So here's a bit about how the Shinecast has evolved over the past year ….
[I originally published a similar version of this to a private Facebook group that I'm a member of]
The Shinecast vision has been (and continues to be) about helping others discover, find inspiration, grow and shine. The journey is where you find happiness.
This occurs through an integrated life built on the pillars of health (real food, movement, sleep, time in nature, mindfulness, spiritual nurturing), wealth (both money and relationships, commitment to sustainable living), and wisdom (personal growth).
In February 2013, after a few months of deep self-reflection and journaling, I wrote a short treatise that I titled the “Happy Life Manifesto” that lays out the 95 theses of a happy life based on these pillars.
I wrote The Happy Life Manifesto before I began to hear similar ideas from James Altucher via his Choose Yourself book, blogging and podcast interviews, but I did read Choose Yourself shortly after I finished my own treatise on happiness.
[Beyond James, others are also sharing a similar message. I've intentionally never read anything by Gretchen Roberts who, as I understand it, writes on happiness. I heard about her work around the time I was getting ready to publish The Happy Life Manifesto as an ebook and research work on happiness on Amazon. Since then, I've also avoided listening to podcasts where she's interviewed. I'm still going to publish my manifesto, but it will be part of this larger Shinecast mission.]
So how to present the Shinecast / Happy Life vision in a way that's helpful, not promotional or preachy?
I have grappled with that question for a long time….. Especially, since I have a hit-miss community, not a full-on “tribe” eagerly awaiting each bit of insight I send down from some mountaintop. I'm just a person who's come to this through a lot of years of living life.
Last summer, I wrote a how-to guide titled 7 Days of Real Food, and then held back on releasing it because I didn't have all the other pieces in place to build momentum. It's all ready to go out as a real book on Create Space and a PDF (needs some revising for Kindle, to delete some of the numerous photos documenting how to prepare the meals).
For the past 2 years, I've envisioned the Shinecast project being some type of multimedia content platform but couldn't explain what I meant by that, except by saying it might be like a combination of Charlie Rose, Oprah and Marie Forelo. Except customized for my personality.
That broad definition, while conceptually understandable by someone in the media/internet world, was not specific enough to build into a strategic plan for implementation.
How Do I Make the Shinecast Happen?
When I first envisioned the Shinecast project I called it “building my multimedia empire,” half-jokingly because I didn't think anyone would take me seriously, even though I was serious.
At first, it was just a brand to share my message with a podcast, online video, ebooks, newsletter, and other multimedia spinoff components.
Then last Fall, I began to see the Shinecast more specifically as a series of shows and other multimedia components (video, newsletters, free and premium) assigned to “channels” on the Shinecast “network.”
In other words, my multimedia empire. Not one show, but several.
Think Big
Well, the bigger version of the Shinecast is finally happening. Over the next 120 days I'm rolling out a series of podcasts and other “pieces of content” (for lack of a better word right now).
The content is organized by channels on the Shinecast network. And some of the channels are getting their own separate websites where I deliver the content.
I also want to use RSS to bring in selectively, carefully-curated content from others, both in a/v and blog form
The first show goes live this Friday: Birmingham Shines.
Other shows will be rolling out every few weeks.
Lots of moving parts in this project and I'm finishing up the last few weeks of my teaching job, so I've been a bit busy…….
