Escaping Mediocrity

This is Day 27 of 30 Days to Changing Your Game. Yesterday Danny Brown helped us break our CRAPtastic patterns.  Today Michael Bungay Stanier is going to give us some very specific ways to do more of what we now know we love – and ways to do less of that stuff we know now we don’t love so much. Sounds great, doesn’t it?!

The Wisdom of Great Work: Nine ways to do more of what you love (and less of what you don’t)

By Michael Bungay Stanier (@boxofcrayons)

Let’s set this up.  Everything you do falls into one of three buckets.

Bad Work: the mindless, soulless, pointless work that somehow shows up and sucks us dry of life.

Good Work: the busy, efficient, useful work that takes up most of our time – important and necessary and also a comfortable rut.

Great Work: the exciting, important, engaging work that’s more meaningful to you and makes more of a difference. It’s both exciting – and scary.

Here’s the brutal truth.

You’ve got too much Good Work.

And not enough Great Work.

So how do you get to do more Great Work? Here are nine fundamental strategies inspired by others’ words of wisdom (and a useful resource or two.)

===================================================

But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. ~ W. B. Yeats

You can’t do more Great Work without your dreams. They pull you forward and connect you with your longing or excitement. They shape what’s possible.

Give yourself time and space to let your dreams form. (In the hustle and bustle of daily life, it’s easy to miss them.)

And when you’ve found your dreams or got a hint of what they are… hold them, protect them and nourish them. They’re easily torn, easily forgotten.

Ask yourself: What impact do I want to have in this world?

Handy resource: TED.com

Key insight: There are extraordinary dreams coming to life. Yours can too.

===================================================

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. ~ Aldous Leonard Huxley

Dreams are well and good. You need to know where you’re heading. You want to hear the call of what’s possible.

But that doesn’t mean you should ignore reality.

Feel the ground under your feet before you begin your journey.  Look around you so you know where you are now and you’re clear what resources you have and what you lack.

When you know where you’re starting and where you’re heading, the path begins to form.

Ask yourself: Where am I now?

Handy resource: Byron Katie, Loving What Is

Key insight: You lose (every time) when you argue with reality.

===================================================

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. ~ Ambrose Redmoon

There are your dreams.

And then there’s reality.

You can see the gap between them, feel the difference.

So you face this moment of truth, this moment of choice.

Do you step out? Or do you back away?

Joseph Campbell tells us that in the Hero’s Journey, the hero is called to the threshold a number of times and backs away – before finally answering the call to adventure.

You’re that hero.

Ask yourself: Will I answer the call?

Handy resource: David Allen, Getting Things Done

Key insight: You can only do the next action. So what’s the next step?

===================================================

Tension is who you think you should be.  Relaxation is who you are.  Breath. ~ Japanese proverb

When uncertainty looms – stepping out towards Great Work, stepping into the daily hurly burly – we’re tugged away from our own best sense of who we are.

We lose our balance and play small.

We’re triggered and we behave in a way that’s less.

We get distracted and busy and we get diluted.

One way to back to who you are is through stillness.

Stillness.

Breathing, not acting for the moment, and remembering who you strive to be at your best, before you chose how to respond.

Ask yourself: If I was truly being myself, how would I want to behave here and now?

Handy resource: The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun

Key insight: When you find out who you are – turn up the volume!

===================================================

I don’t know anything about music. In my line you don’t have to ~ Elvis Presley

It’s easy to think to fall for the belief you need to be an expert to do Great Work.

But it’s a vicious circle of course.

I’m not an expert therefore I can’t do Great Work therefore I don’t focus therefore I don’t become an expert.

Bring a passion. Find a need.

Show up as yourself. Start something.

And keep going.

You’ll find expertise has somehow shown up in the night.

Ask yourself: Where will I put my focus?

Handy resource: Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers

Key insight: Put in the time and the expertise comes

===================================================

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You, too? Thought I was the only one. ~ C. S. Lewis

You can’t do Great Work by yourself.

You need others around you, contributing their skills, their wisdom, their love.

They hold you when you’ve fallen, they kick you in the butt when you’re flagging, they celebrate your success.

Whatever you can do by yourself, imagine if you had a small but perfect group of people around you encouraging you to go bigger and bolder, deeper and further.

Imagine just what you could do with full support.

Ask yourself: Who will I invite into the game?

Handy resource: Twitter, LinkedIn and FaceBook (and that’s just the start) have shrunk down six degrees of separation to more like three degrees, maybe two…

Key insight: Search out the best – and say hello.

===================================================

To fly, we have to have resistance. ~ Maya Lin

What are your metrics for doing Great Work?

Here’s one you might not have considered.

Who’s resisting? Who’s scorning you? Who’s dismissive of your work?

It’s one of the ironies of Great Work that a measure of success is that someone feels slightly disappointed, irritated, let down, pissed off.

Because you’re saying Yes to Great Work which means you’re saying No to someone and something else.

Ask yourself: Who really matters? And who doesn’t?

Handy resource: The Great Work Movie

Key insight: If everyone’s happy, then you’re not doing Great Work.

===================================================

A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit. ~ Richard Bach

Did you watch ‘Finding Nemo’? (And if not, step away from the computer right now, find the DVD and give yourself a treat.)

At one stage Dory, the blue and ditzy partner of our hero, Marlin, encourages him to go on by singing (and singing and singing)

Keep swimmin’
Keep swimmin’
You’ve got to
Keep swimmin’

It’s pushing past the barriers, getting over the dip, taking the next step forward that keeps you moving towards Great Work.

Ask yourself: What’s the way through this?

Handy resource: The War of Art, Steven Pressfield

Key insight: You can show up as a professional or as an amateur – the choice is yours.

===================================================

Nothing is so important that you cannot make fun of it. ~ Arthur C. Clarke

And finally… relax.

It’s too easy to spend this quest for Great Work with overly clenched buttocks and a deep sense of earnestness.

And, to be frank, it’s hard to move gracefully, fluidly with clenched buttocks.

Look for the sweet spot between determination and joy.

