There is money, time and energy. You can use any of the 3 of them to acquire the things you want.
The exchange rate for these 3 currencies can vary greatly. And just like wampum, travelers checks and Chuck E Cheese tickets, there are good uses for each.
If you use money, you can have things quickly.
If you use energy you can force the things you want into existence.
If you use enough time you can get anything you want. But squander your time and you will get nothing, and not like it.
The combination of time and energy creates force. It is the amount of force you create that determines how quickly you attain the things you want.Including money.
Key Takeaway
Understand your currencies. Know which of them is most accessible to you right now. Know which one is most valuable for each of your needs. And budget them to get everything you want in the proper order.
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We all have multiple identities that form our self construct. When you were young they were simple. You were a boy or girl. A son or daughter. Maybe a brother or sister. Or perhaps you saw yourself as a Bo, Luke, or Daisy.
As you grow, evolve and participate in more activities you add identities. You become a student, a girl scout or a baseball player. Throughout your schooling and into your career your identities expand and multiply in interesting ways. All of which morph your self construct, without the need for hallucinogenics.
Your identities influence how you see yourself. But they also determine how the world sees you. Your identities help broaden your self-image and give you more flavor, complexity and stability.
I’m a father, adventurer and Corn Palace visitor.
Here’s a partial view of my identity stack:
Father
Husband
Son
Brother
Uncle
Friend
Christian
Entrepreneur
Creative
Marauder
Badger
Dude ( I recently entered this when asked for my gender)
Vermonter
Wisconsinite
Adveritisng professional
Blogger
Patriots fan
Bucks fan
Red Sox fan
Perpetually but non-offensively immature
Exerciser
Initiator
Problem Solver
Homeowner
Adventurer
Adding Identities
In the past year, I have added a surprising number of new identities to my self-concept. Especially for a seemingly full-grown human.
Coach
Before last spring I would never have called myself a coach. Despite the fact that I coached a youth flag football team for 3 seasons. That just felt like the type of coaching that non-coaches do because the kids need a coach to be able to have a team. In other words, I simply identified as a dad doing some coaching. It’s like a dad playing the role of a chaperone, instead of adding the identity of bodyguard, or animal tamer.
But last spring I became a legit high school track and field coach when I started coaching the shot put and the discus for Homestead High School’s girl’s track and field team in Mequon, Wisconsin. In fact, 2 weeks ago I attended an all-day and all-evening event for track and field coaches in Madison. That really made me feel like I should walk around with a whistle or a stopwatch around my neck. Although you don’t really need either of those things to coach the shot put.
This was my best day of coaching. All 4 of my athletes threw their best ever. And I wore the shortest socks I own.
Then, last fall I began coaching youth tackle football. That was a multiple-times per week thing. With real strategy, conditioning and hype. I have a logoed polo, a hat and a picture of me and other coaches and 16 boys in full uniform looking very serious together to prove that I am now also a youth football coach.
Me and Magnus after our last game of the season. We played on turf, which is why neither of our uniforms are dirty or grass stained.
Author
The week before Christmas I published my first book called What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? Now, I add author to my self-identity. Despite the fact that I have been a blogger for nearly 7 years, author feels different. It’s more official, more difficult to attain. More respected by others. And authors get asked to sign their books way more often than bloggers get asked to sign their blog posts.
The time my first book emerged from its brown, paper Amazon cocoon. (As seen on the table.)
It’s hard not to add the author identity when the internet adds it for you. Here is how my online footprint has expanded since I published my book:
The other surprising new identity that I have added to my self-construct is Speaker. I have done a lot of public speaking throughout my life. Over the past couple of decades, I have seen myself as a business professional speaking about what I do or things I know. But now it feels different.
Me speaking to a round table at the Milwaukee Athletic Club. Here I am demonstrating the starting position for juggling watermelons.
Since I published the book I have received many requests to speak at local, state and national events. I have booked 6 speaking engagements in the past couple of weeks. It is an exciting and enjoyable new addition to my self-identity. And it helps me spread more positivity and inspiration with the world. Like Jonny Fortunecookieseed.
