It’s a simple question really.
Who are you waiting for to step up, to change things?
Why not you?
Why wait for someone else to fill the need you see that needs to be filled?
[Dangerous to pretend that you are not designed to do great things. You have far more power than you can imagine. Others have done much with far less. Act.]
There was a stretch where I lived out of my backpack and slept on the dirt for 150+ days.
I also hitchhiked from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles.
And for a minute, I experimented with dumpster diving. (While I never went as far as eating food out of a dumpster, I did recover a bunch of stuff that was perfectly good to use. It’s still amazes me what people will throw away.)
I tried this and that but haven’t felt the need to repeat most of those things.
I didn’t know who I wanted to be, and so, I lived many different lives.
The difference between now and then, is clarity.
At first, you really don’t know who it is you want to become. But once you do, none of the other stuff matters.
What matters now is the work and the mission.
That’s what clarity does. It focuses your intentions.
Speak in public settings often. The more you do it, the better you get.
You’re never ready. It is always too early. Go do it anyway.
Find a space that you’re uncomfortable to be in to practice your craft.
If no one knows you yet—great. Then they probably won’t remember you if you bomb.
Plan on the microphone not working (or the speakers being too loud or the lights too bright). At least this way, you won’t be surprised if something does go wrong.
Hold the microphone dead center of your chest. Six inches below your mouth, 3 or 4 inches away.
Take your wallet and phone out of your pocket. It just looks better in the pictures.
Um…don’t say um.
Skip the thank you’s for being here and the thanks you’s as you leave. We have your attention, don’t squander it.
Start with Why.
If they give you 5 minutes, take 3. Studies show that we will only remember the first 5%, the last 5% and the punchline.
We’ve been taught from a very young age to be cautious about what we give to others in fear that our generosity could be taken advantage of.
But what if instead, we gave away something so great and generous that to receive it would be taking advantage of someone—it would leave a void that could never be filled.
What a gift.
What could you build with that kind of reputation?
[This is my 900th blog post, thank you for the privilege.]
In the court room, the prosecutor faces the jury and presents an argument.
If the argument is well thought out, backed with evidence and data and is proven without a shadow of doubt, the jury would then change their mind—moving from a position of innocent to guilty.
The difference between a court room and our culture is that the jurors prepare to have their minds change.
Unfortunately, we don’t.
In our culture, it’s difficult to find people who are willing to be wrong or change their minds in the face of truth. We label these people as “flip-floppers.”
We’ve built a culture to point when someone is wrong. Perhaps we should encourage those around us to not have all the right answers, to seek real truth, not our perception of it.
And maybe, “Knowing what I know now, I can make a better informed decision.”
Isn’t that what having a discussion is all about?
Because when we connect with a new tribe with new faces, they don’t know who you were before.
They don’t know your past and the mistakes you’ve made. They don’t know all the little embarrassing moments and epic fails.
That’s why moving, or starting a new job is so appealing. We get a clean slate. It’s tempting to think the answer is to start over often since we mess up so much on a daily basis.
But what if instead of using fresh starts as an opportunity to run away, what if we focused on fresh endings?
Could we close projects, end discussions and interactions, say goodbye to each work day in a more meaningful way?
Is it possible to be missed when you are gone after every interaction?
It may be a long shot. The alternative is to wait until tomorrow to start again. Except, what guarantee do we have that we will still be here?
Happiness is not right around the corner or over the next the field.
It’s not at the next job or partner or paycheck.
Happiness is everywhere. Right here, right now.
It’s in this moment, if only we are aware of it.
Happiness isn’t going to happen while we wait to be acted upon, but rather, how we act.
Otherwise, you’d be just another face in the crowd.
But when you stand up, speak out and march to the beat of your own drum, then we noticed.
If the song you sing inspires and moves us, we might just follow.
Gossip is defined by sharing anything negative to anyone who can’t solve the problem.
And the reason why we skirt around and avoid talking to the person who can do something about the situation is because we’re afraid.
We’re afraid of being wrong or to be vulnerable. We’re afraid of raising our hands and questioning the status-quo. Or speaking out of turn or out of line. We’re afraid the boss might fire us.
The more gossip an office or team has, the more toxic the environment is. It’s that simple.
The dangerous part working in an environment like this is how easy it can carry over to other parts of our lives.
Think about it.
Why are we deeply moved by the death of one individual, and yet, won’t blink an eye for thousands in mass genocide?
In a fascinating paper, Paul Solvic asks this very question.
While there remain many factors including things like media exposure, Albert Szent Gyorgi sums it up best:
“I am deeply moved if I see one man suffering and would risk my life for him. Then I talk impersonally about the possible pulverization of our big cities, with a hundred million dead. I am unable to multiply one man’s suffering by a hundred million.”
Emotions move us to act. When we see one person who needs our help and we know how, then, we are more likely to do so.
On the other hand, when people are overcome with numbers, it’s not that we don’t care, it’s just that don’t know where to start.