Between focus and laughter.

Between courage and play.

Great Work is too important to be taken seriously.

Ask yourself: How can I travel with a light step?

Handy resource: The Manifesto of Insignificance.

Key Insight: It all matters and it all doesn’t matter.

===================================================

An autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful. A man who gives a good account of himself is probably lying, since any life when viewed from the inside is simply a series of defeats.
~ George Orwell

Michael Bungay Stanier is the Senior Partner of Box of Crayons a company that helps organizations do less Good Work and more Great Work. His viral movies have been seen by millions of people around the world. His latest book is Do More Great Work: Stop the busywork and start the work that matters

If you don’t want to miss out on the 30 Days to Changing Your Game, please sign up here.

Popularity: 53% [?]

This is Day 26 of 30 Days to Changing Your Game. Yesterday Del Jones made us think about ourselves as world citizens who play a distinct role in shaping the journalism we consume. Today, Danny Brown is going to teach how to stop making crap decisions. I’m all ears Danny!

The Bounceability of Craptastic

by Danny Brown (@DannyBrown)

If you’re reading this, it’s because you want to change something in your life. It may be your job; your finances; your outlook; your personal status; your blogging. Heck, it may just be you want to change your reading habits.

But the fact you’re here, reading now, means you want to do something. What you need to do, though is decide if it’s a What you want to change, or a Who. The good news is, they’re both similar so you don’t have to start worrying if you’re making the right decision halfway down the slide. The bad news is that you’re going to have to face up to the Bounceability of Craptastic first.

Say what?

The Bounceability of Craptastic – your inane ability to achive craptastic results from opportunities that are anything but crap. Don’t take it personally – we all do it. Some do it more than others; some a lot less. But, the important part is we all do it – so you’re not alone. All you have to do is find your Bounceability.

Step One – The Pii of Craptastic

Being crap is more than a bad choice – it’s a science. Every decision we make is powered by our brain cells and emotional responses, often to the detriment of the smarter part of our brain that heps us avoid crap. Think of it like deliberately stepping in dog poo in bare feet – we know it’s bad for us, yet still we do it. The same goes for our decisions to walk the Craptastic path.

To avoid this, and start on our way back to Bounceability, we need to work out why we’re making crap decisions and replace with those that are much more beneficial to us. Some ideas include:

• Make a list of all the bad decisions you’ve made
• Make a list of what was happening in your life at that time
• Make a list of any lovers or partners who were with you then
• Check what month the decision was made (I’ll come back to that shortly)

Once you have this list, you can start to decipher the Pii of Craptastic, or the scientific reason (to you, personally, at least) why you keep making bad decisions. For example, because our emotions often rule our head, we make some of the worst decisions when we’ve just broken up with someone.

This might seem obvious, but yet we still make the same mistakes time and time again. Rebound sex, impulse buys, drunken voice mail messages – you know the drill.

Or weather – we know that many people get depressed in the winter, so make decisions based on cheering themselves up temporarily as opposed to planning for the longer term.

By getting to the Pii of Craptastic, and realizing the science behind our poor decision-making, we move on to the fun part – bouncing!

Step Two – The Bounceability of Craptastic

To move forward in any part of our lives, we need to make the right decisions. Yet the great thing is that we don’t have to make the right ones immediately, as long as we learn from the wrong ones. However, we don’t want to make wrong and crap ones – so when it comes to stepping away from the Craptastic, make time for you:

• Make a determined effort to wait at least a week before making any major decisions
• Write a list of pros and cons to the decision and weigh them up within that week
• Ask yourself if you did the same thing previously and how that worked out for you
• Google what you’re thinking of (trust me, it works!) and see the general consensus

Ask if it’s something your mother would be proud of

These are just the basics as well, and ones that relate to the Who of your reason for change. Much of it can apply to the What as well, though – often you’ll be substituting people for place, activity or location.

The thing is, as long as you realize you’re on Craptastic Avenue, and you’re willing – truly willing – to get to Bounceability Boulevard, the only thing that’s stopping you is you.

The good news is that you’re obviously ready and willing to start by being here now. So what say you – ready to start bouncing?

Danny Brown has been providing business branding and emerging media consultancy services to the consumer and commercial markets, from small start-ups to Fortune 500 businesses, for more than 15 years and is currently the Social Media Strategist for Maritz Canada.

He is also founder of the 12for12k Challenge, a unique charity project using social media to change the lives of millions both globally and locally. His blog is featured in the AdAge Power 150 list as well as the Technorati Top 100 Small Business Blogs, and is syndicated across the Social Media Today, WebProNews and Newstex business networks.

If you don’t want to miss out on the 30 Days to Changing Your Game, please sign up here.

Popularity: 46% [?]

This is Day 25 of 30 Days to Changing Your Game. Yesterday Nate St. Pierre invited us to Change The World! Today Del Jones (a Sr. Editor at USA Today) talks about our role in creating and consuming the journalism that drives our society. Nothing like upleveling our concept of who we are in the world!

What Kind of Journalism Are We Creating?

by Del Jones (@JonesDel)

Thirty days to change your game? It sometimes feels that, as a newspaper reporter, that’s exactly how long I’ve been given.

It’s not that there wasn’t warning. There was decades of warning going back to long before I was born. The newspaper industry peaked just before radio became popular, back in my grandparents day. That’s when most households subscribed to multiple newspapers. Ever since, it’s  been a gradual decline, and we reporters should all feel like frogs dropped into a pan of cold water, and it’s been going up by a degree or two with each economic swing.

Now it’s boiling. While I’ve long worried for the industry, I’ve also long felt secure that a journalism job was pretty safe. After all, the younger generation didn’t read newspapers, but research has shown that there has been no decline in the hunger for information. I figured there would always be a job for a professional news gatherer. What do I care if my work shows up on a computer or mobile device, or gets beamed down from Scotty to a Kindle rather than appear on dead trees? I certainly didn’t care.

But I’ve now concluded that there is also a threat to professional news gathering. That should worry those of you who like to read quality because there has been a real decline it its availability. Great newsrooms at the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere have been decimated.

