Unconventional Life – Podcast, Blog, Live Events

Author: Jules Schroeder

Turning your Mandatory Quarantine into your Own Solo Retreat Experience with Asya Azar

We are in a time right now where the world has slowed down, and many of us are on a government-enforced lockdown due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and it’s pandemic status.

There is no denying that compared to the fast-paced, busy lives many of us lead as a part of this modern society, quarantine almost feels like jail time. For many, the idea of being confined to their home for weeks on end feels like they are on personal arrest or is the stuff of their own worst nightmare.

But here at Unconventional Life, we see opportunities, not problems, and want to help our readers see what a blessing this downtime truly is.

We caught up with Asya Azar – creator, writer, entrepreneur, and creator of solo retreats where individuals design their own unique experiences around virtually every niche from lifestyle and self-development to book writing – to talk about how to get the most out of your mandatory quarantine. To not just survive, but thrive through our abundance of alone time and social distance.

Yes, it can feel like quarantine is the equivalent of being sent to your room to think about what you’ve done – “because it’s not natural, because it’s been enforced on us, a lot of people are freaking out.” but Asya believes it’s so important to look at the silver lining in this situation, “Yes we’re being forced and it feels strange but there is such opportunity here!”

“I wanna remind people, this is what we’ve been waiting for in a way… time off. Everyone craves a week off for themselves to go inward and finally write that book… or whatever it is.”

So what is it that you’ve been craving the time to do, but haven’t had the time because you’ve been ‘too busy’ with work, or life, or socializing, or whatever else your life was filled up with before the pandemic happened?

Here are a few steps to turn your quarantine into your own unique solo retreat experience, focused around just that!

Decide the duration of your retreat, the “what” and the “why”

The first step is to design your retreat – lay out the structure of it, the time frame, the ‘what’ it’s about and the ‘why’ you are doing it.

In terms of length, Asya believes that “even a 3 hour fully baked retreat can be such a gift to yourself” and that you don’t have to spend the entire of your quarantine period in your solo retreat. How long do you think you’d be able to commit to doing this retreat for? How long would you need to fully immerse yourself in the ‘what’ of the retreat? Would the retreat last all day every day, or would it be certain hours of the day? What sort of activities would it involve?

“Having the structure in some ways makes it more real… be fluid with your structure, but do design one”

If you’re struggling coming up with ideas of ‘what’ your retreat will be about, or what activities to include, create a list of things that you always want to find the time to do but haven’t previously been able to find to do. Some ideas might be: writing your novel, designing your website, songwriting, going inwards in prolonged silent meditation, yoga or home workouts, self pleasure, self inquiry. This is your retreat, so it can be about anything you are passionate about!

Asya wants to stress that the ‘why’ is just as important as the ‘what’ because it will be what allows you “to come back to that compass of why am I doing this retreat” when your endurance, discipline or interest is fading after time. What was the reason you wanted to do this particular retreat? What is a tangible metric or a measurable goal at the end of the retreat? Write it down!

Set clear parameters for how much time you’ll spend going inwards and being by yourself and how much you’ll be carving out for social time.

The most common thing we’ve been hearing about one of the main concerns of self-imposed quarantine (or government-imposed) is the fear that most people have of being alone with their thoughts for prolonged periods of time. Asya says “just know you’re not alone in that, it’s a natural concern… there’s this complete stillness and darkness and people are afraid of that.”

But there is so much to be gained from the solitude, “there might be diamonds inside of you because you haven’t just had a moment or a day to just sit with yourself” so it is crucial to overcome this fear. One way of helping you do that is to have clearly defined or structured periods of time in which you’ll go into solitude (shutting yourself off from social media or contact with the outside world). In these periods, you fully commit to going within as “that place of stillness is a place we can be reborn.”

Outside of these parameters, you are free to aimlessly scroll on social media, hang out with loved ones or get on as many Skype calls as your heart desires.

Think of some ways to document your progress or remain accountable throughout

One helpful way to keep up with your retreat and not get bored and drop the ball is finding a way to either share your progress or remain accountable throughout the duration. This might be by sharing the products of your retreat each day (if it’s a creative retreat, such as songwriting) or your reflections (if it’s a more mental retreat) with close friends, or even on social media if you are comfortable with doing so. If you don’t want to share, keep a journal or document your progress through photos or some other tangible way.

You could also decide to have an accountability buddy who you do this retreat with (separately, of course) and come together to report back at an allotted time every day.

We want to remind you that quarantine doesn’t have to suck and that this forced ‘break’ can do wonders for you if you choose to let it.

Happy quarantine life!

Have any questions for Asya? You can connect with her through her Instagram.

April 5, 2020
Ep: 214 The Superpower of Serendipity with John Storyk

For most of the guests we bring onto Unconventional Life Show, life doesn’t happen in a seemingly random and disconnected fashion.

