What to Do in the Next 2 Years to Set Up Your Next 20 | The 2×20 Project™

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Episode Transcript:

Jonathan Fields: [00:00:00] So did you ever wonder if you’re sort of on track with your life, if you’re doing the thing you want to be doing, or if you even know what that is? Even though I spent my entire life exploring and learning and developing tools and frameworks and entire bodies of work designed to help answer these questions, I recently found myself at a milestone in my own life wondering is the way I’m feeling today, especially in the context of work, the way I want to keep feeling for my next season of work in life. Now, I’ve done a lot of work on this already. I know my Sparketype, my values, the culture and missions and quests that make me come alive. And I do spend a fair amount of time doing those things, surrounded by those people and cultures and working on projects that matter. Which is why I surprised myself when I answer that question is the way I’m feeling today, especially in the context of work, the way I want to keep feeling for my next season of work in life with a no. Now, it wasn’t a hard note, but when I thought about the specifics, it was clear to me that I wanted to make some meaningful shifts to explore different things, maybe a different blend of work and life, which is what led me to launch a secret project that I have come to call my two by 20. Now, I’ve been working on it for the last nine months now. It’s all about learning, doing and building things in work, in life in a very particular way. Designed to help me answer the question if not this, at least in part, then what? As I shared it with a handful of people friends, colleagues, they all wanted to know more. And that led one friend to invite or more realistically, challenge me to share this project more publicly so that maybe others might benefit from both the structure of it and from what I’ve been learning. So if you’re at or maybe nearing a moment of your life, especially your work life, where you’re kind of wondering what’s next. Even in the context of subtler shifts or changes, and you’re also trying to get a bead on how you want your work to make you feel, and you don’t have a clear answer. Stay tuned. This is going to be fun. I’m Jonathan Fields and this is Good Life Project.

[00:02:24] So this was never supposed to be a thing. And still, here we are. I run my life as a series of experiments or projects and doing this, it kind of takes the pressure off. Instead of saying, oh, I’m launching a new company, or becoming an author or building a new product or brand. I tend to say, huh, I wonder if I’d enjoy this, and if it’s something I’m considering as work. I often add in and I wonder if people would want it so Good Life Project. Which is now largely a media brand with a focus on wellness and mental health and grounded personal growth, has, at various times over a dozen years, been different things. A video show which is about to be a part of our mix again, by the way. A podcast. A conscious business collective, an education platform and a global community that gathered everywhere from local meet-ups at coffee shops in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, to international retreats, even a five-year run as an annual adult summer camp. So now, 12 years in, it’s about to morph again with some fun new offerings coming your way, by the way. So stay tuned for those. But people sometimes ask why I included the word project in the name. And sure, I thought it kind of just sounded cool. Good Life Project.. But also because in my eyes. And it was. And honestly, it still remains a project. Framing it this way, it takes the pressure off. I wasn’t so much committing to having to, quote, build a thing. I was just playing with different toys and tools and rides and ideas and the playground and seeing what fit both me and the now global community of millions of people that we have been blessed to serve and gather. So in a recent conversation with a friend who pointed out that nearly 1000 episodes that we produced, I said, had you asked me a dozen years ago if this would still be a thing and I’d still be interested, I’d probably have laughed in your face.

Jonathan Fields: [00:04:31] And yet, here we are. Along the way, there have been just breathtaking moments and experiences. Being on retreat in a foreign country, witnessing people’s humanity unfold, seeing the lifelong family member friendships form between strangers, and even a pop up wedding. Not between strangers, by the way, sharing the stream of just beautiful notes about the impact of the body of work and experiences that people have had with the team, supporting emerging entrepreneurs and the creation of impact driven endeavors. Having a chance to sit down and go deep with my teenage idols like Peter Frampton, Joan Osborne, Jimmie Vaughan, as well as intellectual heroes and scions of business and science, art, writing, relationships, spirituality, well-being. Being on this journey with my wife and an incredible team of humans that I love. These have all been just stunning parts of the journey, and seven years ago, I began to get curious about the world of work, driven in no part by my own experience in New York City during nine over 11, and knowing people who woke up that morning with everything and yet they never came home. It made it so clear that we are promised nothing. Not another breath, another moment, year or decade. Most of whatever time we do have, it’ll be spent working for the typical person, and you can argue about whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing or just a thing.

Jonathan Fields: [00:06:01] Either way, it’s most people’s truths. And this reality, it launched a project built around a question that again led to a quest. The question back then, seven years ago, was, can we identify a universal set of impulses for work that makes you come alive? And the quest that quickly formed around that was, how do we tap what we’re learning to help people transform work into one of the best parts of their lives? And that eventually grew into what’s now become known as the Sparketypes, or the Sparketype body of work, which has helped nearly a million people at this point. And we’ve got amazing new plans, by the way, for the rest of the year and next year. So are these all, quote officially Companies. Well, yes, they eventually became companies or businesses, but in my mind they’re still pretty much just projects, experiments here to be played with putty to be shaped, nothing locked in stone, including me, by the way. Which brings me to today’s reveal. So I’ve been secretly working on a project for the last. It’s been about nine months or so, and as with all good projects, it started with a turning point. That led to a question. Last fall I turned 58. Now, I’m not a mathy person, but even I knew I was only two years from 6040 didn’t do much for me. 50 made me a bit introspective.

