Self-Marketing and Facing Our Strengths

Scott Belsky was one of the speakers at this month’s World Domination Summit, and he gave a talk based on his book, Making Ideas Happen (Affiliate). At the end of chapter two, Belsky challenges readers to overcome the stigma of self-marketing and gives several strategies for doing so. One of those strategies is effectively naming the differentiating strengths or experiences you possess. Step two of the process is creating a communications strategy for telling others about the strengths and experiences that make me good at my profession (or the various aspects of my profession). Step three is executing on that plan.

Well, right now I am working with a couple of partners to design and develop BarrettABrooks.com, where I will transfer this blog and also tell more of my story. The blog will be my sandbox for testing creative ideas, sharing life lessons, and taking action (with your help, of course). I’ll write on a few main topics, or buckets:

• Entrepreneurship
• Servant Leadership
• Organizational Culture
• Travel
• Relationships
• The Great Outdoors
• Psychology
• Current Events

Basically, I’ll write about the things I love and the things I learn.

It’s part of my overall self-marketing strategy and it makes me very uncomfortable. I hate talking about myself, I have a fear of sounding pompous or conceited, and I think deep down at the root of everything is a fear of criticism or rejection. After all, if I am to openly proclaim my strengths and my mission and then publicly fail, it opens me up to all kinds of negative feedback.

Luckily, I learned a lot about myself at World Domination Summit. There are several things I need to work on in the immediate future if I want to succeed in establishing and growing Living for Monday:

1. Be more vulnerable
2. Take more action (and finish the drill on key projects)
3. Get comfortable marketing myself and L4M’s products/services

In an attempt at all three, I want to tell you about some of my greatest differentiators. Next time I post I’ll write about how those strengths will help me grow into an awesome coach, recruiter, and product creator. The last post of the series will ask for your help based on what comes next for marketing myself and L4M.

Disclaimer: this post is unabashed self-marketing in an attempt to get over my fear of self-promotion. I go into detail about where my strengths come from and why they are differentiators. I would love it if you would read and tell me how to better communicate these differentiators without sounding conceited or pompous. I would also like feedback on ways in which I am apologetic – I have a tendency to self-efface in order to diminish the self-promotion aspects. Call me out on it!

Here goes nothing…

My Differentiators

I have been given the chance to explore the world.

I have visited three continents, 10+ countries, and 20+ states. That list pales in comparison to a guy like Chris Guillebeau who has visited 175+ countries. But I’ve learned something new about myself every time I’ve visited a new place. I grew up being hauled all over the country because my parents wanted me to see new places and experience new things, and I couldn’t be more appreciative of that fact.

College was a playground for travel where I made two trips to Europe, one of which was to study at Oxford University for an entire semester and live in England/Europe for four months.

My travels have helped me to understand new perspectives appreciate diverse people, and communicate across cultural boundaries. Studying at Oxford ignited my passion for learning, made me a writer, and honed my communication skills. Travelling through Europe with my girlfriend expanded my comfort zone, made me try new things, and challenged conventional beliefs.

Most importantly, my travels have allowed me time to reflect. They have forced me to take a step back from life as I know it and reevaluate where I am headed. They have given me clarity and pushed me to make changes in my life to align with what I truly believe. They have strengthened my relationships with friends and family. And ultimately, my travels have fueled my personal development, which has led to many of my further differentiators.

Few people my age have had the opportunities to travel as I have. I have been fortunate in that way. Fewer still have used their travels as fuel for personal growth. I have done both and it has given me a more wholesome view of the world, of business, and of the impact I can have on others. I can only hope I will have the opportunity to continue to travel and develop new perspectives.

I use both my left and right brain

So many people have distinguished between left- and right-brain people, but it is becoming more and more accepted as a false dichotomy. Brene Brown put it so well at WDS when she said that there are people who use their creativity and those that don’t.

Ie, no one lacks creative ability. Instead, we are molded and influenced to believe that we lack creative ability. Brene reminded us that our art work is graded in elementary school – a purple tree receives a 50 because trees are green… Which send a message of conformity. And then we move up through the ranks of education and we are graded on our ability to find the right answer instead of coming up with innovative or creative solutions to old problems. And then our fate is cemented when we are hired by a big company to follow directions and sit in a cube…

Luckily my semester at Oxford University opened up my creative side again – otherwise I would probably still be following directions and sitting in my cube. At Oxford I was taught to make strong arguments based on research-based unique opinions. Yes, everything was supposed to have some kind of factual basis, but there was no right answer. “What do you think about the Arab-Israeli conflict?” does not have a right answer. For that experience I will be forever grateful.

So then I went to work and I took my learning with me. But at work they wanted right answers. I felt like I was back in the environment where answers should be catered to what a superior wanted to hear. So I found my own creative outlets. I started reading blogs and books and articles from unconventional people. I created a blog in order to have an outlet for my creative ideas.

This unique thing started to happen. I was learning to be a high-level strategic thinker in my consulting work (which built on my experience leading organizations in college) at the same time I was learning to be creative on nights and weekends. The problem was that I was being forced to compartmentalize my life. Left-brain from 9-5 and Right-brain in my free time just didn’t work.

The beautiful thing about Living for Monday is that I actually need both types of thinking to succeed. I have to brainstorm and provide creative solutions to old problems. But then I have to know how to create strategies for execution. I still have a long way to go in molding the two halves of my brain into one complete skill set… In the mean time I know that a key differentiator is my ability to challenge the status quo and then deliver strategic plans to make it happen.

I have strong communication skills

This one is so blasé because its what everyone wants to hear. I can speak, I can write… blah blah blah. But really, I speak well in public and I write well.

My speaking ability comes from the necessity of past experience. I held various leadership roles in my college fraternity that meant I was in charge of leading meetings in front of a large audience at least once a week. I served as an orientation leader, which meant I was on stage and speaking to groups multiple times a day for an entire summer doing everything from acting to reading, to rapping, to speaking to auditoriums of nervous parents, to relaying lessons to incoming college students. I was in a leadership development program where I had to introduce corporate executives to large audiences and make presentations to “clients” from our leadership projects. Finally, I went to work and was immediately put in rooms with executives of huge companies and partners from my firm where I had to present ideas succinctly, answer probing questions, and remember not to bite my tongue at any given point.

