ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It takes a village to raise children and, it turns out, to write books. I’m grateful and humbled at how big the village behind and within this book is. This is our book as much as it is my book.

Thank you to my amazing agent, David Fugate, for believing in me and this book, editing the proposal so that it sang, and navigating a brilliant pathway to get this book placed with the right publisher. Thank you to the entire Sounds True team, but especially Haven Iverson, for being the perfect editorial partner for the book, and Kira Roark, for joining conversations about the book a year early so we could bake marketing ideas into the book itself. And thanks to Todd Sattersten, whose editorial and strategic partnership has been invaluable at every step along the way. Without David, Haven, Kira, and Todd, this book would not exist.

Thank you to Jonathan Fields, Susan Piver, Pamela Slim, Cory Huff, Karen Wright, Noah Brochman, and Jeffrey Davis for being my chosen siblings and mastermind buddies whose feedback, patient ears, encouragement, counsel, and belief helped me overcome the drag points and celebrate the wins along the way. Thanks for being with me when it was my turn to ride the book publishing bull; let’s keep this rodeo going, y’all.

Thank you to my amazing Productive Flourishing team, past and present: Shannon McDonough, Josephine Fannin, Jess Sommers, Catherine Oliver, Ashley Zuberi, Dusti Arab, Emma Hand, Marissa Bracke, Sarah Marie Lacy, Lisa Wood, and Michelle Mangen. This book is the byproduct of years of work that each of you have contributed to or supported in your own unique ways.

Thank you Seth Godin, Pamela Slim, Jonathan Fields, Mike Vardy, James Clear, Srinivas Rao, Chelsea Dinsmore, Susan Piver, Marc and Angel Chernoff, Jeffrey Davis, Todd Kashdan, Jacquette Timmons, Joshua Becker, Jeff Goins, and Ishita Gupta for adding your voices to this book. Your work nourishes so many people — myself included — and I’m excited to be able to shine more light on your work.

Thank you to Vanessa Van Edwards, Emiliya Zhivotovskaya, Cynthia Morris, Jonathan Mead, David Moldawer, Tara Gentile, Joel Zavlosky, Mike Ambassador Bruny, Jamie Teasdale, Terry St. Marie, Clay Hebert, Tim Grahl, Larry Robertson, Jen Hoffman, Lisa Buyer, Leo Babauta, Josh Kaufman, Niki Papadopoulos, Chris Brogan, Willie Jackson, Naomi Dunford, Jennifer Louden, JD Roth, Johnny B. Truant, Jenny Blake, Mark Silver, Yvonne Ator, Michael Bungay Stanier, Ali Luke, Luna Jaffe, and Jenn Labin for the support, inspiration, feedback, and ideas throughout the years. Each of you has touched me and this book in ways that you may not realize.

Thank you to the Productive Flourishing community members, who have been reading, showing up to calls, sharing your stories, giving feedback, and sharing my work with your communities. Your encouragement, questions, nudges, stories, and patronage fuel me and my work; it’s been over a decade and we’re still just getting warmed up. Keep standing tall and doing your best work.

Thank you to my family — the Gilkeys, Wheelers, Ruths, Brownmillers, and Swearingens — who have always encouraged me to dream bigger and supported me, even though my journey has taken me far from home. I am who I am because you are who you are.

My wife, Angela Wheeler, is the hardest person to adequately acknowledge but the one who deserves the most thanks. You have been a driving and catalytic force in everything I’ve done for the last two decades, and this book is no exception. Thank you for the meals, cat duty, last-minute proofreads, strategic soundboarding, space, financial gymnastics, coaching, and emotional support that it’s taken to push this book to done. ILYB&WB.