Work Life Play With Aaron Mchugh

A life principle learned in the field. We had to choose between insisting the trail still existed and following our original plan, or admitting that our maps and the terrain were inaccurate.

I reflect on a cherished memory of a dear friend and the moving farewell during his funeral as bagpipes played Amazing Grace.

Inspired by Wendell Berry's Sabbath series, this is my take on a Sabbath Poem with reflections, outdoor exploration, and meaningful connection. 

I’m built for a monastic life but navigate the corporate world, a challenging balance to thrive in.

Becoming Super Better while I'm kind to myself in my corporate life.

Warren Bennis said, "Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple and it is also that difficult."

How do we keep our heart forward? How do we stay grounded and centered?

The life I choose was an impossible dream a decade ago. 

Be human and remind everyone else of their humanity. 

The hard but rewarding effort to live fully and authentically, integrating all parts of yourself amidst life's challenges.

Doing hard things with heart is the only way.

A sabbath poem reflection about a trip in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. 

Firsts are challenging, exhilarating, and draining.

The importance of believing in others and telling them.

Unedited recordings from the front lines of my journey. Sixteen months ago, I took on a new, all-consuming career assignment—amazing and demanding every bit of me. Along the way, I’ve cataloged ideas, insights, and transformational stories to share. Welcome to Field Reports: raw, real, and simple adventure updates. Keep going, friends. Aaron

Let go of work-life balance and embrace the unforced rhythms of a fully integrated life. I used to think that work-life balance was achievable. Now I believe it is a myth. No matter how hard I tried, I could never achieve this perfect moment of everything in my life working in perfect Zen harmony and balance. I felt so exhausted trying to stay in balance The way forward isn’t exhaustion. It isn’t juggling, stretching, or herculean gymnastic efforts to come through for others while ignoring yourself. The way forward is an integrated, wholehearted life. The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor, and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him, he’s always doing both.” -James Michener Here’s why I wasn’t able to achieve balance After the death

Today, I'm in the interview seat again. Today's topic Friendship and the journey of life impossible to accomplish alone. (Carl Richards) Greetings from the Joy Bus. My name's Carl Richards, and I am your host today of the Work Life Play podcast. I've taken over from Aaron. It was an invitation, but I fully accepted the invitation to interview Aaron somewhere around. We're, we're talking ten years now. Aaron: Ten years. Carl Richards: And 200+ some-odd episodes. So, Aaron, welcome to the show. Aaron: Thank you. I like it. We're in the Joybus. Carl's in the seat you always held for the guests, but you are interviewing me this time. Carl Richards: What would I like to start on? It strikes me, and this is a strange place to start, but I'm going to go there anyway. Talk to me about friendship a bit. I want to pull in David Whyte's poem on friendship. David writes, "The ultimate touchstone of friendship is not improvement neither of the other nor the self. The ultimate touchstone is witness the privilege of having

In this decade anniversary celebration episode, Morgan Snyder is in the studio to interview me. For me, though, Work Life Play has no periods, no exclamation marks, no hyphens in between. It's all one integrated together story. It's taken me 10 years to articulate what it is I've been chasing the whole time. Enjoy this friends and Keep Going- Aaron Work Life Play Merch available here.

Friends, I released ten new podcast episodes to celebrate my Decade Anniversary of Work Life Play. I'm proud to share these little gems with you. I know they will help you live more fully in your adventure, explore a well-lived life and find more meaning in your daily experience. A decade agoI began podcasting in 2012 with borrowed equipment, no training, with a simple idea "I wanted to explore." I experimented with one tiny step, then the next. Back then, there was no map to How to Podcast. With trust and boldness, I booked my first two guests before I knew how to record or publish an episode. I should have shared this with my guests. Ha! Compelled to explore beyond the map of my life experiences, expand my mind and heart, and curate stories of good humans. That's as far as I knew. With hindsight's wisdom, I borrow Parker Palmer's explanation for "Why did you do it?" "This is something I can't NOT do, for reasons I'm unable to explain to anyone else and don't fully understand myself, but that are nonetheless