A good newsroom is expensive to run, and the business model of advertising no longer supports it. But oddly, just as harmful to news gathering has been the sudden ability to know what readers want by measuring page views. I’m a business reporter and if someone had told me back when I was getting my MBA that some day soon we would be able to accurately measure what readers want, I would have thought that was a dream come true. What business doesn’t want to know what their customers want?

Trouble is, what too many readers want is crappola. On most days, a good, strong investigative story that might change lives will get but a fraction of the page views as a Tiger Woods story.  Several of USA TODAY’s best reporters have become fulltime bloggers, which is OK, except that they are now spending less time reporting and more time luring eyeballs with SEO tricks. One of our bloggers, who a year ago was a very good reporter, wrote a post that ranked No. 1 over Thanksgiving by writing about roasting a turkey on a car engine. Interesting, perhaps, but even he would admit it’s not great journalism. But he was able to get the words “turkey roasting” into the headline near Thanksgiving Day, and so drove tens of thousands of clicks from those who were doing a Google search for turkey roasting.

USA TODAY, of course, would have always covered the Tiger Woods story. But in recent days, four of the top five stories from the USA TODAY site had  Tiger Woods in the headline. Such forces will be inescapable and I believe will hurt serious reporting. Get use to a steady diet of stories about Tiger or the Octomom or whatever is the buzz of the day. But maybe you’ve had some trouble finding a detailed and balanced examination of the healthcare bill. That’s because a well-reported and fair story on the healthcare bill would take 10 times the man hours to report as a story about Tiger Woods, yet would get one-tenth the page views. The page views is probably an over-estimate.

I’m sure in the past that many people bought the newspaper for the coupons. But at least they were subsidizing news junkies. Going forward, news junkies won’t get a free ride from coupon clippers. I’m a disciple of the market economy. The consumer is in charge. Guess where 90% of scarce reporter resources will be directed in the future?

My call to action is to ask this question:  “How do we maintain good journalism when not enough readers want good journalism to support it. Sarah’s readers are smart, so I’m sure most of you will say “I want good journalism,” but there is hard evidence to indicate that you or in the minority.

Del Jones was a reporter at USA Today for 17 years and wrote more than 300 cover stories primarily for the Money section. He received a journalism degree from the University of New Mexico (1973) and an MBA from the University of Texas at El Paso (1995). He has been married for 25 years to Dianna with two children in college, Ciera and Douglas.

If you don’t want to miss out on the 30 Days to Changing Your Game, please sign up here.

Popularity: 37% [?]

This is Day 24 of 30 Days to Changing Your Game. Yesterday Dave Navarro dug in deep on what being a game-changer is REALLY going to be like, and today Nate St. Pierre is focusing us on how we can use changing our own game to change the world. I know you are up to the challenge!

Changing Your Game, Changing The World

by Nate St. Pierre (@ItStartsWithUs)

One year ago I promised myself that I would change the world.

Nine months ago I began the ItStartsWith.Us project by writing my first blog post.

I haven’t made a dime since.

I haven’t made any money, but I have made a difference. As a result of this project, I now lead a team of close to a thousand people in the simple concept of making a positive impact in the lives of those around us. Every week we all join in a shared “mission” that takes 15 minutes or less to complete. It’s a small effort on the individual level, but collectively we are able to do some amazing things and make a huge difference in people’s lives.

“Changing your game” can mean a lot of different things. When I hear this phrase mentioned in the online world, I instinctively brace myself, because I expect it to be followed by some variation of this series of admonishments (usually by someone selling something):  find your passion, throw yourself headlong into it, don’t listen to the critics, use social media to crush it, and then quit your demoralizing 9-to-5 cubicle job and live the life you deserve, doing what you love and making a ton of money at the same time.

That’s one way to look at it. You could also take “changing your game” to mean something like this: finding valuable work that you truly love to do, whether or not you get paid for it. This is the route I’ve taken, and I’ve never found such an incredible level of personal satisfaction with any other job I’ve had.

I don’t know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish in the long term, and maybe at this point you don’t either. But I think a great place to start is by finding something that adds value to your life . . . something you’d do for free if given the opportunity. Whatever that thing is, get out there and start doing it. Start small. Do it for a few hours on weekends. Work on it after the family goes to bed. Pay attention to how you feel before, during and after. Was it worth it? Are you happy with the results? Excited to do it again tomorrow? If the answer is a consistent ‘yes’ over the course of a few months, you’ve got a good thing going – keep at it. If not, try something else.

Here’s the nice thing about doing it this way – you put yourself in a win-win situation. The truth of the matter is that, no matter what all the folks who are “internet famous” will tell you, passion is not profitable. You can work as hard and long as you want at something you love, but unless it’s something that people are willing to pay for, you’re not going to make any money at it. And even if they are willing to pay for it, you have to have a fair amount of business sense to make it profitable enough to turn it into a full-time job. It’s really, really tough to do. But if you can find a way to do what you love on your own terms and your own time, you’ve already got a win, whether you end up making money on it or not. And if you’re good (or lucky) enough to find a way to make a living at it, then you’ve found the holy grail – earning a lot of money doing something you love. And if you’re already enjoying what you do, you can afford to take your time and grow into your business the right way, without putting undue pressure on yourself.

In my case, I had a big idea to change the world – a web-based platform that would connect people who need help with other people who have the time, talent and skills to provide it. But instead of going for the gold right off the bat like I usually do, this time I decided to start small. I began by writing a simple blog, sharing stories about people who were making a difference in this world in ways both large and small. I got out on Twitter and started to meet people. Soon a community began growing around the site, and I started to spend more time on it. About six months ago I had an idea for a global team of individuals who would work together once a week on an activity that could make a big difference in the lives of the people around them. More and more people joined the team, and again I started to spend more time on the project. For the last six months, I’ve averaged 30 hours per week on ItStartsWith.Us. This is on top of my full-time job as the web team leader at a big company, and all the time I spend with my family and three kids. As I mentioned before, I haven’t made a dime. I do what I do because I love seeing the impact it has in people’s lives . . . and in my own.