Jonathan Fields: [00:07:39] 60 is looming differently, not in a heavy or a scary way. In fact, it’s kind of just the opposite. It’s looming as an opportune and and curious moment for me. And I’m not somebody who ever thinks about that. The R word retiring. It’s kind of a foreign notion to me. I like work, not every element or every second, even the work I create, by the way, no one does. But on the whole, I love to invest myself in things. Effort, having a trajectory, being used for a purpose, getting lost in flow, playing with ideas and people I love. It just feels good to me. Why would I ever want to stop that? In the parlance of the Sparketypes, I am what would be called a maker. I make ideas manifest. Always have, always will, and most of the time I have enjoyed that. But this interesting thing happened when I turned 58. I looked at my life and wondered, when 60 comes, do I want to be doing in a very detailed, granular way. Do I want to be doing what I’m doing, feeling what I’m feeling, and making what I’m making? And I broaden that question. What do I want my health to look like, my physical and mental states to be, and my relationships with family, chosen family, community, place, space, me and spirit. And I began to see this two year window between 58 and 60 as kind of a beautiful micro season.

Jonathan Fields: [00:09:17] And I wondered, how do I use this time, this two year window? Well, to answer these questions and most importantly, to set up the next season of work, love and life as much as I’ll be giving of it, to feel more of the way that I want to feel. And again, I don’t feel badly now, but I’m really clear on how I want to feel and how can I make tweaks and adjustments and shifts, and how can I do so in a way that I could see myself sustaining, God willing, what I’m doing into my 80s. This all distilled into one overarching question what might I learn, do, or build in the next two years that would center the next 20 around simplicity, significance, and joy? So why two years and 20 years, by the way? Well, a couple thoughts here. Two years at least. To me, it’s enough to learn, do or build something real. To really go deep, to discover a ton and even incite a pretty significant level of growth and change, if that’s what I’m looking for, and also build, or at least start to build something that is meaningfully different. But there’s another reason here. So you might ask, why put any sort of strict timeline on this? Why not just learn, do and build for as long as it takes until you kind of have that next season figured out? And the short answer is one word tension.

Jonathan Fields: [00:10:58] Putting an expiration date on this window, it creates a certain tension, but not the kind of tension that’s hard on us, but rather the kind of tension that creates a certain inspired generative energy to be more thoughtful, more intentional, and consistently action oriented. It’s a tension that even though it’s of my own device, it makes me want to use every moment of the allocated window of time. Well, I don’t experience it as in any way stressful, but rather motivating and inspiring. I think the fact that it’s also a long enough window to feel like you can genuinely run many different experiments, and know that a number of them won’t work out at all, and you’ll still have time to figure out more things to learn, to do and to build. That’s a big part of this and that tension, at least for me in the structure that I’m creating it, it has power, it has power. It keeps me awake. It keeps me taking action and building momentum. So could I, in theory, could I push it back six months if I kind of get two years in and feel I need just a bit more time? Well, sure. But at least for now, I’m holding myself to it. And that commitment has actually been, almost surprisingly to me, incredibly helpful in motivating me to keep doing what I need to do and not procrastinating or loafing around. I’m somebody who tends to be very action stance just to start with.

Jonathan Fields: [00:12:37] Um, but this has brought a whole new level of focus around that. Okay, so that’s sort of the the two years for me. And also, of course, for me, it just happened to tie into this kind of age linkage as well. What about the reason behind the 20 year window that comes after? And for me, that window 20 years, it feels like kind of a solid representation of the next entire full season of contribution and life for me. Simple as that. And maybe I get five years into that and I decide I want to pivot or do something different. That’s fine too. But when I frame the question in the context of what I believe could be sustainable from an interest and a curiosity level, a financial level, and an energy and health level for 20 years. The questions I ask, they just change. They’re much different. The questions, the assumptions, the projects, the visions, they’re different. The assumptions I make change. The experiments that I looked to run. They’re all oriented much more toward the long game, and at least to me, I feel like I’m better and the decisions are better. And hopefully the next season of contribution and life are better because of that. Now, of course, your mileage may vary, but for some maybe 5 or 10 years might feel more real and relevant. You do. You. This project even sounds remotely interesting to you.

Jonathan Fields: [00:14:14] And what about that last part? By the way, the end of my question that has sort of been my guiding question. Those three words simplicity, significance, and joy. Right? It was what I learned, do or build that would allow me to center the next 20 years of contribution around these three things simplicity, significance, and joy. These are the three defining qualities of that next season for me, that what I want to feel like, regardless of exactly what it is that I’m doing, they are entirely unique to me, by the way, and to the qualities that I want to feel as I step into the next season of life. Your three defining qualities may and likely will vary from that. So let’s talk a little bit about these three words. For me. When I say significance, it’s less about what I leave behind or this notion of legacy. I kind of don’t think that way or what matters to others. And more about is it significant to me? Is it meaningful to me in my mind, in my heart, in my life? Does it feel like it genuinely matters? Like it’s substantial and real, impactful, aligned, meaningful and purposeful enough? And maybe if it feels that way to me, it’ll inspire me to pour myself into it. So just wholeheartedly that whatever comes from that investment will lead to the creation of something that matters. That is significant, maybe to others too.

