Unimaginable

Seth Godin keeps me honest. I like that about him, because he asks the most difficult questions and I rarely have the answers his questions demand. That is a powerfully good value to provide in anyone's life. Today he asks in his blog, "How do we do something so difficult that others can't imagine doing it?" is a fine question to ask today."

What a great/frustrating question! Instead of the easy, the natural, the apparent, what am I capable of that is difficult, beyond the range and scope of others, so difficult that others can't even imagine doing it? That is a stop and think deeply sort of question. It demands an answer. And if we can't answer it this very day, then it demands that we chew on it and wrestle with it, until we can . . . at the very very least start moving in a direction where we can answer it.

To do less is to be average (in all the wrong ways) and remain with the 95% who fail to capitalize on all that they could and should become with this one precious life that they have been given.

Sinister shopping

There is something sinister about what marketing believes are the values of 50 year olds. Since my brother will be turning 50 this Friday, I started shopping for a gift for him. I am thrilled that he is hitting this landmark epic birthday. It seems to me that this is a celebration worthy of something significant and something weighty and substantial.

But shopping for a gift for a 50 year old is terrifying. When you go to search "birthday gifts for 50 year old men" the results are so asinine that you use words like "terrifying" and I can think of a few other ones as well. Jewelry??  Really? Golf seems to be another big theme. Beer another BIG theme, along with wine and coffee options. Coolers and music and official "stocks" like for Ford or Harley Davidson were in abundance. The one and only gift out of the 100's of suggestions that I could even consider for my brother was a reprint of the New York Times front page of the day of your birth - that was a historical marker of sorts - it seems to have the appropriate weight for such a epic birthday.

The shallowness of the other suggestions was a very telling story about our culture and values . . . not to mention an assessment of the significance (actually the lack of significance!) that turning 50 has in North America. Now perhaps this is just me, or perhaps it is my twisted and warped perspective after living abroad for the last 20 years. But it seems to me that a person should have more substance to life after 50 years, than gourmet caramel popcorn.

What I do

It is difficult to explain what I do for work. That is rooted in the lack of a single concrete definition of the situations clients face. Essentially I am a curator of applied information. It requires the same processes we all need to solve the problems and challenges in this world. Greg Mckeown describes the process like this: getting to the essence (of whatever) takes a deep understanding of the topic (this sometimes means you have to work long and hard to gain this understanding), and it's context (this often requires your physical presence) and it's fit into the bigger picture and how it relates to bigger fields of study or knowledge. This is different client to client and therein lies the difficulty of explaining it in simple concrete terms.

As you apply these practices to the operational or developmental challenges, you (hopefully) can see the patterns and the obstacles that prevent progress or success. This in a nutshell is what I do for my clients day in and day out. It is immensely satisfying to see someone leap the hurdles preventing them from having powerful success!

If you don't prioritize your life, someone else will - Greg Mckeown

There he was, drunk in the middle of the day, whiskey soaked, brain turned to mush, until security came and removed him from the smoking terrace. Until security got here though, he kept trying to light my cigar, and I was afraid that he was going to set my beard on fire! The two Turkish airline pilots that I was sharing a table with, found him to be hysterical. Believe it or not, speaking Russian to problem-makers like this works wonders. No one seems to want to talk to Russian speaking guys with cigars! Of course the trick is to never let on that you ever understand a single word of English - something we have perfected over the years. 

From a leadership/personal development point of view, it was super sad to see a young affluent person (there are no beggars in an airport) to be completely under the influence of alcohol so early in the day. Of course it is sad at a certain level to ever see anyone in the grip of alcohol like that at any time. 

Over-consumption of alcohol and loss of control are synonyms. In the same way a lack of prioritization in your life and loss of control are synonyms. As Greg Mckeown states in his book "Existentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less" if I don't prioritize my life someone else will, they will fill my life with tasks and responsibilities and work and so much to do that my priorities will never come to fruition.

So the task of everyone of us who aspires to reach our goals, objectives, plans, to experience all of the impact we could possibly make on this world, is to take charge of our lives, determine our paths, pursue those objectives relentlessly, be an adult, be responsible for our actions.

The vital few from the trivial many

This is a quest, worthy of a life. As Peter Drucker said so many times, it is the ability to say "no" that makes a person effective. It is only in the "no" that you are exercising your discernment that, "this" (whatever it may be) is not for you. It is not where you can make a significant contribution, it is not where you can make the biggest impact, it is not where you can be your best, it is not where you can change the world.

