I know, I know…I’ve been a little light on blog posts for the past few weeks (as in I haven’t written any). I’ll get back in the swing soon, I promise. In the meantime, here’s something for your listening pleasure: an episode of my Blog Talk Radio program about Steven Pressfield’s new book “Do the Work” (which is brilliant, by the way…if you haven’t read it, go get your copy now!)
For weeks now, all I’ve been hearing is people talking about how they can’t wait for 2010 to be over and a brand new year to begin. In fact, I joined in that chorus a time or two. No doubt, 2010 was a rough year.
But it’s over now.
We’re officially three days in to 2011, and from the looks of things, it has the potential to be a truly amazing year. Personally, I’m excited to be kicking things off in style with the International Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas, NV. This will be my first CES, and I can’t wait to get there.
It also rocks because I’ll be making the trip to Vegas with my friend and fellow blogger, Ryan Snethen. Ryan is a very cool cat who knows his music and movies, and the more obscure, the better. His “Did You Miss It?” blog is chock-full of movies you might have missed. He’s also a writer and an entrepreneur. We’re making the 10-hour trip by car, so we’ll have lots of time to brainstorm new ideas. Can’t wait!
Gary Klaben
Today, there is a strong pull between the profit maximizers and the purpose maximizers. It is not that working on Wall Street or Main Street for large companies is all about profit maximization, or that starting a small business is all about purpose maximization. It is about the tide turning towards purpose, while maintaining profit.
In Daniel Pink’s recent book, Drive (2010), he identifies and discusses three types of motivation. Motivation 1.0 is the basic need to survive. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors spent nearly all their time fulfilling this need. Motivation 2.0 involves seeking rewards and avoiding punishment. From the time of antiquity through the 20th century, this was the primary motivator after achieving survival. Finally, motivation 3.0 seeks internal, intrinsic satisfaction — the fruit of personal freedom, challenge and purpose. What we like to call MVP (meaning, value & purpose).
Ours is a motivation 3.0 world. The unexpected and unpredictable will increasingly occur. Change is the only constant. Continual surprises! Microsoft’s digital Encarta encyclopedia — a profit maximizer — lost out to tens of thousands of online hobbyists writing and editing topics in Wikipedia’s open-source, interactive encyclopedia without pay — a purpose maximizer.
This is one of my favorite moments from a Monty Python movie, and the life lesson it teaches is the core of my philosophy: you can always, no matter what your circumstances, choose to look on the bright side.
I was talking to a friend of mine whose wife is waiting for a liver transplant. In addition, she’s just found out she has cataracts and will have to have surgery on her eyes before she gets the transplant. I try to imagine myself in those circumstances; when I do, I’m incredibly thankful for my health and for the health of my loved ones. I’m thankful that, at least for today, I feel pretty good.
I’ve been spending a fair amount of time lately preparing for the re-boot of the game I call MyLife, and I’m crazy-excited about the release of version 2.0. For the non-geeks out there, that basically means I’m getting ready for a fresh start.
For those of you who weren’t there to see it, here’s the short version of the last three years of my life: they sucked.out.loud. From financial ruin to broken relationships to a roller-coaster ride of emotional turmoil, I’ve been a complete wreck. Don’t worry, though: I can say with total confidence that the dog days are over.
The last year has been a re-building period for me. In December of 2009, I started working full-time for Karl Palachuk who is, without a doubt, the best boss I’ve ever had. I sometimes even forget that he’s the boss (except on payday, of course…I always remember it then) because he’s such a blast to work with. That’s right: we have FUN at work. It’s part of the culture, and I love every minute of it. And we’re good at what we do, which makes it even more fun…and profitable, too.
The training business I tried (and failed miserably) to start has morphed into a blog building and mentoring business that I work on nights and weekends. Simply put, I love it. I have a blast, I love my clients, and I’m good at what I do. I’m picking up new clients every week, and, so far, they’re thrilled with the results. 2011 is going to see the explosion of that business, too.
pos·tur·ing
1 : to assume a posture; especially : to strike a pose for effect
2 : to assume an artificial or pretended attitude
This post has been stewing in my brain for days, and I think it’s about time I get it out. If it seems a little disjointed, well, consider the source.
I’m calling out the “fake it ’til you make it crowd”; I think it’s time to put that idea to rest. While the philosophy seemed like a good one at first blush, I’m beginning to understand that “faking it” is just another way of hiding from the fear of being open, honest and transparent.
The thought is that by pretending you’ve already arrived at the destination, somehow the journey will be less arduous and time-consuming. If you’ll just act like a successful business person (i.e. “fake it”), so the theory goes, people will assume that you are a successful businessperson and will want to do business with you (i.e. you’ll “make it”). Sounds good, right? You can move to the front of the class without doing any homework or passing any tests; who wouldn’t want to do that? Where do I sign up?
“You teach best what you most need to learn.” – Richard Bach
As I sat down to write today’s post, I found myself having to take a big heaping spoonful of my own medicine. I didn’t like the way it tasted going down, but I know I’ll feel better for having taken it. That’s the problem with sharing your ideas in such a public format: you leave yourself open to people calling you on your BS when you’re not applying your own wisdom. I guess that’s not really a problem, though…probably more of a benefit since it keeps you in alignment with your own philosophy.
The scary (and kind of cool) part, though, is when you start to catch yourself in the act before someone else has to point it out to you. That’s when you know you’re getting close to living your truth.
I’ve been having that experience more and more often. Like today when I was driving home from the office. I suddenly realized that I was in a funk (and had been for a couple of days) because I was trying to control the outcomes in my life (the things I can’t control) instead of focusing on the processes (the things I totally have control over).
Is there any ailment in the world that a good laugh won’t cure? I don’t think so. I mean, the jury’s still out on whether Norman Cousins actually healed himself by watching Marx Brothers movies, but I’ll tell you one thing for certain: he sure felt better!
And that’s all that really matters, isn’t it? I know that when things are going great and I’m happy, I can be sick as a dog and it doesn’t phase me. I to recover a lot faster from any illnesses, if I get them at all. On the other hand, whenever I’m feeling down or depressed, the slightest cold can put me down for days.
Once again, we find that it’s all a matter of our perception of our situation and our chosen reaction to it. We can choose to be in a depressing slump or we can do something about it: laugh! Have you ever been in a situation where things were so bad, so depressing, that you didn’t know if you could endure any more, then caught a case of the giggles? How did it make you feel? At first it’s a little disturbing and you question whether you’ve lost your mind, then you start to feel a little better. The giggle turns into a hearty belly laugh and, before you know it, you’re wondering what you were so worried about!
You can now get the Motivation 101 Blog delivered right to your Amazon Kindle! Click on the image above to subscribe today.
Download Step 1 of "Motivation 101: Five Steps to Activate Your Potential in Any Economy" absolutely free...I won't even ask for your email address!
