Welcome to 320 of yall.
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Hey from Dallas, TX.
This past week will go down as one of the most memorable weeks of my life. I’m sure many of you saw that Performative Speaking was acquired by On Deck.
There will be much more on that later in this post and in the upcoming weeks.
I’m writing an article every day for the month of January. You can find them on my blog on my website. I will highlight some of them here.
I’ve lived in Dallas now for 10 years.
That absolutely blows my mind. And to be honest, I’m pretty pissed at myself for it.
Nothing against the city because it’s fine. It has a decent climate, it’s close to my family, and the cost of living is reasonable. But I never loved the city. I never identified as someone from Dallas.
Dallas is just a temporary stop.
Except I let it become temporary for 10 years. And that’s the trap of the legal profession.
Where you go to law school tends to be where you start working. Where you start working tends to be where you build your network. Where you have your network tends to be where your work comes from. Where your work comes from tends to be where you live.
So law school equals where you live.
In the words of Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars, “It’s a trap”.
I fell for it.
I knew this and I still fell for it. I tried to fight it while not really fighting it. I moved to an area of the city that is at least a little bit walkable with some local restaurants and shops around me. It’s my favorite area in Dallas by far. But I’m always reminded when I travel that it shouldn’t just be this small part of town like this.
The city here is car-centric. Everything requires getting in the car and driving. It’s better here than where I grew up in Houston but it’s still 10-20 minutes in the car no matter where I want to go.
Each pocket of the city is distinct and lacks connectivity. Highways separate one area from another. Walkable? That’s laughable.
Want to go to the symphony? Get in the car and pay to park.
Want to go to a sporting event? Get in the car and pay to park.
Want to go out to eat? Get in the car and pay to park.
I’ve walked 15-20 miles a day in other cities. Lisbon, Paris, Tokyo, and Medellin all had more walkable cities. Art to view, architecture to marvel at, and people to interact with.
The past 12 months have been about creating an opportunity to get out of this trap.
I’ve spent it building a network online so that it’s nationwide and even better, worldwide. I created a startup that could be done from any location at any hour.
Now I’ve joined a company in On Deck that is remote and spread across the globe.
Dallas has been “home” for the past decade.
That won’t be the case for much longer.
Now for Three Things
This article tells the story of my 2020. It’s 3300 words but is also one of the best pieces I’ve ever written. If you want to read a story and see how I got here, this is where you will find it.
Believing is seeing.
I’m posting 1-2 videos each week on YouTube exploring the world of pop culture and how it relates to public speaking, communication, and storytelling.
Would love to see you subscribe to that channel.
If you haven’t ever seen the show Parts Unknown, I highly recommend you check it out. Bourdain is a master storyteller and blends food, culture, history, but most of all the human element into every episode.
I booked my trip to Tokyo immediately after watching his Tokyo episode. I love the egg salad sandwich from 7/11 in Japan because of Bourdain. And he has influenced how I travel and think about the world.
I have an art piece of Bourdain with this quote on it.
"Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride."
Thanks for joining this week and I hope you enjoyed the newsletter.
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See you all next week,
Robbie