Becoming So Good

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

1/67

THROW TEN THINGS AT THE WALL. SEE WHAT THREE STICK.FOCUS ON THEM.

CRAFTSMANMINDSET.

FOLLOW YOUR PASSION. ADOPT THE

F A I L S M A L L .

FOCUS ON

DEFINE YOUR COMFORT

GROW. SHARE. PLAY NICE. BE REMARKABLE.

OUTSIDE OF IT. EARN CAREER CAPITAL. GET RARE AND VALUABLE SKILLS. GET

CONTROL. FOLLOW THE LAW OF FINANCIAL VIABILITY.

DEFINE YOUR COMPELLINGMISSION. DEFINE YOUR LIFES WORK.

DONT

FAIL BIG.FAIL OFTEN.LEARN FROM FAILURE.

BE SO GOOD THEY CANT IGNORE YOU.

S T R E T C HTURN DOWN A

PLACE A

LITTLE BET.

PROMOTION.

ZONE.

DELIBERATEPRACTICE.

ANALYZE THE RESULTS.TWEAK.PIVOT. CREATE A NEW HYPOTHESIS. REPEAT.

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

2/67

www.waveborn.com

i

designed by Matt Drake

Copyright 2013 Waveborn, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including

photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the

case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain othernoncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

For permission requests, contact Michael W. Malloy.

For further details visithttp://wiki.waveborn.com/becoming-so-good-they-can-t-ignore-you

First PDF Edition, 2013

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

3/67

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

4/67

www.waveborn.com

iii

designed by Matt Drake

Praise for Becoming So GoodThey Cant Ignore You

Remember you are SUPER!!- Tom Malloy

Wow. This is awesome. What a gread read. Extremely inspiring. It comesat a perfect time.

- Jackie Floyd

Great stuff. I think your age, experiences, and what you are talking abouthighlight your youthful zeal. I love watching/learning and being even aperiphery participant in all of this.

- Rob Luhrs

Fantastic content, and I like how well you work ultimate into it.- Kevin Porter

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

5/67

www.waveborn.com

iv

designed by Matt Drake

Praise for Becoming So GoodThey Cant Ignore You

I love it - it was very well written and inspirational. I love the positivity, andof course all the fantastic pictures! It makes me want to find and live thedream. Heres to hoping Im already on my way.

- Marla Muha

I like the organization and hyperlinking texts and videos and other formsof media. I also like how you bolded key points and text that show youremphasis on the topic. Cant wait for the final product!

- Josh Tsung

Im officially inspired. I need to figure out my side project and make ithappen. I bought a pair of TOMS because they donate shoes for eachpair sold, and now Im going to need to see these do-gooder shades soI can selfishly donate to charity haha.

- Beth Broccolino

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

6/67

www.waveborn.com

v

designed by Matt Drake

Introduction

Rule 1: Dont Follow Your Passion

The Passion of Steve Jobs

Passion is Rare

Rule 2: Be So Good They Cant Ignore You

Craftsman Mindset vs. Passion Mindset

The Career Capital Theory of Great Work

Becoming a Career Capitalist

Becoming a Craftsman

The 10,000 Hour Rule

Five Steps to Adopting the Craftsman Mindset

Rule 3: Turn Down a Promotion

The First Control Trap

The Second Control Trap

Avoiding Control Traps

Table of Contents

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

7/67

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

8/67www.waveborn.com

vii

designed by Matt Drake

Nobody ever takes note of my advice, because its not the answer theywanted to hear. What they want to hear is Heres how you get an agent,

heres how you write a script, but I always say, Be so good they cantignore you. If somebodys thinking, How can I be really good? peopleare going to come to you.

- Steve Martin

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

9/67

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

10/67www.waveborn.com

2

designed by Matt Drake

These rules directly align with my professional experienceover the past 4.5 yearssince graduating from Boston College with a B.S. in Computer Science and B.A.

in Mathematics in 2008. This book summarizes Cals description of each rule,

uses my real life experiences as examples, and illuminates the path you must

follow to find work you love. It explains why you should not follow your passion. In

order to find work you love, you must adopt the Craftsman Mindset. By adopting

the Craftsman Mindset, you will focus on deliberate practice and stretching yourabilities outside of your comfort zone to earn more career capital. You can invest

your career capital in traits that define great work.