My writing ability comes from two places: Oxford University and consistent blogging since my travels to Oxford. If you can’t tell yet, they don’t teach at Oxford like they teach at American universities. Instead of big classrooms, we learned in intimate tutorial settings where a don (Oxford professor) would meet with 2-10 students at a time. Every week, in every class, we were required to write a paper of 4-10 pages in length. All in all, I wrote over 100 pages over the course of three months of classes. At the same time, I started my first blog to catalogue our adventure at Oxford and throughout Europe. When I got home from Oxford I started this Living Values blog, and then when I left my job I started the Living for Monday blog. Basically, ever since I left for Oxford in March of 2010, I haven’t stopped writing.

That hasn’t been lost on the people around me. The reason I know speaking and writing have become differentiators are the way people react to me. Older adults ask if I plan to become a published author (I do) and groups to whom I speak praise me on my ability to communicate a message or facilitate a conversation.

My communications skills are differentiators for me.

I have always been a natural leader

The first thought that comes to mind after that statement relates to my days as a little league baseball player. Even back then I was regularly voted as captain of my team and onto the all-star team. I was runner up for the leadership award as a twelve year old. The point here is that I didn’t know what leadership was at that age, I just knew that I wanted to work hard and be the best at everything I did. Because of that, other people were willing to follow.

There are two sides to this story. The first is that people tend to follow me. I am not entirely sure why, but they do. It has happened throughout my life and I cannot entirely explain, but I know it is a differentiator – when I set a path, create a vision and lead by example, others have followed. Three examples:

• I ran for team captain of my high school baseball team, lost, and then proceeded to act like a captain anyways. I helped set high expectations of winning the state playoffs and we lost in the semifinals where we had only made it to the first or second round in the past.
• I ran for president of my college fraternity unopposed, which meant I was elected. People allowed me to do that because I had a vision of where I wanted to go.
• I was asked to create a vision, strategy, and form a group to refound an honor society in college. I was not elected, but rather intentionally sought out the people that were influencers and could actually make the idea happen.

The other side of this story is that whenever I have asked for permission to lead, my peers have struck me down. I lost election for elementary school president and never ran for SGA again. I asked for my high scool baseball teammates to select me as captain, and they chose someone else. I had an intense desire to be in secret societies in college, and despite my accomplishments I was never once invited to the prestigious groups. I applied to be the student commencement speaker and was chosen as the alternate, but was not chosen to be on stage.

So while I am a natural leader, people do not like to pick me… Especially my peers. Those older than me – mentors, professors, etc have always had more confidence in my leadership ability than my peers. I don’t know where this comes from, but I do know that it is why Seth Godin’s message appeals to me. He says, “Don’t wait to be picked. Go. Take action on your own.”

So I guess what it comes down to is that I’m not scared to get my hands dirty and lead by example. I’ve never asked anyone below me to do something that I am not willing to do. I am not scared to cast a vision that is scary, imposing, and that might not be accomplished. When I am presented with an opportunity to lead, I take it. Not for glory or popularity, but because I don’t know how to do any different. The reality is that I have an intense desire to change the world, and that must come from taking responsibility and action towards a greater vision.

My participation in a leadership development program in college cemented my desire to lead and create change. It made me define my values, create a vision for my life, and define the legacy I want to leave in this world. It made my desire to lead tangible and gave me something to shoot for.

I may not be the first to be chosen by my peers, but I am not scared of the responsibility of leadership.

I have a burning desire to learn

My desire to learn chases me everywhere I go. When I see problems I want to learn potential solutions. I want to absorb the knowledge of the people around me. I want to devour books and articles and blogs and everything else that can convey knew knowledge.

My desire to learn has been a life-long pursuit. When I was young I read voraciously. From Goosebumps to Harry Potter to The Chronicles of Narnia, I read and read and read. And then I wanted to be cool (you’ll notice that my desire to be cool put a halt in my personal development for a couple of years).

What finally snapped me out of the learning plateau was… you guessed it, my studies at Oxford. I finally was given the license to learn for the purpose of forming my own opinion. I hated the confines of college in which I was encouraged to read mandatory textbooks to answer multiple choice questions about minute details in the text. My question to some of my professors if I could talk to them now: why does it matter? Is it just easier to adapt suggested questions from the textbook publisher than to create a test that actually makes us think and requires thought on your part to grade?

I’ll never forget the day I received a paper back that said something like this: “You make great points in this paper, but you didn’t follow directions. Grade: 70.” That was literally the most infuriating experience of my classroom time in college. But I digress.

When I came back from Oxford I dove back into reading and started amassing a library of books. Biographies, business texts, religious writings, novels, classics, and more. It was as if every book held the key to some important piece of knowledge that would allow me to solve a problem later down the road.

What I found was that the more I read, the more I learned. And the more I learned the more I was able to synthesize disparate ideas from various sources. By doing this I realized I could serve as a curator of ideas, reading through sources and bringing together great ideas to save people time and inspire.

My desire to learn fuels my ability to be creative. It creates a way for me to lead and deliver solutions to those that have problems that need to be solved. Most importantly, my desire to learn allows me to write and speak on interesting topics that come from various sources. It allows me to see problems in the world and start to find ways to fix them.

My desire to learn is a differentiating strength for me.

I love building meaningful relationships

I’m just to the introvert side (I think) of the introvert/extrovert scale because I’m not the guy who can or would go to a networking event and hand out 50 business cards. In fact, big events make me nervous. I don’t like the feeling of not knowing people and the idea of standing there awkwardly without anyone to talk to is a daunting thought.

That being said, once I’ve met people I love to learn about their stories. Where do they come from, what do they love, what are they good at, what are their dreams? These things intrigue me, and they fuel deeper connections.

Somewhere along the way I learned the value of close friends, great mentors, and always being willing to share myself with others. When I meet someone, I follow up with a note or email. I keep in touch, I wish people happy birthday, and I make sure people know that I care about them.

People mean the world to me and building relationships is the way for me to learn their stories, stay connected, and help in any way I can. The way that I care about those close to me, my willingness to really listen to others, and my willingness to invest in long-term meaningful relationships are  differentiators.

I am younger than almost any other person in this industry.

