Big ideas, big projects and new times. I have two ideas that today have become projects for me. Before today the projects were just ideas but I made two small steps that transformed those ideas into tangible items projects. I have a whole bunch of steps to take before the projects are fully manifested but.. I want to celebrate!
When you are involved in a project, it is important to celebrate the small steps. Small steps matter a lot. Small steps lead to bigger steps and then victory.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
Lao Tzu
Here is a great article that outlines the importance of the small steps.
Know this today is the day to take the first (even if it is small) step towards starting and completing the project that you will finish. One more thing to note, when you complete and while you are completing that first step on your major project I am cheering for you from the cheap seats.
My wife and I have been watching the new NBC tv show Quantum Leap. The show is a reboot of the older NBC property and the show is amazing! On the tv show Quantum Leap there is a core team of protagonists and one protagonist that gets the most air time is Dr. Ben Song. Ben is traveling through time changing wrongs and helping the helpless. Almost every episode has Ben giving another character a pep talk. Last nights pep talk from Ben did not disappoint.
At some point, you have to get back off the mat and learn to trust other people again — learn to trust yourself. … If you trust yourself, you can do anything.
Ben
Trust in yourself is often overlooked but a very powerful tool. Trusting yourself means looking after yourself, taking care of your own needs and safety. You have to treat yourself with love and compassion and grace. To trust yourself you have to know yourself. Here is a great psychology article on trusting yourself.
Life gets tough and you face life alone even when we have strong support structures we still are alone, but it’s ok no matter what you are facing you can do this!!
We all need it, and when we don’t have it we suffer. I love the ocean! The ocean is where life begins and has the largest biodiversity in the world! We all need a dose of the ocean. getting out on the water helps our attitudes.
The Ocean while live giving can be brutal on the human skin. Actually it is the sun that is brutal. Sun burns are terrible and can make someone feel sick and should be avoided at all cost. The best way to avoid sunburns is by staying out of the sun but that can be hard when you are near or in the ocean. One great way to avoid sun burn is through wearing sun screen.
I was at the local sporting good store when I saw the bottle of Sun Bum and I had to have it. The bottle had the look of a wooden board with the coolest graphic on it. A gorillas face! I bought the sun block and it worked and I was hooked. It is now and has been my favorite sun block.
The podcast How I Built This did an interview with the founder of the Sun Bum company, Tom Rinks. The interview was great and if you have the chance you should give it a listen. Sam Rinks explains how the simple design for the Sun bum brand came to be and it really struck a chord with me.
Some of the most complicated sophisticated ideas, brands and technologies start off simple like the branding for Sun Bum.
The older I get the more i believe that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. If you get the chance to do it you should definitely check out this writers blog.
2008 – 2009 was a pretty tumultuous year for the financial world. The housing market bubble burst, many were homeless and jobless. The United Stats government had to step in and bailout the major banks with billions of dollars.
It was the beginning of the great recession. Since 1948 there have been 11 economic recessions. A recession is an era of economic decline A recession requires to consecutive quarters of decline if there is only one quarter of decline it is just a contraction. Most economies experience contractions and recessions.
Recessions are more notable in the history of an economy because, of the damage and unemployment that comes with recessions.
Employment provides much for the employer. Through employment people find, a salary to use money to feed their family, health benefits (at least in the United States), purpose and social interactions. To loose in one fell swoop money, health benefits, purpose and social interactions is jarring and traumatic and I think this is why comparing a recession to a storm is apt. Recessions are bleak and can lead to depression, during most recessions suicide rates rise! How can we weather these storms.
It is possible to not only survive recessions but some have come out of recessions even stronger, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, iRobot, Airbnb, Slack, WhatsAp, Square, Uber, Instagram and Pinterest were all founded during recessions.
The recession storms are not good but, if you can find a way to get money, health benefits, social interactions and purpose outside of your workplace you may discover that, surviving or even thriving during a recession is more likely what happens.
Most people spend forty hours a week at work, and it can be tempting and easy to use work to develop our social structures. When this is done however we run the risk of the storm taking away everything. It can be exhausting but rewarding now and in the future. Building a robust and fulfilling social life is and should be a big part of our mental health. Brunch with friends and rotary meetings are more than just alcohol breakfast and gossip sessions they are mental health work outs.
Just the other day I finished a task that was assigned to me in one of the software programs used by my team at work. After finishing each task the software plays a gif that has confetti exploding and I have to admit it makes me feel kind of good. The software we use is Monday dot com. Monday is project management software and uses project boards and to do lists. To do lists are powerful hacks that, when used properly make us very productive.
The reason that lists are considered a hack is because of dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical that the brain releases and makes us feel good. Dopamine helps move signals in our nervous system. A healthy happy person will have an appropriate level of dopamine in their body. When we cross off a list item and see confetti we trigger a dopamine release in our brains. Other ways to trigger the release of dopamine are, eating foods that are high in magnesium and tyrosine as well as engaging in healthy habits that make us happy like exercise meditation family time and petting a happy pet. Checking off things from a to do list is probably one of the closet things we can do at work that resembles petting a happy well behaved dog.
Besides dopamine, lists offer focus. So until we can bring our dogs to work I will stick with my to do list. No if they allow me I would bring in my four legged friend and keep the to do list.
Women are the reason everyone is here on earth right now. It’s true through birth women bring human life to earth. Women rock, I was raised by a strong woman and have had the guidance and support of strong women in my family and friend group for my whole life.
Today is International Women’s day and we should of course take the time to celebrate and thank the women in our lives but we should also adhere to and promote this years IWD theme which is Embrace Equity.
