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Do More Great Work, Part 2: What Are You Like At Your Best?

Sam — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:00:04 +0000

In Part 1 of this series on the excellent book, Do More Great Work by Michael Bungay Stanier we explored what Bad, Good, and Great Work we are currently doing, and in what proportion. Chances are you were surprised by how little Great Work you’re currently doing and just how much of your day is comprised of Bad and Good work.

In Maps 2, 3, and 4 you begin to get clearer on who you are, what you stand for, and what matters to you. I encourage you to download the maps (PDF) from Michael’s website and complete them as you follow along this series. In fact, I’m going to be skipping Maps 2 and 4 in this write-up and focus on Map 3.

In brief summary, Map 2 is about looking at “peak moments” from your past and figuring out how they can point to peak moments in your future. Peak moments, those moments of exciting and meaningful work, are most commonly associated with Great Work.

Map 4 asks you to delve into your heroes and role models in search of what qualities you admire– a great hint as to what your Great Work might be.

Map 3 is titled “What Are You Like At Your Best?” It starts by introducing the idea of metaphor to describe something. Michael uses the example of trying to describe one high-end vodka from another. Instead of using direct words related to the vodka itself, you can try using metaphors such as, “Expensive denim, not leather.” Or, maybe the brand is more “The 1960s, not the 1990s.” Or, “A couple talking, not a group dancing.” You get the idea.

This map asks you to list words that describe how you are at your best in one column and the “ok-but-not-so-great” behavior in the other column. At the end, you have a powerful list of words that describe you when you are absolutely rocking your life and a list of words that accurately describe you when you are feeling decidedly blah.

My positive list of words included:

Focused
Creative
Inspired
Driven
Optimistic
Well-Prepared
In-Control

Their average counterparts were:

Distracted
Run-of-the-mill
Going through the motions
Aimless
Doubtful
Surprised
Passive

The main thing I noticed was the gut reaction evoked just by reading each list of words. My positive words got my blood moving and started reminding me of examples of when I was acting and feeling in those ways. At the same time, I could almost feel the words in the opposing list suck the energy and inspiration out of me. In much the same way, I could remember specific examples of when I felt like this.

What Now?

Michael explains that there are two ways to doing more Great Work. One is to figure out where the opportunities are and then take them on (which is what later maps are about). The other, more counterintuitive way is to look at your list of words that describe you at your best and start acting like that as much as possible. Great Work will begin to find you.

Another handy use for your duel lists is when you are not feeling all that great. Take your “Blah” list and find which word or words are describing you right now. Notice what positive word it is paired with in the left column. What can you do to begin shifting your attitude and behavior away from the negative word and toward the positive?

I hope this series is helping you articulate what Great Work is for you. In the next section we will being looking at “Uncovering Your Great Work.”

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Interview With a Born Again Runner: My Mom!

Sam — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:00:19 +0000

Today’s interview is very special to me. Instead of interviewing a popular blogger I’ve decided to shift my focus somewhere much closer to home. My mom recently completed a 5K race after over 11 years away from running. I have been inspired by her training discipline and motivation and I’m thinking that you might be as well. I recently sat down with her and talked about her motivation to start running again. I found her answers to be very inspiring and I hope you do too.

Thanks for letting me interview you, Mom!

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What inspired you to start running again?

“It is hard to say exactly what inspired me to start running again; several different events led to it. First of all, I was feeling uncomfortable in my own body. I had gained weight, felt lousy and knew that not getting enough sleep (I work the midnight shift) was harming my health. I am an avid magazine reader and I constantly read testimonials from people who are older and heavier than me, yet turn their lives around and get in shape. In almost every case running is part of their solution. Meanwhile, my neighbors were getting rid of their treadmill and I have always wanted one, so they gave it to me. I heard my oldest son (that’s me!) and girlfriend talking about wanting to run a 5K race in July and he challenged me to prepare for it.”

