Sometimes you have to dunk.
Why do I write dozens of tweets during the Grammy’s?
Steven Pressfield, one of my favorite authors, answers that question in his brilliant book, The War of Art
Get Out. Get Moving. Start.
Action always beats intention.
A dream you don’t have to fight for isn’t a dream—it’s a nap. One changes your afternoon. The other changes your world. Keep fighting.
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Sunday Summary – FinishYear Week 17
Week 17 of FinishYear is over! (It’s not too late to join FinishYear with us! Here’s what we’re doing.)
On every Sunday in April, we’ve been sharing a quick summary of how we did that week on our Finish List.
Here’s my list of goals, and the summary of the progress I made:
1. Make the Quitter Conference awesome for people who attend.
We added five amazing things to the Quitter Conference this week. We’ll announce them in the weeks to come, but I can’t believe some of the pieces that are falling into place for this event. We’re headed to another sell out, don’t miss your chance to go, sign up today!
2. I am going to finish reading 12 non-fiction books this year. One per month.
Didn’t do a ton of reading this week. I’m in the middle of writing another book, so I’m jumping through a dozen or so that I’m quoting from. I have just a day left to finish my fourth book Imagine: How Creativity Works
3. I am going to finish running the Nashville half marathon Saturday, April 28th in under 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Done! I ran yesterday and my time was 2:07:16. (My app said 2:03:36, but I think the official race time was unfortunately more accurate.) Either way, I hit my goal and beat my previous time of 2:16:10. Next up I think I’m going to start training with my buddy Stephen Brewster at the gym.
4. I am going to finish writing a new book in 2012.
Manuscript is due June 1. Right now I’m in the process of expanding the outline and clearing out all the fake books I keep trying to write. (My first drafts are usually the books I think I “should” write, not the books I really want to write.)
5. I am going to finish a box of thank you cards this year as a sign of my gratefulness.
Zero cards. This is my least productive goal right now.
6. I am going to finish handwriting out the entire book of Proverbs in a moleskine notebook.
I’m in chapter 24!
That’s how I did.
How was your week?
What on your Finish List went well? What on your Finish List needs more attention next week?
Don’t become a travel agent.
A few weeks ago I tweeted a link to a New York Times article and wrote this, “Why didn’t Leica, Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Olympus build Instagram? A critical question every business has to answer.”
The article raised a challenging idea that keeping up with innovation can become “a cyclical problem all successful companies eventually face as the technology around them changes, but they cannot change.” The success of the past essentially makes it hard to recognize the necessary innovations of the future. (Read the article here.)
In response to my question about why didn’t Nikon build Instagram, someone tweeted, “Maybe because they’re imaging hardware companies, not social media companies?”
Skrillex wants you to put down your smartphone.
Skrillex is one of the biggest names in electronic music right now. He plays sold out shows across the planet, recently won a bunch of Grammys and has a Facebook fan page that adds 300,000 new fans each week.
His sound is based on the magic he’s able to make with a Macbook and a billion digital files. Knowing his penchant for all things electronic, he’s the last person you’d expect to throw a flag of caution about how much we all use our cellphones. And yet …
This is what Skrillex recently said to a group of people at one his shows as reported by Rolling Stone magazine:
VIDEO: The power of vulnerability.
This video is 20 minutes long, or roughly 14 years long in Youtube video terms. But, I assure you, it is worth it.
Lately, I’ve felt the invitation to be vulnerable extended to me in a number of different ways. Frankly, I find the term “vulnerability” a bit terrifying. In this clip from the TED conference, Brene Brown unpacks what it means to live with vulnerability and why it’s so important. If you don’t have time to watch it, here are some highlights:
1. The original definition of courage was “to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart.” The courage to be imperfect.
2. Based on intense research, Brown found that people who live with their whole heart possess three things:
Compassion – to be kind to themselves first and then to others because as it turns out we can’t practice compassion with other people if we can’t treat ourselves kindly.
Connection – they were willing to let go of who they thought they should be.
Vulnerability – they believed that what made them vulnerable made them beautiful.
3. My favorite quote was “I know that vulnerability is kind of the core of shame and fear and our struggle for worthiness, but it appears that it’s also the birthplace of joy of creativity of belonging of love.”