Equity is fairness and impartiality. There is a major difference between equity and equality, equality provides men and woman equal pay (this is not currently happening) equity is providing every worker what they need to be successful. Often, women are the primary care care providers for families and because of this role many women may need (as well as equal pay) flexible schedules or childcare provisions and support and understanding from colleagues.
I am willing to bet that among my two readers of this post there is not a person who can change women’s pay in their workplace or their schedule however there are probably, among my tow readers, at least one person who works with a woman. As a colleague you can be a voice and an advocate and a help. For our women coworkers we should be willing to sacrifice and help bring equity to the workplace. Working around their schedules and in rare and extreme circumstances when we can sacrificing our personal time for women in the workplace.
These actions and advocacy will help influence the culture and ultimately change the workplace and maybe the nation. Do you believe it? I do, but let’s all work towards equity and see if it’s true.
Today is a Monday and this morning for me started slow then, it became a busy monday morning
Today is a Monday and this morning for me started slow then, it became a busy Monday morning. I started fielding calls for various issues. the day went quickly from slow to fast and I felt a little dizzy. It felt like the day was spinning and moving with me onboard and not strapped in. I could not get a good bead on the days movements. I took care of the issues at work then created a task list.
I have often found that lists help me regain focus, I like to create and work with lists. As I build the list I gain focus and as I work through the list I feel the oxytocin high from the hormones released by my hypothalamus. Another thing that helps with days like today is to a clear vision of how and what is going on with my day and lists help with that too.
Once we understand that we are moving, even if we don’t want to, we can gain perspective and develop good plans for our day, month year and life. One more thing that is important is to make sure we are flexible within our plan.
Nothing is more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.
Lau Tzu
As you move on today remember that you are part of something big and moving and dynamic.! No matter what comes at you you can and will handle this
Promotions are a function of proximity. My oldest son started his career during the covid pandemic. He worked for his firm for a full year without ever visiting that firms office. Now that the world is entering the endemic phase of the Covid 19 virus he has of course visited the office but his in person schedule is still a little flexible.
There are business coaches who are now encouraging young people to get back into the office even if it is optional. Putting in face time really matters. People are social and physical creatures and connections matter. I have been reading and listening to many experts weigh in on the way the current and future workspaces look and every time I hear and read about the physical office and facetime I cannot help but think about the song (They Long to Be) Close to You by the Carpenters.
I am also reminded of a movie starring Bruce Willis called Surrogates. In the movie the whole world lives in their homes and send out surrogate bodies to the physical world to work and do their business. The movie is a dark sci fi movie and you learn the importance of connection to the visceral in the movie.
No matter how much human beings try to remove themselves from other humans and the physical world the fact that we are part of community and the physical world is inescapable.
The importance of showing up is often not given as much credit as it should be.
If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?
On the surface this question seems easy to answer. Of course I could find someone who seems to have a charmed life and choose them. I could find a loved one and choose them so that I could help them and or see how they see me. But what makes a person the person they are? What would it be like to be a different person?
a thinking, intelligent being, that has reason and reflection, and can consider itself as itself, the same thinking thing, in different times and places
John Locke
Being a person means we can move with our imagination to different places and times. The question points to a time and place by mentioning “for a day”. The place would be the person. Every figure inhabits some position.
No to answer the tough question.. I would love to see what it would be like to be Super man. Super man is not my favorite super hero, Spider man is but I would love to have Super Mans powers if just for one day. All the physics that seem to inhibit me on earth wouldn’t exist for a day. I could fly to China in less than an hour without boarding a plane!
Ok non fiction person that I would choose or to be real.. I would probably love to be Joe Biden for just one day. I would love to get insight into what the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world is privy to. I am sort of afraid that it might be boring but what if it is not? What if the president of the United States is briefed daily on the nations and worlds secrets? Man then I would love to know all of that.
secrets are pleasant to each child of eve
Hannah Cowley
It is a fun mental exercise to change places with others but at the end of the day I am pretty happy with being myself.
I sat in the conference room and watched the presenter write the words Just over Broke on a white board. He then told everyone that the word Job was an acronym and stood for Just over Broke. The presenter let us know that he was offering a career not a job. It was a hard sell on selling. I tried the door to door salesperson thing and it wasn’t for me. I enjoyed meeting with new people everyday I did not enjoy meeting with an agenda. The agenda was to sell.
I have worked in a few industries and each business industry has its own nuances and idiosyncrasies. I honestly have not found a favorite industry or skill in the modern workplace. I have however enjoyed almost every job I have worked at. I have tried very hard to find the silver lining with every situation and my job is no different.
The jobs that I have enjoyed the most though have all the same aspects.
I accomplish things. For jobs that I have enjoyed more than others I find that getting a sense of accomplishment is important. I get such a oxytocin high from starting my day off with a list and then crossing off the tasks as I finish them. Here is a great read about the importance of accomplishment.
I worked with people who acted compassionately and kindly Jobs that I have enjoyed included teams full of positive kind and compassionate people. Work is always a team event and good teams are made up of good team members. Having a great team makes work that much better.
I have worked in companies that have singular missions and ones that have missions that are convoluted. Singular missions seem to work better Everyone at work has there own reasons for being there and usually=y that is monetary however firms have vision statements and a reason that is not just “create profit”. Firms that have all employees working towards that vision are almost always better jobs.
Collaboration is a key part of the success of any organization, executed through a clearly defined vision and mission and based on transparency and constant communication.
So I do enjoy my current job and I have no doubt it is because the workplace has me working on meaningful tasks, with great people and all of that is happening with one clear vision.
The Corrigan Encore 