Forward Tilt by Praxis
50 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 6 years ago - ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsPraxis CEO Isaac Morehouse shares stories and lessons about the future of education and work.
The economy is undergoing a massive change. Small startups are replacing giant companies and creating entirely new industries at a rapid pace. Entrepreneurship is reshaping our world, but higher education remains the same stale and rigid institution.
College’s are charging more than ever for increasingly irrelevant degrees. Students are taking on tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to get an education that doesn’t teach the entrepreneurial skills needed to thrive in the digital world.
Forward Tilt brings you the stories and mindsets from the future of education and work. Inspiring lessons of using entrepreneurial mindsets and apprenticeships to build careers.
If you are an ambitious young person, ready to set off on your career and entrepreneurial journey,
If you are a young professional ready to take your career to the next level,
If you are anyone interested in the attitudes and approaches necessary for success in the digital world, Forward Tilt is for you.
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Forward Tilt is presented by Praxis, the 12-month apprenticeship at a startup. If you’re young, hungry, and ready to build a great career, apply today.
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Episodes
50 - The Final Episode
December 15, 2017 13:27 - 5 minutes - 4.94 MBThat’s it folks! The 50th and final episode of the Forward Tilt podcast. Over the last 50 weeks, we covered one lesson a week. One way to get off the conveyor belt and take control of building your career and life. Now that Forward Tilt is over, Isaac gives his recommendations for more resources to check out. Links: Office Hours Podcast discoverpraxis.com Get a free copy of Forward Tilt: An Almanac for Personal Growth at discoverpraxis.com/forwardtilt
49 - Shorting Your Own Stock
December 08, 2017 13:26 - 7 minutes - 6.25 MBTo short a stock is to sell it before you own it. You sell it today and agree to deliver in the future because you believe the cost will go down and you will be able to buy it at a cheaper price. When you put off tasks to the future, you are doing the same thing with your time. Every action you take has a cost, and when you leave for tomorrow what you could do today, you communicate a lot about the way you value your time. Topics Discussed: - Shorting your own stock - Opportunity cos...
48 - Babies Don't Baby Step
December 01, 2017 14:59 - 7 minutes - 6.35 MBWe call it baby steps when you take small guarded steps forward. But babies take the exact opposite approach. They flail, take big risks, and learn as they go. When babies start crawling they don’t cautiously ease their way into it. They get up, fall down and crash into things. They’ll walk off the top of the stairs if you don’t have it blocked. Only once they take risks do they develop the skill needed to be more precious and safe. But they would never gain that skill if they didn’t tak...
47 - Creating Content Without a Big Audience
November 24, 2017 11:00 - 12 minutes - 12.2 MBThere has been a trend recently of popular content creators online talking about how there are too many blogs, too many podcasts, and the world doesn’t need more. Apart from the obvious irony, they miss the most important value creators get from creating content. Sure there is a chance to grow an audience and monetize it, but much more powerful is the learning, signaling, and social capital value that you get from consistently creating content. Discussed in this episode: - The amount o...
46 - Creativity Is the HTML of Hard Work
November 17, 2017 11:00 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MBIn this episode, Praxis Education Director, TK Coleman guest hosts to talk about creativity and HTML. Most people think of creativity and associate it with inspiration, living in cool neighborhoods, and eccentricity. But in reality, creativity is a lot more about hard work than it is about cool esthetics. Just like HTML is nothing without plain text, the cool and unique aspects we associate with creativity are nothing without hard work and the simple ability to get things done. Topics ...
45 - Your Reputation Is Your Resume
November 10, 2017 11:00 - 8 minutes - 8.09 MBNo one has ever been hired for their resume. At best a good resume will get someone curious to find out more about you, but it is the more about you—the background—that will get you hired. Instead of a resume, what truly matters is your reputation. Your connections, friends, coworkers, and customers who know the type of work you do will open up new opportunities. In This Episode: - No one has ever been hired for their resume - Why so many jobs go to people who know peo...