So, long story short– I had the challenge, I had the equipment, and I had the time (it was only March and July seemed a long way off). I decided to approach the challenge slowly and found a 6 week play for beginning runners to prepare for a 5k.

What was the hardest part?

‘I think the hardest part was taking it slowly. In the past I’ve always gone out the first day and tried to run a mile or two and then end up discouraged and give up. I decided I was going to be patient and take it in baby steps. It was hard to make the time for it, but I was determined to see it through.’

How did you stay motivated?

‘I think the interest my five sons showed in my progress kept me going. I’m not athletic at all and I live with my husband and 5 sons who are all athletes. Knowing that they were going to ask me “Did you run today?” or having them tell me I was doing a good job kept me motivated. Also, I started to feel better.’

When did you know you would accomplish your goal?

“I think the day I was supposed to walk one mile and then run three 20 minute sessions with 5 minute walk breaks and I actually did it. I believed maybe I could run a 5K.”

What advice do you have for someone who things they are either too old or too out of shape to start running?

“My advice would be to approach a goal in baby steps. I know I will never be a competitive runner but I know that doing any activity at the level I am able is better than doing nothing. Taking each day, one at a time rather than looking at the overwhelming end goal helped me.”

What do you have planned next?

“I haven’t decided whether I would rather work on moving faster or going farther, maybe I will do both. I think I will continue to sign up for races just to have a goal to work toward. The feeling of accomplishment is one I would like to feel again so I plan to keep pushing myself– maybe next year will be a 10K.”

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Do you have any questions for my mom? Leave them in the comments and I’ll be sure to forward them along to her.

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“Inside-Out Simplicity” Is What It’s All About

Sam — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:53:28 +0000

Inside-Out Simplicity is the best ebook I’ve ever read.

Joshua Becker, author of the excellent blog Becoming Minimalist and the ebook Simplify has just released his latest simplicity ebook. In it he addresses the questions and issues that I think are most important in living a simple life. If you’ve followed my own writing at all over the past couple months you’ve probably picked up on my frustration with the singular focus of many simplicity & minimalism writers. What I’ve called the low-hanging fruit of the simplicity movement, physical decluttering, seems to be 75% of what people write about. Thankfully, Joshua has written the ebook I’ve pictured ever since I started trying to explore the harder questions involving lifestyle, morality, and mental aspects of simplicity.

A brief look at the Table of Contents gives a great taste of the topics covered: Our Relationship With Ourselves, Our Relationship With Others, Why Our Words Matter, Why Our Spirituality Matters and several other vital topics. You’ll notice a conspicuous lack of anything having to do with cleaning garages or donating extra clothes. I understand that decluttering is a fun, important, and visible part of living simpler but Joshua has moved beyond that and into the questions that many people don’t want to touch.

You might disagree with some of Joshua’s conclusions; I know I did. His section on spirituality does not jibe with my own beliefs but that doesn’t detract from his message. The fact that he has the courage to write intelligently about religion, sexuality, and relationships is a much needed breath of fresh air in the simplicity blogging community.

If it’s not obvious, I highly recommend you buy this ebook today and start digesting it over time. If you’ve been around this movement for awhile you will appreciate the new information and perspective that Joshua brings to the table. At least, I know I did.

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Simple Saturday Links 7/24/10

Sam — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:00:05 +0000

If there is one downfall to living in an apartment with no Internet it’s that I have fallen behind in commenting and reading other blogs. Of course, it’s easy to get caught in the endless parade of reading and commenting but going absolutely cold turkey hasn’t been the best thing either. I’m trying to find that delicate balance between constructively building connections with other writers and creatively procrastinating on my own work.

I’m going to bring back the Simple Saturday Links this weekend. However, you may notice that all of these articles are from June. I’m a little slow but maybe you missed them the first time around?

So Much More Life — Make Driving Alone Productive: A Do-And-Don’t Guide

I spend a lot of time driving by myself and it almost seemed like my subconscious wrote this article. Gip brings up a lot of great points and ideas.

