I play flag football on Sunday afternoons during the Fall with a group of friends, and it might be one of the most important pieces of my week. Aside from the great camaraderie, my favorite part is how tired I am after the games. Going home physically wasted at the end of the day is one of the greatest feelings, knowing I left every last bit of energy on the field.

There’s no greater feeling than going home, taking a shower afterwards and watching the dirt and grime swirl slowly down into the drain. That’s how I know I had a good, hard Sunday afternoon of football. The amount of dirt in the tub directly correlates to how satisfied I am. The dirtier the tub, the happier I am.

***

The dirt in the drain can translate to other contexts as well. I get (nearly) the same amount of satisfaction from hitting the “publish” button writing for this blog. At work it’s an “a ha!” moment well-executed. It could also be spending hours piecing a design concept together, or finishing that last line of a song’s chorus.

It’s all just like watching the dirt slowly swirl around.

At the end of the day I have to ask myself one thing: am I tired but excited about the things I learned and accomplished? Have I come home with green knees? If not, then it wasn’t a day I’m proud of.

We all need a metric that gives us a signal that we’ve had a day that we’re proud of–one that we can watch go down the drain at the end of a long day.

What’s yours?

1. Bright Light On Backs Of Your Knees Reset Your Sleep-Wave Clock (And Other Sleep Facts)
2. Stupid Stoplights Help Explain GTD

I’ve been writing in a journal every morning, and today I realized that I’ve almost made it exactly a year with this habit. Now, this is nothing earth-shattering for many. Many people have been journaling for years. But for me, it’s big. It’s massive.

You see, I’m not very good with sticking with things. I’m generally attracted to shiny things like ideas, concepts, and exiting business ventures. Unfortunately, I’m not one to typically stick with the shiny things very long. I usually abandon them, and only after I’ve promised something. (I’m not proud of this, not one bit.)

This is why something as unsexy as writing in a journal every morning shouldn’t stick with me. It isn’t in my nature. But somehow it has become second nature to me. I’ve gotten to the point where if I don’t write in the morning, I notice it. In fact, it alters my day in a bad, bad way if I don’t.

My writing time gives me perspective on what I need to do for the day. I think about the big things I’m trying to do, and how to break them down. It’s how I distill and choose what I do later in the day. (It’s funny how that simple choice has massive ramifications.)

But here’s where it gets really interesting: This morning I realized that my journal had somewhat become a reference for my last year. Anyone who wanted to see what my life was like last year could, with one book. The birth of my daughter, a new business venture, a trip to the Caribbean, to name a few. Countless fears, countless random thoughts. It’s all there. Perhaps someday–after I’m long gone, of course–my daughter would want to read what I had been thinking and doing in 2010. (I don’t think my life is that interesting, but maybe she would.)

My journal has grown into something bigger than me, and only because I’ve been writing a little bit in it nearly every day. Now the habit is stuck: it’s snowballed into something more important, something that will continue to become harder and harder to break.

This is how the world is changed: not sweeping reform, not huge events. It’s changed in the small things we do every day.

What do you do every day?

Photo by roland

1. Interviews in Creativity: Jennifer Lee
2. Ask the Readers: What Are Your Morning Inspirations?

Jonathan has always found a way to push me, and he’s usually the first person I go to with ideas or advice.

In fact, it was but a few months ago that Jonathan convinced me to take a massive step in a direction that scared the living wizz out of me. The conversation went like this:

Three months later, I’ve done just that. I’ve been writing and playing every day. I’ve been learning about the magical world of home recording. I’ve been doing. And I’ll be sharing something with you all soon. (More on that later.)

Jonathan helped me realize that the one thing I’d been holding back on was the thing that I held closest. Why? I was scared of what might happen next. Writing music to me is far different from writing here. It’s intensely personal, and, well… it freaks me out that other people might hear it.

And then there’s the whole “what if I suck!?!?” internal questions. Who doesn’t ask themselves that frequently? Here’s a small sampling of fears that run through the minds of anyone who’s creating something intensely personal:

• “What if people think of me differently?”
• “What if nobody likes it?”
• “What if I’m not as good as I think I am?”
• and the biggest: “What if I’m actually successful?”

Sound like you? It sure sounds like me.

