by Helena Escalante | Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity, Productivity, Tools
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 32 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Selective quitting
— From Born For This: How to Find the Work You Were Meant to Do by Chris Guillebeau (Here’s a book review I wrote and here’s my interview with Chris at the New York Public Library.)
A quote that is frequently attributed to Einstein is, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” In Born for This, Chris Guillebeau makes the case that “most of us are smart enough to realize that if we try something new and it doesn’t work we can’t just keep doing the same thing and expect different results.” When this happens, we quit and move on, but the key word here is new.
What happens when it’s not new? Guillebeau continues, “the greater problem comes when we’ve become conditioned to success according to a certain method or plan of action. When something works for a while and then it stops working, that’s when it’s tough to change. We don’t keep attempting the same thing over and over because we’re stupid, and it’s not because we don’t know any better. It’s just that we love the familiar and change is hard.”
What to do?
We must go after the right opportunities and selectively quit projects or courses of action that are not in our best interest. But “knowing when to give up and when to keep going can feel like an unachievable superpower,” says Guillebeau. Fortunately, he offers four strategies you can put to work whenever you find yourself in this situation.
1. When the stakes are low, make changes or give up quickly. The best time to make a change is earlier in the project, when the stakes are low and, preferably, when the investment of time, effort, money, etc., has not been as significant as closer to the end (but more on this in point 3 below).
2. Fight your FOMO. FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out “is a very human and natural human emotion, it can be dangerous if it prevents you from quitting when it’s long past time to give up. After all, if you want to be successful, you can’t live your life out of fear.”
3. Ignore sunk costs as much as possible. The term sunk costs is used in accounting and finance to mean “a cost that an entity has incurred, and which it can no longer recover by any means. Sunk costs should not be considered when making the decision to continue investing in an ongoing project, since these costs cannot be recovered.” (Source: AccountingTools.com) But the fact that this term is used in finance doesn’t mean that it doesn’t apply to us if we are not in the field. Why do we keep watching a really bad movie and hoping that it gets better, when the logical thing would be to stop watching or leave the theatre? Because we have invested our time (and perhaps our money) in it, and we’d like to see if we can somehow make the most out of that investment. Why don’t we get rid of things that clutter our homes and offices? Because feel bad about getting rid of them when we think of all the money and other resources that we’ve spent on acquiring them. Why do some people keep working at a job they don’t enjoy? Because they’ve spent years at the company. When you take sunk costs into consideration you become chained to a false commitment, and this prevents you from choosing better options. Do not take into account sunk costs when making a decision.
4. When the stakes are high, ask yourself two questions. The questions are very simple, but don’t let that fool you, the answers will give you much clarity:
- Is it working?
- Do you still enjoy it?
The answers should come to you quickly and intuitively. If both answers are yes, then keep going. If both answers are no, then quit. The tricky part comes when the answers are different: when it’s working but you don’t enjoy it, or it’s not working but you do enjoy it. In either case a change is needed to get you to where you want to be. Here’s a brief diagram of what the questions and answers look like:
- Is it working? → Yes → Do you still enjoy it?→ Yes → Keep going
- Is it working? → Yes → Do you still enjoy it? → No → Change something
- Is it working? → No → Do you still enjoy it? → Yes → Change something
- Is it working? → No → Do you still enjoy it? → No→ Give up
And while giving up or quitting has a bad connotation and we don’t want to think of ourselves as quitters, just remember that by quitting something you’re not giving up on you. On the contrary, you are giving yourself the opportunity to fully chase those goals and dreams that you want to achieve.
ACTION
TODAY: Think about one project or commitment that you have going on and that is spreading yourself too thin. Apply the four strategies above and figure out whether it merits continuing or not.
FUTURE: Adopt these four strategies for figuring out what you want to keep and what you need to give up. Once you take on additional projects, make a point of evaluating your progress every so often by running your projects through these strategies. This way you’ll ensure you’re involved with projects/actions that are moving you forward, instead of weighing you down.
