#Trust30 Day 14 - Ambition

[Yes, there are a lot of these #Trust30 posts...here's why].

When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The world buzzes about goals and visions. Focus. Create a vivid picture of exactly where you want to go. Dream big, then don’t let anything or anyone stop you. The problem, as Daniel Gilbert wrote in Stumbling Upon Happiness, is that we’re horrible at forecasting how we’ll really feel 10 or 20 years from now – once we’ve gotten what we dreamed of. Often, we get there only to say, “That’s not what I thought it would be,” and ask, “What now?” Ambition is good. Blind ambition is not. It blocks out not only distraction, but the many opportunities that might take you off course but that may also lead you in a new direction. Consistent daily action is only a virtue when bundled with a willingness to remain open to the unknown. In this exercise, look at your current quest and ask, “What alternative opportunities, interpretations and paths am I not seeing?” They’re always there, but you’ve got to choose to see them.” - Jonathan Fields

The author’s prompt does not quite fit my situation. I do not have a “blind ambition” that causes me to miss opportunities that I would otherwise see. Rather, I am too open to possibilities, and the reluctance to choose a more focused approach to life is creating challenges for me. There are too many distractions in my world, not too few.

However, even though the prompt is not perfect for my situation,  I am still willing to sit down and think about the ‘alternate paths’ I might not be seeing. Some of these could be:

1. Writing for a magazine or other publication
2. Start an international coffee newsletter, to combine my interests in coffee, travel, writing, business, economics and storytelling
3. Turn this site into more of a demonstration of my capabilities and let people know how they can hire me (building logos, graphics, creating presentations, speaking, editing videos, etc.)
4. Try to find a “normal” job that allows me to travel and write about those travels when not working for the company
5. Contracting with a company to write/oversee its newsletters, either internal or external

One alternative (#2 above) for what I am doing would be to create a newsletter for the coffee industry that is different from the coffee trade magazines. [side note: If you are someone who is in the coffee industry, is there some type of information out there that you are missing that you would like to have available? My crack team of researchers could start working on finding it.] I heard a marketing professor say one time that to be successful, you have to find a problem and be the solution to that problem. In other words, you find someone with a headache and then be the aspirin.

My current ‘quest’ is to make a living out of writing and other creative activities. I would like to turn Caffeinated PDX into a more important and useful site for visitors, but that is going to require some changes (and, eventually, some assistance). The blog is going to have to have a stronger message to attract more people and it also will need to grow outside the Portland area.

In essence, the current Caffeinated PDX is a first draft for the project it will eventually become. During the last several months, I have learned a lot about coffee, writing, blogging and social media. I continually remind myself that it takes time to build something successful, and that even on the days when it seems like my progress goes backwards, I am learning things that will be valuable in the long run. At some point, I will find the right mix of message and utility, and then use my “not so blind” ambition to make it work.

#Trust30 Day 11 – Imitation is what?

[To find out why I am writing all these #Trust30 posts, click here]

Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Write down in which areas of your life you have to overcome these suicidal tendencies of imitation, and how you can transform them into a newborn you – one that doesn’t hide its uniqueness, but thrives on it. There is a “divine idea which each of us represents” – which is yours?” –Fabian Kruse (the Friendly Anarchist)

Emerson’s quote is a pretty absolute statement. By trying to be someone else, you lose yourself, and you might as well no longer be alive. The great ones know this. They are inimitable, with a style that sets them apart. As soon as Elvis opens his mouth to sing, you know who it is.

The concept reminds me of learning to play the guitar. At one time in my life, I aspired to be a musician. I spent hours trying to play songs in the same way that Eric Clapton and others did. I grew frustrated when I couldn’t reproduce the sounds I heard. My fingers moved too slowly, my tone was not clean enough and eventually I gave up trying.

Looking back, I would approach music very differently.

