The car was parked this time.
And I know, the music sounds horrible. I guess you can’t get high def sound through the cell phone air waves.
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Category: Thoughts
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Audio Post From the Car
I just had to do it.
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Ideas Come and Go – Give Them Life
There are a lot of things I haven’t done.
Let me re-phrase that. There are a lot of things I had the idea to do, planned on doing, then just didn’t follow through with it. (There are even more things I haven’t done that I haven’t thought of doing yet.)
But…
There are a lot of things I have done.
So, have I done things because I’ve thought of a lot of things to do, and at least some of them have happened? Does the principle that the guy with the most home runs has the most strike-outs apply here? Or he who has the highest number of stolen bases also get thrown out the most?
Does a lot of success necessarily mean a lot of failure?
I saw a quote today that says, “Success and failure. We think of them as opposites, but they’re really not. They’re companions – the hero and the sidekick.” by Laurence Shames
To me, that means that in order to do great things, you need to do a lot of things.
And the way to do a lot of things is to get the ideas from your head out into reality, so they have some form and substance.
And the way to do that is to write.
That’s why blogging is so good for you.
There’s something really amazing about writing. Do you know what it is?
It’s like giving birth.
Kind of. (I don’t want to get too deep into the analogy here.) It’s like creating something, producing something. It’s taking your thoughts and pushing them out onto the paper (or screen.)
And sometimes it’s painful. It doesn’t come out right, or we might be a little ashamed of it. Why is it always uncomfortable when someone is standing over our shoulder, watching what we are writing? (Everyone knows the old trick of cupping your hand or holding your arm real close to your pencil when someone walks by or tries to look at what you’re writing.) Only after you are complete are you ready to show it to someone. But even then, it’s still a little unnerving because you hope they don’t make fun of it, or criticize it. It’s your baby.
And most people are sensitive to that with real babies. They don’t say, “Well that’s an ugly one, what did you create that for?” (Even though they may be thinking it.)
Everyone realizes that the process of giving birth and bringing a new child into the world is so amazing that it doesn’t matter what it looks like, this mother has done such a tremendous thing, she should be praised and honored. And what she produced should be loved, protected and handled with the utmost care.
Shouldn’t we treat other things that people create in the same way?
It’s Exhilarating
The other point is that producing something is exhilarating. Maybe because it’s so painful. Just like any great accomplishment. If it takes hard work, it feels good when you’re complete, and you can take pride in what you’ve accomplished.
If it’s easy, there’s no reward. No pain, no gain.
So I’d like to create more. I’d like to have more babies – mind babies – getting ideas from my mind out into the world.
That means writing and making things happen.
What about you?
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Looking Back
Do you know what’s fun?
Looking back.
Especially if you have done something good in your life in the past. Sure, we always talk about focusing on the future and forgetting the past because there’s nothing we can do about what has already happened, and it seems like ‘the past’ is mostly associated with all the mistakes we made. But you know what? I’ve done a few good things in the past. And I think you have too.
So if you’re stuck in a rut, and things aren’t going so well, or you just need a boost…
Look back.
That’s what I did today. And it worked. I was really impressed with myself. I’ve written some pretty good blog posts, that I completely forgot about.
I have been in somewhat of a blog posting fog, not able to produce very much at all. (Now if you haven’t been following, I switched my blogging from here to http://grootship.com which is a more focused topic, which may be why it’s harder to produce every day.) So I decided to look back and see how I was able to crank out something every day.
And I was impressed.
Then what happened? I started writing this post. It didn’t take any planning or real effort at all, it just came to me, “I’ve got to write this.”
So it worked.
Maybe it’ll work for you.
I was there!
Yes, I made the trek from one end of the country to the other just to meet some people in person that I only knew online. Plus, it was an opportunity to meet Seth Godin. But the real reason was to bond with the Triiibe.
I know I’ve probably mentioned it before, but here’s a little background. Before Seth’s last book launch, Tribes, he offered an invitation to join his online community if you purchased the book before it was released. I knew it was going to be good, and I’d probably buy one anyway so I said, why not?
So I joined Seth’s exclusive Triiibes.com community on the Ning.com platform, and it was pretty fun. Here was all of these diverse and interesting people from all over the world starting up conversations about the new marketing, building communities (tribes), and making a difference in the world. Seth basically set the guidelines and left us alone. He didn’t do any directing except eliminating people who were spammy self promoters, to make sure the conversations were real and authentic, and to keep out the online riff-raff.
We began working on projects together, collaborated on a couple of ebooks, and generally had a good time discussing things. Over time, different people would drop in and out of activity, but if you hung around you knew who was who.