Jonathan Fields: [00:15:52] What about that second word for me? Simplicity. Simplicity in my mind, is the opposite of complexity. And to me, at least, complexity equals stress. Now, I have said yes to a whole lot of complexity for my entire life building businesses, brands, experiences, books, communities, frameworks, ecosystems, and so many other things. It has been amazing, but also brought with it a baseline level of stress that I would love to dial down a bit as I head into my next 20. There’s also a certain grace and ease that comes with simplicity that I want to invite more of into my day to day experience. The truth is, life is going to bring a mountain of complexity my way, whether I want it or not. That’s just the way that life is. And that’s okay. It’s a part of being human. But to the extent that I can, quote, manufacture less of it myself, that is becoming an emerging priority for this next season for me. And then that final word, joy, that’s about being present to what’s right and good and light more than what’s wrong and bad and heavy. Now, part of that is about creating the external conditions to invite more moments of joy, more experiences of joy, more interactions and engagements that bring joy. But another part is about creating the internal conditions to see more sources of joy that already exist all around me. Things that have been there all along but maybe were invisible to my eye.

Jonathan Fields: [00:17:44] I just wasn’t tuned into them enough, paying enough attention. It’s less about happiness, by the way, and more about seeing and nourishing and savoring. So that’s why, for me, these three defining qualities are embedded in my question what might I learn, do, or build in the next two years that would center the next 20 around simplicity, significance, and joy? And what about those other three words in my guiding question, by the way? Learn, do, and build. So by the way, you probably long time, long, long time podcast followers know I’m a little fanatical about language, although I’m not always as artful as I’d like to be with it. Um, but I really try, do try and choose in an intentional way when it comes to language. So these three words learn, do, and build. These are about my desire to learn new things, to retrain even if it makes sense to do or take action and not just think about things, but actually get out of my head and do them. To try my hand. To run experiments, to get feedback and see how things actually feel to me, whether they speak to me or whether they’re calling me maybe in to explore more and potentially do something bigger with or sending me signals at nope, not right. At least not now. And build. Because at some point I’m very likely going to want to take what I’ve been learning and doing and shape it into some kind of container or mechanism or thing that fuels my energy for the next 20 years, plus as a maker, which is in my blood.

Jonathan Fields: [00:19:35] That’s kind of just what I do anyway. So this big question began to take the lead in nearly everything that I was doing. And a couple of months in, I just started sort of like casually referring to it. I started calling it my two by 20. Um, it’s probably the maker in me that’s sort of like like that also because, um, in a younger iteration, I was I worked construction like in summers. I was constantly renovating and building things and like, give me that two by four, that one by ten, the two by eight, all the different things. It’s an easy way to reference different types of lumber or materials that you use to build. So two by 20, which I know it as just two x 20. Um, and for months I kept it entirely to myself. I was running these micro experiments designed to try and answer pieces of the question, and some things I knew making, for example, will always be a primary way that I feel that contribution bucket of mine. But how, though, do I continue to pull on the thread of creation, but do it in a way that brings less complexity and more simplicity. How to create things, books, experiences, or anything else focused more around meaning and significance.

Jonathan Fields: [00:20:43] How do I pursue not only my two by 20, but the 20 years that follow with joy remaining central to the experience? And how do I make this not just about work, but about life? And it became even more evident that my two by 20, it couldn’t just be about work or filling my contribution bucket. It also really did have to factor in what I call the two other good life buckets vitality and connection. By the way, for those not yet familiar with this model, it’s just a super simple, elegant model for a good life. Basically, think of your life as three buckets vitality, connection and contribution. And your vitality is about the your state of mind and body. Your connection bucket is about the depth and quality of your relationships. Your contribution bucket is about the the meaningfulness, the joyfulness, the purpose of the generally, the work that you’re doing, how you exert effort. And the fuller these buckets are, the better your life gets. The emptier they are, the more struggle comes into your life. These buckets are also all interconnected, so your lowest bucket will always limit your ability to fill the other two buckets. For example, if your vitality bucket is really low, just like your state of mind and body are really drained, you know, it’s like a three out of ten say it’s going to make it really hard for you to fill your connection bucket to actually develop and sustain and cultivate deep and meaningful relationships, and also really enriching work because you just won’t have the vitality to devote to it.

Jonathan Fields: [00:22:17] So these buckets are all interconnected. So it’s a really simple model, but it’s super powerful in guiding how you allocate your energy. Now, slowly I began to create structure around my two by 20 Project I started just creating really simple strategies and guardrails, tools and processes, all held pretty loosely, by the way. I didn’t want this to feel like a rigid or brittle thing. I just kind of wanted it to feel pretty flowy and flexible and adaptive. But I still did want a basic set of Guideposts, ways to figure out what to try, how to think about each experiment, and what to choose and when. And I have been acutely aware of the passing of time in a way that has never really been a part of prior projects because of the constraints that I have put on this. And actually, maybe that’s not entirely true in the past. You know, the time constraints were there, but most often they were external and they were tied in some way, shape or form to money. Either I had X dollars in the bank, and I knew that that had lasted for a Y months. So the project had to work before I ran out of money, or I had signed a contract and committed to deliver a particular thing, like a book in nine months, whatever it was.

