Category: Uncategorized

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Make It As Hard As You Want To.

I was driving home last weekend, through Emigration Canyon. On a weekend, there are tons of cyclists and runners on that road — people literally biking and running up a mountain. It’s impressive to see.

But then I saw something I’d never seen before: Two men, on unicycles, riding up the mountain.

Going up that road — it involves more than 1,000 feet of elevation change — is hard enough on a bike or on two feet. But on a unicycle?

And so I got home and went to YouTube, and there were all sorts of videos of people doing even more incredible things on unicycles there. They’re doing on two wheels what I wouldn’t dare do on one.

It was a reminder for me: You get to decide what challenges you take on. And with those challenges, you get to decide if you want to do things on easy mode or hard mode.

What’s right for someone else isn’t what right for you.

(And heck, I know mountain unicycling isn’t right for me!)

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Embrace the Imperfection.

Brandi stands center stage underneath the spotlight, behind her red lights and her face projected on a giant screen inside a red ring.

There are days when I’m really excited about the future of AI, and days when I get a little scared about the possibility that AI’s going to take over everything.

But on Tuesday, I went into Salt Lake to see Brandi Carlile play. She did this thing in the middle of the show where she asked the crowd for requests. I thought they might have been plants, but no: She’s been doing it at every show.

And seeing something like that — the crowd screaming out their favorite songs; the artists trying to figure out, in real time, what guitars they needed to play and what key the song was in — was such an amazing thing. I loved seeing Brandi try to pick out a fan in a crowd of thousands, hoping that she actually remembered the song this fan wanted her to sing. I loved the band talking through, on a hot mic, how they wanted to handle these songs acoustic — who’d play what part, how they’d play the intro or the ending.

AI can be a bit of a know-it-all. Ask it for the idea chicken dish or a strategy to sell widgets, and it’ll spit out an answer in seconds. It’s often right, too.

But there’s something special — something so human — about seeing something happen in real time. Watching Brandi and her band on stage reminded me that some of my favorite moments are the ones that aren’t quite perfect. They’re messy, they’re unexpected, they sometimes go wrong.

I don’t think AI will ever be able to make moments like that.

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I took that photo from way in the upper deck at Delta Center.

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Figure Out Your Vacation Work Strategy.

A laptop is open with a to-do list, while the Atlantic Ocean sits in the background.

When I first started Inbox Collective, I tried taking vacation the way I had when I had a traditional 9-to-5. I turned on the out-of-office reply, closed the laptop, and ignored emails until I got back.

I returned from vacation to a pile of unread emails and tasks. I spent days trying to catch up.

What I learned was that at my 9-to-5, there were other people who could pick up the slack and answer questions while I was on vacation. But now I was my own boss. It was just me — if I didn’t reply, no one did.

So now I take a little time, every day, to deal with tasks. Urgent stuff gets handled that day — not as fast as it would if I was at work, but usually done within 24 hours. Less urgent stuff gets tackled when I have the time. Some stuff gets put off until I’m back at my desk — no big deal.

But by spending an hour or two every day on work, I make sure I don’t come back to that big pile of tasks.

Is that strategy for everyone? Absolutely not. Some people like doing a little work on vacation. Some people would rather throw their laptop in the ocean than answer an email while OOO.

The only important thing is to figure out what works for you.

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I took that photo of my laptop a few years while on vacation in Florida.

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You Can Make Time For It — If You Want To.

Ben hikes through a shady section of a dirt hiking trail in Utah.

A funny thing I’ve noticed lately: I’ll be chatting with a friend and mention something that I was able to make time for — going skiing, spending time with the kiddo, reading books. And they’ll say, “Oh, I wish I had time for something like that!”

But when you probe a little deeper, you find that they often do have the time. We’ve all met people who are willing to wake up at 6 so they can squeeze in a workout before work, but who can’t seem to find the time to cook dinner.

And I get it: We’re all busy, and there’s never enough time for everything. But if there’s something you really value, there’s often a way to make space for it.

For me, one of those things is getting outside. I was feeling a little sluggish the other day, and I had a break between calls. I sat down, ate some lunch, and watched crappy TV on the couch for an hour. Weirdly, lying down on the couch didn’t particularly help with that sluggishness!

And as I went downstairs to go on my calls, I found myself asking: Why didn’t I get outside for a 20-minute walk to clear my head?

Yes, I’m busy. No, I don’t have time for everything. And no, I don’t need to fill every minute of the day with something.

But I have 20 minutes for a walk. I have time to read before bed. I can move things around so I can do the stuff I want.

I do have the the time if I want it.

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That’s a photo I took last summer of the kiddo and I on a little hike together here in the mountains.

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Great Ideas Come From Weird Places.

I’m reading Susan Morrison’s wonderful biography of Lorne Michaels, called “Lorne,” and this little story about Michaels and Paul Simon immediately caught my eye:

Michaels’s few off-hours that summer were spent in the studio where Simon was recording Still Crazy After All These Years, and he added, to his growing trove of showbiz stories, the one about how his friend Paul took the title of his song “Mother and Child Reunion” from the name of a chicken-and-egg dish on a Chinese menu.

