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Tag: confidence

3 steps to writing anything important

Marketing collateral, an investor pitch, your Best Man’s speech, donor thank you notes, a love letter… writing is everywhere and often holds weight of daunting implications. The mere act of putting pen to page can result in temporary paralysis. To alleviate some of this stress, I’ve outlined basic steps to push your writing forward.

Think about WHO will be reading (or hearing) it.

You want your writing to be applicable. This is hard to do if you aren’t thinking about who’s on the receiving end.

Think about WHAT you’re trying to say.

What you want to say may look different than what actually ends up on the page. By making your intentions clear, you’ll throw an anchor into the oceanic waters of words and ground your writing as you begin.

WHY are you writing in the first place?

Why should I believe what you’re saying? Why do you care? Why should I? Give me facts and show me proof why you are who you say you are, why I should listen, why your message matters.

If you remember nothing else, take this with you:

who

what

why

I stopped trying.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around this, as it is completely counterintuitive to me.

The moment I stopped trying and quit everything is when things became clear.

I’m not saying I don’t have challenges and that life is always easy, but my day-to-day isn’t filled with as much strife. There’s less struggle as I move about the world.

I think of how difficult momentum seemed in the past. Once I landed back into the grooves of authenticity, people began to take notice. It’s then that I raised money for a few scholarships, attracted over 30k views on Medium, and found myself speaking on HuffPost (look at 13:30).

I’m not doing anything drastically different. I’m simply living my life by letting passion lead the way.

I’m wondering if this principle has worked for you, too.

What if WORKING HARD didn’t equal SUCCESS? What if you stepped out of the car, allowed your excitement to take the wheel, and put frustration, anxiety, and white-knuckle-decision-making in the backseat? What if by relaxing, you allowed your “best self” to emerge?

If you’re having to work really hard to make something right, I’m wondering if it’s right in the first place.

Tweet me. I want to hear what you think.

Conversations that matter, organizing, and impresarios: A dinner event in March

Everyone knows bringing people together in meaningful ways has value. But what does that mean? And how do you build environments that get people to be authentic and real?

Questions I hear:

  • How do you move beyond “What do you do?” at networking events?
  • How important is a guest list, really?
  • Does the environment matter?
  • Can you prevent people from dishing out business cards like candy on Halloween?
  • Is it possible to focus discussion and achieve set goals without appearing forced or insincere?

The answers to these questions are gold and will save you mega dollars on event planners, facilitators and consultants — while increasing YOUR worth to your network and clients.

We are all looking for tribes, searching for people who can help us. There is real value in those able to make these connections. You don’t have to wait or hire someone. You can make this your passion, too.

I’m organizing a special event for impresarios (and for those who might not yet know they are one).

This private gathering will be held in one of my favorite NYC spots, a hidden room home to one of my very first dinners where I [nervously] invited friends and colleagues from different industries to share warm food and life wisdom.

I’ve timed the event so those attending Seth’s workshop can finish up before traveling downtown to hatch ideas with others looking to make waves. And have a tasty meal, too. We will be talking about how to organize, host, and prepare for some of the challenges you might encounter as you plan events of your own. You may even meet the right person to help make your project happen.

Attendance is limited (15-20 people), and dinner is provided. Early ($180) and regular ($275) invites will be extended. Applications for early invitations can be found here.

Bonus: In addition to our evening together, you will be able to opt into a private online community where you can meet others who have dined at our table over the years.

Have questions? Contact Michelle.

United by insecurity

No matter where your office is located, the ceiling can fall down. You don’t know when, but one day it will. There is even a possibility a car drives through your living room tonight while you’re sleeping.
We’ve done a great job fooling ourselves into believing we have it all figured out. We’ve worked hard to create predictable outcomes, studying to become masters of our environment. Data is plugged into spreadsheets, and dollars are spent on analyzing trends. Months are mapped out in advance. Calendars are scheduled to the minute. The year becomes a series of data points and action plans.
A soft mirage of familiarity has blanketed our world, producing a certain emotional numbness. We pick and choose what we want to feel. We pad ourselves from life with cars, TV shows, deadlines, large houses filled with things. The moment loneliness or vulnerability hits, we reach for our cell phones.
The irony is in all of this control and safety-making, we crave surprise and excitement. The tales of unpredictability are the ones we tell our friends. We sign up for marathons and Tough Mudders to feel something, to show the scrapes on our knees bearing witness of our participation. “Look at me, I’m living life!”
The moment you witness these tendencies is the moment you come alive. When you no longer cling to guarantees and you live in the challenge of each moment with nothing to hide.
This isn’t recklessness, it’s awareness. Some call it “mindful living,” the ability to observe what is happening as it happens. It’s not a need to know all of the answers but rather being in tune with the textures of your experience. It’s seeing the present for what it is, not what you wish for or as a result of what happened yesterday.
I often hear this question: “What’s next?”
I believe my flexibility in providing this answer has made my life what it is.
How wonderful it is to not know the answer.

#$*!% = QUIT

Quitting has become a dirty word, associated with failure and weakness.

Anyone who has experienced any measure of success knows that quitting is par for the course. A few dinners have opened with folks talking about their failures. Really talented, accomplished individuals getting honest about places they screwed up, projects that were complete disasters, even relationships that weren’t right.

I’m not sure quitting and failing is something that needs to be hidden. Your story could be the inspiration someone else needs.

If you want to read more on quitting (what to quit, how to quit, resources to help) check out The courage to quit on Medium.

What if the goal was to fail?

What if your goal was to experience rejection, to quit?

What if you set out trying to find twenty new ways of getting shot down, of hearing “No, thanks” at least fifteen times in one day?

What if your aim wasn’t to wildly succeed or sell the most product or to get everyone to like you?

What if you turned the graph upside down and thought of creative ways to beat everyone to the bottom?

What if you truly said fuck it and stopped watching numbers and started listening to your heart, your excitement, your passion instead?