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Lose the fear!

October 30, 2012 in courage, fear, focus, work with 1 Comment

“To live a creative life we must first lose the fear of being wrong.” ~ Joseph Chilton Pearce

Fear of being wrong can cause you to get stuck faster that most anything. It will cause you to question yourself, second guess your own decisions and undermine your confidence in your ability to get the job done.

When you’re creating something, the best way to be wrong is doing nothing. Doing something affords us all the opportunity to learn, change and grow. Refusing to move means we sit on the sidelines for the whole game and wonder later what could have been.

Break free.

Launch out.

Do something.

Grow.

What if you are the one?

October 11, 2012 in encouragement, faith, focus with 4 Comments

“Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.” - G. M. Trevelyan

Someone told you it’s impossible.

So what?

What do they know?

What if you are the one God has been waiting for?

What if you are ignorant enough of the impossible to actually get it done?

What if?

How to get ahead in life

September 17, 2012 in focus, ideas with 1 Comment

“Paying attention in a distracted world: It’s like bringing a gun to a knife fight.” ~ James Shelley

I love this quote. It makes me think of the Indiana Jones scene where we were sure he was about to lose his head in a confrontation with a master swordsman. You know the one. Yeah, that one where Dr. Jones pulls a pistol from out of nowhere and ends the intimidation. Fight over. No struggle. I remember the nervous, yet relieved laughter in the theater. I guess we forgot there was even a possibility of that kind of overwhelming victory.

So, who doesn’t want to have that kind of upper hand? If we were to have a lucid moment of honesty here, I’m pretty sure we would all confess to wanting to have and keep the advantage. Let’s face it – we ALL want to get ahead in life. We all want the inside track. We all want to get ahead of the curve. We all want the secret handshake. We all want the elusive pass to the front of the line.

Including you.

Don’t even try to pretend you don’t. You do.

You want to know how to get ahead in life?

Get YOUR head IN life.

Get your head in the game.

Pay attention. There are a lot of distracted, half-hearted people around you. Have you noticed? Maybe you are one of them. It’s not late to wake up and make a significant contribution.

It’s not too late to pay attention. That’s how you get ahead. I agree with Mr. Shelley, it IS like bringing a gun to a knife fight.

Pay attention. Bring your “A” game. Bring your weapon.

Oh, and don’t forget the ammo.

What if people aren’t listening?

April 10, 2012 in artistry, encouragement, focus with 8 Comments

As artists, writers and creative people, we can get overly concerned with the impact of our work. We get discouraged if our blog traffic goes down, or we sell less CDs or books than we thought we would. It’s something that every creative and communicator worth their salt has encountered in their journey.

If you feel like nobody’s listening, nobody gets you, nobody wants what you have, DON’T GIVE UP – you’re not alone…

  • Dr. Seuss was turned down by 27 publishers before selling his first book.
  • J.K Rowling was turned down by twelve publishers.
  • Moby Dick sold less than ten thousand copies in Herman Melville’s lifetime.
  • Joseph Heller’s famous novel “Catch-22″ never appeared on a bestsellers list.
  • Henry David Thoreau only published two books before his death. Both books remained obscure during his lifetime.
  • During Emily Dickinson’s life, only seven of her poems were published. After her death, family and friends edited and published her work.
  • Edgar Alan Poe’s piece “The Raven,”  sold for $9.

The size of your audience is irrelevant to doing what you were born to do. Our obsession with our audience or lack thereof, is common.

Common and problematic.

If our focus is on our audience, it’s not on our art.

Creativity is about expression. When you make up your mind to express yourself no matter who is watching, listening and following, that is notable art. If you want to impact the world, you have to start where you are and be grateful for the ability to do something you enjoy. There may people you haven’t met yet that will fan your flame and help the visibility of your work to increase. Don’t worry about any of that, just create. Get “heads down” in your work and create.

Do it.

Go for it.

Don’t look back.

Give it your best shot.

Share it with whoever notices.

We can’t follow if you don’t lead.

We can’t listen if you’re not speaking.

We won’t look if there’s nothing there to see.

Quit looking at what’s NOT happening for you and get busy doing what you do.

Wisdom from Pixar: Notebooks (3 of 5)

January 25, 2012 in creative, diligence, focus, motivation, Pixar with 7 Comments

Every day this week I am sharing wisdom from Disney/Pixar. This is part three of the five-part series.

I’m a big fan of having a notebook and pen/pencil handy at all times. A good idea will sneak up on you and reveal itself at an inopportune time. Mine usually do. I can’t tell you how many ideas have come to me at the Taco Bell drive-thru, driving the car or in church. I’ve learned to make notes when I’m ambushed by a game-changer.

Apparently Pixar agrees:


My current tools to capture ideas before they escape:
Moleskine Square Ruled Notebook
Uniball Signo 207 Gel Pen
Evernote – great post on Evernote here
Griffin iTalk Recorder (iPhone app)
iPhone Camera

How do you capture your ideas? Share them with us so we can learn from you.

For more tips, tricks, wisdom and inspiration from Disney/Pixar:
- Follow them on twitter @DisneyPixar
- Like them at facebook.com/DisneyPixar

Pick three. Any three. Only three.

