Dear Friend​,

Can people change?

I mean, really, truly transform into someone else?

Can you kick that bad habit once and for all?

Can you become a new, and possibly better, person?

The answer, I think, is yes, but, well… it’s hard.

To learn why, read today’s article: What It Takes to Change & Why Most People Can’t Do It (How to Work with Me Next Year)

I grew up in a small midwestern farm town an hour outside of Chicago amongst your typical salt-of-the-earth blue-blue collar workers. Surrounded by farmers and factory workers, I was among people who prided themselves on not being better than anyone else.

This was the standard: to not stand out too much or appear too haughty. And as part of this package was the understanding that people don’t change. People are what they are, do what they do, and never leave home.

So when I left my hometown in search of another narrative, that was the first step in my re-taking control of my own story and seeing what it really might mean to create my life instead of accept the one that had been given to me.

Even then, though, I wondered: Can I really be whatever I want? Is such a thing even possible or just a cruel taunt with which we tease children only to learn later in life that no one is truly free?

Eventually, these questions led me into the world of personal development. I wanted to know the answers to the big questions, like:

• What is life about?
• Who am I and why am I here?
• How do you live a good life?

This topic of transformation has always fascinated me.

Why do some people drop the weight and keep it off and others struggle for the rest of their lives?

Why does money seem to come more easily for some people than others? Is it really about motivation?

Is “just do it” helpful advice, or is there some secret that helps certain individuals change their lives?

Over the past four years, I’ve been working with a handful of individuals through coaching groups and masterminds to try to answer these questions.

After working with tens of thousands of writers and creatives over the past decade to help them succeed, I started focusing on working more closely with fewer people to try to help people get the actual results they want, instead of simply teaching them about it.

All this work has been consolidated in a program called Portfolio People, which is a mix of an online membership program, coaching group, and in-person mastermind. Think of it less like a class and more like a club or highly-curated community where creative professionals share what’s working for them.

Just this past year, members of this program accomplished the following:

• Sarah just signed a book deal with the largest publisher in the world after her article went viral, getting hundreds of thousands of visitors in a matter of weeks.
• Eric published his first book!
• Marie launched a podcast and started getting high-profile guests to agree to interviews.
• Mike signed a two-book deal and negotiated a 50% higher advance than the publisher offered.
• Caroline lost thirty pounds and wrote 500 words per day consistently for an entire year.
• Tyler released a full-length country music album and produced a music video to accompany his single.

Not to mention the countless podcasts, blogs, YouTube channels, and other creative projects that were launched.

The idea of Portfolio People is that to do your best creative work you need a community that can challenge you and hold you accountable to what you want to create and help you integrate it with the rest of your life.

If you have a project you want to launch next year, I’d love to work with you (I’m only working with 100 people this next year, so you’ll have to apply). To learn more about Portfolio People, read this week’s article and follow the link to apply if you think you’d be a good fit.

Best,

Jeff

P.S. Do you think people change? I’d love to hear what you think. Shoot me a reply or leave a comment on today’s post.

P.P.S. Curious why I’m only working with 100 people in 2020? Read the post explaining why.