Tag: risk

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My Wallet and My Fears

No wallet lessons:

  • It is easy to go on a tangent when you have options. If I have no money and no options, I go directly to the place where I need to go. If it isn’t in the plan there is no reason.
    • Takeaway: Plan out my day and don’t leave an escape route.
  • If something feels remotely difficult, I try to escape mentally by buying something. I don’t think about these things after I buy them.
    • Takeaway: If I want to buy something, think about it for a while. Take a second every month to look at my purchases, be aware of the things I don’t use and spend.

Publicising lessons:

  • It is hard work. I couldn’t jut wing it. Doing it properly took some time. There are tools to help this process.
    • Takeaway: Dedicate time to it like I do with this blog. I can’t wing something like that and expect results. I can use tools like Buffer to get results.
  • Fear is at the heart of not doing anything when it comes to making things public. Being scared is part of the game, and it comes in many forms.
    • Takeaway: Make taking things public a part of my routine. Not just with twitter, but with Facebook, Instagram, and a mailing list.
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Continuing Project – Experiment to Better

Building a project takes time. We suffer bumps and bruises on the way, but if we finish dilligently, we sit back and marvel on what we did.

There is a trap.

Don’t treat projects the same.  For some, leaving them as they are is fine.

A photograph edited is a photograph complete.  There is nothing to add by looking back at that picture for anything other than a tool for something else, locked into a space and time, and looking back at that picture won’t make you better at your craft.

But, there are also projects that have continuous value attached when working on them.

For example, your personal website is your corner of the internet. By coming back to it on a scheduled basis  – there are plenty of opportunities for growth through experimentation and a natural place to test your ideas.

I’ve tested my ideas for writing here on this blog for 2 years, at first sporadically, now daily. There are different types of posts (productivity advice, leadership, even a week where I tried describing things.) Through that I am better as a writer at something I was nervous about (my past as a music reviewer made my opinion easier to hide).

These types of projects (please limit them) find themselves abandoned sometimes, especially if there is no system in place.

Last night I began to look at the front page of my website – and recognized it as one such project.

I last updated it in 2014. When I look at it now, I see that I am missing many opportunities for expansion.

Key among them:

  • My Blog: This blog is hidden and separate, even though they share the same domain. That needs to end.
  • Copy: The copy here is lazy. I don’t know what I am “selling”, so why would you “buy”? I could be telling a story here – there is none. Its compartmentalizing.
    • Nothing on my business experience.
    • Nothing on my writing experience.
  • Design: It isn’t awful, but I think there are some improvements
    • Color scheme needs more effectwith drawing the eye
    • Videos higher quality and better placement to work with the story telling.

Last night I began – and launched project design – first iteration called Adam (ORIGINAL!)

There will be a timeline soon(post coming) with images (Reddit smashing coming) and then a launch with a product (podcasts).

Feels scary. Feels good.

 

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Phone Gone – What Did I Learn?

A few notes having no cell phone.

  • I am an addict – I couldn’t keep my hands off of it when it is around me. The best way to stay away from the phone was to have it in another room. Leaving it at home during the day worked well.
  • Work improved – Without having an escape, I had to get to work. I got to tasks quicker and moved the needle on both work and personal projects. Got more ideas.
  • No one needs to contact me – Like when I learned when I cut off my email until a certain hour, using your phone is easy and starts volleys to distract both parties.
  • Time – I felt flow much easier and time moved quicker.

Changes Proposed

  • No phone three times a week,
  • Calling instead of texting
  • When I have my phone, putting it in another room.
  • Using the phone as a reward mechanism
  • Deleting all my apps
  • Batching phone tasks like emails

 

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No Cell Phone Day 2 – No One Died

I got home late last night – about 15 hours with no cell phone.

Came back to a few messages, a few emails, and a lot clearer head.

Took care of my cell phone business – which took about 15 minutes, and went about my evening.

I woke up this morning, went into my old habit of checking my cell phone when I woke up, and then put it aside.  Got dressed, walked to work – no phone.

No one died, no business crashed, nothing crazy happened. I just went on about my day yesterday.

Perfect chance to do it again.

I am noticing:

  • No Music – I’ve experimented with this on and off for the last few weeks. With no phone, I can’t listen to anything.My mind is clearing up during the day, and it has time to work through some things.
  • Speaking More – I find myself talking in my head more. Usually music or a text gets my attention, but with nothing on around me my internal engine starts going.
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Risk 1 – No Phone During The Day

The buzz.

I am a slave to the buzz.

The buzz, the ding, the whistle. Everything that has to do with the phone alerting you to something happening.

Sometimes, turning it off helps. But to get back into it, all you need is a reason – an argument on Facebook, something happening on twitter, or a great picture.

My risk this week – I am going to leave my phones at home for the next few days.

 

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Creating and Risk

[bctt tweet=” life as a forest, and each risk we take, especially the ones that scare us, cut down a bit to start a path”]

Creating stuff sucks.

