Box - The Subtle Art of Not Yelling

The Box

Where projects get finished.

A container for creatives.

Not sure yet? Book a coffee chat with Miles to see if it’s a good fit.

stop learning more things and just take more action

This world is overwhelming.

We’re constantly being pulled in a million directions, and it’s only going to get worse.

So much of what we’re sold online is about planning, strategizing, and thinking.

But doing is the hardest, and most important part.

The Box is where projects get finished.

In The Box, you’ll get organized, prioritize your projects, and finish what you start.

You won’t learn anything new, you’ll simply get a lot done and be a part of a small community of doers.

What’s the Box?

A container for your creative & entrepreneurial energy.

Live cowork sessions
Coaching + support
Accountability
Community
That’s it.

What isn’t the Box?

It’s not a program, course, or mastermind.

It’s not worksheets
It’s not videos
It’s not presentations

It’s not teaching you anything new, it’s giving you the structure to create with what you already know.

Without a Box

With a Box

In other words, a great way to stay accountable, do the work, and actually finish what you started. Because amazing things happen on the other side of finished.

overthinking = underacting

How many of these can you check off?

If there’s more than two…no shame. This is what the Box was created for.

Without a “box” our creative energy will run wild and never come back.

How does it work?

Top Priority

Before you do anything, we need to figure out what project you need to work on. What most requires your focused energy.

Is it client work, starting that podcast you’ve been putting off, building an offer, writing that book, planning that trip, or finally paying taxes!

Ahhh the space you’ll create once you finish…

Create your Box

Once your clear, we’ll create your specific box.

This is the what, when, how part.

What does finished actually look like. When is it due. How will you get it done.

Then…you get to work! Come to the live cowork sessions, ask a question to get unstuck, and update your progress sheet.

Finish

This is what it’s all about. You actually finished!

You can ship it, get feedback, or move onto the next project.

Either way, we celebrate the sh*t outta you!

amazing things happen on the other side of finished.

Why Should You Care

Parkinson’s Law states that work takes as long as you give it to take.

For example, which do you think you’ll finish first?

Write a new song.
Write a short song about birds in 2 days.

Yes, the more specific one.

The other one could take months. You’ll likely get off to a quick start, but then find any and all reasons to put it off.

If you wait too long, it’ll slowly slip into the abyss never to be worked on again.

And so the cycle continues.

“Entrepreneurs Are Struggling With Mental Health — But Where’s the Support?” – Article by the Hustle

The Hustle surveyed more than 300 entrepreneurs on the state of their mental health, and a whopping 63% reported dealing with burnout, with 59% saying they’ve dealt with anxiety.

“Entrepreneurship affects people with and without prior mental health conditions, and personality has something to do with your vulnerability,” he explains. “If you are an introverted person, but as an entrepreneur you can’t succeed without building relationships, that personality trait creates a vulnerability for you.”

Here’s how the Box works and why it’s effective:

Goal Sharing + Progress Monitoring

Research has long convinced us that sharing goals increases our likelihood of success.

Beyond that, monitoring goal progress in a social setting translates into major action.

Both are baked into the Box to ensure you get things done.

Body Doubling

Body-doubling is simply having another person in the room with you, working quietly alongside you. They can work on something similar, or something completely different.

Scientists haven’t exactly figured out why, but they all agree this type of group focus works. (Yes, even online.)

When people come together with a common goal to focus and work, productivity soars.

Coaching

The crazy thing about blind spots, is we don’t see them…until someone points them out. And even then we can’t always see them.

Having a coach point out a mindset, creative, or business blind spot could save you and extraordinary amount of time and energy going in the wrong direction.

You’ll have 2 coaches + community support.

Listen to The Subtle Art of Coaching.

Let’s be real for a second…

We are lazy. Like truly lazy.

And maybe you are too. But not in the shameful way – just that our brains aren’t built to consume so much info and then work all day on stuff we don’t enjoy.

You can only do that for so long.

There’s a big difference between anxious grinding and inspired hard work.