September 7, 2010 in choices, focus, priorities with 0 Comments

Ever feel like you’re spreading yourself a little too thin?

Sure, you have a list to help you keep up with it. Or maybe lists. Or maybe you have a list to help you keep up with your lists. Or maybe those lists are notebooks. Am I getting warmer?

I’m not talking about task lists – we all have those. I’m talking about priorities. Your priorities. I’m saying you probably have too many priorities.

I was watching a 10-minute video of Jim Collins (Good to Great) from Catalyst, and in the midst of the other sage wisdom from those short moments, he hit me between the eyes.

“If you have more than three priorities, you have NO priorities.”

Ouch. Thank you, but ouch.

A few days later, I saw a another 10-minute video interview with Steve Jobs from D8 about the secrets of Apple’s success. I was really enjoying the “inside scoop” when he hit me with a sucker-punch.

“We carefully choose which horses to ride.”

There it is again.

I’m not the most intelligent guy on the planet, but I can notice when a pattern is emerging. This was one of those “pattern is emerging” alerts on the inside. When I get those alerts, I’ve learned to pay attention to them – especially when they come through people that I respect.

“Are you saying God can speak through Steve Jobs?” Yes, go back and read Numbers 22. It’s possible.

So, my friends, it’s time to make some choices. Time to pick your priorities and really make them your priorities. Time to carefully choose which horses to ride and actually ride those horses. This means that the other things on your list(s) must NOT be priorities and are horses that are not to be ridden. And least not now. Don’t let them gradually “cut in line” until they are edging toward the top again.

Choose wisely. Guard your choices.

Pick three. Any three. Only three.

Focus

April 1, 2010 in focus with 0 Comments

“A dog at play has the mind of a wise martial arts master, a mind capable of perfect focus” ~ Unknown

Ever played fetch with a dog? There’s nothing relaxed about it for them. It’s intense. Fun, but intense. They are focused, watching your every move and even trying to anticipate what’s next. You may be able to do a fake-out move, but not for long. They are on the case.

It’s quite a picture, actually.

Are you engaged, or going through the motions? Anticipating the next move or losing interest? Hopeful for something good, or tired of waiting?

Maybe it’s time to snap to attention again. Maybe it’s time to stir yourself up and renew your intensity.

So… how’s your focus?

Busy Much?

February 1, 2010 in choices, distraction, focus with 0 Comments

I have questions.

Sometimes the quest for answers uncovers more questions. Not the unanswerable kind, but the ones we avoid because they expose the real issues in our lives. They make us face the music if we stop long enough to let them give us a guided tour of our soul.

The questions I have today are about “busy”ness (not a typo, not business).

Here are a few questions I’ve asked myself today. Care to join me? 

1. How busy is too busy?
2. Am I too busy?
3. Am I busy with the RIGHT things?
4. Am I using busyness as an excuse to avoid the RIGHT things?

Ouch… right?

Please, don’t just thank me. Thank Seth Godin. He started it today with this post.

How did you do on this little quiz?

I may or may not tell my grade…

Creativity Oversimplified?!!

June 12, 2009 in creative, focus, simplicity with 0 Comments

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask a creative person how they did something, they may feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something.” Steve Jobs (Wired Magazine)

Really???

Sounds too simple to me – almost too good to be true. Not that I take everything Steve Jobs says as absolute truth. However, the man does understand something about creativity and simplicity. I’ve been an Apple fan since the Mac 128 (circa ’84). It’s hard to argue with his creative track record at the helm of Apple, then Pixar, then Apple again. Maybe he’s not the best leadership example, but he recognizes creative genius (and hires it or partners with it most of the time).

So what it is it that made it hard for me to wrap my thoughts around his statement? Why is it that sometimes it’s so easy to create while other times feel like a trek across the desert? I have been thinking a lot lately. You know, taking stock of my life. Measuring it against a simpler, less cluttered model I have been found wanting. Here’s my road to discovery:

Have I used up all my creativity?
Definitely not.

Are my current assignments uninspiring?
Nope.

Is it the pace I’m living?
Maybe…

Am I playing to my strengths most of the time?
Getting warmer…

Am I being pulled in several directions?
Warmer still…

Do I spend my day constantly gear-shifting between left and right brain?
Longing for some AC now…

Do I have undisturbed, focused creative time?
DING DING DING DING. We have a winner!

I can’t speak for anybody but me, but the further I go down this list the more relevant the line of questioning. It’s not the pace because I’m always up for hard work when it’s in my strength zone. Not playing to my strengths most of the time is a symptom of being pulled in too many directions. Being pulled in several directions causes the gear-shifting between my brain hemispheres… EXHAUSTING.

So, for me, the issue is FOCUS. When I have undisturbed creative time all is well with the world, at least my world anyway. The more of it I have the stronger I am. Give me a lot of it and I’ll feel bullet-proof. Bring on the projects. Let me at ‘em. That’s when ideas are flowing with the creativity door wide open. If you want 100% of my creative side, regular blocks of undisturbed and uncluttered creative time is the recipe.

So, let me say concede that I think Steve Jobs is right about this one after all. And it’s true for me when my life and time are properly aligned. It’s not so much an oversimplified statement.

Especially when life is simple.