Hey, friend!

Welp. You didn't hear from me in July, and you know what that usually means: some shit somewhere hit some fan somewhere else, and I was closer to both than I would've liked.

Here's the good part: August is looking up. Tighten's off summer hours (when we took Fridays off) which means everyone's back to 20% time, so we have a ton of exciting new and old projects, blog posts, and other creations going, and it's all very exciting for me.

My responsibilities at the company are always shifting as we grow, but we've decided to hit pause and get really good at the size we're at right now, so I had settled for a bit. But Dan (my partner at Tighten) and I have been talking and I'm switching up my responsibilities a little, including taking on some things I've been intentionally avoiding for the last decade.

I just did a great Things Worth Learning podcast with my friend Jess Archer. It'll be out in a few weeks, so I can't link it yet, but in the episode she talked about the value of going outside of your comfort zone.

It was perfect timing. If you haven't listened to the podcast at all yet, I'd definitely recommend it (I'm very proud of this podcast)--but one fun piece is that I frequently thank the guests for effectively offering me free therapy on the air. This was no different.

Stepping outside my comfort zone is exactly what I'm doing right now, and it's exactly what I needed. I'm 37. I have kids, a girlfriend, a successful business, great friends, a wonderful family... I'm not in the place where people tend to make a lot of huge changes, other than midlife crises. I've found the things that work for me and that are easy for me, and slotted into them.

So it feels abnormal to be choosing so much change right now. Isn't this the time where I finally started getting comfortable?

But it also feels good. Because there's a part of me--the part that always wants to try something new, to push a little harder; that entrepreneurial spirit--that has been bored.

So. I'm uncomfortable. I'm outside my comfort zone. But I'm very, very hopeful that I'll look back on it in a few months and have trouble imagining any other course of action.

What Else?

Tighten Blog

Catching Up Laravel

Matt Stauffer YouTube

Links

Things Worth Learning

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That's it for now!

Until next time...

Your friend,
Matt Stauffer