And then things got personal. We helped console someone through a death in the family, we provided moral support to someone going through a major surgery (sent lots of cards and flowers), and helped others get their personal business off the ground. We dabled in consulting by providing recommendations to a business with a specific problem. We started all kinds of sub-groups from surfing to online marketing to wordpress users and developed bonds as we shared things in common and learned from the wisdom of the group. We even helped one of our members win a contest to be able to be Dan Pink’s guest and speak at TED.
Some of us who were closely located met in person occasionally. But this year we decided to make it big and organize a Triiibes Conference (although nobody liked that word). And there was no better opportunity than Seth’s Linchpin book launch in New York. He let us in on the information about it way ahead of time so we could start planning.
So a small group of us put the plans and details in place and made it happen.
It was a truly remarkable experience, some might even say ‘life changing’. But not necessarily because of the activities we planned, but because of the opportunity to connect in person with some really amazing people who we had already gotten to know well online.
It really is hard to put into words the feelings I had about the experience. People were so generous and willing to share. And there was a lot of great sharing going on. We learned about each others’ business or positions, learned about some great ideas people were working on, and also helped each other with problems or roadblocks that we were encountering.
It was like a big family reunion, because we all knew each other, and even had some inside jokes around discussions that we had online. And people came from all over the world: London, Slovenia, Belgium, Texas, California, and Washington (me), plus those in and closer to New York. People were committed to this event.
We spent all day on a Thursday together getting to know each other, giving presentations and socializing at the Williams Club (a coincidence, or not). Then Thursday night we had a private dinner with Seth at a small Asian place with food we’ll never forget. Friday morning was the public Linchpin Session with Seth where about 500 people showed up to see his presentation and get some books signed. Then in the afternoon, we met again as a Triiibe, along with a couple of new friends we met at Seth’s session, at the Williams Club for more discussion and a nice catered dinner. After dinner we just socialized and talked some more, late into the evening until the club kicked us out.
Connections were made, friendships deepened, and new desire was spawned to make a difference and do work that matters. It will always be considered a milestone event for me and many others.
It’s amazing what a small group of people can accomplish.
What will you do?
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Why Curiosity?
I know it can get me into trouble sometimes, but I really think curiosity is one of my strong points.
It helped me in engineering because I was always asking, “Why does that work?”
And it has helped me in learning about human systems as I ask, “Why do people do that?”
It helps to break down arguments logically as I’m curious why would someone think that way, or what assumptions are they basing their beliefs and position on?
I guess it goes along with my drive to continually learn things. I always check out way too many books from the library than I can reasonably read, but I’ve figured out the formula: curiosity + free = lots of library books stacked everywhere.
The foundation of real learning, is that you really want to learn. And that comes from curiosity – the desire to know what is unknown.
Someone can teach you a lot of things, but if you don’t care, or don’t really want to learn, then you won’t.
Curiosity is also connected with creativity. You have to be curious about what you can create, so you create something to satisfy that curiosity. When you create something you are making something known that was previously unknown.
Seth Godin has a great, short little post about how we might be missing out by not teaching kids how to be curious, and not letting new hires ask why.
It turns out that curiosity is also the basis for improvement.
The main way people are spreading word about their ‘stuff’ is to ask people who can reach a lot of people to talk about it. In other words, they ask famous bloggers to blog about it.
This is somewhat analagous to trying to get your commercial on TV during the Super Bowl instead of putting it up on a local PBS channel. But I think there is less money that exchanges hands, even though it is probably more effective advertising.
So if you want to try and ask a famous blogger to promote your stuff, Chris Brogan has some great tips. And it involves a little more effort than slappin’ down dollar bills. This is the ‘Trust Economy’, maybe more work, but probably more valuable than cash.
There’s also another tactic you can use in this new economy. Instead of asking a famous blogger like Chris Brogan to promote your stuff, you can also easily ask someone else you already know (built trust with) to blog about your stuff. Sure, their blog may not go out to hundreds of thousands of people, but maybe they might reach a few people. And who knows, maybe those few people might tell a few more people about your stuff, and so on.
If you get enough small time people blogging about it, you just might reach a big time audience.
I guess what I’m saying is that if you want me to mention something for you, just go ahead and ask. It could be a mutual benefit for both of us. (If your thing is really cool.)
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Design Your Best Year Yet
This was the title of a free seminar I attended today at my local public library. They actually have some pretty good programs, you should check into yours. Or better yet, volunteer to do your own workshop there, they’d love to have you.
Tonight’s seminar was presented by Debbie Lacy, a Life Coach. She was excellent. And even though I was the only male attending out of about 25 people (I wonder why) it was a great little boost to help me start achieving my goals. She provided practical tools and a different perspective on accomplishing goals.
One of the things she had us do to help define our vision was to answer the following 4 questions, which was a slightly different approach than most.
- In my life it feels like it’s time to…
- I know it’s time because… (list signs/evidence you’ve noticed)
- What are the feelings/essences that you most want to experience in 2010?
