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The Four S’s – Get Er Done

Start, Shred, Ship, Share

Want to know a framework to get your work off the ground?

Give the four S’s a shot

  • Start – Give yourself at least two minutes on the idea and get started with the work of turning it into a reality.
    • The first draft is important, and nothing else. Get to a fully formed “thing.”
    • Important – do not judge what you create at this point, judgment can kill it.
  • Shred – Once you got it to a draft, now allow your critics to show up.
    • First, deal with the most significant critic – yourself. Clean up what looks messy to you.
    • Talking to your self is easy, listening to yourself is hard.
    • After, send to your friends, ask for thoughts. Take whatever feedback comes seriously.
    • “If someone says something is wrong, they are right; if someone says what is wrong, they are probably wrong.” Don’t know who said this but it stuck.
    • Important – set reminders for yourself to do this, because, trust me, even though you love to critique yourself in your head, doing it in the real world is a whole other beast.
  • Ship – The moment of truth.
    • Get it out the door.
    • Don’t let the critic around too long that is a perfectionist trap.
    • Hit publish, send, upload w/e. It will never be perfect.
    • Important – Throw this on the calendar. Plan on shipping on the 15th? Put the ship date for the first. Share it wide. DO. NOT. MISS. IT.
  • Share – If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?
    • No. It doesn’t. Not to our brains.
    • The work never  “speaks for itself” that is ego talking. Trust me; ego is loud.
    • Share it widely.
    • If it spreads, great, if it doesn’t, well “this might not work.
    • Important – Either way, it’s time for you to start again.

I am using my process to share my latest medium post. It’s on Marketing and Trust.

Take a look. Feel free to share with your friends if it makes sense.

Thank you.

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Be a Shipper

Get something out there

You turn into a different person the minute you “ship.”

You instantly gain:

  • Responsibility, therefore trust
  • Portfolio, therefore a trail
  • Product, therefore critique

Those three outcomes are the bedrock of a professional.

They also make great questions if you are figuring out if someone else is one.

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The Siren Song of Perfection

Perfect is the enemy of good

Perfection is a siren call.

We hear the fantastic song of perfectionism as soon as we start a project.

The sweet song is good because we see a new project as a slice of our identity. The song leads us to believe that any imperfection is a mark on us. 

The song also prompts us to believe that once we hit that fabled “perfection,” any and every accolade we can think of is on the way.  We just have to make sure it’s perfect.

Perfection is a siren call.

Remember the sirens? In Greek mythology, they lead sailors to their death.

The siren call of perfection is doing the same thing to our creativity. It lulls us into the hope for perfection; each moment we strive for perfection results in the atrophying of our creativity.

Don’t let your creativity die, because like the sirens, perfectionism doesn’t exist.

Resist their call so your next project can live.

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Just Let It Go!

Sometimes you’ve done all you can.

You’ve crossed all your “t’s” and dotted all your “i’s”.

You’ve checked the work three times.

You’ve made all the arrangements.

There is no more preparing to do.

Now it’s time to ship it out the door and into the world.

Go!

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Notifications and the Work We Miss

That buzz is annoying isn’t it?

Every zing, ding, badge, buzz, and pop sound instantly grabs my attention.

In a few minutes, I go from working diligently to finding an excuse to get to my phone. Soon I start “the cycle” and next thing I know, 20 minutes have gone by.

This only happens when I don’t intend to use my phone. 

Thinking back on it, I’ve never gotten a text that needed a direct answer immediately. That goes double for email. Phone calls have more importance, but we all have free answering machines (who calls people anymore anyway :-]).

Notifications are a bane on our existence. Nothing effects day-to-day concentration like them.

The effects are widespread, pulling us out of flow and depth and leaving us very superficial and disjointed. That superficiality and disjointed nature leave a lot of work on the table. Instead of the interesting stuff that we have the power to craft now, we spend more time creating tweets, texts, and Facebook comments that don’t push our skills or help us grow.

Serious, right?

I turned off my notifications for almost all my apps on my iPhone, and most badges (still have one for text, I should get rid of it). The hope is, I stop looking at that buzz so much and focus on whatever I do.

I hope you join me, there is so much work to do.

 

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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.

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