I’ve heard bits and pieces of life hacking, where you can do things to create the life you want. One of my first introductions to the thought of life hacking was when I read Tim Ferris’ book, the 4 Hour Work Week. I’ve already began designing the lifestyle that I really wanted before I read the book, but it really solidified the direction I was heading and equipped me with some bigger ideas. Lifestyle design, it’s hacking your life and the lifestyle you dream of. There are so many different ways of practically doing that which Tim talks about in the book. But what about the internal processes that it actually takes to go there? The fears of failure, the people pleasing, the self doubt, and self trust that it takes to leave security for the life you want. Lets face it, the process of creating that lifestyle is not easy. There are a lot of things that are in the gap to jumping off that cliff. Then you throw in the world of creative entrepreneurship and making a living with your art, and you’ve got a whole other set of fears that come with that.
What about life hacking starting from the deepest of places? What about starting from the thoughts and negative conversations that run our lives, and create the decisions we make? What are the thoughts that keep us from truly connecting with people? Facing our fears is something we hide behind. This truly keeps us from living our dreams and being extraordinary. What does it take to A: Be self aware of the fears that live inside you, and B: Overcome those fears and become captain of those fear conversations that keep you from your dreams and creating. “The Resistance” as Steven Pressfield likes to call them in The War of Art.
Self Discovery can take years especially if you’ve found yourself in a downward spiral of negative thoughts. I’ve recently went through an emotional intelligence and leadership training that helped me to realize my fears. I learned where they come from and how to overcome them. If you can raise your level of emotional intelligence, you can conquer your fears and achieve your dreams faster. I’ve discovered a whole new world of possibility through the process. Do they ever go away? No, but I now know in a more detailed way what I face, and how to overcome them on a daily basis. Conquer your fears, and you in-turn start living in possibility instead of limitation. Not being driven by fear allows you to fully go for your dreams. The Ultimate Life Hack in my book.
LET'S CONSPIRE & CREATE
CULTIVATING YOUR VISUAL UNIQUENESS AND STREAMLINING YOUR BRAND'S EVOLUTION
I’ve heard bits and pieces of life hacking, where you can do things to create the life you want. One of my first introductions to the thought of life hacking was when I read Tim Ferris’ book, the 4 Hour Work Week. I’ve already began designing the lifestyle that I really wanted before I read the book, but it really solidified the direction I was heading and equipped me with some bigger ideas. Lifestyle design, it’s hacking your life and the lifestyle you dream of. There are so many different ways of practically doing that which Tim talks about in the book. But what about the internal processes that it actually takes to go there? The fears of failure, the people pleasing, the self doubt, and self trust that it takes to leave security for the life you want. Lets face it, the process of creating that lifestyle is not easy. There are a lot of things that are in the gap to jumping off that cliff. Then you throw in the world of creative entrepreneurship and making a living with your art, and you’ve got a whole other set of fears that come with that.
What about life hacking starting from the deepest of places? What about starting from the thoughts and negative conversations that run our lives, and create the decisions we make? What are the thoughts that keep us from truly connecting with people? Facing our fears is something we hide behind. This truly keeps us from living our dreams and being extraordinary. What does it take to A: Be self aware of the fears that live inside you, and B: Overcome those fears and become captain of those fear conversations that keep you from your dreams and creating. “The Resistance” as Steven Pressfield likes to call them in The War of Art.
Self Discovery can take years especially if you’ve found yourself in a downward spiral of negative thoughts. I’ve recently went through an emotional intelligence and leadership training that helped me to realize my fears. I learned where they come from and how to overcome them. If you can raise your level of emotional intelligence, you can conquer your fears and achieve your dreams faster. I’ve discovered a whole new world of possibility through the process. Do they ever go away? No, but I now know in a more detailed way what I face, and how to overcome them on a daily basis. Conquer your fears, and you in-turn start living in possibility instead of limitation. Not being driven by fear allows you to fully go for your dreams. The Ultimate Life Hack in my book.
12/28/13
The Ultimate Lifehack: Emotional Intelligence
infuse your vision with a fresh breath of creativity and vitality
BOOK A BRAND PHOTOSHOOT
GET THE DETAILS
GET THE DETAILS
infuse your vision with a fresh breath of creativity and vitality
PODCAST
BRAND INTELLIGENCE
CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE
LIFE INTELLIGENCE
masterfully aligning perception and reality through personal branding
masterfully aligning perception and reality through personal branding
I’ve heard bits and pieces of life hacking, where you can do things to create the life you want. One of my first introductions to the thought of life hacking was when I read Tim Ferris’ book, the 4 Hour Work Week. I’ve already began designing the lifestyle that I really wanted before I read the book, but it really solidified the direction I was heading and equipped me with some bigger ideas. Lifestyle design, it’s hacking your life and the lifestyle you dream of. There are so many different ways of practically doing that which Tim talks about in the book. But what about the internal processes that it actually takes to go there? The fears of failure, the people pleasing, the self doubt, and self trust that it takes to leave security for the life you want. Lets face it, the process of creating that lifestyle is not easy. There are a lot of things that are in the gap to jumping off that cliff. Then you throw in the world of creative entrepreneurship and making a living with your art, and you’ve got a whole other set of fears that come with that.