The primary marker of the modern world is choice. And the closer you are to the Western Core of that modernity, the more choices you face. My wife and I have live abroad for the last 20 years, and some times that included very remote places around the world. There are few choices in those places. But in the technology heavy West, the rich rich West (regardless how poor those citizens feel and profess to be) they have an overwhelming number of choices. The most powerful among us are those who learn the skills to say "no" and to separate the vital few from the trivial many (this phrase as well as these core ideas, I took from the book 'Essentialism" by Greg Mckeown).

This requires a number of disciplines, not the least of which is self confidence. Self confidence of a nature that allows you to stand in the face of immense social pressure. You will be choosing a far less trodden path than the many will be following. This level of self confidence is the product of mental and emotional discipline, and can include scholastic or experiential or spiritual disciplines as well. It also needs a risky heart, that is determined to maximize this one short life while it is mine. Are you choosing the vital few, or the trivial many? What do you want to change in the world? What or who do you want to liberate from bondage? Where can your highest contribution be made? What inspires you? What need does this world have, that I possess? Can you resist all the noise of the trivial many, and identify the vital few objectives/tasks/goals/abilities/competencies/needs/ that you want your life to impact?

Epic moments

There are epic moments in life where a synergy of events and places and times all come together to provide you with magical memories, spectacular opportunities and/or wonderful unique unrepeatable experiences. Last evening was one of those for me.

I happened to be working in the capital city of one of the two countries vying to be the soccer champions of the entire universe. Germany versus Argentina in the final match of the 2014 World Cup! While this only gets marginal play in the USA, the rest of the world views this as the premiere sporting event that happens ever four years. It is far more than the regional championships, it is far more than the Olympics. It.is.the.World.Cup! Imagine 10 superbowls all happening at the same time, imagine the planets coming into perfect alignment, imagine the starship Enterprise showing up to take you to the next galaxy . . . yes it is on that epic scale.

So I get to watch this amazing event happen in Berlin of all places, at historic Potsdamer Platz, at the Cinemax theater with 500 rabid fans, no empty seats in the entire theater, and the only reason I was there instead of with the one million people (literally) surrounding the Brandenburg Gate, was that it was raining and I hate a cold cold rain (although I might have braved that if the USA had been playing). So I was able to procure one of the cherished tickets and had a wonderful seat in front of a huge screen, surrounded by so many excited raving German fans. It was two and a half hours of tension of the very best kind, and I made a great memory with great friends. Yeah, I am living a dream!

Fines and signs

I knew I was in trouble again, when I saw the police car backing up the highway on the opposite side of the barrier separating the lanes. Sure enough he backed up the whole two kilometers to the exit and jumped on and crossed over to my side. And then as certain as the sunrise, he pulled in behind me and hit the sirens and lights.

Now you need to understand that I am on a bicycle, and the policemen are in a new SUV. I am seriously outmatched here, or I might have tried to make a run for it. Riding a bicycle on the newest, nicest, least used, slice of asphalt in Macedonia is simply not permitted, if you are riding a bicycle. Mind you there is not a single sign anywhere, that prohibits it. There is not a law anywhere that prohibits it, just the police go rabid when they see my bike on the ring road around the city.

So I stop my bike, just to get him to cut the siren if for no other reason because it was damaging my eardrums. I am breathing hard, sweating like an overweight guy out in the desert, and the fat policeman rolls down his window and lets me feel the nice cool air conditioning from his SUV, and asks me why. Really? I am a 52 year old grandfather, riding as hard as I can in interval training on a hot sunny day, and you ask me why I am breathing hard and sweating? He tells me that it is forbidden to ride bicycles on the ring road. I point out there there are no such signs or markers anywhere that state that it is forbidden to ride a bicycle on the ring road. He tells me to go read it on the internet! I try to control my snort of disbelief. 

He begins the typical interrogation of "who are you?"and "what are you doing here?" and "how much money do you make? etc etc. I am well accustomed to such interrogations. He decides that I make enough money to pay the "fine" for having a bicycle on the ring road (which he quoted as $565!). I am incredulous! While this interrogation is taking place, lawbreakers where screaming past us regularly, as well as cars with damaged equipment and illegal passing, etc. etc. 

So I said, "let me get this right, you plan to fine me for a law that is not really a law and is posted no where anywhere, while watching these lawbreakers go whizzing by, clearly breaking all the POSTED signage?" He said "yes" just as a motorcycle tore pass us doing at least double the posted speed limit. I said "why don't you go stop that motorcycle and stop harassing me?" He says, "we can't catch him (haven't they ever heard of radios and roadblocks?) but we can catch you."

How can you argue with that?