In the leap year of 1916, while the British engaged in fierce battles and the Montreal Canadians snagged their first-ever Stanley Cup, my Bubbie was born.

Bubbie, Yiddish for grandmother, embodied the stereotype with her floral prints, frugality, and generous cheek pinches. Bubbie Bessie, as we fondly called her, hailed from a quaint little town in Saskatchewan.

At her wedding to my grandfather Hyman, a unique family twist unfolded: Bessie’s brother Jack met and later married Hyman’s sister, Betty. Wait what? Yes, siblings marrying siblings, a tale that never ceases to amaze.

Bubbie, a homemaker, mother of four, and community leader radiated joy, especially in her kitchen. She was a spectacular woman who oozed chutzpah.

Whenever I’d visit, it was certain she’d be in the kitchen. She was happiest here, displaying her love for all of us through food. Yet, another sanctuary existed in her home, a place of wonder and memories — this was Bubbie’s basement.

Rooms with no view

As the 20th century was drawing to a close, Basement Jaxx released their “Red Alert” album. It was then that my brother and I began reminiscing about our antics in Bubbie’s basement, the inspiration behind this newsletter’s title.

Whenever Bubbie was engrossed in her baking, my brother and I would seize the chance to dive into the mysteries of Bubbie’s basement, a labyrinth of four rooms, each with its unique charm:

The first room, dominated by a billiards table (with pool cues missing tips), became our playground for invented games. Old furniture, a mountain of magazines, and Hyman’s legal files surrounded the table. And there were the outdated calendars that Bubbie would renumber and re-date so they could be reused.

The second room was a time capsule. Towering piles of newspapers, some over a decade old, stood beside an eclectic mix of household items. Once she declined my request for an ancient paper, intending to revisit its recipes. I began to learn how she liked holding onto the past.

Room three, a fortress of furniture, showcased Bubbie’s organizational prowess. Furniture was stacked in Tetris-like formations, with art and memorabilia filling the gaps.

Room four, our favorite, resembled a post-apocalyptic pantry. Shelves lined with canned goods from bygone eras challenged us to find the oldest relic, with a Campbell’s soup can from 1956 holding the title.

Indeed the whole house was Bubbified. The living room had a plastic-covered couch and closets and drawers overflowing with wrapping paper and empty chocolate boxes ready to wrap gifts.

Bubbie’s collecting habits were survival mechanisms. Facing challenges like the Great Depression, World War II, and prairie snowstorms that could isolate for weeks, her drive to save, collect, and repurpose ensured the family’s well-being.

While Bubbie developed incredible systems to meet the clutter, I gravitated towards minimalism. Possessions often feel like emotional shackles, and decluttering is my salvation. I get odd gratification from perusing supermarket cleaning aisles and find tidying up videos euphoric.

My friends often joke, referencing the climax of “Good Will Hunting,” that one day they’ll knock, and I’ll have simply vanished. This relentless urge to purge is my reaction against Bubbie’s ways. Yet, it’s merely another shade of neurosis and a reflection of our shared yet contrasting narratives.

Elastic energy

Bubbie had an impressive stash of elastic bands. An organizational ninja — they were meticulously arranged by size, each bundle neatly secured with another elastic. To me, these elastics symbolize the resilience and spirit of her life. Just like a rubber band, the more she stretched in giving, the stronger she seemed to become.

Her acts during the war, the tea dances she organized with my grandfather, and her innate ability to connect with people showcased her spirit of community and giving. Bubbie was a middle child, and her early life experiences likely fueled her adaptability.

Her legacy of deep listening, making everyone feel special, and her boundless generosity set a shining example for our entire family.

Embracing my inner-Bubbie

It’s often said that as we age, we mirror our parents. In my case, I see more of Bubbie in me as I age. I’m blessed to carry forward her vibrant spirit, her childlike wonder, and her insatiable curiosity. My hands, showing signs of wear and stories, resemble hers. And in my living room stands her mid-century modern coffee table, which her great-grandson loves to rest his feet on — a testament to her timelessness.

My writing mimics her penchant for collecting, a therapeutic ritual to find order in chaos. This newsletter has been a grand exercise in decluttering, an attempt to refine and share a cohesive tale. I think Bubbie would find humor in the parallel.

