.smart .simple .mobile - BLOG

How to Juggle it All

Met with my close friend, Steve, today.  We compared notes on how to juggle all the priorities and pressures of life.   He let me bend his ear.  He listened.  He helped.

Midst our chat, he told me a story.   Many years ago he participated in a multi-day retreat where the act of juggling was used as a mechanism to teach certain lessons related to business and leadership.

Steve explained that he was excited to learn how to juggle - and that he knew he'd master it quickly.  

He was wrong.

Day after day, everyone was competently advancing their ability to juggle.  But Steve couldn't.  The instructor knew he needed special attention.

In a one on one session, the instructor asked Steve if he ever played baseball.  The answer was yes - for years. 

What was discovered?

In baseball; one does everything one can do to catch the ball. Dive for it. Whatever it takes.

In juggling, it's important to find rhythm and patterns... and especially at first, not bother to catch the balls at all.

Steve's brain was hard-wired to do the exact opposite of what he needed to do.  He found himself diving for great catches; but not learning how to juggle.  After the instructor helped him become conscious of this dynamic, Steve was able to clearly see the thought-patterns & habits that were holding him back.  More importantly, he learned where he needed to focus his attention and how to build new habits for this new challenge.  Shortly thereafter, he conquered the juggling that was previously conquering him.

Do we find ourselves juggling life - or is it juggling us?  Are our old patterns and habits applicable or hindrances?  Are we adapting and charging forward, or are we stuck chasing balls?

Steve brought me a couple gifts.  One was a book on writing.  Coincidentally (or was it?) within the very first page was a little story about W.C. Fields.  He lost his ability to juggle for six years after he read a scientific analysis of how he performed his juggling act.  Maybe one can become too conscious?  Perhaps there's a difference between "consciousness" and "self-consciousness"?

So how can we become conscious (but not over-conscious) of what we're doing and why?  Perhaps we should look to writers for help.

The authors of the book suggested that writers can increase their consciousness and confidence by gathering materials - i.e., inventorying thoughts, ideas, stories & unique words.  Basically keep a list.  Then, draw from that raw material when there's a book to be written.

It got me thinking.  I think I'm going to start three lists to help create additional awareness in my life:

1. What do I find myself doing over and over?  Like, for example, why am I compelled to write this blog post?  I don't get paid for it.  But I do it.
2. When I can't sleep, what are the topics that keep me awake?  Maybe those are the things I should look straight in the eye - and deal with.  Meet my fear.
3. When do I laugh? ...and I mean laugh -  You know, that "I'm laughing so hard I think I'm going to throw-up".   When was the last time I've experienced that?  What gets me there?

My new list-making makes for a new habit.  I may drop the ball here or there, but then again, maybe I need to be okay with that.

Wait! I think I see a bike

Do you identify with this picture? (not the one below) but the "run-run-run" picture.  Sure, trying to be Conscious & Clear about your life & activities.  Striving for Choice.  But sometimes it feels like a wild sprint toward an ambiguous destination.  That's my day today:  A seminar today - a client meeting tomorrow - a client session on Friday.  All great. Grateful for all.  I know why I "need" to do them. Even looking forward to them.

Yet, I still question what I'm doing.

As I drive through Midtown Cleveland (a place in between Cleveland's Public Square and University Circle) - my inner monologue says; "No time for that SSM Blog thing these few days" - I have things to do!  But then I see this beautiful shiny bike.  It crowns the entry of a basic-as-it-gets deli.  I double back.  I snap a shot.  A worried face looks out the window.  I'm more worried.  The guy looked like he could take-me-out, just because.  Tattoos. "Biker" look.  I pop my head in to explain that I just had to take a picture of that beautiful bike.  There were actually two guys in the deli, probably 50-somethings.  Smiles as big as the sky.  We wished each other a great day - and went on with our individual mad-dashes...

I'm not sure, however, they were dashing at all.

Fallow, Follow, Swallow - Do you Adapt?

Long ago - in my first "real job" (in tech sales) I learned my second important spelling lesson.  (Spelling lesson #1 may end up in another post one day)

The story relates to one of my first commission checks:  It was calculated improperly (not in my favor) - so I thought.

