Jason Cohen reminds us that many of today’s greatest successes started out as ostensibly really bad ideas, and you’ll never know if you never try.
The point of all this isn’t to berate anyone for their crappy ideas. In fact, just the opposite — the point is that it doesn’t matter what your first idea is. First, it’s probably wrong. Second, the only way to find the right one is to try the wrong one and see what happens. You won’t find it by fiddling around with PowerPoint slides and Photoshop mock-ups.
So get out there and make some mistakes!
Back in 1996, Chris Brogan had a wake-up call. He could continue waiting on his life to magically change on its own, or he could take charge and make changes himself. He chronicled the beginnings of his journey in his post, Take Responsibility and Fire THEY:
Somewhere in 1996, I woke up for the first time. I realized that I was responsible for my life, and that if I didn’t drive change, no one else would. That’s when I realized that my supervisors at work didn’t really care about my career. That’s when I realized that no one was coming to knock on my door and change my life. It’s when I realized that the person responsible for bringing greatness to my life was me. Only me. And that’s when things started getting good. Within a year, I’d left my role at the phone company, moved into a wireless company, and started a rocket path up towards where I am today. All under my own steam.
Looking at where Chris is today — President of his own new media marketing agency and all-around well-respected guy — I’d say he was clearly on the right track when he wrote this.
Everywhere we turn, people are claiming that “the economy” stole their jobs, their houses, and even the food from their refrigerators.
While so many people are sitting on the floor pouting – and not even trying to look like they’re trying – how are you going to blow right past them?
You can’t singlehandedly change a national economy – but you can most definitely change your own reality.
There’s a difference between taking two years to do something and waiting two years for something.
What have you been waiting for?
Do something today — anything — that will bring you one step closer to your goal. Maybe that’s writing an action plan or organizing your thoughts.
If you want to get in shape, go for a walk. If you hate your job, search Monster or nPost for a new one (just not at work!). If you want to get out of debt, put a single dollar towards it. But whatever you do, stop complaining and start acting.
There has been a growing productivity backlash across the blogosphere, and quite frankly, I’m tired of it.
There’s Get Nothing Done (a play on the productivity system Getting Things Done), and countless blog posts about how they’re not setting New Year’s Resolutions and that resolutions are stupid.
Perhaps all of these negative people are simply trying to be “controversial” in an effort to gain readers. When you ALL write “Anti-Resolutions” posts, it’s not controversial, it’s yawn-inducing. I’ve never skipped through posts faster.
Goals are not the problem. Resolutions are not the problem. Your failure to achieve your own goals and resolutions is the problem.
This is nothing to be embarrassed about. No one is perfect. We all fail, all the time.
The key is to get back up and keep on trying.
You will never accomplish anything if you don’t try. You will die alone and anonymously. And I’m willing to bet you’ll have a LOT of regrets on your deathbed.
Stop settling for mediocrity. You are better than that. I know that deep down inside, you know you’re better than that, too. So start acting like it!
Get up. Set your goals. Set big goals. Set really big goals. Then make a plan and follow through on your plan. If you get off track, get back on track.
Just stop giving up! Or if you do give up for good, quit taking pride in it. Giving up is the only true way to fail.
I’m too busy to wallow in self-pity alongside you. In fact, I’m too busy to write any more of this post.
If you didn’t send holiday cards this year, it’s not too late to still touch base with old classmates, co-workers, neighbors, and friends.
Keeping in touch with even your most distant contacts on at least a yearly basis is always a good idea. You never know when an old acquaintance will turn into a new trusted friend, or if that guy who sat next to you sophomore year is hiring for a position you’d be perfect for (or would be perfect candidate for the position you’re hiring for).
Send off short “Happy New Year” messages via email. You might also want to take the time to connect with them on Facebook or your social networking site of choice — after you’ve optimized your Facebook profile, that is!
Don’t wait until next year — send those messages now!
The best way to start off a New Year on the right foot is to already be standing on the right foot in the first place!
Use the impending new year as motivation to finally get those dreaded tasks OFF your to do list for good. Do you really want to start 2008 with a messy kitchen? With a discombobulated harddrive? With that overdue project even more overdue? Of course not!
So start NOW and make it a contest with yourself — how much can you accomplish before the New Year even begins?
At the end of this week I’ll be publishing a free “Ultimate New Year’s Resolutions Guide” to make sure that 2008 is *the* year that you finally achieve all of those resolutions you never quite completed in years past.