I’d like to think Bubbie and Maya Angelou would’ve bonded over tea. Many recount the warmth they felt in Bessie’s presence. She had this innate ability to make you feel like the center of her universe. I can only hope that I’ve inherited a fraction of that gift.

This isn’t merely a tale of Bubbie’s basement; it’s a testament to timeless lessons of adaptability, cherishing memories, giving back, and finding joy in the little things.

Bubs, I see you. I hear you. I feel your presence. I celebrate your legacy, your love for order, and, of course, those cherished elastics.

Dig this? Why not sign up for my newsletter right here

It was bound to happen. If you want to read where I think we’re heading — then slide over here.

Warmest,
Jonas.

“Hard to say, time doesn’t exist in my world right now,” she wrote me.

My friend is saying goodbye to her father as he moves on to another world. This unknown destination may resemble the photo of Mt. Rainer that rests on his bedside table.

If time exists, it will surely feel differently wherever he’s heading.

Prisoners of the Present

Time perspective (TP) is the typical lens through which you see yourself and the world. The good news is that, unlike your age, you can change your TP. Adopting a perspective that fits the situation you find yourself in is the name of the game.

Maybe you give yourself a week to pull together a big pitch for work. Or you gift yourself a day off to completely unplug (to rest without being restless). Perhaps you purposefully take the longer scenic way home.

If your TP is well-balanced you’re easily adapting to different scenarios — toggling from being present to future-oriented and back again.

Present-oriented types: Immediate gratification. Pursue pleasure and novelty. Appreciate life, nature, and the people. Often find flow and lose track of time. Playful, impulsive, and sensual. Better at helping others than helping themselves.

Future-oriented types: Delay gratification. Driven with self-discipline to reach future goals. Exercise, invest, and go for preventative health exams. Better at helping themselves, but worse at helping others.

The brain comes with a strong built-in bias toward immediate gratification. Life was short for our ancestors and the urgency to get food and not become it was paramount. Compound interest, dieting, and retirement — Bah!

Today our personal futures aren’t as bleak. Goal setting is something we do on a regular basis. Future scoping is a thing. And yet, many still suffer from temporal myopia: the inability to consider the long-term consequences of actions when making decisions.

I should know — I’ve got a pretty severe case of it.

The most famous example of temporal myopia is the Stanford marshmallow experiment. Subjects choose between an immediate reward (a marshmallow), or a bigger reward (two gooey delights) if they wait patiently.

Temporal Culture

Countries, regions, companies, and families also have a default mode. This temporal model is how culture operates most frequently and how members feel most at ease.

The Indonesian concept of Jam Karet highlights this well. Jam translates as time while Karet means rubber — so we get rubber time. Time moves slowly here, or it moves at the same speed as the rest of the world but it feels slow.

Indeed many locals don’t wear watches in Asia (at least that’s what I’ve observed) and the general vibe is to live in the moment and sense into the next activity.

The reality is that we can live in two different worlds. You could be here now with me but your mind is elsewhere. You can play a nostalgic song or spritz a memorable perfume and then close your eyes. Instantly you’re transported to another time and place.

Likewise, we can switch our temporal bias to better harmonize between present pleasure and future fulfillment. But to do so we need practice.

Losing Time

Losing track of time seems more difficult as we age. Our perception of time is linked to how much we’ve already lived and time moves slower when we’re young. Today, you have oodles of more memories to draw upon than your 5-year-old self. As a kid, every minute is packed with a plethora of mental images but as you age you have fewer novel experiences. And with fewer frames per minute in the movie that makes up your life, time begins to move faster.

Our current attitude towards time can also be distinguished between clock and event time. My dad generally lives and works by the clock. The only activity that seems to be an outlier is nap time. This can happen almost anywhere at any moment except while driving or operating heavy machinery. Perhaps that’s why my bent has been so present and event-oriented: a silent rebellion against time governed by the clock.

The last watch I sported was an OG Casio calculator model. I eat lunch when I’m hungry. I respond to people when I’m ready. I jog as long as I feel like it.

