how well do you really know yourself?

I figured I’d (re)introduce myself.
I, like you, continue to age.
Change.

So, this is looong overdue.

I know you didn’t ask.
(but let’s be honest… I’d grow a Gandalf-length beard waiting)

First thing 1st.
(because math)

Things about to change around here.

This email list…
(crawling with Creative Rebels…just like YOU)

There’s one thing we won’t suffer in life.

Stuck Up.
Tedious.
Boring.
Dry.

Which is how I felt about the newsletter mid-summer.
(so I hit pause…)

Thank the god of fun and adventure lord.
(Lookin’ at you Dyonisus)

Ready to bring fun back on the menu?

Lord knows we’re in short supply…

Light-hearted, yet meaningful connections…
good ol’ fashion play…

With me?
GOOD!

Let’s play a game.
Upping the stakes from day 1.

(This is day 1, screw the Before/After Christ thing. It’s had its time under the Sun)

So here’s the game. (drumroll)

You’re getting this re-introduction story in pieces.

12-ish in total.
Under 3-minute reads.
(Hope math checks out in the end)

These are the rules:

Get the exact number of dragon references in this email series.
Win.

Win what?
Eternal glory.
An honorary title of Dragon Guardian.

Aleks, what is this?
(I thought you serious about bee’s knees n’ stuff)

I just rewatched the Game of Thrones series!
The whole thing?
Sure did! (so bare with me)

Odd Dragon references from here on out.

Brace yourself.
Winter is coming.

(This is your head start; total dragon references thus far: #3)

Housekeeping out of the way, let’s get crackin’

If you’re anything like me.
This one thing makes your blood boil harder than a dragon’s kiss.

“Too Big 2 Fail Business” and Corporate Lordship.
Unearned authority for short.

Makes you want to usurp the throne sooo bad!

Like Jamie Lannister...
I used to be in the Kingsguard.
Purple tie, suit of corporate armor, clean shave, good lookin’ wristwatch,…

+15 years of service.
Upholding shareholder value.
Securing the open spaces of corporate domains.

My last mission for the “Crown”.
Making deals with the “Iron Bank”.

North of $60M < 3 years. Up $1M ARR. (Annual Recurring Revenue for the uninitiated)

(You thought I was going to say North of the Wall. Didn’t you. You wildling :)

Am I saying this to impress you?
I don’t know, are you impressed?
I sure as hell wasn’t.

Don’t get me wrong.
The perks were great, more dough I knew how to spend.

Not a big consumer here.
Don’t even own a car, lol.
But I digress…

You and I both know how long this perk thing lasts…

The thing was.
I was living in a disenchanted world without meaning.

Desperate.
To find something I could rally behind.
With my heart and soul.

In a universally prescribed modern life…
Entirely void of purpose.
(Good luck with that after a 12-year school prison sentence)

It was right then and there.
I told my partner in crime (and love) the following.

A bullet through my brain sounds increasingly more attractive…
…in comparison to a soul-sucking daily work routine.
I just can’t do this anymore.

Guess what she said.
Do it.
I’ll pull extra weight and rake in more cash if I need to.
(That’s what true love must feel like, huh…)

I’m not being overly dramatic here.
I wasn’t suicidal or anything.
(Discount drinking, smoking, and eating myself to death)

But I was serious.
I had ENOUGH.

If that’s you right now.
I’m kinda jealous.

NO, not of the 9-to-5 routine.
(I wouldn’t touch that sh*t with a 9-to-5-foot pole)

Jealous of the infinite potential…
You know…

When you decide to upend life as you know it.
To make a BIG change.

You’re either delusional.
Or tapping into something else entirely!

In retrospect.
I think I was both.

Pure genius and vision.
With a side of hardcore delusion.

Hey, guess what? (spoiler alert)
It worked out.

You’re reading this, aren’t you…
I don’t need a white coat to command authority.

Say it with me.

P.L.A.C.E.B.O. (Big Pharma’s secret sauce)

Delusion works.
At least 50-60% of the time.

Those are great odds.
Trust me. I math.

OK, Aleks, I’ll bite.
What’s the point?

My point is…
To change your circumstances.
You’ve got to change your mind. (I know, mindblowing)

Belief is key.
(schoolmasters tricked you into thinking belief follows the evidence. It’s the opposite.)

Belief is what’ll take you where you want to go.
Or stop you dead in your tracks.

Don’t believe me?
Let’s hear it from my man Walter.

If you think you are beaten,
you are
If you think you dare not,
you don't,
If you like to win, but you think you can't
It is almost certain you won't.