Jonathan Fields: [00:23:34] So there were these external things. This time it’s different money and others are no longer the core metrics here. That’s not what the two years are tied to. It’s simply about an enduring desire to use my time and more broadly, whatever I have of my life. Well, and that now 23 year old mantra that came into my experience around nine over 11 continues to spin in my heart and head. We are made no promises. That’s not actually a bad thing. It’s created a certain generative tension that fuels me. It’s lit a fire under my ass to make things happen, to not just while away the time. Two years is short enough to see and feel the vision of what I’m birthing. To know that what will emerge from this project is real, and I can taste and smell the early pangs of that arrival already, but it’s also long enough to make big things happen. Deep learning. Growth and transformation. Clarity and creation. My plan in the final probably six months or so, whenever I feel like I’ve learned and done enough, is I’ll begin to shift more from learn do mode into more dedicated, intentional build mode to give ideas and realizations shape and form, and then step more fully into the early part of that next 20 year vision. I’m very intentionally, though, not going there quite yet, which is hard for me because of my makers impulse to create or build.

Jonathan Fields: [00:25:08] But there’s a voice that keeps saying to me, keep the blinders off, you’re not ready to narrow. So I’ve run some amazing experiments and gathered a ton of insights already. Some have been big wins, others have been outright flops. Most have kind of split the difference? I don’t particularly care as long as I’m doing and learning. Eventually this will inform the building part, but I want to stay in the window of discovery long enough for the building phase to be more fully informed. Knowing that really, whatever creative acts I take will still continue to be shaped and morphed over time. In a few weeks in, I actually shared my two by 20 project with my wife, just kind of in an off handed way. Neither of us gave it much to do. Um, Stephanie’s used to me having a lot of different projects and trying a lot of different things, and a lot of them don’t get any traction, and I just kind of like, move on to the next one. But this one sustained. And more recently, I shared it with those few friends I mentioned earlier who are also in probably similar moments in their careers and lives, even though they’re not the same age. But we tend to have these sort of like bracketed moments and seasons that repeat over time, and every time I brought it up, they would lean in, wanting to know more.

Jonathan Fields: [00:26:29] What was it? Why was I doing it? How was I structuring it? Why two by 20? And so many other questions. And then I actually shared it with another friend a few weeks ago who said, have you written or spoken about this publicly? Because I think a lot of people would be interested in what you’re doing and why you’re doing it and how you’re doing it. And I kind of brushed it off. You know, I said it’s been such a deeply personal thing. I hadn’t really considered sharing it more widely. And then I thought about it. I thought about the handful of friends I’d revealed it to, and how fiercely interested they were, wanting to know every detail, especially what parts of life I was focusing on, how I was doing it and what I had been learning and doing and discovering. It seems so many of us were in this liminal space. You know, life is actually pretty good for a lot of them and me. But we’ve also begun thinking about that next season, however you define it. What we truly want from it and for it. What parts do we take with us? Which would we prefer to leave behind? And what new experiences or adventures or feelings and qualities would we love to invite into our lives moving forward? So I decided to accept that one friend’s invitation and go a little bit public with my previously secret two by 20 project.

Jonathan Fields: [00:27:45] It’s simple fact. You also, you don’t have to be 58 to feel what I’m feeling. You can be 18 looking at the next season of working life, 35 or 46 or any other age. It’s more about coming to a specific moment where you’re starting to feel ready to step into a new season, kind of just giving yourself the space and grace if you have it available to you. And you may not during certain moments of your life, by the way. And that’s okay too, to do it justice and really invest in getting to know yourself, what makes you come alive and what you want from the next season of work and life in a deeper, more visceral, honest and sustained way to look into the future and know you’re appreciative for where you have been grateful for and enjoying the life you’re now living, and still curious and excited about a future, the creation of which lies, at least in part in your heart, hands and vision of what could be. It’s a fun and, at least for me, deeply valuable exploration. No matter what age you’re in. And we’ll be right back after a word from our sponsors. And that brings me to some of the basic structure and guidelines of this two by 20 project. I thought I’d share some of the sort of rules of the road that I’ve been holding myself to, and then I’ll share some of the experiments that I’ve actually run over the last nine months, and also maybe some that I’m looking forward to running in the next 15 or so months to give you a flavor for maybe some of the ways you might explore saying yes to your own two by 20 and exploring your own experiments to run two.

Jonathan Fields: [00:29:28] So first the basics. What are the kind of like the core guidelines for my two by 20? And again, you can change these rules for you. This is just how I’ve been stepping into it. It’s really pretty simple actually. Number one, I use that guiding question as the anchor for everything. What might I learn, do, or build in the next two years that would center the next 20 around simplicity, significance, and joy? Number two, always be running experiments. Think about all the different things you might learn more about. Take action or um, and eventually, if they continue to sustain your curiosity, build something more meaningful around it. No one thing is either too big or small. Invite it all. You’re just in brainstorming mode. And then this is really important. Instead of trying to think your way to whether something has real potential to be centered in your next season or give you the feeling of your three qualities, remember for me, that’s simplicity, significance, and joy. Get out of the spin cycle in your head and learn. Do or build your way to an answer. This lets you respond to actual lived experience or data.