- What could you have or do this year that would create those feelings and essences? Try to narrow down to the two most important goals you’d like to achieve by the end of 2010.
I liked how she tried to help you frame your goals in a higher purpose. Yeah, you want to accomplish X, but why? What kind of feeling or essence are you ultimately after?
For instance, you might want to lose 50 pounds, but why? Is it to be healthier? look better? fit into those old clothes? With a more foundational purpose, you might find that the specific goal you’ve chosen may not be the best avenue to get you what you really want. This also helps you to be flexible and change your goals during the year if different opportunities come along.
The first two ‘finish the sentence’ questions help you to have confidence in what you know. She said “It’s important to know why you know what you know.” That almost sounds like a bad joke, but it’s true. If we can recognize the signs or evidences in our life of why we know things deep down, then that will help us not to second guess ourselves for the decisions we make.
The bottom line is, do you trust yourself? If you can build the skills to trust yourself, then you will accomplish your goals.
I believe that statement because usually the reasons we don’t accomplish our goals is because we fall back into our old patterns, we make up lame excuses, or we don’t believe we can do it.
Debbie also shared some other good techniques that I might tell you about later.
What are your favorite tactics for accomplishing goals?
You may have seen, a few posts ago, where I mentioned the free ebook put together by Seth Godin called What Matters Now.
Well, what matters now is that you buy the paperback version created by Triiibes Press.
One reaon is that all proceeds go to Room to Read a worthwhile charity that builds schools and libraries in third world countries.
Another reason is because the paperback version is the first book created by Triiibes Press, an entity conceived by a few members of Seth Godin’s online community (of which I am a member). And you just may be seeing more amazing things being published in the future by Triiibes Press.
Why? Because this community is the most remarkable set of individuals gathered together in one space that I know of. They consist of a plethora of professions and skills, and span the globe, from Australia, the Canary Islands, to London and Slovenia. They are so remarkable that I am traveling to New York next week to meet many of them in person.
Of course, many of us are also going there to see Seth’s new book release event, The Linchpin Session, but since we have a good reason to be there, we decided to plan a Triiibes conference also. This is serious networking.
You wait and see. Mark my words. (I always wanted to say that.) There will be some big things coming out of this loose organization of committed volunteers. Because they are the kind of people who want to change the world.
Don’t you?
Let me know if you want to join us and I’ll see what I can do to get you in.
Yeah, you know what’s going on here.
Sure, it’s another New Year’s Resolution to put up a post every day, but sometimes you just have to use what ever mechanism works. And right now, at this moment, staying on a blog post roll for at least 2 days in a row is getting me back into the habit. So let me be a little pedestrian for a moment.
I’m not even promising that I’m going to keep this up indefinitely, which I know is an easy cop out, but I’m doing it today. And for today, it’s working.
I always wonder how some of those guys can keep up the great content every single day, but I suppose they worked at it for a while, until it became something that they just do, and not a burden or chore.
The real effort, I think, is not just writing every day, but looking for content every day. And that content must be connected to your personal branding – what do you want to be known for? Every post counts a little something.
Well, I haven’t quite figured that out yet, ‘my brand’, although I am being known for something, even if it is not intentional. We all are. Our entire footprint on the web or in person paints a picture of what we are about, whether we like it or not.
What kind of picture are you painting?
Well, here we go again.
I’ll bet there are twice as many (or more) blog posts today than usual, just like there are a whole lot more workouts going on today, and diets starting, and new habits and routines, and just a bunch of good changes in peoples lives happening today.
Why?
Because the earth has turned 365 times and made one whole circle around the sun?
The thing about a circle is that there is no beginning and no end, so we are the ones who have drawn an artificial line in the sand of time somewhere on that circle the earth has traveled, and we’ve decided something special should happen when the earth crosses that line.
Well, the earth doesn’t care. It just keeps spinning. And every turn is the same as all the others.
But I must say, it is a pretty powerful line.
How else could we get almost every person in the world to decide to change their life for the better? I don’t know. But if it’s such a good thing to do, why can’t we do it more often?
All we need is for every person in the world to choose to be better all the time, whatever that means to them, and deep down, they know what it is.
It’s a matter of choice. And we have that privilege every day.
So let’s all do make it a happy new year, and choose to be the person we know is better than what we are right now.
The earth will turn around again tomorrow.
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Here’s a poem I wrote this morning as I thought about this subject.
New Year’s Day
New Year’s Day
a decade begins
but one just ended
after that second.
A line in the sand
drawn by time
is so monumental
and significant.
Ten years of history
reviewed before our eyes,
ten years of predictions
spewed from pundits minds.
New beings emerge
resolved to change their lives
with new habits, goals, and focus
to create a different kind.
So much change
occurs overnight,
a whole new world
appears in the light.
What causes this change,
a cycle of time
determined by the earth
moving along its lines?