One of the first things people say when I tell them about what I’m up to and I’ve answered a couple questions is this: “Just to play devil’s advocate for a minute,” [a polite way of saying: let me call you out on why you’re likely to fail, be discounted, or otherwise crash and burn] “what do you say to people when they ask about your age? Isn’t that a major weakness?”

Here’s what I want to say: “No way. You’re a bozo. My age is to my advantage.” Instead it always humbles me, makes me retreat into my shell to some extent and reply with something weak like, yes but… blah blah blah.

Here’s the reality of the situation: I had to go through a ton of leadership trials in college (more about that later). Then I went off to Oxford and they taught me to think for myself (more on that later too). Then I went to work for a huge professional services firm where within two months I was working on a project team at a Fortune 5 company; within three months I had received a 10% raise and promotion by meeting the right people, proving my worth, and learning the performance review system; and within seven months I was managing a team of three people on one of the most important and creative projects at the Fortune 5 client; by the time I left, I was being asked for advice (yes, me) by every new hire at the staff level in the Atlanta office. Finally, ever since I graduated college I have read, networked, and invested in myself constantly. I’ve learned more in (almost) 25 years than a lot of people have the opportunity to learn in a lifetime.

My age and choice to leave the conventional work force means that I’m not prisoner to the status quo. I don’t have a boss to answer to and I can get creative with the way I solve problems. I don’t have to find the right answer, I can find many potential answers, learn about the options, and then present an educated argument or proposal to anyone asking.

I have youthful energy, passion, and work ethic that carry me through The Dip (to use Seth Godin’s term). That energy, passion, and work ethic will no doubt carry over to my future years because I’m ingraining all three into habits… They are constantly becoming a part of me.

That’s a long way of saying that my youth is an advantage and I don’t want anyone to be fooled because of my age. I don’t have all of the answers, I am not as wise as many people older than me, and I have plenty of hours to commit to my craft before I reach the 10,000 hour mark made popular by Malcom Gladwell. But I can guarantee you that if I don’t know an answer, I know I will find it. I may not be as wise, but I have mentors who can share the wisdom of their years. And I may not have reached the 10,000 mark, but you can bet your tail I’m working towards it.

My age is a strength of mine.

Wow, so 3,500 words later, there you have it. That’s alot. If you know me, I would love to hear your thoughts on everything I had to say in today’s post. Have you seen any of these strengths in me? Do you feel that I’m kidding myself with regard to anything I feel is a strength? How can I better communicate these strengths?

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How to Live a Remarkable Life in a Conventional World

I spent this past week in Portland on vacation with my girlfriend, Nicole. We booked our trip around the World Domination Summit, which took place this past weekend. If you want to know more about our travels in Portland, you can read detailed posts on my travel blog at http://www.barrettabrooks.wordpress.com

Chris Guillebeau created The World Domination Summit in 2011 to bring people together around the shared values of community, adventure, and service. This year’s (un)conference was the second annual, held in various locations around the city of Portland, OR. The theme of the conference was the following question:

“How do you live a remarkable life in a conventional world”

And today I want to share the 15 best answers I found to this question from an incredible weekend spent with awesome people.

1.    Be constantly vulnerable

Brene Brown drove home the point loud and clear that being vulnerable is a very good thing. In fact, it is the only way we can live an authentic life in which we truly impact others. Convention tells us to conform, become complacent, and adjust our actions to meet the image others have created for us.

Brene says no to those false ideas. Instead, “Who you are will always trump who you think people want you to be.” In opening the conference, Brene spoke of Conference Anqiety Syndrome, making several points that apply wholly to living a remarkable life.

First, we have to realize that “cool is about self-protection.” Next time I catch myself being cool, I need to remember that vulnerability trumps cool.

Second, we have to remind ourselves that “no one belongs here more than me.” Whether here applies to WDS, a great opportunity at work, traveling around the world, or anything else, I have to remember that I am there for a reason. Only then can I make my maximum contribution.

Finally, “Your experience here cannot exceed your willingness to be vulnerable.” How true that was at WDS and how true it is for my future endeavors. Authentic connection with others only comes from true vulnerability. New friendships, family relationships, deep conversations, and new projects all come more naturally from a place of vulnerability.

I have to remember that if I put myself out there and fail or receive rejection in return, I have done my best. I have been in the arena and until others have been their too, their criticism cannot move me.

To live a remarkable life, I must continue to push myself to be vulnerable.

2.    It is never too late to make a come back

Scott Harrison taught me that to live a remarkable life we must never give up on ourselves, but instead realize that it is never too later to make a comeback. Scott was a night club promoter in NYC with “every vice possible” before he woke up one day and decided to make a change.

He went from drinking, drugging, womanizing, and spending to serving, feeling, growing, and connecting. He went from club promoter to charity founder. He went from morally broke to founding one of the most inspirational and innovative charities known to man: Charity:Water.

In so many ways, Scott’s early story reminded me of my own. Raised in a good family. Smart, Christian kid. Grew up to rebel for no particular reason. Drinking, drugs, sex. Until one day I was forced to make a change or live a life of insignificance. I am still very much in the building phase, but Scott’s story shows me that a remarkable life is well within my reach.

Never give up on yourself. No matter what exists in your past, there is always a greater future to be had if you will allow yourself to dream. Those are the words my heart interpreted from Scott Harrison’s talk.

You are worthy; you are remarkable. It is never too late to make a come back.

3.    Understand who you are

Susan Cain and Jonathan Fields reminded me that knowing thyself is such an important characteristic for having an impact in the world. Susan is an introvert and proud of it. As she spoke I had this intense realization that although I have always been pegged as an extrovert, I really lie closer to the neutral line in between introversion and extroversion. In fact, if anything, I lean to the introvert side of things until I get to know someone, at which point I can settle in and really share myself.

The point made here is that we can always learn something new about ourselves. We never know everything. We never know every little corner of our souls, but we can always work towards ever-greater self-knowledge.

By understanding who I am, I can better understand how to interact with others to create the greatest impact in the world. People who know themselves and actively design their lives around that knowledge can lead remarkable lives no matter what convention is telling us.

4.    Seek adventure

Adventure is one of the shared values of those that choose to attend WDS, and Jodi Ettenberg embodied that value to a great degree. I learned from Jodi that adventure gives us a peek into our own souls, as well as the souls of others. It allows us to catch authentic glimpses of people, cultures, and locales.