There is an intricate tapestry of events, of interconnecting synchronicities that seem to weave through their lives and bring about the major opportunities, business breakthroughs, and personal growth that they share with our readers.

While it is easy to brush off these events and attribute them to ‘fate’, ‘luck’ or ‘coincidence’, there is a commonality in how the events appear and it becomes clear that serendipity is not purely based on any of these factors. It involves a level of awareness of the force that is active, a level of openness to receive the set of events that catapult things into motion. It involves some level of action or willingness to participate from the individual to which it appears.

So how, then, do you harness the force of serendipity in your life, to bring you success, opportunities and help you to navigate the challenging global landscape we find ourselves in currently?

We caught up with John Storyk to discuss the role of serendipity in his monumental success as a registered architect, musician, acoustician and founding partner of WFDG, and why right now, more than ever before, remaining open to serendipity is important.

John began as a musician who grew his toolbelt from designing his first blues club – never having prior experience – to now having designed some 3500+ world-class audio and visual venues. He attributes his ability to remain open to the forces of serendipity – “making sure your antennas are absolutely out at all times, ready to receive the coincidental set of events that are constantly happening…”

We are moving into uncertain territory, with that comes great opportunity

John says “I’m trying to find the excitement in these times, while at the same time like everyone else being somewhat nervous… nobody on the planet that’s alive has seen this playbook…”

There is no doubt that these times are incredibly volatile and uncertain – however, with that volatility and constant flux, there comes many opportunities – “we’re in uncharted territories here and this will have to be solved one person at a time… in their own way”.

Entire industries, jobs, and careers will come out of these times that never existed before – there is a huge push to move things online, for instance. We have the opportunity to be solving problems in creative ways and creating solutions – “this is a great time for creative people to get more creative” – and nobody can say they don’t have an abundance of free time on their hands!

It’s demonstrating how fast things can move

The fast-changing nature of this pandemic shows us how quickly life can change, seemingly overnight, and has highlighted the constant flux of the world. In the same way, it has shown us how quickly things have the potential to change for the better, too.

John believes that you must remain open to catching your big ‘break’, even in these uncertain times, however it may come. “I can’t tell you how to get started, but I can tell you that in the next hour you could be bumping into something that’s going to change your life if you’re ready to make the bump… if you’re ready to listen to somebody… it could happen in the most unexpected ways…”

Serendipity works in mysterious ways so make sure you’re remaining open to all possibilities!

The current climate is demonstrating our interconnectedness and how we are all in this together

Never before have we had such a deep sense of belonging to a global ‘community’ – this virus does not discriminate based on gender, race, age. We are all in this together, facing the same pandemic. Therefore, humans are all connected to each other in a network and things have the potential to spread, quickly!

John tells us a story about how one person in a question and answer session bumped ahead of the queue to flag the idea of purchasing a $25 gift card for restaurants affected by the pandemic, and the result of that one person raising that idea if every person in the audience was to go and tell 50 people- “think about the implications of that one serendipitous moment…”

If you consider the networks you now have the ability to reach, you can see how one serendipitous conversation could lead to huge leaps forward, success, or developments. Or to helping to affect and change the world positively right now, in a time we need it more than ever.

In summary, make sure you are flowing with the changes and remembering that life is “this wild dialogue between planning… and the John Lennon moment where life is what you don’t plan… “

March 29, 2020
Ep 213: Three Ways to Grow and Gain Traction, with Marc Angelo Coppola
With the challenging times that have been unfolding in 2020, it has really become evident just the extent to which social media and mass media, in general, can influence people’s opinions on a global level – creating much hysteria, panic, and fear as we have seen with the virus.

In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that mankind has become ‘addicted’ to the drama, to the ‘narrative’ – that we are searching for something to ‘grab’ us, to hold our interest and make us feel something. In a world of fast content, viral social media, endless scrolling and clickbait – the challenge, therefore, for most new businesses, products and entrepreneurs is ‘be relevant, be noticed, grab the person’s attention or quickly fade away’.

So how can we use this system and this societal interest in the ‘narrative’ to give social activism companies, wellness entrepreneurs and startups who promote a better way of living – of creating solutions, not problems – a boost?

What does the standard ‘hero’s journey’ actually have to do with branding, and how can you use this to stand out from the crowd and gain traction in your entrepreneurial journey?

We caught up with Mark Angelo to discuss understanding and using the hero’s journey to gain traction in your business, using experiences from his journey as a storyteller, philanthropreneur, and founder of Valhalla Farms.

