All in Aspirations
When you’re in the midst of it, the power of the herd is almost unavoidable. When it moves in a particular direction, the pull to do the same - to move with it - is relentless.
Aside from its very momentum, there’s a seemingly rational justification as well. All those folks couldn’t possibly be wrong, could they?
So, if I’m honest, I’ll admit that I’d settled into a very managed emotional pattern when it came to how I engaged with football (soccer for you non-English speakers) and specifically my team, Arsenal Football Club.
Arsenal would play their games and I’d watch, but in a very managed, somewhat detached way (most of the time). If we won, that was great and it gave me a nice feeling, but it wouldn’t send me over the moon.
My son took me to the driving range over the weekend. It was a great chance for us to spend some time together, enjoy the outdoors and work on our golf game.
It had been a long while since I’d even picked up my clubs, so my “golf game” really did need work. (When golfers ask me what my handicap is, I say I don’t have one. Not because I’m a scratch golfer - a zero handicap - but because it’s so high, it isn’t even worth measuring!)
When one side is dominant, we tend to think they’ll always be dominant.
Especially when their dominance is all encompassing - more market share, more money, more resources, more access, more everything. They develop an aura of invincibility. Their people sense it, they exude it, they act it.
It seems to me that being smart isn’t enough.
Not when you’re trying to get something personal, something important, done.
You can intellectually understand what you need to do. You can comprehend why you need to do it. You can even detail how you need to get it done.
But there’s still no guarantee that you’re going to do it.
This month's podcasts focuses on the mental aspect of how we work - on the why we get started, how we get caught in ourselves and the mental mindset needed to succeed.
In this episode, I wrap up this month’s theme on the mental mindsets we need to be successful, specifically sharing two ideas. The first is about how we should trust ourselves as we decide what we’re doing, when we’re on “the path”. The second is how we should focus on the process, not just the finish line.
When we’ve done things a specific way, acted in a particular manner or simply held a specific point of view for any period of time, we tend to get comfortable. We decide that this is how things work for us, and develop our world view (and accompanying behaviors) around these models.
They might be models we’ve been taught or ones we’ve developed for ourselves, based on our own experiences. But they become ours, whether we think they’re good for us or not (and even when we know they’re not).
This month's podcasts focuses on the mental aspect of how we work - on the why we get started, how we get caught in ourselves and the mental mindset needed to succeed.
In this episode, I talk about confidence, how it's difficult to gain but easy to lose. I also spell out the key behaviors, thought processes and tactics we should deploy to get it back. Our futures depend on it.
I’ve talked before about how technology has democratized access to the tools that help us create. This is as true in fields traditionally considered to be creative as it is in those that are more commercial. We have options in terms of how we do our work, how sophisticated we want its production to be, and where and when we distribute it.
This month's podcasts focuses on the mental aspect of how we work - on the why we get started, how we get caught in ourselves and the mental mindset needed to succeed.
In this episode, I discuss the delusion that is inspiration, this idea that if we just wait for it, it will eventually come and deliver us to where we want to go. That's simply not true and I discuss what we should, instead, focus on.
This month's podcasts draw lessons from the world around us, specifically the sports and entertainment arenas. I focus on specific games or movies or entertainers and the lessons we can draw from what they've done or experienced or said.
Today's podcast discusses that day in 1965 when Bob Dylan went electric and changed the course of his career. But he also gave us a lesson in how we need to do what we believe in and be who we want to be, regardless of what anyone else thinks or says.
In 1969, Led Zeppelin released their sophomore album titled Led Zeppelin 2, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock albums of all time. A year later, they followed up that album with Led Zeppelin 3, which diverged from the path that their first two albums took. Where as the first two albums were driving rock albums, this one, while it didn’t lack for driving rock songs, dove pretty heavily into the acoustic realm. The album was panned at first but is now regarded among their best.
This month's podcasts draw lessons from the world around us, specifically the sports and entertainment arenas. I focus on specific games or movies or entertainers and the lessons we can draw from what they've done or experienced or said.
In today's podcast, I dive into a quote from the movie, Ghost In The Shell, which speaks to the importance of letting go of the past - whether we feel as if we've failed in our past endeavors but even if we've succeeded…
There's a trend line that we all live through in any endeavor we’re a part of. That trend line can be positive or negative but it’s a constant - there’s no question that there is no such thing as a ‘permanent’ status quo, that things will inevitably progress in some direction to a redefined (temporary) equilibrium.
Most of the time that trend line is drawn out over some material period of time. If we are on the ascent, that ascent can continue for years, driven by a mix of factors both internally driven and externally influenced.
We tend to give more thought to the competition than we really should - and I say that with the full (and practical) understanding that our competitors can influence a lot of what goes on in the markets we play in and the customers we serve.
We worry about their pricing and their product features. We worry about their sales activities and their breadth of client access. We worry about their last move, and their next move.
This month's podcast draw lessons from the world around us, specifically the sports and entertainment arenas. I focus on specific games or movies or entertainers and the lessons we can draw from what they've done or experienced or said.
In today's podcast, I recount a story from the movie, The Matrix and how it speaks to our need to be ourselves, to not get taken in by someone else's agenda, to create our own reality. It's just a movie, but the messages in it are very much a reflection of ourselves and our reality.
It’s the one question that everyone wants answered.
When are we getting back to normal? When will Business As Usual return? Or, if you're really trying to be thoughtful: When do we get to the New Normal?
Aside from the fact that no one has the answers to those questions, there are two realities that are more relevant, at least to me:
This month's podcast draw lessons from the world around us, specifically the sports and entertainment arenas. I focus on specific games or movies or entertainers and the lessons we can draw from what they've done or experienced or said.
In today's podcast, I go back to Super Bowl 51 and the amazing comeback that the New England Patriots made in that game, and what it can teach us all about perseverance and achievement in the face of the worst possible odds.
You are not the hero.
That’s right, you’re not. And the sooner you get used to that idea, the better.
You’re not the one who’s going to move the customer’s business across the line. You’re not the one who’s going to help them gain extra market share. And you’re certainly not the one who’s going to achieve their vision for them.
There’s a quote I close all of my personal podcasts with that’s always appealed to me. I wrote about it in one of my earliest blog posts and it’s guided almost all of my decisions in life:
“You’re better off scared than bored.”
It isn’t my quote - I first heard it from Harvey Mackay in his book, Beware The Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt. (And, for the record, the exact quote is, “You’re a lot better off being scared than bored”.)
