Inno

Why is that innovation remains such a rare commodity? How do you reach a point, in any business, where status quo becomes defacto modus operandi?

Great talk by Kevin B. through our local young professionals group tonight. Lots to take away, but one thing in particular: how different the mindset of the successful entrepreneur is from the average cubicle monkey. Innovation has its own language. Its own perspective. You know it when you see it.

To overcome the kind of global challenges we now face, we need more of this. We need to see more eyes ignited with the fire of a fresh idea. We need to speak the language of ubiquitous entrepreneurship, of adding value to the every day. We need to produce more minds unencumbered by fear of making mistakes, of collaborating, of the unknown.

In such a perspective lie the seeds of true progress.

Ride

I just finished my first 50+ mile bike ride this weekend. I've done charity rides before, but the energy of volunteers here was incredible. Riding alongside a 20 year veteran of a ride like this is nothing short of humbling. Passion and dedication are terribly contagious qualities.

A favorite quote of mine by Polly Berends says,

Everything that happens to you is your teacher. The secret is to learn to sit at the feet of your own life and be taught by it.

You could say the same thing for every person you meet as well. People come in and out of our lives for reasons we may not yet understand. And there lies a magnificent mystery. So long as we understand meaning exists, what great adventures lie for us in unravelling it over time? When everyone's a teacher, the world is your classroom.

I have no idea what brought some 100+ riders and volunteers to a small elementary school in Portsmouth, NH, but it doesn't change how grateful I was to have been a part of such a great experience. Following in the footsteps (or tire tracks) of giants makes going an extra mile a given.

Be the Change

Three people were shot on my street last night.
Three more the night before on the other side of town.

Police are blaming it on gang violence.
Calling for a crack down on violence.
More police.
More guns.
More lockdown.

The response? We, the citizenry, pay greater taxes for someone else to run our neighborhoods for us. To maintain order. Educate our children. Keep the peace. Quarantine the bad. I strains me to think how far removed from our reality we have allowed ourselves to become.

Ghandi once said that,

The only devils in the world are those running in our own hearts. That is where the battle should be fought.

20 years ago a woman named Kitty Genovese gave us an example of how important each of can be in determining the outcome of our environment. How we cannot merely stand by and let less noble forces determine the fate of a city or a society. We are active agents in the system. Part and parcel of the problem... or solution. Stand up. Be counted.

It needn't ever take a bullet to get things started.

trade

consider
how easy it is to trade our
daylight for deadlines
sunsets for salaries
moonshine for monuments
to other people and places

remember
what matters
what + who
will remain
after you're gone

Seizure

A quote from one of my favorite books, Think and Grow Rich,

Life is a checkerboard and the player opposite you is time.

This past week a colleague and supervisor I greatly respected took a position within a different division. He found a passion and pursued it. It is a wonderful, earned opportunity. He tireless dedication to our team leaves behind an amazing foundation for us to build upon.

As I have thought about what changes will come as a result of his absence, I have come to think a lot about the finiteness of time. How little time we have, where we are, today. Jobs begin and end. Relationships form and dissolve. People are born and die.

Every. Single. Second.

It is incumbent upon us to seize our days, steal these moments, find our passion. We have only one life, one moment, one time.

37

Do you remember one sunny day biking home from Gosselin's Market on the far end of town? Stopped by a girl you went to school with -  Jackie was it? Do you remember this day brother? 

Do you remember refusing to lift a finger to this angry girl with a knife who wanted a fight? Do you remember your resolution: "I will not fight you." You would not touch the weapon she offered. She threatened me that day to get to you. Your calmness was infuriating. Do you remember protecting me from her? You wouldn't let her get close to me. One sunny summer day etched in the folds of my mind for all eternity. Your gift of empathy that completely disarmed her. Someone with nothing to lose rendered powerless inside of your insight and compassion for her condition. You diffused the situation just long enough for me to get on my bike and pedal off. 

Did you stay behind or were you right behind me all the way?

I ask myself the same question every day.  

Your courage and compassion will never fail as a beacon to me.

Thank you once again for all the strength you give me still. 

Happy birthday brother. 

1492

Anybody that said environment has no impact on inspiration never stepped outside their own backyard. There's only so many ways you can look through the same window thinking the landscape will change.

Find your Columbus.

Done: End Game

More GTD.

p69...

Many of us hold ourselves back from imaging a desired outcome unless someone can show us how to get there. Unfortunately, that's backward in terms of how our minds work to generate and recognize solutions and methods. One of the most powerful skills in the world of knowledge work, and one of the most important to hone and develop, is creating clear outcomes.

