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Tag: create

A coffee riddle

Which costs more?

Coffee #1

Before you reach the counter, a wide grin flashes at the sight of your arrival. You’re greeted, “Hello! How are you, sister?”  and asked if you’ll have your usual order — black coffee with sugar, no milk.
As your coffee is prepared, you settle in at the table overlooking the outdoor market. There are three additional chairs surrounding the table; sometimes you’re joined by others. Today you’ve brought a newspaper along, but your eyes dart from its pages to the women buying fresh vegetables and men catching up on local gossip.
A small porcelain cup is carried on a saucer and placed in front of you. The woman asks about your day, your family, your friends. When you’re ready to leave, a friendly “See you again soon!” accompanies your change.

Coffee #2

You wait in a line of patrons nervously checking cellphones and eagerly scanning a large billboard of beverage choices. At the front of the queue, the cashier grumbles for orders. “What can I get you?”
After you hand over payment, you step aside to wait in an additional line for your black coffee. Collecting your paper cup, you advance to a separate counter to retrieve sugar packets for your brew. Though you’d like to sit, all tables are full — some occupied by lone individuals — and you decide to leave, having hardly made eye contact or uttered more than a few words.

Which coffee would you pay more for?

Successful businesses offer an experience, a connection. They provide moments that allow the customer to step away from “life” just long enough to return changed (or inspired) in some way.
Note: The coffee described in the first scenario actually costs much, much less than the second; $0.20 USD compared to $1.78 USD. Write me if you’d like to learn more.

Two kinds of people

You’re feeling dissatisfied, unsettled. You want better than what life is presenting to you. You want to provide for yourself and your family. Maybe you’d describe yourself as unhappy.
No matter where I’ve gone in the world (or who I’ve worked with: students, prisoners, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, monks), I’ve seen two typical responses to this situation.
Option A — Action Paralysis
What does this mean? Ideas aren’t in short supply, but movement is. These individuals fail to take any steps forward. Excuses and fear restrict their progress and prevent momentum.
“I don’t have the skills I need.”
“I can’t find a job that pays well.”
“It’s too hard.”
“It’s always been done this way.”
“It’s impossible.”
“Somebody else will do it.”
“If only I could get x, things would be easier.” (x = more money, a different job, the right partner, a miracle, admission, acceptance)
Option B — The Creators
Concrete decisions are made and acted upon in order to build a better life — no matter what obstacle is in the way. These individuals are so committed to the taste of their dreams and the potential of the future that nothing can stop them. They just do.
The Nepali shopkeeper who wakes at 4:00am daily to buy vegetables from whole-sellers and farmers to resell at the local market. He sets up shop with his wife and negotiates with customers. After the market closes, he heads to the tourist section of town to sell the rest of his bounty to hotels at a higher price.
A family uproots from their village and rents a two-bedroom house in the city. They turn one bedroom into a hotel and sleep all seven family members in the other.
The mother who sends her daughter to a different country to study because tuition is more affordable.
The corporate worker who sets aside his exhaustion at the end of the day to finish his screen play.
There are stories like this all over the world. Stories of sacrifice and perseverance and commitment and character and strength of vision.
You get to choose: do you want your story to be peppered with excuses or do you want to make something happen?

Good morning

Now get to work.

Real work.
It’s a new day. Yesterday’s failures aren’t so important. Tomorrow is still sleeping.

WAKE UP.

Work that matters isn’t going to come to you.
They may never call.
Your project might not be accepted.
He isn’t going to change his mind.
Make a list of what you want to accomplish — the things that really, truly matter. Outline the steps you need to take to move closer to those dreams, no matter how small. Focus on what you can control.
It’s going to be a great day.

The art of community

Community doesn’t just happen. It takes time and effort and care.
Amidst routine and packed schedules, relationships deserve a sacred setting. You can’t deny the electricity that encompasses a group breaking bread. It’s an act that has held magic and mystery for centuries.
Whether the dining table, the running track, the book club, or the coffee group, find your place for sharing and storytelling. The more authentic you can be, the more comfortable your cohort will feel.
Build a bedrock for meaningful conversation and lasting relationships, a canvas for discussion and deliberation. Look to encourage that spark, that contagious flame that sets ideas ablaze. Serendipity sometimes needs a little push.
Turn connection into art.