And yet as I type this, it’s this ability to shift to clock time — to be more future-oriented that I must learn to cultivate.

Grolar Bears

Time is the crisis of our time. The biggest threat to our survival is short-term thinking. In our age of Target and Tiktok brain, we’re witnessing collective temporal myopia.

Over-indexing to present-orientedness can have devasting effects. Consider this: Grizzly bears rise prematurely from their slumber because of global warming. They bump into and mate with, their polar bear cousins. The result is, you guessed it, ‘Grolar’ bears. These hybrid bears are ill-equipped to live in camouflage and are yet another reminder of our barbarous impact on the natural world.

While the predictable patterns of our planet are breaking, so too are the rhythms of our inner worlds. The natural states governed by our circadian rhythms are under siege through binge-watching, substance abuse, jet lag, anticipatory grief, and workaholism. The results are plenty from insomnia, to obesity, to diabetes, to depression, and more.

The gala event we’re all invited to now is to cure the earth.

Reimagining Time

While writing this piece my pal Sal asked me why I was squinting so hard. I told him I was pondering time (which I was) but I also just really needed my glasses. After 18 years of writing this newsletter, it’s become a part of me. It’s a way to think, a chance to connect, and a mechanism to mark time. Ironically though, writing this has relatively speaking, taken me wayyyyy too long.

To gain a better perspective and peer over the horizon to overcome my temporal myopia, I did what anyone else would do. I asked ChatGPT:

Overcome short-term thinking: Work towards future goals. Consider the long-term effects of your decisions, both on yourself and on the world.

Not bad. Not great either. One of the responses generated that I found fitting was to talk to a therapist or coach. How all of this AI business will unfold, well, only time will tell.

This jazz about adapting your time perspective is surely easier said than done. In the world of the Algonquin people, there is no word for ‘time’ as life simply moves with the rhythm of nature. Time is really in the eye of the beholder. You’ve heard it countless times before — it’s all relative.

I sometimes take solace in Heidegger’s view that we are time. It’s in this spirit that Einstein wrote to the widow of his best friend. He explained to her that time is a landscape and that if you have the right perspective you can see all of time laid out in front of you. The past, present, and future all happen at once. “Your husband, my friend, exists just as much as he ever has. He’s just over the next hill,” he declared.

I wonder if this thought, this perspective on time, might console my friend as she says goodbye.

You can sign up for my monthly newsletter (where this was first featured). It has a whopping 50% open rate and is full of awesome other nuggets too. Get it here

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“This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Regeneration doesn’t happen in isolation.

This line has stuck with me ever since I heard it and that’s because it’s so true. We need others for feedback, support, and presence.

I’m so excited about my upcoming Becoming a Shaper group coaching program. I’ve designed it to include the most powerful tools from my 1:1 coaching along with the power of collective intelligence and community.

Group coaching is a dynamic process that will help you build capacity and make meaningful changes in your work and life. I’ve purpose-designed this course so that you become energized by your work, amplify your creativity, and scale your impact.

TL;DR

Here's what folks have been saying:

Here’s a run-down of what we will cover:

FAQ

How much time do I need to invest?
We’ll sprint over 2-weeks. Expect to spend a total of 8 hours (4 hours in live sessions and another 4 hours asynchronously.) That’s one business day that can completely repattern how you see and do things.

How many of us will there be?
The cohort is capped at 9 people to keep it intimate and to give you the best experience.

How much does this cost?
$650 USD. With only 2 spots left I’ve got a promo code off the standard price if you DM me. And I’m so sure you will love this course that I offer a 100% refund if you don’t.

I’m Jonas. I think, write, and coach on the design of work. DM if you’d like to join this one-of-a-kind experience.

I met a young actor recently who told me a story I love.

She’s about to film her scene and is super nervous. That’s when her castmate, Emma Stone, rolls up and nonchalantly asks, “Hey, ya want some tater tots?”

“Umm…hell yeah!”

Emma proceeds to pull out a ziplock bag packed with tater tots that I can only assume she swiped from craft service.

They munch together smiling in silence.

The nerves subside in the young actor and shortly thereafter the director yells ‘Action!’

