A talk about original thinkers that's actually interesting to original thinkers

I was taking a break from a writing project this morning, and wanted to listen to "something smart."  So I searched Ted Talks.  Plenty of  "smart" in TED talks, and a fair amount of dumb, too, in some cases.  This was the first one that popped up, the algorithm's pick from my recent searches.  Actually the first one that popped up was a TED Talk called, "Let's Talk About Porn."  I'm like, "I haven't looked up any porn recently, this algorithm must be female, she's bringing up shit from a while back."  But Porn didn't sound like a topic I wanted to hear a Ted Talk about right now.  So I looked at  the videos in the side bar, and this one was first. 

Initially, I wanted to skip it, thinking, "I'm already an original thinker."  I spent my childhood thinking up all kinds of amazing ideas, and then not acting on any of them.  Classic daydreamer with low self-esteem.  Then, I got into BMX freestyle at age 16, and a couple of years later, had this idea to start a zine.  It seemed an interesting enough idea, that I stuck with it, and actually published my first BMX freestyle zine.  It really sucked.  But I met a bunch of really good freestylers in the San Francisco Bay Area because of it.  They thought it was halfway decent.  So I made another one the next month.  And the next month.  M zines got better, I did 11 issues, got written up in FREESTYLIN' magazine, and then hired to work at BMX Action and FREESTYLIN' magazines.  The first zine, one of the first ideas I actually stuck with, changed the course of my life... for the better. 

I became a part of the BMX industry, and was suddenly surrounded by guys who had lots of cool ideas, and then acted on some of those ideas.  BMX, and especially BMX freestyle, was super entrepreneurial in those early days.  I met Bob Osborn, Scot Breithaupt, R.L. Osborn, Bob Morales, Bob Haro, Don Hoffman, Chris Moeller, Rick Moliterno, Spike Jonze, Brad McDonald, Steve Crandall, and many others.  Being around people like that, acting on my ideas became a natural thing after a while.

My point is, despite my lack of financial success, I've done a lot of cool shit over the years.  A TED Talk about "original thinkers," didn't seem all that interesting at first.  But I gave it a shot.  This is actually a really great talk, and this guy's really funny, and a good speaker, as well.  Check it out. 

Joe Rogan Podcast with Gary Vaynerchuk

I'll be honest, Joe Rogan was completely off my radar until this past spring.  Yeah, he's a podcast legend, but I've spent the last 11 years creating content, and consuming mostly business/marketing and news content.  So I wasn't looking for entertaining podcasts to listen to, I just didn't have the time.  Even when a friend talked about Rogan's podcasts back in April, I didn't bother listening. 

A couple months ago, I ran across an interview with Graham Hancock, talking about his new book, America Before.  It was really interesting, and I went looking for more interviews, more in depth stuff.  That's when I found Joe Rogan's podcast with Graham, which was amazing.  In it, they spoke of Randall Carson, and I listened to Joe's podcast with him.  So now I'm a Joe Rogan fan, he's smart, has a wild point of view and background, and just does really great interviews.

So when I stumbled across this podcast with Joe interviewing entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk in 2017, I had to listen to it.  This is fucking hilarious, gets really into some of Gary's thoughts and ideas, much deeper than the 100 pieces of content a day that Gary puts out.  And that's saying a lot.  If you're a Gary Vee fan, or just want to make more money, or maybe start or build your own business, watch/listen to this, it's freakin' awesome.