Hello from the Sam and Claire (your Local Boys) with your weekly inside scoop on mindful careers and web3.

Things we're saying no to: Opportunities that aren't aligned, AI bandwagoners that aren't really AI, the second (or third) breakfast on a low morning.

Things we're saying yes to: Authentic conversations, observations without judgement, bluegrass festivals in the snow.

-S & M

Let's dive in:

• 🍭 What We're Excited About

• 🏖️ Answering to Alignment

• 💪 How to Level Up

WHAT WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT

1️⃣ TV Show: Daisy Jones & The Six, based on the novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, is giving us creative juice, 70s outfit inspo, and serious Fleetwood Mac vibes. It's also a reminder of how core creativity is to our existence and how nonlinear the creative process is.

2️⃣ Long Read: Ever wonder what the Greek gods were really up to? Madeline Miller's Circe is the fiction read you've missed. Think: exile, mythology, monsters, triumph.

3️⃣ Quick watch: How to get out of the box and generate ideas, TEDx Talk from Professor Giovanni Corazza.

4️⃣ Work Jam: Against All Logic.

ANSWERING TO ALIGNMENT

Do you ever feel like you’re drifting through life like a plastic bag in the wind? Most of us have felt this way at one point or another. The American Beauty quote above captures this perfectly. The mystery in the mundane. The reckoning of what we have control over and what we don't. The beauty in letting go—feeling what an authentic flow is really like.

It's when we soften that a power surges within.

​Yet every day, the world presses us to make decisions that aren’t our own.

We're told that we need a 9-to-5. We're told that if we don't receive a consistent paycheck we are unworthy. We are told to do, do, do, build, build, build. But what do we really want?

I've been fascinated by the idea of alignment since last summer when I reached my own breaking point. I found myself at the top of my career and industry... but was miserable, with no energy for my life outside of my work. Was this what I really wanted? What did I want to do with this one, fleeting existence?

So I left without a plan, without a job, and without a clear idea of what was to come. I plunged headfirst into the unknown with one rule: answer to alignment.

Since the leap, I have felt that wind underneath me, I've danced with an authentic flow of life and I've stumbled upon more beauty in my day-to-day than I could have ever imagined or planned for.

I get to write this newsletter with one of my best friends about what we care about while helping people create careers they love. I get to teach what I know. I get to coach others on their path. I wake up every day excited and lit TF up. 

When we say no to things that aren't aligned, we discover opportunities that are.

It can be frightening to let go and rely on feeling to direct us, but it's often how we know what is right for us and what is not. It's the way towards our power. It's the way of our purpose.

Thought prompts:

1. What feels aligned to you?

2. What can you say no to?

3. What invisible, creative force is within you? Can you hear it?

THIS WEEK I WILL

1️⃣ Listen to something groovy. Songs are vessels that help us go within.

2️⃣ Appreciate the little things. Hummingbirds remind us to receive the sweetness of life. Savor moments, big and small.

3️⃣ Say no. Whether it's a grocery item you don't want or a job you turn down, feel how empowering it is to decline opportunities that aren't aligned...and then watch what happens.

WHAT WE'RE PONDERING

That's a wrap. See ya next week!

🖤 Your Local Boys

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