44 - The Problem with Statistics
November 03, 2017 10:00 - 7 minutes - 7.58 MBStatistics can be very illuminating in aggregate, but individuals are not aggregates. If you only choose a course of action when statistics are in your favor you will never get where you want to go. In this episode: - Statistics don’t do the work for you - You are special enough to not go to college - Why shooting “low-percentage” shots can make sense - Individuals are not aggregates For a free copy of Forward Tilt: An Almanac for Personal Growth go to discoverpraxis.com/forwardt...
43 - Perfection Is Not a Precondition
October 27, 2017 11:28 - 6 minutes - 5.95 MBWhether is writing a blog post, creating a video, or making a marketing plan, if you sit around theorizing about the perfect way to do it, you won't get any closer to perfect. We like to imagine that the longer we have to do something, the more time we have to think and plan and edit the better the end result. But in reality it is almost never extra time that gets us great results, it is extra reps. In this episode: - An example from two groups of pottery students - Perfection is a byp...
42 - Three Critical Soft Skills for Young Professionals with Cameron Sorsby
October 20, 2017 10:30 - 10 minutes - 8.15 MBThis week on Forward Tilt, Praxis’ COO Cameron Sorsby guest hosts to share three key traits that separate great young professionals from the pack. In this episode: What makes a great caddy Learning soft skills Confidence, hustle, judgment For a free copy of Forward Tilt: An Almanac for Personal Growth go to discoverpraxis.com/forwardtilt
41 - How to Create a Value Proposition
October 13, 2017 10:00 - 9 minutes - 8.1 MBThe standard approach to getting a job is to go out to a business and with a resume and interview tell employers about your skills and experience. It’s the equivalent of saying “Here I am, I have skills.” It creates work for the business to figure out if those skills are relevant, legitimate, or even valuable and as a result, it doesn’t help you find the best opportunities. The better approach is to do the work yourself and come to a business with a pitch on how you will create value. ...
40 - The Rough Draft Mindset
October 06, 2017 10:00 - 8 minutes - 7.66 MBVague general questions get vague general answers. If you are looking for valuable information create something first and get specific. Whether it is advice on something you are writing or a business idea, you will be able to get a lot better feedback if you ask for opinions on a rough draft instead of an idea. In this episode: Editing a draft vs. creating from scratch The rough draft mindset Producing before seeking help Theoretical problems For a free copy of Forward Tilt: An...
39 - The Value of the Unlevel Playing Field
September 29, 2017 10:00 - 10 minutes - 9.19 MBLevel playing fields are important on a societal level, but when you are looking for places to invest your time and money, it's better to go where the field is tilted. This is obvious when you have the advantage, you maximize your chances for success and large returns, but even having the field titled against you can be better than a level playing field. In this week's Forward Tilt Isaac explains why an unlevel playing field is a great place to invest, no matter if you have the advantage...
38 - There's No Such Thing as Job Security
September 22, 2017 10:30 - 8 minutes - 7.11 MBLot's of people are afraid of sales jobs because they don't come with a guaranteed monthly salary. The uncertainty of working for commission makes them nervous so they opt for the security of a salaried role. But the job security they think exists in marketing, operations, or other jobs is a myth. No matter what role you are in, your job only exists so long as you create more than you earn. You need to create value regularly, or else that salary will disappear. This isn’t a sca...
37 - Self-Discovery Needs a Context
September 15, 2017 10:00 - 8 minutes - 8.78 MBOften we overlook our potentially valuable skills because we don’t know we have them. We don’t realize that the thing we find easy, others find hard. Or the activity we do as a hobby has a high market value. Finding out what you are good at and you can create value doing isn’t easy. It is a process that takes time and feedback. But the most common ways we expect to learn about ourselves are removed from real sources of feedback. To find out what we do best we need to get out into the mar...
36 - Find Gold in Grunt Work
September 08, 2017 10:00 - 7 minutes - 6.47 MBToo many new employees are eager to get out of grunt work. They are right to want to focus on creating more value, but they miss the opportunity that grunt work provides. On this episode, Isaac shares a story from a conversation with a CEO about a young employee asking for a raise. He did everything well but made it clear he didn’t like grunt work. As a result, he didn’t make himself indispensable and didn’t get a raise. He was replaceable. As you gain experience and mak...