Mark tells us that his understanding of the ‘narrative’ problem and the hero’s journey stemmed from his desire to self-teach in school and university. He would spend all of his time watching documentaries in order to self teach, about a range of topics from environmental issues to health issues. “I noticed that each and every documentary… they were spending 90-95% of the time talking about the problem and 5% of the time were actually pointing to the solution… I started to learn about the narrative problem.”

What Mark is referring to is the obsession we have grown to have with the drama, or the issue, or the hysteria. We become tied up in the narrative, and that “narrative controls so much about how we feel about the world”. To Mark, entrepreneurs, business owners, public figures and start-up founders have a responsibility to “being a part of the solution, not the narrative.” Every brand or every story really starts with what you would call a “hero’s story”, following the same pattern of a hero movie.

Here at Unconventional Life, we want to inform readers who are starting out and launching a product, entrepreneurial journey or startup how to use the arc of a hero’s journey to gain traction.

Know the problem you solve and start placing yourself in the position where there is already traction … what problem do you solve?

Every hero’s narrative begins with a ‘problem’, a negative reputation environment or a villain. This is to grab people’s attention. In order to gain traction and attention, you need to learn how to capitalize on current and relevant ‘issues’ that are already circulating instead of trying to create your own traction, which Mark believes is the mistake that most entrepreneurs make.

Things to consider:-
- What are the headlines that exist and how can you frame what you are teaching to the world through that connection?
- What are the trends, what are the existing waves in the ocean and how do I get to ride them with my unique lens/gift/talent?
Focus on the outcome or hero’s journey you are creating for your listeners or audience.

People consume media and are grabbed by the media that makes them feel something – that really captures their heart and their emotions. It is crucial to grab people’s attention within the first 3-10 seconds of them swiping from the top to the bottom of the page and you do this through creating a ‘loop’ or a ‘hook’.

Things to consider:-
- How can you use something in the first 3-10 seconds of a video or in a headline that really stands out and communicates something?
- How can you be more emotive with how you communicate your concept/problem/solution?
Provide value instead of overselling

The mistake so many entrepreneurs make, according to Mark, is that they are so focused on creating revenue and making sales that they forget to provide value. “A lot of entrepreneurs try to sell the solution right away without realizing that it needs to be ordered in a particular way, packaged in a particular form… create as much value as possible and people will find the links, they’ll find the offers and they’ll find a way to grow alongside you.”

Things to consider:
- How can I create value and nurture my audience in a way that they grow, like and trust me and want to learn more about what I offer?
Giveaway!

In order to help shape your branding and gain traction, Mark is giving away a 1-1 call for one lucky reader to help you craft your 8 step hero’s story for your brand, product or service.
March 23, 2020
Ep: 212 The Secrets Behind a Successful Startup: With ‘Parallel Entrepreneur’ & CEO, Doug Campell

Startups and self-run ventures are the way of the future – with the right idea, the right team and a little dash of being in the right place at the right time, you have the potential to take something from its humble beginnings in someone’s basement to enjoying exponential growth and worldwide reach.

It stands to reason that it’s no surprise that everywhere you turn you see new startups, entrepreneurial businesses or those wanting to try their hand at creating something unique and new in the world, hoping it to strike it lucky and stumble across the next ‘big’ thing.

What sets the ventures that succeed apart from the ones who never get off the ground?

What does it take to be the CEO of a successful startup and to solidify the global impact of a company? Furthermore, how can those of us with multiple passions and interests narrow in and choose just one to focus their energy on and see the start-up through to fruition?

Unconventional Life caught up with Doug Campell, a parallel entrepreneur, CEO, and co-founder of Solid Power – a leading developer of solid-state batteries for electric vehicles who has partnered with the likes of Ford and BMW – along with co-founding 2 additional Colorado-based startups.

Doug’s mental strength and drive come from his passion for physical activity – “for me exercise is my religion” and it allows him to stay grounded, unwind and perform at the level he does. In fact, he believes that it is his ‘life experience’ and the discipline that was involved in being a professional cyclist that allowed him to be able to run multiple startups and succeed so much in his entrepreneurial ventures.

“As I got into being a professional cyclist that taught me the discipline… it’s a lot like a business – success comes very very slowly in business and cycling kinda taught me that.”

For Doug, he has had a highly non-linear career, not completing tertiary studies until very late into his 20’s and doing things fairly out of the classic sequence of what you would expect – “I didn’t just wake up one morning and think, ‘Gosh I’m going to just start one company after another…’”

Doug sees himself as an opportunist and attributes his success and his ability to juggle many different pursuits at the same time to this, even if it wasn’t intentional initially – “for me stepping into the world of being an entrepreneur was a little bit of a kid in a candy store sort of situation”.

He talks about how he wanted to pursue everything and how choosing what he chose to pursue “was really scratching whatever itch of the day was there…”

Doug admits that it came as quite a surprise when all the ventures he was involved in took off the way they did – “when things really start to take off there’s a point where you look in the mirror and think… I didn’t necessarily plan for this”.