Dog Owner
As if all of this wasn’t enough, at the end of January I also got my first dog ever. Now I add dog owner or dog haver or whatever this makes me to my life resume. It may seem like a small thing compared to the attention you receive as an author, entrepreneur or public speaker. But when you come home to that wagging tail and face licks it is special. And when I am picking up dog poo, it’s hard to deny that I am a real Dog Dad.
Key Takeaway
Adding to your self-identity keeps you growing and evolving. More self-identities not only make you more interesting and creative, they add to your stability and resilience. Multiple identities help expand your social circle. They expand your reach and influence. The more identities you have the less likely that any one of them has the ability to negatively impact you. Conversely, the successes you experience in any identity helps to add to your overall self-esteem. All while making you a more interesting and valued contributor to your family, friends, communities, and planet. So go on with your bad selves.
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Work is unavoidable. Even outside of your professional work there is always personal work to be done. Your personal work falls into 3 categories:
Chores These are the basics you have to do daily, weekly, monthly or annually to maintain the status quo. (And to keep all your teeth.)
Electives These are the things you choose to do that set you apart from others. (Even without tattoos and piercings.)
Special projects These are the bigger challenges you take on that have the ability to transform you. (In non-surgical ways.)
Chores
Chores don’t come with a choice. You don’t have the option not to do them. Although you can choose not to do them well. Or often. Which drops you below the basic human level of acceptability. Which is a great way to get yourself on a TV show like Hoarders, Intervention, or My 600-pound Life. You can, however, choose to do your chores very well. Which is a good habit to get into, and sets the tone for how you approach everything else in life.
Electives
Electives are the things you do that you don’t have to do. These are the activities that separate you from others and help make you interesting. They give you flavor, like Flavor Flav. They create your differentiation and your unique advantages.
Your electives include your hobbies, and interests. They also include all of your self-education, reading, podcasts, studying and training. Your electives include exercise, cooking, and meditation. Seeing a therapist or a coach are great electives. As are writing, volunteering, coaching and creating music. If you have a hard time coming up with interests to include in your work bio, online dating profile or obituary, you probably need more electives.
If there is not much elective activity in your life then you are not doing as much as you could to create joy and competitive advantages. And you are probably not making the most of your time.
Evaluating your electives is a great place to start when evaluating your life, trajectory, happiness, and achievement. Happiness is rooted in your electives. Make sure you have them, and that you participate in them frequently enough to find enjoyment, fulfillment and growth.
Special Projects
Special projects create opportunities for transformation. They are often an expansion of an elective. Writing a book, going back to school and trips to an exotic location are all examples. So is starting a business, a major physical challenge, or a significant career change. Special projects often provide an inflection point in our human experience, sending us on new, better and more enlightened paths.
Key Takeaway
Make sure you are always dedicating time to your electives. They are your difference makers. They are the building blocks of an enjoyable life. They fertilize your happiness. Your electives are gateways to bigger, more important activities that can become defining events and undertakings of your life. It is hard to transition directly from chores to special projects. Your electives are the bridges that help get you there.
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A great life is built by establishing great routines. When you establish a strong routine you feel like a train picking up momentum as you roll down the track. Like Casey Jones, driving that train, high on… life.
Stacking several days, weeks or months of exercise, reading, writing, work or practice together is like laying brick after brick of progress. The cumulative effect turns into something substantial, noticeable and differentiating.
However, life isn’t easy on your routines. You will regularly encounter obstacles, events, and conflicts that disrupt your flow, Jo. This turbulence knocks you around and attempts to dislodge you from your productive habits.
But remember, turbulence is temporary. A plane flies in and out of turbulence, which shakes the plane, throws the passengers about and halts the beverage and peanut service. That’s why God invented barf bags.
But turbulence is simply a pocket of disruption. One of the greatest skills you can develop is the resilience to snap back into your routine on the other side of the turbulence. After the travel, the cold, the work crunch, the Covid, the kid’s needs, or the big test you need to get right back into your best habits.