Question:
What was your greatest takeaway from this clip?
Sunday Summary – FinishYear Week 16
Week 16 of FinishYear is done and done! (It’s not too late to join FinishYear with us! Here’s what we’re doing.)
On every Sunday in April, we’ve been sharing a quick summary of how we did that week on our Finish List.
Here’s my list of goals, and the summary of the progress I made:
1. Make the Quitter Conference awesome for people who attend.
We announced this week that we’re holding the next Quitter Conference in Nashville on September 21-22! This goal is back on and you will not believe some of the surprises we’re rolling out for this conference. The last one sold out, if you’ve got a dream you want to jump start, make sure you sign up.
2. I am going to finish reading 12 non-fiction books this year. One per month.
I might do a longer review later, but if not, definitely check out, Imagine: How Creativity Works
3. I am going to finish running the Nashville half marathon Saturday, April 28th in under 2 hours and 10 minutes.
The half marathon is next Saturday! I ran this week and am feeling inspired by my little sister Molly. She just ran a full marathon in Madrid, Spain!
4. I am going to finish writing a new book in 2012.
Time to jump back on this one. I have a solid outline now and have some momentum.
5. I am going to finish a box of thank you cards this year as a sign of my gratefulness.
Zero cards. Having a hard time being consistent with this one.
6. I am going to finish handwriting out the entire book of Proverbs in a moleskine notebook.
Still going strong on this one.
That’s how I did.
How was your week?
What on your Finish List went well? What on your Finish List needs more attention next week?
Want to Kill Your Dream? Start Lying.
(Today’s blog is a guest post by standup comedian John Crist. Check out his website or you can follow him on Twitter @johnbcrist)
Want to Kill Your Dream? Start Lying.
This idea came to me in the shower; the exact place Jon Acuff said it would come.
I just left my company to pursue my dream as a standup comedian. When people questioned my decision to leave, I found it extremely easy to exaggerate.
2 questions that make 99% of all haters invisible.
The next time you get hated on, I want you to ask two quick questions. You have to ask them immediately before the hate has time to settle in your head and confuse you into thinking it’s criticism. (Hate and criticism are completely different. One leads to wounds, one leads to growth.)
Chase a dream, not a number.
There’s a bed they sell that let’s you set a “sleep number.” You get to determine the stiffness or softness you want with a dial and then enjoy a restful night of customized comfort. I forget the name of the manufacturer, but if they want to sponsor my blog, I would Google that on the quick and write it in bold. (The kids need new shoes! Keens specifically, because wow, those things stink after a season of backyard romping.)
The commercials they run about this bed have people talking about their “sleep number.” I think it’s an interesting concept, but what’s even more fascinating to me is that most people have a “success number.”
Sunday Summary – FinishYear Week 15
Week 15 of FinishYear is over! (It’s not too late to join FinishYear with us! Here’s what we’re doing.)
On every Sunday in April, we’ve been sharing a quick summary of how we did that week on our Finish List.
Here’s my list of goals, and the summary of the progress I made:
1. Make the Quitter Conference awesome for people who attend.
I’ll be updating this one on April 17!
2. I am going to finish reading 12 non-fiction books this year. One per month.
I’m in the middle of book number 4 right now, Imagine: How Creativity Works
3. I am going to finish running the Nashville half marathon Saturday, April 28th in under 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Ran only two times this week, so that’s about a C-. I’m headed to California this week and will need to figure out where to run when I’m there or race day is going to be tough.
4. I am going to finish writing a new book in 2012.
One more week of heavy travel and then I’ll jump back on this one. I can write blog posts in 30 minute chunks here and there but have a hard time getting into the flow of writing the book without a lot of running room.
5. I am going to finish a box of thank you cards this year as a sign of my gratefulness.
Zero cards, but I have four people that I need to write one to this week. Two people I spoke for at events and two of my team members.
6. I am going to finish handwriting out the entire book of Proverbs in a moleskine notebook.
Continuing to knock this one out. Wrote two times this week.
That’s how I did.
How was your week?
What on your Finish List went well? What on your Finish List needs more attention next week?