Lifehack.org — 5 Steps to Move Out of Stagnancy in Life

I’ve written about this recently and this article brings up some other great ideas that I did not touch. Everybody is stagnant at some point– don’t be afraid to look for advice from others!

The Simple Dollar — Professional Time, Leisure Time, and Wasted Time

Trent is hands down one of my favorite bloggers and an inspiration to basically everything I do with The Simpler Life. This is a great article about the difference between Leisure and Wasted time. How much of your free time is Wasted on activities that have no benefit for you? Purposeful Leisure time is what I strive for as much as possible and what has allowed me to do so much more than I ever thought possible.

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Feats of Focus: Lewis Pugh, the “Human Polar Bear”

Sam — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:00:18 +0000

Welcome to the second installment of “Feats of Focus”! Last time I featured Willard Wigan, the incredible microsculptor who regularly creates sculptures that stand on the head of a needle.

My next feature is Lewis Pugh, or “The Human Polar Bear.” Lewis Pugh is the only person to have completed a long distance swim in every ocean of the world. In addition, he has swum the entire length of the Thames River (except for the first 26 miles, which he ran, because the river was too low).

What he is best known for, however, makes these other incredible accomplishment pale in comparison. He is the first person to swim at the geographic North Pole– in nothing but a Speedo, a swimming cap, and goggles. In 2007 he swam 1km in minus 1.7 degrees Celsius water in 18 minutes and 50 seconds. If that isn’t incredible enough, in 2010 Pugh swam across Lake Pumori, a glacial lake under the summit of Mt. Everest.

Lewis Pugh does these incredible swims to bring attention to world climate change. It has been the cause that he has dedicated his life to and it helps give him the strength to do what seems impossible.

Obviously this is a pretty incredible person. What can we learn from this crazy-cold-water-swimming-eco-friendly-conservationist-activist-guy?

1. Power of visualization: Pugh trains five hours a day to prepare himself for cold-water swimming. An hour is spent actually swimming in very cold water and the remaining four hours are spent on mental training. His technique is to visualize his swim from beginning to end. According to a CNN article, Pugh says, “I can taste salt water in my mouth. I can hear the sounds of the engines, of Tim Noakes [coach] screaming at me. I can feel ice burning my skin, I can smell the sea air. I absolutely live that moment. I have swum the North Pole hundred of times in my mind.”

What are you working toward? Have you visualized what it will look like when you accomplish it?

2. You are capable of more than you think: When I first heard about Lewis Pugh I thought it was a joke. How could somebody actually swim across the North Pole? I have trouble jumping into a chilly pool. Amazingly, Pugh has developed something that has never been seen in any other human. Dubbed “anticipatory thermogenesis”, Pugh can raise his core body temperature in anticipation of being immersed in cold water.

What do you think is nearly impossible to do? Have you tried?

3. Find motivation larger than yourself: Lewis Pugh has dedicated his life to drawing attention to climate change. In his own words:

“I am often asked why I do it. At a simplistic level, I am passionate about swimming and I enjoy pushing boundaries. But there’s a lot more to it than that. Through my swims I have had a unique perspective on climate change. I have witnessed retreating glaciers, decreasing sea ice, coral bleaching, severe droughts, and the migration of animals to colder climates. It’s as a result of these experiences that I am determined to do my bit to raise awareness about the fragility of our environment and to encourage everyone to take action.”

His purpose for enduring the incredible pain of swimming in subzero water is larger than his own aspirations. If you’ve ever done something for someone then you know how powerful a motivational tool that can be.

Lastly, I would like to share the TED video that first introduced me to Lewis Pugh over a year ago. I’m sure you will find it as inspirational and motivational as I did.