Don’t allow the turbulence to ruin your mindset. Continue to lean into your habit mentally, even when the turbulence compromises your ability to keep your commitment. Keeping the connection to the commitment is critical to maintaining the momentum. (Which is like two alliterations in one.)
Key Takeaway
Turbulence is an unavoidable part of life. It will throw off your routine and threaten your habits. But hold tight to your commitments. And jump right back into your routine as soon as the turbulence passes. It’s how you ensure that your commitments always conquer your excuses. That’s how you win at life.
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When I was a kid MacGyver was one of my favorite TV shows. The hero of the show, Mac MacGyver, was always finding himself in precarious situations, typically involving nukes, Russians, and bombs with timers. MacGyver faced certain death in every episode. Which, of course, was the appeal for young Adam to watch.
But spoiler alert: MacGyver never died. He always found a way forward. He survived by detecting and collecting the scraps of stuff around him that he could use to save himself. A bit of gum. A paperclip. Some harmless chemicals that when combined created all kinds of harm to the handcuffs, ropes or unharmable doors that restrained him.
This sums up all you need to know about MacGyver. I love the tagline: He acts fast and thinks faster. I would add that his hair was always in place.
The thing that stands out to me today about MacGyver, other than his sweet era-appropriate mullet, is that he had a finally-tuned radar that could detect things that could help his cause. He noticed items that the rest of the world simply didn’t see. Because if the bad guys trying to ruin MacG realized the potential in those bits and scraps they would not have left them within his radius when locking him up and leaving him for dead, or worse…
Human Radar
One of my significant assets is that I have developed my own human radar. I can scan a situation and find the valuable scraps that were left to help me find my way forward. Except my scraps aren’t usually paperclips, dental floss or mullets.
My bits and bobs are things like contact information. I may notice a book reference, a motivation quote, or a class. It could be a person near me who has a contact or experience that is highly valuable to me. Or a relevant example that I can use to help teach or coach.
My lifesavers could be as simple as reminders to drink more water or get more sleep each night. They could be random QR codes that make me realize I can use such codes to allow for quick and easy book purchases by people who come to my book talks. Or my lifesavers could be round fruity candies with a hole in the middle. In other words, these items are varied and random. But they are all there to help me find my way forward. Or to satisfy my sweet tooth.
Key Takeaway
There are little bits of lifesavers all around us. The key is developing the radar to recognize them and their ability to help you. They could be people, quotes, contact information, books, technology, or reminders that you need at the moment. But when you can recognize the solution to a problem you are facing or the answer to the question you have asked, you are in a powerful position to receive all the great things waiting for you.
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Motivation comes in unexpected ways. Motivation is always in you, either in a dormant or active state. Like lava. (Or magma to be geologically correct. Which is like being politically correct. Only you’re trying not to offend the more sensitive rocks.)
There are times when you don’t feel your own motivation at all. But there are other times you’ll find your motivation hot and flowing, like red hot lava. When that happens you experience excitement and visions of new possibilities becoming reality.
When you feel that motivational lava flowing through you it is time to channel your inner Young MC and bust a move. It’s time to plan, call, create, write, organize, go, do, buy, move, schedule, or whatever your motivation requires you to do next.
Because here’s the important truth to remember about motivation:
You have to act before your motivational lava cools.
You get a small window to transform your hot motivation into results. The universe is constantly bombarding you with distractions. When they come along they cool your lava. And when your lava cools your inspiration and energy go dormant again too. Like the genie going back into the bottle. Or Lady and The Tramp going back into the Disney Vault.
Key Takeaway
Your motivation will ebb and flow. When it flows you have to ride the wave. Make as much progress as you can when you feel the heat of your own motivation. If you do, the progress itself will create more heat and more motivation. Which has the power to create transformational results. Just like lava.
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Your alarm clock invites you to the day at the same time each morning. And if you follow the best sleep science you are probably going to bed at the same time each night. But in between those 2 bookends, remember this:
Each day is meant to be a work of art. Not a reproduction.