Jonathan addresses all of this in his upcoming book: Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance. (Be glad you’re only reading his advice; in person he gives kicks in the pants.)

Seriously though, if you’re creating stuff for a living, you need to stop what you’re doing and pre-order this baby. It’ll change everything. I’ve had the pleasure of reading it, and it is fantastic. But, more than anything, I owe Jonathan like crazy for giving me a much needed splash of cold truth to the face.

***

Some other friends have great write-ups on Uncertainty. Check ‘em out!

• Chris talks about why you should check out Jonathan’s book, plus a nifty video of Jonathan’s keynote at the WDS last summer.
• Danielle talks about how she goes out of her way to add uncertainty to her day.

1. Save Time And Money Finding New Music That You’ll Actually Like
2. Casual Friday Video: OKgo Music Video On Treadmills
3. Jump-Start Your Workspace Review

My father in-law has been painting for decades. When my wife and I moved over the summer, he graciously helped us paint our new home.

I’d never really painted a room (or house) start to finish, so this was my first exposure to how much work goes into painting that doesn’t even require a paintbrush.

First, there’s sanding the wall of the previous paint, then filling cracks and holes with putty, then taping off the trim, windows and doors so there’s no running onto other surfaces. You’ll also have to wipe the dust that you created in the beginning with all of your sanding. THEN, and only then, are you ready to paint.

After commenting on how much prep work goes into painting a room, my father-in-law simply replied that most people don’t understand that painting is 90% prep work that doesn’t even require a brush.

That got me to thinking about other areas of life. I’ve come to realize that recording a demo is so much more than writing lyrics and finding melodies. I’ve spent hours reading books on recording techniques, learning how to use gear, and become familiar with recording jargon. It’s more tedious and harder than I ever thought it would be. I think it’s safe to say that 90% of the work thus far has nothing to do with music.

I think about my friends who are writing books, and all the time they spend writing book proposals, finding agents, shopping their book, editing and rewriting. Once the book is done they’ll have to spend tons of time and energy promoting their book with tours, speaking engagements, book signings and interviews.

It’s easy to romanticize the 10% of what we love. It’s easy to forget that the other 90% is the mind-numbing prep work; the sanding, the emails, the editing.

The people who really love what they do love almost everything related to the process. Or they can at least overlook some of the drudgery for getting to do what it is they absolutely love to do.

Anyway, just some thoughts to chew on. I’d love to hear your take on how you handle the prep work that comes with creating what it is you create.

1. Interview With Tim Ferriss of The 4 Hour Work Week
2. The 4 Hour Work Week an Amazon Best Seller
3. How To Work For Eight Hours Straight Without Hating Yourself

If a restaurant waiting list is hours long, odds are there’s a good reason. Why else would people waste time and stand in line if the food wasn’t great?

The online version of social proof is a bit more nuanced. There are tons of ways to attract and showcase proof that people actually appreciate your stuff. And the larger the number, the better. These could be numbers of….

• likes
• stumbles
• number of comments
• votes
• +1′s
• fans
• favorites
• saves
• shares
• forwards
• subscribers
• followers
• retweets
• clips
• views
• thumbs up
• sales
• stars
• watches

All of these combine to show the visitor how great other people think your stuff is.

But here’s the kicker:

So often we worry about how we can collect these shards of social approval before starting. (I’m guilty of this probably more than anyone reading this.)

But it’s also been my firsthand experience that anything that goes viral isn’t usually planned. It’s carefully created first, and everything else falls into place. People go out of their way to show their approval if it resonates.

So let’s get started, shall we?

1. How To Hack Your Social Life
2. Generating Ideas and Inspiration From Social Media
3. Social Media Shopping With Wize.com

“Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)”

~ Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”

My brother’s incredible Walt Whitman tattoo.

This month marks the five year anniversary of this blog and this Walt Whitman quote is one of my favorites of all time. It explains this site and myself perfectly.

If you dug through the underbelly archives of this site, you’d see that there are some posts that are totally contradictory to what this site is about. When I started LifeDev in August of 2006, it was a productivity blog (like every other blog at the time). Then I switched to writing about creativity, and I still try to stick to that topic, but really now I just write about whatever tickles my fancy.

