This episode is sponsored by LiquidWeb... Managed WordPress Hosting Done Right (my words). One of my favorite non-fiction books of all time is 'The Obstacle is The Way" by Ryan Holiday. Last year he released "Ego is the Enemy", which comes as a close second. What do I love so much about these books? The stories. True stories. Of people who have come before us, faced adversity, lived by their convictions, and stood for something. Having been born in San Francisco (a 5th generation) and raised a 49er fan, it didn't come as much of a surprise when Ryan referenced the late, great Bill Walsh. I'm not about to start spewing NFL statistics, but I don't think there are many people that would argue if I said Bill Walsh was one of the game's greatest coaches. Of all time. Here's why Ryan Holiday was so influenced by Bill Walsh's book, The Score Takes Care of Itself. "Walsh took the 49ers from the worst team in football to the Super Bowl in less than 3 years. How? Not with a grand vision or pure ambition, but with what he called the Standard of Performance. That is: How to practice. How to dress. How to hold the ball. Where to be on a play down the very inch. Which skills mattered for each position. How much effort to give. By upholding these standards—whatever they happen to be for your chosen craft—success will take care of itself." -Ryan Holiday (from his post, Books to Base Your Life On) What do these books have to do with online marketing? Everything.   When you hear the term 'internet marketing' does your mind automatically go to images of young guys posing in front of Ferrari's, mansions, yachts, and all their friends living the 'laptop lifestyle'? Yea. Me too. Before I come off like a complete hypocrite, I will say that I bought into the 'laptop lifestyle' for a bit. When I was part of the mastermind for a couple years I thought that meant you were successful. It was almost as though if you were showing your fabulous lifestyle then you weren't successful. No one told me I needed to buy into this, I went willingly. Why? Because I didn't trust myself. I didn't trust that how I wanted to live my life, what type of business I wanted and getting there on my own terms was enough. I had some success, but it wasn't sustainable. I was spending a lot of money in hopes of making a lot of money. It was exhausting. I had some amazing experiences, met some wonderful people and learned a lot. It was because of the mastermind that I started paid traffic (Facebook ads). I also learned how I didn't want to run my business. I also learned how I didn't want to run my business. After a very busy 2015, I needed to take a break. Regroup. I realized with all the travel I did for business in 2015 I didn't feel energized. I felt drained (none of the trips were restful or a vacation). Which is why it's refreshing to see the 'laptop lifestyle' on its way out. I was talking with a friend last week who is involved in Facebook advertising and she said that the ads that used to work on Facebook (flashy cars, expensive lifestyle) are no longer working. Can I get an AMEN?!   I love that the push for a certain lifestyle has worn out it's welcome. I think we've all grown weary of what we see online... the pictures that show the fabulous life, the perfect family, the amazing trips, etc. Not that those things don't deserve to be celebrated because they do. When you work hard for something you absolutely should celebrate it. But those are moments, not our lives. And it's vitally important that we learn to keep those moments in perspective. If the 'amazing' moments carry so much weight in our lives how do we feel when we're not living in a constant state of awesomeness? Do we appreciate the day to day goodness in our lives? Or are we constantly in a state of never being happy with where we are. I know that's exactly what happened for me.