Control is one of the most important traits that define great work, and it is a dream

job elixir that increases your happiness, engagement, and sense of fulfillment.

Proceed with caution as you gain more control. To avoid control traps, you must

follow the law of financial viability and pursue new ventures that other people will

be willing to pay for because money is a neutral indicator of value.

Introduction

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

11/67www.waveborn.com

3

designed by Matt Drake

To find work you love, you need to define a clear and compelling mission foryour work. Striving to achieve your mission involves series of little bets, small

hypotheses with rapid and frequent feedback to learn which direction(s) to follow in

pursuit of your mission. These little bets teach you to accept failure as a necessary

part of the learning process when stretching outside your comfort zone. In order

for your mission to be successful, you must inspire people to remark about your

work and give them a platform to communicate with the larger community.

Introduction

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

12/67

RULE 1: DONT FOLLOW YOUR PASSION

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

13/67

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

14/67

www.waveborn.com

6

designed by Matt Drake

Compelling careers often have complex origins that reject the simple idea that allyou have to do is follow your passion. The happiest, most passionate employees

are not those who followed their passion into a position, but instead those who

have been around long enough to become

very, very good at what they do. By mastering

a specific skill or job function, you will be

more satisfied when utilizing that skill in yourwork. The idea that follow your passion is

bad advice may be counter intuitive to you,

so here are three key points that support this

idea:

Career Passions Are Rare1.

Passion Takes Time2.

Passion Is a Side Effect of Mastery3.

Passion is Rare

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

15/67

www.waveborn.com

7

designed by Matt Drake

Dan Pink teaches us about Self-Determiniation Theory (SDT). SDT states thatmotivation, in the workplace or elsewhere, requires that you fulfill three basic

psychological needs:

Autonomy1. : the feeling that you have control over your day, and thatyour actions are important

Competence2. : the feeling that you are good at what you do

Relatedness3. : the feeling of connection to other people

These factors are required to feel intrinsically motivated by your work. If you want to

love your work, then it is imperative that your work includes autonomy, competence,and relatedness.

Passion is Rare

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

16/67

www.waveborn.com

8

designed by Matt Drake

Steve Jobs recommendation to follow your passion is bad advice. You do nothave pre-existing passions to discover that will lead you to your dream job and work

you love. Career passions are rare, and it takes time to develop a passion. Robert

Greene writes in his new book, Mastery, that the ultimate form of power is mastery.

The path to mastery is

guided by the ability to

focus deeply on a subjectthat compels you and then

to pursue a challenging

but clear course. In other

words, mastery requires

deliberate practice and

stretching your abilities

outside of your comfort

zone.

Recap of Rule 1: Dont Follow Your Passion

(Photo courtesy of CBS Radio Boston)

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

17/67

RULE 2: BE SO GOOD THEY CANT

IGNORE YOU

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

18/67

www.waveborn.com

10

designed by Matt Drake

This section highlights the key differences between the Craftsman Mindset and thePassion Mindset. The Craftsman Mindset focuses on what value you are producing

at your job. It forces you to focus on becoming better at your craft with constant,

incremental improvements

in your skills. To fully adopt

the Craftsman Mindset,

you must allow yourselfto spend time every day

focusing on deliberate

practice to stretch your

abilities.

Your comfort zone is

(much) smaller than your

safety zone. Whatever

doesnt kill you makes you

stronger. When you work

Craftsman Mindset vs. Passion Mindset

(Photo by: Kevin Leclaire - UltiPhotos)

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

19/67

www.waveborn.com

11

designed by Matt Drake

outside of your comfort zone, you are able to stretch and expand your comfortzone to become more comfortable in new and exciting areas of your life. The

Craftsman Mindset helps you deal with the uncomfortable process of stretching

in new directions. It teaches you to embrace your uncomfortable feelings as part

of thethe climband the process of self-improvement.