Know someone who needs to selectively quit a thing or two? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 45 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: It’s never the right time
— From What to Do When it’s Your Turn (and it’s Always Your Turn) by Seth Godin
In What To Do When It’s Your Turn, Seth Godin talks about our fear of doing things because it’s “not the right time.” He concludes that, “It’s never the right time. When you are starting a family, it’s not the right time. When your kids are about to go to college, it’s not the right time. When there’s an elderly parent depending on you…” You simply have to take the leap because the right time will never come.
Godin mentions that when Gutenberg launched the printing press it was “a foolish time to bring a book manufacturing system to Europe [because] 96 percent of the population was illiterate.” It was indeed too early to launch considering the following: only one in 25 knew how to use the product and learning to use it (reading) would take years. Can you imagine if Gutenberg had decided not to move forward because it was not the right time?
And “when Karl Benz introduced the car to Germany, it was against he law to drive a car. He had to get a letter from the King granting him permission to use his new device. And, worth mentioning, no one knew how to drive a car. And there were no roads. And no gas stations.” Too early again…
We have a million reasons to give up because it’s too early, too late, or simply not the right time. On the other hand, when we take the leap, we are giving ourselves, our loved ones, and those who surround us, the gift of a project that can benefit us all. Godin says, “This is the chance of a lifetime, our lifetime. Not someone else, us. Not later. Now.”
I’ll leave you with this quote as food for thought:
“Do it or not do it—you will regret both. … To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose one’s self.” – Soren Kierkegaard
ACTION
TODAY: What have you been postponing lately because it’s not the right time? Ask yourself: if not know, when? Set a time to get started. Even if you begin with a tiny step, it will be a step in the right direction.
FUTURE: Think of all the things you have postponed because it’s never been the right time. Which of those are still part of your life/business goals? Pay attention to them and set up a time to start. We need you to share your gifts with the world!
P.S. – I have a favor to ask today, please: for a long time I postponed launching my blog because it was not the right time. I’m so glad I finally took the leap to share these ideas with you daily! Since EntreGurus will be celebrating 100 posts soon (woo-hoo!), I want to learn how the ideas have been helpful to you, what your favorite post has been, what other books/topics you’d like me to feature, and what I can do to improve or enhance EntreGurus. Could you please help me by sharing your comments with me in here? Thank you so, so much!
P.S. 2 — Know someone who is waiting for the right time? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 58 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Peter’s Laws
— From Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler
Peter H. Diamandis was named one of “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” in 2014 by Fortune magazine. He is the founder of more than 15 high-tech companies. He recalls how, in the early days of one of his business ventures, his office mate put a copy of Murphy’s Law on the wall as a joke. It read: “If anything can go wrong, it will.” After a few days it started to get under Diamandis’ skin, so he went to his whiteboard and wrote, “If anything can go wrong, fix it! (To hell with Murphy!)” And above that, he wrote, “Peter’s Law.”
As time went by, he started collecting more laws, which now serve as his rules to live by. I want to share all those rules here with you, but before that, here’s some advice from Diamandis: “The maxims presented below are the ones that have worked for me, but that’s no guarantee they’ll work for you. So come up with your own. Borrow from anyone you like. The point isn’t to produce pretty pictures covered with inspirational quotes. The point is to trust your history. Plumb you past to plot your future. Start collecting mind hacks by examining your own life and seeing what strategies consistently worked along the way. Turn those strategies into your laws.”
Peter’s Laws ™*
The Creed of the Persistent and Passionate Mind
- If anything can go wrong, fix it! (To hell with Murphy!)
- When given a choice—take both!
- Multiple projects lead to multiple successes.
- Start at the top then work your way up.
- Do it by the book… but be the author!
- When forced to compromise, ask for more.
- If you can’t win, change the rules.
- If you can’t change the rules, then ignore them.