Jonathan Fields: [00:30:51] Both hard data and intuitive data when deciding what to try, what to keep doing, jettison or center for most things that really matter in life. You can’t think your way to an answer. You’ve got to do your way there. At least for me, that’s been my experience. Third guideline for me. Inaction is not an option. So I may be thinking about what experiments to run, what to learn more about or do or build. But if any one thing doesn’t feel like a fit, whether it’s at the point where I’m just considering it the early days or I’m actually doing it, but it’s revealing as I’m doing it that it’s not right for me, for this project, for the next season. The alternative is never to just stop learning or doing or building anything. It’s important that I use my time well and two years feels long, but it actually goes remarkably quickly, and I want to be in a position to really feel meaningful change as I step from the, you know, the year that I learned to and build window into that next 20 year season. So inaction is just not an option. If I say no to something, whether it’s a couple hours in or three months in, like I’m like, this just isn’t working out. I’m not going to continue doing it. It’s a, quote, failed experiment, then that’s fine, But I don’t then just do nothing or wallow.

Jonathan Fields: [00:32:19] I immediately look forward to like, what is the next cool, fun, interesting thing that I’m going to start to explore. That brings us to my fourth guideline. Resist the urge to commit early. So living in the question, as you’re especially in the learn do phase of this, it can get uncomfortable. We are all pretty terrible at it. Even me as a maker who’s actually trained for decades to be in that space. Even with practices and skills, it can be a bit to a lot angsty. There’s this tendency to want to just lock something in and then get behind it and build that. Unfortunately, we often do this way too early, closing the door before we really know what we’re saying yes to, and never even allowing in all the other potential fun experiments that might have revealed something more powerfully aligned. Now, that doesn’t mean you never commit to anything, by the way, driven by incessant FOMO for years. It just means you hold the door open longer than maybe you wanted to. You keep learning and running experiments until you’ve learned enough, done enough to feel in your bones that you’re ready to get behind something or some blend of things. Even not just because you’re done dealing with the uncertainty, but because those things truly speak to you and you’re excited to embrace them and resource them and build behind them in a more focused and intentional way.

Jonathan Fields: [00:33:48] So those are my four basic guidelines that I’ve really been leaning on to guide my two by 20 now. I thought it might be helpful also to maybe share some of the experiments that I have run over the first nine months of my two by 20 project. Some have gone great, others not so much. But it’s all good because as long as I’m continuing to take action to learn, do or build, I am growing, I’m gathering insight and keeping the momentum alive. And since I mentioned, I realized early on that I can’t just focus on my contribution bucket because the good life buckets are so interconnected. Maybe I’ll share some of the experiments that I’ve run for each of the vitality, connection and contribution buckets. So let’s start with a few of my two by 20 experiments for my vitality bucket. Now I am incredibly fortunate. Four years ago now we moved after spending an entire lifetime basically in New York City. We moved out to Boulder, Colorado, and I have just stunning access to nature here, which has always been so deeply a part of me. But I think I didn’t realize how much until we got here and where I live. Even in Boulder, we’re surrounded. We’re literally butted right up against the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Here. Boulder is a town. I describe it often as if you if you held your palm out. Right. So it’s sort of like faced up, and then you just tipped your fingers up towards the air that your fingers would be the Front Range, the what we call the flatirons in the mountains here.

Jonathan Fields: [00:35:25] And then your palm would be boulder. It’s just literally it’s sitting nestled in the palm of the mountains. It’s almost being like held by them. And what I learned is that I love not only being in nature, but also hiking. And I’ve always done some hiking here and there, but it’s never been sort of like a central part of my life. And now it is and part of my two by 20, especially with the age that I am, there is a very natural process of actually shedding, shedding, muscle, shedding strength, shedding ability, shedding flexibility. And if you don’t do something very proactive to counter that, then you’ll find yourself like five, ten, 15, 20 years down the road, deepening into a state of inability and disability that to the extent that that is within my control, I didn’t want to happen. So part of my vitality experiments was saying, let me make actually a deeper commitment to not just hiking, but also resistance training, starting to actually lift weights, which I haven’t done in literally years. Um, you know, beyond dabbling, I really made a commitment to my physical well-being on a level that is affecting my mental well-being as well. So the experiments that I’ve run, I’ve tried hiking at all different times of day.

Jonathan Fields: [00:36:43] It gets really hot here in the summer and we’re at altitude. So, you know, at a mile high, the sun is incredibly intense in the mountains here. So if you go out in the afternoon, even though it’s very dry, which is a blessing in the sun, it gets so hot. So I a couple of months back started to try a new experiment. I said, I love hiking, what if I commit to doing this 4 to 5 days a week? What if I got up first thing in the morning and in addition to my early morning meditation and breathing practice. What if I actually got myself out the door at 7 a.m. to beat the heat so that I could hike? And I thought I could never do that because I’m not a morning person, even after I meditate and breathe and kind of like in the grounded space, I’m just not the person who wakes up bright eyed and bushy tailed and runs out the door and bounces around. But I started doing it, and what I found was that actually the first 5 or 10 minutes on some days is a little bit evil. My body just doesn’t want to be there, but my body warms, my body opens, and then it starts to feel good. And I look forward to it. And I start to see that as a pattern and realized that I could always just kind of like, work through that.

