Issue 43: I was just getting started ...

We’re living in a time warp …

It’s January?!? I didn’t get that memo either. What happened to Thanksgiving? Heck, what happened to Halloween? Did Independence Day 2024 happen? Well, ready or not, I’m back to start my journey to the end.

It took me about 160+ episodes to realize that I forgot an important step when I launched Moving Forward: I didn’t plan out a conclusion. To be fair, I didn’t so much forget as jump in with two parts gumption, one part sheer ignorance, and a touch of never-imagined-I-would-do-12-seasons. That is to say, an exit wasn’t top of mind when I started.

Today, I kick off the first of three parts of season 12; starting this week with a look back at the beginning. I guess you could call this Back to the Past with an Eye Towards the Future - I never said mock movie titles were my strong suit.

Anyway, Happy New Year (Shut up, Larry David), and without further ado let’s kick off the last season with a bang.

-John

Moving Forward 493: A look back the beginning with the end

Let the exit be your compass

For someone who prides himself on being early or on time at the latest, the podcast is one instance, in which I’ve grossly deviated from my penchant for promptness.

Let’s go back to late fall 2014. I was at my ex-girlfriend’s apartment gym trying to get a signal on the NPR app on my iPhone 4s (remember that boxy glass brick?). I must have spent 10 minutes before I gave up and moved onto my phone’s sea of icons; landing on the funny looking stick figure one. I had a vague notion of what podcasts were but had never listened to one. I futzed about until I found a couple shows covering business and entrepreneurship, and thus began a love affair that has continued to this day.

Over the next several weeks, I dove into these independently produced programs that I could listen to on-demand at the gym, on a walk, or in my car when it slowly dawned on me. I could do this. One of the benefits of having eternal career wanderlust is that you develop a never ending curiosity to try new things while meeting a lot of interesting people along the way.

I spent the next several months learning as much as I could about the how to’s of podcasting; everything from the tech to interview techniques to hosting platforms. I decided to make it a co-hosted show to lighten the workload with alternating weeks: me covering the business and entrepreneurial side and my co-host covering the personal and self-improvement side. Between juggling the learning curve, scheduling, getting those first guests and more, I was in over my head. So much so that I couldn’t see past the next two episodes much less what was ahead for the long haul.

In retrospect, the podcast would have been better served with an exit strategy, a hard look at where the show would conclude; be it within a number of years, seasons, or episodes. Had I done that first, Moving Forward would have been a more focused venture with a clearly defined niche.

Instead, I was simply going from episode to episode trying to stay afloat with no thought to a long term plan. Any potential for Moving Forward to break out as a truly niche show with high growth potential was lost in those early seasons. Between the lack of definition, and other hurdles that I’ll cover in future episodes, it never gelled the way it could or should have.

It wasn’t until episode 165 when I spoke with Tim Fulton, a business professor and serial entrepreneur that the lightbulb went off. At the time, I was slogging through the middle, keeping up with an influx guests and guest requests but with no clear vision of how long I would continue with the show. Following that conversation and leading up to episode 200, I settled on a clearly defined exit. That decision helped shape what Moving Forward would become over the next 300 episodes.

If I were to launch a podcast today, I wouldn’t start with equipment, software, guest lists or even practicing my on-air voice. I would start with an exit: a well defined end point. From there, I would reverse engineer the rest. That said, I have few regrets about my Moving Forward journey. While at times it has seemed all over the place, I have enjoyed having an immense audio playground to experiment with different types of episodes, including the holiday specials, the summer movie series, and more. But having an exit was important, and doubly so by the time I hit the late 100s. It’s the one decision that allowed me to steer this decade-traveled ship while keeping on track and on task as I head into the port of call at episode 500.

Catch this week’s episode on Spotify.

Moving Forward is also available on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeart, CastBox, Pocket Casts, Spotify for Podcasters (formerly Anchor), and Audible.

^{*Affiliate disclosure: these are links through which I earn a commission from qualifying referrals and / or purchases.}

Moving Forward

What’s ahead this season.

1. Moving Forward season 12: Moving Forward’s final season will be split into three parts with the first seven episodes serving as a retrospective. Part III will wrap the show with episode 500, the series finale.

2. Moving Forward release schedule:

   • Season 12, Part 1 (episodes 493-496) will air Thursdays, starting Jan. 9th, and concluding on Thursday, Jan. 30th.

   • Season 12, Part 2 (episodes 497-499) will air Thursdays, starting Feb. 13th, and concluding on Thursday, Feb. 27th.

   • Season 12, Part 3 (episode 500) will air sometime in late March 2025.

3. The Weekly Quirk: The newsletter resumes today (Friday, Jan. 10th) with issue 43. The remaining issues will be released on Fridays, coinciding with the podcast schedule, and concluding with issue 50 on Friday, Feb. 28th sometime in late March.

_{[Note: Upon conclusion of the podcast and newsletter, all Moving Forward episodes and The Weekly Quirk issues will remain available to stream and read online so long as I’m able to keep them published cost-free via their respective host providers. However, while I would like to keep them preserved for posterity sake, I can’t guarantee they will be available forever. Additional note: the copyright to all content, including audio and literary rights, remains with me, my assigns, and my heirs, regardless of publication status.]}

Available now at my bookstore on Pangobooks

If words are a superpower then here’s the twin volume of your hero’s origin story.

Quirky reads 📚

Speaking of good books, here are some titles I’ve been reading lately.

[Affiliate disclosure: these are affiliate links to Amazon through which I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.]

• Christmas at Fireside Cabins by Jenny Hale (****)

• Extinction by Douglas Preston (not yet reviewed)

• Follow me on Goodreads for book recommendations and to see what else I’m reading.

Upcoming (January 16th, 2025)

Speaking of Poshmark, join me next Thursday (Jan. 16th) to learn Poshmark basics, hosted by The Acton Memorial Public Library.

Upcoming (January 28th, 2025)

My next writing class starts January 2025.

Upcoming (March 25, 2025)

My next decluttering class starts March 2025.

Resources

Teach a man to fish, you know the rest (if you don’t, check these out).

• Book a coaching call with me on Clarity.

• Follow me on Goodreads for book recommendations.

• Check out one of my favorite daily newsletters Morning Brew (affiliate referral link).

Books

I wrote most of these so spruce up your home library and look smart in the process.

• The Poshmark Guide for Individuals and Small Businesses (Paperback, Kindle, Audible) 

• The Poshmark Guide for Individuals and Small Businesses (Apple audiobooks)

• The Poshmark Journal for Individuals and Small Businesses

• The Corporate Cliches Adult Coloring Book

• I Am a Professional Metalhead (audiobook) (Audible affiliate link) written by Angelo Spenillo, narrated by John Lim

Support the newsletter and podcast

“What are you selling?!?” -actual quote from a b-school classmate

• Books! Check out my used bookstore on Pangobooks.

• Try out Audible (affiliate paid link).

• Try out Amazon Prime (affiliate paid link)

Affiliate disclosure

Note: Links to Amazon and Audible products are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.