Jodi seeks adventure by traveling the world and experiencing food to connect with people. She has learned many ways to eat safe, but authentic in any city and she used our breakout session to pass that knowledge along… To make adventure more accessible to each of us.

“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” ~Mark Twain

To live a remarkable life, I must seek adventure.

5.    Kill good ideas in favor of chasing great ideas

David Fugate, founder of Launch Books Literary Agency, was the first to make this point this weekend during his “Book Concepts that Sell” workshop. And then immediately afterwards, Scott Belsky (read more under #6) reiterated the point.

Both men offered great insight. For creative types, coming up with ideas is not the problem. The problem is actually two fold with the first part being that we can often have TOO MANY ideas. The solution is to develop the ability and capacity to kill the good ideas in favor of pursuing the great ideas.

Good ideas lead to a good life. But great ideas lead to a remarkable life. To live a remarkable life, I must always remember to kill the good ideas so that I can spend my energy chasing the great ideas.

6.    Take action consistently

Scott Belsky is the author of Making Ideas Happen and he presented the second half of the two fold problem I mentioned above. When we have many ideas (both good and great), we often end up taking action on none of them.

Scott shared an equation that will lead to living a remarkable life by taking consistent and definitive action:

Making Ideas Happen

=

(Creativity & Ideas + Organization & Execution + Communal Forces + Leadership Capability)

This led to another great moment of evaluation for me. I am great at coming up with ideas and getting them started in the moment of excitement. But then my energy often tapers off and I repeat the process to renew my energy. Scott calls this habit ‘incrementalism’.

But if you look back at those we admire for having lived remarkable lives, they were not incrementalists. Neither were they just creative thinkers with lots of ideas. Instead, they executed on their ideas by combining creativity, execution, community, and leadership.

To live a remarkable life, I must push myself to take consistent action and finish projects. 1 finished project will have infinitely more impact than 100 unfinished projects. Period.

7.    Develop unique superpowers to do good

Chris Brogan is a comic nerd through and through. He was vulnerable in front of a crowd of 1,000 and I loved it. And in the process he reiterated Brene Brown’s message while adding that we have to develop our superpowers to do good.

Chris used some of our favorite superheroes to describe potential superpowers… things like synthesis, empathy, tenacity, and rage. He challenged us to name our superpower and then to test it, fail, and gain confidence from the experience.

By honing our superpowers in this way over time, we will gain the ability to do immense good in the world. In the process, we have to remember that no matter how weird we are, or how unique our superpower may be, it is needed in the world. Therefore, “the weirder you get, the more you will succeed.”

I must develop my unique superpowers by exercising them, learning about their capacity, failing, and gaining confidence. Only then can I use my superpowers to do good and live a remarkable life.

8.    Commit to serving others

Service is yet another of the shared WDS values. Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott taught me that so much can be learned in the service of others. They have been traveling the world for over five years in the name of serving others.

They taught me that an unheard voice can be made loud and clear through service. They taught me that there is more to every story than what we may see on the surface. And they taught me that only through service to others can we truly experience the world and make deep connections.

To live a remarkable life I must always remember to commit to serving others in all that I do.

9.    Leverage your skills and interests to create passion

Cal Newport taught me that many interests can be molded into a passion, a life’s work, or a calling. I didn’t always agree with everything that Cal had to say, as I tend to lean a bit more towards the fact that there is purpose in what we do and any old interest may not spark our sense of purpose over time.

But, Cal’s message did resonate with me in that developing expertise is such an important part of becoming truly passionate about a given interest. The question I encourage my coaching clients to ask themselves is this: which of my interests do I care enough about to become an expert?

When we care enough to pursue an interest until we have developed true expertise and a valuable skillset, we both become more valuable as a contributor and more passionate as a person. Passion contributors live remarkable lives.

To live a remarkable life I will have to become ever more passionate by developing expertise and skills.

10. Tell a great story

One of my close friends gave a wonderful graduation speech in which he said “Tell a great story with your life.” Sarak Peck reiterated that message in her workshop on crafting narratives.

Sarah taught me that crafting narratives and telling great stories is a way of connecting with others. Stories bind us emotionally, communicate our vision, and share our lessons with others. At the end of the day we all have stories, but to live a remarkable life we must create and tell a remarkable story.

That story cannot always be planned. It cannot be controlled. It can only be communicated as is unfolds. It can be shared passionately, as with Scott Harrison. It can be used to interweave with the stories of others. It can be used to inspire. But for it to do all of those things, we must first create it, and then share it.

To live a remarkable life, I must tell a great story with my life.

11. Build a community of support

The third and final shared value of WDSers is community. The value of community in remarkable lives repeatedly made itself clear throughout the weekend. In particular, Corbett Barr’s workshop on instant idea evaluation showed the immense value of a community of support.

Corbett’s session was like a massive mastermind session, and the value of the feedback reminded me that I must build a community of support in order to live a remarkable life. We need feedback, we need constructive criticism, and when we hit the troughs of energy we need support. Building a community provides for all of these things.

Corbett reminded me that I need a mastermind group (which I’m hopefully forming with a couple of fellow attendees). He taught me the value of open, honest feedback.

To live a remarkable life I must build a community of support that will help me and support me.

12. Keep your eyes on your own paper

I learned so much from the attendee stories that we heard on Sunday, but a common theme was keeping my eyes on my own paper. It can be so easy to look at what others are doing and want to do the same. It can be easy to envy and covet and imitate.

But what makes a life remarkable is its uniqueness. Imitators are not heralded for their remarkable copying. We should be inspired by others but “don’t compare your inside to someone else’s outside.” A remarkable life comes from a place of authenticity and vulnerability. It comes from establishing our mission and getting after it.

To live an authentically remarkable life, I have to keep my eyes on my own paper.

13. Transform yourself to transform the world

J.D. Roth is an incredible man with an incredible story of profound personal transformation. J.D. taught me the value of transforming oneself. He reminded me to concentrate on changing myself in order to inspire others to change as well.

J.D. reminded me that focusing on what others should do will not make me better and it is not the way to transform the world. Instead, I should work every day and every month and every year to become a better version of myself. This time next year, as I board the plane to Portland for #WDS2013, I hope to have transformed myself to become a better person.

