Work Life Play with Aaron McHugh

We did the deal in a McDonald's parking lot half a mile from the Portland airport after a 20-minute test drive and a rusty glove inspection. It took $6,700, four plane tickets and six months of looking for her. The Joy Bus was ours. The story began when my daughter Averi blurted out this dreamy statement, "When I graduate from high school, Maya and I are going to buy a VW Bus, road-trip to Califor...

I'm learning that there are very few people on the planet that I'd rely upon, trust, believe in, implicitly know I'm safe with and covered by to rob a bank with. But there are a few. In business and in life, I find it's super helpful to identify who you'd rob a bank with. Meaning, who would you bet on to come through no matter what happened.

I recorded this episode while on an adventure run in LA. I was exploring and found a really cool trail that winded to the top of a city park with this perfect pond and view of the city. Running helps me maintain my curiosity and the spirit of adventure. Every time I travel, I bring my running shoes along. I have this belief that there will be something cool wherever I go. And low and behold, I fin...

Chris Lieto is a top ranked World Class Triathlete, 3 time Ironman Champion, Husband, Father @BasePerformance and doing @MoreThanSport. Big Island of Hawaii

The Story of Shackleton Sir Ernest Shackleton is a legend as an Antarctic Explorer. However his fame did not come from accomplishing his goal of reaching the south pole. Instead on his third trip to the Antarctic, his ship The Endurance became frozen in the pack ice, 100 miles from land. He and his 27 men proceeded to spend nearly two years in a desperate plight for survival. Shackleton was credit...

Salit's core idea is that all humans have an innate ability to perform, pretend, and improvise. It's what helps us develop as children and continue developing as adults. You may not have been on a stage since you played a tree in third grade, but the reality is that you're performing all the time.  Performance Breakthrough  shows how you can use ideas and techniques from theater and improvisation,...

Be the hero. Own it all. All the ingredients are raw materials that are useful in our stories. All of it. Be gracious and kind to yourself. Love the people you are with. Be curious. Go searching for life. Keep going, Aaron

Thank you friends for being on this adventure with me of 100 episodes of Work Life Play. At the end of this episode, I have a special closing from my friend Jack O'Neill from Jackopierce. My wife and I spent the weekend with them in NYC as part of attending a Seth Godin conference. Our new friends Ryan and Heidi Miller joined us to make six. Check out their work: Ryan's work 08Left   Custom art fo...

Andrew Reiner is a writer and educator in Baltimore, MD. He is working on a book about masculinity and, right now, a chapter on boys/men and crying. He read a blog by my friend Sam Jolman, How to Cry Like a Man,  while researching this topic and he read a comment I made on how I did not cry between the ages of 12-21.  This episode is about becoming wholehearted and emotionally fit as men. "Embraci...

Dean Karnazes exudes life...to the fullest. At age 30, Dean discovered his feet were meant for running unimaginable distances instead of his former wing tipped polished leather shoes of Corporate America. Dean won't taunt you with his stories of his expanding the boundaries of human potential. Instead, Constantine Dean Karnazes  (Dean's actual real name) will ask you this trite question in a pierc...

I S O L A T I O N is a short film directed by  David Guersan  and  Mathieu Bernat  about a stranger leaving his modern lifestyle for a spiritual journey through incredible Scottish landscapes. Throughout the film, the stranger works to uncover the meaning of solitude and isolation. The piece was shot while traveling for two weeks in a leaky van through remote parts of Scotland. Thanks to my friend...

Author, speaker, and leader Eric Eaton shows readers a pathway to bust their limitation, define success for themselves, and live an abundant life. Eric distilled decades of personal and professional lessons into a proven plan to alleviate guilt and frustration in achieving their goals.

It's easy to believe that if we lived somewhere else, worked somewhere else, were with someone else....we could experience the life we desire. Most of the time...that turns out to be entirely wrong.  Change -lasting change, starts from within us. We see with our eyes what we believe we will see from our wholehearted life. Maybe...the life we want starts in the geography we are right now?

Jake Norton is a world-renowned climber, photographer, filmmaker, philanthropist, and inspirational speaker. Based in Evergreen, Colorado, Jake's worldwide adventures have taken him to the summit of Mount Everest (three times) and on expeditions on all seven continents.

Discovering, restoring and recovering balance requires being honest about and accepting your limitations. I did not want to believe that I had physical, emotional and relational limitations. Unfortunately, despite my disbelief, my thresholds of energy stopped me in my tracks. I had ignored my stamina limitations for so many years until I found myself depleted and on the sidelines of life. In this...

Dan Roam is the author of the international bestseller The Back of the Napkin , the most popular visual-thinking business book of all time. Dan helps business people think and solve problems visually. His newest book, Draw to Win distills ten years of working with business professionals from Microsoft, IBM, The White House, Google, Lucas Films....and a bunch of others.

Build in MicroRest into your day. Begin choosing to pause, for a moment, a second or a few minutes. Stop, come to an idle and catch your breath.   Practical MicroRest habits Work: Schedule five to fifteen minute meeting blocks on your calendar. Title the meeting "Planning" or "Strategy". Be proactive by building in moments in your work day that enable you to rest, pause and catch your breath. Powe...

Stop Multitasking and starting doing one thing at a time. In this episode, I outline how multitasking deters us from experiencing balance. Instead, focusing our energy and attention on one task, conversation, meeting, email, or project at a time increases our productivity. Why Multitasking doesn't work Money Why you should start Singletasking. Multitasking makes us 40% less productive. Read More F...

In this podcast series on Restoring Balance, I deconstructs the art of making adjustments in your approach, your thinking, your beliefs and habits. I share practical easy-to-start tools to restoring balance to your Work, Life, Play, Health and Relationships. Part 1-Changing Your Atmosphere starts with changing how we approach our circumstances by changing our internals.  

Andrew Skurka is an accomplished adventure athlete, speaker, guide, and writer. The 34-year-old is most well known for his solo long-distance backpacking trips, notably the 4,700-mile 6-month Alaska-Yukon Expedition, the 6,875-mile 7-month Great Western Loop, and the 7,775-mile 11-month Sea-to-Sea Route. Andrew spends most of his adventures off trail picking his way through the high mountains. I r...

Five years ago I started writing a couple articles on a wordpress site to profile my ideas as part of a career change. Accidentally….Now two-hundred and forty field reports (blog posts) and 86 podcast episodes later on Work Life Play….I can confidently say I'm onto something. This podcast is a milestone marker to this five year journey and the lesson's I've learned. Thanks for your friendship, you...

Create a life that matters to you. The narrative we tell ourselves frames our life. Work can't be about survival. Rethink work. Live differently. Capitalize on the small margins of your life, they add up. Stay curious. Live adventurously. Learn to play. Love the people that you're with. Five years later, I know I'm onto something. Quantifiable Proof Meet Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, co-authors of...

Last week, I crashed a women only backyard dinner party. Thirty women were dressed and buttoned to celebrate their Season Finale of S uper Soul Happy Hour/Share Classes .  Party lights were strung between Ponderosa pines and simple picnic tables borrowed from the local high school. Each place setting held a Martha Stewart style full bouquet of food and wine. Elayne Prechtel  envisioned  this backy...

Srini called in for our interview from a SoCal seaside coffee shop between tides. He ejected on his busy life to detox for a few days by practicing what he preaches. During our interview you'll hear trains pass by, seagulls cawing and Srini get fired up about why becoming UNMISTAKABLE eliminates any notion of competitors. Over a quick beer in downtown Portland, I met Srini in 2013 at Chris Guilleb...