What about life hacking starting from the deepest of places? What about starting from the thoughts and negative conversations that run our lives, and create the decisions we make? What are the thoughts that keep us from truly connecting with people? Facing our fears is something we hide behind. This truly keeps us from living our dreams and being extraordinary. What does it take to A: Be self aware of the fears that live inside you, and B: Overcome those fears and become captain of those fear conversations that keep you from your dreams and creating. “The Resistance” as Steven Pressfield likes to call them in The War of Art.
Self Discovery can take years especially if you’ve found yourself in a downward spiral of negative thoughts. I’ve recently went through an emotional intelligence and leadership training that helped me to realize my fears. I learned where they come from and how to overcome them. If you can raise your level of emotional intelligence, you can conquer your fears and achieve your dreams faster. I’ve discovered a whole new world of possibility through the process. Do they ever go away? No, but I now know in a more detailed way what I face, and how to overcome them on a daily basis. Conquer your fears, and you in-turn start living in possibility instead of limitation. Not being driven by fear allows you to fully go for your dreams. The Ultimate Life Hack in my book.
12/28/13
The Ultimate Lifehack: Emotional Intelligence
When you need a trusted creative partner in the room.
Take the Fit Check
Be seen at the level you’re stepping into.
Hey! I'm Nick.
PHOTOGRAPHER
BRAND ALCHEMIST
TEACHER
At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint occaecati cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollitia.
Build authority from the inside out.
Emanate is a creative-direction-led photography experience for entrepreneurs, speakers, and thought leaders in a moment of expansion. This isn’t about better photos. It’s about aligning how you’re seen with who you’ve become. For seasons of rebrand, visibility, and next-level leadership.
Magnetic Authority is a self-guided container for people who feel visible, but not fully anchored.
If your message keeps shifting, your brand feels inconsistent, or your presence doesn’t match your capability yet. This is where you build the foundation before you scale.
Take the Fit Check
Start Here
For founders, creatives, and leaders who want a trusted long-term partner. This isn’t coaching or traditional consulting.
It’s an ongoing creative partnership focused on bringing your personal brand identity to life.
Your brand. Your website. Your visuals.
All shaped as a direct extension of who you are. The work also includes a bespoke process of identifying and aligning the right experts when needed, so nothing gets built out of sync with your core.
Explore the Partnership
Quiet. Precise. Highly Selective.
read the latest
I spent a month training kung fu in Wudang at 47, the oldest and slowest learner in the room. What being a beginner again in midlife taught me about pace, comparison, and starting anyway.
You develop taste through thousands of reps of looking closely and deciding what works. A photographer’s honest answer on how taste gets built.
You make a personal brand more coherent by naming the identity underneath it, distilling a one or two word through-line, and bringing the four layers into agreement. The full path, in order.
You cannot pour from an empty well. Travel is how I refill mine. Here is why new places are creative input rather than a break from the work, and why output without input runs dry.
There is a difference between making something and performing the act of making it. Here is what I learned about the creative act, content, and why the resistance is the whole game.
AI can generate endless brand content, but it cannot construct the identity underneath it. Here is the real line between what AI can do for your brand and what only you can.
Burnout is less a willpower problem than a nervous system running with no recovery. Here is what I learned about creative recovery from social media burnout and a reset in Costa Rica.
Most brand photographers take good photos of you. Few capture who you actually are. Here is what to look for when hiring a brand photographer so your images match your authority.
Taste is less a gift than a discipline you build through thousands of reps of seeing. Here is what twenty-five years behind a camera taught me about the art of seeing.
Visual Frequency of Authority is the energetic signature your images transmit before anyone reads a word. What it means and why two people with the same credentials read so differently.
Every personal brand stalls in one of three gaps: Identity, Signal, or Infrastructure. Most people have the third and spend years fixing the first.
A month of kung fu training in Wudang, China taught me that the body learns at the speed of honesty rather than the speed of ambition. Here is what martial arts taught me about practice.
Creative coherence is when who you are and how you’re seen are the same thing. A short, clear definition of the term, its four layers, and why it makes a brand magnetic.
About the Blogger
I was born in a low middle class conservative religious family in the suburbs of Seattle. Art was and always has been my passion, and more than that a way of life. Starting as a graphic designer, I taught myself photography, built a commercial/editorial business shooting for the worlds biggest brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Adidas and more. I've also had the opportunity to photograph the world's biggest celebrities like Justin Bieber, Usher, Jessica Alba and more. I've curated a lifestyle around creativity and have learned a lot along the way which I get to share here.
I was born in a low middle class conservative religious family in the suburbs of Seattle. Art was and always has been my passion, and more than that a way of life. Starting as a graphic designer, I taught myself photography, built a commercial/editorial business shooting for the worlds biggest brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Adidas and more. I've also had the opportunity to photograph the world's biggest celebrities like Justin Bieber, Usher, Jessica Alba and more. I've curated a lifestyle around creativity and have learned a lot along the way which I get to share here.
