Tag: theme

Categories
Blog Post

Theme’d

What are you working on today?

Is it connected to anything else you are doing? Are you establishing a practice? Is there anything in common with what you did a week ago, or a month ago?

If you’ve never tried to theme you days, I recommend it.

What I mean by “theme?” Bundle a group of tasks together and assign a time to it (it can be a day of the week, a day of the month, or day of the year). 

I am working on my financial literacy now and I’ve crafted a “budget” themed day – a day once a month where I pay bills a month in advance and check in on my automated systems. 

What does that do for me? Well, it makes sure that I get all my bills, because that is all I focus on (also, I have a checklist). Since my mind is directed on “financial health” I am in the mental space to come up with ideas on how to improve (for example, the other day I signed up to Betterment because I realized I needed to diversify).

It also gives you a place to “throw things” – I don’t have to worry about bills until that day, so it takes a load off.

Give it a try :-).

Categories
Blog Post

Talk Your Way Through It – Over-communicating – May 2016

Do you like it when people hide?

I hate it.

I do it all the time, though.

Ahh, stop right there. I felt someone get defensive. When I say “over-communicate,” I don’t mean sharing your awful college party secret that you and your friends think is unique but isn’t. I’m talking about the second quarter projections that give you a sinking ship feeling when you go into meetings. I’m talking about losing steam on a point that you think is relevant but you aren’t sure it landed. How about that discussion that you know you should have with your significant other about how you feel, but you keep it bottled up because you don’t want to rock the boat?

All of that isn’t sparing anyone’s feelings: not sharing what’s overwhelmed your mind is hiding because we assume that the messenger gets his head lopped off.

Bu, knowing what to say, how to say it, and then delivering it in a way that everyone is clear gives you a ton of leverage and respect.

That’s what we are working on this month.

This month’s theme ties into communication

At the end of last year, I wrote a post that resulted in my picking four themes for 2016. They are the guiding light (strategic)  for my ideas. Each month on this blog, I break things down into the practical (tactical). This year I want to tie them together, so each month, I have to write the reason they connect.

It’s a balance that dictates whether you are a wallflower, a leader, or an annoyance. I want to explore that this month since I feel over-communicating is an attack on fear. It’s also recognizing it’s boundaries, learning when you aren’t over-communicating, but babbling and taking over everyone’s time. I want to get to the bottom of both to see what happens.

Reread candidate

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
by Brené Brown – To do this right, I think you need to be vulnerable. There is no better book I’ve read on the subject than this one. 

Assumptions

  • Vulnerability plays a large role in if we dare to overcommunicate.
  • Learning how to use other mediums is effective here.
  • Paying a little bit more of a resource (time, money, etc.) to get “small” things done for the sake of over-communication for leverage.
Categories
Blog Post

The Persistent Assault on “the Boring” – My Theme For March

It’s time to finish what I start

Starting something is easy. It’s where I get the most comfortable. The first part always brings me joy because I get the opportunity to get on the “ground floor,” a chance to see the potential of an enterprise and fantasize about making it work. I get to look straight up and imagine the skyscraper that potentially could happen.

In a sense, its renewal. I get to start with “fresh eyes” and forget about the stuff in the past. I get to release my “burdens” and become whole with the new.

Where this picture goes “left” is when I leave the beginning, and find myself in the middle, or what I like to call “the boring.”

From the Newsletter

Keeping the ball in the air is difficult. It requires a bit of faith, especially when you find yourself  in “the boring.” “The boring” is what I like to call the part of the project when there is no movement from anywhere. It feels like you are in the middle of the ocean, and can’t see land. The coast line is gone, and it’s just the hot sun and hope that what you do here translates into another shoreline(In some cases, even the shoreline you just left)

What is a weapon to counteract “the boring?” Persistence, the theme for the month of March.

This month’s theme ties into execution

At the end of last year I wrote a post that resulted in me picking 5 themes for 2016. They are the guiding light (strategic)  for my ideas. Each month on this blog, I break things down into the practical (tactical). This year I want to tie them together, so each month, I have to write the reason they connect.

Persistence will lock me into executing because I am promising to finish everything I begin this month to its logical end. I’ll learn lessons on how to get things done.

Reread candidate

The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done by Peter Drucker – A fantastic primer on getting the right things done, and how to see them to the end when you pick them.

Other candidates

Assumptions

  • Be deliberate as possible
  • Selection is far more important than will
  • I need to schedule things to make sure they get done

 

Categories
Blog Post

Focus – I’ve Got To Get Present – Hello November 2015

Nothing like grief to let you know where you pain points are.  I have said that failure is feedback, and in a month where I focused on risk, I got hit with some serious feedback.

