Getting an update is always good. Even if the news isn’t.
When your contractor calls you to say he’s over budget, you’re glad you got the update. When the subway announces the train will be stopped for ten minutes, you’re glad you got the update. When your waiter says they’re out of the dover sole, you’re glad you got the update.
Good updates are obviously better. But the bad ones are better than nothing.
So if getting updates is so good, why not give more?
I just applied for an internship. If I get it, it will be the first internship in my career. So why at 28, when I run my own business, did I just apply to be Seth Godin’s intern?
I envision this internship to be like all internships should be.
Resume-building busywork never appealed to me. This internship did.
NOTES:
Why? Didn’t you start because you like to help people? Don’t you like being the expert? Don’t you like the excitement of a dynamic workplace?
I did, too. But still wanted to escape consulting. So what did I do? I figured out what I actually wanted to be an expert in.
Then I started to build an email list.
Before I knew it, I was able to escape. And the best part? I am still helping people. Still an expert. Still in a dynamic workplace. I’m just happier in this one.
Sweaty and out of breath, the athlete hit the “3” button. I hit “29”. As the elevator closed, my mouth opened. “Getting a lift two floors? Stairs must be broken!”
His response required him to hold the elevator door open a few extra seconds. Condescendingly, he said, “I workout seven days-a-week, two hours-a-day. You try that and take the stairs!”
Fair point. Here’s mine:
What if he cut back to 4 days per week for 30 minutes? Would he:
There is one drawback to my solution. He would no longer be able to tell neighbors in the elevator on his way to the third floor that he works out seven days-a-week, two hours-a-day. That would suck for everyone.
Pick one thing you are hoarding. Take a picture of it. Write the story behind it. Then put them both on your blog.
Why? Once it’s published, your attachment to the hoarded stuff is gone. And, you also get:
Try it. You have good stories to tell. And lots of hoarded junk to get rid of.
Does it take an extra few seconds to load? Well, you have two choices.
Which will you choose?
Their toolbar just showed up on my browser without my permission. Why?
These days, Ask.com survives on strategic trickery. Their toolbar lands in places it’s likely to stick. Old folk’s desktops. Foreigners laptops. Or in the office of a small-business person who is simply too busy to deal with the annoyance.
Ask.com never would have done this ten years ago. People used to came to them to asking questions. Now, people come to them asking them to go away.
Do you start with a story and figure out the moral? Do you use a template fill in the pieces?
Here’s what I do: I start by reading. Gathering. Learning. And along the way, I adopt an opinion, a style and a voice.
After a lot of that, I start writing.