Welcome back to The Ground Up Show. My name is Matt Diavella, and this episode is going to be just a little bit different. Instead of having a

conversation with a fellow creative, I'm going to read the transcript from a video I posted to my YouTube

channel this week called It's Time to Slow Down. This is a topic I've covered a lot over the past few months on this podcast and one that I'm

excited to dig into even more. How do we work hard without turning our passion into a grind?

Coming up, I've got interviews planned with Greg McEwen of Essentialism, Gary Vaynerchuk, and others

to talk about the lines we need to set to not only achieve what we want in

life, but to also find happiness. I'm not sure exactly if those are going to go here on this

podcast. The main idea behind these interviews is going to be wrapped up into a series of videos

on hustle and intentionality, but I'll keep you posted here and I'll let you know.

In terms of my own journey, I've published a podcast every week for the past 16 months,

and I have to credit the show's success with that kind of consistency.

But I also need to acknowledge that that kind of output requires a certain amount of pressure and stamina, and sometimes we get tired.

And while I could push through, I think the best thing I could do right now is to practice the art of slowing down, of taking a pause, of taking a breath.

At the end of the day, I don't want to measure my success with how hard I work, the amount

of followers I have, or the number in my bank account, but instead with how happy I am.

So next week, I'm taking a break from both the podcast and my regular video posting schedule.

With the holidays approaching, I think it's a message

we need now more than ever.

Enjoy the show.

So I want to talk about what's been going on over the past two months, but really what's happened over the past two years of my life and what it's taught me about slowing the fuck down.

If you're lucky enough to have found something that you really care about, something that

you're passionate about, something that you're willing to dedicate your life to, you know that the lines blur between your

...