Common: Listening to advice and temporary barriers that bury inner passions.

Uncommon: If you’ve read my work before you’re probably aware of my past in publishing, writing, public speaking, and if you know me really well, my real estate endeavors. But there is another part of my past that you probably don’t know about.

I love drawing and design. A lot.

I’ve designed most everything having to do with Cool Stuff Media, Inc., The Uncommon Life, and Maxims for Mavericks. What most people don’t realize is that this love for art began at a young age conquering coloring books and sketch books with an unusual fervor.

I wasn’t a natural born prodigy, but I was committed – and passionate. As a young teenager and mediocre academic student, I clung to my interest in art for creative stimulation. The pages of my schoolbooks were barraged with sketches and fictional company logos. Despite my math teacher’s disenchantment with my artistic efforts, my passion and tenacity began to pay off.  In high school, to my complete surprise, I experienced national success and recognition for my efforts in art and design classes.

The passion paradox

I enjoyed art, but I also needed pocket money – and I had no idea how to capitalize on my new found ability. After hearing the many disappointing stories of struggling artists (even as a young teen) I almost wrote off my artistic interests as an impoverished hobby.

But I also had an another unrelated and, what soon became a surprising, complementary passion: Surfing.

At age 14 I had my heart set on a custom shaped surfboard. The problem? I couldn’t afford one. To add to my frustrations, I was well aware of the cruel irony these two challenges presented to me.  I wanted to create art and surf, but I couldn’t earn money from one and could not afford the other. Sigh.

Turning goals into value-add opportunities

Finally realizing that my pouting only accentuated the lack in my life, I had an epiphany (unknown to me at the time). I was so focused on money itself that I had limited my perceived possibilities. As a young teenager, the observation didn’t occur to me in such explicit terms, but there was a shift in my thinking that helped me recognize I could accomplish my goals without money itself. “It may not be a long term play,” I said to myself, “but it’s definitely a stepping stone in the right direction.”

This mental shift allowed me to recognize an opportunity to create an ‘exchange of value’ (now my shorthanded definition of entrepreneurship). And what began as ‘bartering’ led to much more business opportunity later on.

When looking at things from a value-add perspective I started noticing ways I could use my abilities to create win/win outcomes. For example, the surfboard company I wanted to have shape my new custom board had a crappy logo (hey, it’s the truth). And I knew I could provide something better.

Business time

Drawing from my very limited knowledge of ‘business’ I pictured myself storming into the company wearing a black pin-striped business suit and an iron-pressed white button-up shirt to give my pitch: “A custom surfboard for a new brand logo. Capiche?”

In reality, I was scared to death (and I didn’t even own a business suit). But you can’t stand between a surfer and his passion to surf so the conversation between the company owner and myself was inevitable.

I remember staring at the old grey building from my parent’s car trying to summon the courage to approach their front door. I walked forth standing upright, hoping my body language would fool my mind into thinking confidently (thankfully for me, it worked). I flicked through my compilation of previous sketches and design work that I created to entertain myself over the previous year.

It certainly wasn’t my most dexterous communication at play, but my passion must have peered through my awkward verbal fumblings.  I walked out with a deal. Two months later, still 14 years old, I was surfing my brand-new board, signed to me personally by the company owner. And I got to see my logo on the boards of those I looked up to as surfers.

To say the least, I was elated. I then sought out companies and organizations that I thought I could provide a new corporate identity at a very affordable price. My portfolio began to grow and getting more business (yes, for actual money) became easier and easier. It was a fun period in my life and a great way to earn money on my schedule.

This string of events taught a few simple, but powerful lessons that have since shaped my life tremendously:

• You’re never too young (or old) to pursue business goals.
• Passion trumps talent. You may not be born with the makings of a prodigy, but that has no bearing on your long term success if your passion for excellence cannot be extinguished.
• Money can be motivating, but it also tends to limit what we perceive as possible. When focusing on how your existing talents and abilities can add value to others, many more opportunities reveal themselves. These opportunities may not be noticeable immediately, but with time and commitment, they always surface.
• Just because you start small, doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy large success later on.
• Seemingly unrelated passions can work together. In fact, several times in my life, it was having multiple passions that has led to many of my most interesting life and business experiences.
• There is nothing more invigorating than leading a life infused with passion that simultaneously adds value to others.

I hope that you too, can benefit from these simple life lessons in the same way I have. Now, more than ever before, thousands and thousands of people are discovering creative ways to capitalize on their passions. There’s no reason you can’t either. In most cases, we don’t need ‘more ability;’ we just need a renewed gust of wind in our sails to keep believing in the dream and to keep taking action.

Wishing you all the best in your own personal pursuit of the uncommon,

- Kent

PS: So what happened to my interest in art and design?

After staring my own surf company in my mid teens and enjoying it’s near immediate success, I painfully watched it fail 18 months later. This expereince taught me that my conventional schooling was not offering the important life-skills necessary to become successful in the real world.

Frustrated and inspired, I devoured hundreds of non-fiction books, attended seminars, and interviewed people I considered to be successful. Driven to share my profound discoveries, experiences, and life-lessons I teamed up with my brother to write my first book and start my publishing company, Cool Stuff Media, Inc. Engulfed by my passion to help other young people I somewhat shelved my artistic cravings… until recently.

In January, after almost a year of writing about creativity on my other blog Maxims for Mavericks, I challenged myself to be more creative. The result involved marrying my long buried love for art with my passion to share thought-provoking content. In a few days, I’ll be revealing the NEW Maxims4Mavericks (M4M) website and I hope you’ll check it out and perhaps join the M4M email list here.

Have we connected on:

• The TUL newsletter
• Twitter – @Kent_Healy
• Facebook
• Google+

You might also enjoy:

• Other Uncommon Life posts
• My free Maxims for Mavericks ebook
• My Maxims for Mavericks blog (for more frequent, concise insights)

Common: Taking the initial and/or frequent comments as the whole truth and consequently being led astray.