I am passionate about what I do, but I’m not going to throw out the common phrase “it doesn’t even seem like work,” because the fact of the matter is, there are times when it very much seems like work . . . because that’s exactly what it is.

But when you know your work is valuable, when you know it’s something you would gladly do for free simply because you believe in it, when you know it makes a difference in the lives of the people around you, that’s when you know you’ve found something worth spending your life on. Because at the end of the day that’s what we’re doing . . . we’re trading a portion of our lives in pursuit of something bigger than ourselves.

So let’s make sure the time we invest is worth it.

Start small.
Do what you love.
Change your game.

Change the world.

So what are you guys working on? What do you want your game to be? What are you excited about? Let’s talk about it and see if we can help each other out a bit and make some connections…

Nate St. Pierre launched the ItStartsWith.Us project in 2009 to fulfill his pledge to change the world. He organizes, directs and supports a global team of caring individuals.

If you’d like to get in touch with Nate, please email nate@itstartswith.us or call 414-215-0238.

If you don’t want to miss out on the 30 Days to Changing Your Game, please sign up here.

Popularity: 45% [?]

This is Day 23 of 30 Days to Changing Your Game. Yesterday Allison Nazarian helped us get comfortable with change (it’s just part of the process, right?!). Today Dave Navarro takes off the rose-colored glasses and gives us a good, honest look at what changing our game is really going to be like. Don’t worry – you are up to it!

The Painful Truth of Playing a Bigger Game

By Dave Navarro (@RockYourDay)

It’s easy to talk about playing a bigger game, but it’s not easy doing it.  Radically transforming the way you live your life is a huge undertaking, and it involves stripping away limiting beliefs, self-sabotaging habits and in some cases, making massive changes that can rock every relationship in your life.

Playing a bigger game means taking risks, making significant sacrifices and having to deal with the fallout that inevitably occurs when those around you have to deal with a new and (hopefully) improved you.  You may lose people along the way who can’t handle your new, higher standards.  You’ll likely have challenges being around yourself as well, as your new, freer identity clashes against the smaller-thinking mindset you used to have.

It’s not easy playing a bigger game.  It’s actually pretty damned hard, so hard that a lot of people never make it and slink back to their old patterns, depressed at the prospect that they have failed, once again, to make things happen.

But not everybody slinks back.  Some people make it because they know something important.

Why do some people succeed at playing a bigger game while others fail beneath the difficulty of it all?  I think it’s because they make an important distinction up front – a life lesson said best by M/ Scott Peck in The Road Less Travelled:

“Life is difficult. This is the great truth, one of the greatest truths … because once we see this truth, we transcend it.”

What Peck is saying here is that by accepting that life is difficult, we expect it to be challenging and hard and painful sometimes … and we’re prepared for it.  We’re not saying “Why me?” because we know the journey’s going to be difficult up front.

Life is difficult.  But it seems much more difficult than it really is because we’re conditioned to think it should be easy.  To play a bigger game, you need to break that conditioning, to expect resistance to habit change, to expect failures to be sprinkled in with our successes, and to expect that you’re going to feel hurt and pain on a number of levels before you move forward.

Don’t be afraid of it.  Expect it.  It’s just life pushing at you, seeing if you’re really willing to push back and get what you say you want to get from it.

There are two popular sayings I fall back on whenever I struggle: “Pain is temporary; Pride is forever,” and “Pain is weakness leaving the body.”  I love those sayings.  You’ve got to push through some tough stuff to get tougher.

How would the next 12 months change if you adopted this attitude for yourself, and repeated these two mantras every time you felt like giving up?  What if you decided the temporary pain or discomfort was just a natural part of the process, and that going through it wasn’t “hell,” but just the dues you have to pay to come out stronger on the other side?

You’d play a damn bigger game, that’s what.

So why aren’t you?  It’s time to step up and defuse the programming that has tricked you into thinking that the challenge of personal growth should be feared instead of devoured.  Game on.

Dave Navarro is a product launch coach and marketing expert who gets more people to buy what you’re selling.  His “7 Steps To Playing A Much Bigger Game” manifesto and free workbook has been read by almost 12,000 people (read it for yourself at The Launch Coach blog). Get yours here: http://www.thelaunchcoach.com/library

If you don’t want to miss out on the 30 Days to Changing Your Game, please sign up here.

Popularity: 42% [?]

This is Day 22 of 30 Days to Changing Your Game. Yesterday Kyle Lacy started a chain reaction, and today my BFF Allison Nazarian gives us an up-close-and-personal view of change. Don’t chicken out! Keep reading.

You’ll Eat It & You’ll Like It: Change As A Necessary Part Of The Diet Of Life

By Allison Nazarian (@AllisonNazarian)

Ah…change.

It can be traumatic. Mixed with that sick and scary feeling in the pit of your stomach. More often than not accompanied by uncertainty.

Traumatic + Uncertain + Nauseating = Well…..you do the math.

Change can be scary as hell.

Even the kind of change we seek out and deep down want (such as the end of a dead long-term relationship or the start of a brand-new career) can stop us in our tracks.

I’ve had one of those years in which everything changed. One of those years in which the Me of Right Now is so different, in every imaginable way, from the Me of Last Year.  And I am so grateful for every moment of it, even and especially the scariest and saddest and most uncertain moments.

One of the greatest lessons I have learned is that the difference between having the power to create the life we crave or being powerless and having life control us is found, in very large part, in the way we react to, learn from, operate under and act in the face of change.

Here’s what I know about using the inevitable changes in life to change your game for the better:

Expect the unexpected. Regardless of what you plan and visualize, know that things are not always going to go as planned. That’s a guarantee. And that’s OK. Adopt an attitude of openness and non-attachment to everything happening exactly as you “need” it to happen.

• Change your game: Know that you can’t possibly control everything. Count on the absolute lack of total control as a constant. Use it to your advantage.