As part of my Craftsman Mindset, I spend at least one hour every day reading ontopics that will increase my knowledge and enhance my personal development

in a variety of areas (e.g., entrepreneurship, leadership,technology, social media,

ultimate, etc.). The Craftsman Mindset, always focusing on honing your craft, is

vital to finding work you love.

Instead of focusing on how you can work to benefit others as the Craftsman

Mindset does, the Passion Mindset focuses on what value your job offers you.

The Passion Mindset thinks primarily about what you can do to benefit yourself.

You will not find work you love by adopting this mindset. This directly opposes our

philosophy at PunchRockto give before you get.

Craftsman Mindset vs. Passion Mindset

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

20/67

www.waveborn.com

12

designed by Matt Drake

Theres something liberating about the Craftsman Mindset: It asks you to leavebehind self-centered concerns about whether your job is just right, and instead

put your head down and plug away at getting really, really good. It argues that no

one owes you a great career. You need to earn it, and the process certainly wont

be easy. Regardless of how you feel about your current job situation, adopting a

Craftsman Mindset will be the foundation on which you will build a compelling

career.

Craftsman Mindset vs. Passion Mindset

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

21/67

www.waveborn.com

13

designed by Matt Drake

As you progress on your journey to find work you will love, you must analyze someof the traits that define great work. A few key traits of great work include:

Creativity:Ira Glass, for example, is pushing the boundaries of radio, and winning

armfuls of awards in the process

Impact: From the Apple II to the iPhone, Steve Jobs changed the way we live our

lives in the digital age

Control:No one tells Al Merrick when to wake up or what to wear. Hes not expected

in an office from nine to five. Instead, his Channel Island Surfboardsfactory is

located a block from the Santa Barbara beach, where Merrick still regularly spends

time surfing. Jake Burton Carpenter, founder of Burton Snowboards, recalls how

negotiations for the merger between the two companies happened while he and

Merrick waited for waves in a surf lineup.

The Career Capital Theory of Great Work

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

22/67

www.waveborn.com

14

designed by Matt Drake

The analysis of these traits that define great work leads to the Career CapitalTheory of Great Work. The traits that define great work are rare and valuable.

Supply and demand says that if you want these traits you need rare and valuable

skills to offer in return. Think of these rare and valuable skills you can offer as your

career capital. The Craftsman Mindset, with its relentless focus on becoming so

good they cant ignore you, is a strategy well suited for acquiring career capital.

This is why it trumps the Passion Mindset if your goal is to create work you love.

The Career Capital Theory of Great Work

Malloy guarded by Headmaster at the Colonial Conference Championships in 2012.Georgetown beat UMD for 2nd place in the Colonial Conference. (Photo by: Pete Guion - UltiPhotos)

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

23/67

www.waveborn.com

15

designed by Matt Drake

However, it is important to note that there are three disqualifiers for applying theCraftsman Mindset:

The job presents few opportunities to distinguish yourself by developingrelevant skills that are rare and valuable

The job focuses on something you think is useless or perhaps even

actively bad for the world

The job forces you to work with people you really dislike (or reallydislike you)

If one (or more!) of these three disqualifiers are in play, then the craftsman mindset

may not be right for you in that area of your life. However, you should constantly be

looking for personal development opportunities in other areas of your life where

you can apply the Career Capital Theory of Great Work.

The Career Capital Theory of Great Work

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

24/67

www.waveborn.com

16

designed by Matt Drake

Acquiring career capital requires hard work. Since my time at Archbishop SpaldingHigh School, one of my favorite mantras has been with hard work and dedication,

anything is possible. This is especially true if you want to become a career capitalist

who posses the rare and valuable traits required by great work. You need to adopt

the Craftsman Mindset and focus on deliberate practice. By deliberately practicing

skills, you are stretching your abilities and expanding them into new areas of

expertise.