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3 Steps Toward True and Permanent Happiness

Sam — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:00:22 +0000

It’s popular to equate physical possessions with security. Buying more stuff makes people feel like they are secure and insulated from the world. In some sense, I guess this is true. If you ever have a spur of the moment, 45 person dinner party I suppose you’ll be glad to have the multiple sets of fancy silverware. Having a lot of stuff makes people feel like they are prepared for anything and that they have “made it” in the world. However, where is the wisdom in relying on physical possessions for happiness or contentment? How secure is it to have your mental well-being reside in the impermanence of physical possessions?

I’m not here to berate you for owning things (that would quite hypocritical as I type this on my expensive computer), but to suggest that we begin to change our focus. Instead of relying on the physical possessions such as a nice house, expensive clothes, or the fanciest gadgets to provide our happiness lets begin to develop a sense of contentment that is independent from physical possessions. Indeed, true security is being able to find happiness within yourself.

1. Try developing mindfulness: Mindfulness, or the ability to be in the present instead of dwelling in the past or worrying about the future, is vital for learning how to be content. The art of meditation or even just spending quiet time with your thoughts is a great first step toward realigning your mind.

2. Delight in the details: With the current pace of society, it can be very easy to let the details slide by. Especially in nature, there is an unlimited amount of sensation that can be experience. Try really paying attention to your surroundings the next time you go for a walk or step outside. This isn’t a nature-only proposition either; try getting lost in your work the next time you sit down to write or read. You might be surprised how much you’re missing.

3. Focus on experiences and not stuff: Stuff can be destroyed, stolen, or broken; your experiences are forever. Try giving gifts that focus on the experience instead of an object that sits on a shelf. Focus on what you are experiencing and derive your joy from that, not how much you own.

The art of happiness has been studied, debated, and philosophized about for centuries. My humble addition and own personal outlook is that liberating our happiness and contentment from the impermanence of physical goods is the single largest step toward living a truly fulfilling, satisfying, and secure life.

Photo by Martin-Neuhof

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Minimalism is for Suckers: Be a Conscious Maximist Instead

Sam — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:00:32 +0000

Before we get to today’s post I just wanted to quickly announce that the sale I’m running on my ebook ends Friday night. If you’re interested in purchasing Living the Simpler Life: 8 Essentials to Practice Everyday for $7.95 instead of $9.95 your time is quickly running out. While you’re at it, if you’re interested in more future discounts on products I release, consider signing up for The Simpler Life Monthly Newsletter (it’s free, non-spammy, and may or may not contain videos of me dancing and/or singing*). Ok, I’m done bothering you. Enjoy the article.

* Probably not.

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I’m no longer a minimalist.

Minimalism is so 2009. Focusing on getting rid of stuff, not having things, and minimizing is so boring. Nope, no more minimalism for me. From now on, I’m what you might call a “conscious maximist.”

Minimalism focuses on removal, absence, and restriction. I’d much rather focus on the positive. Conscious maximists focus on having awesome and beautiful possessions, doing incredible and interesting things with their life, and having as much as possible of everything that is awesome.

The key, however, is that ever so important word, “conscious.” Consciousness is what separates a conscious maximist from your average mindless consumer. You must be aware of how you are acting, why you are acting that way, why you desire what you do, what your passions are and what actually matters to you. Without that component, you’re nothing more than one of those average shmucks that thinks shopping is something you do when you’re bored, that McMansions are the best thing since industrial sized fast food menus, and that the only metric that matters is quantity acquired. That’s not a conscious maximist.

How can you become a conscious maximist and begin living a life of abundance, like me? It’s pretty simple:

1. Figure out your values.

2. Figure out what is getting in the way of you living your values

3. Figure out what you need to live your values more fully

4. Minimize #2 and maximize #3:

5. Repeat

You may notice that this course of action will utilize some of the minimalism skills you have learned elsewhere. Leverage those skills but don’t forget about step #3. That’s where you get to add all the awesome stuff to your life that makes you a true conscious maximist. Interesting experiences, interesting people, chances to learn new things and expand your horizons; this is the stuff conscious maximist’s crave.