They film their scene without a hiccup.

Apparently, Emma was showing up as part of The Ministry of Presence. A phrase unfamiliar to me and one that has stuck with me.

My version of what the Ministry means is that you show up fully for someone giving them your undivided attention and unwavering support. Oftentimes, it’s not so much about what you say, or if you say anything at all. It’s about you you being available and attentive.

The question I’ve been chewing on though is how do I attend to myself and really listen to what my body is presenting me?

On the inside

When it comes to somatic awareness, I’m late to the game. Relatively content living in my own head — I could absorb, ruminate, and analyze until the cows came home.

I was disembodied for most of my life.

My happiness was often dependent on others. My internal landscape would make it difficult to attach securely to others. My sense of self was reliant on others accepting and liking me. You get the picture.

Most of my experiences occurred in my mind with a stream of thoughts narrating the activity. It wasn’t intuitive for me to feel and it didn’t seem to bother me that much. Until it did.

Only after experimenting with different practices — did my interoception improve. My awareness of what I need whether that be electrolytes or electro beats is quite attuned now. My ability to listen to my inner world, and to know my interiority is refining.

Let your body do the talking

Not only is ‘Let Your Body do the Talkin’ a great funk song — it’s also sage advice. “All you gotta do is let your body speak to you,” the lyrics go. If we’re tuned in, our bodies tell us precisely what we need.

Often the reason why it’s so hard to hear what the body is saying is that we have two dialogues happening simultaneously. We are tuning into our inner world while responding to the outside one.

By first understanding and then tuning into your inner dialogue you can start to reprogram your automatic responses. In this way, it’s possible to find freedom in how you choose to be. The most profound technique I’ve learned to increase somatic awareness is something we all have easy access to: breathing.

Notice your breath right now. Are you breathing in and out through your nose or mouth, or a mixture of the two? Is your inhale about the same duration as your exhale, shorter, or longer? Varying your breath can increase calmness (slowing down your heart rate), boost wakefulness (activating the sympathetic nervous system), and help you focus (stimulating the cerebral cortex). And this is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of benefits.

When we are aware of what’s happening inside we have the capacity to change our psychology and physiology. And when we let our bodies do the talking we can show up for others fully resourced.

On the Outside

You can’t fully show up for anyone if you can’t show up for yourself first. I think this is why the Ministry of presence is so salient — it’s dependent on your ability to self-regulate so that you can co-regulate with others.

It’s all too easy to regulate your internal state through external means. Otherwise known as addiction, this is not necessarily your garden variety. I have found myself obsessed with exercise, sweets, cleaning, Netflix, and work.

As renowned addiction expert Gabor Mate explains, we must learn to repattern our unconscious patterns. It is our responsibility if we want to change our physiology. And this is the key — if we want the freedom to live healthy, regulated, and easeful lives, we must understand the terrain inside us.

We often fail to respond to the present moment and instead respond to the past. Our bodies are that freaking intelligent. The body can also let go of patterns plain that it’s holding clasping to.

When I got stressed I would typically divert my attention to physical activity to get ‘rid of it.’ Now I know I can simply put my hand on my chest — focus on my breath and sit with the stress until it passes.

When I get emotionally triggered I can now feel it in my shoulders. In these instances, I have myriad choices on how I respond and how I want to be. This is not to say that I don’t get tripped up from time to time. It’s that when we’re really listening, our bodies are relaying information to us in a constant physiological feedback loop. We can decide to listen to or ignore the data.

Since the last newsletter, an injury slowed me down. It’s spurred me to become much more attentive. Tomorrow I’m going to an osteopath for the first time in my life. And while I can thank my mind for telling me to do so, it’s my body I really should be congratulating.

I think Emma Stone must have known how to embody the mental and somatic. Her body recalled the nerves she once felt when she was a young actor. Busting out those tater tots — she gave her younger self a gift. And in the process, she put another body at ease.

Become a Shaper

My next cohort for my group coaching kicks off soon. If you want to quieten your monkey mind, gain clarity on your next steps, and regenerate yourself in a vibrant community — then this program is right for you.