Uncommon: Live long enough and you’ll likely agree there is A LOT of misinformation and misaligned incentives in this place we call the ‘real world.’ Sometimes the intention is malicious, other times it’s ignorance, and sometimes it’s a matter of stretching the truth. If we’re honest, we can all admit to being guilty of pretending to have the answer or backing our sentiments with baseless confidence.

Why? No one likes to be wrong. This predisposition is hard wired within us, so let’s explore a solution that helps improve our own intellectual prowess while simultaneously identifying half-truths and making course corrections.

The inability to remove the husk from the kernels of feedback, advice, and information we receive each day prevents us from achieving real success in our personal lives, relationships, and professional lives. There are several ways to extract facts from a soupy sea of fiction, but one of the most effective, benevolent ways to do this is by playing dumb.

Smart detectives play dumb

Of the countless non-fiction books and biographies I’ve read about powerful leaders, I’ve noticed a trend that is often glossed over: Successful people are excellent, but also sly, detectives. We overlook this because we slap an over-simplified label on the ability to make good critical decisions. Yes, there’s more to it than mere ‘intuition.’

Socrates, Einstein, Mother Teresa, JFK, Peter Drucker, and thousands more were very well known for their penetrating use of questions.

Another great example is Steve Jobs, who was often recognized for his ability to make insightful, high-risk decisions. Throughout his biography, the author cites many meetings and crucial encounters with members of team and his competition. This is not overtly identified by the author, but it is a recurring theme: Jobs was relentless in asking questions — but not necessarily the creative, cunning, and deep intellectual questions you would expect.

Many of his questions were so painfully obvious they initially stumped the people being asked the question.  When Jobs sat waiting and listening intensely instead of elaborating, an interesting phenomena occurred… the person or group began coughing up their core assumptions behind their conclusion, outcome, or position on the subject. When Jobs proceeded with more simple questions such as, “But why” and making statements such as “Can you please explain what you mean?” he was able to reveal (to himself and the speaker) small, but significant pieces of information that helped him make critical course corrections.

Helping people be more truthful

People prefer to avoid complication and especially confrontation. Thus, it’s often a natural tendency to oversimplify or unconsciously ignore information that’s difficult to process or that might illicit a negative response from the listener. But in business and in all personal relationships, this behavior can be fatal.  In these instances asking piercing and discerning questions can reveal buried truths.

“But asking such potent questions takes years of practice to master,” you say. Yes, it certainly does.

We should always work on developing these investigative abilities, but there is another, often equally effective and underrated path to revelation, which is – you guessed it – pressing upon the obvious.  This is, in essence, what it means to play dumb.

How to play dumb the smart way

Playing dumb gives us the opportunity to ask these candid questions without being too aggressive, patronizing, or disrespectful.  Any good business person and generally happy individual will like agree: Good questions trump easy answers. Always.

So how can you make an art of playing dumb?  It’s a 4-tiered process:

1. Start by setting aside preconceived notions – This is less uncommonly known as Shoshin or beginner’s mind. “It refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level…”
2. Slowly start to re-identify the assumptions at hand. You may ask yourself, “What assumption would support this/that statement or action or even this conversation or meeting?”
3. Ask extremely simple questions of others. The simpler, the better (examples below).
4. Repeat step 3. The more you ask someone the same question, the greater the chance the response will change.

Some simple, but practical questions

Contrary to what most people believe, effective conversations, meetings, and strategy sessions are not about answering questions; they are about asking questions.

Here are some sample questions you may find useful:

• Why?
• Why not?
• Why is this important?
• Why do we consider this the right/best way/answer?
• What do you mean?
• But what are you/we really trying to accomplish here?
• Can you please rephrase that?
• Can you tell me more?
• Can you please summarize it one more time?
• Could you please explain the idea using a different metaphor and/or set of terms?
• How do you figure? OR Why do you think that?
• Why does this appear obvious to you?
• Why is this surprising?
• Is this the best you/we can do? OR Is there room for further improvement?
• Why did you come to that conclusion?
• What would you most like me to know/understand?
• Why is this time different?

Curiosity is the keel of truth

All great leaders ask great questions. They reveal introverted truths that allow them to make better quality decisions.

And this does not need to be a complicated process. It’s really a matter of probing the most evident presumptions at hand.

Still confused? Model a child. Just think of the last instance you spent time with a curious child. They likely asked the same banal questions again and again. But in doing so (if you’re brave enough to admit it) you likely found yourself questioning your own knowledge on the subject.  This is because painfully obvious questions start to dismantle the most basic, foundational assumptions – and these assumptions are the glue that tie the real facts together. When these start to crumble, only truth remains.

And the more truth we have to draw from, the better our lives will be. I’m sure you’ll agree.

Your thoughts?

Have you had success with this concept before?  Do you agree or disagree? Share your thoughts below…

Be uncommon,

- Kent

Have we connected on:

• The TUL newsletter
• Twitter – @Kent_Healy
• Facebook
• Google+

You might also enjoy:

• Other Uncommon Life posts
• My free Maxims for Mavericks ebook
• My Maxims for Mavericks blog (for more frequent, concise insights)

Common: When the stigma of the unknown creates overwhelm and inaction.

Uncommon: Surprise, I’m traveling again. I stopped tracking the specifics of my journey after visiting 10 states in 12 days. Don’t get me wrong, I love my vagabond lifestyle and wouldn’t change it for the world.

In fact, it’s been said that traveling offers an unparalleled life perspective. I agree. This benefit is not only cultural, but also founded upon the revealing of certain personal and general life truths.

I’ve been on the move since age 10, so I’ve grown to enjoy constant change. But still, I am human. And deep down I feel we all desire some certainty, predictability, and familiarity. This is a healthy tendency… except for when it isn’t.