 

I proceeded to put together an extensive and impressive (also, so I thought) document... complete with my calculations & justifications.  I called for a meeting with the company Co-Owner & CFO.  (Pretty bold for a 21 year old punk).  We met at 7:30 AM.  I presented my document which began as follows:

"In the fallowing document..." 

Suffice it to say; The first sounds of the meeting were not words spoken, but laughs being laughed... followed by multiple shallow fallow farm jokes.

Talk about blowing credibility before you even get started.
(Believe it or not; they did adjust the commissions as I outlined).

But I still learned a lesson:  Check the spelling.  I've adapted to my occasional inability to spell; and am pretty good at checking things twice (which was a bigger deal back then - i.e., when there was no "spell check").

So what's the point?

Adaptability.

Darwin says that species do one of three things:

1. Species find a habitat that is survivable for that species
2. The species adapts to the habitat they're in
3. The species dies. Dead. Extinct.

Do you want to be in #2?  Or do #2?

Times are a changing.  Our "habitat" is changing.  Are we adapting?

Sue and I recently saw a Swallow near Lake Erie.  She/he was diving and cutting - right and left - like a jet fighter.  Amazing bird to watch.

We subsequently learned that Swallows truly eat on-the-fly.  Really.  Left turn - right turn - bug - gulp - next... All while flying these impressive patterns.

Evidently they evolved to adapt to their habitat; i.e., certain wetlands where bugs (dinner) fly around a-plenty.  No time to land, sit, etc.

...Guess Swallows want to, well, swallow (food) and eat.

Why do we follow the rules?

What if, in our modern time, we are living under ground rules which no longer apply?  Rules which were created long ago at a very specific time in history.  Rules with a specific agenda.  Rules which may no longer be aligned with lives of fulfillment, worth & happiness. 

But we follow the Rules.   Why?

 Douglas Rushkoff of Life, Inc. has a fascinating look at our time in history - especially here in the U.S.  He explores our acceptance of 'the way it is' - in spite of the fact that we may be living in a time of historic anomaly.

We have technology, the Net, and communication gadgets... but are we disconnected?

'Do we really experience one another?  Are we truly connected with the value we create?  Are we connected with our own sense of self worth?'

Answer for yourself:

 

 

 

Job Hating. Job Loving. What Counts?

This afternoon I stopped at an unnamed bread/coffee place to grab some wireless and sip some coffee.

As I get out of my car, I notice an employee arriving.  She parks.  With shoulders shrugged, she slowwwwly "drags" herself in.

It must be shift change, since on the heels of that, I witness another employee literally bouncing out of the place, jumping in her car... ripping off the mandatory company ball-cap... giving herself a frantic scalp massage... cranks the tunes LOUD - and *bolts*... leaving a patch.

My over-sophisticated thought was; "Ah, see, it must be the organizational culture. People obviously hate working at this place".

Then, I stopped being so self-impressed with my analysis and opened my mind to the idea that it could be anything.  The women going in might have a cold.  The woman coming out might have a hot date to get to.  Who knows.

Shortly thereafter, I'm at a grocery store.  Upon check-out, there are two employees at the register.  The one checking me out (Not that kind of "check-out" - She was merely taking my money) says to the other employee, "Hey, it's my last day!"  The other says, "Woo hoo! - So, where are you going to party!?"

Funny:  Our #1 goal in this nation is to "create jobs"... yet it seems that so many people want to do anything but spend their time doing their job.  Wouldn't it be something if people raced in to their jobs, and shrugged their shoulders longingly on the way out?

Why can't that be possible?  Perhaps it is in many instances.

Regardless, one wonders if our modes, models and metrics don't make sense anymore - and don't create the employee commitment and customer value we crave.  One wonders.

Chip Conley has a take on it.  He argues that it's what we count that matters... and that maybe we're counting the wrong things in business - and with regard to our employees.

His recent TED talk tells more:

Chip Conley TED Talk

Chip Conley.com

Zero Chance of Living

A little story, and a little math...