The whole course takes just one day but can change the way you work and live forever. I’m so sure of it that I offer a 100% money-back guarantee. There are just two spots left and I have a special code to use at check-out if this is claimed by you.

To redeem simply use the code: FRIEND
when you ENROLL HERE

I’m Jonas. I think, write, and coach about creativity, work, and the good life. If you want to get my monthly digest of goodness (of which above is a sample) simply subscribe below and it’ll come straight to you

SHAPERS

“Most of us think of ourselves as thinking creatures that feel, but we are actually feeling creatures that think.”

- Jill Bolte Taylor

They called me ‘Da Flash’ when I played capoeira.

While the moniker was pointing to how fast I was, it’s not necessarily a good thing in this martial art.

During a batizado, the ceremony where a student receives his next belt, I tried something really stupid. I went to do a spin kick and the capoeira Master swiped me from my feet. Time felt suspended like I was Neo in the Matrix until I came crashing down on my knee. Ouch.

While this may have bruised my ego, it’s through capoeira that I was exposed to the power of discipline and the magic of rituals. The roots of capoeira run deep to the 1500s when Angolan slaves came to Brazil to toil the sugarcane fields. They masked their fighting in a ‘dance’ which makes the art-form brutal and beautiful at the same time.

The traditional instruments mimic the sound of the human heartbeat, the batizado literally translates to baptism, and all the white uniforms — well yes, they conjure up that c-word which rhythms with salt.

On reflection, the meaning I placed on Capoeira was all about community. And this is what makes rituals endure: the significance we ascribe them.

Little ‘r’ rituals

Anything can be turned into a ritual if you desire. Your morning coffee, clipping your toenails, feeding your guinea pig — all can be massaged to hold meaning. These are rituals with a lowercase ‘r’ and carry symbolism simply because you color them that way.

Big-R Rituals are more formalized and larger in scale — think religion or sports. Often these rituals are rooted in community and have been shared or performed by others in the past.

In our insistent world of distractions, demands, and dopamine hits — rituals provide us the opportunity to reclaim time. They allow us space to be present and be well.

Rituals at work

In my work, I find many clients are struggling to form new habits. They have the motivation and intention but they lack the other ingredients to make them stick.

So I often introduce the power of rituals to help them reframe how they see things. When an act is performed in a particular situation, in the same way every time, and imbued with meaning — it’s a ritual.

While your rhythms of work are how you get stuff done–your particular habits and routines — it’s your rituals of work that bear the real significance. Your work rituals hold your aspirations overhead and are symbolic of why you do what you do.

While Charles Dickens had a rhythm of walking up to 20 miles a day (like my brother) to let his mind wander, his ritual for working was much more finicky. He required absolute silence with nine particular objects on his window-facing desk, including a vase of fresh flowers, a gilt leaf with a rabbit perched upon it, and a bronze statuette of a gentleman embracing a swarm of puppies.

I’m not suggesting you follow Dickens or my Brother — only that you become aware of what suits you best.

Discovering when, where, and how you work best really does take work. It takes commitment, creativity, and consistency. But as your unique rituals gel over time — you’ll find the rewards aplenty.

Upcoming workshop:

I’m running a free workshop next week on this very topic. It will be a circling experience where participants will share their challenges. Together we’ll explore how to:

→ Escape the busy trap to live more intentionally
→ Adopt a mindset for change and growth
→ Manage energy with more discernment

Register for free here

New substack: Energizing Work

Golly, I launched a new weekly. Every Sunday I’ll send you a blast about what I’m reading about, experimenting with, and ruminating on. I also include early access to events, exclusives, and that kind of jazz.

Subscribe now

My new cohort-based course

Super thrilled to announce my new cohort-based course: Create rituals to fulfill your work and life.

It’s for creators, founders, and career changers that are ready to rewrite their relationships to work. Participants will benefit from a proven methodology to overcome limiting beliefs, gain perspective, and commit to meaningful action.

Enroll today

Shits and giggles

Ray Dalio on his take of SHAPERS
The greatest haka ever
To get out of your head, get out of your house
Ben Stiller’s impression of Tom Cruise
Random check-in generator

I’m Jonas. You can have a chat with me here to ask me anything. Seriously.