The seemingly daunting…

Embarking on new trips is something I usually look forward to – especially to places I have come to love such as New York City. And with some less than impressive experiences at various hotels, I find myself opting to stay at places I’ve previously come to appreciate. It’s easy, convenient, and, well… familiar.

When I know my destination before embarking, suddenly the trip becomes less stressful. I’m sure you can relate. I spend little time and effort thinking about what-ifs (good and bad) when I have more real life reference points stemming from past experiences.  I am definitely not one to dramatize life, but venturing into unknown, no matter how big or small, demands more thinking, more evaluating, more planning.

I experienced this at the beginning of my recent stay in Philadelphia when I couldn’t stay at my typical hotel of choice. Suddenly the game changed. It wasn’t a big issue in the larger picture, but it was enough to add more variables to what would normally be a reflexive process.

I found myself paying much closer attention to the environment. I was reading more signs, listening to the GPS more intensely, and even double-checking my instincts. But the most concerning observation of all was that my journey to my destination seemed much longer.

Consciously, I knew the flight was the same, the drive was the same, the roads were the same, but the ‘same’ journey with a few new variables was enough to distort reality.

When I slid my key card into the door, I felt a greater sense of relief and accomplishment than I otherwise would have. I was also ready to hit the sack feeling more drained than usual.

The crux…

I realized there are many short-term advantages to seeking familiarity, but it goes without saying: Do what you’ve always done and get what you’ve always gotten.

You need not be Marco Polo to appreciate that the greatest adventures, memories, and learning experiences are least often revealed during voyages of familiarity. Although the voyage to a familiar destination may make the trek slightly less stressful, it also becomes slightly less exciting.

And yet, the allure of familiarity is still difficult to defeat. But the more frequently we seek familiar actions and destinations, the more difficult and overwhelming new goals appear to be.

Travel or not, the same rule applies to all areas of life. We must be careful not to be swayed by the illusion of difficulty in the pursuit of an unknown destination. Apart from some additional planning, the workload to unfamiliar destinations is largely the same… but the rewards are not.

Your thoughts?

Have you noticed this in your life – maybe in areas other than travel?  Do you agree or disagree? Share your thoughts below…

Be uncommon,

- Kent

Have we connected on:

• The TUL newsletter
• Twitter – @Kent_Healy
• Facebook
• Google+

You might also enjoy:

• Other Uncommon Life posts
• My free Maxims for Mavericks ebook
• My Maxims for Mavericks blog (for more frequent, concise insights)

Common: Doing things quickly and sloppily because the outcome is unknown.

Uncommon: I live in Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles – and with this coastal environment comes a unique beach culture and social protocol. But within every human sub-community lurk aspects of a larger behavioral code.  One such example is what, as of this post, I call the ‘Sandcastle Effect.’

[Bear with me, this will be fun.]

Every day I run several miles down the beach in the sand, while sporting my peculiar looking Vibram Fivefinger shoes. What’s more peculiar, perhaps, are the remnants (or lack thereof) of the beachgoers’ sandy structures. Some sandcastles boast an impressive existence spanning several days. Others do not.

Why the difference?

Digging into details

This is no scientific act of heroism, but I did recall some elements of my middle school education and began with several hypotheses that, in time, I ruled out:

1. Timing: It wasn’t the time of year or the time of day (baring the occasional bad weather and mass influxes of beachgoers).
2. Location: Sand castles in BFE areas (off the beaten path) were outliers. I focused, instead, on the sandcastles in popular locations to retain some continuity.
3. Size: Bigger castles did appear to earn respect more often, but not enough to overshadow the final variable…

So, what did matter?

The short answer: A passion to create something awesome.

The enduring sandcastles shared an obvious commonality: They were apparent displays of deliberate effort and attention to detail. They were transformations of sand to art – and most people had no desire to destroy them.  In fact, people gladly changed the course of their beachfront strut to avoid spoiling the frail creations. Others stood by in admiration and signaled their friends to take a closer look.  Clearly, they had earned the time, attention, and admiration of the beach community.

With that said, these sandcastles, although impressive, were not textbook works of immaculate design. They were good, not perfect. But perfection was not the benchmark (when you think about it, it rarely is). Yet, these castles were still a recognizable work of awesomeness – and that’s what mattered.

It was the shoddy, slapdash sandcastles that were tackled and trampled first – sometimes within minutes. And it wasn’t just unruly, naïve children spearheading the destruction. People of all ages and backgrounds had no trouble trouncing a mediocre sandcastle to reclaim the valuable real estate.

Beyond the beach

The metaphors for everyday life are numerous.

Mediocre work is:

• Common – therefore rarely valued
• Ignored
• Produced by anyone – thus easily replaceable/expendable and consequently wasteful
• Wearisome
• Mass-produced
• Impersonal
• Forgotten

Awesome work is:

• Unique
• Noticeable – and in many cases can’t be ignored.
• Valuable – worthy of time and attention.
• Contagious – worthy of conversation and sharing with friends
• Creative
• Thoughtful
• Inspiring
• Influential
• Memorable

So why don’t more people produce awesome work? This is a two-part answer.

Reason #1:

This part is obvious: It takes effort – often over a long period of time as Malcolm Gladwell pointed out in his book, Outliers.

Even though an enormous commitment doesn’t always lead to an awesome outcome, you can’t have an awesome outcome without an enormous commitment.

Hence, the ‘risk’ of wearing your heart on your sleeve and proceeding without the guarantee of success.

Reason #2:

This part is often less discussed: It’s risky. And very few people are willing to put passion into a risky outcome. Doing so is uncommon.

“Risky?” you ask? “How so?” Because ‘awesome’ is not a permit to universal acceptance.

Even awesome sandcastles are still targets of tyrants (just not as many as mediocre ones). But as every linchpin and leader knows, popularity need not be (and should not be) the gauge of awesome work.