- Perfection is not optional.
- When faced without a challenge—make one.
- No simply means begin one level higher.
- Don’t walk when you can run.
- When in doubt: THINK!
- Patience is a virtue, but persistence to the point of success is a blessing.
- The squeaky wheel gets replaced.
- The faster you move, the slower time passes, the longer you live.
- The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself!
- The ratio of something to nothing is infinite.
- You get what you incentivize.
- If you think it is impossible, then it is for you.
- An expert is someone who can tell you exactly how something can’t be done.
- The day before something is a breakthrough, it’s a crazy idea.
- If it was easy, it would have been done already.
- Without a target you’ll miss it every time.
- Fail early, fail often, fail forward!
- If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.
- The world’s most precious resource is the persistent and passionate human mind.
- Bureaucracy is an obstacle to be conquered with persistence, confidence, and a bulldozer when necessary.
* Laws 12 and 15 by Todd B. Hawley. Law 17 adopted from Alan Kay, Law 21 adopted from Robert Heinlein, Law 24 by Byron K. Lichtenberg, Law 25 adopted from John Maxwell.
ACTION
TODAY: Take a look at Peter’s Laws and see which ones apply to your life and business. Keep the ones that suit you and add at least one more of your own.
FUTURE: Take a deeper look into Peter’s Laws in these blog posts (here and here). You’ll learn what’s behind some of these rules; and the thoughts, I’m sure, will spark some ideas to come up with a few rules of your own for your list of Laws. You can download a copy of Peter’s Laws here.
Know someone who could use some law’s in business and/or life? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Creativity, Goals, Marketing, Planning, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 39 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: 5 Theses of the power of a presentation
— From Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power[point].” –Abraham Lincoln
And with this fantastic quote [and its oh-so-funny addition] begins Slide:ology, a great, practical book by Nancy Duarte on how to craft great presentations and slides. We all have been at presentations where the slides are insufferable. (!) And if we are lucky, we have also been at (or watched on video) incredibly moving, beautiful, memorable presentations, such as TED Talks. What’s the difference, above and beyond the delivery? The visuals. You can have death by PowerPoint (very funny video), in which the slides act as a crutch for the presenter and are a true distraction for the audience. Or you can have slides that “act as a visual aid to reinforce the presenter’s message,” and help with recall of the main points afterwards.
“The audience will either read your slides or listen to you. They will not do both. So, ask yourself this: is it more important that they listen, or more effective if they read?” If they read, there’s no point in doing a presentation. “People will love you for respecting their time enough to use the media appropriately.”
“Communication is about getting others to adopt your point of view, to help them understand why you’re excited (or sad, or optimistic, or whatever else you are). If all you want to do is create a file of facts and figures, then cancel the meeting and send in a report.” – Seth Godin
Duarte created a manifesto with 5 theses that are the foundation on which powerful presentations stand. They may seem basic, but sometimes we need a reminder of the obvious, since we are so involved in the project that we don’t see it. I’m sharing the 5 points with you here verbatim as I think they have enormous merit.
- Treat your audience as king. “They didn’t come to your presentation to see you. They came to find out what you can do for them. Success means giving them a reason for taking their time, providing content that resonates, and ensuring it’s clear what they are to do.”
- Spread ideas and move people. “Creating great ideas is what we were born to do; getting people to feel like they have a stake in what we believe is the hard part. Communicate your ideas with strong visual grammar to engage all their senses and they will adopt the ideas as their own.”
- Help them see what you are saying. “Epiphanies and profoundly moving experiences come from moments of clarity. Think like a designer and guide your audience through ideas in a way that helps, not hinders, their comprehension. Appeal not only to their verbal senses, but to their visual senses as well.”
- Practice design, not decoration. “Orchestrating the aesthetic experience through well-known but oft-neglected design practices often transforms audiences into evangelists. Don’t just make pretty talking points. Instead, display information in a way that makes complex information clear.”
