Monthly Archives: February 2015

For Those Confident That They’re Great

It’s nice being told you’re important. That your work is appreciated.

It’s what keeps (most of) us going.

Some people don’t need to hear this, though. They’re confident that they’re important and appreciated. And that they matter.

If this is you (it certainly isn’t me) or someone you know, there’s something worth noting:

In the grand scheme of things, nobody is that great. We’re all but tiny specs.

Sorry.

But knowing we are all actually quite small can be helpful.

It means we are all pretty great.

PS. Are you a visual person? Here’s that little ditty from Wait But Why that will put your life (and your time here) into perspective.

Decision Dollars

Every morning, you’re given a handful of decision-making dollars.

Each decision you make throughout the day has a price. Big decisions cost more than smaller ones.

For each decision, big or small, the prices goes up throughout the day.

Decisions don’t take credit cards or IOU’s. They’re cash only.

You get to allocate your decision dollars how you wish.

But remember this: Even mindless scrolling on your phone requires you to make many decisions. Examples include:

  • Read / don’t read.
  • Click through / don’t click through.
  • Comment / don’t comment.
  • Share / don’t share.

And these little decisions all have a price — prices that not only add up, but go up throughout the day.

So how are you spending your decision dollars today?

Early and often?

I try to make a few big purchases with mine.

It’s Practice

Some things you can perfect.

Others, you can’t.

You cannot perfect:

  • Being a doctor.
  • Being a lawyer.
  • Being an accountant.
  • Doing yoga.
  • Doing meditation.

You can always get better. That’s why they call ’em practices.

Medical practice. Legal practice. Accounting practice. Yoga practice. Mediation practice.

Yes, it gets easier as you get better.

But don’t expect your practice ever to be easy.

If it does, you’re off track.

It should always feel like practice.

Fearless by Default

There’s a rare condition that permits individuals from feeling fear.

This is true. There are a handful of these thoroughly studied individuals.

They literally cannot sense fear, even in dangerous situations.

When asked, “Out of ten days, how many of them are you ‘happy or very happy?'” they say nine or ten out of ten.

Translation: These people who live without fear are outrageously, genuinely, and consistently happy — much more than “normal” folks who are keenly aware of their fears.

Moral of the story?

Stop believing, consuming, creating fear.

Love always,
The Happy Uncle.

Own It

How would your friends describe you?

Or your store?

Or your website?

Or your house?

Or your kids?

Or your dog?

Or your whatever?

However your friends would describe it, that’s what it is.

Doesn’t mean it matters.

But that’s the reality.

Own it.

Something From Nothing

The blank piece of paper. Or canvas. Or website. Or blog post. Or musical staff. Or movie frame. Or gameplan. Or menu. Or agenda.

Don’t worry about how it’s gonna turn out.

Just get something on there.

Then another.

And another.

Soon, you’ll have a new thing.

Sure, it’s probably nothing like you imagined it would be. It might be better or worse.

But you have something.

And that’s worth being proud of.

As a Matter of Fact

The things that matter and the things that don’t.

How do you differentiate?

Is it up to you? Is it up to them?

Does anything matter?

Focus on doing good things.

Then, I think, the matter sorts itself out.

Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Recipe for Greatness

Creating a persona is exhausting.

The research. The testing.

Then, there’s the need to maintain that persona.

Describing it consistently. Executing it consistently.

It’s a classic recipe for mediocrity. A recipe that’s for sale in many airport bookstores.

The true recipe for greatness takes no research and minimal effort in execution.

The recipe is to be you.

[HT to Neil deGrasse Tyson’s 2 minute video on being yourself.]

 

 

Wrapping Your Head Around It

Some things are tough to wrap our heads around.

But, here’s what’s so neat:

You get to find that one thing that’s easy for you to wrap your head around.

And, if you really understand it, you get to explain it simply enough to help others get half-way there.

Then, you’ve made a dent in the universe (as tough as that is to wrap your head around).

Getting Results From Our Compulsions: A One-Week Experiment

Your compulsions.

Not the obsessive compulsions. Just the irresistible ones.

They prevent you from doing real work. From getting results.

If you had to pay to do ’em, would you do them as much?

The Compulsions Jar — Paying for the Privilege

This week, let’s try a compulsions jar.

Anytime you want to act upon your compulsion, you FIRST put a dollar in the jar.

For example, “Oh, man, I really want to check Facebook. Here, Compulsions Jar, here is your one-dollar payment.”

And so the steps go like this:

Step 1: List ten compulsions. It’s a big number, but it prevents us from engaging in non-listed compulsions.

For the record and your reference, mine* will be:

  • Checking Gmail.
  • Checking Google Analytics.
  • Checking Avantlink.
  • Checking Twitter.
  • Checking Facebook.
  • Checking YouTube.
  • Checking Instagram.
  • Checking Google News (or all online news outlets, for that matter).
  • Playing with my dog Lucy.
  • Checking the fridge for snacks.

*Interestingly, the last two were the toughest to think of. No doubt, I’d have done both a bunch to avoid doing real work or paying for the privilege to act compulsively.

Step 1.5: Put said list near your workspace.

Step 2: Get a Mason Jar.

Step 3: Pick a charity to give to. Mine is ALS-TDI.

Step 4: Set a calendar appointment for Friday afternoon to count the money.

Step 5: Donate.

The Results

Two things can happen during this experiment.

  1. You get results by not acting upon your compulsions.
  2. You get results by donating some dollars to charity.

I will let you know how it goes for me next Monday.

Until then, let’s get some results this week.