Sticky Notes - Chicken.

The moment you stop dreaming, you're finished. The trouble is that it can take some time to recognize that your dreams have slowed to a halt.

For me, it generally happens after blunt trauma. Not to the head –– at least not in the physical sense –– but to the vocation.

I stopped dreaming after a client that made up 90% of my income decided to "go in a different direction".

I stopped dreaming after discovering my "best friend" had stolen thousands and thousands of dollars from me.

I stopped dreaming after Guillotine, my third book of poetry and prose, fell flat on its fucking face, just like my two books before it. 

And, in each one of these proverbial endings, it took a couple of months for me to wake up and realize my dreams had died.

I imagine this reads a bit abstract.

So, let's get clear.

I'm not referring to the dreams I have at night when my head hits the pillow and I'm swept off into a sea of blackness.

I'm writing about the dreams I have during the day, when I'm fully conscious –– or at least mostly conscious –– I enter into a state of flow; be it in work, exercise or the completion of life's chores. 

I'll be staring at a blinking cursor with nothing to say or in the midst of a late-night run through my neighborhood or knocking away at grass that has grown too tall in my yard, when I'm suddenly struck with this realization that in my head, I'm not reading spoken word on stage to a tight room of people underneath a flickering lightbulb nor knitting together my next piece of poetry and prose but instead, I'm thinking about my demons, my shortcomings, my failures and my disappointments; in a way, I find that I'm romanticizing them. 

Some of the greatest to ever do it in their chosen vocations have made mention that it wasn't surprising to them when they accomplished their dreams.

No. It wasn't surprising because they admitted that they had been dreaming –– and in many ways existing in their dreams –– for the entirety of their lives.  

As you navigate your life and your vocation and with it, the blunt trauma, please never allow yourself to stop dreaming for too long. 

I believe that when Steve Jobs was working out of his garage, in his dreams Apple was already a global juggernaut. I believe that when Lebron James was shooting free throws in his neighborhood park, in his dreams he had already won 4 rings. I believe that when J. K. Rowling was making ends meet as a bilingual secretary, in her dreams she had already written Harry Potter. 

So, no matter where you are right now in this moment, no matter how dark your life may seem, find solace in your dreams.

Find solace in your dreams because your dreams will become your reality. 

Cheers, 

Cole

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In addition to Sticky Notes, I run another newsletter called Chasing Hemingway. It goes out to a small, intimate number of folks wanting to read my unfiltered thoughts on life, love, money, drugs and of course, writing.

The topics I choose are wide-ranging.

I've written about man-eating crocodiles' fateful role in World War II, what it's like to be a wallflower at the Met Gala, battling depression and feeling like a failure as a writer and life-changing dialogues between my significant other and me over pizza. 

The best part about Chasing Hemingway, is I never know what I'm going to write about next and with this, it creates an experience that kind of feels like going through a maze, blindfolded. 

As Chasing Hemingway's popularity has grown, I've increased the price to $25 but for the next 24 hours, you can grab a subscription for $10/ month.

Click the black button down below and use discount code "croc" at checkout to enjoy your $15 off. 

The other day, this teary-eyed CEO wrote a post on LinkedIn that not only went viral but was picked up by nearly every online business publication in the country.

The bastard got what he wanted: publicity.

But, at what cost? 

Outraged, I did the only thing I know how to do... I picked up my pen and I started writing. What came out was a 3-minute long rant aimed at the executive team over at LinkedIn.

I tagged LinkedIn's CMO, CEO and COO and while my post certainly didn't go viral, it got a few people's attention. 

You can read it on the other side of the black button down below. 

As a kid, I’d play a game called “Chicken”.

I’d line up in the front yard, across from some equally brave (and stupid) neighborhood kid and we’d run as fast as we could towards one another, gung ho on toppling the other over.

One of two things would happen…

Someone would bail last second, eating dirt as the victor trotted through, unscathed, kicking up dust. Or, both parties would run head-long into the other bloodying noses, knotting up heads and knocking loose a few teeth.

The problem with “Chicken” is eventually everybody loses, no matter how big or brave or fast you are. If you get frightened and bail, you look like a “chicken” for choosing your teeth, nose and face over your pride. 

And, if you’re courageous and the other person is equally courageous, you both end up with a cracked skull.

Going head-to-head with hecklers online is kind of like...