I’m Heading Somewhere Exciting – Wanna Join?

Hey,

You know when in cartoons everyone flees for the exit at the same time, only to get jammed together at the doorway?

That’s me right now—loaded with thoughts, ideas, and happenings to share with you, but struggling to get anything out. ​​Rather than force it, I’m doing what any responsible adult would do: dumping everything on you at once while extending an invitation to join the excitement.

Personal Update: The Double Life Is Over (For Now)

After six years living between Vancouver and Cape Town, Kim and I (and the boys) are switching things up. 

No Cape Town this time around. Instead, we’re off to Australia (for Nov and Dec) and Argentina (for Jan, Feb, and Mar). 

It sucks to not see our friends in Cape Town and miss out on the Mother City’s magic. It’s also been way more of a pain to plan, more expensive, and may well be less enjoyable than sticking with South Africa.

So why are we doing it? 

Here’s our rationale:

• Professionally: Kim and I might as well take advantage of the perks of “unsuccess” while we still can. Neither of us has big-money responsibilities yet. But that might change soon with the super exciting stuff I’m cooking up with The Zag (more on that in a bit). Once that catches on, I won’t want to bounce around so much anymore—and may wish I had when I had the chance.
• Personally: Our bet is that Future Us will thank us for trying something different. In my experience, these rolls of the dice always ladder me up in life rather than slide me down. They make for better stories. And there’s always more upside in the unexplored.
• Parentally: The only better time to do this with the kids would’ve been last year. Sandy (1) flies free, and Zac (3.5) isn’t in school yet. Veteran parents always warn us, “Savor these years when your kids are cute, curious, and still love hanging out with you.” Also, “It goes fast.” So here we are attempting to bend the space-time continuum while overflowing our boots with kid time. 

Also, I thought of you. For someone who preaches proactivity, my life’s been getting too predictable. Time to walk to anti-complacent talk. I hope our example challenges you to inject some of the same into your life. 

Professional Update: Click… Click? …Boom!

Just as I’m about to have less work time than ever for five months (due to travel, parenting, etc.), I’m also more excited than ever before about the future.

If I’m right, ten years from now, nearly 50-year-old Chris (yikes) will look back at 2024 as the year everything clicked.

Finally. 

It’s been a long time coming—seven years of throwing words into the internet void and subsisting off income from ugly ads while searching for that magical sweet spot where:

• You obsess over the work.
• You’re glad to have done it.
• Others are glad you’ve done it.
• You’re doing something others either can’t do or don’t want to.

The Breakthrough that Keeps Getting Better

My first breakthrough came thanks to the final puzzle piece, E = nVs (eudaimonia = net virtue self-signaled) and the timely arrival of AI’s inhuman pattern-matching ability and knowledge. These helped me hone in on my (not-so-)superpower.

Then some brave guinea pigs signed up to let me try the same superpower-finding system on them. Like with all amateur science experiments, the initial attempts were… “informative,” let’s say. Fortunately, no guinea pigs were harmed in the process. They all emerged better than ever. Me too.

Each iteration got better and better. Way better. Like, “I can’t believe this is actually working” better.

The experiment evolved from just finding your superpower to crafting a full-blown heroic vision to unleash it that includes:

• Crafting your vision (aka “What do you want to be when you grow up?” for grown-ups)
• Inventing a superhero name
• Fleshing out your profile
• Identifying your arch-nemesis 
• Making a training plan
• Envisioning your team of allies

The Vision: Joe Schmoe’s Master Plan

Of course, I’ve gone through all this for myself. My superhero name? Joseph A. Shmoe. (Yes, Adventure is my middle name.) My power? Engineering Extraordinariness. 

In a future newsletter, I’ll share more about my profile and how to create yours. 

For now, a quick glimpse of what’s brewing in the Joe Schmoe laboratory:

• Courses that guide people through unleashing their superpower
• Cohorts that form “classes” of heroes
• A network for “superheroes” to connect
• School programs helping younger people develop their powers (while their brains are still malleable)
• Collaborations with experts in psychology, neuroscience, and storytelling 
• A book that packages this approach

Bigger picture, Joe Schmoe’s mission is to help those like me who’ve gotten tired of grinding after conventional success embrace our modern world’s incredible opportunities to systematically unleash our superpowers in ways that fulfill ourselves and expand society’s status quo. 

[See my last post for how it’s basically like helping astronauts with crappy co-pilots blast off into the extraordinary universe of their potential, guided by mission control.]

Corny? Sure. Super fun, too. Farfetched? Perhaps. That makes it inspiring. 

The reason I’m especially pumped by this superpower stuff is it’s given me the five C’s:

• Clarity. The most important. My work, thinking, learning, and interactions all feel more focused now. I feel more efficient and energized than ever. 
• Cohesion: This fits cohesively with the story of my life. Plus all my past ideas and future ones are fitting into place. 
• Congruence: It matches my values, passions, and strengths (and my tendency to make everything into a system with a silly name).
• Commitment: It targets a problem with the world that I don’t mind spending my life working on: the untapped potential of people like me who don’t fit in.
• Community. That’s where you come in…

Your Call to Adventure

My dilemma: How am I going to make meaningful progress on this vision over the next five months while being a full-time stray-far-from-home dad and enjoying adventures (and wine) in these far-off lands?

The best answer I’ve come up with: By embracing the chaos and learning to harness others’ superpowers. Including yours?

Here’s another surprising bonus I’ve experienced from crystallizing my superpower: It has helped me realize how un-super I am at everything else—making courses, writing, marketing, design, communicating, understanding others, coaching. And working with guinea pigs has helped me realize there’s a lot of complementary super-ness among my readers.

So here’s my call:

Want to do something super together? 

If you think I can help you with my superpower of Engineering Extraordinariness— finding your superpower and systematically unleashing it—tell me: How might you be able to help me progress toward my vision? 

Send me an email. We’ll arrange time to chat. If it makes sense, we’ll help one another do even more extraordinary things than either of us could do alone. Faster, too! That way, we can enjoy spending more time on other super fun stuff, too, like adventures with our kids all over the world. 

Keep doing extraordinary things,

Chris

PS: Local tips and connections needed. If you’re in any of these spots or have recommendations (especially for Argentina!), please give me a shout:

• Sydney (Manly Beach): Oct 30 to Nov 6
• Sydney to Burleigh Heads Road Trip: Nov 6 – 11
• Burleigh: Nov 11 to Dec 11
• Melbourne: Dec 11 to 31
• Fly to Buenos Aires Dec 31
• Argentina: Dec 31 – Mar 31 (No idea yet. Looking for 2-3 base locations.)
• Back to Vancouver Mar 31