Writing

When we think about working within constraints, we often think about startups without investor funding. There are dozens of articles written about founders and how they used their given resources to build a successful company.

Learning to work within constraints is a necessity regardless of your profession. Although we live in the most abundant time in human history, we encounter limitations every day.  How we learn to manage these constraints and overcome challenges can become an invaluable trait.

The root of the matter is your perception of the challenge. Do you wait for something or someone to find a solution or do you problem-solve?  How we elect to manage, these challenges will determine the success of our business, organization, and life.

Strategies for the Top Four Constraints

Time

In my office, I have a small poster with an ocean view.  Written at the top is a quote, “Time is life’s most precious commodity, use it wisely.” The source is unknown.  We often forget during our busy day that time is a non-renewable commodity.

Three years ago, I read the book, The Road Less Travel, by Dr. Scott Peck.  He talked about how our parents, teachers, and peers can directly or indirectly influence how we value our time and ourselves.  This influence becomes evident when we reach adulthood and must manage our work and professional life.

Each day, I think about how I spend my time.  Not, which appointment to schedule next or which task to add to a list of busy work.  During my morning runs, I mentally allocate where I will use my time and energy for next 12 – 18 hours.  Each day, running, writing, and enjoying “just being” are priorities, not an afterthought.

I follow Jason Fried, co-founder of Basecamp and his life and work philosophy is similar.  As I wrote before, “being busy” or “slammed at work” is not a badge of honor it is a misalignment of priorities.   Busy work accomplishes nothing.

Financial

If you are a startup or have worked for one, you know about financial constraints.  Every day, the founders and key team members worry about money.  You worry about sales; you worry about reaching your hurdle rate.  As a small business owner operating in a sea of regulations and growing competition, worrying about cash flow is a constant stress.  There is no escape.

Last year, I read an article in Inc. Magazine.  A successful business owner was a guest columnist and wrote, “Looking at your sales every day and how much money you’re making or not making will drive you crazy.  It’s a marathon, what you earn over a 12 month period or longer.”

He went on to talk about how it is important to be aware of where the company is from a big picture perspective for cash flow, but the constant worry will do more harm than good.

I have thought of about his advice.  I believe when we become hyper-focused on the lack money, we send out negative energy.

If you believe the sales and customers will support your business, then this faith in yourself and the business comes through.  Most people do not like to work or buy from businesses or organizations that are collapsing or believe they are failing.  People can sense the negativity.

Recognize financial constraint is a given. Develop a system to keep tabs on the cash flow without becoming consumed with daily worrying.  If you are too focused on this constraint, you will most likely miss an opportunity.

Leadership

Leadership is a combination of innate talent and skills developed over time.  Leadership is difficult and cannot be learned in a two-day seminar.  We often write and talk about leadership, yet it tends to be a mouthpiece to satisfy something that has no meaning. It requires a unique combination of skills and a certain personality.  Most businesses and organizations do not have the luxury of having a strong and gift leader.

In these cases, employees and team members will need to determine how they create strong leadership at the bottom without insubordination.   Which isn’t easy either, how do you create leadership within the ranks while continuing to support an ineffective leader?

This is when creative problem-solving becomes curial. I often tell my son that to be a good leader; integrity must be at the core with an understanding of coaching people with grace.  When I say or write, these words people’s immediate reaction is that the approach is too soft, which is incorrect.  This approach involves structure with empowering team members.  Leadership is about building effective proactive teams.  These teams can work to achieve the organization’s goals even when dealing with unfavorable constraints.

Resources

Constraints we encounter to do our work and run our business is constant.  For my business, I need to upgrade the computer system.  The operating system is dated which creates problems with the software programs I use for client work.

An entrepreneur friend, once said, “Don’t make any large purchases or hire employees until the pain is absolutely unbearable.” Based on his advice, I continue to develop a work around to delay purchasing a new computer.  There are some of you who may disagree, and that’s fine.  Between working for startups and being a small business owner, I’ve learned to protect the second most valuable resource – cash flow.

Of three constraints I’ve discussed; I believe where most people fail to placed importance – is time. For us, time feels unlimited as we get up each day and do the same thing again.  It’s only when we start looking back at how we spend our time do we realize its real value.

For many years, working class families would tell their children that obtaining a college degree was a way out.  Parents told their children, if they worked hard in school, went to college, they would get a good job and have a better life. Corporate jobs had benefits and a retirement pension, something their parents did not have.

There was hope for something bigger than themselves – a better life for their children. The story talked about how parents overcame the struggle of saving for college to ensure their children’s success.

Families repeated this story in households around the world.  Our stories are important, it is how we pass down history, maintain our grounding in society, and express our fears and desires. Many stories we share were created thousands of years ago.  The wisdom contained within these stories continues to have value regardless of the technology tools we use or the advances we’ve made.

However, somewhere along the way, their hero’s story changed, lost its core meaning, and then it disappeared.

