15 Comments

So cool to see you will be a mentor again John! Looking forward to your sessions :)

Expand full comment
author

Thanks Cata! Awesome. So I’ll see you there?

Expand full comment

Wouldn’t miss them!

Expand full comment

Love this edition John. Congrats with the mentorship, but I'm not surprised ;) Your sessions and support during the last cohort were stellar. The new format works really well and this one flows all the way through. I really like hearing your authentic voice throughout and the playful/personal additions are excellent.

Expand full comment
author

Thanks Rik. Your comments and suggestions made the piece 2x better (as they always do). Thanks for getting the playful John out on the page :)

Expand full comment

Great issue, John. Glad to know you’re continuing your journey as mentor at WOP. And I second everything you said about Leslie. She’s just an incredible human being, teaching us all about the endless possibilities of following one’s true interests (as you yourself did).

Expand full comment
author

Thanks Silvio. Absolutely - she’s a role model for all of us in that sense. Feels like writing holds the key to discovering those true interests.

Expand full comment

You were one of the first people I met in WoP over a year ago, and grateful to continue supporting the global side together as mentors! Looking forward to more creative sessions 🙌

Expand full comment
author

Thanks Kelly! Has it been a year? Wow. Also pumped to work with and learn from you!

Expand full comment

Hey John!,

I want to know your opinion on David Epstein's writing style. I found the book's topic very interesting, but once I sat down to read, I found it unnecessarily dense. As a WOP alum, I spotted several sentences that could have been edited out. I'm curious, what did you think about it?

Expand full comment
author

Hey Ishan! Good point. I’m listening to the audiobook when I go to the gym so not bothering me that much, but I hear you. Think lots of non-fiction/ self-help books could be condensed into half the pages if they focused on fewer examples. Maybe a push from publishers to make sure books are 300+ pages. That’s why writers like Derek Sivers prefer to self-publish.

Expand full comment

Loved this edition, John. Congratulations on being a mentor again. WOP is lucky to have you :)

Honored to help with the next creative session :)

Expand full comment
author

Thanks Sairam! Can’t wait either. Will be fun learning from you.

Expand full comment

Hey John - I am totally into stories about people who bring a couple of cross-disciplines together and basically wind up creating a new niche that never existed before. Leslie is a great example - designer, climber, and now add writer to the mix and you've got lift-off. Which is what is so exciting about meeting other blossoming writers, it's often that skill that tips the scales along with their existing expertise and then wonderful things start happening as they express their unique world of competency. Also going to check out printify - thanks for mentioning it.

Expand full comment
author

Absolutely, Rick! Writing can act like a rocket ship that boosts your existing skills. With it, you can do self-promotion, storytelling, increase your luck surface area etc.

Expand full comment