One leaves you drained, overwhelmed, and unhappy. The other leaves you fulfilled, spacious, and excited.

But we can’t just decide to turn on “inspired hard work” whenever you want. There’s no switch.

We have to create it. And that requires focused energy. A container.

A box with rules. Rules like this one from Neil Gaiman:

“You can sit here and write or you can sit here and do nothing, but you can’t sit here and do anything else.” – Neil Gaiman, rule for writing

But here’s what we realized…

We tend to struggle with putting ourselves in this focused container, even if we know it’s what we need.

The box allows you to give yourself the gift of finished.

The Box solves 5 main problems…

For creatives (coaches, entrepreneurs, musicians, writers, photographers, freelancers).

less talking. Less planning. more doing. more finished projects. more space.

Testimonials

The box helped me define boundaries around my projects, celebrate the wins, and finaly finish things that have been sitting on the back burner for too long. I'm amazed at how much I get done during the coworking calls.

Amanda Hilton

Personal Growth Educator / Founder of The Simply Well

If you procrastinate a lot & need more structure for finishing what you start, this is the place to be. Beyond accountability, you also get a strucutre, a plan, and direct support form Miles and his partner in helping prioritize, pland & execute your projects. Highly recommend.

Esai Arasi

Designer

The Box helped me get clear on my projects, instead of vague ideas floating around my head , it demands words around my projects and what finished looks like.

Ragnhild Wesenberg

Freelance Cellist, Self-employed

I've been a Boxer for over 7 months and have finished several projects including publishing my children's book! My projects don't fall on the back burner for months anymore, they get finished. If you're a creative with tons of unfinished projects and ideas, I highly recommend joining the Box.

Natasha B.

Entrepreneur / Yogi @ Welull

Your Hosts & Co-Boxers

Miles Hanson

Brand Architect on a mission to help 500 brands go from wandering to thriving using story, strategy, and design. I love playing the guitar, climbing, frozen mangos, coffee, and a nice cold west coast IPA. I’m from Austin, TX, lived in Denver for 4 years, and am currently seeing if I’m a “beach guy” in LA.

Bill Small

Not long ago, someone asked me, “What do you create?” I had to think for a minute… Then I replied, “I create music and conversations!” It’s true. That’s what I do. I make music. I coach amazing people. I have conversations that make a difference. I ride my bike when I can, and try to be a good dad.

Arguably, it’s not art if no one sees it. It’s certainly not a business if no one buys it.

Why “The Box?”

Bill and Miles (we) are very particular with what we give our energy to.

We don’t do very well with discipline, consistency, and grinding our way through the creative process. We’re not machines.

But we also want our businesses to thrive. We want to build wealth and create a lot of cool stuff for the world.

We both have our own businesses and we’re always healing our relationship with the words “sell” and “promote.”

“The Box” was created on accident.

We came up with “The Box” while recording one of our episodes (this one). We discussed a few topics…

We realized that in order for us to move things forward, we needed a container.

Structure. Boundaries. A clear target. Accountability. Support. Feedback.

The Box, provides masculine/focused energy that’s needed to contain and direct your feminine/creative energy.

It eliminates obscurity and gives you the accountability to see it through.

“There is no such thing as a bad writer and a bad salesperson. There are simply people who practice, and people who don’t.” – @margoaaron

Coworking

Community

Coaching

Accountability

Structure

Scoreboard

Why We Care

We want to help you finish what you start and create more art, less content, more work, fewer plans, and to get past limiting beliefs, imposter syndrome, and perfectionism.

We want to help you get out of your own way and into flow. To reduce burnout, anxiety, and stagnation so you can give yourself the gift of finished.

To move past the fear of selling so more people can benefit from your work.

We would absolutely love to have you be a part of our community.

The Circle around our Box (Community)

Once you sign up, you’ll get access to the community. We use a tool called Circle to host The Box…I mean come on!

It’s like a facebook group, but without the facebook (and way better).