Jonathan Fields: [00:37:47] And I’m always so happy when I hit like the halfway mark on a trail and I’m out in nature. And then I get home and, you know, 830 in the morning, and I’ve already hiked close to four miles and been in nature, and my mind is alive, my body is alive, and I know I’m doing something that is going to help set up my vitality bucket to stay as full as I can be, Hopefully for as long as I can do it to really set up that next season for me. So those are some of the Vitality Bucket experiments that I have been running also. I did try hiking at first because I said I’d really rather do this at like three in the afternoon. That was a failed experiment for me. It just never happened. I was so wrapped up in work or in other projects and doing other things, or, you know, it would rain or it would get so hot. It just didn’t make sense. So I realized I really had to change around what I was doing if I wanted to make this a consistent part of my life. What about, let’s see a few connection bucket experiments. We’ve done some some kind of fun things here. So connection bucket again is about the depth and quality of your relationships that can be with a partner, with family, with chosen family, with community, with a sense of belonging.

Jonathan Fields: [00:39:02] It can also be with nature, with a sense of source or the universe or God. If there’s something that you feel like you participate in that’s bigger than you, it’s completely independent to you. And we started kind of like granular in this one. And I work with my wife. I spend most days with her. We love each other. We’ve been together for over three decades now. But we kind of wanted to say, okay, so for this next sort of like season, what were some of the things that we could some experiments that we could run, that we could learn or do that might continue to set up the next 20 years of our lives to really deepen our sense of connection here. So we started doing this fun thing, those three good life buckets that I mentioned earlier. We actually started to tap them to create a Sunday morning relationship check in, which we found just like super valuable to us. Now we both know about this model. We created it many years ago and shared it with the world. We live by it often, but we realize it’s a really powerful way to check in on a relationship basis. So what we’ll do is every Sunday morning, you know, we’ll wake up, I’ll go for my hike generally, um, come back, um, make some coffee. We’ll go sit on the front porch and we’ll basically share how we feel about the three buckets. We’ll share.

Jonathan Fields: [00:40:21] Hey, how’s your vitality bucket doing? How how was it for the last week or so? You know, like, what was good? What was what didn’t work so well? How about connection? How connected are you feeling? How connected are we feeling to each other? Have we been checked out? Have we been checked in? Have we been distracted? Have we been attentive? What about our daughter? What about our friends and our community? What about our team? All these different things and contribution to. It’s like we’ve been spending a meaningful amount of energy doing the things that really make us come alive. Um, or have we been distracted and kind of checking boxes. And it’s a really powerful way to check in with each other and to also create a mechanism to not go off the rails too far before you can actually say, oh, like, that’s why, like, you know, like I was I noticed you were feeling kind of checked out on Wednesday and, like, not really like, you know, attentive to my needs or. And this actually explains what was happening. Let’s talk about how we can how we can actually communicate better or build some structure around this so that we can take care of this. So we found that, that that Sunday morning good life bucket check in is an experiment that’s worked really well for us. And it’s something that we’ve kept going and I love doing. So for me it’s something that has become pretty sacred.

Jonathan Fields: [00:41:36] Also. Um, another thing that I’ve been experimenting and experiment that I’ve been running is trying to have two quote friend dates every week that can be virtual. Um, or it can be in person. Um, the running joke in Boulder is that nobody has coffee. Everyone just goes for hikes. And it’s kind of true. So if you just want to go for coffee, it’s probably a little bit annoying. If you love hiking, then it’s pretty awesome. So what I have been trying to do is actually put into my calendar. Okay. I want to make sure that I actually have two quote friend dates booked every week, and sometimes I have more. It depends on how heavy the week is when I’m traveling and stuff or not, but I want to make sure that I always have a minimum of two. And that’s been sort of a a pretty successful experiment that I have been running to help fill the connection bucket. There are weeks where I realized that I just can’t make it happen and where it’s in my calendar, but there’s so much else going on. Maybe we’re under deadlines for launching things and on the work side of things, and I actually feel more pressure by, quote, having to honor my friend date than I do, um, a sense of connection. And I find when I actually do it then that even when I’m with a person, I feel I’m actually not really there and it’s not fair to them.

Jonathan Fields: [00:42:53] It’s not fair to me. Um, so I’ve learned to hold that a little bit more lightly, but I do still try and sort of book two friend dates a week, hopefully more, and I also try and do them at times and days where they have the least likelihood of feeling like I’m intruding on other responsibilities that I have so that I can really be present with them. So it’s been interesting to run those experiments as well. And that brings us home with some of my big two by 20 experiments that focus more on work or filling my contribution bucket. And we’ll be right back after a word from our sponsors. You know, I’ve been really curious about a lot of things. This is this is honestly, this has been the bigger focus for me from my two by 20. Like, I think vitality and connection are part of it, but most of my focus has been going into the contribution side, the the work side and how I can make some changes. And one of the things that I had wondered about in the next season of contribution was whether some kind of more individual advising or mentoring might be a part of it. Now, I’ve done a ton of strategic advising and consulting, especially with businesses and entrepreneurs and leaders everywhere, from startup founders or aspiring founders to literally like the CEOs of massive global firms over the years.