I’ve had a breakup.

My work no longer defines me, and I’m no longer defined by it.

As a Total Worker in recovery, it’s taken time (and space) to orientate my life so that it doesn’t revolve around my work.

…and yet sometimes a very cheeky part of me shows up.

He masterfully argues that if work is art, and art is prayer — then surely I can toil away as much as I fancy! This passage from famed author Susan Piver only further reinforces the sentiment:

Once I remembered that my motivation is rooted in genuine curiosity and that my tasks are in complete alignment with who I am and want to be, my office suddenly [seems] like a playground rather than a labor camp.

I’ve been dancing on this tightrope between work and life (if there’s even one) for over a dozen years now. I still have more questions than answers — and that’s O.K.

We’ll be exploring what I’ve learned so far and what others are experiencing in today’s climate — all in my workshop.

Oh yes…my new cohort-based course (which could easily be called: How to hack your perspective with peer coaching) launches on September 20th.

If you’re a Creator who favors spontaneity over scheduling and wants work to feel like play

If you’re an Entrepreneur determined to face challenges with clarity to make a bigger impact

If you’re a Career changer that wants to do it yourself and craves one thing above all else: autonomy

…then you should really join me. Our group is capped at 12 and there are just 3 spots left.

Here’s a sneak-peak selection from the reading list for my new course:

Why ‘Do What You Love’ Is Pernicious Advice

3 Simple Hacks to Help You Safeguard Your Time

How to do Nothing

Get Stuff Done By Not Being Mean to Yourself

If Work Dominated your Every Moment Would Life be Worth Living?

My first assignment as a College student was writing an essay about The Garden of Eden.

I can still picture it. After I finished my elaborate routine of procrastination- I still hadn’t a clue what to write about. My professor, Ned Taylor, grinned in delight as I knocked at his door in desperation. His tatty navy blue cardigan sweater meshed with the unruly assortment of books that littered his shelves. While a delight to philosophize as he rolled tobacco cigarettes — he was far from helpful.

I wondered if Adam and Eve would have eaten from the tree of knowledge of good and evil were it not for the sneaky suggestion of that slithering serpent. What was God expecting to happen when he put the tree in the Garden (wasn’t this transgression his design all along)? I had the typical thoughts, none of which would change the fact that the original sin was necessary for our capacity to suffer and thrive.

Chowing down on the forbidden fruit afforded us free will and conscious choice. But a quick survey of our world today and the scales are tipped towards wickedness over benevolence.

Our watershed moment is now if we’re to have any chance of repairing the world.

Respinning the Web

In late 1960, the Advanced Research Project Agency Network (ARPANET) was well underway. This building block for the Internet came after two decades marked by prosperity, rising wages, and advertising. Corporate behemoths began employing only the parts of people that were useful to them, discarding the rest. This, explained sociologist Alvin Gouldner, began an anti-human agenda in the service of, “Technological triumph, of personal confusion in the midst of detailed organizational blueprints.”

We can’t return to the Garden and have another go but we can remedy something else: the world wide web. The pioneers of the web intended for it to be open and decentralized.

A crucial point for the internet was that it remain an open standard for all. Translation:

Nobody should lock it up into a proprietary system.

The web however got hoovered up by the industrial complex and spat out in pokes, likes, bots, trolls, algorithmic ads, and other toxins.

Web 1.0 was a one-way street. The masses consumed content that became widely available. Web 2.0 (where most of us hang out) affords user-generated content. Indeed, kitschy TikTok videos, silly cat memes, murder-themed podcasts, and homemade pornography still reign supreme.

Web3 is an altogether different kettle of fish. The key distinction is that data is not owned by a company but shared by ‘users’. Think of Facebook with Zuck just a member of the community and everyone who has a profile is an ‘owner.’

Another way to see it is that Web3 can establish information, contribution, and execution in a much fairer way than ever before.

Web3 is our opportunity to honor the spirit of an open web. We can leave behind an outdated winner-takes-all system and supplant it with one that is more equitable, inclusive, and exhilarating. The new paradigm is an everyone-can-win operating model.

If you’re already convinced of the promise of Web3 then come join a learning community purpose-built for this new era right here

But How on Earth?

