Cadence.

"There is only one fear in the world. We believe we lose ourselves by losing anything we love."

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 12:20:37 -0500

“There is only one fear in the world.
We believe we lose ourselves
by losing anything we love.”

- Don Welch (my grandfather), Every Mouth of Autumn Says Goodbye

"Maturity is the capacity to endure uncertainty."

Tue, 22 May 2012 08:18:43 -0500

“Maturity is the capacity to endure uncertainty.”

- John Finley via @JohnCMaxwell

"I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a..."

Tue, 15 May 2012 16:32:17 -0500

“I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life… The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned.”

- J. K. Rowling via Jonathan Fields - Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance

"…when we eliminate uncertainty, we necessarily eliminate novelty. And novelty is the starting..."

Mon, 14 May 2012 16:32:07 -0500

“…when we eliminate uncertainty, we necessarily eliminate novelty. And novelty is the starting point for creation and innovation. In eliminating uncertainty, we kill our shot at brilliance. We become derivative. All in the name of not having to learn to live with butterflies.”

- Jonathan Fields - Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance

From the window at Bailey’s Range.

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:09:22 -0500

From the window at Bailey’s Range.

"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones."

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:31:21 -0500

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.”

- John Maynard Keynes in “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN”

Certainty Rituals

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 08:42:49 -0500

Recently, I have been reading Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance by Jonathan Fields (see my highlights here). The book is about converting the fear, doubt, and hardship of creating into something helpful. In Fields’ words:

One of the single greatest determinants of high-level success as an innovator or creator in any realm is the ability to manage and at times even seek out sustained high levels of uncertainty, bundled lovingly with risk of loss and exposure to criticism.

Fields notes that many of us have strong reactions of fear in the face of uncertainty— even to the point of emotional suffering. Not only that, but much of the suffering may not be circumstantial— it may be induced by ourselves.

…what so many creators experience as a withering ability to handle the anxiety, doubt, and uncertainty as a project nears completion may actually be self-induced rather than process-induced suffering.

If this fear-management problem is our very own self-made dilemma, what practices and self-leadership habits can help?

One of Fields suggestions that has resonated with me is called certainty rituals. These rituals will vary greatly from person to person, but the common theme is giving yourself elements in your creation time and your day that you can count on— especially when you are working to create something from nothing.

Below are the certainty rituals that I am going to start working into my life this week. I plan to check in with posts about how the integration is progressing.

My schedule. I realized that the way my day is structured provides a huge certainty boost. Some pieces of my schedule (like random meetings) can not be helped. However, I had flexibility in other areas. Starting this week I am going to start making my schedule more consistent.
Relationships. Todd Henry has talked about this for years on Accidental Creative. The trick for me is to be mindful of a relationship cycle in my life. If and when good friends become partners in my work, I need to add time with other people who are not involved directly in my work. This has been one of the hardest things for me to be consistent in while working in the nonprofit sector.
Focus blocks. In Be Excellent at Anything, Tony Schwartz suggests blocking at least one 45-90 minute section of your schedule each day for focused, uninterrupted work. (FYI - interruptions include email, text messages, and the like.) I have been experimenting with these in my schedule for two months now and have started to find some helpful patterns.
My diet. I realized I was spending a lot of energy thinking about what to eat and when to eat it. My hypothesis is that much of that energy can be conserved if I plan my meals weekly. For me this includes breakfast and lunches. Preparing food actually energizes me— I like to cook— but thinking about what to cook is a time suck. My friend Josh Dix has started to blog about his recent diet at Healthy Leadership Habits, and I am contemplating following suit.
Spending money. This is still a very raw idea: I wonder if it is possible to decide what I spend money (and do not spend money) on before I start my day or my week. That way, I am saving my energy for solving other (real) problems. Some people call this a budget. My goal is to try and think about a budget in a way that is inline with how I use other planning tools and metrics (which I enjoy) so it is a helpful tool, not a burden.

"The edge of your comfort zone is where you start to rub against your habits and beliefs."

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:32:00 -0500

“The edge of your comfort zone is where you start to rub against your habits and beliefs.”

- Nicolai Moltke-Leth via @johnmaeda

"Standing while designing makes you more likely to take a step back."

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:32:26 -0500

“Standing while designing makes you more likely to take a step back.”

- Emily Albert via @risd & @johnmaeda

"Influence and reach are different. Reach is those who can hear you because of proximity. Influence..."

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 16:30:59 -0500

“Influence and reach are different. Reach is those who can hear you because of proximity. Influence is those who want to hear you because of character.”

- Jeremy Bedenbaugh

An illustration of Da Vinci’s to-do list by artist Wendy...

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:31:37 -0500

An illustration of Da Vinci’s to-do list by artist Wendy MacNaughton

"An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. Scientists made a great invention by..."

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:28:31 -0500

“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. Scientists made a great invention by calling their activities hypotheses and experiments. They made it permissible to fail repeatedly until in the end they got the results they wanted. In politics or government, if you made a hypothesis and it didn’t work out, you had your head cut off.”

- Edwin Land, the visionary co-founder of Polaroid

"We’re taught to do things the right way. But if you want to discover something that other..."

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:28:06 -0500

“We’re taught to do things the right way. But if you want to discover something that other people haven’t, you need to do things the wrong way… When I was doing my vacuum cleaner, I started out trying a conventionally shaped cyclone, the kind you see in textbooks. But we couldn’t separate the carpet fluff and dog hairs and strands of cotton in those cyclones. It formed a ball inside the cleaner or shot out the exit and got into the motor. I tried all sorts of shapes. Nothing worked. So then I thought I’d try the wrong shape, the opposite of conical. And it worked.”

- Sir James Dyson

"Leaders accept responsibility for enabling others to achieve shared purpose under conditions of..."

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:29:18 -0500

“Leaders accept responsibility for enabling others to achieve shared purpose under conditions of uncertainty.”

- Marshall Ganz via @johnmaeda

"…influence becomes ineffective when individuals become so focused on the desired outcome that..."

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:31:05 -0500

“…influence becomes ineffective when individuals become so focused on the desired outcome that they fail to fully consider the situation.”

- When Your Influence Is Ineffective

"The tool doesn’t make he craftsmen."

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:30:05 -0500

“The tool doesn’t make he craftsmen.”

- Oliver Reichenstein

Two, Not Three: Boost Sales By Offering Less

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:30:06 -0500

Two, Not Three: Boost Sales By Offering Less :

“…it turns out how people decide hasn’t changed at all.”

Joe Paterno with a china marker

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 06:30:06 -0500

Joe Paterno with a china marker

Amazon just bought these robots. Pretty cool.

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 06:30:06 -0500

Amazon just bought these robots. Pretty cool.

"Trust doesn’t come from making the right decision. Trust comes from giving people an honest..."

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 06:30:06 -0500

“Trust doesn’t come from making the right decision. Trust comes from giving people an honest assessment for why the decision was made.”

- Simon Sinek