. Headlining tours sometimes take an entire month for you to land.

It’s a real hassle and the worst part is that it’s not just the music industry. Turns out it takes a lot of hard work to accomplish anything lasting in any industry.

Short cuts are fun, but fictional.

Don’t lose hope when you don’t get one.

Don’t give up because a producer won’t cut your album for free.

Don’t feel like a failure because you failed to win the lottery.

Put your head down, work three part time jobs and sing your heart out. Save up to get one song recorded. Turn that into two. Work that into three.

It might take you years, but that’s OK.

Slow success turns into long success. Quick success enters and exits our lives at the same speed.

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