For Web3 to ‘work’, it will require your commitment to engage honestly and openly, from the get-go. And herein lies the problem: we’ve gotten off to a rocky start. Veteran tricksters have been having a field day taking advantage of newbies in the Web3 space. But over time self-regulating systems will ostracize these fraudsters. Hopefully, when this happens it won’t be too late.

For Web3 to ‘work’, it will require your commitment to engage honestly and openly. Over time, self-regulating systems will ostracize the fraudsters. This is the only way to drown out the noise and live up to the hype.

Kernel, a web3 education community, provokes the type of thinking we need now:

Is ownership shifting from an ability to demonstrate control or possession to the ability to make collective meaning? If so, the change in signification is a radical one, because ownership is traditionally about exclusive rights, whereas meaning is made valuable by how widely it is shared.

Web3 is not about the productization of any and everything. It requires a willingness to model a new model for mass collaboration. If the Flower Power and Occupy movements were betas for an alternative way of operating, then Web3 is the official launch. A modernized hippie utopian dream now has the legs to become a sustainable reality.

While it’s misfits, artists, and entrepreneurs hustling to make Web3 work there are no membership fees; everyone can play, learn, and earn. Web3 is for those who are brave enough to experiment and build a preferable future.

Sara Klaben Avrahami, founder of The Order of Ink digital NFT tattoo collective remarks: “In Web3 you own your data. You are proof of your work. We now have tools that can help us undo the toxicity perpetuated by Web2. The question is how do we fork Web3 out to a place that doesn’t work in parallel but actually in an entirely new way? How do we abandon our Web2 “best practices” and bad habits? If we figure this out, we might just be able to leave today’s main players behind to shape a better, more intentional future.”

A New Beginning

Genesis comes from the Hebrew word Rasheet which means beginning. Web3 is our chance for a clean slate — a fresh start. They are no shortage of skeptics out there that Web3 is a bunch of hoopla and that it must be destroyed. I think they’re wrong and here’s why:

The philosophy of self-management is fundamentally human. And Web3 is the best mechanism to afford these the priniciples to proliferate.

Growth for growth’s sake can no longer continue. Software ate the world and we can no longer extract more value than we create. I need to take a shower just writing this paragraph. The new (and yes, experimental) way forward is to let emergent strategies flourish.

Noah grabbed the animals and headed out on his ark. Our ark today is the blockchain. The different species of animals are the decentralized apps that are built upon this digital ledger. Smart contacts, trustless organizations, and software that governs hardware are the wind that helps us sail to a better place.

The decisions we make, and the actions we take, will determine our collective future. We can fess up to our sins, redeem ourselves, and take responsibility. We must plant and tend to a new garden now.

Our destiny depends on it.

Join a crack-pot crew of misfits and experiment in this exciting space. What are you looking at? Let’s Go.

Jonas Altman is a creative entrepreneur on a mission to make the world of work more human. He’s the founder of design practice Social Fabric, a business coach, and the author of the best-seller Shapers.

Sara Klaben Avrahami (aka Ms. Nowhere) is on a mission to help people choose alternative careers that allow them to lead their most extraordinary lives. She is an organizational consultant, supermom, and Web3 founder of The Order of Ink.

Here are 5 activities that never fail to bring me joy:

Walking

The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was an incredible walker. Suffering terrible headaches that kept him bedridden — long walks became his remedy and solitude his solace.

We leave something behind when we go for a walk. Maybe it’s our mind we leave, or our worries, or our identity?

Something lays to rest where we were. And where we’re heading brings with it new surprises, novel wonders, and familiar places to rediscover. A bonus is that nearly all of my coaching calls I now do on the move. It affords more embodiment, reflection, and learning.

Running also gets an honorable mention but it’s a whole other kettle of fish.

Cycling

Dogs have a much stronger sense of smell than we humans. When they stick their head out the car window, air washes over them at a high speed — creating a delightful sensory overload. What a feeling this must be!

Likewise, cycling can be seen in a similar vein. I recall hearing that cycling makes you feel 70% happier as opposed to sitting in traffic behind the while. And yes, it does provide a lot more sensory pleasure.

