Sam Vander Wielen

From Screen Time to Brick Time: An Online Journey A year ago, I tossed and turned in bed at night trying to fall asleep feeling like my head was a fuzzy, buzzing mess. I couldn't stop replaying moments from my day -- an annoying text I got from someone, a reel I saw on Instagram about an earthquake that destroyed an entire community -- and worrying about what would come tomorrow. The next day, I woke up to my weekly screen time report: "This week, you averaged 8 hours per day of screen time...

Hey Reader! This is the #1 most popular email of this year! You made it. Read the email all the way through, then scroll to the bottom for my strategy behind it and takeaways on why it was so popular. Then hit "reply" and let me know how you liked it! :) Sometimes You Just Need to Start A few days after I signed my Big 5 book deal, I sat staring at my MacBook, wondering, "do I just start a new Google doc?" As a naive first-time-author, I imagined a book stork dropping down from the sky to...

Hey Reader! I'm sending you my top 4 most popular emails of the year each week this month... and then breaking down what my strategy was and why I think it hit. This is my #3 most popular email of this year! Read the email all the way through, then scroll to the bottom for my strategy and takeaway. See if you can tell what "role" I'm playing in this email. Hit "reply" and let me know what you think of this series! :) Perfect Would've Killed This I just cranked out a quick 12.5 miles on my...

A Breaking Point I popped up out of the wave, skidding across the shell-filled sand on my tush. Gasping for air, I wiped the salty water away from my eyes and realized... My favorite sunglasses had become one with the ocean. I hope he loves them as much as I did I didn't end up in the ocean yesterday by accident (or because it's my favorite place on the earth and I just so happen to live on an island surrounded by it.) I went because if I didn't, I was going to snap. You know when life stress...

That Time I Wanted to Quit A few weeks ago, I was ready to quit. Maybe I wouldn't have gone through with it -- I think I would have had more than a few people talk me out of it if I did -- but I certainly felt like shutting down my business, popping open a Grapefruit Spindrift, and saying, "that was a good run," as I kicked back on the beach. 😵💫 It was just one of those weeks. I had a bunch of really rude, entitled people in my inbox demanding things they don't deserve (and would never demand...