You are going to make mistakes. Lots of them. The good news is that mistakes are good for you. Actually, even more than good — they are gifts to you. (Really!) Mistakes are the best and most clear reminders of what you need to do, what you are doing wrong, what you have not done and, most importantly, what needs to change for things to happen the way you want them to happen.

• Change your game: If you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t acting. If you aren’t acting, you aren’t living. If you aren’t living…well…is that what you want from life? Welcome mistakes and grab the important lessons from each and every one.

Open up. Let your guard down and be open to all of the new and different and change-filled and, yes, scary-uncertain people, events and opportunities that come your way. Say “yes” even when you want to hide and say “no.” Know that what you want and what you are looking for may not show up dressed exactly as you have imagined it.

• Change your game: Think about your times of great change. Did everything happen exactly as you planned or expected, or did a chain of events that you could not have possibly imagined take place so that the change – and all of the opportunities and transformations that came with it – could occur?

Make fear your friend. When you act, you make things happen. When new and different things happen, that’s change. Change, as we have established, can be scary.  Expect the scary. Even welcome and hug the scary. And for heaven’s sake, don’t allow the scary to overtake you.

• Change your game: Act despite the fear. As Charles De Gaulle said, “Deliberation is the work of many men; action of one alone.”  Taking consistent action – something every day — will get you where you want to go.  Don’t think and think and think…DO!

So here is what I am asking you to do RIGHT NOW: What is one thing that is scaring you, bugging you, stopping your or blocking you in this moment?

Think about all of the fear, excuses, “it won’t ever get fixed” thoughts your Ego is feeding you about it. Feel those fear, excuses and thoughts if you can.

Now go fix it anyway. Figure it out and do it. Go ahead, change your game. (And let me know below exactly what you are looking to do….don’t lose this opportunity!)

Allison Nazarian is a copywriter, writing coach, blogger/columnist, author and a Mom who is easily scared but acts despite the fear. For more on copywriting and coaching click here, read Allison’s blog here or follow her on twitter here. Learn how to build a Real Copywriting Business here.

If you don’t want to miss out on the 30 Days to Changing Your Game, please sign up here.

Popularity: 41% [?]

This is Day 21 of 30 Days to Changing Your Game. Only 1 more week to go – woohoo! Yesterday Elizabeth Marshall taught us how to JUMP using herself as a fantastic example. One of the things I am loving about this series is watching my friends who are the guest posters really stretch themselves in what they share with you. Today is no exception. Kyle Lacy makes an EXTREME departure from his usual subject manner and invites us all to start our own chain reaction. AWESOME!

Start a Chain Reaction

by Kyle Lacy (@kyleplacy)

Sometimes it is nice to step away from social media marketing. I am going to do that today. Many of us are extremely busy. We get caught up in the everyday occurrences in life and ignore the things that are truly important to us. Well.. maybe I am just talking to myself (which is completely possible).

I have begun to find myself losing track of everything other than business. I am extremely focused on running a company but there is no balance.

Good Thing: We are growing and clients are satisfied. Bad Thing: You negate everything else in life. I have put it upon myself to start living a little less selfishly. How am I going to do that??? What a great question! My cousin has an organization called Krochet Kids International. The organization is built around the concept of:

To create sustainable economic development programs that support holistic growth of individuals and communities within developing nations.

 

To inspire the knowledge of a generation about their ability to bring change to a world that is in need.

I began thinking… I read business books and I get inspired… I read autobiographies, blogs, and watch shows about people who have done amazing feats…and I get inspired. The question is… have I ever sat down and thought: I am going to start something that inspires an ENTIRE GENERATION to live and believe in their ability to bring change to a world that is in need. My inspiration is more along the lines of… I am inspired to make the next sale.

I can watch the Krochet Kids video and BE Inspired. I can read a book about Mother Theresa or Ghandi and BE inspired. I am tired of constantly going up and down, hot and cold. Isn’t it time to live an inspired life instead of constantly BEING inspired?

Start the chain reaction.

Kyle Lacy is co-founder and CEO of Brandswag, a social media and marketing consulting company with offices in Indianapolis and Oklahoma City. Kyle and his team have assisted businesses in the development and implementation of social media campaigns and strategies and has worked with companies such as Ruth Chris Steak House, Interactive Intelligence and Make a Wish Foundation.

Brandswag focuses on helping companies achieve results through their web site, blogging and social media strategies, raising the value of their client’s business in the eyes of the customer. Named by Indianapolis Business Journal as 40 Under 40 and author of Twitter for Dummies, Kyle is a recognized leader in creating ideas that infect business and producing intentional campaigns and dialogue that move customers to buy.

If you don’t want to miss out on the 30 Days to Changing Your Game, please sign up here.

Popularity: 37% [?]

This is Day 20 of 30 Days to Changing Your Game. Yesterday Marie Forleo made us think with here how-not-to-change-your-game checklist. Today my very good friend Elizabeth Marshall talks about how powerful it is to DECIDE!

Lessons From a 25 Foot Telephone Pole

by Elizabeth Marshall (@LizMarshall)

“It’s a DECISION, not a process, Elizabeth.”

The words of coach, Andrea J Lee, hit me squarely in the chest.  I didn’t want to hear it, but I knew that she was right.

Although I wanted to pretend like I didn’t hear her and continue talking about the details and elements I needed to launch my new workshop for aspiring authors and messengers and about the best marketing plan for my group program, I fell silent.

After a long pause, Andrea reminded me of the conversation we’d had in the previous session – about the fact that I had been approaching my business with the “I’m playing not to lose” mentality.  Even though I felt good about all the many remarkable authors I’ve come to know and help through AuthorTeleseminars.com and the private work I’ve done with messengers, she spoke the truth.  I had been holding back and playing it safe.  In my heart, I’ve known that I am capable of playing a bigger game and of being BOLDER with my personal brand and with what I stand for.

As a result of that earlier conversation, I made a decision to stop hiding.  On that call, I decided it was time for me to “play to win” and to build a bigger, more purposeful in 2010.

Well, at least I thought I had decided…

But, truth be told, I was still standing on top of the pole…waiting for the right moment to take the leap.