Yoga-ing

I remember my first Shavasana. I was 17-years old and pretty sure I dozed off halfway through. This practice works for me because it forces me to breathe properly. The movements just happen to be what I’m doing to change up the rhythm of my breathing. Or so I like to think.

“If you can control the rising of the mind into ripples you will experience Yoga.” says the Patanjali. I may not experience this all the time — but when I do it is bliss.

Surfing

If I could pick only one activity this would be it. There’s a reason why surfers go to extraordinary measures to chase waves. For starters, it’s a wholly immersive and meditative experience. There’s no room to be thinking about anything else but lining up, paddling in, popping up. I love snycing with the sea.

Tennis

A relatively new addition, there’s a gratifying feeling when the ball hit’s that sweet spot in the racket. Tennis is a sport that gets better as you age. While my serve isn’t up to scratch, I’m only interested in long rallies, volleys, and working up a sweat.

I’m Jonas. A public thinker and coffee drinker. You can get my digest now in its 17th year right here.

Moons ago, I watched The Secret. I was intrigued but skeptical.

Something about the vision boards and all the manifesting didn’t quite sit right with me. The law of attraction, serendipity, and conspiracies of the universe have been the topics of countless conversations with family and friends since.

But I was never all-in on any one thing.

Then I landed upon the Self-Efficacy Theory (SET). At its simplest, SET is about your capacity to do something successfully. This could be tight roping across Yosemite Cathedral Peak or becoming a meditator.

You believe in your ability to perform.

Pioneered by Canadian-American psychologist Albert Bandura, SET has four mechanisms that help build your efficacy:

Personal Mastery

How successful you’ve been at something in the past will affect your confidence in tackling a related (or even an entirely new undertaking). Makes sense since your previous accomplishments can give you the chutzpah to level up. Just ask big waver surfer Kai Lenny and he’ll tell you precisely this:

Embarking on an entirely new endeavor, however, requires the fortitude to fail and learn. Often we won’t start something because the road to greatness is too daunting. But whether you’re past experiences have been positive or negative — your mindset that makes the difference.

Social Persuasion

My brother and I used to breakdance back in the day. He’d do a headspin and I’d look on in awe. With his cajoling (and through trial and error), I eventually got it. Today the roles have reversed as he’s learning how to improve his handstand game from me.

This kind of pep-talking falls squarely in the realm of coaching and It’s crucial that the learner believes in the credibility of the coach. And the same rules apply to those who discourage you with their words.

If the critical choir comes from inside my head, I kindly tell them to take a hike. And if the voices come from living and breathing individuals, I convert their intimidation into creative fuel.

Vicarious Experiences

Seeing someone else succeed can make an endeavor much more palpable for you. Once deemed impossible, Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile in 1954. Today elite athletes are smashing this time. When the unfathomable becomes fathomable — the sky’s the limit.

While you can get motivated by someone achieving something great — you can also get deflated. This is why having role models invested in your success is a good bet in helping you be your best.

Physiological Feedback

The body does keep score. When you’re emotionally aroused you feel it in your bones. One minute you may feel giddy and in another, you feel stressed.

If you’ve cultivated self-efficacy you’re able to better navigate heightened emotional states. An experience that once gave you anxiety can be something that you now look forward to.

A New Addition?

I’d add a fifth mechanism that probably sits closer to The Secret than I’d care to admit. I call it the Summoning Standard. This is your ability to evoke wonder in your life. So if you call forth more serenity you may find yourself catching a sunrise.

While in a small fishing village over the holidays, I put the summoning standard to the test. I had heard of this magical beach across the bay that could only be accessed by a local fisherman. Three futile attempts to organize a trip led me to think, “This is just not meant to be.”

On my last day there, I peered out one last time in the direction of the elusive beach. Something stirred in me. In the next moment, I summoned another soul that had the same vision of going there. Et voila! just like that — the next day a gang of us (I had summoned even more seekers by then) set sail. I may not have been steering the ship but I commanded it. Surf, sand, and fresh fish tacos followed.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned since The Secret, it’s that your attitude really can make dreams come true.

I guess I’m coming around after all 🎣

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