There will always be what I call ‘destructivists,’ but the creators, makers, artists, and ‘constructivists’ always have the last laugh. Why? Because you can never completely destroy ‘awesome.’ Awesome work is impactful work that creates an irreversible impression. “A mind, once stretched,” as Oliver Wendell Holmes put it, “can never return to its original dimensions.”

This is what makes awesome work so important… even if the work doesn’t reach heights of mass popularity; it’s always legacy work because it leaves permanent and spontaneous “dents in the universe” as Steve Jobs may have put it.

Awesome work may not be cherished by everyone, but it does not alter the fact that it’s undeniably invaluable to someone or some group.

Start building – and do it well

It doesn’t take perfection, top-notch tools or world-class talent to do great work that’s recognizable and appreciated by others. It takes courage in the face of an unknown outcome and commitment of uncommon effort.

Whether you’re a CEO, entrepreneur, employee, parent, coach, artist, teacher, student or anything in between, you have a sandcastle – or many of them – to build.

If you’re going to work, to create something, make it awesome. Do remarkable work. That’s what matters. That’s what creates lasting impact.

In a sea of noise, awesome sandcastles not only stand strong and stand out, they serve as beacons to guide and inspire others to do awesome work too.

So build… the world is waiting.

Your thoughts?

Have you noticed this trend? Have you seen the Sandcastle Effect occur in other areas? Do you agree or disagree?

Be uncommon,

- Kent

Have we connected on:

• The TUL newsletter
• Twitter – @Kent_Healy
• Facebook
• Google+

You might also enjoy:

• Other Uncommon Life posts
• My free Maxims for Mavericks ebook
• My Maxims for Mavericks blog (for more frequent, concise insights)

Common: Being weighed down on the launch pad due to too much baggage.

Uncommon: While waiting in the check-in line, I spotted an airport cliché that never fails: The luggage miser.

There she stood: One purse, a bulging computer bag, a roller carry-on bag, two over-sized suitcases, a sweater bearing lap dog clenched in her arms… and a facial expression that flashed ‘max mental capacity.’

Each little shift in the line caused her enormous hassle. She wanted to move, but she couldn’t. It required a gargantuan effort with multiple attempts.

Instead of being excited about each opportunity to move closer to her goal (the check-in desk), she felt increasingly overwhelmed.

And such is the way many people live their lives. They have a goal or destination in mind, lug a surplus of baggage along with them, and wonder why they don’t get far from the launch pad, if anywhere at all.

This ‘baggage’ is a collection of past failures, past hurts, irrelevant assumptions, non-constructive beliefs, unsupportive peers, and… need I say more?  These items give us every reason to stop before we start and burn through our emotional fuel. Even the greatest goal or resolve is rarely a match for burdensome baggage. The idea of starting, moving, and persevering becomes too daunting to handle.

New year, new slate?

All too often we assume our slate is automatically erased upon the resetting of the calendar year, only to discover our motivation is haunted by doubt from the prior year’s baggage… a debut real-life rerun of ‘I know what you did last summer.’

Please, on so many levels, make it stop.

‘Rollover’ baggage is a silent New Year’s killer. It slowly strangles our enthusiasm and fosters seemingly logical reasons (excuses) to lower our expectations rather than raise our standards.

Today is your opportunity to be the heroine, or hero, of your life’s narrative.

Before you commence your journey to an uncommon life in 2012, assess your inventory. Stop, think, and drop. Literally. Identify the items of baggage you’re currently carrying from 2011 and scrutinize every last piece.

• What is helping?
• What is hindering?
• What can (and should) you leave behind?
• How can you repack your lessons learned to encourage action?

And forget about reaching for your wallet. In this instance, you can’t afford the additional baggage check-on fees.

Look beyond the alluring and convenient quick fixes: It’s time to start traveling leaner.

You’ll not only move further and faster, you just may have more fun.

Here’s to a year of uncommon adventure. I’m looking forward to taking this journey with you.

Be uncommon,

- Kent

Have we connected on:

• Twitter – @Kent_Healy
• Facebook
• Google+

You might also enjoy:

• Other Uncommon Life posts
• My free Maxims for Mavericks ebook
• My Maxims for Mavericks blog (for more frequent, concise insights)

In 2009, amid the economic downturn and uncertainty, I had the peculiar urge to set some large financial goals, which resulted in diving head first into the previously unfamiliar world of real estate investing. I moved to Phoenix, Arizona and worked tirelessly to learn years of real estate insights in 9 months as I bought, sold, and managed a growing portfolio of assets.

2010 was a year of methodical toil, building upon systems and information learned in 2009. Unfortunately, it was not without business turmoil. With my real estate business calculatedly set on autopilot, I returned to school to complete my ‘formal education’ and then quickly started this blog (then called, Learn, Earn, and Don’t Get Burned) as a coping mechanism and outlet for my numerous frustrations regarding conventional education.

In 2011, dissatisfied with the realists’ narrative of the ‘real world,’ I set out to test, challenge, and redefine what was ‘realistic’ – and what a year it’s been.

Some 2011 highlights:

• Traveled to 9 countries and 40+ cities – visiting many of them 2, 3 or 4 times. Some of these locations were: San Francisco, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Sun Valley, Lake Tahoe, Phoenix, Palm Springs, Dominican Republic, Beijing, Singapore, London, France, Switzerland, Hungary, Mexico, and Croatia.
• Got married in Hungary in a 1,000 year-old castle and then married once again (same woman, different continent) on the coast of Southern California.
• Took a full student load at USC and graduated Magna Cum Laude.
• Started a California-based real estate and lending company, Healo Capital
• Designed and launched the MaximsForMavericks.com blog.
• Acquired TheUncommonLife.com after 30 days of negotiation and designed and launched The Uncommon Life blog.
• Joined the The Young Entrepreneur Council, an invitation-only organization that offers feedback to other budding ‘free range’ humans looking to lead an uncommon life.
• Wrote and released the new Maxims for Mavericks manifesto.
• Wrote the majority of my newest book: Be Uncommonly Productive – And released Part 1.
• Developed the outline and rough contents for 3 more future books due for release in 2012.
• Started work on the new Uncommon Life store due for launch in Q1 2012.