Upon entering my second year at Deloitte, I applied to grad school at Georgetown

University to enroll in their Masters in Computer Science program. I started the

2.5 year part-time program in January 2010. I had always planned to go back to

grad school eventually, and I decided that being 23 and single, while living with

a med student, was the best time to get it out of the way. This decision marked

my commitment to becoming a career capitalist while adopting the Craftsman

Mindset with a concentration on developing my skills intechnologyand ultimate

frisbee.

Becoming a Career Capitalist

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

25/67

www.waveborn.com

17

designed by Matt Drake

Along with developing more career capital to improve my skill set at Deloitte, I had3 years left of USA Ultimate college eligibility to play on Georgetowns club ultimate

frisbee team. This allowed me to spend my free time between Deloitte and grad

classes to focus on honing my craft as an ultimate frisbee player. My commitment

to the team included attending 2-3 practices/week along with mandatory track

workouts and lifting workouts, while traveling most weekends to compete at

ultimate frisbee tournaments.This is the work that I love

to do. The highlights of my

week were the opportunities to

close my laptop and spend a

few hours with my teammates,

pushing myself physically to

improve individual aspects of

my game and mentally to teach

new concepts and philosophies

to younger teammates.

Becoming a Career Capitalist

My office as a traveling salesman

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

26/67

www.waveborn.com

18

designed by Matt Drake

Deliberate practice is the key to adopting the Craftsman Mindset. I cannot stressthis enough. Stretch your ability. Go outside your comfort zone. Embrace failure.

Succeeding 100% of the time is a waste. You must fail, so you can learn from the

failures to achieve greater success in the future. Focus on specific areas you want

to develop. Concentrate all your efforts on performing at the highest possible

level. And then find ways to stretch your abilities even more to perform at an even

higher level. When you deliberately practice and stretch your abilities, you acquiremore career capital.

Before I started grad school in January 2010, I spent a lot of time during December

reaching out to experienced ultimate players to ask for their advice on how to

improve specific areas of my individual game. I have documented and saved their

advice to share with others, so you can also learn new skills. This sort of due

diligence before starting my grad school ultimate career allowed me to deliberately

practice the areas of my game that I wanted to improve because I knew what drills/

techniques I needed to use to stretch myself beyond my current comfort zone. I

accepted the role of an apprentice in my field and consistently pushed myself to

improve at my craft.

Becoming a Craftsman

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

27/67

www.waveborn.com

19

designed by Matt Drake

The 10,000 Hour Rule comes from Malcolm Gladwells book, Outliers. It states thatit takes approximately 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to master a skill. For

instance, it would take 10 years of practicing 3 hours a day to become a master

in your subject. It would take approximately 5 years of full-time employment to

become proficient in your field. You

can work out how many hours you

have already spent on a specific skilland calculate how many more you

need to reach 10,000 to master it. If

you just show up and work, you will

eventually hit a performance plateau

and stop improving. To successfully

adopt the Craftsman Mindset, you have

to approach your job(s) the same way

professional athletes approach training

for their sport, with a dedication to

deliberate practice.

The 10,000 Hour Rule

Malloy guarded by Trap at College Secionals in 2010.Georgetown beat UMD in the game-to-go to Regionals.

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

28/67

www.waveborn.com

20

designed by Matt Drake

Step 1) Decide What Capital Market Youre InWhat type(s) of career capital are you building, and in what capital markets can you

leverage it? There are two types of market - winner-take-all (only one skill matters)

and auction (several skills come into play). For example, blogging is winner-take-all

because the only thing that matters is whether or not your posts are compelling

to the reader. Alternatively, law is an auction market where lawyers can leverage a

variety of skills to be successful in different areas.

Step 2) Identify Your Capital Type

Are you in a winner-take-all or auction market?

Step 3) Define Good

This is important. You can define good however you want to define it. With theCraftsman Mindset, you are not focused on the opinions of others. You are focused

on deliberate practice and consistently moving forward to improve. In our current

education system, you need to get above a 90% to be good. In football, a QB

who completes 60% of his passes is good. In baseball, a batter who has a batting

average of .333 is good. In online sales, a conversation rate of 2% is good.