There is no ’5 Year Plan’ for this site, no real underlying theme and definitely no grand scheme to make pantloads of money. In fact the only thing that has remained the same around here is that I do the writing (for better or worse).

The problem with writing for five years across different topics is that at some point, you’re going to contradict yourself. I’ve done it many times here. I’ve changed–hopefully for the better–as a person and a writer over the past five years.

It’s taken me a long time to realize that the biggest benefit I get from this site isn’t money, or opportunities, or a microphone. The best part about writing here is that it’s a release for me.

I love writing in it. I have no set editorial schedule, I have no topics that I have to cover, and I stopped letting other people write here (with a few very rare exceptions). This site has helped me grow as a person more than anything, and I’m ecstatic that anyone else reads it and finds value from it.

So when someone calls me out for contradicting myself, I have to agree with them. I have contradicted myself many times.

Someone who sings the same tune every day for the rest of their life isn’t growing and learning.

Oh, and I can’t tell you how privileged I am to have the readers I do. Thank you. So here’s to five more years of flip-flopping and contradicting myself in such a way that would make Mr. Whitman proud.

1. Changing the Scope of LifeDev (Slightly)
2. Odds and Ends: The Guest Posting Edition
3. What Would You Like Me to Write About?

I sing and play guitar in a band for a few hundred people each week at our church. I’ve been doing this for the past seven years or so, and it’s really helped me become comfortable performing in front of larger crowds.

Ironically, the performances that have helped me most aren’t the good ones, but rather the times I’ve failed. (You can’t really tell how comfortable you are with performing in front of people until you’ve failed numerous times.) And there are times when no matter how much preparation you put into something, something weird happens.

For example, last week my guitar strap plug popped out of the guitar in the middle of a song. This meant that my left hand had to grab the guitar as it swung outward, leaving me holding the guitar outstretched while singing. I managed to grab the loose end of the strap and reattach it to the guitar and pull the strap back on, all without having to stop the song or bring too much attention to myself. (In fact, my band mates didn’t even see it happen and they were right next to me.)

I call this a “resounding success” when you finish the song while avoiding disaster.

As I’ve become more aware of my failures and ability to respond to them, I’ve figured out that you can’t keep a cool head without a few key elements:

If you can do both of these things, you’ve reached the point that you’re comfortable with failure.

You’ve done this before

About 5 years ago something like my strap becoming unplugged in the middle of a song with hundreds of people watching would have made me drop to the floor, curl into the fetal position and start sucking my thumb. Now, because I’ve failed so many times before, I know a few things. I know that most people won’t notice (if I stay calm) and I also know that nobody really cares.

I’ve botched chords, forgotten words, and can’t count the times I’ve started songs in the wrong key. I’ve seen pretty much everything, and nothing really surprises me too much when it happens.

You can’t become comfortable with failing unless you’ve failed before, and you can’t fail unless you TRY SOMETHING. Over and over. Seven years of failing on a semi-regular basis every week means I’m pretty good at recovering at disaster when it happens.

You can laugh at yourself, right?

The key is being able to recover, and at the very worst, laugh about it and start over.

You have to remember that people generally want to help you. They want you to succeed. I learned quickly that failure is actually really endearing to people if you’re able to laugh at yourself. Fortunately, this comes really easy to me, and it proves that I’m not a robot.

Laughter is, after all, the best medicine.

Disaster can go down at any time, no matter how prepared you are. You might start the song in the wrong key, you might misspell an important person’s name, or you might accidentally offend someone.

Laugh it off, get used to the feeling, and try again. If you’re trying to become excellent at what it is you do, this won’t be the last time you fall on your face.

Take it from Dr. Disaster ;)

Right now I’m sitting in a coffee shop on a Saturday morning with almost no agenda. I have plenty to do, but I’ve decided to only do stuff for the next three hours that isn’t related to work. One of those things was to read my friend’s book.

Yet, in the corner of my mind, I’m constantly thinking about what I could use for a quote, or thoughts I could tweet, or anything that I could publish somewhere.

It’s like a digital version of ADHD.

Is anyone else feeling this? With the addition of Google+, there is a growing need each day to need to publish something to people who (presumably) are interested in what I think. Then there’s Facebook, Twitter, blogs to read, newsletters, emails to respond to, and even this blog post. All of these things make the weight of having to produce something heavier each moment.