35 - It All Started with Daily Blogging
September 01, 2017 10:00 - 6 minutes - 6.06 MBTiny daily acts of creation have an immense compounding power. For Isaac, daily blogging started as a way to break out of a point of dissatisfaction. But the small decision led to a massive change and directly to the idea for Praxis. In this episode: Succeeding, but feeling dissatisfied. Feeling like something is missing. Taking on a daily blogging challenge. Creating leads to creativity Turning creativity into a discipline Why you should challenge yourself with small daily acts...
34 - Listen to Actions Not Words
August 25, 2017 10:30 - 6 minutes - 6.05 MBWhat people say they want is different from what they will actually go out and do. Economists call this the difference between stated and revealed preferences. Your opinions don’t come with a cost. But when you have to pay it shows what you truly value. For a free copy of Forward Tilt: An Almanac for Personal Growth, go to discoverpraxis.com/forwardtilt
33 - Focus on One Customer
August 18, 2017 10:30 - 10 minutes - 9.31 MBWhether you're building a business, writing a blog, or creating anything new, it can be easy to think about your customer or audience in aggregate. To work with your market in mind, instead of a particular person. One of the biggest inflection points in the growth of Praxis came when Isaac choose to focus on one particular customer. Not all the entrepreneurial young people, not a specific demographic, just sell and create a solution for one specific person. From a focus on one customer, ...
32 - Content Is King
August 11, 2017 12:29 - 8 minutes - 7.62 MBWhen creating something it is easy to focus on perfecting the small details. Whether it’s production value on a podcast, body positioning as a public speaker, or style as a writer, there are lots of small details to obsess over. But when you are starting a new project you can never lose sight of the most important aspect of anything you create, the content of the ideas. In this episode: - Handling imperfections as a creator - The content of the ideas matter more than perfect delivery ...
31 - Don't Forget the Free Meal
August 04, 2017 12:03 - 7 minutes - 7.15 MBWhen something goes wrong in a customer service situation, some people will seize the opportunity to berate their server or make an employee feel bad. They use the moment to grab a tiny amount of power. But by using this opportunity to feel powerful, they are giving up what is best for them in the long term. They are giving up opportunities to get a better long term solution to momentarily feel important. In the case of restaurants, they are forgetting the free meal. In this episode: - ...
30 - Find Similarities, Exploit Differences
July 28, 2017 10:30 - 10 minutes - 8.77 MB“In a room of 100 strangers, seek similarities. In a room of 3 friends, seek differences.” Popular wisdom warns against creating a bubble of similar friends. You often hear that you should make a diverse group of friends. That you should seek to spend time with people with different world views. This advice is overrated and over esteemed. Instead, when deciding who you work and spend time with you should focus on similarities. But once you've found those people, you should emphasize d...
29 - Two Parts Substance, One Part Style
July 21, 2017 10:30 - 8 minutes - 8.14 MBBuilding a brand is important. So is sharing what you are working on and creating opportunities with marketing. But when you are working on branding and style you can’t forget about creating more substance. To maintain the balance between substance and style Isaac uses a simple heuristic. Two parts substance, one part style. For every one thing you are sharing and talking about publicly, you should be working on something else behind the scenes. If you are learning a language and cr...
28 - Don't Trust WIllpower, Shape Incentives
July 14, 2017 10:30 - 10 minutes - 9.64 MBWillpower has limits. If the rewards or punishments are high enough, and you're in a situation long enough, you will eventually reach your limit. We live in a time where we have massive power to structure the incentives in our own lives. We can find new social circles, jobs, past times that have incentives in line with our values. You will be much stronger in life if you’re not swimming upstream; if your incentives are in line with your values it is much more likely you will live up to...
27 - What Do You Do Best in the World?
July 07, 2017 10:30 - 7 minutes - 6.92 MBWhat do you do better than anyone? It is a question you should be finding the answer to. You should be looking at your life and your work and asking yourself, what do I do better than everyone I know? Once you have the answer you have a path forward. A direction to take your life's work. In this episode: What is the one thing that you are the best in the world at? That is the question you need to answer, but how to you answer it? The big idea behind Praxis What Isaac best in the...