I can only transform the world by first transforming myself. To live a remarkable life I must embrace and pursue constant personal transformation.

14. Courageously invest in others

Chris Guillebeau has taught me so much through The Art of Non-Conformity (book and blog), The Empire Building Kit, and The $100 Startup… But never has he taught me so much as he did at WDS.

Chris showed me that living a remarkable life means courageously investing in others. It means trusting and empowering those around you to do remarkable things themselves. It means ignoring the trolls and naysayers and critics in favor of supporting the change agents and problem solvers and doers of good.

Chris has made himself vulnerable in countless ways in order to invest in me. He has neglected his natural introversion to stand on stage repeatedly in front of 1,000 people. He has shared his journey liberally with his followers, even when receiving criticism from others. And all the while he has asked for NOTHING in return.

I know that to live a remarkable life I must courageously invest in others.

15. $100 is All it Takes

Chris has also taught me the value of $100. It stated a couple of months ago when I received an advance copy of $100 Startup. It continued when I attended his Atlanta book signing and met him in person for the first time. Through all of this he showed that a meaningful, impactful business can sprout from $100 or less.

But then Chris did something entirely unexpected at the end of the day Sunday. He made the most courageous investment of all in all 1,000 attendees.

He created his own parable of the prodigal son and will be tracking the results over the next year. Combining this year’s profits with an anonymous WDS donation from a 2011 attendee, Chris dispensed $100,000 to the 2012 attendees.

He showed absolute trust and confidence in our ability to do good with the money. He showed a willingness to be absolutely vulnerable in handing out CASH to 1,000 people, many of whom he does not know deeply. Why?

Because he knows we share values of community, adventure, and service. Because he trusted that we would each walk away and willingly bear the burden of responsibility that comes with such a generous gift. And because he wants to see what happens when you empower a group of change-makers with the tools to make it happen.

To live a remarkable life, $100 is all it takes.

#WDS2012

(To learn more about WDS and to sign up to receive notifications about #WDS2013, check out http://worlddominationsummit.com )

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2012: The Year Ahead

On Monday, my post was about the past year – reflections on what I did well, and also what I didn’t do so well. Today, I want to think in terms of the year ahead. Many times, our plan isn’t how things end up working out, but it still helps to have a plan to work towards. Sometimes God sends me in a different direction, and sometimes I just flat out plan poorly. Regardless, beginning with the end in mind helps me to structure my thinking and actions.

Like Monday, I’d like to cover two main topics:

• How I want to grow my business
• How I want to grow as a person

Let’s start with the business:

1. Establish the business as being viable – This goal may come as no surprise, but in all reality, for all the work I’ve done, I still have not established a paying customer. This is by design, but 2012 is the year in which I will find those people willing to invest fully in the Living for Monday products/services based on good faith and shared principles.
2. Have a core product/service to hang my hat on – In my estimation I am a little over 50% of the way to a minimum viable product (MVP) for my core ‘Career Design’ curriculum. In 2012, I’d like to take the MVP and make it outstanding. It will require several iterations, but with a full year ahead it can definitely happen.
3. Diversify income streams – On top of having my core product complete, I want to start work on a second product to attract repeat customers. All the while I will work to develop online, one-on-one, seminar, and public speaking income streams.
4. Build the Living for Monday values of integrity, excellence, service, innovation, and learning & personal development into our core operations – I think this speaks for itself, but we encourage all of our clients to seek work where they can find values alignment. Living for Monday will be no different – everyday I want our actions and operations to directly reflect our five core values.
5. Set myself up to work from anywhere – A dream of mine is to own a business that allows me to travel and work from anywhere. That will mean leveraging technology and building trusting relationships with everyone I hire onto our team.
6. Have two killer websites: LivingforMonday.com and MasteringPurpose.com – When you land on one of these two pages, I want you to know exactly what we offer and what we are all about. I want them to speak to our principles, our ‘why’, and have an impact on all who visit.
7. Have a strong pre-launch with the goal of 20 initial paying clients – This is key. When I talk to Trey, my new teammate, I emphasize this point constantly. The key to a successful 2012 is a successful initial launch. It needs to be done right, it needs to be done professionally, and it needs to be compelling. If we succeed in doing so, I believe the product will speak for itself and we will meet our goals.
8. Serve 50  paying clients in 2012 – ‘Clients’ in my mind are individuals, groups, seminars, speaking, etc. Any engagement where Living for Monday is paid to deliver compelling material on living a life of fulfillment and purpose is serving a paying client. This is ambitious, and we might not make it, but the thought of ‘what if’ is plenty to shoot for it anyways.
9. Create and establish a free product to introduce people to the Living for Monday brand and style – I’ve had two outstanding conversations related to what we can give away for free to show potential customers how much value we can deliver. I’ve got some big ideas on this, and I think it will turn into our free eBook, a free seminar, and a series of YouTube videos. I’m excited and it’s going to be compelling.
10. Establish a Living for Monday ‘tribe’ –  The number that comes to mind is 2500. But in all reality, the number doesn’t matter. I want to build a tribe of people that believe in what we do, what we stand for, and love our products and free content.

Now for personal growth:

1. Invest in friends and family. I thrive on relationships and I want to continue to establish strong, meaningful ties with family and friends, new and old.
2. Read 52 books – one for every week. This is a goal I set as I returned from studying abroad at Oxford University. It didn’t happen, but in 2012 I will try again. I love reading and I love the learning that comes from it.
3. Establish and maintain great health practices. As I said in my 2011 in Review post, I’ve been through some interesting health considerations, especially over the last few months. I’m on the right path, but I want to continue to maintain great health practices and take care of my body and mind.
4.  Travel. I want to travel more often. The first planned trip is to Portland, OR. If all goes well in the business, I’d like to plan at least one other great trip.
5. Learn a new skill. Some skills I’ve talked about on and off include: fly fishing, playing the fiddle, really learning another language (I know basis Spanish), or learning jiu jitsu or boxing. Any one of these things would be outstanding and would add variety and satisfaction to my life.
6. Become a great public speaker. The great orators of a given time period are able to inspire and motivate others. I would love to learn the skills and dynamics that go into becoming a great public speaker.

That’s it. It’s a lot. And in all reality, I might not do it all. But like I said, better to start with an ideal end in mind and work towards that end than to shoot for nothing at all.