We’ve kept it super lightweight. No overwhelming discussions, long videos, or endless list of resources. Everything that is added in has to pass the no BS test.

We’re not here to add work, we’re here to help you get to work.

Inside, the community, you will introduce yourself, share your box, share your wins, ask for and get support, and be an important part of a growing community.

What’s Boxing

“Boxing” is the back and forth process (coaching) of figuring out your top priority, your top distractions, and then creating a structure around it.

Thus allowing you to finish, ship, or promote your work and free up space for the next thing.

When you and the community understand your box, you’re held powerfully accountable.

Who’s in the Box?

As of writing this, our global Box community about 10 strong with an awesome mix of musicians, artists, copywriters, brand designers, yogi’s, coaches, and more!

Check out our growing Wall of Finished

The Deets

The Box community is always open. We’ve decided not to close the doors. Come in, try it, and leave whenever.

You get:

(8) 90-min calls a month (Tuesday + Thursday @ 10AM PST, 1PM EST
7 coworking calls, 1 boxing call
Community support in-between
Shared accountability sheet (scoreboard)
Rewards for finishing

Once You Sign Up

Once you sign up, you’ll go through our super simple (kinda fun might I add) onboarding process and get access to the community (in circle…isn’t it funny that the tool we’re using for the box is called circle. I love life).

It’s like a facebook group, but without the facebook (and way better).

Okay…enough blabbering. Let’s do this.

Price

Here’s what I would suggest. If this feels like it could be a good fit, jump in for a month. Try it on, feel it out. If you love it, stay in. If not, you can leave.

Read about our transparent pricing.

FAQ

Is it just for creatives and creative work?

Most members are freelancers, business owners, musicians, podcasters, copywriters, designers, and web developers.

It’s for someone who needs to get things done. It’s for someone who needs to finish writing a book, a song, or a sales page. It’s for someone who needs to catch up on client work. It’s also for someone who keeps making things, but not promoting / selling them.

Sound like you’ll fit in?

Why is it $65 per month?

We believe in transparent pricing. Here is exactly why we charge that price.

What happens during the calls?

8 calls per month. 1 boxing call and 7 coworking calls

The boxing call (coaching) is the first call of every month. We do individual coaching to create your box or support you in your existing box.

The remaining 7 calls are coworking calls dedicated to making progress on your box using the power of body doubling.

What happens inside circle (the community)?

The community supports you inbetween calls. Think of a facebook group, but way better and not on facebook.

If you have a questions, need support, need motivation, find an interesting resource, experience a win, or want to see when the next call is…everything happens inside this community.

One thing that DOESN’T happen in here is overwhelm…

We’ve kept it super light weight. There are no videos or resources that you need to go through to learn new stuff. The entire point of the box is to get you focused on trying stuff, finishing what you start, and shipping/promoting your work.

What kind of accountability is there?

Aside from Bill and I helping you create your box and checking in on every call — there is also a live sheet shared by the community that holds your projects and the progress you make.

Anyone at any point can see your project and where you stand.

Is there 1-1 coaching?

Sort of. On the live boxing calls (once a month) you will be in the seat. We (bill and I and anyone else who wants to jump in) will support you in creating and making progress on your box.

Our primary goal is for our boxers (members) to finish what they start. If you’re needing extra support, we are happy to jump on a call with you for 1-1 support from time to time.

What is Body Doubling / does it work?

Simply… Body doubling refers to doing a task with another person present.

If you have difficulty staying focused on a task, the body double’s presence can cue you to remember what you were doing and provide light pressure to stay on track. You can think of the task as a favor to the body double, which can increase your motivation to finish it. The body double is a physical reminder of the task you are trying to complete as well as a way to boost accountability.

How many people are in the Box?

We plan to keep it small for the first year so that every member gets plenty of boxing. Somewhere between 7 and 15. If it begins to grow too big, we will likely create separate cohorts for the live calls. As of writing this, there are 10 boxers.

Not sure yet? Book a coffee chat with Miles to see if it’s a good fit.