Creating with intention
We’re faced with more choices than ever before. With relative ease, we buy new products, find new partners, reroute our goals. We’re impatient and easily swayed.
Yet success doesn’t always land in the hands of the most skilled. The winners are those who push through, stay the course, fall down, and get back up — again and again and again.
Commit to something. Focus your vision and keep going.
Different experiences are necessary for growth. Without adventure, how can you see the world in a new way?
You’re not expected to like everything. The important thing is that you do, acquire more information, and grow.
Have you placed yourself in a new situation recently?
Our steps are easily trackable, our buying decisions traceable with the click of a mouse. We document our lives on film for our friends and the world to see. We post our professional accomplishments on open social networks. We look for validation and response from what we show the world, from names printed in magazines to recognition in the neighborhood coffee stop.
We have unlimited options to conceal our true identity, forsaking vulnerability and connection for a clean, manufactured image. With so many distractions for us to choose from, we can hide from ourselves, busying our focus from concentrating on things that matter and topics we know to be pertinent.
It’s easier to distract ourselves than sit down and get to the real, gritty work.
It’s easy to check email and Facebook regularly.
It’s hard to focus on making big things happen.
It’s easy to sprinkle business cards around a room.
It’s hard to develop meaningful rapport.
It’s easy to leave a meeting without speaking up.
It’s difficult to put your ideas on the line.
It’s easy to attend a party not having learned anyone’s name.
It’s difficult to make intentional introductions.
It’s easy to speak on a panel.
It’s hard to create an experience that changes the way someone feels.
It’s easy to manufacture the same item over and over again.
It’s difficult to create a once-in-a-lifetime work of art.
Seth Godin recently reminded me of questions I can’t afford not to answer:
Each day we have a series of choices that, when combined, contribute to the story we tell ourselves and the world.
You may never see the writing on the wall.
You may never feel one-hundred-percent.
You may never hear, “Yes, you are right.”
You may never know if there was any other way.
1. Connect with other industries.
Spending time with professionals who excel in industries other than your own can help you discover new approaches in your own line of work. Step outside of your immediate field, identify transferrable skills, and work together on complementary initiatives.
2. Discuss things that aren’t familiar.
Learn new terms and expand your horizons by venturing from typical conversation starters. A learned tidbit may assist you in building rapport with a future business partner.
3. Ask questions.
The right questions can turn a mundane introduction into a lasting impression, and most people are eager to talk about themselves to those willing to listen. Ask open ended questions about thoughtful topics to get the ball rolling.
4. Spend time outside of the office.
Shared experiences in unexpected environments can build relationships in unique ways. People often display varying characteristics depending on the situation; you may need to encounter an individual in many settings before identifying their true character.
5. Get to know their priorities.
An individual’s priorities can be a valuable window into their life. See if you can determine what contributes to their success and drives their work.
6. Unite through humanity.
Be forthright about your challenges. Moments of authenticity and vulnerability can be scary, but they connect us on a much deeper level than superficial pleasantries. Dare to be open; the response might surprise you.
7. Brainstorm.
Use networking opportunities as brainstorming sessions. Explore new ideas. Find news ways to look at old situations. Help each other. Innovate and create together. A stranger can offer a removed perspective to obstacles you regularly encounter.
The moment at take off, when you’re unsure of what lies ahead.
That one decision that could branch into 15,000 possibilities.
That YES! that sets your life on an entirely new path.
The uncertainty that comes from doing something different.
The quickening of your heart as you step into the unknown.
When was the last time you scared yourself? Tell me @redheadlefthand.