This blog is simply a place where I talk about challenging ourselves beyond our comfort zones. I’m not going to just talk the talk I’ll be walking the the walk too.

How am I going to do that you might ask? I will be challenging my self each month with something that is going to kick me out of my comfort zone. Like I said I’ll be walking the walk.

My ultimate goal is to inspire others to challenge themselves to achieve things that they never thought they could, in any area in life.

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Why the heck does this blog exist?  What separates this blog from thousands and thousand of other personal development blogs?  I’m glad that you asked.

Second question first, why is this blog different then the others?

I’m a personal development junkie so I’m always reading blogs and consuming allot of educational materials.  I noticed that there was a huge opportunity to have a fresh approach to the subject.  So hence www.thethriveblog.com , the seriously, not so serious, approach to personal development.  Why not have fun with it right?

OK, the first question, why does this blog exist? 

Well, you know what, I already answered that.  That was easy…

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I just wanted to get you guys up to speed on whats going on around here.

As I wrote in a previous post I have been doing a bit of reflection. After speaking with some trusted mentors and advisors I came up with a game plan. I’m not going to get into all the details because frankly I don’t know all of them myself. I’m just going to do a basic run down of the plan so you can get an idea.

Just tell us already!

I don’t plan on adding this blog to the massive pile of dead blogs that litter the internet. However I am going to shift focus a bit, I won’t be doing as much original content on this site(not that I have been lately). It will be more of a hub for other great content that is out there, I will still write some original content my self and have some guest writers.

The one thing that will not change is what I believe makes this blog unique. That’s the humor aspect of it, for a couple of reasons. One, that’s who I am and two, I strongly believe that you can learn much more by having fun.

That being said, if you come across anything that would fit, please send it my way.

Why am I re-focusing? One of my goals for blogging is to provide the most value to the most people. The best way to do that is to not try and be every thing to everybody. Sounds a bit counter productive but if you ask any successful blogger and they will tell you how important it is to refine your niche. That’s not unique to blogging or the internet, it’s true in many industries.

Where is this new energy going to be focused? I’ve been pushed in a direction that I feel I could provide a ton of value, so I am starting another blog. The topic of this blog is going to be personal development for introverts. For introverts by an introvert.

Why Introverts? For several reasons, mainly because introverts have been given a bad rap. Society has put a stigma on introverts and is treated much like a disability. My big hairy audacious plan is to change that. I want to do my part in helping people embrace their true self rather than trying to change something that they can’t.

I have several other reasons but I’m going to save that for the new blog.

By the way the new blog is located at www.ThrivingIntrovert.com, it’s still under construction so please forgive the mess.

This new blog and this blog will both serve as a foundation of Thrive Industries.

I value any and all feedback so I am eager to hear your great ideas.

Photo Credit: Alex Osterwalder

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I am a strong believer in continuously challenging ourselves.

I’m always preaching to the guys that I work with, and one of my common phrases is “if your not failing, your not stretching yourself enough”. I try to practice what I preach, but I’m not always successful.

We don’t really know what are true limitations are until we test them. I love this quote by Les Brown.

“Don’t let someone else’s opinion of you become your reality.” -Les Brown

The reason I love this quote is that it is so true. I know it’s true, even if I won’t openly admit it in public, other peoples opinions do affect my own.

The point I’m trying to make is this, our limitations are self imposed. Yes it’s true that they can be heavily influenced by others but we are ultimately responsible.

What is this Introvert Challenge that I’m talking about?

My challenge was to go on vacation. Yes that was a challenge, believe it or not. Not because I’m a work workaholic…it will make sense…I promise.

How could I possibly have challenge and vacation in the same sentence?

As you may or may not know, I am an introvert(if the title wasn’t a good clue). I’m not going to get into the mechanics of introverts, my friend Christie at the introvertzone, is covering that topic very well. Just for the sake of this post, introverts do not like to be around people all the time. It’s not that we hate people, were not anti-social, we just need our space…and we are not huge fans of small talk.

As an introvert, that doesn’t exactly like to be around a lot of people for extended amounts of time, what did I do?

Well I decided to travel with 2,000 of my closest friends(insert sarcasm) on a cruise to the bahamas. Not only did I go on vacation with 2,000 strangers, I went single. Now, I did travel single, but not alone (singlescruise.com, show some love for the endorsement…just kidding).

Oh yeah, did I mention that I had a roommate(that I met on day one of the trip). This may not seem like a big deal to some but to an introvert, it is. Luckily I had an awesome roommate and we had a blast.

My main purpose for this post is to challenge ourselves to get out of your comfort zone. I jumped out, and I, not only survived, but I had a killer time. I plan on repeating the experience and topping it.

In a future post I will dive into the things I did to make this trip a success.

What have you done to challenge yourself?

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Is technology making us stupid? I’m going to argue that it is…at least in my case.

I’m not going to go into a long-winded piece on the theory of stupid (I’ll save that one for later). I’m only going to talk about one example from my own life.

Technology is supposed to make are lives so much better right. In many cases it does, medical advancements for example. Sliced bread and American cheese…can you imagine having to slice bread and cut the cheese…I’m getting tired just thinking of all that work.

Ok, last bad joke of the day…I promise…really

We all know that person who knows all the short cuts, some might refer to them as a back seat driver (insert sarcastic tone here). The back seat driver…don’t you just wanna punch them in the face give them a dirty look.

No, I’m not talking about Dad and his short cuts…remember those? Up until a couple of years ago I always thought that short cut meant; long winding road, that ended after pulling over to puke out the window.

I’m talking about the GPS. Mine happens to be named Jane; she has a very sexy British accent…I’m a bit of a sucker for those.

Jane and I have developed a bit of a codependency; I can’t go any where with out her. Even if I know where I’m going, I still feel compelled to let her navigate.

Sometimes, just for fun I like to mess with her. She’ll tell me to turn left, and I’ll turn right. She’s a bit stubborn though, she’ll keep telling me to make a u-turn, make a u-turn, nag…nag…nag. I just ignore her…she eventually gives up. She does not find that funny at all…believe me.

I had to quit doing that, because one day, we were driving and she told me to turn right. Which would’ve been fine but…I’ll just say that I had to change my underpants. Needless to say I don’t torment Jane anymore…she has no sense of humor…at all.

Back to my argument…here is an example of how I am getting stupider…is that even a word?

Because of this GPS, I only focused on the destination, instead of paying attention to the journey.

Which is a long way of saying “I can’t remember how to get to there”. I just now learned how to get home. To be honest though, Jane doesn’t even know where I live…my house is not even on the map…literally. It bugs her to death that she doesn’t know it all…

How is that going to make me stupid? It starts with forgetting directions, which can lead to forgetting how to cpell…it’s all downhill from there.

Has all these technological advancements made me so stupid that I don’t know what I’m talking about? Has technology made you stupid? Are you insulted that I just called you stupid?

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