Matt Ragland, an Enneagram type 3, explores self-knowledge through a solo backpacking trip in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains, where he confronted his need for external validation. He also shares footage from a ConvertKit team retreat in McCall and announces a new weekly series on building side hustles.
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Hey, what's up everyone? Welcome back to the vlog. I'm so glad you're here today. As you can tell, I'm back in my home office. I don't know if you've actually seen this a whole lot though, because even when I started the vlog back in February, I wasn't here a whole lot. We had gone to Chattanooga already, and so I wanted to like— this is just kind of the setup of what you're gonna see behind me for a lot of videos going forward. That being said, there's one thing that I want to cover a lot this week: the practice of knowing yourself. And I think a lot of times, especially for me, I can get really caught up in wanting to maybe know more about how I can please other people or how I can achieve in the eyes of others. But part of that realization is knowing more about myself. The way that I've been digging into this is with the Enneagram. It sounds— maybe it sounds a little cultish, I don't think that's the case, but I'm a 3 on the Enneagram, which is the Achiever, the Performer. And with that, I know that I can get really caught up in wanting to achieve in the eyes of others, and that can make it really hard for me to know myself fully. So what I did a couple of weeks ago is I went for a backpacking trip by myself in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. I'm going to show you some images from that trip. I'm going to talk a little bit about how I was thinking about it and what was important to me. But it was really important for me to get away to really think about what matters to me, how I can be happy and content so that in turn I can give that life back to others. So that's what we're going to talk about. You're also going to see some images and video from the retreat that we had for ConvertKit. It was a great time to get with the people that I work with on a daily basis, but get to see them face-to-face, which is a really important part of working remote. The other thing is that we are going to be starting up a really good series on side hustles. I'm going to talk a little a little bit about that at the end of the video, but I'm really excited to be able to deliver this content to you and share some thoughts with some guests and some other collaborations we're going to be doing. Thanks so much for watching this. Enjoy this video. Think about what it means to you to really know yourself, because I think once you know yourself more fully, then you can give more of yourself to others. All right? Enjoy. I'll talk to you soon. Just landed in Boise for the retreat. McCall Fall 2017. It's maybe not quite fall yet. This is the third one that we've done as a ConvertKit team. Been fortunate to be a part of all of them. It's always a fantastic time to get together. We're a remote team, so we don't see each other. These are the only times we usually do see each other. We have conferences, and some of us live in the same city, but it's only twice a year that we all get together, so it's an important time to build those personal bonds. Here in Nathan's car, and I have the esteemed pleasure of driving a group out today because I can drive stick shift like the manly man that I am. I've been looking forward to a trip that I'm about to embark on for several months, taking a 2-day, 2-night solo hike through Sawtooth National Forest just outside of Boise. I haven't done anything by myself like this in at least 5 years. I'm a 3 on the Enneagram, and the toughest thing about being a 3 is that it's really hard for 3s to define their own self-worth. 3s continually kind of look for validation in other people, and because of that, they tend to be really high achieving and hard charging and perform and achieve really great things, but it's not really coming from a sense of personal grounding. Looking for external instead of internal validation, looking out instead of up or in. And that's what I feel like I've been fighting with all day. I've left myself no other option but to go into the woods for a couple of days, and when it comes down to it, I know I need that. You know, there's a part of being in the woods that feels unsafe because there's a lot of things I don't control. But it's like in Chronicles of Narnia when Peter, Susan, and Lucy are sitting in the beaver's burrow, whatever it's called, house, and they're like, "Oh my gosh, Aslan is a lion? That sounds insane. Is he safe?" Mr. Bear's like, "Oh no, no, no." He's not safe, but he's good. And that's what I feel about the woods this weekend. Are they safe? No, no, probably, probably not. They're good. They need it. Ready to hop on the shuttle, going out to those mountains further up and further in. So it turns out that Lower Cramer Lake and Middle Cramer Lake and then Upper Cramer Lake are only separated by about a half mile. So that makes a lot more sense why I felt like it was taking forever. Check this out. Everyone, thank you so much for watching this video. If you enjoyed it, please give it a thumbs up and hit subscribe below. It really means a lot to me and will help this channel grow and get shared on YouTube more. But you can also share it yourself with someone who might find this interesting and helpful. Like I said, next week we're gonna be starting a series on side hustles that I think will continue for the foreseeable future. But we're gonna be talking about how to find one, how to create a schedule for it, and how to eventually make some, make some money off of it so that it it can be an additional income stream for your family, for yourself, for whatever you need it for. So stay tuned for that. Those videos are going to be coming out on Wednesday starting next week, and I can't wait to share them with you. We're going to be having some good collaborations and guests, and I think you're going to get a lot of value out of it. So again, hit a thumbs up and subscribe below and make sure that you're in the loop. Thanks so much, and I will see you on Wednesday.