It’s certainly been a year of adventure, but not by accident. In an attempt to overcome my natural tendency to place rote work over pleasure, I set a liberating theme in January 2011: Adventure over comfort and convenience. As I wrote in this post:

“I recognized it’s all too easy to choose the path of least resistance – so easy, in fact, we often aren’t aware of when and how often we do it. It’s a paralyzing pattern to fall into. Too many people go through life hoping that adventure, excitement, and happiness finds them. Rarely, if ever, does this happen.”

You may not be able to account for and design everything that happens to you in life, but planning for excellence and adventure indisputably increases the odds of both. Realizing this, I have grown accustom to performing a year-end review and creating a plan for the year ahead. And this is some of the most important thinking I’ve ever done.

[[Wondering where to start or how to effectively do this yourself? Not to worry… I have outlined a methodical process of analysis here: HOW and WHY you should assess your life.]]

One of the most basic forms of analysis is discovering what’s working and what isn’t. And I’m happy to share some of these insights with you. After all, I’ve always believed that “the smart man learns from his mistakes, but the wise man learns from the mistakes of others” … here’s your chance to be the wise person.

What went well:

School: Bringing my college education to a close after 8 years of pin-balling between the classroom and my office was more than a relief; it was invigorating. Unfortunately, my college experience as a whole was underwhelming and frustrating, but I did learn a lot about productivity, how to recognize and adapt to systems, and how to apply atypical rapid-learning techniques. Graduating Magna Cum Laude was a testament to these unusual lessons. I have decided to outline and share these lessons in an upcoming book titled, The Uncommon Student (more details to come in 2012).

• Lesson: When you fully apply yourself to a demanding objective, expect to discover some uncommon insights that cannot be learned otherwise.

Productivity: Looking back at 2011, I am pleased with what I was able to do while maintaining a healthy balance between work and leisure. I was always busy, but rarely felt overworked. There is a difference and it’s an important one. I did a much better job declining and/or ignoring extraneous tasks and projects so I could focus on what was most important.

• Lesson: The silver lining of a busy life is that it forces us to reexamine our commitments, scrutinize our strategies, and seek maximum efficiency.

Travel: I was on the road A LOT – an important 2011 goal I had set for myself. In fact, the longest I had been in one city all year was 10 days, with the average being 5 days. My suitcase was my home away from home, but oddly enough, I loved it. Although this traveling was not a vacation for me, I learned that I prefer an ever-changing work environment. With the Internet and countless other devices, apps, and services, constant travel has become a real possibility.

• Lesson: Mixing travel and work is more gratifying than setting aside rare and infrequent trips with the purpose of idle relaxation.

Technology: I used to believe I was simplifying my life by distancing myself from many technological devices, services, and programs. I was wrong. This past year I spent much of my spare time mastering all forms of technology and have since found myself consulting with individuals and small businesses to help boost productivity, eliminate stress, and simply make life more fun and interesting.

• Lesson: Becoming technologically curious and competent maximizes efforts, saves time, and allows for, you guessed it, an uncommon life.

Balance: Working for yourself can be tough because there is no clock to punch, no external trigger to help one disconnect from work. In the past I frequently and severely burned myself out. This year I made an effort not to overextend myself in any one area proving that strong habits and ingrained tendencies can be overcome.

• Lesson: Balance is about prevention, not damage control (read more here)

Health: Some people claim they can work consistently and creatively without exercise and a balanced diet. In 2010, I learned I am not one of them so this past year I made time for exercise and took every opportunity to eat right. This is one of the most important contributing factors to 2011’s productivity and happiness.

• Lesson: Energy management trumps time management (read more here)

What didn’t go well:

Product launches: As you may have noticed, I really enjoy creating new books, among other things. If time allowed, I’d write a new book every month. Ideas and drive have never been my problem. My personal challenge is marketing what I create so others know they exist. Admittedly, I have not done a good job sharing the Maxims for Mavericks Manifesto and Be Uncommonly Productive with the world. One of the things I will be looking for in 2012 is someone who can help me share my goods and services with the world via a more effective and calculated approach (know someone who fits the bill?).

• Lesson: I am a creator at heart, not a marketer. I need a helping hand with promotion.

25toLifeBlog.com: I love traveling and bending paradigms. I created this website/blog to merge these topics. I believe it has a lot of potential, but have decided not to launch the site at this time to avoid spreading myself too thin.

• Lesson: Putting some projects on hold can be necessary in maintaining balance and delivering higher quality work in other areas.

Commentary and interaction: While I have enjoyed seeing thousands of visitors reading my blogs from around the world, I would like to increase reader interaction. As a way to encourage more comments, I’ll be experimenting with ways to make my posts more personal and personable. Do you have ideas here? If so, post them below.

• Lesson: TBA

Posting frequency: Writing 2 books while maintaining 2 blogs and running 3 businesses is a challenge. I would like to post more than 1.75 times per month, but that would mean less content creation in the form of books and manifestos. I’m not sure how I feel about this, so why not ask you, the reader? What do you think about the frequency of my posting on TUL and M4M? Not enough? Just right? Too often? Do you prefer 500-1,000 word posts over longer, in-depth ebooks? Why?

• Lesson: TBA

Going forward:

Overall, I am happy with decisions and experiences in 2011 and feel I made a solid effort to embrace my theme of Choosing adventure over comfort and convenience. While I am still searching for my 2012 theme, I remain convinced that selecting a theme is a very important part of creating an uncommon life.