Obtaining a college degree became the Holy Grail, a ticket to happiness and success. Unfortunately, this is an illusion and not realistic.

Today, children go to college, take on debt, and then keep their fingers crossed they’ll find employment. When the degree does not match everyone’s expectations, the family members feel lost and search for a story to rely upon for guidance.

The reason for this shift cannot be assigned or placed on anyone group, government policy, or action; it happened as a result of many, many, factors coming together at once.

The Hero’s Journey

Joseph Campbell was the world’s most famous mythology expert and wrote about the hero’s journey.  His impact can be seen in George Lucas’s Star Wars trilogy.  Lucas based the first three Star Wars movies on Campbell’s books.  He spent hours with Campbell while writing the script for the first movie.  Campbell wrote in The Power of the Myth, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”

We are living during a time of significant change.  If not the most profound time in human history.  Being part of history makes it difficult for us to see the changes occurring around us.  Disruption sneaks up on us.  We find ourselves in a place, where there is no “Future for Dummies” to guide our way.

Often during periods of change, we alter memories of the past, blocking out the negatives to comfort ourselves as we face the unknown.  We cannot let our fears prevent us from envisioning a better and positive future. In every hero’s journey, a person must walk through the dark forest, like Luke, to find themselves and overcome their fears.

Writing a New Digital Story

We must write the story together with an underlining theme of hope. The digital hero will travel down a new path. He must incorporate the modern world with wisdom gained from the past, as the old predetermine path is gone.  Part of the journey will include advanced technologies, a new way of learning, and a spirit of entrepreneurship.

A powerful story about a young man or woman as they struggle to learn new technology skills using different platforms while tapping into their unique problem-solving skills to develop a story that is larger than themselves.

The goal for this post is to highlight the disappearance of a story central to a large segment of society and bring attention to the importance of writing a new story.  Our narrow focus on college being the Holy Grail of success is incorrect and taking us down a wrong path.  A person’s success is determined by many factors and education is one component.

I believe learning and education are critically important.  Learning should continue throughout a person’s life.  It is a lifelong process.  “Go to College, Life Will Be Good” is an empty statement and provides no foundation for building an authentic story for the future.

What are you waiting for?

The perfect time,

The right moment,

When things get better,

When you have more money,

When you have more time,

When you feel smarter,

When the economy is better,

When your friends like your idea,

When your spouse likes your idea,

When you feel more confident,

When you start college,

When you graduate college,

When you move to Austin,

When you save more money,

When you youngest son starts first grade,

When all the kids are in college,

When you get older,

When you have more money,

When your friends are wealthier so they can invest,

When you have more energy,

When you are not so busy at work,

When you have enough money to hire someone to help you….

All of these are excuses.  These excuses will continue to keep you from taking action and changing the direction of your life.  You must make the choice and take action. Now, not tomorrow or next week, but now.

Remember, there is never the perfect time, place, or situation for launching a business, realizing a dream, or pursuing your passion

You have two choices – either move forward with your idea or stay stuck and continue waiting. 

 

 

Each year during the holidays, I think of a theme or word that will define my focus for the next year.

For 2014, my theme is “No Excuses”.

As I was reading through an article over the break, the author said any time we make an excuse we are really lying to ourselves.

His comment stayed in my mind and I mentally chewed on his comment while running.  How many times had I made excuses to myself and others?   The more I analyzed the excuses, I realized they costed me money and wasted my time.

Excuses delay our decisions which create more problems in the long run.

Last year, I read Dr. Cloud’s “Necessary Endings” which was an enlightening book, it also made me think about my actions and excuses.

My goal for the year is to stop and think about the real reason behind the excuse then make a decision to act or not act at all.  Many times we make excuses to delay other people or to avoid a confrontation.

There were many excuses surrounding this blog.  I felt constrained that I could not freely express my thoughts on a range of topics.  I wanted to have a blog where I could mix both my business and personal life together because that how I live.

My career and life are intertwined woven together by interesting threads of events and people.   Being a small business owner, writer, and single parent everything I do is intertwined which always leads to a funny story or two.

In November, I started a blog on Google called “Just for Fun” because I made an excuse to myself that I needed a platform, a different place to write about fun topics that were not related to business.  Creating another blog to my already packed schedule didn’t make sense either.  I realized it was me and my internal excuses preventing me from writing what I wanted to write in this blog post.

My question to you for 2014 is what excuses both internal and external are holding you back or preventing you from doing something you really want to do?

Excuses are traps that keep us from taking action.   We feel the need to delay an action or decision so we make an excuse.

Or maybe there was no decision to be made in the first place but we feel pressured from family or friends to make a decision.   Maybe family habits or traits are obsolete because life is different now than when we were kids.

Whatever may be the case, excuses gain nothing and in the end are just a waste of time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since junior high I have been writing poetry, short stories and articles for local community papers.   I started blogging three years ago about startups, concept development and digital technology.