What do you want to accomplish in 2012? What types of things would make your life more fulfilling and purposeful? How do you want to grow as a person over the next year? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

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2011 in Review

It’s that time of year. You may have seen many of these ‘year in review’ type posts flying around. I’m adding mine to the mix. And you know, there’s a reason they’re so popular. They invoke intentional thinking and positive future action. They allow us to take a step back and look at the year behind us in order to move forward with new perspective in the year ahead.

I like Chris Guillebeau’s approach to his review process, and so I’ll use it here to answer two main questions (mostly focused on my professional life):

• What went well in 2011?
• What did not go well in 2011?

Let’s start with what went well:

1. I learned a lot about big business in a fairly short amount of time in my eight months as a consultant at Ernst & Young.
2. I decided to leave my job as a consultant in pursuit of passion and building my own business. This has been a huge blessing and something to get excited about every day.
3. I built, or continued building, strong relationships at E&Y, on a personal basis, and with my family and friends.
4. I narrowed my business reading to several key blogs and publications. My blog reading now includes: Chris Guilleabeau, Corbett Barr, Scott Dinsmore, Lifehacker, Jonathan Fields, Pat Flynn, and A Smart Bear. My publication reading includes: Inc., Entrepreneur, Wired, Fortune, Fast Company, and occasionally the Wall Street Journal.
5. I officially registered Unconventional Innovations LLC under my name and laid the groundwork for my coaching company, Living for Monday. Groundwork included writing 5 eBooks (and likely making that 7 by year’s end), investing in information products key to small business growth, having several conversations with great contacts and prospective customers in my target market, hiring my first teammate to accelerate the Living for Monday launch in early 2012, and establishing my vision for where I want the company to head.
6. I did a great deal of learning and growing on a personal level. I read a ton of books and soaked up nearly endless information on technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, passion, health, and wellness. I have also begun eating better, sleeping better, and being more intentional with all of my actions. I think overall I will end this year in better shape, with a better outlook, and with a much more positive work/life balance than I began the year.
7. I took nearly the entire month of September as a time for me to reenergize, refocus, and move forward. During September I was largely alone at my family’s mountain house with my black lab, Hank. I read nearly the entire Bible for the first time in my life. I did research. I thought. I brainstormed. I put ideas on paper for my business. I cooked, hiked, and generally tried to clear my mind and get ready for a new phase of my life. It was an incredibly important time for me, as it allowed me to begin the process of being intentional with my time and actions.
8. I committed myself to service. This year I volunteered with two organizations. First, I have always loved Habitat for Humanity, and I set a goal of volunteering once a month. While I didn’t achieve my goal, I did become more involved than I was last year, which was a step in the right direction. I also volunteered with an organization called Camp Horizon. I loved it so much that I joined their board of directors, and I couldn’t be happier with my decision to do so.
9. I began focusing on meaningful experiences, instead of things. This change has occurred in a more pronounced manner since I started pursuing my passion. My girlfriend, Nicole, and I have started looking for great experiences and restaurants around Atlanta, as well as looking for opportunities through travel. We picked our own pumpkins for Halloween, visited Stone Mountain for their Christmas celebration, bought tickets for World Domination Summit 2012, went to see Cavalia Odysseo, planned trips with our close friends to St. Simon’s Island and my mountain house, and more. I also went on a trip to Orlando’s Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure with my family. The end result: sheer happiness. I find that experiences are incredibly rewarding and have a lasting impact on my personal growth.
10. I’ve gotten on a consistent Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule here on the blog, which I like. It keeps things fresh, it keeps me writing, and it gives me structure. I plan to continue that schedule as I plan the transition to Masteringpurpose.com in early 2012, although I may start writing shorter, more powerful posts, as opposed to long, wordy posts as I do now. I believe this will help me grow as a writer and really hit on the core essence of message with every post.

What did not go well:

1. For a good portion of my time as a consultant I was fairly miserable on a personal level. Despite working very hard, building meaningful relationships, and outperforming my goals and performance metrics, I just wasn’t happy. I brought the people around me down and had a negative impact on my girlfriend and family. It was a hard time for me, and one of intense soul-searching, but I shouldn’t have let it affect the other people in my life.
2. My unhappiness as a consultant combined with the uncertainty of my move into owning a business created a rough transition period. The month away in the mountains helped… However, upon returning and beginning work on my business, I found it hard to work alone, establish direction, and generally feel happy. I was passionate about the work, but something was still missing. Somewhere in the mix I visited the doctor to check out a couple of health concerns I had. That visit led to a pretty bad downward spiral precipitated by the uncertainty of my transition. Let’s just leave it to say that I was obsessed with my health, scared of dying, and borderline depressed for a period of time. Luckily, I’ve been able to climb out of that mind frame and find positive ways to focus my energy on my health and wellness.
3. In general, I could have done a better job of seeking out time with friends. I have found that since leaving college, and even more so since starting my own business, I tend to spend a lot of time alone, despite my investment in building relationships. In 2012 I’d like to find a way to spend more time with my closest friends, which will be difficult since we are spread apart. However, I also think this is a key to my continued happiness and wellness. Included in this would be quality time with my girlfriend. Often times I find myself working, or not being totally present when we are together. I need to continue to invest in our relationship and enjoy the time instead of taking it for granted.
4. I didn’t take any life-changing trips in 2011. My 2010 was defined by my time in Oxford, UK and Europe and then my graduation from college. But with the start of my working life, and subsequent penny-pinching through starting my own business, I haven’t gotten to experience any more of the world this year. Ironically, I did travel through E&Y in the first quarter, but I didn’t see much of anything other than business buildings. One of the things to which I am most looking forward in 2012 is a planned trip to Portland, Oregon with Nicole. With some luck and business success, hopefully I will be able to travel much more in the years to come.
5. Although I am moving in the right direction now, it took a long time to figure out how I work best outside of a structured work environment. I now know that I do my best, most creative, most efficient work in the mornings. I work out well just before lunch. And reading, email, admin, etc. are best saved for the afternoons. I lost out on a lot of productivity, and therefore product development, in the transition to finding these things out.