But that’s enough about me. What went well for you? Any lessons learned? Have a theme for 2012?  (Haven’t thought about it? Here’s an outline to help get you started.) Would love to hear all about it in the comments section below.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Be uncommon,

- Kent

Have we connected on:

• Twitter – @Kent_Healy
• Facebook
• Google+

You might also enjoy:

• Other Uncommon Life posts
• My free Maxims for Mavericks ebook
• My Maxims for Mavericks blog (for more frequent, concise insights)

Common: Passionate ignorance disguised as commitment

Uncommon: After centuries of use, someone thought it necessary to improve upon the cannon. While still effective, there was a problem. Once in flight, the cannonball could not be intentionally stopped or redirected.

Then came the smart missile… it could adjust to conditions, respond to new information, and yes, could even abort the mission altogether. Given the two options, the logical strategy is that of the smart missile.

But this is not the approach many people choose when creating their lives. They take the form of the cannonball, relying on established mass, momentum, and brute force to take them to their destination. The cannonball can plow through many barriers with impressive resolve. This is very similar to the ‘whatever it takes’ method – a display of dogged tenacity towards a predetermined target.

But in life, our targets (end goals) rarely sit in one place waiting to connect with a unidirectional object (you, the pursuer).

Smart or stubborn?

Yes, I believe that consistent success must be earned with persistence and diligence. However, there are both smart ways (smart missiles) and stubborn ways (cannonballs) to direct or aim effort to this end. And the wrong allocations can lead to burnout, pessimism, and a myriad of other nasty derivatives.

How do I know? I’ve been the cannonball. I’ve also seen many of my clients go through the same process before approaching me for feedback. But not surprisingly, most people are taken aback when I tell them that tireless commitment is a fool’s strategy. (Warning: To a Type A personality this is akin to telling a 6 year old that Santa doesn’t exist.)

So, you too may be questioning such a bold hypothesis. But my explanation as to why this ‘whatever it takes,’ get-out-of-my-way mentality is a flawed strategy is actually quite simple: It severs the relationship between outcome and purpose. In the absence of the latter, tireless commitment becomes mindless action.

In the name of ‘completing our objective head on’ our eyes roll back, our mind tunes out, and we run, and run, and run. We pride ourselves on making the decision not to let anything get between ourselves and the outcome.

But therein lies the dangerously oversimplified equation of success… the assumption that what lies between point and A and point B is immaterial, irrelevant, and only conquered through audacious action.

Driven by this mindset, we remove the impartial perspective needed to discern the difference between ignorant opinions and constructive feedback. I smell danger.

The danger zone

Here are some common casualties of the ‘whatever it takes’ strategy:

• The student who invests hundreds of thousands of dollars and hours to complete her college degree because the major once had personal appeal in high school.
• The ambitious professional who, in a frenzied effort to ‘climb the ladder,’ ends up sacrificing his social life, his health, and worst of all, his values.
• The entrepreneur who continues to invest in R&D to perfect a product that becomes so expensive to produce the market is not willing to pay a price that covers the cost of production.
• The competitive gamer who, determined to set a new high score, defers sleep and exercise.
• The athlete who, determined to crush the competition, blows out her knee.
• The business that continues to throw dollars into advertising a product that the market does not want.
• The networker who, in wanting to meet a notable contact, ruins his reputation by beating down doors with obsessive force.

Why do such heartbreaking events happen? Because anything less than the original goal, defined in its initial terms, is viewed as failure, so we push beyond what is sensible assuming that every sacrifice is yardage gained. At some point along the way the outcome becomes more important than the purpose, which is all too often the result of a ‘whatever it takes’ approach to achieving.

In fact, if worded differently, ‘whatever it takes’ also means ‘at whatever costs.’ Needless to say, it’s a short-term plan.

The smart missile

An intelligent achiever, on the other hand, understands that a great goal does not merely define the outcome; it explains why such a goal is important to begin with. Without this supplementary ‘why’ it’s far too easy to doggedly head in a non-constructive direction and be completely unaware of it.

Yes, there are times when aborting the initial mission to redirect focus and energy is, in fact, the best and boldest decision… because starting something is not grounds for finishing it. Because larger sacrifices don’t always lead to larger upsides. And because more effort does not guarantee more reward.

I’m not condoning fractional commitments and I don’t believe in pursuing goals with partial efforts. If you’re not prepared to try or make certain sacrifices, then be prepared to face an equal number of frustrating issues of a different form.

But take heed: There is a difference between giving a 100% effort and adopting the ‘whatever it takes’ mentality. The former demonstrates patience, timing, respect, and an acute awareness of one’s journey, whereas the latter, by definition, disregards it.

The cannonball’s ‘full speed ahead’ approach is powerful, but it’s no longer the medieval era where brute force prevails. Today, life moves fast and selecting our trajectory once upon launch is a recipe for disaster. We must be strategic, adaptive, and willing to set our sights on the purpose, not just the end target.

Be uncommon,

- Kent

Have we connected on:

• Twitter – @Kent_Healy
• Facebook
• Google+

You might also enjoy:

• Other Uncommon Life posts
• My free Maxims for Mavericks ebook
• My Maxims for Mavericks blog (for more frequent, concise insights)

Common: Blaming poor results on a lack of innate talent.

Uncommon: Talent is overrated. It’s actually quite a useless metric to measure or predict much of anything.

There, I said it.

It seems that people who are unhappy with what they have accomplished over the course of 5, 10 or more years almost always make statements that suggest a lack of natural ability. They often conclude that they don’t “have what it takes.”  It’s the classic case of focusing on differentiating factors of successful people rather than the similarities.

The reality is, we all ‘have’ an equal amount of what really matters: time. And time is opportunity – hands down the greatest asset we have. Time really is the great equalizer. More than anything else, it’s how we use our minutes that determines the quality of our lives.

Successful individuals realize that time is more valuable than skill, money, and almost any other resource because with enough time, you can hone skills, raise capital, nurture relationships, and summon what is required for an exceptional life.