My goal is to complete “You Posted What! How to Help Your Teen Use Social Media For Future Career Success” by May of 2014.

The Internet provides a unique freedom for creative individuals; we can develop and share ideas with others around the world. I am grateful for this freedom and opportunity.

Deciding to self-publish was a no-brainer since my chances of securing a publisher were slim. Secondly, my goal is to write more books in the future and knowing how to self-publish early in the process would save time and money later.

In the past six months, I’ve discovered that writing the actual book is the easier part of the process. Learning the intricacies of self-publishing has become a daunting task.  Lack of consistency in information from “how-to” books and marketers has not helped either. Several friends have recently published books and were generous with advice and recommendations.

In May, I was reading about Kickstarter and begin to toss around the idea of launching a Kickstarter campaign to pre-sell the book. I’m curious about Kickstarter and would like to be part of the experience.

What I Have Learned So Far–

Writing the Actual Book

“Word” is the program of choice for many reasons, it is the most popular, easy to use and your files can be sent to editors and publishers with ease.

PressBooks is a new platform that offers the ability to write and publish an eBook using the WordPress platform.  For individuals who are bloggers and already use WordPress, this is an easy program to use.

I created an account to test drive PressBooks.  What I like best about platform is that you can visually see what your eBook will look like when it’s published.

Being a visual learner and thinker “seeing” the book in a digital format helped establish a visual image of the book I was writing.

Secondly, you can cut and paste from Word which is a nice feature. The down side to PressBooks is that you have been online to add content to your book. The information is stored in the cloud; therefore, you must be connected to the Internet to work on your book. There are times when I write on a notepad, scrap paper or on the laptop away from the office. Writing is a process and I always print a hard copy to edit.

Just like WordPress, you can select your book theme from a template or you can create a custom theme.

Publishers

Hyperink provides publishing services to well-known bloggers and business experts.  Brad Feld and Penelope Truck have published eBooks using Hyperink’s platform.  The down side is that you must be an expert or high profile blogger for Hyperink to publish your book.

Secondly, most of the book themes are very similar which makes it hard to differentiate the subject matter and the company requests that you complete your book in six weeks.

BookBaby is a unique publisher; the company was started by artists, writers and musicians as an alternative way to sell their art.  When I visited with the BookBaby representative she was helpful and happy to answer my questions.

However, she was unable to provide specific information about Amazon’s policies. I thought the pricing was reasonable for the services which included registering the ISBN number and book distribution.

Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch wrote “APE – Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur – How to Publish a Book” for first time authors.  Guy offered free copies via Google+ following the release date. The book is worth reading if you are first time author, I found some of the sections useful and skimmed through the rest of the book.

EBooks Thumbnails Matter 

Two bits of advice that I heard multiple times is to budget money for a good graphic artist and editor.

For eBooks, a strong thumbnail book cover will differentiate your book from the thousands of other listed on Amazon.  Second, the cover is used to market and sell your book.

Edit, Edit, Edit and Then Edit Some More 

You may be an excellent writer; however, having a second set of eyes is worth the money. Behind every successful author there is a really good editor. I have written this advice twice because good grammar is crucial. I spend hours editing my blog posts and know there is still room for improvement.

Make sure you include a good editor and graphic artist in your budget. After you have spent hours working on your book, why skimp and sell your book short.

One more thought on editing, ask your business associates, family and friends to read your draft and provide honest feedback for improvements For book reviews, ask several business associates and thought leaders in your industry to review your book.   These reviews will be used on the book’s Amazon profile page and in your marketing materials.

Funding – Kickstarter

Kickstarter offers a unique platform to pre-sell your book. Writers at all levels have used this platform to generate interest and sell their books. The money raised from the campaign depends on the topic matter and public interest.

Right now, I am planning on launching a Kickstarter campaign in September to pre-sell both the book.  I am excited about the potential of the Kickstarter campaign and understand that I will need to market the campaign to ensure success.

Market Your Book Now

Start marketing your book before the initial draft is finished. Start building your community now. Establishing an audience early is important and will help sell your book when it published. The general consensus is to market the book about year prior to the published date.

Currently, I am in the process of securing a graphic artist to create a poster and eBook cover for the Kickstarter campaign.   I will continue to share the information I learned as I work my way through the self-publishing process.

What is the purpose of busy work?

To keep individuals focused on mindless tasks to prevent them from questioning authority?

Busy work is a time filler that is used everywhere from education to non-profits.

Need to make a decision?

Let’s form a committee, two sub committees and a tiger team to find a solution.

Why?

We have been trained to believe that decisions cannot be reached without a committee.

Precious time is spent discussing the original problem to the point it becomes so watered down that we lose sight of what we were doing in the first place.

Wasted time that could have been used to find a solution and seek new opportunities.

Busy work is the norm in our public schools.

How else can the teachers keep the students focused when PE is eliminated?

Busy work accomplishes nothing.

Choose to Opt Out.