What do you want to have more of in your life? Why don’t you have it yet? What’s the first step to making it a reality?

Photo by h.koppdelaney

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Digital Overwhelm: 4 Problems and How to Fix Them

Sam — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:00:16 +0000

Tyler Regehr is a 22-year-old entrepreneur and writer residing in Washington, D.C. He is the publisher of On Top The Cage where he encourages others to follow their passions by being themselves and ignoring the critics.

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The biggest problem with the Internet is the sheer volume of content. You could spend your entire life exploring the web without making a noticeable dent.

Here are four areas where you’ll run into problems and what you can do to fix them.

RSS Subscriptions

The problem: Information overwhelm and regurgitated ideas. You browse the web, stumble upon a compelling blog, click the neat little orange Subscribe button, and before you know it you’re subscribed to 20, 30, maybe 40 blogs. Next thing you know, you’re spending hours a day just bringing the Unread count back down to zero. All the while you find yourself constantly disappointed that most the blogs you’re subscribed to merely repeat one another and you’re no longer gaining any value from them.

The fix: Quality is better than quantity. To eliminate overwhelm and recycled conversations, only subscribe to blogs that produce well written, articulate, and original content. Narrow your choices down to those you would truly miss if you didn’t read every day. You’ll find 80% of the blogs you’re subscribed to are producing no real value. I’d recommend getting your subscription count to below 15–10 if possibly. I’m still working at this. Right now I’m subscribed to 12 blogs, but it can get as high as 15-17 depending on what cool new sites I’ve discovered.

Social Media

The problem: Overwhelm and overlap. Many social media sites accomplish the same things: you can post pictures on Flickr or Facebook or MySpace, or stream updates on Twitter or Facebook or Buzz. So on and so forth. Being on too many social media sites leads to overwhelm due to the constant flow of information, as well as overlap between sites as people make duplicate posts on each of their social media outposts.

The fix: Pick one or two which you’ll be most prevalent on. Pick a site where you’ll be most active and stick to it; most are capable of fulfilling whatever your need is. I currently use Twitter (mostly to share interesting links) and Facebook (for the Discussions area) for my blog and only Facebook for my personal life.

Bookmarks

The problem: There is an infinite amount of possibilities. There are so many interesting, informative, and useful sites out there that you could spend 24 hours a day for the rest of your life and not discover them all. We quickly find ourselves overwhelmed with the amount of content on the web and end up paralyzed trying to keep up with it all.

The fix: Pick one site per need. This is best explained by using myself as an example. I use the Daily Beast’s Cheat Sheet to stay on top of the latest news stories. It’s a cool little page where they write a small blurb about each of the top 30 or so stories of the day. It’s super easy to skim and is a quick read. I’m a huge sports fan so, naturally, I use ESPN to get my sports fix. Google is my homepage from which I can access my RSS Reader as well as everything pertinent to my blog. Find a website that fills a need and stick to it. You don’t need to visit CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC to get all sides of every story. I only have eight sites bookmarked that I visit regularly. I also have a folder titled “Miscellaneous” where I bookmark sites that are used sparingly.

Email

The problem: Major time drain and junk mail. I’m not sure if there is a scientific study out on this, but I’d venture a guess that email is the number one time drain online. It can be used as a legitimately productive tool, or it can also be used as a means of procrastination. With all the spam and junk mail we receive, it’s nearly impossible to navigate our way towards what’s important anyway.

The fix: Multiple email accounts. I know this is contradictory for an article about simplifying your digital life, but hear me out. I have three email accounts: one for my personal life, one for my blog, one for junk mail. I mostly use my personal account to give to family and friends and for receiving online bill notifications. The blog account is used for anything related to the blog: contacting me through the blog, commenting, accounts that have to do with the blog, etc. I give the junk email out to sites that aren’t important, that I’ll use sparingly, and that I’m sure will send plenty of spam. On top of that, I use Apple’s Mail program through which only my personal and blog accounts are managed. I don’t need to be constantly reminded of the junk email I receive, so that account hang out in the ether, and I only check it every few weeks.