Five Steps to Adopting the Craftsman Mindset

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

29/67

www.waveborn.com

21

designed by Matt Drake

That means if you can convince two percent of the people who go to your website tobuy your product, then you are good. You should pay attention to your conversation

rate to figure out how much traffic you need to meet your sales goals. For example,

if you have a conversation rate of two percent and you need to sell 100 pairs of

sunglasses each week, then how many visitors do you need to come to your

website?

x * .02=100

x =5,000

In this example, you need to get 5,000 visitors to

your website each week if you want to sell 100

pairs of sunglasses. Its a lot easier to be confident

in life if you only need to succeed two percent of

the time to be good. Try applying this strategy

to other aspects of your life. Its okay if you get

rejected by some ladies. Understanding the basic

principles of ladder theory, you should be able to

find one in 50 that will go out with you.

Five Steps to Adopting the Craftsman Mindset

Waveborn retail display at Diva Boutique

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

30/67

www.waveborn.com

22

designed by Matt Drake

Step 4) Stretch and DestroyDoing things you know how to do well is enjoyable, and thats

exactly the opposite of what deliberate practice demands.

Deliberate practice is an effort of focus

and concentration. That is what makes it

deliberate, as opposed to the mindless

playing of scales or throwing thefrisbee the same way over

and over again. Deliberate

practice is often

the opposite of

enjoyable.

Deliberate

practice is an

approach to

deliberatelys t r e t c h i n g

your abilities

beyond where youre

comfortable, leaving your comfort

zone to make yourself vulnerable, and

then receiving ruthless feedback on your

performance. This is what you should experience in

your own pursuit of good. If youre not uncomfortable, then

youre not stretching yourself far enough. Push yourself harder than

you did the day before - every day.

Five Steps to Adopting the Craftsman Mindset

(Photo by: Pete Guion - UltiPhotos)

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

31/67

www.waveborn.com

23

designed by Matt Drake

Step 5) Be PatientYou stretch yourself, day after

day, month after month, season

after season. You must focus

on the process of continual

improvement and not be

concerned with minor failuresalong the way. Eventually, you

will look up and realize, Hey,

Ive become pretty good, and

people are starting to notice.

I was not very good at ultimate

when I graduated Boston

College in 2008. I broke my leg during the first game Saturday morning of the

second tournament, Roll Call, of my senior season. That summer while rehabbing

my leg, I was able to serve as a practice player for Eastern Motors. I tried out for

the team again in 2009 and was cut after the first tournament.

Five Steps to Adopting the Craftsman Mindset

Jack Hatchett and Mike Malloy played togetherwith Eastern Motors FB in 2009.

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

32/67

www.waveborn.com

24

designed by Matt Drake

However, I (deliberately) practiced with the team all season to focus on improvingmy skill set. My commitment to the team and dedication to attend almost every

practice and work out earned me a roster spot for the post season as a d-line

cutter. Deliberate practice during the summer wasnt enough. I started playing at

Georgetown that winter, and the following summer I earned a spot as a starting

o-line cutter on Eastern Motors. In the summer of 2011, I co-founded PACME

(Pennsylvania Atlantic Coast Metro East) Ultimate and captained Swell to an 8thplace finish at Regionals. It took years and years of deliberate ultimate practice to

stretch my abilities and see myself elevate my level of play to new heights.

What are your long term goals? What skills and career capital do you need to gain

now, so you can achieve those goals later in your career? Put your head down

and start working hard today and before you know it, you will look up and see that

those around you have noticed.

Five Steps to Adopting the Craftsman Mindset

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

33/67

www.waveborn.com

25

designed by Matt Drake

What Are Your Long Term Goals?