Doug’s advice for multi-passionate entrepreneurs and those wanting to pursue a start-up of their own is really to realize “it’s not all about you as an entrepreneur… you need to recognize early on that you need help”.

“For me… it really comes down to come down to a high degree of humility… recognizing what you’re good at, what your individual superpower is, but also recognizing that everything else is not necessarily your superpower and finding people who compliment you.”

Doug advocates that it’s super important to find people who compliment your strengths and support you in the ways you need, “embracing this team mentality and focusing on what you individually are good at and then delegating, outsourcing or deferring to others on everything else.”

He also stresses that you need to keep the end game in mind, particularly in the super early stages and that you’re “ok to exchange a paycheck for equity” which makes it even more important to pursue something that you are truly passionate about, as it might be some time before you see any financial remuneration for your effort.

Giveaway!

Doug is giving someone the chance to win a branded Solid Power T-Shirt.

Connect

You can learn more about Doug and the work he does by finding Solid Power on twitter or Linkedin, or you can head to entrepreneurialdisfunction.com his personal blog.

March 16, 2020
Ep: 211 Turn your Favorite Hobby Into the Profession you Love, with Musician Mike Casey

The hobbies that we are drawn to allow us to express the unique language of our souls. Whether it be through creating art, music, any form of personal expression or interest that you carry out on a regular basis. These tools allow us to get in touch with ourselves and enter a flow state where we share what is real, true and pure to us.

We share with the world through these hobbies what we are truly passionate about. We lose hours, days even, when we do these activities.

Time seems to standstill.

When faced with the question ‘what would you do every day for the rest of your life if money was no object?’, many of us would answer that we would fill our time and spend our days carrying out these hobbies and passions of ours.

But at what point does that dream become real and that passion becomes a profession?

What does it take to pursue your passion professionally and turn it into a wildly successful full-time gig?

Unconventional Life caught up with Mike Casey, jazz musician, melody poet, story-telling songwriter, producer, and saxophonist, to talk about his journey to fulfilling a successful career in music and to answer some of these questions. As a musician who has been creating music full time for 6-7 years professionally, Mike is pretty familiar with living the Unconventional Life.

For Mike, music has always been one of his passions and constants throughout his life. He started playing saxophone some 17 years ago, as a child. He is in the process of releasing his 4th album and his passion is to infuse jazz with other genres and tell stories through his music.

Music, to Mike, is more than just playing notes – “I try to make every single note I play mean something… when I play a line, it’s not just a series of notes, it’s a sentence, a statement…. I’m really really big on storytelling and every single one of my songs comes from a story.”

He decided to go to music school at the age of fifteen, where “for the first time I felt this incredibly powerful feeling of ‘this is it for me’ I can do this for the rest of my life”. The drive of his classmates – all of who had a driving passion to be the best of the best at playing jazz – was what pushed him and motivated him to up his game and raise his skill level. Although he went straight from music school to a professional career in music, Mike believes that ups and downs were a definite part of the journey – “it’s definitely not been an easy route, but it’s something I wouldn’t trade for the world… you learn so much when you have that pressure to create and make it work”

We asked Mike what advice he has for any of our readers who are wanting to pursue their passion full time, particularly in a creative field such as music, and what it takes to make their dream a reality.

Music and Life Mirror Each Other

“Music and life mirror each other… you have to want it, for one, but you have to live it… you have to be okay with being obsessed, putting it in your heart and your soul, it has to grab you and you have to love it…”

Mike strongly advocates that passion is everything when it comes to pursuing something as a career and that you need to be prepared to put everything into your art – that it’s all about “finding that thing that you are so insanely in love with that you will sacrifice so much to delve into it…” because ultimately, there will be sacrifices, there will be hard work and there will need to be some stamina involved if you want to succeed.

Boldly Pursue Dreams

However, he also is an advocate for following your heart and encourages readers to boldly pursue their dreams – “to anyone out there who is thinking about making that jump from their day job or whatever they’re doing to something new, I say do it…” and that the key to living an unconventional life successfully is “having faith in yourself and knowing that it’s all going to be okay.”

Do your Research

“Get ready to do a ton of research as to what has worked for similar artists in your space.”

Find an artist in your scene and study what they are doing to try and problem solve. Find out some data points like who is on their team, how often they release music, who is their publicist, what venues they played at on their last tour is to get a roadmap of how they are becoming successful.

Eventually, the research will be less about other people and more about yourself as you start to know what is and isn’t working.

Giveaway!

As a gift to one lucky reader, Mike is giving away a 15 minute Skype call – about music, mindset and life.

Connect with Mike

Text him @ +1 917 540 8084 or through his website

March 9, 2020