…New website!
OK, so I guess a website isn’t technically in the “sky” per se, but it’s definitely in the cloud…! On a server somewhere! Who knows, really. (I guess my website hosting company does.)
In any case, it’s out there!
I’m so excited to share my new site with you at joshallan.com.
I’m guessing some of you reading this have either built a website or been part of a website-building project. If so, you know that, in business terms, it’s a sh*t-ton of work. I’ve been working on this pretty much nonstop for the last month (i.e. my kids are very glad I’ve finally hit the “publish” button).
A few weeks ago I shared a bit about the start of my journey to stretch and broaden my personal brand slightly beyond the borders of just “future of work.” More of this strategy will be illuminated in the coming months, and I have some pretty exciting things to announce… stay tuned on that!
But with the new site, I am laying the groundwork for where “the work” goes for me.
You’ll see I’m presenting a clear, differentiating focus on my deep area of expertise: Human Energy™. With this site, I am planting a flag in the ground that this is MY topic. I don’t mean that in the sense that I “own” it, btw; quite the opposite, in fact. I didn’t really “come up” with it — if anything, it came to me from some other mysterious place — and more than that, I know a powerful idea only truly lives if more than one person starts to believe it / own it / practice it / preach it.
No, this is MY topic in the sense that it’s at the core of everything I believe and everything I teach.
Here are a few of my declarations:
- Work should energize you.
- When you are energized by your work, your whole life is better.
- Most of our organizational systems are life-sucking, but they don’t have to be.
- In general, we only understand Human Energy™ in the deficit of it.
- Our systems are extractive, when they should be energizing.
The vibe of the new site is bright, colorful, and optimistic, hopefully with hints of rebellion, a tiny bit of snark, and nods to my rockstar past. It’s also got subtle touches of retro-futurism scattered throughout (did you see all the little icons? there are 3 different ones!), hopefully invoking a feeling of gentle nostalgia for a a time when things actually worked. (I’m pretty convinced none of us reading this have actually lived through a time like that, but that doesn’t stop us from longing for it.)
It’s no secret that sh*t just doesn’t work right now.
The deck feels stacked.
Life is too hard for too many, especially given the abundance we clearly see all around us.
This doesn’t make sense, y’all.
And we need to change it.
Last weekend, mid-rebuild, I took a 2-hour break from “website stuff” to go see the new Superman movie. I loved it. As I am, deep down, a pure-hearted midwestern boy raised by salt of the earth parents with a relentless belief in the decency and goodness of humanity, I’ve always felt a bit tied to this character.
It’s taken me 40+ years of human life to stand clearly in this spot and not flinch, but I can now tell you that without a doubt, kindness really IS the real punk rock.
Love is the true rebellion.
And the real magic is that we never look up in the sky to find that — we find it right in the center of ourselves, where courage, and probably a bit of rockstar, lives inside us all.
So here’s to a new chapter!
May we all go up, up, and away — not to another place, but to a new vantage point that helps us see a better, brighter future… the one we can all build, together.