Truth.

Done: Once

1/2 way through D.Allen's Getting Things Done on the plane today. This is one ass-kicking read.

p22...

I try to make intuitive choices based on my options, instead of trying to think about what those options are. I need to have thought about all of that already and captured the results in a trusted way. I don't want to waste time thinking about things more than once... as soon as you have to things to do stored in your RAM, you've generated personal failure, because you can't do them both at the same time.

Superb.

small

Sometimes being a hero to the smallest person is better than being a hero to a thousand "big" people.

MQ

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.
Helen Keller

Life is not easy. There are times you can lose track of the bigger picture: who you are, what you stand for, what you believe in. When the earth shifts, it's easy to lose your balance. We all have moments like these, moments where we feel a bit foreign, even to ourselves. In such times it's often critical to have a good friend or family member who will not judge, but merely remind you of the value you bring to this world, of the unique something that you add to it.

It often troubles me to think that there are people out there who do not have this social fabric to keep their hearts warm when it gets cold outside. Because regardless of whether or not they have this recognition, it does not change the fact that we all add that little something extra to the world. Recognized or not, the beacon of humanity still loses something when one of it's lights grows dim, or falls out.

MQ, you called me to tell me you were considering suicide. I know only a small part of how difficult things have been for you, I see a great deal more in your face. I hope you feel better after chatting today. And however unlikely, I hope that, some day, you stumble upon this tiny, unknown blog post of mine. I hope you see what a difference you have made in just one person's life. If nothing else, I want you to know how my life might turn out without you in it, if I tried to do what you do. Just consider ten small things...

1. I would not be witness to the incredible pride of workmanship you demonstrate every day.
2. I would have no idea what's it's like to have more brothers than the population of China.
   
3. I would smash more innocent fingers under the face of my hammer.
4. I would curse at more things I don't understand how to fix, but try to anyway.
5. I would scare off considerably more children with the kind of frustrated expressions that comes from me breaking the very things I am trying to repair.
6. I would have no one to steal interior design ideas from.
   
7. I would have no one to translate what an increasing number of these applicants are try to say to me.
   
8. I would do all the work myself and have less time to spend with close family and friends.
9. I would be so busy doing what I don't enjoy, I might miss out discovering what I really do.
10. I would have no one who appreciates the value of Boston Market after a long day on the job.

There are countless things you do, that I and countless others, will never comprehend. Skills and abilities that are a mystery to everyone but you. They are your gift. You can keep your gift to yourself or share it with the world. Your choice. I hope some day you understand this. If you can have this great an impact on someone at your lowest point, how great an impact can you have on this world at your best?

Just find it, friend.

irony 1

There's something terribly ironic about calling the phone company and getting a busy signal.

Reframe

Two things,

1. The impossible is often seductive.
2. We cannot be great at everything.

In life, each of us encounter difficult circumstances that we let become monsters within our mind. They start small and grow big. They are often the result of our ego or pride getting in the way of our reality. We know we cannot be great at everything, yet we push on ahead anyway.

On the other hand, there is something terribly seductive about tackling the impossible. It is not enough to be simply difficult. The impossible is something different. It tests our limits. It pushes us beyond our comfort zone. In hindsight we often see that the process of tackling the impossible was the true reward.

How do we resolve this?

The answer, of course, is simple. Steven Covey calls it thinking win-win. Others simply say, give enough other people what they want and you can have anything you want.

The reality is that some things other people can do much better than I. If that's the case, perhaps my very difficult thing is difficult for other people too. Perhaps this a very good thing. For in difficult, lies opportunity. So perhaps this very difficult thing could make another person very successful in his/her own right - if he/she could solve the need. Perhaps that is worth my time to pursue. Because, perhaps, by first helping someone else, I am also free myself up to do other things I am good at, better, and more often.

This is more than just between me and you. Our perspectives define our reality. Now, more than ever, we live in a world increasingly connected. There is no better time to collaborate with others to solve local and global issues. In this age, I believe we need to encourage greater creativity in our choices. We need more and better solutions to challenges that arise. We need not take the easy path and fall back on defaults.

In challenge... in difficulty... in the impossible... lie infinite opportunities.

Question. Reframe. Resolve.

The Mind of Clear Light

I just finished reading The Art of Happiness. The Art is a book detailing a Western psychiatrist's interviews and meetings with the Dalai Lama, with the intent of presenting principles of Buddhism and the Dalai Lama's perspective in a format understandable to the Western reader. The book discusses unique perspectives on education, intelligence, anger, and purpose. It is a terrific read.

