Tag: doing

An important reminder to get started because you learn faster by doing.

One of the great mistakes we make in life is waiting to act until we know everything there is to know about a subject. It seems we want to know everything there is to know about running a business before we start one. We want to know everything there is to know about investing before we commit our money. We want to know how to write a book before we actually write a book. And we want to know everything there is to know about raising a child before we ever have sex*. (*My kids may be reading this.)

Most of this quest for knowledge is simply procrastination. Starting the process is the greatest teacher of all. Because standard-issue humans learn best by doing.

When you take the first step the next step reveals itself. (Unless you are Eddie Rabbit, in which case you take that first step, ask her out, and treat her like a lady.) You will get better and smarter faster by starting than by studying alone. Until you take the first steps you don’t know what you don’t know. However, once you begin you quickly learn what you need to know next.

A Case in Point

I had thought about sharing some video lessons from my book What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? for a long time. I knew that the summaries from each chapter would translate into good shareable video messages. But I never acted on it. Because I wasn’t clear on the best way to do it.

Then one morning when I got to work I talked to Taylor Amann, our social media manager at The Weaponry (and resident American Ninja Warrior) to help me get started.

Here’s What happened.

  1. We set up her phone on our ring-halo light tripod.

2. We explored recording the video standing up and sitting down.

3. We placed my laptop behind the phone so I could read the script.

3. We found a teleprompter app on my computer that allowed us to scroll the script like the teleprompter a newscaster uses to deliver lines directly to the camera. (And, yes, I reminded San Diego to stay classy.)

4. After getting a take we liked Taylor found a good app that automatically translated my spoken word into words on the screen. So viewers could read the words I was saying as I said them. This is not only great for reinforcing the lesson I shared, but it made the video fully digestible with the audio off.

5. Then we discovered that the app, also had a teleprompter. Which would lead to an even better sightline to the camera than the laptop teleprompter offered.

6. Finally, we rerecorded the video, on the halo light tripod, using the new app, which turned Taylor’s phone into a perfect teleprompter/camera combo. The app automatically added the supers so you could read what I said in real time.

The Learning

What stood out to me about this process is that by getting started we kept getting smarter and smarter. Within 30 minutes we went from never having tried to record a video like this to having discovered the perfect app that made it simple to combine the recording, the teleprompter, the supers, and even add music, or a zany slide whistle.

The video is not perfect. My shirt is all scurzumpled. I don’t have the energy I’d want for a shareable recording. But we quickly went from nothing to knowing how to create the video we wanted through a simple progression of testing, learning, and improving.

Key Takeaway

Don’t wait to get started until you know everything. Condition yourself to take the first step sooner. Because the first step is the kindergarten step. All other learnings and lessons come as a result of that first step. What you learn from a book, class or video is just theory. The application is where the quick and useable lessons kick in. So get going. Get smarter as you go. And get back to me when you realize how useful this approach is.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

The fastest way to get to your goals.

The shortest distance between 2 points is work.

Dreaming and considering are easy to do. But they don’t do doo-doo to get the job done.

Sure, wishin’ and hopin’ and thinkin’ and prayin’ worked for Dusty Springfield. But only because she wrote them down and turned them into a song.

But for the rest of us, they delay the process. They spin your wheels.

It is the work that provides traction that creates progress.

The writing creates the book.

The cooking creates the meal.

The steps create the journey.

The trial creates the error. And the correction. And the completion.

The doing creates the done.

Key Takeaway

The plan is only 1% of the process. Executing it is every else. Put in the work and get from start to finish faster.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

How to take your good ideas from a lean to a run.

We all have aspirations of creating cool new things. Maybe there’s a company that you always wanted to start. There’s a t-shirt or hat you wish you had. Or a new product or service you know the world needs. Perhaps there is a meetup you wish existed. Maybe there is a regular get-together among friends. Or a new blog post that didn’t exist at 6:00 this morning. #ItsTimeToMakeTheDonuts

You wish that you actually started, did, or made those things that you think so much about. Right?

Well, you should.

What most people do when they have a great idea is fantasize about it for too long. Sometimes for years, or even decades. Unfortunately, the idea often dies when the person dies. Then the human and their unrealized dreams have a double funeral. It’s all so sad. (Tito, get me some tissue.)

At some point in the process, you lean forward on the idea. You start writing the idea down in your notebook or on your digital device. You sketch out details. You do some online searching on the topic. You talk to other people about it. Your Aunt Jan thinks it sounds fabulous.

Once you have leaned forward on your idea one of two things happens:

  1. You lean back to your normal resting position. At that point, the idea stops progressing into reality. Instead, it goes from a growing grape to wrinkly raisin.
  2. You transition from a lean to a run. You start taking bigger and faster steps. You quickly cover more ground. You start passing other people. Your hair blows back in the wind. You start hearing the theme song from Chariots of Fire.

Which of these do you think leads to real results, real businesses, and real products, services, and events that exist here in the real world, Alan Jackson?

Come on Eileen! It’s time to run.

Obviously, it is #2.

Transitioning from a lean to a run is the magic point when ideas get made. People who really create things don’t stop at the lean. They don’t simply fantasize. They don’t perform the minimum. They take additional steps. And those steps happen faster and faster.

What you’ll quickly find is that it only takes a few important steps in the right direction to build momentum. Once you have created momentum, the development process begins pulling you along, like a riptide. For those who create a lot, the process becomes like a black hole sucking you in until the idea is fully made. This is what you want. And it’s easier than you think.

Key Takeaway

Don’t just lean in on good ideas. Start to run. Rapid steps of progress get the job done. #RhymingReminder

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

How to get greater results from your reading.

I love to read.  Like most people I was born highly uneducated. Reading has become an instrumental part of my plan to overcome my early shortcomings. I love to learn and to become inspired. And if you are reading this I expect you do too.

I like reading classic literature because it makes me feel worldly. I liked reading the first three Harry Potter books because they made me feel magical. But then I realized my life is too short to read four more books about a fanciful wizard boy. Today I read a lot of books on self improvement, business, and biographies. I also read healthy portions of magazines like Fast Company  and Inc because I find them both creatively stimulating and educational (and I like the pictures).

Several years ago I read an interesting quote from Charlie “Tremendous” Jones that said, “You are the same today as you’ll be in five years except for two things: the books you read and the people you meet.” And this reading about reading encouraged Adam “Ordinary” Albrecht to read even more.

But today I’m trying to read less. Because I have found that too much reading leads to too little doing. If I fill my time with learning and inspiration I leave no time for action.

When I began The Perfect Agency Project I created a simple rule of thumb that influences my reading today:

Read just enough to learn something new and become inspired. Then act on it.

Since I started following this rule I have accomplished more. I’ve wasted less time. And I’m more excited about my work.

I think of reading now like a pregame speech. One that I listen to just long enough to become properly motivated. And as soon as I am lathered up I jump to work, acting on the inspiration.

That’s when I start writing, planning, structuring, detailing, calling, creating, wizarding or potioning.  And what I’ve found is that when I have one hour available, instead of one hour of reading, I can do 10 or 15 minutes of reading. And then I can spend the rest of the hour implementing. And the return on that one hour is significantly higher.

I encourage you to try this for a week. Read enough each day to want to do something new and exciting. Then do it. Then repeat the process. And let me know how it works for you. I’ll read at least part of whatever you write me.