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In Austin yesterday I met Jodi, who was attending the panel I co-presented with Jonathan Fields. Jodi talked about recently taking her first trip abroad, to Europe. Some active travelers might say a trip like that is “no big deal”—but I understood exactly why she was excited. When you've never left home, your first destination is most definitely a big deal.
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Realistic is the adjective of cynics. Wherever you encounter skeptics, naysayers, and charlatans, you will always encounter this word. I'm not saying it's a bad word, that there's no logic to it, or that it's completely irrelevant. I'm just saying... who cares whether something is realistic or not? You might as well leave this word to the cynics—let them have it. Let them own it. It won't do you any good anyway. Realistic is used to do two things simultaneously: one, to criticize. Two, to justify.
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We began Black History Month by looking at Muhammad Ali, an under-appreciated hero of non-conformity in U.S. history. I thought we'd close by looking at a quotation from Martin Luther King that I've always liked: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
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In an interview, Warren Buffett was asked what superpower he would like to be granted. His response: “I'd like to have the ability to read faster.” I loved this answer, but when I shared it on Twitter, a few people said something like, “That's dumb. If you read faster, you won't retain the information.” Ah yes, but it’s not about speedreading per se—since he’s a fairly smart guy, I’m pretty sure that Mr. Buffett understands the concept that we don’t retain everything we read. It’s not usually nice to assume, but in this case it’s a safe assumption that he’s talking about actually learning faster—the ability to consume and apply more information in a shorter period of time.
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Tomorrow is the beginning of Black History Month in the U.S., where we celebrate the achievements of African Americans and honor our country's culture of diversity. Last year I wrote about Malcolm X, one of my personal heroes and a great example of non-conformity in the face of relentless pressure to back down. This time, I wanted to look at the life of Muhammad Ali, born as Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky.
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Thanks so much to everyone out there who was a part of the 63-city Unconventional Book Tour, which just wrapped up in beautiful Vancouver last weekend. We're working on a bigger project to document the whole experience for everyone, but for now I just wanted to express my gratefulness.
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What's the bravest thing you've ever done? I asked this question last week and was flooded with hundreds of great responses. Here are many of them, with links to the people who were brave enough to share. (All of these comments were shared publicly, and there are also 80+ responses on our Facebook page ...
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It's a good idea to be yourself, not only because everybody else is taken, but because trying to be anything else doesn't usually get you very far.
But how do you do it?
First, you have to understand what you have unlearned about yourself. This process can be disheartening, as you remember past decisions where you had the chance to be yourself but instead chose to be something different.
Since trying to be anyone other than yourself is usually ineffective, why not begin by deciding to do only what is true to your own inner compass? If you did it for just one day, what would that day look like?
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I had an early-early flight, so I booked a hotel near the airport and took the train out the night before. Problem was, I'm so used to going to the airport that I forgot to get off at the hotel stop and instead rode all the way to PDX. Then I stepped off the train and thought: Whoops. Wrong stop.
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Greetings, everyone. I made it home from my Annual Review trip and have been enjoying the holiday week at home. Only two days remain in this entire year... which brings us to this non-commercial reminder: If 2010 was an awful year, well, it's all over and now you get a new start. If 2010 was amazing, well, it's all over and now you get a new start ...
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After looking back on the year that's nearly finished, I spend most of my Annual Review time thinking ahead to the forthcoming year. While I wrapped up the 2010 review and looked ahead to 2011, here are a few of the summary notes I wrote to myself:
As a big 2010 came to its conclusion I felt purposeful and satisfied, but also on the verge of overwhelm. 2011 and 2012 will be even bigger – how can I maintain momentum without forgetting to live in the moment? This is the challenge and the opportunity of the year: to create sustainable growth in all areas while retaining a core sense of identity.Read More
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As part of the Annual Review series, I look back at everywhere I went in 2010. It’s a long list! From my usual 20+ new countries to a book tour to every U.S. state, I spent a lot of time on the road this year. In rough chronological order, here’s everywhere I went in 2010:
United States, Canada, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Maldives, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Germany, Ukraine, Cyprus, Cape Verde, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Morocco, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Belarus, ThailandRead More
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As I look back on the year during my Annual Review, I think about what went well and what didn't in my business work. I've been self-employed for most of my life and have never had a real job, but the learning process over more than a decade now has been entirely through trial and error (lots of trial, lots of error—but I just keep trying things).
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After a great time with a fun group in Seattle last night, I drove down through Washington and crossed over the Columbia river ... hello, Oregon—also known as state #50 on the 50-state book tour. States #1-49 are now complete, and tonight is the grand finale at Powell's in Portland.
Since time is short and the year is long, I started thinking ahead on the Annual Review even though I don't leave for the actual trip until tomorrow. As explained in previous posts, the review focuses on looking ahead to the next year, but I first spend at least a day looking back on the year that's ending ...
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