Nay, but the minds of the people
who decided to choose
a new way of living
because they wanted to.
Can this desire be unleased
and we find a way
to change the world more often
than just on New Year’s Day?
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Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose
I just watched a TED video by Dan Pink on the science of motivation. He makes the case that there is a huge gap between what science knows about motivation and what companies do. Over and over again, study after study prove that the carrot and stick model of rewards and punishment are not effective.
Actually, he says they are effective in the kind of work where the tasks are specific and known, where all you do is follow the predetermined steps to accomplish the work. But in work that requires some creative thinking, or some unknown process or outcome, then the reward model actually makes performance worse.
The new model, that is most effective for the kind of right brain work we do, revolves around three principles: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose.
Autonomy: The urge to direct our own lives.
Mastery: The desire to get better and better at something that matters.
Purpose: The yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.
Makes sense to me. I’m realizing more and more that this is the kind of work environment model where I would flourish.
And I would venture to guess that a lot of you would too.
Check out the presentation at http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html
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Because of a Blog
You wouldn’t think that your life could change much just by reading a blog, but somehow mine did.
Maybe because it wasn’t just any old blog that I started reading. I knew there were millions of them out there, so it seemed like a good idea to just start with who I thought was probably the best (based on my limited knowledge.) And as it turns out, after a year or so, and reading a lot of other blogs, I still think it’s the best.
I’m talking about the blog of Seth Godin.
Soon after I started reading it, things began happening to me.
One day, in one of his posts, Seth offered an opportunity to have our picture on the cover of his next book. All we had to do was send him a mug shot. So I said, “Why not?” and sent one in.
Then he made an offer that if we pre-purchased his book before it was released, we could join his Triiibe, an online community hosted on ning.com. It just so happens that today, July 29th, is the one year anniversary of the launch of this Triiibe (the 3 i’s have special meaning).
And what a year it has been!
It’s kind of hard to explain, but when you bring a diverse group of smart, take initiative -type people together, you get a lot of good discussion, education, and an opportunity to make something happen. Which is just what we did.
We published two e-books, got one of us to speak at the TED Conference, helped a graphic artist start a comic column, provided some consulting for a company, created more Squidoo pages, started multiple movements, and most of all, built relationships that have enabled countless more things to happen.
And that’s just what the triiibe has done, from my corner, off the top of my head.
In my own personal life, in the past year I’ve been promoted to a dream position as a community builder at the highest levels of the company, started my own blogs (inside and outside the company), earned an Alternate MBA, read many books, organized some big events, and took leadership in making a difference.
All because I started reading a blog.
Who knows, maybe big things could happen to you if you pick the right blog to read.
PS. And my picture did make it into the inside cover of “Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us” (good luck finding it)
Today, in honor of the one year anniversay, a bunch of Triiibe members blogged about their experience. The image below links to another person on the list, but here’s a link to the whole list of Triiibal blogs:
http://mattkern.com/triiibes-links/
Experienced another breakthrough epipany – so I must write.
I’m an Actor
I’ve been acting like a writer lately at work, interviewing people and writing their stories. I guess the reason I’m doing it is because it’s kind of fun for me, even though I’m a total amatuer (although I have been told by some writers that I’m not bad, which is probably why I keep doing it.)
I Have Good Friends
Last week I was talking to a friend of mine who is a writer and I was telling her how I was kind of dabling in her business. Since she is very nice and friendly, she gave me some good advice: read copyblogger.com.
It’s kind of funny because it’s one of those things that have been right under my nose for a long time and I never saw it. It is one of Seth Godin’s recommended blogs, so why didn’t I think it was worthwhile?
Love at First Read
So when I went to copyblogger.com I quickly scanned the blog post titles and immediately fell in love. Then I started looking at the most popular posts and said, “where have you been all my life?” I guess I must really be a wannabe writer if the stuff they talk about on copyblogger gets me so jazzed. (Of course those who know me know that I get jazzed about a lot of things pretty easily.) (Which you might be able to tell from my posts.) (But never mind that, this time it’s for real.)
Here is the Best Advice Ever
So here’s one of the most popular posts on copyblogger: 10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer
Which is why I got motivated again and immediately wrote this post.
No, Actually it’s This One
But then I read this one: The Two Most Important Words in Blogging
And totally blew it in this post. Do you think it was because I didn’t want to or just habit? There, now I can say I used them.
Then Again, Maybe…
I do love writing when I produce something good. But I am pretty slow. It takes me a long time to craft a sentence sometimes. Then later, I remember how hard it was and how long it took, so I wimp out and don’t do it again.
Which is why this post grabbed my attention and gave me some good stuff: How to Write an Article in 20 Minutes.
Advice is Cheap… and Powerful
I could keep going, but you get the point. A friend gave me a little advice, read copyblogger, and that turned out to be the best writing advice ever.
The Rex Blog 