26 - Have Your Cake and Eat It
June 30, 2017 10:30 - 6 minutes - 5.92 MB“You can be fast and erratic or slow and steady.” “You can have a small remote team, but it won’t work with more than five employees.” “You can think quick and shallow or long and deep thought.” The world is full of these common dichotomies and life lessons. Some are true and valuable, but many aren’t. Accepting them can close down real possibilities. These lessons apply to certain people in certain situations. You need to figure out if they are true for you. You...
25 - Ask and Then Shut Up
June 23, 2017 10:30 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MBIt’s good sales advice. Ask clearly for what you want and then stop talking. It can be awkward to leave space. To just sit there. Our temptation is to fill it and when we do we talk our ask down. It’s good sales advice because it leads to a clear answer; a yes, no, or something in between. But you will know the status, and you won’t be left interpreting what the answer meant. But it’s more than just sales advice. It applies in your daily life and the asks you make o...
24 - There Is Probably a Better Path
June 16, 2017 10:30 - 8 minutes - 8.33 MBDerek Magill guest hosts this episode of Forward Tilt to share a story from a recent conversation with an aspiring brewer and entrepreneur. This was a college freshman with the goal of opening a microbrewery--in his first year of a four-year college program studying Political Science. Taking on debt and spending a massive amount of time attending lectures on political science, when his goal was to be an entrepreneur in the beer business. Stories like this are not uncommon. Th...
23 - You Will Never Be the Perfect Job Candidate
June 09, 2017 10:30 - 8 minutes - 9.81 MBThis week’s episode is inspired by a common question. When you find a job posting that you want, but you only meet some of the qualification, what should you do? In this episode: Not being the perfect candidate Job descriptions and Frankenployee's Tradeoffs when hiring Giving yourself permission to apply Househunting wish lists The only things that matter when a company is hiring For a free copy of Forward Tilt: An Almanac for Personal Growth, go to discoverpraxis.com/forwardtilt
22 - Human Patterns and Emergent Order
June 02, 2017 10:30 - 9 minutes - 13.6 MBFrom credit card security to sidewalk design, if you are creating something, you have to account for the patterns of the end user. Even the most well thought out, centrally planned, efficient and scientific plans will always fail if they ignore the patterns and tendencies of the end users. On this week’s Forward Tilt, Isaac explores some examples where human behavior can override planning and how to apply this lesson to life and entrepreneurship. In this episode: Do credit card chips a...
21 - Don't Underestimate Social Capital
May 26, 2017 10:30 - 13 minutes - 18.8 MBInvesting in your personal relationships and connections will bring you more resources than other investment ever could. This week on Forward Tilt Isaac dives into the concept of social capital. In this episode: What is social capital? Why most people undervalue social capital How to build social capital The power of good relationships when starting a business Money is only a tool to get things you want For a free copy of Forward Tilt: An Almanac for Personal Growth go to ...
20 - Living with Integrity
May 19, 2017 11:03 - 7 minutes - 9.75 MBIntegrity is being undivided. It is definiteness of purpose and singleness of mind. To live with integrity, you need to understand yourself and then act in line with who you are. This isn’t easy. It can be hard to gain that much self-knowledge. Even when you have a deep understanding of yourself, there are many decisions in life that involve picking between imperfect options. Living with integrity in these situations is about making a choice and living with it. Not filling yourself with ...
19 - Entertaining Angels & Blinking Lights
May 11, 2017 16:34 - 8 minutes - 10.1 MBWhat happens when you seize the opportunity to help a stranger? It could change your whole life. On this episode of Forward Tilt Isaac shares two stories about the power of small acts. First is a story of a spilled coffee in Starbucks that led to a kind act, that led to a friendship, that led to an introduction, that led to a bunch more introductions. Second is the story of an underground radio station in Poland. Both stories illustrate an important idea, that small everyday acts can...