See, I had already learned this lesson – it was just one that I had conveniently managed to “forget.”  But, when I heard Andrea’s words, I immediately went back to that hot summer in college when I worked as a counselor for a kid’s adventure camp…and to that experience I will never again allow myself to forget.

It happened during “Work Week.”  It was during the week when all of the counselors arrived at camp several days early to prepare the cabins, get trained and to experience all the activities we had planned for our campers.

One of those activities we “tested” out that week was called the Ropes Course.  Sometimes called a Challenge Course, a Ropes Course consists of a series of challenging outdoor activities and exercises designed for the purposes of team building and personal development.  In case you haven’t experienced a course like this before, let’s just say that we’re not talking about a casual “stroll through the forest.”  Many of the elements on the course take place 25 feet in the air and require the use of utility (telephone) poles and tall trees. Although it may sound dangerous, there’s plenty of safety measures, such as belay lines, harnesses, carabiners, helmets and other tools to prevent falls and to help participants “feel safe” while they’re going through each element of the course.

Except, for most people, that feeling of safety goes out the window when you start climbing up the first 25-foot pole or incredibly tall tree.

That was my experience as I climbed to the top of the Pamper Pole.

At a first glance, it seemed simple enough.  All I had to do was to climb to the top of the 25-foot telephone pole (using the iron “steps” sticking out of the pole), stand up on the top of the pole with both feet and then jump to grab the trapeze suspended about 10 feet in front of the pole.

How bad could it really be?

After all, I completed all 10 other elements relatively quickly without fear getting the best of me…so surely, I could handle this one!

In a word, it was awful.  In fact, my palms start sweating even when I think about the fears and emotions I felt while attempting to stand up on that 8-inch surface…one that couldn’t possibly be big enough for both of my size 8.5 tennis shoes, right?

Despite a fairly quick ascent to the top of the pole, I spent what seemed like an eternity “trying” to stand up on the top of that pole in order to jump out to the trapeze.  I felt frozen by fear and unable to take control of what I was feeling and experiencing.  But, since I didn’t want to let the team down, I continued to attempt what felt beyond my reach.

With one foot on top of the pole, I used every strategy I could think of to help be do what I didn’t feel like I could do.  I “thought through” the best way to place my second foot on the top of the pole; I brainstormed and “talked it out” with my supportive team cheering me on from the ground below; I planned and processed through the remaining moves I needed to make; and, I waited for the “right” moment and ideal time to stand and jump.

That moment never came.  So, I eventually chose to climb back down the pole instead of making the jump – a decision I regret even to this day.

In retrospect, I can see it clearly.  My approach was wrong…and I allowed my fears to overshadow the truth that I already knew deep down in my gut:

It’s a decision – not a process.

Completing the “Leap of Faith” exercise that day required one thing – my decision to make it so.  Without that definitive declaration, all of my efforts to plan, process, calculate, strategize or think it through didn’t make a damn bit of difference.

I simply needed to choose…and DECIDE to make the leap.

And, that’s exactly what Andrea was trying to tell me that December day, just a few days before the holiday break.

With that one statement, she was challenging me to:

• JUMP off that pole and to reach for the trapeze
• DECIDE in that moment – without condition or reservation – that I would play to win, no matter the outcome
• CHANGE MY GAME, even though I had no road map, no guarantees or no clear sense of how I would do that

So, I jumped off the pole.  And now, I’m inviting you to do the same.

Now, I don’t believe in sugar-coating the truth, so I am going to be honest about what’s happened since then.  It’s been an extremely challenging four weeks since I DECIDED to play to win and to take the leap.  I’ve felt fears, doubts and worries like you wouldn’t believe, I’ve shed a good amount of tears, and I’ve done some serious digging to find the courage and strength I need to continue living out my choice.

And, this is just the beginning…

Although it hasn’t been easy, I can tell you that it feels MUCH BETTER than choosing to stay stuck or to keep waiting for the “right moment” (the one that never comes) before you decide to act.

So, I invite you to take a look.  Step away from the computer and go to a quiet place for a few moments.  In that space, closely examine business and life to see if there are any areas, big or small, where you’re “stuck on top of the pole” or paralyzed by indecision.

What do you see in your business?

Are you telling a safe, “politically correct” version of your message?  Or, settling for a lukewarm, toned-down personal brand?  Are you putting off writing that book you KNOW you’re meant to write?  Or, playing it safe by offering the same products and services as everyone else?

And, what about your life?

Are you settling for less than you know you deserve? Are you avoiding hard conversations and decisions so you don’t have to rock the boat?  Or, are you putting others first at the expense of your own health and happiness?

Now, that you’ve taken a look, can you identify just ONE aspect of your business or life, big or small, where you can take the leap and DECIDE to move forward?

If you need some encouragement or reassurance before deciding to jump, perhaps you’ll find comfort in these words from Patrick Overton:

“When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take the step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for us to stand on or we will be taught to fly.”

But, if you’re ready…

I’ll be standing right here at the bottom of the pole to cheer you on and to hold the belay line when you take the leap of faith and JUMP!

Elizabeth Marshall is the host and founder of AuthorTeleseminars.com, where she has designed virtual book tours for many bestselling authors, such as Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin, Keith Ferrazzi, Michael Port and many others.  Through her Spread Your Message group program and her private coaching, she’s helped hundreds of authors spread their message and sell their books and connect with thousands of new followers and fans.

A published author, Elizabeth wrote The Contrarian Effect with NY Times bestselling author, Michael Port, which won two awards: Amazon’s Best of 2008 Top Ten Business Book and 800-CEO-READs Best Sales Book for 2008.

You can learn more about Elizabeth by going to www.AuthorTeleseminars.com and www.SpreadYourMessageProgram.com.

If you don’t want to miss out on the 30 Days to Changing Your Game, please sign up here.

Popularity: 34% [?]

This is Day 19 of 30 Days to Changing Your Game. Yesterday Elizabeth Potts Weinstein got us splashing in puddles, and today Marie Forleo makes us laugh with her how-to-not-change-your-game checklist. Though it is VERY funny, read it closely. There are some very wise points buried in the laughter.

