Clarity Compressed with Paul J. Daly

"I don't know how to do that" used to be a pretty reasonable thing to say. Twenty years ago I bought a book called Small Business for Dummies because that was genuinely one of the only options. I read it cover to cover and figured out what I could.

That phrase doesn't have the same shelf life anymore.

I was just in Lexington with my good friend Glenn Lundy, watching high school students go through an entrepreneurs...

I came across a LinkedIn post this week that stopped my scroll. Three clips of Steve Jobs talking about what it actually takes to start a company, from three different eras of his life. You could hear the difference in his voice across all of them.

What got me was how simple his answer was. Half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the ones who quit is just perseverance. That's it.

And he's right. Because startin...

Three and a half hours of sleep, a cancelled flight near midnight, pouring rain the whole way home, and a 16-year-old in the passenger seat.

But somewhere in that trip I got the clearest reminder of what it actually means to think like an entrepreneur.

It's not about having all the answers. It's about NOT being willing to wait for someone else to decide for you.

We got on a train I wasn't sure was going to the right pla...

I almost didn't record this one. After six months of not being sick, I think I'm there. 

My voice is lower than usual and I've got that heavy-head thing going on. But it's week two of being back, and skipping week two wasn't something I was willing to do.

So I hit record.

Today I'm sharing the quotes and frameworks I actually lean on when I don't feel like doing anything. At risk of sounding like an ...

How many years does it take to record one podcast?

Apparently three.

Episode 264 is here, and I'll be honest, I wasn't sure this day was going to come. I've been talking about getting back behind the mic for the better part of a year. My team can confirm that. But today I just hit record, and here we are.

I started Clarity Compressed in February 2018 as a content series built around a book that genuinely changed how I t...

Clarity Fam,

I just crossed the line on my 20th year of being an entrepreneur. It is so strange to think about how different my life was back in early 2003. I was in my first year of marriage, we were renting a small place, and I had this crazy idea that I could start and run my own company with nothing more that a "Small Business for Dummies" book and a Quickbooks CD Rom. There was no YouTube or touch screen phones, ...

Clarity Fam,

I was on a plane ride a few weeks ago that I will never forget. The leg room was tight, I had to pay for my beverage, the seat was a little more uncomfortable...and I LOVED IT.

All of this was because of one woman's extra bit of empathy and attention. It reminded me how one person can make all the difference.

I tell the story this week.

Pursue Clarity,

Paul

Connect with me at www.pauljdaly.com

Clarity Fam,

As we roll into March, I start getting very excited about the changing of the seasons. Sure, in Upstate NY we likely have at least another 4-6 weeks where it could snow, however, I know that we are close to the nicer weather!

All of this has me in the 'spring cleaning' mentality when it comes to making changes for the better and it has me thinking about how much progress is good enough.

Often it is eas...

Clarity Fam,

Aside from my Eagles losing a heartbreaker last week, it's been a really great week. Mainly due to the fact that I was disconnected.

I took my family on our first intentionally disconnected vacation in quite a while. I spent 6 days unplugging from my hectic regular life and making new connections with my family.

I talk about it and share some of the things I learned in this week's episode.

Dis...

Clarity Fam,

I do some of my best thinking on planes. Although I’m not built for commercial flight, (long legs, a head that wants to constantly fall forward when I fall asleep, and shoulders that constantly get bumped by the aisle walkers), it is a place where I tend to reconnect with myself.

This is probably the result of being strapped down for several hours, unable to bounce around talking to people and looking for the n...

Clarity Fam,

I just spent 5 days at the largest gathering of Auto Dealers form across the country and in the world. I sat down with some executives for podcasts with my media company ASOTU. One conversation in particular was with an SVP with a publicly traded company. One statement he said still has me thinking 2 days later. 

I’ll share it with you in this episode. 

Pursue Clarity,

Paul

Connect with me at www.pauljda...

Clarity Fam,

I'm about to embark on a 5 day journey with my company ASOTU to cover the largest show for Retail Auto Dealers, the NADA Show. 30k people will converge on Dallas to show and tell everything that is on the cusp of the future of automotive. But guess what...

There are millions of folks who are in the industry and won't get to go and I think it's the leader's job to bring as much back as possib...

Carity Fam,

As I’m rolling into the second half of the month it’s busier than ever, but I’m more focused than ever on doing meaningful things. And I better be!

Between my work with Congruent, ASOTU, and beyond there are more and more things that demand my time, contribute to my emotional state, and require me to focus.

Today I give some thoughts on why it can be good to remind yourself and your team about...

Clarity Fam,

I hope your first few steps into the new year were great ones! Today I’m going to read and react to a post made by the insidehistory Instagram account that dropped a perspective bomb right on my head.

In short, it tracked someone born in 1900 through all the wars, pandemics, conflicts, and crisis they would have experienced. It blew my mind.

Most pertinently, it reminded me that evaluating my current situation in a m...

Clarity Fam,

It's great to see you in 2023! There is so much great energy around the new year. A fresh start. A chance to cut ties with the challenges and mistakes and get moving on those things you really wanted to do, uninhibited by the baggage.

I've surely had mixed success with new year's resolutions so I've stopped making them, but I haven't stopped using the turn of the new year as a chance to...

Clarity Fam, 

I’m sitting in Nashville Tennessee preparing for a lifestream. We’ve been working on for months. My voice is just about gone, but I wanted to take a few minutes to share my thinks and my thoughts coming out of 2022 and heading into 2023 for so many of us in this community that is in pursuit of, we’ll you know, clarity. 

Clarity Fam,

Yes. It is more than ok to bring your kids to work with you. ESPECIALLY if you are traveling. This past week I had the privilege to speak to about 150 people in Princeton, NJ about the importance of their role serving people throughout the service lanes and I was able to bring my 11 year old daughter Elyse with me for the day.

Clarity fam,

In 1997, the year I graduated high school, a book called "Don't sweat the small stuff" was released. And while I know the premise to not get bogged down in life with all the demanding details, I happen to think that giving more intentionality to the small stuff will yield you the best results long term.

Clarity Fam,

Today I take a moment to take a moment with my 16 year old son, Myles. Having teenaged kids is fun. It helps keep me in the loop with how the minds of the next generation are shaping up. It is also rewarding to be able to have a conversation with an almost young-adult that I had a hand in raising. (Credit my wife for most of his good tra...