Last week I launched my company. In case you missed that news, you can read more about it here. In the days that followed you showed up well for me. You started asking questions about this big thing I was pushing. I couldn’t believe everyone was so excited for me and my dream…for the dreams of many to come. But you did. You cared. And you asked lots of questions. They helped me to clarify my own thoughts and direction on what all of this actually means. So, thank you. Thank you for believing in me and always having my back.

Below, I have summarized the best questions and ordered them into something like an interview. I hope they bring you as much joy and understanding into what you can expect from me in the days and months to come. If you get to the end, I left a couple of action steps for you that would mean the world to me. See you there…

A week ago, today, I launched my company and you decided to support me by asking some big questions:

Q:...

It’s launch day!

After eight years of thinking, dreaming, hoping, and mostly doing nothing I am finally putting the pen to paper and calling it: today is launch day.

On December 30, 2012, I purchased the rights to the URL jarradellis.com. It was monumental. It felt like I was stepping out into the unknown and beginning to break free from the path someone else had designed for me. I was saying “YES!” to my dream. As a twenty-one-year-old junior in college, there was nothing to stand in my way. The world was MY oyster. Have you ever been there? I truly felt like I could go anywhere, do anything, become anyone I wanted to be. And to be clear, I still do. Though, I would be foolish to overlook the near decade of experience and life I have gained since I sat on that couch in my dorm room late that night.

The road has been long. I have watched others around me shroud themselves in the comfort of the paved path and do exactly what you would have...

In this video, I share some practical steps I take when moving through hard decisions in life. When a thing feels too big to bite off all at once this is what you should do!

Give it a listen then let me know what you think. The only way I know how to improve is through your feedback. I can handle it, promise. :-)

In this video, Jarrad shares a story on how he learned that creativity doesn’t just flow down from the heavens whenever we want inspiration. It comes through hard work and discipline which can be simplified to say: consistency.

If you’re needing to find a bit of creativity today don’t give up hope. Remain consistent and do what provokes creativity within you, repeatedly. Start preparing today for the creativity you want to flow through you tomorrow.

With my back leaned against the front of my car, I am fixated on the five words before me. To my left and right there are fences running in straight lines as far as the eye can see, far beyond the rolling hills each direction. Behind me, nothing more than my rental and a two-lane highway. Before me, only highway.

The first four words read: “Welcome to North Dakota”. They represent a number and a dream. A number, once most unachievable. A dream fought for two.

As I embrace the moment, breathing in the cool moist air as the wind passes through the hairs on my crossed arms, I am taken back to the beginning to where and with whom it all began.

For the most part, I credit the dream to a day in third grade when my teacher rolled down a map of the United States for the first time. Becoming cognizant of the world around then played a significant role in the formulation of the dream but the real credit belongs to another. The originator of my inspiration: my grandpa.

...

I recently had a conversation with a coworker who didn’t really understand what “personal development” was. A bit flabbergasted, I responded, “What do you mean, it’s the idea of improving yourself.”

They, of course, were not the first person to look at me weird and wonder why I would fly to another state for a five-day conference to gain understanding on human psychology or physiology…multiple times each year…year after year.

“You pay for that?”

I’m making light of a conversation that really threw me for a curve when it happened. I was shocked to discover, even in my professional corporate America work environment, personal development isn’t understood by a lot of folks.

You’re probably like them in a way and have thought, “When you’re not in the clouds, Jarrad, what is personal development and why does it matter to me?” Fair question. The truth is, personal development is vital to your...

How many times are you interrupted every day? Would you be surprised if the majority of your interruptions were actually self-inflicted? Whether you are an owner, a manager, or an employee of a large company or small I’m going to share three proven strategies to help you tidy up the edges of your "interruptabilty" and take back control of your time.

When I work with my clients on this topic, they often begin this conversation with a long line of logical reasoning as to why they are the one person by which all decisions flow. To be fair, my clients live and breathe a fast-paced culture where interruptions are in high demand. But in totality, all of us have thousands of decisions that flow directly through us every day. No matter, though, the capacity in which you serve others may not be within your immediate ability to change. So you must first learn to honor your season.

Toward the end of my college career, I began my first work in retail, becoming a...

We’d been searching for hours when the time came for me to leave. I was shattered. Being only my first week on the job I had worked so hard to get, I blew it. My superiors assured me everything was fine and that everyone misplaces money sometimes. And since I was new that was my one Get-Out-of-Jail Free, card. But none of that mattered to me. I had been applying endlessly for this job and I couldn’t hack it just one week. The lady who turned me away so many times before was actually right, “I’m just not the right person for the job.” Shoulders slumped low, I left the building and returned to class uncertain of how I would perform when I came back for my evening shift.

Deeply discouraged, I passively endured my next three lectures. What was I going to do? How was I going to let this story be written about me? As it has so many times before, I caught a glimpse of the supernatural breath flowing through my body and became increasingly aware this was not my...