Big project ideas

About those critics

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Decision making, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises, Staying focused, Working with your guides , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A friend from high school asked me a question.

“How do you take that next step when you don’t want to hear the criticisms…. constructive or not? I am a big believer that art, whatever the medium, is a personal expression… So how can one tell you what you created is wrong?”

What a great question as we try to do good work, try to be helpful, and try new adventures.

I have so many thoughts on this. Here are the big three. Continue reading →

Mapping your personal ecosystem

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Having a stable network can play a huge role in how much you get done and how happy you are.

  • Building a stable network takes time, energy, and focus.
  • A stable network isn’t static – it’s in a constant state of change.
  • When you have a stable network it’s hard for one outside influence to take down the whole eco-system because the connected parts sustain the larger whole.

So let’s make a map of your own personal ecosystem as it stands today. Continue reading →

All magic – and no magic potion

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I was giving a talk this week on Organizational Zen and asked the participants to jot down what their intent was for attending. There are a couple of things I like about focusing on intent.

  • When you have a clear picture in your mind of why you’re doing something – whether it’s working, going to a meeting, taking a class, or having a conversation with an old friend or with a complete stranger – you listen differently. When you know what you’re looking for, you’re more attentive which makes whatever you’re doing a great use of your time. As Eckhardt Tolle says, whatever you’re doing now is the most important thing you can be doing. So choose with intent, and then show up.
  • When you don’t have a clear picture in your head of why you’re doing something and can’t for the life of you remember why you chose to be there – leave. This probably isn’t a great use of your time. Even if this is something you used to love, if you feel your energy drain even thinking about participating, it’s time to do something else.
  • When you don’t have a clear picture in your head of why you’re doing something AND you feel in your gut that this is meant to be – stay put. There’s magic at work.

Continue reading →

10,000 hours

organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Decision making, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises, Working with your guides , , , , , , , ,

Malcolm Gladwell describes “outliers” as people who are at the ends of the spectrum – the few who stand out for their artistic success, their business acumen, or their athletic achievements. His book, Outliers, studies these winners like scientific specimens and comes to an awesome conclusion: to be successful in any field, you need smarts. You need opportunities. And mostly, you have to work hard. Really hard. Like “10,000 hours” hard.

Great artists, successful business people, and uber-athletes make what they do seem easy. It’s not. Yes, there are savants, but to be a success in any field, you have to be intentional about the work you choose to do. You have to stay focused. You have to prioritize getting your work done.

And you put in those 10,000 hours to get really, really good. Continue reading →

Exploring the power of a connected community

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused, Working with your guides , , , , , , , ,

I’m working my way through Thomas Friedman’s book, Thank You For Being Late, for the second time in as many weeks, and am struck by the immense power of a connected community.

  1. The amount of digital information you can learn from a computer with internet access is unlimited – with free on-line classes at Khan Academy or YouTube. Through free podcasts. By taking a MOOC (mass on-line class). Using search sites like Google. Or reading newspapers from around the world.
  2. You can join a conversation of millions through social sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest, to effortlessly share ideas, businesses, products, and friendships with strangers from around the globe.
  3. There are no gatekeepers in an open, digital world for anything you want to create and share: products, books, music, videos, classes, and ideas.
  4. The largest hospitality group, Airbnb, owns no rooms. The largest transportation company, Uber, owns no vehicles. The largest retailer, Amazon, owns no stores. The largest content provider, Facebook, owns no content. What each group owns is a terrific, helpful vision, great software, and a global connection through the Cloud. You don’t have to own anything to have a thriving business.
  5. If you need cash for a start-up, crowd-sourcing has become business-as-usual through sites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and GoFundMe.

Continue reading →

And then this happened…

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You’re smart.

You have a plan.

You have a vision.

You move through life making decisions and feeling in control of the direction of your life.

AND you know that stuff happens that sends you off in new directions on a pretty regular basis.

AND often, it’s long after you’re pushed off track that you look back and see that what happened was exactly what had to happen. Continue reading →

You have unlimited learning potential

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Finding your "why", Getting started, Productivity tips for work , , , , , ,

In the “old days,” we attended K-12 classes. Then maybe you went to college, got a degree, got a job and progressed by working hard or making lateral moves to other companies to get ahead. Throughout your career, you learned from experienced people you worked with, and maybe you got a grad degree, but even with that, you mostly had to figure things out for yourself.

thank-you-for-being-lateIn Thomas Friedman’s new book, Thank You for Being Late, he explains why this learning pattern doesn’t work in a time of super-accelerated technological change. Today, most schools don’t even teach the latest technology because things are happening faster than teachers are being educated. So how are we expected to keep up? Continue reading →

“The future has an ancient heart”

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“The future has an ancient heart.”

I love this line from Italian writer Carlo Levi. The thought is that you are who you are from the moment you’re born, and the future reveals what’s always been there.

If you’re struggling with where you’re headed, look back at where you were when you were 5, 10, 15, 20… Continue reading →

Deadline!

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Do you have something you really want to do but never seem to make time for? Here’s a simple idea: Set a deadline.

Right, you say. I’ll just break it if it’s my deadline.

How about this?

  • Get a clear picture in your head of what you want to get done.
  • Set a realistic deadline for when you could complete this awesome thing.
  • Tell a friend what you’re going to do and what your deadline is.
  • Write out a check that would hurt financially to pay to an organization that you’d HATE to contribute to.
  • Give the check to your friend.
  • Full of incentive, go do the work you’ve always wanted to do.

Continue reading →