One of the more fascinating Buddhist concepts discussed in this book is that of the mind of clear light. As quoted from the Dalai Lama himself,

The essential nature of mind is pure. It is based on the belief that the underlying basic subtle consciousness is untainted by negative emotions. It's nature is pure. A state that is referred to as the mind of clear light. That nature of mind is also known as buddha nature. So since negative emotions is not an intrinsic part of buddha nature it is possible to eliminate them and purify the mind.

I believe the Buddhist concepts of inherent mental purity can be both refreshing and enlightening (no pun intended). It has caused me to reflect a great deal upon our Western psychological/medical tradition, the media's inundation of our lives with negative imagery, and the broader concepts of punishment, personal development, and workplace/social order.

Fundamentally the book's philosophy does not negate the importance of ensuring basic mental and physical health. This much is given. The difference is upon the singular focus of our Western psychology tradition, of a diagnostic vocabulary and therapeutic analysis centered upon that which we do not want - the illness, the disorder, the affliction. Psychology and medicine are often focused on this fixing of illness, diagnosis of mental disorder, and returning of the individual to a predefined state of sanity. And then what? Clearly, there is value in understanding one's weaknesses. This can be a necessary first step. But, to spend an entirety of a life focused on the resolution of inherent weaknesses?

We need a new vocabulary.

I believe that which we focus upon expands. I believe thought, as predecessor to action, defines our life. As such, consciousness of thought, awareness of the fundamental connection between mind and reality, is fundamental to a life uncompromised. I believe it is a sad irony of our society when an element of this consciousness, the ability to understand the impact of thought upon action, must be introduced to Western pop-culture through a movie/book called The Secret. Right or wrong, how is conscious direction of our thought such a secret in the first place?

The vast majority of people in this world are not broken. We are not inherently flawed. In fact, perhaps the problem is not the individual at all, but the very paradigms we use in Western culture to define ourselves. What if the focus of our workplace/diagnosis/media on what is wrong or missing in our skills/mind/society/world is the true thief of our finest human potential?

The ultimate creative capacity of the brain may be, for all practical purposes, infinite.
-George Leonard

Unchallengeable

"The power of thought is the only thing over which you have complete unchallenged and unchallengeable control. Controlled by the power of will. In giving human being control over but one thing, the Creator must have chosen the most important of all things."

Napoleon Hill

Remember

Time

mediocrity

Mediocrity sucks. Yet sometimes it just creeps in on you. Between broad goals/dreams and present reality lies a grey area where our true potential is often lost. We sacrifice battles here because they seems so trivial. Forgetting that so many big victories were built on the back of many smaller battles.

I do not want to live a life unclaimed.
Regret is the harshest reward.

Harmony

Call it genetic
but I love Celtic music.

This weekend caught a glimpse of a young sister quartet called Give Way. You don't have to be a fan of the fiddle to appreciate these amazing sisters. They're simply awe-inspiring.

Discovering new music is like learning a new language.
It may seem foreign at first, but once you get down to it
You wonder how you went with out it so long.

Check out their music when you get a chance.

You won't be disappointed.

mission

A recent Tesla Motors - Hyatt Hotels partnership really irks me.

Tesla maybe chasing high-market now,
but it's ultimatum is mass change.

The lack of electric car charging infrastructure is a lie built an anti-consumer model of what a "refueling station" needs to be. We already know most gas stations stay alive by gouging us on Slim Jims, not Ultra 94.

So rather than putting in three custom-fab Tesla charging stations in a global network of 753 Hyatt hotels... why not consider how to make just 1% of the 120,000,000 homes in America the new "gas station mini-merchants?"

How hard is it to run a publicly-acessible electric outlet to your mailbox? Toss in a gov subsidized RFID payment system. Kick back 1% to the homeowner. Imagine.

Given Tesla's high-profile financiers (PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, Google co-founders Brin and Page, and former eBay Pres Jeff Skoll) I find it hard to believe the democratization of electric car charging has not already come up.

C'mon guys, the missing link, the recharging network is already here.

If you can't charge 4 wheels off the same 240V uberplug that sucks 75lbs of water out of my laundry in 60 minutes then perhaps you're in the wrong business sector.

It's not about brand synergy.
It's about brand mission.

naked

everyone in the world should ride a motorcycle
just once
or more

a motorcycle has something a car can never
a feeling of perpetual risk
of complete exposure.

no steel frames
no windshield
no safety belt

just you
and speed
naked