Two choices, two outcomes for each.
Looking back:
Looking forward:
With both “looking back” and “looking forward,” you have choices.
When you’re in the present, however, there’s no choice. You’re just there.
I ask a lot of questions. Many of them are rhetorical. But I sometimes I really want some answers. So here are a few questions I’ve been stuck on:
If you’re bored with the song you’ve been singing, aren’t your fans bored, too?
He left his job in finance to do photography. No, not me. Meet Brandon Stanton. He’s the guy behind “Human’s of New York,” a blog and now New York Times Bestselling book.
His advice to everyone, ironically? Just work.
If you have an idea, just work on it.
If you have a dream, just work on it.
If you care, just work.
Waiting until it’s perfectly ready does nothing until you just work.
Just work.
Just a little.
Today.
Bad advertising:
Good advertising:
Yes, you can make a nice living selling advertisements or ad space. And you can take comfort in the proactivity of buying advertisements for your business.
But unless it’s good advertising, you’ll never really make an impact.
The NFL wants to make its game safer. Players are bigger, faster, stronger. Yet, the field remains the same size.
To change the way its players play, the NFL changed its rules. But it hasn’t really changed the way players play. The game is no more safe.
Why? Because following the rules is a choice.
To change the way players play, the NFL ought to change the field. A little wider should do the trick.
Why? Because the players will have no choice.
They’ll change the way they play.
Don’t tell an elephant how to get there. Shape the path so he has no choice.
Productivity. Clarity. Direction.
I get those from these:
Four easy things for every morning:
That’s it.
And oh, by the way. You just got four things done and you haven’t got into work yet.
No Facebook.
No sales totals.
No Google Analytics.
No investigating.
No ESPN.
No Fox News.
No Bravo.
No porn.
No weed.
No candy.
No Candy Crush.
No Twitter.
No Vine.
No mirror.
No selfies.
No instant gratification.
Can you do it?
Can I?
A new study says, contrary to widely held belief, eating healthy is not that more expensive than eating junk. They calculated it costs an extra $1.50 per day.
Great. Will this get anyone to change eating their habits? Very few.
Logic, analysis, reason has no impact on decision-making after a stressful day. $1.50 certainly doesn’t either.
But a study that says eating healthy lets you spend time with 1.5 more grandkids?
That would make an impact.
At Starbucks, you can get a reusable, grande cup for just a buck. Yes, $1. It looks just like a grande cup with the signature lid and green writing, except it’s plastic. I dig these hand-held promo tools for a few reasons.
Since these reusable cups are hard plastic, they’re dishwasher safe. Keep it at home and you can enjoy sipping out of the signature lid in your underwear. Or, you can stay warm and hydrated during your afternoon walks by comfortably sipping hot herbal tea.
These green-lettered cups are figuratively green, too. Assuming you are drinking the same amount of coffee / tea, but using less paper and creating less waste, they’re green. One could correct me if I’m wrong about plastic’s greenness and energy used while running a dishwasher. But these cups make me feel green. And isn’t that what’s important?
Finally, there’s the cost savings. The first is obvious (and advertised). You get 10 cents off your cup when you bring your own. Yes, grandes are more expensive than a tall, but you could always ask for a tall in your plastic grande cup. The second (and my favorite) cost-savings is not advertised. Anyone who spends time at a Starbucks to get work done is either a student, entrepreneur, or interviewee. Read: penny pinching. A BYO grande cup filled with your own five cent bag of tea and some self-boiled hot water gets you a seat at the proverbial (and germy) Starbucks table.
Is Starbucks the big winner in it all? I am a walking advertisement every winter afternoon as I take Lucy for a walk and sip hot herbal tea. And I probably pay more for Starbucks now than I did in the past, despite enjoying BYO tea over half the time I’m there. Maybe. Probably. Yes, Starbucks wins.
But I like these cups a lot. And I really like the story I tell myself about being green, hydrated, fiscally prudent.
So the takeaway here? Get one of these reusable Starbucks cups. At the very least, take a less on fantastic marketing.
One blog post. One networking call. One addition to the recipe index.
I’m an ideas guy. For ideas guys like me, it’s easy to get lost. (See Darren Rowse’s talk at minute 24 ish). My head’s already spinning with ideas for the lifeisnoyoke site (and that’s absurd because I just launched a complete redesign).
But looking back on the week’s daily “ones”, I can see that I’m not lost. I’m not just an ideas guy.
I’m getting shit done.
One.
One.
One.