Unplugged

There are few things in life as a complete change of pace, to re-energize everything you do.  You need and want to have this change of pace.  In fact, it should be the first thing you place on your annual calendar each year.  If you don't put it on the calendar then the chances are very very high that you will NOT get this change of pace that your psyche and your innovating brain cells so desperately need.

You say that you don't have time for vacation, or a change of pace or a break.  That you are entirely too busy to even seriously consider it.  Some of you would argue that such breaks are more work than staying hard at work.  Some of you would suggest that the grind of returning after such a break is more difficult than not going at all.

I would say to you that you cannot afford to not take this break.  The cost of NOT doing this is far higher than you can feel or see on a day to day basis.  There is a large body of research backing this up, and my own testing in this area is amazingly consistent.  The more breaks you factor into your work day and your annual work schedule the more creative, productive and innovative you can actually be hour after hour, day after day.  

Timothy Ferris first tweaked my brain about this some 7 years ago in his blockbuster, "The 4 Hour Work Week".  While I neither need nor want a 4 Hour Work Week, the productivity that can be achieved with the right balance of breaks and focused high intensity work, is consistently far more and far better than I produced in my two decades of 70 hour work weeks.  In fact I am aiming toward, and slowly reconstructing my work cycle to be: personal development for the first third of the work day, intense production in the second third of the day, and slow percolating of ideas and relationships in the final third of the day.  I am consistently amazed at the quality of what I can create now.

This requires (demands) regular unplugging - from the internet, email, phone, media, news, computer, ipad, keyboard, itunes, ipod and any other form of connectedness.  It demands moments of quiet, peace, deep breaths, and change of pace.  After your heart rate settles, your blood pressure falls, you can ask yourself, "What beautiful thing can I create or produce now" as you transition back to full intensity.  Unplug now.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/disruptions-more-connected-yet-more-alone/

(http://www.thedailymuse.com/lifestyle/help-i-cant-relax-6-smart-tips-to-beat-work-anxiety/)

The difference of being in charge

Last night was a total disaster.  Everything that could go wrong did.  Even worse than you can imagine, everything was completely horrible.  And it did not bother me too much at all.  Much to my colleagues surprise, I did not get upset, frustrated, bent out of shape, angry, or emotional.  While it was mildly irritating that so much could happen wrong (that was preventable), it did not affect me all that much.  I simply was relaxed and enjoyed each person and each moment.

What was the difference?  Only this; I was not responsible for the outcomes.  That changed everything.  Everything!  When you are responsible for the outcomes, when you have to answer for the results, when the buck stops with you, then the disaster unfolding around you takes on terrifying purportions. You can see all the potential failures lurking in every moment and event. You can feel the pressure building around you, and you know that certainty of premonition that comes to every catastrophe. Everything has gone horribly wrong.

But when you know that this is not your responsibility, that you face no penalty for this disaster, when no one can point at you and say, "you failed" then the pressure miraculously disappears.  What if we could learn to lead in a groove where we were responsible for the outcomes, yet had the maturity and grace and presence, where our real and actual feelings and reactions were as if we did not?  I am not there yet.

Only two??

I like international travel less and less, the more and more I do of it.  Today's (and yesterdays) travel was more of the same.  All three flights delayed, and while I am thrilled that they organized themselves to all be delayed like that, the stress was painful, and my back was in pain from those seats both in the aircraft and in the airports.  It is like a torture-specialist designed them all.

So on this last leg of the trip today (and yesterday), a curious thing happened.  As the plane was taking off (finally!) two rows in front of me, the three occupants in that row, had the oxygen masks from the compartment overhead, dropped down.  Yes I was surprised that they actually are there too!  Not only are they there, but they drop down just the way they do in the safety video you laboriously watch over and over and over.

But that is not the most curious thing.  Once we reached an altitude where the airline staff was allowed to get up and move about, they all immediately came to this row, two rows in front of me, and basically accused the three passengers of tampering with the system!  Of course they had not, it just dropped down about a 100 meters into the flight.  None of the flight attendants were able to get the oxygen masks back into the compartment.  Eventually they relocated all three of those folks to other seats, and the co-pilot himself came back and worked on this project for the whole flight . . . eventually duck taping the compartment closed.

But that was not the most curious thing.  The absolute most curious thing was . . . that there were only two masks.

Tiger balm is an oxymoron.

Tiger balm is an oxymoron.  Because if you used this stuff on a tiger, it would be anything but a balm, or a calm experience.  Tiger Balm is the Asian equivalent of icy hot (if you are under 50 years old) or Ben Gay (if you are older).  But here, these are all home-made remedies and vary greatly in quality and strength.

Three days ago I hurt my back.  And it wont quit hurting!  So I have been asking my massage therapist to put some Tiger Balm on my back as I am getting my muscles crunched.  The first two days were the seriously tepid variety of Tiger Balm.  I could barely tell she was using anything other than the oil, had it not been for the menthol smell.  Today though, we had an altogether different experience.

I could tell the moment she opened the little bottle that this was not the same stuff she had been using.  Just a few drops and it was like someone napalmed my back!  And then she rubbed it in hard!  And it just got hotter.  She eventually had to go wash her hands, because it was so hot for her!  Then she added a few more drops, and used the edge of a towel to spread it evenly.  I was sweating and melting!  But it was awesome for my back muscles because whatever had been tight was not now.  Then she added a few more drops for good measure.  I sure wish I had some with me right now in this airline seat!

Success is ...

According to David Kidder . . . (Success is) when you have discovered your innate gift or proprietary contribution to the world and you are spending all your time in that strength and almost none of your time in your area of weakness. (I got this tidbit from a Drake Baer blog)

I don't know many people who get to spend all of their time in this strength zone, and who have the freedom of avoiding working out of their weakness at least some of the time.  In fact most of my work revolves around challenging people to identify their "innate gift or proprietary contribution to the world" - what their best contribution can be, what value they can deliver, what they can best create, innovate or build.  Most people are so focused on paying the bills, that just stopping and asking themselves these questions is a huge challenge.

But just because it is tough, doesn't mean we can allow ourselves the luxury of failure here.  It is far too important, both to the world we live in that God created, and to our own sense of purpose and contribution.  I am getting there.  Hopefully I am helping you get there too.