Jonathan Fields: [00:44:16] But I was curious about deeper, more personal engagements or small group experiences, which we’ve done some of, especially with those further into life who are exploring questions of meaning and expression in a considered way. And while I have been incredibly blessed to interview many of the leading researchers and voices in this space and done deep dives in research and reviewed a mountain of academic peer reviewed journals, built entire companies and tools and bodies of work and frameworks and written books, and spoken and designed and facilitated everything from two hour workshops to year long immersions. I was still just curious about whether other modalities or education Patient experiences might help guide this work, or help me decide how much or little they might be a part of my next season and what the focus and clientele might be. And by the way, when I say educational experiences, I mean me being a student again. Me being a sort of, quote, official and registered and enrolled student. So I decided to actually, you know, I said, you know, there are a number of different ways that I can explore this, but I decided to explore a particular training in a unique change modality that I had been curious about for over a decade, probably closer to 15 years, actually, something that I know a number of colleagues and friends have done over the years. I said no, by the way, a couple of years earlier to getting a master’s degree, because I realized it wasn’t going to give me what I wanted.

Jonathan Fields: [00:45:48] But there’s this one modality, a training that was sort of like the foundational training that I thought might be really interesting and might not only help me answer the question about how might I step into the next season of service or advising or mentoring if that was in fact going to be a part of it, but also give me a certain new set of tools for that toolbox, and it might help me answer both of these questions simultaneously. Is this going to be a part of the mix moving forward, and if so, will it provide me some really interesting tools and strategies and techniques that I don’t already have? So I signed up, I attended, it was this intensive three month training modality was really. It offered some really powerful tools and techniques to effect rapid and sustained change in others. And the hypothesis would I find it interesting and valuable? Would this modality resonate with who I am and how I like to serve? Could some more focused form of personal advising or mentoring be a part of the next season? For me, these are the questions, right? These were sort of like the hypotheses I was testing. And what I learned through that experience is that I did find it interesting and valuable. You know, it was a it was a meaningful investment for me of time and energy and money.

Jonathan Fields: [00:46:59] But the modality itself and the nature of the instructional design, the learning experience did not resonate with who I am and how I like to serve. So instead of continuing on and potentially building on that with a couple more years of education, I decided, you know, it was an interesting experiment. I learned some valuable things, both about the modality and about myself. It was a three month experiment as part of my two by 20, but I felt complete with that. I didn’t feel compelled to continue on that path because it didn’t feel aligned with who I am, and it didn’t feel like. Even more importantly, it was answering the questions that I had come to it with. So I started asking could some more focused form of personal advising or mentoring be a part of my next season? Yes. The question is it’s still really interesting to me, but likely not built around those tools and techniques and modalities that I was learning, which is now leading me to explore what the next experiment along these lines might be. If not this modality, but am still interested in stepping into an advisory role or service offering in a meaningful way. What else might be more interesting for me to learn, and what is the educational experience that works best for me? I’m also remarkably hard because I’m an autodidact. I kind of devour information on my own and learn and integrate at my own pace.

Jonathan Fields: [00:48:24] So oftentimes group learning experiences, they actually don’t work all that well for me. I find myself having to sort of like create my own learning experiences. Maybe you’re the same. I don’t know. Other people I know absolutely love sort of like guided, well structured, paced programs. And I have developed those guided paced, highly designed and delivered experiences for others over the years. So I also know what it takes to do them well. And often in those containers on the on the student side, I can’t pull my my head out of just sort of like constantly analyzing the bigger educational container and why decisions are being made. So it’s been an interesting experiment for me to look at that as well. You know, the learning format is just really important to me. So I’m already looking at, okay, so what new experiments, whether it’s different trainings. And there’s one that’s actually really interesting to me right now that I may explore. It would be a six month commitment, a six month experiment within my two by 20. So I have to make a decision about that actually in the next couple of weeks. But I’m curious about it. And I’m also just deeply curious about serving Gen X, which is me. I’m Gen X, I’m sort of like just the edge of Gen X. We have always been known and as the the most disaffected generation, the most ignored generation, the most undervalued generation, the most under-resourced generation, the generation that products and companies and brands and enterprises generally don’t focus on or serve or build solutions around.

Jonathan Fields: [00:49:51] And yet we are also the generation that is increasingly in the age range where we were. There’s more suffering and more pain and simultaneously meaningful resources to try and resolve that. So. And because this is me and I have lived this experience as somebody who’s in this generation, I’m deeply fascinated with sort of like the state of the Gen-X existence and how people in industry are and are not serving it, and whether there’s some bigger role I might play in really making a meaningful difference in the way that people experience their lives. So more to come on that potentially one of the other experiments that I ran here is also I have deeply missed public writing. I do generally write and publish a book with a publisher every couple of years, but many years ago I was a blogger. That’s how I started into the public space in 2008, 2009, 2010. And I haven’t written regularly and publicly like that, sort of like longer form essays and thought pieces for so many years. And I realized I was really missing it, So I want to run another experiment and see what would it feel like to actually be writing publicly like that again? So I navigated my way over because so many friends were bringing me over there and talking to me about this platform, Substack, and, and started a new sort of public writing project there called awake at the wheel, which borrows the name of my original blog from 2008 2009.

Jonathan Fields: [00:51:13] I sort of brought it forward, and I’ve been writing there for close to four months now, just once a week, sort of longer form thought pieces that are not generally not prescriptive. I’m not telling anybody what to do. It’s just like, here’s something that’s been on my mind that I think really is a lot of us are grappling with. Here’s some thoughts on it and some stories. Let me know what you think. If you’re curious about that, by the way, we’ll drop a link in the show notes so you can go and join in and read and share your thoughts and comments along the way. But I just found that I really enjoyed it. It’s, um, it’s brought me back to my love of writing and my love of just thinking and sort of public discourse around that. So excited to keep building on that and seeing where it goes and what role it eventually plays. In my longer term, you know, my two by 20 and all this learning and doing and building all at once, it’s hard to do the learn do part without actually building at the same time is what I’ve learned to the hypothesis. What would it feel like to be writing again long form publicly on a weekly basis, writing more personal and something closer to my real voice, which was also important to me.