Until then, get cracking!
Every once in awhile as I’m pursuing one of my 101 goals in 1,001 days I will find myself hopelessly bored or uninterested with a next action.
When you find yourself feeling that way, it’s important to take a step back and ask: why am I really doing this?
A seemingly trite illustrative example from my own life: two of my goals are to watch every movie starring Robin Williams and Johnny Depp, respectively. I’ve had “The Survivors” (with Robin Williams) and “Corpse Bride” (with Johnny Depp–his voice, anyway) sitting in my “To Consume” box for nearly a month now.
I started watching both of these movies, wasn’t particularly interested, and yet felt obligated to watch them through to the end, so I kept staring with annoyance at the DVDs and thinking of all the other movies I would rather be watching.
Now, the original point of these two goals was that I enjoy these two actors’ work, and wanted to enjoy it more. Watching a film that I don’t like just to check it off this list is therefore contrary to the entire point of the goal.
Once I looked at it from this perspective, I immediately stuck both of these DVDs in their Netflix sleeves and sent off for two other movies. And if I don’t enjoy one of them, I’m sending them back a lot sooner!
Update: This viewpoint was reinforced by Tyler Cowen in a recent EconTalk podcast.
The best networking advice I’ve ever received was from my high school college advisor.
He said: “Always send Christmas cards.”
Given how infrequently we receive anything that’s not a bill in the mail these days, holiday cards are really memorable. The younger you are, the less likely your same-age peers are to send cards, making you stand out even more.
(To-date, I have *never* received a physical holiday card in the mail from a peer. I continue to receive many from my male friends’ mothers, however.)
Holiday cards are also the perfect excuse to catch up with old acquaintances, teachers, co-workers, etc. and make sure they have your latest contact information and basic demographics. (Got married, had a kid, moved to Ethiopia, etc.)
ALWAYS write a personal message inside the card, and make it equally about you and about the recipient. End your card with a question and an invitation for them to contact you.
For example:
[Their Name],
[Generic pre-printed holiday message.]
The cats and I are back in Portland, OR for awhile, at least until a new adventure presents itself. Business is keeping me really busy, but I get to do what I love, so I can’t complain!
Where has post-college life found you? Have you seen anyone from high school lately?
If you’re ever out my way, please give me a ring! I’d love to see you.
Happy Holidays!
Marina
marina@marinamartin.com
It’s never too early to start writing those cards — break the task up by writing a set number per week between now and mid-December.
Preparing for sending holiday cards is also a great way to update your current address book. Scour your Facebook profiles, alumni magazines, and make some calls if you need to in order to track everyone on your list down.
If you can’t find an old classmate’s current address, and you know where their parent or other relative lives, mail the card there with a request for them to let you know their current whereabouts.
Consider starting a relationship (romantic or otherwise) with someone you’ve just met. You tell them your most embarrassing stories and most intimate secrets, share all your baby pictures, and let them in on your favorite color, animal, and flower. They now know everything there is to know about you.
But do you trust them just because they know all this information? No.
You trust them because of how they act with that information.
Similarly, lists don’t work if you can’t trust them. If I have to waste time and energy reminding myself to remember things that aren’t tucked away safely on a list, then my entire system fails me.
Once you’ve gotten into the habit, your lists may very well have every activity, task, appointment, and idea captured. But being able to trust your list only starts there.
Now, I love lists — I keep lists for my Most Important Tasks, my Next Actions, the food I’m going to eat today, and my AM/PM routines, among other things. While I would certainly survive without them, trusting my trivialities to my lists frees my personal resources up for more important things.
I’m often tempted to cross off an item on a list that I’m sure I’m about to complete, but I haven’t actually completed. For example, checking off “Call Jon” right before I’m about to call him. On the surface, this seems innocent enough.
But what if the phone rings the next second, and I get distracted, and I never call Jon? I already checked it off. I now need to remember that I still need to call Jon, even though it’s checked off on my list. There’s a chance that I might forget to mark my list accordingly, and won’t call Jon at all, because the closed checkbox doesn’t catch my attention.
Paranoia? It might sound that way. But my mantra is freedom through organization, and it’s not freedom if I’m wasting energy questioning the validity of my Next Actions list.
The next time you’re tempted to mark an item you haven’t completed as done, don’t. You can always check it off later, after it’s really done.
