What are sacred bricks?

A super simple formula that was shared with me for having a tremendous year…

“Each day is a sacred brick upon which I build the foundation of my year”

Every day is a new brick. And at the end of every day, you have to add that brick to your foundation.

Shitty day = shitty brick. Good day = good brick. You create your brick with your actions. If you want an epic foundation and an epic year, every brick counts. Don’t like the brick you laid today? Step it up tomorrow.

If we treat every day as sacred, we will produce sacred bricks. Don’t settle for anything else less than sacred. Sacred bricks are the goal.

What is the identity of the Master Sage Builder?

Who is the 'Master Sage Builder?'

I am.

Well. At least that's the new identity that dropped in for me today during a long walk deep in the woods.

What exactly is a master sage builder and why is that the new identity?

Well. I went on a walk deep into the woods to think about my new identity, and when answers come to me in nature, I just sort of roll with them. In this case, I believe this particular identity is a combination of the 3 dyads:

• Master Sage: one who has attained such a state of being and whose life consequently becomes tranquil (in stoic philosophy it was unclear whether this state was actually attainable)
• Master Builder: the head of a construction project during the Renaissance period who must possess both the theoretical engineering knowledge and also devise new methods of construction. It's also a reference to The Lego Movie for those mythical beings who would build without instructions
• Sage Builder: one who builds from a place of deep wisdom and alignment focusing on solving the most important problems

When we look at the Venn Diagram of the three dyads, we have a beautiful new identity that both challenges and supports my vision for the future.

Why is this identity critical to the self-development process?

An identity is a "moving towards" object.

It's a vision of a future version of myself that I aspire to fully embody. An identity forms the self-image, actions, habits, beliefs and worldviews. It's the center who we are and what we do. As James Clear writes, "The key to building lasting habits is focusing on creating a new identity first."

As we start living in alignment with our identity through our essence, our behaviors and our environment, we convince ourselves that this is who we truly are a little bit more each and every day.

The act of publishing this Thought feels like a solid first step on the long journey to becoming the Master Sage Builder.

Which version am I?

Two businesses running in-person events in NYC. One is shut down and sitting on the sidelines. The other moved to online events and is busier than ever.

Two versions of John. One shuts down and sits on the couch waiting for sunny skies. The other knows that there's never been a better time to be an entrepreneur, puts on his old shoes and goes to play in the mud puddles.

Neither is right or wrong. One is not better than the other. And sometimes we are both.

Couch creature. Builder.

This is not a one time choice. It's a moment by moment decision.

It's never about perfection, especially these days. It's about doing the best we can with what we got and where we're at. If 80% of the time I'm building, that feels good. 90% feels better. 95%, yes please.

Don't be too hard on yourself, John. When you get pulled into the couch, know that it's part of the process. And when you get up, know that there are plenty of beautiful, undisturbed puddles just waiting to be stomped.

Is it time to build?

On April 18, Marc Andreessen published a piece called "It's Time to Build." I've read it several times and consumed much of the praise and counterarguments that came along with it.

And now, I can definitively answer the question when I ask myself, "Is it time to build?"

Yes, it is absolutely time to build.

It's taken me 10 days to be fully certain because the answer comes with significant ramifications. Not something to be taken lightly.

During this time, I've utilized many forms of distractions to kick the can down the road and allow this decision to breathe. Some of those distractions have been productive like contributing to The $1k Project and Sponsor A Quarantine, deep cleaning the entire apartment and naps in the park. Others, not so productive, but it was all part of the process.

What are the ramificiations of deciding to build?

I'll answer that question with three more questions. Do I really want to start another company fully knowing the everyday rollercoasters that come along with that? And even more so, do I really want to start another company in the middle of a global pandemic? Is now really the time to be inviting more uncertainty into my life when we already have more uncertainty that anything we've ever experienced in my lifetime?

Again, the answer to all of them is yes. While starting a new company right now may seem insane or even masochistic, I truly believe that there has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur. The world has a whole new set of problems that didn't exist even a few weeks ago. And that's what entrepreneurs do, they solve problems.

One thing Marc wrote instantly jumped out to me. It's something I've been passionately talking about for the last few years.

"We need to get all the talent we can on the biggest problems we have, and on building the answers to those problems."

I've been calling this The Avengers Initiative for obvious reasons. Bring together the most talented people to solve the problems that bring humanity forward.

I've had a few false starts with getting this initiative off the ground, learned a megaton and have been secretly "recruiting" these amazing individuals for years. I certainly didn't know that we'd be in a situation quite like this, but I knew in every ounce of my being that there would be a time, many times throughout this lifetime, where we need the most talented people to build. It pains me that this initiative hasn't come together faster or that it isn't further along at this moment.

And yet, it's time to look forward and start building today.

Marc suggests that...

"Every step of the way, to everyone around us, we should be asking the question, what are you building?"

My answer to this question is something that I've been experimenting with behind the scenes based on what I learned teaching leadership around the world.

I believe that there is an opportunity to leverage technology to massively improve learning outcomes across the planet. Specifically, I believe the combination of a modern curriculum and experienced based learning can lead to a zero marginal cost education platform with radical improvements in student engagement and retention.

I will be writing more about this as the prototype for this product comes together in the next few weeks. If you interested in experimenting around how we build the future of education, let's jam.

And now we build.

How can I help from my couch?

This past weekend I participated in a Global Covid Hackathon where over 18,000 people came together to build projects to help in the response to the global pandemic.

It was an energizing and uplifting experience to see so many strangers come together to work on projects with a desire to be part of the solution.

My goals in participating in this were two-fold:

• learn something new that is useful
• contribute to a project that has an immediate impact

There were over 1,500 projects that were submitted, and I read through many of the early projects to find where I could contribute. While there were so many fascinating projects in all shapes and sizes, I ultimately felt that it was best to start my own.

In line with my goals, I built Sponsor A Quarantine.

This was my first time using any "no code" tools which provided a super fun learning opportunity. Very powerful to be able to put together something like this in a weekend. Bonus points that my girlfriend helped me get some key things done in order to meet the submission deadline.

We went from idea in the shower to raising over $2,100 in donations in a weekend, and our first food basket of many is out for delivery today.

Even though the hackathon is over, we're going to continue to keep donations open, we're working with a couple of local organizations in SF and NYC to find people in need and do whatever we can to help with this site. I'm still feeling a pull to be doing more which feels reasoanble, and I've been continuing to both listen and take action towards what's next.

It felt a lot better to build this past weekend than occupy time with distractions, and I'll be looking for more ways to integrate that as we bunker down for however long is need.