That’s it for 2011 in review. Up next on Wednesday I’ll look ahead at a high level to 2012, and on Friday there will be a new book review of Rework  by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson (as with all book reviews, it will be a part of The Spreading Great Ideas Book Project).

What is one thing you did particularly well in 2011? What did not go so well in 2011? I’d love to hear how your year has been or any thoughts on my year as outlined above in the comments!

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How to Get Un-Stuck

This post is the third and final post of what has become a three part series, which started with Don’t Get Stuck, continued with How to Know When You’re Stuck, and finishes today with How to Get Un-Stuck.

Getting Un-Stuck: Career

Dig deep and find out what kind of work you love. Ask yourself the tough questions about why you ended up in your current job, what you always wished you could do for a living, and what your absolute passion is. If you need help, shoot me an email.

Schedule lunch with a colleague this week. Work sucks when we don’t like the people we work with. We often don’t like what we don’t know. Get to know a colleague you’ve long been wanting to get to know better or maybe one you don’t understand.

Set a professional goal completely outside of your job description or performance metrics. Job descriptions and performance metrics are what make life at work boring. They trick us into limiting ourselves to once set of tasks or accomplishments. Throw that stuff away for thirty minutes and brainstorm some goals that would be fun, cool, or beneficial to accomplish. Write one down, put it in your office or cubicle, and make it happen… Start with step one today.

Learn a new skill. Almost every major university has online training in typical school subjects and skills-based learning. Many companies offer great training programs that don’t get taken advantage of. Find one that looks intriguing and sign up. Then SHOW UP!

If all else fails, start a side hustle doing the work you love. I can’t tell you how many blogs I read that inspire people to get passionate about life by starting a side hustle outside of work. If you’re really in a rut and doing work that is monotonous and you can’t change it, invest in a side hustle. A side hustle takes your great love or passion and puts it to work making money. Set a goal of making just $500 from your passion in the next three months. Failure is not an option. If you want more resources, send me an email.

Getting Un-Stuck: Relationships

Whether you are in a relationship or not, go on a date. If you’re in a relationship, find a restaurant, a show, or anything else new and potentially exciting and invite your significant other to go there with you. Get it on the calendar today! If you’re not in a relationship, ask someone on a friendly date. It’s not the end of the world if they say no, and you might have a blast if they say yes!

Plan a dinner or activity with friends. It’s easy to end up partying with our friends, especially as young professionals. It’s something consistent that is always an option, and nobody has to do any planning. Everyone just shows up at a bar and that’s that… But if you really care about your friends, plan a dinner or outing with your core group where you can spend quality time together. You’d be surprised at how much fun you can have in the absence of a bar if you’re willing to put in some effort!

Place at least one random phone this week to someone you care about. It takes maybe 30 minutes, and it can substantially change the trajectory of that person’s day. Call them and just start the conversation by saying: I was thinking about you and I wanted to see how you were doing. Let it carry on from there.

Put a reminder on your calendar each week to tell someone you love them. We don’t say I love you enough. Period. Do it.

Surprise a loved one with a hand-made gift, note, or meal. We don’t have to spend much money to give a pleasant surprise. Use your hands to make a gift, write a note, or try a new recipe and give it to someone you care about.

Give your kids one entire day of undivided attention. Yes, the whole day. Kids can be annoying. They can seem like a lot. Sometimes you just need some time away. But on the kid’s end, sometimes they just want your undivided attention. So give it to them – for just one day. Don’t you think you’ll look back fondly on a day sans to-do list, cell phone, and errands?

Getting Un-Stuck: Personal Growth

Go to your favorite physical bookstore and buy the ONE book that looks most interesting, fun, or promising. Pick a book, any book. Enjoy it within the next week. If you don’t start and end it immediately, it will sit on your shelf and not get read. Reading gathers momentum, and in a couple of months you might find you have a new favorite store and hobby!

Take 4 hours of vacation time from work and do something you love. If you’re allowed to take half-days, do it. By yourself. Don’t tell anyone. Sneak away for the afternoon and do something you love. Whatever it is, just enjoy it and don’t worry about anything else in the world.

Set 3 stretch goals for 2012. Not resolutions… goals. Things you can accomplish and be proud of. If you don’t usually set goals, just use them for things you normally do, but give them intention. If you already use goals, set some goals that will expand for comfort zone or encourage you to experience new things.

Find your local Habitat for Humanity affiliate (or charity of choice) and schedule a day of service for you (extra points for you AND your family). There are a million organizations that need our help right now. It is always a perfect time of year to support those in need just because. Give it a shot and see what you think!

Whatever made you leap for joy when you were a child… Make time for that at least once in the next two weeks. Whatever we do, it is so important that we don’t forget our childish joy. Just have fun. Do it with friends, or family, or by yourself. But please, over the next two weeks, do something that made you leap for joy as a kid.

Have other techniques for getting unstuck, or generally enjoying life? Please share in the comments!

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What is your dream job?

‘Top 10 dream jobs,’ ‘How to get a dream job,’ ‘Dream job test,’ and ‘What is my dream job.’ What do all of these phrases have in common? They are commonly used search queries I found in doing a bit of keyword research on the term ‘dream job.’ These results tell me one thing: we’ve got our thinking all wrong on searching for a dream job. 

Today I’d like to do two things. First, I will define ‘dream job.’ Second, I will shed light on the first step to landing our dream job… And I’ll warn you now – I can’t tell you your dream job, so if you’re looking for a silver bullet, I’ll save you the next five minutes. It’s not here.

What is a dream job?

I offer the following definition and I welcome discussion related to this definition in the comments section.

Dream Job (noun) – An occupation allowing for alignment of values, employment of passion, and use of talent, resulting in a feeling of absolute fulfillment.

Nowhere in the above definition do I mention money, nor prestige, nor fame. Nowhere in the above do I mention expectations nor public opinion. I omit each of these concepts conspicuously and with great intention. And here is why…

The key to finding our dream job

The key to finding our dream job lies in our self-awareness. It lies in our experience and knowledge of what makes us tick. Our dream job is a direct reflection of our deep-seeded dreams and childhood ambitions. A dream job is, by definition, extremely personal.

And so you see, I cannot tell you your dream job. And believe it or not, neither can Google. Which is why the search queries with which I started this post are so telling. They tell us everything we need to know about how we are approaching the incredibly important process of locating and securing a fulfilling, purposeful career. They tell us that we are starting our search for our dream job by looking externally, while the answers lie within us.