An iconic song, titled thanks to the name of a menu item at a Chinese restaurant?

Yeah, great ideas can truly come from anywhere.

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A New Rule for 2026.

A road splits into two in a dark forest. There's snow covering the road and snow on the trees.

Here’s something I’m trying to stick to this year:

I’ll get these pitches in my inbox for something that seems interesting. Not incredible, but interesting, and I’ll say yes. Maybe it’s a potential client that I’m vaguely interested in working with or a brand that wants me to demo their product. I’m not totally sold, but hey, it seems interesting enough, and I’ll say yes to the call.

And then Sunday night, as I prep for the week ahead, I’ll see that meeting pop up on my cal, and I’ll go, “Why did I say yes to this again?”

I’m getting better about saying no to certain things, but I know I need to be even pickier. It’s a waste of their time and mine if I’m not 100% in before booking the call.

If I’m not incredibly excited to meet, the answer needs to be, “Sorry, I don’t think this is a good fit for me.”

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That photo of a fork in the road comes via Oliver Roos and Unsplash.

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Do You Need to Pivot?

A road sign with the words Turning Point on one end of the road and a red, do-not-enter sign on the other end.

Knowing if it’s time to make a change really comes back to one big question: What’s your goal for this work?

Take this blog. I’ve been writing here, pretty much weekly, for more than a dozen years. I don’t have analytics on the website, which means I have no idea how many people read danoshinsky.com. I started it to give myself a place to write. I don’t try to monetize this site or use it for any other purpose — it’s just a place to write.

If I found out that lots people were reading it every month, would I pivot to a new strategy? To be honest: Probably not. I like it as an outlet for writing, and I’m not looking for it to be more than that.

But what if I’d built it as a vehicle to drive success for a larger business? What if this was the thing I was using to sell products or a paid subscription, and it wasn’t driving those results?

Well, yeah: I’d be looking to pivot to the next idea.

What I like to tell clients is: Everyone has too many ideas. Your job is to recognize when things are working and double down — or recognize when things aren’t and be willing to move on. But that starts by thinking clearly about what you want to achieve from the work in the first place.

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That photo of a sign with the words “Turning Point” comes via Unsplash and Roger Bradshaw.

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Quieting Things Down.

Sunlight splashes across the pillows and comforter of a bed.

There are nights when I wake up at odd hours, and I’m suddenly thinking about work. I’ve got projects to take care of, emails to send, things I haven’t even started that I know are due soon. The stress of it all somehow hits in the middle of the night.

And I have to remind myself: There’s not a lot I can do at 3 a.m.

It doesn’t do me much good to worry, anyway. The anxiety doesn’t make the to-do list any shorter. What I can do is get back to bed, find a pocket of time to take on some work in the morning, and actually do the work.

And then do it again.

And again, and again.

But in the middle of the night, all you can do is remind yourself: You’ve done the work before, and you’ll do it again.

Just not at 3 a.m.

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That photo of sunlight across a bed comes via Unsplash and photographer Becca Schultz.

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Showing Your Work.

Catci, trees, and other plans grow alongside a walking path.

We took a visit to St. George, Utah, last weekend. And up on the hills above the city, there’s this little desert oasis called Red Hills Desert Garden.

Inside, there are walking paths and a little stream. You can cross over the stream on these beautiful red rocks, and walk along red clay paths to see spots where dinosaurs once roamed. You can see all sorts of desert landscaping, too. It’s quite beautiful, really.

And most interestingly: The entire thing is run not by the local parks department but by the Washington County Water Conservancy District.

Once I realized that, I started to notice that there were little signs everywhere talking about how to save water. In St. George, the average annual rainfall is about eight inches, and the county has made a push to encourage people to replace their lawns with desert landscaping. And as part of that push, they created this garden where locals can see just how beautiful their homes could be if they planted cacti or desert-friendly plants instead of grass in their yards.

They even host regular events and classes there, highlighting ways to conserve water and create a beautiful desert landscape on a budget.

Instead of just telling people that they should plant things that don’t use up lots of water, they created an entire garden as a showcase for this type of landscaping. It’s part-garden, part-showroom.

I love that they showed their work — and know that once you see what you can do with desert landscaping, others will choose to bring those ideas back to their own homes.

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I took that photo at Red Hills Desert Garden. Even on a cloudy day, the garden was still lovely to walk through.

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A Wish for the New Year.

Fireworks over a ski mountain — I believe it's Aspen.

There’s something I’ve noticed about my son: He always shows up with love.

He loves running over to family and friends to give hugs. (“Big hugs,” especially.) He’s always excited when he sees someone he knows. If he’s a little shy around a new person, it only takes a few minutes before they’re his new best friend.

That joy is contagious. Other people always seem so happy when they’re around Ben.

So here’s my wish for the new year: Show up with love. Show up excited to be around the people you care about. Be excited, be joyful. Be a little bit more like Ben.

We need more of that light in this world.

———

That photo of fireworks over a ski mountain (Aspen, I think) come via photographer Jamie Fenn and Unsplash.

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