How Not to Change Your Game

by Marie Forleo (@MarieForleo)

I’m on my couch.  I’ve been sitting here for quite a while trying to write something useful and clever and inspiring about changing your game.

Of course, trying to be useful and clever and inspiring doesn’t work.

(Does it ever?)

So I figure, why not have some fun and talk about how not  to change your game.

This way, if you ever veer into keep-your-game-exactly-as-it-is land, you can thank me for keeping you on the right side of the track.

Deal?  On we go.

1.  “Get ready” to change your game.

Getting ready to do anything is a stalling tactic; a big fat con job we run on ourselves.

Ever notice that you can spend your entire life getting ready to change, but never actually change a damn thing?   Me too.

When I say I’m getting ready to do something, that’s code for, “I have no intention to do this, but I want to sound like I do.”

And the truth is I’ve never been ready, per se, for any game changing event that’s happened in my life.  Thank God for that.  Because if I’d known what was coming, I may have freaked myself out.

For example, after leaving a lucrative career on Wall Street, I decided to pursue my passion for dance.  I was getting my feet wet in the dance world when a game changing event landed in my lap.  A producer from MTV saw me dance, and asked me to interview to choreograph/produce and perform on one of their shows.

Here’s the kicker.

At that time I had never stepped foot in a professional dance class in my life, nor had any real experience as a choreographer/producer or performer.

I was excited and completely terrified all at once.

I could either say yes, pray to the dance Gods and work my ass off . . .

Or decline so I could “get ready” and hope for another once in a lifetime opportunity to show up.

Of course, I said yes, got the job and did work my ass off.

Now take a look in your own life.

Haven’t you always stepped up to the plate when a game changing event happened?  Haven’t you found strength and courage and capabilities beyond what you thought were “ready” for?

Most of us grossly underestimate ourselves and spend waaaay too much time “getting ready” for what we’re already capable of.  While I’m all for training and education, sometimes the fastest way to get both is to stop “getting ready” and just get going.

2.  Make a detailed, game-changing plan.

Detailed plans to change your game can be another sneaky stalling tactic.

A detailed plan is especially dangerous because it masquerades around in the always seductive “I’m being responsible” dress.

Changing your game often means stepping into unchartered territory with no guide to follow.

Old rules are out the window.  You’re in the wild, wild west of your own potential.  Best bet is to shoot from the hip and skip micromanaging the details.

And let’s be honest. If you’ve ever planned anything, you know that life’s agenda rarely matches up with your own.  When it comes to changing your game, let your deepest desire direct you and be flexible as you go.

This isn’t to discourage clarity of your aim; but trust that when you’re guided by your heart, your next steps will always appear in perfect time.

Changing your game is an intuitive, instinctive process that doesn’t always match up with logic, reason or perfect planning.  In fact, logic, reason and perfect planning may prevent you from changing your game at all.

3.  Avoid fear, discomfort, anxiety, confusion, etc. and all costs.

Oooooohwee, this is a big one.  The best way to not change your game is to avoid these sensations at all costs.  Stay as comfortable as humanly possible.  Do not do anything to disrupt the status quo.

Because if you really want to change your game, you need to strap yourself in for a wild emotional ride.

Regular bouts of fear, discomfort, anxiety and confusion are proof positive that you’re on the game-changing path and finding the edges of your potential.

If you’re too comfortable, you’re likely not doing anything remotely near game-changing.   More like channel-changing.  Or channel-surfing.  (You get the idea.)

Changing your game kicks up some intense emotions.

Expect regular “Am I crazy??” thoughts and all the lovely iterations of self-doubt that follow.  You may even ruffle some feathers or outgrow some relationships along the way.

Don’t try to control these emotions, ‘get over them’ or in any way deny what you’re experiencing.   It’s OK.  You’re human.

Just like the rest of us.

When it comes to intense emotions, the trick is to fully feel them without getting dramatic or retreating back into safety.

Fear, discomfort and confusion are strong indicators you’re in the midst of massive growth.  Intense emotions only serve as a reminder that you’re alive and engaged in something that really matters to you.

And as Richard Branson says, “The brave may not live forever – but the cautious do not live at all!”

So let’s make the rubber meet the road here, shall we?

First, run a quick self-assement on the above three points.   Are you in the fast lane headed towards keep-your-game-exactly-as-it-is-land?  If yes, make any necessary adjustments to get back on your game-changing path now.

Second, once headed in the right direction, help the the rest of us out by adding to this list.  Got a good game-changing stalling tactic?  A dead-end strategy we should all look out for?   Anything you’ve seen or done not  to change your game?

Leave a comment here – we’re interested.

Marie Forleo is the founder of Rich, Happy & Hot: Global training for women entrepreneurs who want more money, influence and social impact. She’s a bestselling author, Nike Elite Athlete and recently, the first woman entrepreneur Tony Robbins interviewed for his acclaimed “New Money Masters” DVD program.  Learn more and download her popular, and controversial, training call: The 8 Biggest Mistakes Even Smart Women Make In Business…And How To Avoid Them.”  http://www.marieforleo.com/

If you don’t want to miss out on the 30 Days to Changing Your Game, please sign up here.

Popularity: 69% [?]

This is Day 18 of 30 Days to Changing Your Game. Yesterday Jeffrey Summers gave us an amazing, straight forward, print-it-out-and-tape-it-to-your-wall checklist for making change stick.  Today Elizabeth Potts Weinstein is getting down to the nitty gritty of exactly what to do – right now – today – to get this gamechanging thing off the ground. Most you know she is my BFF. Today’s post will give you a lot of insight into WHY that is. Enjoy!

Be Scary, Unfriend, and Jump in Puddles: What to Do on Day 1.

by Elizabeth Potts Weinstein (@ElizabethPW)

It’s 9:00 AM on the day when you’ve decided to finally follow your passion, create a real business that makes money and changes the world, fully embrace living your truth.

Awesometastic!!!