The first step to finding your dream job

I promised the first step to finding your dream job, and so I will give it to you.

Step 1: Take an entire day away from everything. Away from your friends, family, work, classes, and any other obligations or outside influence. Leave your phone and computer at home. Grab a pen and notepad and head to your favorite spot within 30 minutes of your residence. Think extremely selfishly. Let go of all inhibition, limiting factors, the word impossible, and expectations of others.

Take an honest assessment of your deepest values. Write down everything about which you have ever been passionate. Take an honest assessment of your greatest talents. Recall your childhood dreams. Write everything down on the paper. 

Now imagine a job where all of these things were put to good use. What would you do everyday? What kind of work products would  you produce? What skills would you use? For what kind of boss would you work? Would you go to an office or work from home? Would you travel the world or stay local? How would your career develop into a fulfilling and purposeful experience?

The answer lies within us. Our dream job is ultimately a reflection of our own person. I challenge you today, the day before a weekend, to schedule the time necessary to reflect deeply. Because while it might be hard to take time away and imagine a career without boundaries, would we really want to rely on a magic test we found through Google to tell us our dream job?

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Different, Better, Special

I recently  had the chance to sit down and listen to a talk I have heard several times in my life. It was a talk by one of my all time greatest influencers and mentors, Earl Leonard. Mr. Leonard is the namesake of the Leonard Leadership Scholars Program in the Terry College of Business at UGA, my alma mater.

This particular talk is one that every member of the leadership program hears during their time in the program. We affectionately call it ‘Earl’s Pearls.’ I say all of this because I want to share one particular tidbit from the hour-long talk.

Different, Better, Special

Quite simply, what are we doing to be different, better, and special?

Different

When I think about how I’m different, it changes the way I make decisions. Often times, different raises the word ‘bad’ in conjunction. But let’s take a minute and define different… a bit unconventionally. Different to me means being courageous. It means forgetting about conventional thinking and the status quo and doing what feels right.

Being different is actually GOOD thing – it means taking control of our life and our world and shaping it the way we see fit. Forget what we feel like we should do, we need to do what feels right. As Mr. Leonard says, “Ask yourself: ‘Am I happy?’ And if the answer is no, GO DO SOMETHING ELSE.”

Every day I try to be different in one main way: I am unwilling to accept ‘impossible.’ I want to build an ‘impossible’ company. One of those places where people fight tooth and nail to get in the door. One of those companies where people buy your products and services because of trust and reputation. So every day I’m taking measured action to create that different kind of place.

Better

I love this part. It’s all about becoming what we were meant to be. Developing breadth and depth of experience. Pushing ourselves beyond our everyday boundaries and comfort zones so that we have new boundaries and new comfort zones. This is about life-long learning and humility that allows us to learn from our mistakes.

Becoming better is about have that burning desire to wake up everyday and find our inner greatness and put it to work. Becoming better is expanding our skill set so we can spread great ideas and catch the world on fire. It is about being excellent for no other reason than the sake of improving ourselves and those around us.

I get better in two main ways: I listen and I read. I listen to podcasts, I listen to TED talks, I listen to mentors, friends, and family. I read books, magazine, blogs, and anything else I can get my hands on. Every day I try to find a new idea or a fresh bit of insight. That’s my way of getting better.

Special

Special is inherent. Special is in you. It’s in me. Being special just means embracing our talents and gifts we have been given and putting them to good use.

When we become special, we put our talents on showcase and open them up for praise and recognition… and criticism. When we are special we put away the fear of failure and embrace the opportunity to shine. We put our character and good works on display so others feel empowered to do the same.

I want to be special by forming meaningful relationships and leading by example. The people in my life mean the world to me and I want others to think of me as a trustworthy friend and someone willing to do anything for them. I also want others to look at me and look at my values of family, excellence, courage, passion, and  integrity and see congruence.

So what does it mean for you to be different, better, special?  When was a time you woke up and made that conscious decision to make it happen? Share your story in the comments. Or, highlight one of your friends that lives their life different, better, or special! I’d love to hear the stories because I know… I absolutely know you are out there doing it!

If you loved this post, but aren’t sure about sharing in the comments, consider sharing this post through one of the many social media outlets. I want nothing more than to spread great ideas and start intriguing conversations, so let’s do it together! As always, you can subscribe to receive my blog posts via email on the top right of every page!

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Unique Selling Proposition

I stumbled upon a great podcast the other day conducted by Pat Flynn at smartpassiveincome.com, which can be found here. The guest on the podcast is Corbett Barr, who hosts an awesome blog here and a great site here which focuses on building traffic to your blog and establishing a thriving online business.

Now, if you’re not interested in blogging, online business, or passive income, this might be a podcast you can pass on. If you are interested, please take the time to check it out.

However, one topic covered was call the ‘Unique Selling Proposition’ and I have to share to spread the word – it applies to anything you are doing in life, not just blogs and websites. The essential message: there are a million other products, websites, blogs, staff consultants, internal sales associates, PR coordinators, etc… So what are YOU bringing to the table that your readers, customers, employer, audience, etc. can’t live without?

What is your story? Can your purpose and drive be summed up in one line that converts would-be-customers into believers? What are you bringing them that they cannot find anywhere else? If you don’t know, you’re probably just treading water.

My problem? I don’t have a unique selling proposition for this blog. It’s great, I enjoy writing, every once in a while I get a few hits. But there is no core, convincing message. I’m not building a tribe. Are you?

I would love to hear what your unique selling proposition is, whether it is in running a small business, starting a new company, selling a product, writing a book, a blog, or something in between, or just in life. Why should people engage with you?

And even better, I would LOVE your help in developing my own USP for this blog. How can I combine my passions for personal development, leadership, entrepreneurship, a belief that young professionals are the future if we can unite around big ideas and principled actions, a love for coffee, and a desire to grow… as a person, as a professional, as a traveller, etc. In fact, I need your help.

Please, tell me what your USP is. Tell me what you find compelling in a given post here. Tell me what other bloggers you are following. I want to connect and I want to build a ‘tribe.’

Corbett and Pat, thanks for putting great ideas out there for free. This is just one of many, and I will certainly keep looking to you for advice.

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