Your time is your life. In order to create a colorful, beautiful, interesting or epic life you have to treat each day like an original piece of art in your collection. Try new things with each new day. Experiment and explore. Learn and grow. Smack it up. Flip it. Rub it down. Like BBD would do.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of simply copying and pasting each day. (What we used to call carbon copying. Or Xeroxing. Or dittoing.) But those identical days simply produce identical experiences, identical feelings and identical perspectives. The new and the novel make you more interesting. They help expand your thinking. And they make the world around you more interesting too.
Key Takeaway
Don’t simply go through the same motions every day. Add to your portfolio of experiences and successes. Fill your personal gallery with new memories and unique ideas each day. It is how you turn your life into a work of art that others will want to imitate.
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Do other people make you mad? Do they get under your skin and ruin your day? Do the humans in your orbit include Debbie Downers, Angry Angies and Negative Nancys? Then it’s time for a change. Because those ladies can knock the joy out of your pinata blindfolded.
Remember, other people can only bring you down if you give them permission. Don’t give control over your own happiness to someone else. As soon as you allow others to ruin your day you have given them the keys to everything important to you.
No one else is important enough for you to let them control your happiness. Not a boss, client, family member, or friend. Not a cutie or a hottie. You must maintain the keys. Be quick to bounce from someone else’s bad behavior. If you have people who regularly attack your happiness, channel your inner Lorena Bobbitt, and cut them out of your life.*
Key Takeaway
Don’t go down with someone else’s ship. You are in charge of your own vessel. Cut the lines to others who try to sink your spirit. You always have other options.
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*Don’t actually ever cut anyone. That makes you the bad guy.
I had a fun start to my day yesterday! I was a guest on The Morning Blend, a great morning talk show in Milwaukee hosted by Molly Fay and Tiffany Ogle. Although I admit, I thought the show would be about all kinds of blends, you know, like blended foods, blending into a crowd, and blended families. But it turns out the name is some kind of play on coffee. Who knew.
My book comes in 3 flavors: paperback, hardcover and digital.
We discussed why positive thinking is so important, and how it contrasts with negative thinking. We talked about the first thing I put on in the morning. We cracked open some fortune cookies on air. And we discussed the mindset needed for entrepreneurship.
We also talked about the challenge of finding a venue big enough for my book signing. Which was meant to be a joke. Because when I had to fill out the guest information form for the show it asked if I had a book signing event that I wanted to promote. But thanks to the Covid spike, bookstores and libraries are holding off on hosting live book talks and signing events right now. So instead of simply saying ‘no’, I wrote, ‘We’re still trying to find an event large enough and the proper crowd control for a book signing.’ But I love that Molly and the producer, Katie ‘Guestinfo’ Pinkowski shared my silliness on air.
As a follow-up to this story, when my friend and next-door neighbor Michael Evans, President of Marcus Hotels and Resorts, saw the segment, he reassured me that Marcus has some really big ballrooms that could certainly accommodate my book signing.
*Below I tried to embed the code to share the show here in my post. If it doesn’t work you will just see a bunch of naked code. But I assure you, I was not naked on the show.
When you start something new it usualy feels uncomfortable. A new approach or skill is clumsy and awkward at first. Like an interview with Borat or Ali G. This is a normal part of the new.
Over time, however, things become easier or even second nature and instinctive. You dial in your process. You get in a groove. You find your flow. (And she tries to sell you Progressive Insurance, or tell you to kiss her grits, depending on your age.)
Getting in a groove is a great feeling. It’s familiar. Repeatable. Even easy.
But if you are not careful, that groove will turn into a rut. You’ll do the same thing over and over. Without improvement or variation. It becomes old and boring. Or outdated. Like a Hall of Fame hairstyle.
It’s important to find your way. The way that feels good and makes you feel strong, smart and capable. But don’t forget to keep trying new things. Keep experimenting, exploring and growing. Learn the new way. Adjust your approach. Apply creativity. Keep things interesting. Like the Dos Equis man.
Key Takeaway
Grooves are good. Ruts are bad. Explore the new, better and different. This applies everywhere. To your processes at work and home. To foods, travel, music, recreation and getting jiggy. It’s how you improve, keep things fresh, and flex your creative muscles. It’s the best way to find an even better way.
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Adam Albrecht Blog 