(Photo by: Kevin Leclaire - Ultiphotos)

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

34/67

www.waveborn.com

26

designed by Matt Drake

The Craftsman Mindset trumps the Passion Mindset because it tells you to forgetthe self-centered concerns about what your job does for you, and to put your

head down and plug away at becoming so good they cant ignore you. The Career

Capital Theory of Great Work states that the traits that define great work are rare

and valuable and require rare and valuable skills, known as career capital. It takes

10,000 hours of deliberate practice to master a skill. By adopting the Craftsman

Mindset, your emphasis is placed on deliberate practice and stretching your abilitiesoutside of your comfort zone to earn more career capital. People with compelling

careers start by getting good at something rare and valuable, building their career

capital, and then cashing in this capital for the traits that make great work great.

The third rule will introduce the most important trait of great work, control.

Recap of Rule 2: Be So Good They CantIgnore You (Importance of Skill)

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

35/67

RULE 3: TURN DOWN A PROMOTION

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

36/67

www.waveborn.com

28

designed by Matt Drake

Giving people more control over what they do and how they do it increases theirhappiness, engagement, and sense of fulfillment. Control is the dream job elixir.

If your goal is to love what you do, your first step is to acquire career capital. Your

next step is to invest this capital in the traits that define great work. Control is

one of the most important targets you can choose for this investment. Acquiring

control can be complicated and leads to potential control traps.

The Dream-Job Elixir

Mike Malloy and Roxie Alsruhe at PunchRock(1800 Wyoming Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009)

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

37/67

www.waveborn.com

29

designed by Matt Drake

You may try to take over control before you have enoughcareer capital. Its dangerous to try and gain more

control without the career capital to back it up. Control

thats acquired without career capital is not sustainable.

You cant live at the beach and only use technology a

couple hours a day without having enough rare skills

to earn that level of control inyour life. This is why you start

your project on the side at first.

Keep grinding out your 9-5 or

8-7, but ask yourself What am I

doing from 7pm to 2am to build

something that matters? Whatam I deliberately practicing to

stretch my abilities to gain more

career capital and take control in

my life?

The First Control Trap

Keep grinding out your9-5 or 8-7, but ask yourselfWhat am I doing from 7pmto 2am to build somethingthat matters?

Lei Out 2012 beach ultimate tournament in Santa Monica, CA

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

38/67

www.waveborn.com

30

designed by Matt Drake

My second startup, PunchRock, is DCs community for growing socialentrepreneurship through collaboration, education, and technical innovation. We

provide an environment for people to create that dream project and build it into

a sustainable business over the course of a few months or years. I spent a year

building Waveborn in my free time while working full-time for Deloitte, taking

2 grad school classes in computer science per semester at Georgetown, and

traveling 15+weekends/year to ultimate frisbee tournaments. If you want to makesomething happen, you have to put in the blood, sweat, and tears to create it. No

one is going to hand you a dream job (or company). It is hard work, and the work

never ends. But the nice thing is, if you do it right, it never feels like work. I wake up

every day and legitimately love the life I have built for myself. I work with fabulous

people, build great things, teach others, and do my best to make a difference in the

world - leaving it a little bit better off then when I went to bed the night before.

The First Control Trap

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

39/67

www.waveborn.com

31

designed by Matt Drake

What Can You Do to Avoid theFirst Control Trap?

Georgetown Catholic Justice 20123rd Place at Atlantic Coast Regionals(Photo by: Kevin Leclaire - Ultiphotos)

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

40/67

www.waveborn.com

32

designed by Matt Drake

Once you have acquired enough career capital to take meaningful control overyour working life, you will encounter the second control trap. The second control

trap happens when you have become so valuable to your current employer that

they will try to prevent you from making the change to take more control over your

career. This is when you must decide to turn down the promotion.

In May 2012, after completing my 2.5 year M.S. inComputer Science degree at Georgetown University,

I had officially acquired enough career capital to gain

more control in my working life. Deloitte recognized this

increase in career capital and offered me a promotion

to Senior Consultant, a raise to $90,000/year, and a

nice bonus. However, the catch was that I needed to

wait until September to receive the bonus and see the

raise reflected in my paycheck. I had also signed an

agreement with the firm that if I left within two years of

completing my degree, then I would have to pay them

back $20,000 that they spent on my education.