- Cultivate healthy relationships. A meaningful relationship between you, your slides, and your audience will connect people with content. Display information in the best way possible for comprehension rather than focusing on what you need as a visual crutch. Content carriers connect with people.”
Lastly, always remember the Golden Rule of presentations: “Never deliver a presentation you wouldn’t want to sit through.”
ACTION
TODAY: Watch one or more TED Talks and look at the visuals (here are one, two, and three presentations with slides from the 25 most popular TED Talks of all time). Notice how they help drive the point home. What made them memorable? How was the information displayed so that it delivered the idea/message and made it memorable?
FUTURE: Here are Seth Godin’s rules to avoid Really Bad PowerPoint. Go through them as well as through the 5 theses above every time you have to build a slide deck so that you can ensure that it will be successful and well received by your audience. And if you love design as much as I do and want to learn more about it to apply it to all aspects of your life, here’s an awesome free online course (one lesson per week, learn at your own pace).
Know someone who needs to improve their PowerPoint skills? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 52 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Four-letter words
— From REWORK: Change the way you work forever by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
“There are four-letter words you should never use in business,” say Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson in their book Rework. No, they are not referring to those four-letter words.* They are talking about need, must, can’t, easy, just, only and fast.
At plain sight there’s nothing wrong with the words, I’m sure we’ve all used them. What we may not have noticed was the impact they had on the person on the receiving end. Yet we can probably remember one time or another when we were on the receiving end of those words ourselves, and how we didn’t like the way they made us feel…
The words by themselves are not inherently wrong. But sometimes, in the course of collaborating with others, “these words get in the way of healthy communication,” say the authors. “They are red flags that introduce animosity, torpedo good discussions, and cause projects to be late… When you use these four-letter words you create a black-and-white situation. But the truth is rarely black and white. So people get upset and problems ensue. Tension and conflict are injected unnecessarily.”
So, what’s wrong with these words?
Need and Must: “Very few things actually need to get done.” Instead of saying that something needs to get done or something must be done/added/changed/etc., the authors suggest saying “‘What do you think about this?’ or ‘How does this sound?’ or ‘Do you think we could get away with that?’” Need and must place an undue amount of pressure because the person on the receiving end naturally perceives or else after those words are used. Engage in a meaningful, inclusive dialogue with the other person, and you’ll both find a solution for whatever you are trying to accomplish.
Can’t: “When you say ‘can’t’ you probably can. Sometimes there are even opposing can’ts: ‘We can’t launch it like that, because it’s not quite right’ versus ‘We can’t spend any more time on this because we have to launch.’ Both of those statements can’t be true. Or wait a minute, can they?”
Easy, Just, Only and Fast: These words become a problem when they’re used to describe other people’s jobs without knowing what it entails: ‘that should be easy for you to do, right?’” Yet rarely the people on the receiving end describe their tasks as easy. And even if the actual task were technically easy, it may not be all that simple or fast to implement, or the person may not have the time to devote to it right when you want it. Easy, just, only, and fast, when applied in this context (oh, but it’s only a minor change, just to this part of the presentation, it’s nothing major, should be super easy and fast for you since you are the expert at this…) disempower and diminish the importance of the work of others; and do not give them room to provide the best solution according to their experience and expertise.
The authors also warn against these words’ cousins, the absolutes: everyone, no one, always and never. “Once uttered, they make it hard to find a solution. They box you into a corner by pitting two absolutes against each other. That’s when head-butting occurs. You squeeze out any middle ground.”
Lastly, we should also watch out for all these words when someone strings them all together because they come with many assumptions that may not have been fully pondered: “We need to add this feature now. We can’t launch without this feature. Everyone wants it. It’s only one little thing so it will be easy. You should be able to get it in there fast!”