“Ok,” you ask, ”but is it really important to obsess about the seconds and minutes of our day?” Rather than give my opinion, I’ll let you make the call. Here’s how the details add up…

When asked, most people cannot accurately identify where their time goes—especially segments of 5 to 10 minutes. This is alarming. When the result is two and a half days lost in a single year, I hope it’s sobering enough to make you realize that squandered minutes quickly lead to a squandered life.

Let’s look at it from another, more intriguing perspective…

Your life expense account

Imagine that every morning a deposit of $86,400.00 was added to your checking account. But with each gift deposit come two unbreakable rules:

1. At the end of each day, your account balance is completely wiped. Everything you don’t spend during the day disappears. No transfers allowed.
2. The game can end at any time without warning.

What would you do with this capital? How might you act differently?  What would your days look like?

Truth be told, this is not an exercise in financing. It’s (much) more sobering than that. Metaphorically, this ‘game’ is your life. The daily deposits of 86,400 are the number of seconds we’re granted each day. Money or not, the same immutable rules apply to our lives. How we use these non-refundable 86,400 units is our choice.

A little obsession with a big impact

Looking back on this year puts a smile on my face when I think about the many incredible things I’ve been able to do ­– its definitely been an ‘uncommon’ year (more on this in an upcoming post). But, I dare to say that none of it is the result of ‘natural ability.’ I am smart enough to know that I’m not sharpest tool in the shed (sigh).

Nonetheless, this awareness has changed my life in surprisingly positive way. Instead of focusing on the obscure, immeasurable, and inheritable elements of ‘talent,’ I turned my attention to maximizing what is universally equal: our time.

Over the years I’ve developed a healthy obsession about the 86,400 units of time that construct my day. From a young age I have attempted to squeeze the most out of each passing minute. And that has made all of the difference. Why? Because…

The willingness to manage your time fanatically precedes any increase in output.

Use it or lose it

How we use our time says everything about our priorities, our level of self-respect, and our understanding of the finite nature of life itself.

The way we use our time is directly related to how we value it.

In my new book, Be Uncommonly Productive, I offer the tools, systems, and habits that have allowed me do more than commonly possible while saving me 100 hours of personal time this year. But I also make one thing very clear from the outset: No one else can make you care – care about the 84,6000 seconds you’re gifted each day.

The best tools and insights will do absolutely nothing if not preceded by a passion for how often and how well each is applied. In other words, the magic of uncommon results is revealed in the application of time.

As I shared on the TUL Facebook page, the passing of time combined with an effort to be a better person presents all of the opportunities necessary to grow into a better version of yourself and claim the life you’ve always wanted. Even the largest mountains and the hardest rocks are no match against the tenacity of time – and we have much more of it than we care to admit (and often use).

If you can spare 15 minutes a day, you will have 3.8 full days each year to build a skill, network with extraordinary people, experiment with new productivity tools, and (fill in the blank). The only question remaining is, will you? Will you eradicate time waste? Will you stop blaming a lack natural talent?

When your response is a resounding “yes,” barriers to the uncommon become not only surmountable, but also somewhat irrelevant.

Be uncommon,

- Kent

IMPORTANT: It’s ‘time’ to step it up:

Much of this post was an excerpt from Be Uncommonly Productive – 15 unbreakable, paradigm-bending principles for slaughtering stress, taking charge, and doing more than commonly possible. I have decided to give 1,000 copies away (a $50 value). Grab your FREE copy here.

Have we connected on:

• Twitter – @Kent_Healy
• Facebook
• Google+

You might also enjoy:

• Other Uncommon Life posts
• My free Maxims for Mavericks ebook
• My Maxims for Mavericks blog (for more frequent, concise insights)

Common: Fear of the worst-case scenario leading to inaction.

Uncommon: Halloween is an event of intrigue. A brief look into its history reveals many mysteries and myths. One such legend got me thinking…

It’s said that come the end of harvest season, as they prepared for the coming winter and the potential wrath it could bolster, some European communities dressed in intimidating garb and pranced through the night to cast away sinister spirits from their villages. It was a scarecrow communion of the spirit world.

Read into this objectively and you’ll see that these farmers and villagers were fighting off fear with fear.  It’s an interesting strategy, primarily because it’s contrary to many modern methods used to address fear.

“Focus on your strengths, your victories, and your support group to build your self-esteem,” we’re told. “Feel the fear and do it anyway.”  This advice does have merit, but it often overshadows an equally effective strategy. Let me explain…

Every first fear, has a surprising twin

Countless well-meaning people paralyze themselves in the face of fear due to the misguided notion that inaction always lessens risk. But in the pursuit of an uncommon life, this is very rarely the case. Our fear-induced responses are a survival tool, but these knee-jerk responses are not an effective instrument for constructing a fulfilling life.

So how should you deal with a fear the ‘Hallowed way’? By first realizing that every paralyzing fear has a paradoxical twin with a propensity to encourage action. In other words, initial feelings of fear are most often associated with focusing on the worst-case scenario, but there is always a flipside; a ‘Hallowed fear’ in this case:

Paralyzing fear: If I start a business I will fail.

Hallowed fear: If I don’t try to start a business I know my inaction will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Both situations produce fear. Only one leads to action. Some more examples:

Paralyzing fear: If I write my book people might laugh at my ideas and my efforts.

Hallowed fear: If I don’t write my book, I have destroyed the opportunity to impact others and pursue a possible new life path.

Paralyzing fear: If I ask her on a date, she might reject me.

Hallowed fear: If I don’t ask her on a date, I’ll always wonder how a possible ‘yes’ might have changed my life forever.

Fear is inevitable; the outcome is not

Regardless of our self-esteem, track record, or praise we may receive, a potentially ‘paralyzing fear’ will almost always rear its ugly head when pursuing any worthwhile goal. Yes, fear is still experienced by the best of us. But this initial fear need not seal our fate. We decide which fear (paralyzing or hallowed) will determine our next move.

Thus, the consequences and potential usefulness of fear depend wholly on what fear is most real to us: The worst-case scenario of taking action or the potential loss due to inaction.  The former leads to idleness, but the latter leads to experimentation.