If you think you'll lose,
you're lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will
It's all in the state of mind.

—Walter D Wintle

OK, can you please NOT leave me hanging?

I got you boo.

Back to the delusion/vision.

See, my vision improved significantly.
At a crucial juncture in my life.

Upon moving to Prague back in 2015.
That’s October 24th, 2015.
(Is the date relevant? No, but it builds tension)

So you might be wondering at this point…
What’s Prague got to do with anything?

Prague also goes by “Eastern Amsterdam”.
Huh? That’s “street code”.

For Drugs. A whole damn lot of them.
Easily accessible.
Very affordable.

That’s why most people don’t make it here.
If ya ain’t got restrain, you’re toast.
Puff, the Magic Dragon.
Ya’ll feel me?

Hang on, you’re not saying what I think you’re saying?

Hell no.
In the words of the great & late Terence McKenna:

If you don’t know the man…
or have 0 intent on changing the fact…

It pains me to say this.
But we’re breaking up.

No, it’s not me, it’s you.
Unsubscribe. Like right now…

Back up for a second.
You saying we can’t be friends if I don’t take psychedelics?

No, of course not.
I don’t think everyone should, nor can take it…

Without seriously delusional regression…

See, without a firmly anchored sense of self. (AKA pre-existing delusion)
You could get lost in woo-woo-land for decades…

Besides.
You can dissolve false cultural assumptions in a number of ways…
Gentler.
Safer.
Not tested on animals :)

OK, so what’s that got to do with me?

That’s where you come in.
Let’s get real for a second. (Philosophical pun hiding in there, lol)

You must be thinking right now:
Why should I remain on this email list?

This Creative-Rebel-Psychedelic-Dragon-Choo-Choo-train.
Other than my refined and captivating storytelling.

You’re prolly here for the raw honest truth.

After all…
…behind every successful creator…
…is a series of existential crises… (that’s jeezs’ crisis)

They sure don’t share dat sh*t on LinkedIn.

But that’s precisely what it takes.
The Creative Courage.

To dare enter the cave.
Face your dragon.

To find gold. The Tools.
And make your mark.

Build the empire.
Push that boy off the tower…

Starting today, you’re calling the shots, m'kay

No Ser, not on my watch. (Night watch pun)

Not on my email list.
Well, technically you’re invited to call the shots and steer its direction.
(HOW? Fill in this 2-minute survey)

Back to the point.
You’re calling the shots on the direction of your life.

I want you to declare yourself King/Queen of the North.
South.
West.
East.
The void.
(Yes, that too is a direction. Goes into empty space within, a smart place to rule)

Because let’s be perfectly clear.
Wherever you go.
You’re always here.

You’re the fu*king center of your Universe.
You can’t have an objective experience of life.

(Quick, someone call the philosophy police)

I don’t know why this is turning into motivational porn.
(Oh, right, because that’s me. The incurable idealist)

Call me delusional (You won’t be first I tell ya)
But I do mean business.

So the ball is in your court.

The Iron Throne ain’t gonna take itself.
Rally the troops!

What’s next?

In the next few days – a ton of emails so we become BFFs
(you grow a pair of gender-neutral Creative Cohones and launch an attack, I’ve got yer back)

After the Icebreaker (Take that Night King) Sequence – 1 email per week-ish…

On Winter Solstice (Big Launch Party) – Several Campaign emails for what’s coming
(Winter is coming, find as many dragons as possible)

We’re not done yet

You still have no clue how to start building your purpose-driven business to freedom.
And you want to hear the rest of my story…

So in my next email....

I’ll show you how I went ahead not knowing either…
Rolling with the punches.

(and what dragons have to do with all of this)

I’M BEYOND STOKED TO WALK THIS JOURNEY ALONGSIDE YOU.

—Aleksander

P.S.

If you’re keen on Welcoming Winter properly. (Like in the good ol’ days)
And, you want to hit that “Creator Juice” I’m having….

I’m giving away the keys to the kingdom. Free.
This is your banner rallying cry. Join the rebellion.

You’ll be initiated into Creator Consciousness.
With a technique that opens an invisible door in your head.
Trust me, this sh*t’s real.

I learned it from a practicing magician. (tone it down on the woo, will ya?)

What I ask of you in exchange.
Other than to show up and suspend your disbelief.

Help me make this email list your go-to-creative-supply-store.
Take this 3-minute survey.

Hit submit. And I’m sending the Ravens with your RSVP.
(You can also hit reply and say hi, it’s not a 1 way street)