The Internet can become a huge waste of time if you let it. For everything you do online, determine what it is you’re trying to accomplish. Eliminate everything that’s unnecessary and focus only on what moves your goals forward.

What do you do to reduce overwhelm and keep your digital life organized? I would love to hear your strategies.

Photo by …storrao…

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signing up for the simpler life monthly newsletter is what all the cool kids are doing

Sam — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:00:40 +0000

Some of my more perceptive readers have noticed the little sign-up box that currently resides in the right sidebar of this site. For those of you who haven’t noticed, I’ll wait while you check it out (If you’re reading this in a feed reader you will have to click through to the actual site to see what the heck I’m talking about).

Pretty shnazzy, right?

This is your ticket to the brand new, monthly, and free The Simpler Life Monthly Newsletter. Those of you who are intrepid enough to sign up will receive all sorts of goodies the non-newsletter-subscriber readers of this site will be completely oblivious to. You can look forward to things such as:

Premium and exclusive content. Think interviews, video updates, me singing songs (probably not that last one).

Longer form articles where I explore a concept that is too long to post as a regular article on the site.

Sweet coupons and deals on past and future products I release. I could see myself releasing my new ebook at a steeply discounted price to my newsletter subscribers.

Other excellent incentives that I haven’t thought of yet.

If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, I highly recommend you sign up for the newsletter. I’ll only be sending it out once a month because the last thing I want to do is flood your inbox with unwanted email.

Venture over to the right sidebar or click here to sign up for The Simpler Life Monthly Newsletter right now!

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saturday personal update: self-awareness worksheet edition

Sam — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 10:00:03 +0000

Today I’m going to share an excellent resource that Jonathan Wondrusch of Grokkery developed a few weeks ago. If you’re familiar with Jonathan’s writing you’ll know that he is all about self-awareness. To help people develop this quality he created a PDF worksheet. Today, I’d like to share my answers to his thought provoking questions in hope of inspiring you to give it a shot as well.

You can download the PDF here.

the basics.

1. What area of my life am I trying to change?

I’m trying to change the way I approach my blogging business. I need to treat it like a job and put forth the effort to grow my site, grow my involvement in the community, and grow my knowledge of blogging and the subsequent topics I must improve my knowledge of (copywriting, marketing, social networking, etc.).

2. What am I excited for in that area of my life that already exists?

I’m really excited by my blog and the fact that I have already released an ebook. I have taken the first steps toward developing a readership and monetizing my content. I think I’m slowly building a pretty rad community of people trying to improve their lives by taking a serious look at how simplicity ties into their goals.

3. What causes me the most pain in this area of my life?

My inconsistency when it comes to writing. I will go stretches where I write very little and then I’ll make up for it by cranking out several articles in a matter of hours. I would like to be more consistent with my output. Also, my inability to take the time to learn the minutiae behind the “business of blogging” is restricting the growth of my blog, I’m sure.

4. Am I willing to take total responsibility for my current reality?

You betcha. Nobody else is going to make this blogging thing happen for me. If I want to make a living helping people with my writing I gotta make it happen myself. I want the location independence that blogging provides so I can accompany my girlfriend/wife wherever her job takes her and still provide for some of our material needs. If we get married and she ends up in the industry she is working toward, there is a very real possibility that we could move to Ireland for an extended period of time. I want to be able to take that awesome opportunity and continue to be productive at the same time.

5. How committed am I to making a change in this area?

Committed enough to be writing this during an all-night writing session when I have to work at my manual labor “real job” in the morning. Let’s do this thing.

embracing reality.

1. What patterns in my behavior created my current situation?

When I’m productive and successfuly creating quality content for my blog I seem to get complacent. Instead of building on that progress and leveraging it into something better, I slowly lose traction until I find my head barely over water.