You got a fresh new stack of florescent post-it notes on your desk. Three of your favorite pens lined up in front of you. A new journal and fresh blank calendar. A beautiful vision board and a mission statement and set of goals for this year.

You turn on you computer.

You stare at the screen for 5 minutes.

And since you have no idea what you are supposed to do next, you check twitter. Or facebook. Or start relentlessly hitting “get new mail” in your email program.

Because you have absolutely no idea what you are supposed to be doing this morning.

Here’s the thing: it’s all nice and good for me to tell you – Live Your Truth! Find Your Tribe! Be 100% Yourself 100% of the Time! You Can Have a Business That Makes Money And That You Love! - but how the do you actually do that?

What do you do that first morning when you’ve decided to change every freaking thing in your life?

1. Take Immediate Action on Your Most Scary Idea

In June 2009 I woke up at 5:30 in the morning (for those of you who read my blog, yes, that’s a reoccurring theme) with the idea for The Live Your Truth Project. Interviewing amazing entrepreneurs on how they live their truth. Whatever that means.

It sounded so scary – asking people I admire to help me. Trying to explain what they heck this project was when I didn’t even know myself. Finally sharing with a piece of the world what was secretly going on in my head.

I so wanted to just get back into bed & let it go to another day. But I had committed, to myself, to be okay with being uncomfortable. To take big scary action. To change everything.

So I sent out three emails asking some friends to be my first three interviewees. And asked them for introductions (asking people for help! scary!) to other cool people who would also be a great fit.

Even though I didn’t have a sales page. Or know what this thing would be about. Or have any real information to give them.

That’s the secret — the moment you are inspired with an amazing, horribly scary idea, take the very first action step.

Even if you don’t know the second action step.

Especially if you don’t know the second action step.

You can decide later if you really want to do the project. You can figure out later what steps 2 through 127 are going to be.

But today, sitting here right now, just take the first step that connects this project to the outside world. Announce it to twitter. Make a phone call. Schedule the meeting. Ask for help.

Don’t think. Get in motion. Right now.

2. Say No to Something That You Allegedly Should Be Doing.

Maybe you have no idea what you want to do.

But you do know what you don’t want to do.

Back when I was doing personal financial planning I knew I was totally bored, resented my clients, and had to do something else before I threw my laptop out the window and torched all my client files.

But I had no idea what I wanted to do with my business.

So I let go of my financial planning license (RIA) and shut down my practice. Giving up almost all my income. Creating space (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) for the new ideas, opportunities, people, to flow into my life.

This January 2010 I let go of even more stuff. Dropped relaunching a program that I no longer loved. Shut down a website that still gets traffic, but no longer matches where I’m going. Took projects off my launch list for 2010 that were things other people thought I “should” do, but I knew, in my gut, were not me. Letting go of some (theoretically) immediate income & traffic to make room for my truth.

So what’s on your to do list, your goals for this year, your project calendar that no longer matches who you are?

What no longer resonates with where you are going, what you want to be when you grow up?

Dump them. Turn them off. Close the doors. Unfriend. Say no.

Create space for magic. Opportunity. Joy. Projects and people who match your truth.

The only possible way you are going to have the time, energy, and capacity to create something amazing is if you let go of everything that’s just mediocre.

3. Go Write at Starbucks. Jump in a Puddle. Take the Next Plane to Vegas.

I have those days when I’m completely incapable of doing anything. I want to eat an entire bag of double stuffed Oreos and I start fantasizing about how wonderful it would be to be a checkout person at a Safeway grocery store.

When I’m in that mode, nothing is going to happen until I break the pattern.

Change my state. Shake myself up.

So those are the days when I rearrange the furniture in my office. Sit on the floor with my laptop in my lap to write the blog post. Drop everything to go hiking in the woods with my kid. Eat really spicy food at the new Thai restaurant down the street. Drive an hour to the beach to smell the ocean.

Are you feeling totally incapable of doing anything remotely productive?

Maybe you don’t have ideas (or you have too many). You don’t know what to say no to, because everything seems to be equally okay (or equally terrible. or you think you need the money.). You’re completely frozen in murkiness or melancholy or overwhelm or freakoutification.

What do you do?

Get out. Move. Change something. Get yourself stirred up.

Do something that makes you uncomfortable. Something that takes you out of your comfort zone, your regular routine.

If you can’t write at your regular desk, take your laptop to a different coffee shop, one you’ve never been to before. And sit at table totally different than one you would normally choose. Order the opposite of your drink: instead of your double shot grande mocha, order an iced tea or a full-fat frappachino.

Or don’t “work” – get out. Put on your raincoat and go splashing through puddle with your kid. Go to the mall an hour from your house and strike up a conversation with the person sitting on the bench next to you. Take a road trip to the ocean or a mountain or to see the largest ball of string in the county. Schedule a weekend in Vegas or New York City or Hawaii or a cabin in the woods.

If you don’t know what action to take on your business, then just take action, crazy action, in this moment. In being alive. Get moving. Change your state.

And your entire perspective will shift.

Your crap will start to clear away. And the next step, whether it is an action step on your scary inspired project or where it is knowing what you need to say no to — that next step will suddenly emerge as obvious.

Your Live Your Truth & Get Unstuck Action Steps:

1. Take the first little step on the most scary idea you have on your list.
2. Say no to something or someone that you know is not a right fit for where you are going.
3. Get out of your comfort zone and do something weird today.

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein empowers solo multipassionate entrepreneurs to speak & live their truth in their businesses & lives. She’s also a mom, attorney, author, speaker, entrepreneur, video blogging addict, lover of passion, tweetup connoisseur, people loving introvert, and truth evangelist. But here what she’s really about: Elizabeth does crazy sh*t and says the things that everyone thinks and no one says, to empower others to do their crazy sh*t and speak their truth. And … get paid for it. It’s the best freaking gig ever. Find her at http://elizabethpottsweinstein.com or on twitter at http://twitter.com/elizabethpw.

If you don’t want to miss out on the 30 Days to Changing Your Game, please sign up here.

Popularity: 44% [?]