One thing is for sure, our brains run from it when its close to home, because suddenly, risk..

Risk that is out-of-bounds by being too big (I am not scared of risking 100 million dollars, because I don’t have it, so its easy for me to say it about a company ) or too small ( likewise, I am not running away from hot or iced coffee) isn’t scary to us at all.

Neither of the risks above matter to me because they don’t matter. Capital at that level  doesn’t exist for me and coffee, hot or cold accomplishes the objective. But shipping – a whole other creäture.

Shipping is scary because it is close.

Creating something productive is scary (Producing a YouTube video about this blog). It creates a risk of being seen. That risk turns into doubt.  (People could scream how dare I) It is unpredictable, so it is a risk.

With that said, the risk is big enough to push new skills (Video Editing, Producing) and small enough to just do (Just pick up a camera and shoot). The fear comes from the idea that failure is an option. I don’t need much convincing to stop trying. Much easier to pick up the Witcher 3, cruise YouTube, and text people to not feel alone.  Failure hurts.

But you don’t grow without it.

 

The reason to go through with the pain is two-fold.

  1. Adjustment – In December, When you step out of your house in the morning with no jacket, it is obvious how cold it is.  The first day will be awful. That is how creating feels for me. Each time I go out, I still feel that cold, but it becomes a bit better. Our bodies adjust, and the skills that you learn adjust too.
  2. Vision – You can’t see if you stay in the same place. Lately I have seen life as a forest, and each risk we take, especially the ones that scare us, cut down a bit to start a path (Our authentic selves) in front of us.  Even failure cuts that forest a bit.  So what you failed – you get abetter each time.

 

 

 

 

 

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Free Falling – My Journey Into Risk

This was meant for September but here we are :-). 

[bctt tweet=”Ben Franklin once said that most people die at 25, they are just buried at 75.”]

AGHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Fear.

I spend most of my life in comfort. I have a schedule, a paying job, a fully paid subway pass, and a blog.

I spend most of life in fear.

There are several ways that I keep myself comfortable. I don’t bare enough of myself to other people. I compartmentalize all the time. I spend most of my life being as risk averse as possible .

In the end, I limit my opportunities this way.  By avoiding even the smallest of unnecessary risk, I close out my vision and keep myself restrained in a consistent reality tunnel.  Over regulation leads to stagnation. Ben Franklin once said that most people die at 25, they are just buried at 75.

The worse part about it is I STILL LIVE IN FEAR.  So, the two aren’t tied together, and I need to stop being risk averse.

So, October’s theme is risk.

At the surface, this looks like direct competition with my theme in August but by establishing the habit, I give myself the space for creative.

Themes:

  • External Failure – I will be engaging with a lot of external failure.  How will deal with being told no? Does it get any easier? What are some ways to get back up after being told no, over and over? I spend a lot of time holding myself away from it by compartmentalizing and excuses. How will it feel to pull the ripcord and see if anything saves me – without the backup chute of “I didn’t care”?
  • New Things – With risk and creativity come new things, even in old disciplines. How do I engage? What new things help me? Which will hurt me? I have done a few new things over the last year, and they make me feel alive. How do I keep up with them and not end up in a bad way?
  • Built In Risk – To tie in with August, I need to systemize. What systems will I discover to deal with built-in risk ? Is there such a thing, and how do I carry it out? How would it effect my daily life?

Those are the big three topics that I want to hit, but with everything in life, things change with the minute. If you think you can help in any way, please reach out with suggestions through Twitter @TheHonorableAT or by engaging in the comment section below.

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Go Forth And Prosper

Got to say, I have been pretty vulnurable lately.

I’ve hung out with some great people, and all I could think is I don’t belong here. 

I have to explore this, and I don’t know how to proceed from here, but I can say I have a grip on the situation because I think I some perspective on it. 

Going to spend the weekend working on a few things. We will see how they come together in a few days.

Happy Friday, and hopefully, this weekend can create some magic for you.

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Dreams Wrapped In A Bow

I have been writing far too many posts lately as links.

Very little have been my personal view of things, or what i am thinking.

The next few days will be a test ( Today, Friday, M – Wed) of next week, of where I will start with a blank page, and simply just write what I feel. From there, maybe I go back to the links, or maybe I mix them in. No pictures, no links, just words.

Either way, it is going to be an adventure, and that is something that i have been missing creatively.

I had a dream about me walking a crowd full of people in a comedy club because of one heckler. I threw pudding on the owner for firing me. Then watched the olympics.

It came from a day of tying myself in a personal box?   You ever do that? Block your feelings, become emotionally unavailible?

That was interesting. It more than likely means nothing, but maybe I was telling myself something. Who knows. Any odd dreams lately?

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Risk, fear and worry

Risk, fear and worry

English: RISK Die

Trying to decipher this.

Learning how to master this could give you the ability to fail…and failure is the only way to success.

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