18 - The Five Traits
May 05, 2017 10:30 - 7 minutes - 8.22 MB"What kind of ideas are you hanging around with?" There are a lot of factors that impact who we are today and who we will become. Genetics, childhood experiences, conscious choices and the people we spend our time around all impact us. A popular maxim speaks to the power of other people's impact on who we are and says "you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." It speaks to the power that our community has to influence our behavior. Thinking about the five p...
17 - Never Coast
April 28, 2017 10:30 - 6 minutes - 10.2 MBForward Tilt Podcast - Playoffs The motivation for great work should always be internal. Doing great work shouldn’t be about impressing others or avoiding punishment, it should be about becoming the best version of yourself. Great work is transformational. When you show up and do your best, you change who you are. That is why great workers are self-motivated. The clearest example of this is when you are close to leaving a job. In the last few weeks, the consequenc...
16 - You Have to Pick Two
April 21, 2017 10:30 - 7 minutes - 8.67 MBYou can think of your life divided into three main categories. Work, social life, and family or love life. As an entrepreneur, you can only have two. With a 9 to 5 job you could probably balance all three, but if you want to start a company, the commitment is so large that you sacrifice one of these areas. But it’s not just an upper limit. If your entire life is work, then you burn out. You don't just get to pick two, you have to pick two if you want to stay healthy as an entrepreneu...
15 - But I Notice
April 14, 2017 10:30 - 9 minutes - 10.8 MBDoing great work isn't about being noticed. You don't owe it to customers, bosses, friends, and family to do your best. You owe it to yourself. You should go above and beyond for what it does for you. In any task you do, you can choose to be good enough, or you can choose to be great. You get to choose the standards you hold yourself to. You do great work even if others won't notice because you notice. You will notice if you didn't do your best and you will know you could have done more....
14 - You Have the Right
April 07, 2017 10:33 - 5 minutes - 5.2 MBJust because it’s justified doesn’t mean you should do it. There are a lot of things in your life and the world that you would be justifiably angry about. There are good reasons to protest, to debate, to get angry. But just because anger is justified doesn’t mean that it is helping you. You gain power when you move past looking for what is justified and move towards what is working and within your control. In this episode: A recent article by a Praxis participant attracted unexpected ...
13 - Look for Excuses to Write Thank You Notes
April 07, 2017 10:32 - 8 minutes - 9.82 MBA handwritten thank you note is an excellent way to build social capital, but its impact goes way beyond goodwill. Regularly writing thank you notes will change the way you see the world. It transforms your narrative about the past, it helps you remember all the good things people have done for you, and it improves your life today better as a result. In this episode: Life lesson from a local pastor The pain of forced thank you notes Why thank you notes are valuable beyond the obv...
12 - The Sleep in Your Car Test
April 07, 2017 10:31 - 6 minutes - 7.69 MBThere are people who are willing to sleep in their car to get what they want, and there are those that aren’t. This a useful heuristic for understanding people you want to work with, but it is also a powerful tool for understanding yourself. What are you willing to sleep in your car to get? In this episode: The sleep in your car test as a hiring tool What you can learn about yourself from the sleep in your car test Why are you pursuing the things you’re pursuing if you’re not will...
11 - The Freedom of Self-Imposed Constraints
April 07, 2017 10:30 - 7 minutes - 8.4 MBWhen you feel like you are held back by limitations, add more. You’ll be surprised by the sense freedom the extra constraints give you. It’s not always the case, but adding constraints can give you more freedom to create because they free you from making endless decisions. In this episode: Embrace the Shake TED Talk Getting job opportunities without applying Doing your daily tasks in half the time Writing a book in thirty days Parkinsons Law To get a free copy of Forward Til...
10 - The Struggle Is a Gift
April 07, 2017 10:29 - 7 minutes - 9.8 MBWhen things are easy we don't grow. It is in moments of struggle, when everything is going wrong, that we are forced to take massive steps forward. Once you recognize that the struggle helps you grow, then you can learn to love it. You can recognize that things going wrong is often not a curse, but a gift. In this episode: How going on probation at work was a massive growth opportunity for a Praxis participant Why daily blogging will forge you into a better person How to learn to...
