From the desk of Adam Thomas

Talk about it.

Lay it out.

Write it down.

We have the power to turn ghosts into something tangible. 

If you are the person that makes the decision, then with a few conversations, you can own it.

In fact, you probably already do.

What that in mind, beside the decision, what are the boundaries? Perhaps a better way of saying this is, where is failure unacceptable? 

How does that list match with your current fear?

I doubt it is one to one.

BOO!

Well, not really. Being jolted into fear by a good scary movie or practical joke is interesting, but not important to the theme this month.

When I ask about being scared, I more mean that slow fear. The one that doesn’t go away.

Let’s talk about it this month.

That’s all. Back to the regular schedule programming – until tomorrow that is :-). 

This month I thought a lot about things being “70% done”

Here are three final thoughts:

• Ambiguity is slippery – The more you know, the more you realize you don’t. Mastery is ultimately the lesson that there is always more to learn – yet you do anyway.
• The key is to not get to Game Over– Losing is ok, but losing everything isn’t. How do you structure your ideas so that you aren’t risking it all? 
• More Is Often Better, But Only If They Go To The WIlderness – New ideas that go out into the world get stronger, so put more of them out there. New ideas that just stay in your head or in a safe space mean nothing.

The work, the good stuff, is ambiguous. 

It’s harder. There is rarely a map, and if there is, you better not mistake it for the territory.

Struggle is signal. 

“I tried some things, a few worked, most didn’t.”

I think you could put that on every creatives headstone and it would be accurate. 

Creatives deal with failure. The ability to stay creative is the ability to navigate failure. 

So, you’ll fail. 

Then, you’ll face the music.

And you’ll get up, and you’ll try again. 

Struggle is a signal to progress.

This morning I am reminded of the Frederick Douglass quote –

It must do this or it does nothing. If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.

Fredrick Douglass 

When giving ideas room to play, as creatives, we have to spend energy trying to wrestling them into something tangible.

Sure, there are some sedentary (read: low hanging fruit) ideas out there, but there is a trade-off. 

The issue is that ideas that aren’t tough to tackle aren’t really worth tackling in the first place.

That struggle, one that can take months or years, can seem fruitless because there is no output. A lot of it will sound ridiculous.

Until one day, it doesn’t, and you have something worth sharing.

Struggle is a signal.

Here is a monthly reminder to get some sleep. If you are still living by “I’ll sleep when I’m dead rules” you are pushing yourself to failure by:

• Not listening to your body
• Not letting your mind do it’s garbage collection
• Not giving your consciousness to wrestle with your unconsciousness

Not to mention – getting yourself to an early grave.

Good sleep is a natural sleep. If you wake up without an alarm clock, success. If you find yourself sleeping through it or snoozing – well, you have work to do.

Get some sleep.

When you grow, pain happens. 

It shouldn’t be chronic – growth is not synonymous with pain. However, you should have SOME pain with the process. 

• You will be embarassed
• You will feel inadequate
• You will feel confused

I think the best way of training the muscle that inspires change within is to acknowledge that pain does happen.

It stops eventually – remember how you felt all of those things the first time you tried to tie your shoes? 

Product Management has a problem – There is no reason for product management to be homogeneous, but it is. There is no major, background, or past experience prior to PM’ing that really dominates the field, however, if you go to any product conference in NYC, SF, or Europe, its the same person, over and over. The products are suffering. Why do we put up with it?

Also, what do Non-Profit PM’s Do? I don’t know, and I am curious. Just want to have coffee or booze and learn. 

Well, not until March 1st – Not boozing until March 1st, minimum. I do a sober month every year, minimum. Helps me refocus and retrain my ability to say no. This month has been a success. 

My mothers surgery was a success – Just happy to say that. Headed to MD for the rest of the month, and I am happy to be able to be around and be helpful.

Vacation? Where? How? – Preparing to take a vacation alone, and I’ve never done it. How do you make sure you don’t fall into your patterns at home? I’m taking this vacation to specifically get into experiences I haven’t done to expand thinking – open to suggestions. 

I’ve been doing Instagram Live vids – Sunday’s at 12:30 PM EST. Haven’t really promoted it, because I am trying to understand the platform and get better at live speaking. Would love to have you there (@thehonorableat)!

Hypnosis is interesting – I had a session with Morgan Lane Bennett and I undoubtedly feel different. I went because I had been feeling a need to focus and take on more and through the session I realized I need to take less. This week, I’ve noticed I’ve been leaving work on time and relaxing more. Recommend, fully.