Tag: pusha t (page 1 of 1)

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September 15, 2015 / 0 Comments

XOXO Fest 2015: Quotes and Queries

“Was it worth your fam or worth all a the fame? Exchange your personal relationships for personal gains.”—Wale, The Glass Egg


“My desire to do it the way it is being done is.” – Heather Armstrong (Dooce)

What do you give up of yourself to make money (on the internet but, really, in any gig)?

Is it worth the trade?

“[W]hat we want to do is make a place where things that we couldn’t have imagined can grow.” – Alex Blumberg (Gimlet Media)

“It’s about culture clash on equal terms. Your adventure being someone else’s disaster.” – Spike Trotman (Iron Circus)

“We are not taking anything from you, because it was never yours to begin with.” – Spike Trotman (Iron Circus)

“Let’s all just take a minute and acknowledge that to a certain extent we are all just posturing when we come together in public to discuss our achievements.So don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re currently being too hard on yourself. And don’t pat yourself on the back either, if you’re super concerned with stacking up accolades. Death is coming for all of us.” – Mallory Ortberg (The Toast)

“We know a couple stories of mostly dudes who are promoted as being these brilliant founders and treated as if they worked alone. And that ain’t how the internet was made. What is best on the internet is what drives us to love technology, to be creative in these ways has very little to do with what makes start-ups really wealthy.” – Anil Dash (Your Internet Dad)

“Don’t be a snowflake in someone’s avalanche.” – Zoë Quinn (Quinnspiracy)

“Design is a value statement. What we build and how we build it says a great deal about what we value and who we are. What we make easy speaks to what we value and what we make difficult speaks to what we reject.” – Eric Meyer (Meyerweb)

Am I conscious of injecting my values of my work? Does my work reflect who I think I am?

“What would you regret? What are three things you’d regret?” – Amit Gupta (@superamit)

You used to be like Pusha T but you’re 40 now and have regrets. What are you going to do about that?

Find my answers and change my life.

Don’t believe me? Just watch.

December 31, 2013 / 0 Comments

2013 Annual Report

“Wasted time, can’t get that back, so everything I go hard.” – Pusha T, No Regrets


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These were the goals for 2013 (written in February):

  • Do more of what makes you awesome
  • Be more invested…
    • In the lives of those I love
    • In the moment
    • In my own well-being
  • Go outside and see, do, live

The last one is easy to assess. I saw nearly 20 musical performances live this year. I started going to yoga on most Saturdays. I traveled to Greensboro, Denver, New Orleans, Louisville, Palm Springs, La Jolla and San Diego, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and even stay-cationed in Santa Monica for Valentine’s Day. I walked more, biked more, and ended the year spending way more time in public transportation than my car. I accepted more invitations than I declined and I regularly felt inspired by my experiences away from most of my screens.

I won’t be making my goals for 2014 for another month but I hope this trend grows and continues. Ray spent his 2013 going to 157 shows which is insane but also feels like a challenge. More shows in 2014, y’all. Must.

I feel ill-equipped to determine how I did on being more invested. One of the interesting parts of living in the default of optimism is I have short memory for “bad things.” So, what I know is that I was much more deliberate about being engaged and admonished myself (often in my journal) when I noticed I wasn’t. I did spend more time with my sister this year. I saw friends near and far a little more often and tried to make the most of that time. I relished the moments when Tiffany and I turned off our gadgets and just talked.

I didn’t see my parents as much as I would’ve liked. I didn’t talk to my extended family as much as I would’ve liked (but more than I’ve done in recent years). I skipped a funeral.

In matters of my own well-being, I read more. I wrote more. I learned a little bit. I got easily derailed from my commitments to physical health. I’m more successful at getting back to exercise and far less good at staying on the eat right train. As usual.

And so we get to the big question: Did I do more of what makes me awesome? At work, I think so. I struggled with managing a team from afar but we accomplished most of our goals for the year. I stayed committed to quality and discipline and a balanced and pragmatic approach to strategic decisions. I took advantages of opportunities as they presented themselves and created some great opportunities in the process.

In life as a whole, I worked hard at being kind. Outside of people on terrible reality television shows, I presumed the best of intentions of those I interacted with more often than I thought the worst. I’d like to think that’s my default now. Should we meet, know that I assume you are intelligent and capable and that I don’t know the troubles in your life. I hope our interaction is filled with dignity and compassion.

I’m sure I fail at “being more awesome” constantly but I’m trying y’all. And because I made it a goal and a practice this past year, I’d like to think I got a little bit better at it ever day.

Thanks 2013.