Creative from New York NY
Confirmation Bias – If you find yourself seeing your thoughts replicated in everything, chances are you are just looking to be agreed with. You are all in on confirmation bias, you need to unplug and change your scenery.
Never – Never ever. Yeah. Never.
Finding the spot – Strange to comment on, but I’m going for it. You know that part of a stretch that feels good, “the spot,” the one that makes you raise your hands in victory? I love it. I wish I knew how to trigger it.
How about you?
Sleepy – Good sleep is great. Great rest is amazing. And amazing sleep can help you change the world. I saw an article about a pro athlete supercharging his performance by just focusing on his sleep, and it makes me think about the people who say, “I can sleep when I am dead.” Doesn’t sound like a wise decision to follow as a person. If it is good enough for a pro, it’s good enough for you.
Some Questions – Here are a few things I thought about this morning:
One More – I thought about another question as well. This question “The phrase I hate the most?” Needs to be unpacked a bit here.
When I ask about that question, I am trying to learn more about the person.There has to be some sort of origin story with such an emotional attachment, right? I’d also wager that It effects how you see the world and that the story you tell yourself about it effects your work to this day.
How do we explore that part of ourselves to learn more about who we are?
Who are we?
Taste – Is a good thing. You are into what you are into because you have taste. Taste moves the world forward. Taste is your curiosity. Taste opens up routes to collaboration. Taste is good.
I don’t know – The time it takes for you to close your feedback loop is based on how comfortable you are with the phrase “I don’t know.” Why? The truth is we never know, we are guessing. Always guessing. If we admit we don’t know, then we can move forward.
Honesty -I changed the way I wrote my blog because I wanted more honesty in my writing. My theory is if I write about more, my writing will have no choice but to get deeper.
I want to break through a wall of self consciousness and get more honest with my writing. I need to find a voice.
This morning, I realized that I’m still restricting myself. The first few attempts at writing this post today were full of fluff. It sucked, it was safe, and I was frustrated.
All wasn’t lost, it was a reminder that being honest is a battle that you have to continue to wage against what the world wants you to be. Stay vigilant.
“Reality” – The status quo protects the oppressor, doesn’t it? People in power love to say things like “be realistic” when realism is them retaining power. People love to say “I’m (my opinion is) in the middle” with whatever they say when “in the middle” just means I think the people believe whatever I say. People love to say “it’s just a joke” when the joke is they know there is no consequence for their bigotry.
The oppressor always win in the system.
Who is it for? – doesn’t mean anything if you don’t know who you are marketing to. Sounds obvious, until you ask followup questions to the team that is spending the marketing dollars. Everything matters – hopes, dreams, fears, and frustrations. If you cannot speak to that, it means you aren’t prepared to differentiate yourself in the marketplace and you are more than likely throwing marketing dollars away.
Quicksand – If you are not prepared to fix the structure, then whatever bandaid you are preparing to use to fix the situation may not only be ineffective but function as quicksand. What do I mean by quicksand? Well, you think you’ve given someone a way out, but you’ve only helped them sink further, and the more they try to use whatever fix you gave them, the further they sink.
This is why quick fixes can often become anything but.
Innovation Part 4 – Teams that don’t talk don’t innovate. Once a month, give yourself the space to just talk – talk about how things are going, how things can get better, what is stopping you, etc. You might think an hour is enough, but when you are on the edge, you’ll need more than that.
Level Setting – Often missed. Get everyone on the same page. I don’t much care HOW – use whatever framework you’d like, but get them there.
Running on fumes – The edge of burnout feels exactly like it should. You are tired. You are irritable. Your hunger fluctuates. In short, you know you aren’t one hundred percent. The danger comes when you are in that state long enough for it to become normal. Then you are on the path to full burnout.
Maybe it isn’t even running on fumes as much as it is running on a spare tire. It isn’t a matter of if that tire (YOU!) will pop, but when.
“Hustle” – Is a lie. Stop spamming people. You don’t win someone over with a sales pitch the minute they open up LinkedIn.I know you’ve seen some Youtube videos, but stop.
Providing value – isn’t about burning you or your community out. You don’t win points for putting yourself though hell, even if that road is paved with good intentions. Value comes from your experience and perspective. How you communicate that is all that matters.
Happy 4th – Enough said. If you have a break today, enjoy. If you don’t you should. Defaults matter.
Quality Work -Starts with you thinking about what you want to accomplish, what you don’t want to accomplish, and how you get there. Don’t skip steps, and don’t forget to write it down. “Off the cuff” sounds great at the moment, but that’s only for the movie stars. Professionals focus.
Indictments – Not everything is an indictment. If you are in the headspace where it is, take a break, have a breath, and detach for a bit. You are too close to the work.
From the desk of Adam Thomas 