Jonathan Fields: [00:52:17] With this, with awake at the Wheel and what I’m learning is I really enjoyed it. I stumbled in the beginning. I actually overpromised and tried to immediately turn it into something more substantial with I’m going to give you this and this and this and this and build and grow. And it killed the simplicity part of it for me, almost made me drop it. But instead I was like, no, no, no, I’m just trying to lock this down and turn it into something before it’s ready if it’s ever ready. And instead I just made it what it needed to be for me. So it’s a joyful and Won’t sustainable public writing project that just feels so much better. So those are some of the experiments that I’ve been running as part of my two by 20 and getting some answers and doing some reeducation and training as part of this so I can invest in myself and learn and grow future experiments, especially contribution experiments. I will actually be teaching a university course on the art and business of podcasting, which I’m super excited about. Next year, um, I am going to be returning and running experiments. I was an artist as a kid. I was a painter and I love it. I love vanishing into the process of creating in that way with physical materials.

Jonathan Fields: [00:53:28] And there are a bunch of ideas that have been spinning my head for years now that I just haven’t sat down to do. So I’m going to run some of those more genuinely physical making and art making experiments, and probably share some of that along the way. Next year. As I head into the latter part, I have been. I pulled back on my speaking a lot in the last couple of years, but I missed that too. And I have new things that I want to talk about, and I think different insights as I step into a very different season of my life and look back and reflect on what I’ve done, what’s worked and what’s bombed, and the things that I’ve learned along the way. And there are different things that I want to talk about, different stories. I want to share different ideas. So next year I’ll probably run some experiments, stepping back into speaking in a more meaningful way, which was a big part of my sort of contribution to ecosystem for many years. And back in book mode, you know, I’m looking forward to pouring myself into my next book and then exploring what is the mode of publishing that I’m going to step into for that next season of life as well? And as I sort of teased earlier, there’s going to be some fun, different things, experiments that we’re going to be running here on Good Life Project.

Jonathan Fields: [00:54:36] to try and see how can we serve you differently, better, and also allow Good Life Project. to be something that continues to be joyful and sustainable in this next season for me and for our team as well. And that feels like a good place for us to bring this all home. So I hope that in sharing this two by 20 project, which began as something I never intended for anyone but me, maybe it opens up some ideas for you, or it helps you think about the moment of work and the life that you’re in, and maybe the season that lies ahead, and how you might consider crafting it in a more intentional and joyful way. While it’s not my intention to live my two by 20 in a fully public way, I want to ensure that my own journey and values stay centered and do not want anything to tug this deeply personal project into anything that kind of becomes like a performative space. After so many friends nudged me to share it, because maybe others would find value in the framework. Here’s what I have decided to do. I thought it might be fun and hopefully helpful and valuable to share more about some of these experiments that I’m running, the doing and learning part, and eventually the building part on a more regular basis with you. And then as I head into the second year, my focus really does shift more into creation and building.

Jonathan Fields: [00:55:52] I’ll share more of what it’s becoming and how and why. And the plan is to do this in the form of kind of a a monthly ish, two by 20 quote status report through November 2025, which is when my personal two by 20 rolls from the two year learn to build window into the 20 year season it’s setting up. So if you are interested in kind of traveling along with me on this adventure, accessing and diving into and learning from me and checking out those monthly ish status reports and maybe even exploring your own two by 20, you’ll be able to read these status updates. I will publish them for you publicly so you can learn more and share more about your own journey just by signing up. Just head on over to my awake at the wheel newsletter. It’s a completely free newsletter, by the way, and you can find a link to that below in the show notes. Just click on the link whatever app you’re using. And if you’re not in a space where this whole concept behind the two by 20 feels quite right, that’s fine too. You can always circle back to it if and when the moment arises, when you feel more ready or not. At the end of the day, you do. You. I hope this has been valuable and interesting in some way. It feels good actually sharing it with you, and I’m excited to to share those status updates along the way, and maybe have you join in and do some version or variation of your own two by 20, and you can share what’s going on as you explore your experiments and projects too.

Jonathan Fields: [00:57:20] That’s it for now. I’ll see you all next time. This episode of Good Life Project. was produced by executive producers Lindsey Fox and me, Jonathan Fields. Editing help by Alejandro Ramirez. Kristoffer Carter crafted our theme music and special thanks to Shelley Adelle for her research on this episode. And of course, if you haven’t already done so, please go ahead and follow Good Life Project. in your favorite listening app. And if you found this conversation interesting or inspiring or valuable, and chances are you did. Since you’re still listening here, would you do me a personal favor? A seven-second favor and share it? Maybe on social or by text or by email? Even just with one person? Just copy the link from the app you’re using and tell those you know, those you love, those you want to help navigate this thing called life a little better so we can all do it better together with more ease and more joy. Tell them to listen, then even invite them to talk about what you’ve both discovered. Because when podcasts become conversations and conversations become action, that’s how we all come alive together. Until next time, I’m Jonathan Fields signing off for Good Life Project.