Why I’m writing a book

We’re living in a world of uncertainty right now.  A pandemic, racial injustice, protests, more pandemic, more protests, more politicians in key countries with little clue on a way out, wild fires and a looming election on the horizon.  It can all make for a pretty unhealthy newscycle.

At the start of the lockdown in March I began writing a few more blogs. Writing was something that I have always found helped me think clearly though, even if purely for myself whenever I have a big decision to make or something to get off my chest, writing it out helps.  Those early days of lockdown helped made me commit to writing my first book, The Anti Blueprint Project which you can sign up for updates and info about the upcoming kickstarter launch here

I was inspired to push this out today as we had a team meeting this week and one of the smartest minds I know, Ryan Flaherty said “people who come out of this pandemic well will be those who have a disciplined schedule, a focus on helping others and a purpose in life.”

That really struck home with me as writing this book it helped me so much.  Waking at 5am everyday to write before the kids woke up and after they went to bed it felt like I had something to focus my energy on instead of the crazy world we are living in right now.  The project also filled me with optimism because it meant that I feel I am doing something to help others, specifically wanting to help teenagers see that there are so many different ways to “making it” and that can and should look completely different for each of us.    I have long thought about doing something to try and help people see things differently and make them realize there isn’t a one size fits all solution for what you want to do with your life.  

This blog post is the one that easily had the most engagement and comment I have ever had.  After reposting it on Linkedin in with the simple question “what would you tell your teenage self?” I was blown away by the numbers of people I had never met reaching out with their story.  It peaked my interest and made me a realize there is something in this.

So then to figure out what to do with this engagement? I set about asking a few people I look up to as to how they would tackle this subject.

The first was Matt Barr who is as close to a mentor as I would have in the writing space from our days working on Whitelines together.  Having his own podcast “looking sideways” he understands the hustle it takes to feature guests in his medium.  He also understands the intricacies of a creative pursuit.  He said it on the phone but again when we spoke in march “you just have to go into it not worrying about whether people are going to like it or not, just go into it the most original way you can”.  Now with there being a million and one podcasts out and seemingly more started through the pandemic I veered away from a podcast, briefly thought about a youtube channel but cringed about being on camera every week.

Next was Chris Ritchie someone who I value dearly as a friend who I knew had a very different route to his current role as the neighborhood account lead for nike in New York.  I walked him through the project and he was super supportive saying that for sure its something people need to hear.  Chris is definitely someone I love because of how he lives his life to his own beat.

So then with the confidence in the subject matter confirmed, I called Foster Huntington slightly nervous having never met him and explained the project to him.  Now as someone who quit Ralph Lauren, left the 9-5 (or 8-8 in his case) bought a van and just travelled the west coast of the US for a year and then wrote a book about it I thought he would be the right person to talk too.  He just said “sounds like a great idea.  Yeah just write a book, just get started”.  Easy as that I’m thinking….

So I then started setting up all the time with various people I wanted to speak to for then project.  After the first few I had time with Jackie Beal the photographer from Toronto and there was something she said that made me realize I’d just found the name for the book and at this point I’d just jumped in the deep end and was doing this thing.

“The blueprint that is expected of you isn't necessarily the one that is going to work for you.”

So by April, after a few weeks of this idea rattling around in my head and after some phone calls to some trusted friends, I was off and running.  Off to write a book with zero clue about how to publish it, how to design it or actually take this thing from words on a page to a real life project.  That will be my next blog post about how in doing this a seemingly amazing crew came to my aid to help bring this to life.

To go back to the beginning, having something to focus the mind on, something to escape the news cycle, something to realize there is so much more to life than the constant barrage of chaos we are fed through social media has helped me so much and I hope helped me be a better parent and husband through this whole process as my life hasn’t been dependent on external forces.

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Jon