Founder & CEO @ Close
Steli Efti I never would have expected that pigeons could teach me something about myself—but some of life’s most valuable lessons come in surprising ways. TRANSCRIPT: In this episode of the podcast, you’re going to hear a conversation that Romina and I had back in mid December, 2020 when I was still in Austin. And I had …
I’ve been reading a book about personal change and anger, and one paragraph early on in the book stood out to me: [If you want to change yourself, do it] very slowly, no matter how crazy or self-defeating our current behavior appears to be. It exists for a reason and may serve a positive and …
Read moreHow to change yourself: Slow adjustments vs Instant Transformation
I’ve been wondering how I managed to accept some of the people in my life fully—just the way they are. I’m blessed to have many friends in my life whom I love and care for, but there are very few people whom I fully accept, whose flaws and shortcomings I can have in my life …
While homeschooling my two sons, I witnessed my younger one just in the midst of that special phase where you learn to read and begin to make sense of words. And I (once more) realized the importance of fun: When teaching a new skill, don’t stress out about getting it right and avoiding mistakes. Don’t …
Read moreFatherhood Odyssey: When Teaching, Make It Fun Before You Make It Right
I do believe that we all have an intuitive sense for truth. We know the truth at all times, we feel it, we can sense it deep down. But for a variety of reasons, we cover it up, we edit it, we apply a filter to it, we hide it behind logic or stories we’re …
One of the questions that reading Kafka has brought up in my mind is: How much pain are we causing others by trying to carry their burden? How much of the help I’m providing to others is really in the long run taking away their potential blessings? One thing since reading the transformation from Kafka …
Here’s another episode that can be tagged with “aftereffects of reading Kafka”. Little Voice In My Head A: “Steli, it’s 11am and you’ve not done anything yet”. To which Little Voice In My Head B responded: “Well, fuck you, I don’t have to do anything if I don’t have to!” And both of them got …
Another beautiful insight that came out of some time I spent with my two sons recently was this: Remember to have fun when you do fun stuff. Here’s the full story: Transcript: I had a, really beautiful moment with my kids this weekend. So on Thursday when I went to their house, one of my …
I recently started reading The Trial by Franz Kafka, and there’s one thing I really love about this book: It has already raised so many questions in my mind and made me think thoughts I wouldn’t have pondered if it weren’t for this book. This episode is just me sharing my reading experience while I’m …
Now that I’m back in Germany, I’m spending a lot of time with my two sons, and there was a beautiful experience of trust and courage we’ve shared together that I want to capture here. Transcript:Yesterday, I went to the playground with my sons and my oldest son. Told me that recently his mom and …
Read moreFatherhood odyssey: The power of nonjudgmental encouragement
I’ve never had a great relationship with my Germany, even though I was born here, I grew up here, I have family and friends I love here. I never liked living here. And whenever I came back to spend time in Germany, I always like coming back to a place I didn’t belong, nor wanted …
Read moreSteli returns to Germany: A lesson in presence and priorities
Some books have literally been life-changing, epic adventures in my life. I wouldn’t be who I am if it weren’t for these books. But if I’ve read books the way most people read books, I’d probably never have experienced any of that. Today I discuss my deep love for books, my appreciation for everything they’ve …
In this episode we geek out about the art of storytelling, and it’s magical ability to touch and move us, to think new thoughts, to live life in new ways. Books discussed: Story by Robert McKee Dune by Frank Herbert so the book story, the book story by Robert, what’s his name? Mickey Mickey. So …
Read moreStorytelling and the audience’s capacity to open up their hearts and minds
One of the emotions I still haven’t found a good way to relate to is my anger. For most of my adult life, my way of handling anger was simply to suppress it and pretend it didn’t exist at all. Getting angry meant that someone else had power over me, someone else was able to …
Read moreOk, now I’m punching pillows (Anger-management Adventures)
I don’t know how to explain this to people who’ve never felt it, but I’ve been suffering from jaw tension for quite a while now. It comes and goes, and I never really know what triggered it until I did some deep introspection. I believe it’s forcing me to confront truths I’d rather not face. …
Read moreHow my jaw pain forces me to face unpleasant truths
I was out on the balcony on a sunny day in Austin. It was a nice day. Everything was fine. Beautiful music playing. My day’s work was done. And that’s when it hit me: I’m good at many things—but relaxing isn’t one of them. Even when you see me chilling, inside of me, there’s so …
Today I’m talking with my good friend Ryan Robinson, one of the most disciplined people I know, and also one of the most prolific content creators. But that’s not what this conversation is about. 2020 has been an intense year for Ryan, a lot of personal transformation, and I saw many parallels to changes and …
Read moreA year of intense self-discovery with Ryan Robinson
In this episode, I talk about our podcast, and why it’s so different from the content we’ve created in the past. Most of these episodes are unstructured conversations and explorations of random themes of my life—there are no actionable takeaways, no bitesized nuggets of wisdom, and oftentimes no answers to the questions we pose. And …
Most of the episodes of this podcast are me talking about a topic that’s currently on my mind—oftentimes meanderings that don’t lead to a clear conclusion, or challenges I’m facing that yet lack a satisfying solution. It’s inner work in progress. Today is a little bit different: I’m sharing an heuristic of my inner work …
Read moreYou can’t be upset with others, and at peace with yourself
I’m the CEO of a very successful software startup. 8-figure revenue, thousands of customers all around the world, employees spread out all across the globe. I know what email stress feels like. There’s a lot of professional advice out there on how to overcome and manage email stress. The University of Michigan recommends to adherence …
Read more1 simple hack that helped me achieve less email stress
I’m excited to release our first ever interview on the Inner Work podcast. I spoke with Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu. He’s the husband of Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu, and together they run one of my favorite podcasts of all time, the Muay Thai Bones podcast, and the 8 LIMBS US blog. We talk about Muay Thai, Sylvie’s …
Read moreWhat it’s like to love a fighter with Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu
There’s a reason why I grew a multi-million dollar company through content marketing. I’m good at content because I’ve consumed a ton of content in my life—starting out as a child where I spent all day every day in front of a TV. I was basically raised by a TV. From the moment I came …
Read moreMy 30 day media fast: What happened to my mind when I stopped consuming content for 1 month
I’ve been very out of touch with my own emotions, wants and needs for a long time. And much of the past year has been about getting to know myself better: What do I want? What do I really like? For myself, not for my company, my family, for my team, for my career, but …
A while back I was driving my sons back home with the car, and they got excited about a dope looking sports car they saw. And it led to something I almost never do: I shared advice on how to be successful in life with them. In this episode, I’ll share it with you too, …
Read moreFatherhood odyssey: 5 success rules for 5-year olds