Fear may not be the ideal motivating force, but it is an unavoidable emotion. Successful people merely emphasize consequences of sloth rather than potential mistakes of ambition. Fear of inaction should always be more terrifying than consequences stemming from fear of action.

So… when going head to head – a fear of the worst-case scenario versus a fear of missing out as a result of inaction – which one triumphs?  Which fear is more influential in your life?

Fighting fear with fear

It’s time to confront your paralyzing fears with a more meaningful fear: The fear of missing out… the fear of futility, insignificance, emptiness, and nothingness that emanates from, you guessed it… doing nothing.

Do you see that scarecrow in the field standing strong at half-past midnight surrounded by darkness, facing the unknown, and scaring off his own nightmares?

That’s you.

It’s a challenging job, but one of the most important roles on the farm. In fact, the next year’s harvest depends on you and your willingness to confront the disparaging thoughts that will attack your crop the moment you leave your post.

Stand strong scarecrow. It’s your turn to reign. You’ve got this; that I know.

Be uncommon,

- Kent

Have we connected on:

• Twitter – @Kent_Healy
• Facebook
• Google+

You might also enjoy:

• Other Uncommon Life posts
• My free Maxims for Mavericks ebook
• My Maxims for Mavericks blog (for more frequent, concise insights)

Common: Asking numerous ‘how’ questions (How can I get better grades? How can I make my résumé look better? How can I earn more money?) without first answering ‘why.’

The following is a guest post from a fellow member of the TUL tribe from the beautiful country of Singapore. He’s got some intriguing ideas to share. So with no more further ado, let’s welcome Daniel Wong.

Uncommon: We all feel proud when we achieve something remarkable. Without a doubt, asking ‘how’ to get a specific result enables us to accomplish more, and to ‘climb the ladder’ more efficiently. This question of ‘how’ helps us think about ways to overcome obstacles and attain our goals – this is all fair and good.

But in order to lead an uncommon life, ‘why’ should always precede ‘how.’ Why is this goal so important? Why did you feel motivated to set this goal in the first place?

Asking ‘why’ before asking ‘how’ ensures that the ladder (the direction you’re travelling in) is leaning against the right wall before you myopically start mounting the summit. Few things are more upsetting than being dissatisfied about the view from the ‘top.’

In the dictionary of life, ‘why’ comes before ‘how’

This is a phenomenon that I’m very familiar with. I was the salutatorian of my high school of a graduating class of 850 students and I went to Duke University on a full academic scholarship. While at Duke, I was inducted into three academic honor societies, and I recently graduated summa cum laude with a 3.98 GPA. Looking back, I never once received a grade lower than an A- throughout high school and college.

I accomplished what most students dream of – what the ‘system’ urges all good students to yearn for – but for most of my academic career, it only led to heightened feelings of insecurity and emptiness.

I had asked many effective ‘how’ questions: How should I prepare for this exam? How do I get into my teacher’s good books? How do I choose classes that will lead to easy A’s? And I received great answers. The problem was one of priorities – or lack thereof.

I had neglected to ask ‘why’ and consequently fooled myself into thinking that more accomplishments would eventually lead to fulfillment.

Happiness for all the wrong reasons

I’ll be the first to admit how difficult it is to question the fact that working towards ‘more’ or ‘better’ will not make you happy. This explains our obsession, as a society, to do ‘more’ and ‘better’ in school – and to own a bigger house, and drive a nicer car. We think to ourselves, ‘If I become the valedictorian, I’ll be happy. If I own a beach house mansion in the Hamptons, I’ll be happy. If I drive this year’s Porsche, I’ll be happy.’

But this is very rarely the case. People who lead uncommon – and profoundly meaningful – lives understand that ‘why’ always trumps ‘how’ or ‘what.’ Purpose must precede action.

The gravity of success

‘Success breeds success’ is a common saying. It’s true, but the implications go beyond the clichéd meaning of the phrase. As a recent graduate, I’ve reflected on my 16 years of formal education, and I’ve realized that success has the potential to imprison us within the alluring notion of ‘more.’

Success offers the experience necessary to accomplish more success of a similar or identical nature – it becomes easier and more quickly attained. There is also a growing pressure to continue to succeed (many times on an even larger scale) despite the fact that the success pursued might be unjustified. While there are benefits of these aforementioned tendencies, the danger is that we will refrain from exploring new areas of interest – those in which we have not yet demonstrated a burgeoning ability.

Personally, this has meant avoiding activities such as dance, theater, art and literature. I was so focused on maintaining my status as a ‘successful student’ that I shortchanged myself by ignoring my natural (but subdued) interests in activities that jeopardized my track record. I became a prisoner to my desire for ‘more’ success; an upholder of my own status quo. Unknowingly, the result meant settling for second best, a life lived on the terms set by others.

The only way to escape the gravity of an ill-defined definition of success is confronting routine actions with an often uncomfortable question: Why? So simple, but so underutilized; so revealing; so liberating.

Happiness is not found in end results but purposeful action. It’s the difference between being purpose-driven versus performance-driven. As Kent wrote here, an uncommon life is possible only if ‘success’ is personally designed, not socially determined.

Your thoughts?

Do you agree or disagree? Would love to get your thoughts in the comment section below.

About the author: Daniel Wong is a recent college graduate who currently works as a project engineer. He is passionate about helping young adults maximize their education, career and life. He is the author of The Happy Student: 5 Steps to Academic Fulfillment and Success, which will be published by Morgan James Publishing by early 2012. You can read his blog at Living Large and find him on Twitter.

Be uncommon,

- Kent

Have we connected on:

• Twitter – @Kent_Healy
• Facebook
• Google+

You might also enjoy:

• Other Uncommon Life posts
• My free Maxims for Mavericks ebook
• My Maxims for Mavericks blog (for more frequent, concise insights)