Because of this pressure to create more and more on platforms that aren’t my own, I find myself doing the opposite and publishing less across the board. My Twitter account has taken a nosedive in tweets in the past few months. Facebook? Fahhhget about it. I’m barely able to hang on with Google+ as it is. (It’s my favorite of the three, but that’s beside the point.)

One thing I have noticed, though, is that when I start my day with my laptop closed, things become more clear. When I start by reading words on paper and writing ideas with a pen on actual paper, my thoughts take a more structured and full shape. They’re able to stand on their own, and they’re much clearer.

This is how the medium helps shape the message. I can’t toggle between screens, I can’t switch gears. I have to focus on what I’m writing, one letter at a time. My thoughts slow down, and I’m calmer.

Anyway, that’s how I’ve helped counter this nagging pressure to create fragments and focus on more important things. It’s a real problem for those who have to create daily, and it’s only going to get worse.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you’re combating this. What techniques do you use?

Thumbnail by Nina Matthews Photography

1. Thanks for Subscribing!
2. Facebook: The New Online Office

I used to accept advertising on this site, and it was kind of nice. I’d make a few bucks each month for a banner or a few links sprinkled in the sidebar, and nobody complained.

The common arguments potential advertisers give are “it’s really not that noticeable” or “why not make some money for your writing?”. The truth is, when it comes to working really hard towards something, every little bit matters.

When I redesigned this site a year ago, I spent months poring over many different iterations, and built the theme from the ground up. (Well, almost ground up. I used the Thesis theme framework. And yes, if you click that link it *could* make me a referral commission. And yes, I understand the irony.)

Once I had the theme in place, I changed much of it by testing and optimizing the layout for subscribers. If I have one goal for new visitors on this site, it’s that I want them to subscribe in some form. I spent a lot of time changing and testing different ways to organize the information and structure. (I saw an increase in newsletter signups of about 600% after doing this. No joke.) I took it seriously, and it’s been paying off.

So when someone asks me if I want to just “give up a little screen real estate” for their company, there is a lot more involved on my end than slapping up a banner in the header and calling it a day.

Most importantly, it detracts from you. 99.8% of the readers of this site won’t click on a banner or ad, so why would I put something up that annoys you, for a few bucks?

The issue is never about money. I mean, I’d love to be paid pantloads of money to do this. I could even make a little if I accepted ads. (I do have a family, after all.) But it would be a compromise.

Compromises mostly benefit people on the outside and usually never those that receive. I’ve been watching the House and Senate try and compromise on the debt ceiling over the past few months, and the compromise between politicians is seriously damaging. It pulls attention away from the core issue–not being owned by China–and instead focuses on individuals and politicians who all want something. (I’m almost positive that whoever coined the analogy “it’s like too many cooks in the kitchen” must have been watching a government operate.)

Fortunately for me, I don’t have to compromise on this site if I don’t want to. I’m the only cook here, which means that you’re stuck with what’s served :)

So that’s how advertising works on this site: it doesn’t. At least for now.

Photo by Roadsidepictures

A Coke poster redone

It turns out I had heard these songs before, as they were Chinese takes on American melodies. They covered the likes of Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson, with traditional Chinese musical stylings. (Or at least what I imagine to be a traditional Chinese “style”.)

***

Why are musical remakes so well received? Because they’re a perfect blend of familiar and unfamiliar. A new take on an old story.

Up-and-coming musicians sometimes get their start by remaking an old classic. Sometimes it fails badly, but breathing life into a classic is can be a great way to get an artist noticed.

Recent savvy internet startups have been using this method successfully. Here are a few:

Domains: Domainr
Travel: Hipmunk or Kayak
Online banking: BankSimple

These startups are gaining lots of traction because they’ve taken over a tired, unusable and worn out online industry. Who hasn’t struggled with their bank’s website before or spent hours trying to find a unique domain name?

Consider using the “cover” approach on your next project. Take something that’s broken–but familiar–and fix it. There’s no shame in borrowing concepts if you’re going to make them better.

As the proverb goes, there’s nothing nothing new under the sun.

Photo by Coca-Cola Art Gallery.