Focused AF is a weekly podcast hosted by Zach Valenti exploring attention and what matters. You can subscribe here.
I'm also experimenting with an online community forum (#FocusedAF) for people interested in being creative, sustainably. Feel free to sign up and join in the conversation.
Even before I was diagnosed with ADD, I've consistently gotten one piece of advice my entire life:
I've always had a lot of passions and felt torn between the many things I want to do, often to the point of burnout. And while the people who've told me to "focus" over the years had the best intentions, the hell that paved road led to was an unanswered question:
This quote aptly articulates one of the few things I consider to be true:
“If you work hard and think creatively, you can have just about anything you want, but not everything you want.” – Ray Dalio, Principles
Reflecting on this used to produce anxiety and stress, but more recently it's made me stop and wonder. In light of recent world events, it's occurred to me that great questions are more valuable than great answers for personal development and achieving any goals I might have.
I'm here to ask aloud: what is important to focus on?
No really, I'm asking. Still figuring that out for myself. I will never pretend to know any great secret about life. And while I'm told it killed the cat, curiosity and indulging my interests has only gone well, even when it hasn't in the short-term.
I want this to be dialogue, not a presentation. You can actually send me a brief voice memo getting into it by clicking on the "Send Voice Memo" button on the left-hand side of this page.
Hi! I'm Zach Valenti: host, storyteller, inventor, voice actor, helicopter cat dad, and much, much more. I wear a lot of hats these days. Most of my time these days is spent making media with my friends in Brooklyn, New York.
What started as an impulsive daily podcasting experiment has evolved into a full-on obsession for me, Zach Valenti.
If you're curious what the daily podcast was like, here's a somewhat indicative sample:
It all began with an impulsive domain name purchase of http://focused.af (this site!). All the more impulsive because I'd just been laid off from my fancy startup job and thus had my income slashed to nearly nothing, save a few side-hustle-y freelance contracts.
The vision was clear: I needed to start a daily podcast. In honor of my 27th birthday I was going to indulge real-life cosplay of popular vlogger Casey Neistat, just with an audio-only format. After getting talked out of quitting by the inimitable Amanda McLoughlin, I knew I needed a domain name as my birthday was just a few weeks away.
For an attention-deficit dude such as myself, there was no organizing brand clearer for an auditory window into my unfocused life as "Focused AF."
In just 30 days of podcasting every single day, the show had received over 30,000 downloads and 100 iTunes ratings & reviews, over half of which were written reviews. It was arguably the most successful thing I'd ever started.
Last time I uploaded regular episodes, I found it helpful for myself to have a focused outlet for compiling my notes on life where I also got feedback from a diverse audience. That being a good enough reason in itself, it doesn't hurt that many of you have shared many kind words with me about how this show and my work has touched your life.