The Second Control Trap

Almost as good as this layout.(Photo courtesy of Chris Fitzpatrick)

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

41/67

www.waveborn.com

33

designed by Matt Drake

The Second Control Trap

I debated my options and weighed the pros and cons. In the end, I decided that2 years of my life from age 25-27 was worth well more than $20,000 and a salary

pushing 6 figures. I had gained enough career capital, and I was confident in my

ability to be successful in whatever future endeavors life had in store for me. I also

believed that by removing the ceiling on my earnings, I would be able to earn more

than $100,000 this year. June 15, 2012 was my last day working for the man. After

a 10 day trip to Boston, I moved to Dewey Beach, DE for the month of July to sellsunglasses and enjoy life at the beach.

While the beach lifestyle is pretty fabulous, I did make a couple of rules (no drinking

before noon and no shots) to maintain control and ensure I was able to have a

healthy, sustainable lifestyle and run my sunglasses business. Regardless of your

lifestyle, it is important to understand what potential pitfalls and risks you need to

avoid to be successful in your craft and maintain control. The majority of folks in

Dewey Beach are on vacation for a week(end) and are trying to maximize their fun

into the short trip - however, I became one of the locals by the end of my stay and

needed to maintain a reasonable work/life balance.

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

42/67

www.waveborn.com

34

designed by Matt Drake

The Second Control Trap

While living at the beach this summer, I took control of my working life and focusedon my development as a professional ultimate frisbee player. I worked out three

times each day to deliberately practice and train for ultimate. I did a core workout

and rehabexercises for my groin injury at my beach house every morning. I went

to the beach every afternoon to do atabata sprint workoutback and forth along

the water. The sand was too hot during peak hours to stand and throw the disc, so

I came back at 7pm each night to do a two-hour throwing workout as the sun set.Sometimes I had a friend visiting my beach house to throw with and other times I

would just play Laws-el-toss (throwing it as high as possible and catching it).

I also set up mini games of frolf to try to hit specific landmarks (lifeguard stand, trash

can, my shirt, etc) while deliberately practicing specific throws (e.g., lefty scoober)

in specific wind conditions. These short games allowed me to develop my throw-

and-go agility by immediately sprinting to the disc. I went for a brief swim in the

ocean after each beach workout, and would follow that up with a bike ride around

our six-block town to cool down and check out the nightlife. The summer allowed

me to take complete control over my daily schedule and apply the Craftsman

Mindset to the most important development area in my life, ultimate.

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

43/67

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

44/67

www.waveborn.com

36

designed by Matt Drake

Derek Siverswrote Anything You Wantand gave a phenomenal TED talk about Howto Start a Movement. I discovered Waveborn because of a Thrillist.comnewsletter

email. I was a lifeguard for 6 years, and I loved my Stunnerofthemonthsubscription,

which I also discovered via a Thrillist.com newsletter email. When I got to the

website, I liked the Wavebornshades, and I loved that they donated eyeglasses

for every pair sold. I bought a pair. I clicked the Get Involved link on the site and

sent an email to Jonathan Schilitto see how I could help the company. Turns outhe lived 10 minutes away in DC. We met the following week, and he hired me on

the spot as the second employee in the company. Everything that has happened

in my life since that moment is because I had the courage to stand up and be

Waveborns first follower.

Avoiding Control Traps

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

45/67

www.waveborn.com

37

designed by Matt Drake

Mike Malloy and Chris Guillebeauat a book signing for The $100 Startup

Where Do You See Potential OpportunitiesIn Your Life To Be The First Follower?

8/13/2019 Becoming So Good

46/67

www.waveborn.com

38

designed by Matt Drake

The Law of Financial Viability is vital to avoiding the two control traps. If you are

contemplating following a new idea that will add more control to your work life, you

must make sure people are willing to pay for it. If they are, continue. If not, move

on. You must do what people are willing to pay for. Money is a neutral indicator of

value. By aiming to make money, youre aiming to be valuable.

I didnt