(OK a lot of math):

• A million years ago (50,000 generations); your 50,000th-great-grandparents had your 49,999th-great grandparent via what was likely a 1 in a million chance.  i.e., parental units #50,000-ago, made the right right turns (crawls?) or left turn(s)... Those turns resulted in exactly that male meeting exactly that female - or not.  One of them was eaten by some animal - or not.  They conceived exactly that 49,999th-great-grandparent of yours - or not. 
• Assuming the above, here's the next generation:  Again, say, 1 in a million chance that parental units #49,999 met, survived and conceived exactly #49,998 great-grandparent.  The two generations and their combined probabilities = 1 in a (Million X Million) chance, or 1 in a Trillion chance that your beloved great-grandparent #49,998 ever existed.   And so on.
• So, before we get to YOU, we need to do about another million more years of math (i.e., do the above calculation, exponentially, another 49,997 times).  The number is probably so huge that the zeros would fill the entire Universe. 
• Thus, there was a 1 in a Number-as-huge-as-the-Universe chance that you should exist at all.  Basically; zero-chance you should be living.  But you're here.
• Whether validated through faith or science... obviously, if we are here... we are meant to be here.

More math going forward:

• If you live 80 years and impact someone else in a meaningful way, just once a month, that's a 1,000 important "life-impacts" you created throughout your life.  Assuming each one of your 1,000 life-impact people maximized their own 1,000 impacts, in part, because of you... you will impact at least 1 million people in your lifetime if you're willing to look out just 1 degree...  What's more; that's if you positively impact someone else just 1X per month.
• The calculation above doesn't do the go-forward multi-generational exponential math we did in the ancestral exercise.  Looking generations ahead, your impact is again a number as-huge-as-the-Universe.

So - If you think your life is meaningless:  Are you sure?

If you think you have some divine purpose in life:  You're probably right.

More on What's Work

A comment on today's post asked: "Why do you ask?"; with regard to the post "What's Work?

Here's our answer:

I/we have always been fascinated by continuum.

Recently, there appears to be an increasing range of gray regarding what is characterized as work - or not. Exchange of value, or not.

Seth Godin raised the question in his own way this week http://bit.ly/aPgcNA and Richard Florida is asking all of us key questions regarding what we value, where we live - - and what we do via The Great Reset: http://www.creativeclass.com/richard_florida/books/the_great_reset/

SmartSimpleMobile is born of these questions... In part academic, in part applied... and in large part; based on our own experiences & questions recently.

We are interested in input from others re: what they think, and how they view "work" - - or not.

Thanks for the chime-in.

Cheers...

What's work?

Scenarios:

- A sales exec leaves the office early on a Friday after a long week - S/he goes to swing a golf club at his/her fave golf course.

- Sales exec swings a golf club on a fairway on a Friday with a potential client.

- Another guy/gal is at that same course... also swinging a club - but is the golf pro for the golf club.

All scenarios include the activity of swinging a golf club on a golf course.

Which is "work"? - Why?

What's your work?

What is Family, really?

As Sue & I advance through our life - we are finding new gratefulness - not just for DNA family, but for friends we consider our family too.

Sue & I thought we were ~brilliant~ to come up with a new term; "Fremily"... i.e., friends who have become family to us.  The urban dictionary "ruined" it for us, as the term already exists (or does that make it even better?!)

FREMILY:

"Integration of circles of relationships, as in combining one's circle of family members with one's circle of friends; unconditionally loving friends as if they were family members."

So who's your fremily?

U.S. could have additional 6 Billion years of experience at work

A 2009 Harvard University study (amongst others) reported that we can limit cognitive deterioration as we age.  Brain science is making major leaps in recent years. 

A number of things can be done, including living a lifestyle of varied experiences, pushing one's brain to adapt to new activities and situations, being physically and socially active... and more.

The report sites that by 2050, 26% of our population will be older-adults across all developed countries, and the U.S. Census Bureau indicates we will have 85 million 65++ year old citizens.

Imagine:  Take, say 70 years of life (70 years of wisdom & experience) X 85,000,000 people = 6 BILLION years of experience.   6 BILLION years of wisdom & experience... applied, leveraged & celebrated - or lost, should we allow those brains to deteriorate.

• What would be the GDP impact?
• What writings could be written?
• What inventions would be invented?
• What lessons could be taught?
• What wars might be avoided?