09 - Your Personal Brand
March 31, 2017 10:30 - 8 minutes - 8.48 MBYou have a personal brand whether you like it or not. Call it a reputation if you prefer, but it is the feelings and associations that come to mind when people think of you. A lot of people feel resistant to working on their personal brand. They feel that it is slimy and inauthentic, but a good personal brand is about making sure that what you share and create online communicates who you are in person. That in a 30-minute search online people have an accurate sense of who you are and wha...
08 - The Power of Silence
March 24, 2017 10:30 - 6 minutes - 5.79 MBFrom podcasts to audiobooks, articles, and videos there is a massive amount of great content in the world. So much that you can fill every empty space with something. You can listen to podcasts while you drive. You can read articles on your phone while you wait at the doctor and consume audiobooks during your walk on the beach. With so much great content available, you begin to feel that time spent on doing nothing is time wasted. We underestimate the value of doing nothing. Time spent ...
07 - The Past Isn't Written Yet
March 17, 2017 10:30 - 6 minutes - 7.68 MBThe ink isn’t dry on the past yet. You get to re-write it in the future. As humans, we depend on a narrative about the past and that narrative changes depending on what happens in the future. The perfect example of this is the narratives created around sports. A great season with a playoff loss changes what that season meant. A championship win after a mediocre regular season turns that season from a disappointment into a building block. The same is true of our lives. Success in your future ...
06 - Wear the Shirt
March 10, 2017 11:30 - 10 minutes - 14.5 MB"With a polo shirt and pliers, you can walk into any computer room.” One thing you realize as you get deeper into your career is how little the people you think are experts truly know. Experts don’t have all the answers--often they are figuring things out as they go-- but they bring a deep sense of confidence in their ability to find and apply answers to their work. Isaac shares his story of figuring this out first hand while installing cables as a sixteen-year-old. Covered in this e...
05 - The Power of Questions
March 03, 2017 11:30 - 7 minutes - 9.79 MBMost people approach conspiracy theories with an immediate answer. It's a camera trick! It's aliens! It's a hoax! Almost everyone focuses on an answer, hardly anyone focuses on the question. How can you use the power of divisive questions in your own life? What do you gain, when you avoid jumping to a quick answer? In this episode: Fascination with conspiracy theories What can we learn about people from popular conspiracy theories? Is the moon is a hologram? How to apply les...
04 - The 3 Advantages of a Low Income
February 24, 2017 13:00 - 8 minutes - 12 MBEveryone wants to make more money. But early in your career, a big raise can be a big problem. If your lifestyle grows with your salary and you can’t afford to take a risk at a lower salary, you can end up stuck in a low growth situation. Taking a lower paying job often gives you more freedom and more upside. In this episode: Getting trapped by a high salary Three ways lack of income is an asset Low opportunity cost The expectations that come with your paycheck Freedom from life...
03 - As If It's True
February 10, 2017 09:06 - 5 minutes - 7.42 MB“The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.” - Jessice Hische This quote was shared recently in the Praxis community and it started a debate. Some participants thought it was true, some disagreed. But what if this debate was about the wrong question entirely. What if there is a better way to approach aphorisms? In this episode: The best way to approach aphorisms Is there a lesson in your procrastination? ...
02 - Get Shit Done
February 09, 2017 07:13 - 7 minutes - 10.4 MBThis is a tale of two interns. Intern number one was intelligent, passionate, and impressive. But he had a fatal flaw. He didn’t get shit done. Intern number two wasn’t as impressive initially. He didn’t have the same people skills. But always delivered. He was reliable. Reliability is simple, but so few people do it. If you are relentlessly reliable, if you get shit done, you are going places. Because having impressive skills is a lot less important than simply an...
01 - What is Forward Tilt
February 09, 2017 07:12 - 5 minutes - 7.84 MBHow do you find top level talent? You look for forward tilt. You look for the people who are so excited by opportunities that they lean across they table when they talk about it. The type of people who physically manifest their excitement. People with forward tilt don’t shy away from opportunity. They lean in. They are eager, ready, and excited about new challenges. If you're setting out in your career, your attitude matters as much as your skills. As long as you bring ex...