Tag: do

Categories
Blog Post

Travel Through Trepidation

If you wait for trepidation to fade, you won’t ship

You are going to feel some trepidation.

There is no perfect project.

No perfect work environment.

No elixir keeps you free from fear.

As a leader, you have to get comfortable with dancing with that gut feeling that “nothing is going to work.” Trepidation comes when we do something, and it hurts because it might not work.

Something eventually does work.

Then another thing, and another thing.

You have to show up, traverse trepidation and get to ship.

No one hires your fear. They seek, and rely on, you and your deliverables.

Get to work.

Categories
Blog Post

Just Execute for Now

Sometimes taste means not offering direction

Starting a new job or project is exciting.

You want to start applying your taste right away.

One of the ways to do that is to give direction.

“This isn’t how this works; let me show you how I do it.”

It’s tempting. You’ll get to show off your “ability.” While it seems all well and good, you could shoot yourself in the foot when you do this.

Remember, as a new person in a role or position, you lack context. Consequently, it takes some time to understand what’s happening around you.

So, take a moment, and engage with the world around you.

For now, just listen and execute.

Don’t execute that grand new plan, not yet. You’ll eventually get there.

Categories
Blog Post

Create Something

Do you create?

Human beings are complex. That’s why we need to create.

Anything that forces you to put a piece of your thinking “down” and out of your head is a creation.

It’s powerful.

The benefit of getting in touch with your taste and making better decisions is an investment worth making.

Creating gives us time to settle our thoughts.Before you create anything that seems to make sense, you have to pare down. You have to find the truly good ideas.

You have to see that all ideas aren’t good.

The benefit of getting in touch with your taste and making better decisions is an investment worth making.

It’s difficult. Your brain screams “it’s easier said than done.”  It’s easier to continue to our typical day. Habit doesn’t need any additional thought, so we act on what we already know.

To settle is a mistake.

Try something new.Try something new. It doesn’t take much time.

Create something.

Categories
Blog Post

The Idea in Your Head Can’t Do Anything There

Do.

That idea, do it.

It’s a new week.

Try it. Good or bad, your idea is a touch point for your taste.  Trust the world to give you an experience that helps you grow.

Guess what?

Whatever it is might change the world. Or it might not go past your laptop screen.

Either way, you are better to have done it.

So do.

We are all waiting.

Categories
Blog Post

Forward or Backward: Choose One

You can’t go forward and look backward at the same time.

There is a significant difference between forward and backward.

If you look back, you have to opportunity to see patterns. Since all of us are creatures of habit, discovering patterns is the first step to change.

If you go forward, you work to improving or emboldening those patterns.

When you try to do both at the same time, a problem occurs.

If you do, you heighten the chance of regret.

Regret doesn’t create lessons, only confusion.

Decide between backward and forward, and go.

Categories
Blog Post

Do Consume Talk Principle – Putting It Together

This week I wrote about three principles

  • Do – Go do. There is a wide chasm between people who just say they want to do it, those who go through the intellectual rigor, and those who actually execute. Anyone who does that has no choice but to become effective because operating comes with lessons, especially in failure.  So, whatever you want to do, please, go and do.
  • Consume – What we digest is what we ultimately use to create our opinions. All ideas have a starting point. Nothing materializes out of thin air. What we consume physically, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually creates our ideas.  Staying vigilant on what we digest is just as important as keeping an eye on what we do or who we talk to, because if our start is bad, then we doom the idea from the start (GIGO). The other thing to remember is that this is a limited resource. The outer limits are real, so guard what you know, and defend against taking on too much to soon,
  • Talk  – The difference between understanding and ‘thinking you understand’ is huge. That gap remains large if you don’t talk about what you know to other people. Through talking, you get a chance to build understanding and catch up on ideas you thought you knew. Just watch out for your ego (it is going to want to stay safe).

I think these three things are the bedrock of learning and mastering any skill. This principle is open enough to try all disciplines. By doing, talking, and consuming things I get completely engaged. The skill becomes my world, meaning I can’t escape it since it consumes everything.

It also stands as a great measure of where my priorities are. If I look at my calendar and I don’t see those three principles during the week, then I know I get scattered. It is a steady heuristic for my focus, and if I look randomly, I can see just where it lies.  Understanding my focus makes me more effective.

 

 

Categories
Blog Post

The Do Principle

Anything is entertainment

I used to love blog posts. When I woke up I sat  in front of the computer,  consuming the latest on Techcrunch or Gizmodo. I thought that information, and information alone was power; those blog posts were keeping me up to date on what was happening in the world of technology.

Fortunately, I woke up and realized a few things

  • Blog posts don’t give any rigor, are usually wrong, and lead to shallow conversations.
  • Since I didn’t do anything with that time, it was just entertainment anyway.

I realized that reading blog posts is in the same league as wrestling and daytime TV, except they didn’t nail the emotion part as well (those two types of programs are masters of that side of story telling).

Learning how to do starts with doing

I don’t know how I missed that in class, but I finally recognized that action turns knowledge into something tangible, something real.  It’s why I started taking this blog seriously. Instead of thinking about a platform for me to sell things, I understood that this place has real power in forcing me to scratch down ideas and deal with chewing through them. The value isn’t in the clicks, but the rigor that I have to do when I write through them.

That ended up being just the tip of the iceberg. I learned that writing through these ideas is fun, and they test me to try to understand and put them together, but ultimately, I need to take the next step… and commit.

Committing to execution is the goal.

Go do. That’s the point of this post. There is a wide chasm between people who just say they want to do it, those who go through the intellectual rigor, and those who actually execute. Anyone who does that has no choice but to become effective because operating comes with lessons, especially in failure.  So, whatever you want to do, please, go and do.

 

Categories
Blog Post

“To Be or Not To Be” or The War On Being Invisible.

[bctt tweet=”Invisible is normal.”]

“To be or not to be that is the question”

That question drums around in my head before, during, and after I create.It isn’t because I have fond memories of Shakespeare, but I have fond memories of being invisible.

Sometimes it’s nice.

Execution is difficult.  Creation is difficult. Every time we push something into the world, we are dealing with both external and internal forces that make us turn back.Doing anything, especially when there is no instructions and no boss to cover for us, means leaning into the fear – fear of inadequacy,irrelevance,and indifference.

We become visible to the world around us because it involves stepping up and saying – as Seth Godin says – “here, I made this.”

It goes into the world, and we don’t get safety anymore.

Fear has agency here. It’s easy to fall into “it isn’t finished” mode.

It hits me like a ton of bricks. Every blog post, video, or email – it never feels done. But I hit the button anyway.

Why is that?

You learn much faster when you become “visible”.

There is a sense of normal when you stay where you are. When I stick in the same routines long enough, there is a chance at life feeling “normal”. Normal means comfortable, at least in our heads.

But the hidden cost of that normalcy is complacency.  Anything complacent is replaceable – they become a statistic in a world where things are that much cheaper.

Invisible is normal.

So, each time I hit that button, each time I ship, I get to come out of my bubble and say “hello, I am here”.

If I get hit, I learn a lesson. If I get love, I learn a lesson. If no one cares, I still learn a lesson.

So, if you ask yourself that question, try to err on the side of “to be”.

 

Categories
Blog Post

Things Slip Don’t Fall.

Missing a day isn't a big deal

Just don't miss 2.

Even if you do, just start again.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started