...if we had an extra 6 Billion years of experience & wisdom to play with?

Or not.

Could leisure keep your brain young?

Years ago, authors of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that participation in leisure activities such as reading, playing musical instruments and dancing were associated with maintaining a healthy brain... In fact, it is likely to reduce the risk of developing dementia later in life.

A dance-read-or-song a day... may just keep the psych-doctor away. 

Eat an apple too.

Must one be a Weed to Bloom?

After an afternoon of keying at a coffee shop, I returned to the urban loft where we stay on a rather regular basis.  So regular, that this Spring I planted some flowers in the tiny little flower bed that frames the entry to the building. 

Prior to my intervention; there was nothing there but weeds and dead (domesticated) plant-remains from the prior year.

Spring proved abundant for the pretty little annuals we planted.  Even after weeks away - and no tender care delivered to them - we returned to find that Spring's wet & warmth brought our little flowers to glorious bloom.  They were singing.

June arrived.

Now the little flowers appear to be suffering - it's a bit dryer, and the Sun more intense.  They have done their Spring-thing, the flowers have, and now they appear to be struggling to survive.

Interestingly, the weeds, which once-were, are now back again - in full force.  Even stronger.  They thrive. 

Perhaps it's the natural order of things. 

We curse the gallant weeds, naturally strong & resilient. They persevere, even after they're ripped out and thrown in the trash unceremoniously.

I did that a week ago.

They're back.

I did so, again, tonight.  Then watered the frail flowers, which appear to cherish my care.

I ponder:  Which do I want to be?  The beautiful flower - or the "ugly" weed?

Let me in!

After an early-morning networking meeting today; I sit at a coffee shop keying my follow-ups, adding names to my database... and musing about each of these new people I met.  What are they doing?  What do they do?  - Why?

As I key; I'm sitting at a tall bar stool facing the glass of the entry way to the coffee shop.

I'm distracted by a big huge moth fluttering at the glass.  At first I wasn't sure if she he was in - or out.

Of course he she was out... side of the glass.  Fluttering desperately to "get in".

What possibly is it he she thinking?  It's 70 degrees out.  No rain.  A full world of moth-food, out there... I'm sure.   Why did it want in?  Was it my good looks?  Couldn't be that.

Makes mees thinks - What is it we're always desperately searching for - and wanting entry to?

Plan or Prepare?

So often people ask "so what's your plan?"   Fair question.

But sometimes - you can't "plan" on things.  Take, for example, aging parents or an unexpected accident.  One doesn't "plan" for when those things do (or don't) happen... but one can prepare.

It's hard to do so - mostly emotionally.  But it can be done... and it usually starts with starting.  Just one little step toward preparing for things you don't want to think about can go a long way.  Once you start, you've started.  The 2nd step is easier, and so on.

What's that first baby step for you? (as the movie "What about Bob" would ask you).   Do just that one little thing today - - and you're on your way.

"Routine" What do we do - and why?

"Routine" = Commonplace tasks, chores, or duties as must be done regularly or at specified intervals.

Root / Origin ~ 1670 AD:   "Route" = A course, way, or road for passage or travel.

It's Root / Origin ~ 1200 AD:  "Rout" = A defeat attended with disorderly flight; dispersal of a defeated force in complete disorder.

....We're all familiar our daily routines.  Something like:

Wake.

Eat.

Shower (sometimes).

Work.

Eat.

Sleep (sometimes). 

-Repeat-

It's something to ponder;  that the root of the root of the word "Routine" is a word meaning "dis-order and chaos".

What do we strive for?  What do we do - and why?

...Maybe we should welcome a bit of Chaos into our lives?

Posted via email from smartsimplemobile's posterous

Simply Shuttle

We launch Smart Simple Mobile (living) in the wake of a real launch.  NASA Shuttle Mission STS-132

Now there's a simple (OK not so simple) smart approach to life.  Declare and determine that you will do great things - and you'll do them.  High school friend Michael Good did just-that.  He and crew are on their way to the Space Station after a successful launch from Kennedy Space Center today.  Godspeed.

Anything is possible.  You can do anything.  Mike did it.

It's never too late.