In short, I experienced some headaches last month.

Including:

  • I almost left employment
  • Gave up sugar / soda / carbs
  • Got hit with a financial bomb

I got rattled. I didn’t do anything crazy (points there – in the past, one of these things would make me Mr. Temper Tantrum) but, my focus on them took away a lot of joy in my life. I wasn’t able to enjoy the birth of my god-daughter (Hi Skyler!) but also my best friend getting engaged at a dinner to his wonderful fiancé (love you both). I wasn’t present, mentally. And instead of celebration (a coworker got married also – busy month), I turned in and didn’t get to enjoy it full force.

In pain, when you listen, there is an insight just waiting – it isn’t anyone else responsibility for my lack of presence. It is my own.

I’ve looked at this in the past, but not in crisis (like I find myself in).  I’ve “tip and tricked” my way to getting full presence, but now, it will be this months focus, a real look at my presence at being present, and a focus on my focus.

It falls at a perfect time, the holidays are here and I will be in front of a lot of family, there are distractions, and its cold out.

Subthemes

  • Fear – I want to tackle this head on. How much does it play in my decision-making? Is there a way to practice fear management? Can I make a change in a short month?
  • Anger – Just like fear, how do I work on building uses for my anger? Where does it show up?
  • Vulnerability – I made some strides this year in dealing with it, but I never made this a focus, until now. How does this effect my curiosity? What habits can I install to force me to deal with my vulnerability?

 

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.

Categories
Blog Post

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.

Categories
Blog Post

Networking To Network

Sometimes you recognize you need to re-frame something that you started on. I made a mistake with the months theme.  I went with Networking, a rather simple idea, instead of trying something bolder, and more interesting.

Networking isn’t evil. I should say that before I say anything else. Even with that said, I don’t think that is what need to focus on. It is a small piece of what I want to do.

Words do matter, and create a narrative all on their own. The narrative that networking has isn’t a real popular one. For most people, it brings up images of the guy in the blazer, schmoozing around in parties, making people uncomfortable with picking out what is valuable about them and eschewing the rest.

That was never my intent with the word networking, but that is what I see sometimes when I hear the word, so I can imagine that is what most people see as well. We can’t remove the past, the experiences that we have and as such, we can’t really change the narrative that things have without a lot of work. I am unwilling to do that work, and I think with a small tinker I can create a better internal narrative.

Small changes have big results. I am a big believer in that. So, the change I want to make is changing the theme of the month from networking to network.

That’s all. Really small change, removing three letters.

SO, why the change from networking over to network? Network has a completely different feel to it. It means connecting with people – learning with people. Network lets me know about a persons story. I get to help people. I get to grow by serving. Most importantly, network feels like something organic.

Changing words can change perception of intent, and that’s what I want to do.

Categories
Blog Post

The Outro: Organization

In 2015, I had decided that I was going to make each month have a theme. I had gotten the idea, on a smaller scale, from Jack Dorsey. He is a full-time CEO for two companies, and to help organize his day, he gives each day a theme. These themes allow him to select tasks and batch them so.

Now, I don’t have two companies that I am the CEO for (Yet 😉 ) but I have recognized the strategic value of using themes. I am able to circle around some of the things that I am weak on in the topic, and make it a point to get better. A little SWOTing never hurt nobody.

My theme for April was organization. It is a little fitting that I am able to finally put this together on the month of Organization – 3 months after starting.It reminds me how important organization is.

Wins:

  • A whiteboard in every room – Small investment, big impact. Pair this with the Checklist Manifesto, put down your to-dos and watch your systems roar. 
  • Clean Room – I have gotten rid of 90% of the clutter in my room. A lot easier to clean BTW.
  • My Book List is Around! – I have the book list organized.  It is available on my Google Drive! Link here and at the top of the blog, comment at your leisure.
  • I have a calendar! –  It is both in physical and digital form, with different functions. A lot to improve on here, but I love that it is here.

Losses:

  • Email isn’t quite right – I want to add a few more scripts. I did make a solid signature. If it brought you here – HI!
  • Contact List is in disarray – Still need some updating here. I really want to improve my contact list.
  • My Web Presence is Still Sparse – Disorganized, there is some work happening here, but I didn’t get enough done.
  • File collection & backup – It is all about availability. I moved a lot to Google Drive but there are some things that are missing.

I am leaving April a little more organized. It is exciting to see the progress laid out in front of me from my meetings with my accountability partner (I will be opening up our process soon via the blog) and being able to see the wins and losses quickly.

Hopefully on the 31st, I will be able to show some gains from theme Networking.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started