ACTION
TODAY: When collaborating with others, think about the words you use and how you are coming across. Is there a better, gentler way to include the other person in the solution? Or, if you are the one on the receiving end, be empathetic, as the other person may not know the impact of these words (how about sharing this blog post with them?). Yet, once you are aware of what is happening, include yourself in the solution by sharing your knowledge.
FUTURE: Make it a habit of being aware of the way you think and the things you say. Sometimes, for the sake of efficiency, we tend to eagerly push through with best intentions, and don’t notice that that there may be damage left in our wake. Avoid using these four-letter words in the contexts described above and involve others in the solution: collaboration and willingness to reach the goal are key.
Know someone who uses these words without knowing the impact they have on others? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
* For our international gurupies** whose native language may not be English, or for those of you who are reading this through translation technology: “The phrase four-letter word refers to a set of English-language words written with four letters which are considered profane… The ‘four-letter’ claim refers to the fact that a large number of (but not all) English ‘swear words’ are incidentally four-character monosyllables.” (Source: Wikipedia)
** Gurupie = blend of guru and groupie = how I fondly refer to the EntreGurus’ community, because we all follow the ideas of the gurus.
by Helena Escalante | Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 50 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Purpose is a force and passion is fuel
— From Creative On Purpose: An Innovative Approach to Professional Artistry by Scott Perry
If you’ve ever wondered what is the meaning of life and what you are supposed to do with it, very likely you’ve come across the myriad articles, books, and videos offering advice and help.
“Most of it is pretty bad,” says Scott Perry, author of Creative on Purpose. “Here’s the worst advice of all: ‘Follow your passion’.”
Stop right there. Whaaaaaaat?! This is exactly what most of us have been told all our lives.
“Passion is poorly equipped to act as an inner guide or a compass for directing your work. That is because that’s not what passion is for. That job belongs to Purpose.”
Perry states that just as gravity is a force that keeps us grounded and electricity is a force that powers mechanical things, purpose is a force too. If “scientists define ‘force’ as a push or pull upon one object resulting from that object’s interaction with another object;” then purpose “is the push or pull of one object (you), resulting from your interactions with other objects (others, events, surroundings, etc.).”
To figure out your purpose is something that takes a bit of time and that is not set in stone: it will grow and change with you “as your beliefs evolve, your skills develop, and your audience grows.” You’ll want to revisit and tweak your purpose many times throughout your life. Perry provides an illustrative diagram to help understand that our purpose is the intersection of three things:
- Who you are (your core values)
- What you do (your core talents and soft skills)
- Those you serve (people who share your values and are in need of your talents).
(Click on image to enlarge) Source: BeCreativeOnPurpose.com on April 12, 2018.
And where does that leave passion?
Passion, as well as profits, recognition and influence are the results of purposeful work and living. However, by themselves, Perry says, they are “improper motivators” because they lead to compromised decisions and may take you away from your core values and beliefs. Yet none of those results are inherently bad. On the contrary, they are valuable resources “that can be used to fuel and sustain purposeful living and work. They are not the ends, they are the means!”
If your work is driven by a strong and clear purpose, passion will result; and it will become a renewable resource to fuel your life and work.
ACTION
TODAY: When faced with a decision, ask, “what’s it for?” That simple question will start you on your way to making sure that all you do is aligned with your purpose.
2nd ACTION FOR TODAY: Please join Scott Perry and I as we chat about purpose, passion, and professional and personal growth during the Creative on Purpose Live streaming via Facebook. Simply click this link (https://www.facebook.com/CreativeOnPurpose/) at 1 pm EST and join the conversation, we welcome all your questions and comments. I look forward to seeing you there!
FUTURE: When faced with an action that may have important consequences, Perry suggests taking a second to pause and ask yourself: “What’s it for? What’s the real reason? Is it unselfish? Does it align with your values? Is it generous towards others?” Once you have pondered the answers you can determine if the results will be aligned with your personal or professional purpose, and then you can decide what’s next.
Know someone who could benefit from living and working with purpose? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