Also, despite what I preach, I let distractions dominate way too much of my life when I should be writing. I somehow think I’m above being affected by distractions even though I know that’s not the case.

2. What facts and fears have I been hiding from?

I’ve been hiding from the fact that if I fail at this venture I really have nothing to fall back on other than my deck refinishing job. A teaching job is nowhere in my immediate future due to the economic reality of the Detroit-area. My coaching gigs do not pay enough to sustain me. Once the summer is over and there are no more decks to refinish, I either have to go back to subbing (which I abhor**LINK**) or I need to make my living off this blog. If I fail, I have to spend my time doing something I hate just to make enough money to scrape by.

3. Have I blamed anyone else for my situation?

Not intentionally or obviously, but I’m sure I have subconsciously. At some level I’m sure I have blamed more successful bloggers for “saying everything there is to be said” or having more readers or something else equally inane.

I’m sure I have subconsciously blamed anyone who has ever distracted me such as my friends and/or girlfriend. However, I’m the one who regulates distractions, not them.

4. What actions have I avoided taking?

I have avoided eliminating distractions when I’m trying to be productive. I should turn off the internet, silence my phone, go somewhere quiet, and write within WriteRoom every time I need to write. I get lazy and think I can write in TextEdit (like right now) with an instant message window in the background, Twitter on one tab and my email on another.

I have avoided getting serious about learning about the technical aspects of blogging, site design, SEO, copy writing and all the other details that are important to blogging. I hide behind the “content is king” motto; but that is only true to a certain point. Eventually I need to learn how to market myself and my product effectively.

5. What are the past, short term, and long term consequences of my current behaviors?

Past: My blog has seen uneven and sporadic growth since it’s inception. When I go through spurts of discipline and create excellent content and focus on growing the blog, it improves. When I get lazy or uninspired, it stagnates.

Short-term: Much of the same. The blog doesn’t grow. I waste my time creating premium content because nobody purchases it. I have to move back into my parents’ house when my lease expires in October because I won’t be able to afford rent through the winter.

Long-term: I have to find a job that ties me to a geographic location. If my girlfriend has an offer to go somewhere else for her job (like Ireland) it will be difficult for me to pack up and move. My blog will eventually dissolve into obscurity and I’ll look back on it as an amusing past-time and nothing more.

defining the future.

1. What would the ideal version of this area of my life look like? Describe it in exacting detail.

I would spend my days completely self-directed. I would be productive and engaged with my work. Most of my time would be spent writing and reading with a minimum spent on the administrative duties of running a blog. My income would be largely automatic and large enough to allow me to live comfortably. I would be able to travel at will and still be able to maintain my blog. In fact, my blog would be providing enough income I’d be able to focus on other pursuits like coaching hockey, volunteering, or going back to school for a graduate degree.

2. What is the easiest, most achievable, first step i am able to take toward my ideal vision?

I could write an excellent article to be posted to my blog immediately. I could make sure it lines up with all the copywriting advice I’ve read, make sure it has a great headline, and is formatted to perfection.

3. What are the milestones between my current reality and my ideal vision?

Releasing my 2nd ebook.
Attaining 1,000 subscribers.
Making an average of $1000/month.

4. What habits will you need to break and what habits will you need to create to move forward?

Break: Addictive need to multitask. Stubborness toward learning about marketing, SEO, and the other aspects of business I find boring, confusing, or shady.

Create: Everyday writing habit. Regular schedule of self-improvement when it comes to learning about blogging.

5. What can help me remain accountable as I move forward?

My blogging buddy, Jonathan Wondrusch. My girlfriend. All my readers.

I was really surprised by how much this worksheet helped me crystallize my thinking. I’d be really curious as to what your answers are to these questions. If you have an area of your life that you want to improve (and who doesn’t?) please consider sharing your thoughts in the comments!

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