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#Trust30 - Day 7 - Big goals

[To find out why I am writing all these #Trust30 posts, click here]

Here's the prompt, from Matt Cheuvront:

“Next to Resistance, rational thought is the artist or entrepreneurs worst enemy. Bad things happen when we employ rational thought, because rational thought comes from the ego. Instead, we want to work from the Self, that is, from instinct and intuition, from the unconscious. A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Its only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.” - Steven Pressfield, Do the Work

The idea of “being realistic” holds all of us back. From starting a business or quitting a job to dating someone who may not be our type or moving to a new place – getting “real” often means putting your dreams on hold.

Today, let’s take a step away from rational thought and dare to be bold. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish but have been afraid to pursue? Write it down. Also write down the obstacles in your way of reaching your goal. Finally, write down a tangible plan to overcome each obstacle.

The only thing left is to, you know, actually go make it happen. What are you waiting for?

There were lots of things I could have chosen, but I only have time to write about one.

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#Trust30 Day 4

[For an overview of what #Trust30 is, click here]

Today’s Challenge:

Identify one of your biggest challenges at the moment (i.e. I don’t feel passionate about my work) and turn it into a question (i.e. How can I do work I’m passionate about?) Write it on a post-it and put it up on your bathroom mirror or the back of your front door. After 48-hours, journal what answers came up for you and be sure to evaluate them.

Bonus: tweet or blog a photo of your post-it.

It was a short assignment today (though not as easy as it sounded). If you have your own answer for the question, feel free to share it.

#Trust30 Day 3

[For an overview of what #Trust30 is, click here]

The prompt for day 3:

“The world is powered by passionate people, powerful ideas, and fearless action. What’s one strong belief you possess that isn’t shared by your closest friends or family? What inspires this belief, and what have you done to actively live it?” – Buster Benson

Yikes. Now we’re getting personal. Who was it again that accepted this challenge? Oh, yeah, that was me. By nature, I’m a private person—so these questions are pushing me a little beyond my comfort zone. On the other hand, I have written a quite a few personal stories on the blog over the last ten months, so maybe the vision I have of myself is a little outdated. Besides, sharing yourself with other people is what makes life worth it, right?

Just so you know, Resistance (from The War of Art) is winning today. The whole day has been a struggle to be optimistic, to feel good and to get anything done. This post is no different. Now, where should I start?

[Pause…]

After some thought, I think I have a topic. I considered writing about several different topics—legalizing drugs, immigration reform, the role of the US in the world, gay marriage—these are all topics where I differ from a lot of my friends, but I haven’t done much to actively try to change the world or other people’s opinions and attitudes about them.  I haven’t ‘actively lived’ them, so to speak. Finally, this is what I came up with:

Certainty and security do not substitute for experiencing life.

People, in general, like to take the “safe” route in life. They want to work for a good company, go to their jobs every day and be paid a nice salary that keeps a roof over their heads. They are looking for a comfortable life.  This can be a great way to go through life (assuming you don’t get caught up in a Great Recession and thrown out of your job, like so many have been over the last few years), and there are definitely times when I look at others’ lives and think I should try to do the same thing.

Usually, though, the thought of taking the safe route is disheartening. You put in your time as a cog in a corporate machine, wasting away and paying for someone else’s dream. I imagine getting on the phone with a supplier in China and trying to bargain over two cents on 50 different cables for some product that people don’t need in the first place and I think to myself, “should I settle for a life like that? Is that all I was meant to do in life?” The answer invariably comes back a resounding no.

You might ask, what I am doing to avoid that type of life? How am I going to put food on the table for myself and my family? That’s a difficult question and I’m still trying to figure out exactly what the answer is.

I will say, though, that I started this blog because I think there is something better out there. I am writing daily, to build my skills as an interviewer and storyteller, to learn as much as I can about the world and share it with others. I write and I write and I write, because at some point, the work is going to pay off. On many levels, it already has. I may not have the certainty and security in my life as I would have at a traditional job, but I have some great experiences to reflect on that I would not change for the world. And that, dear reader, is what I am doing to ‘live it.’

[Wow. I don’t know if that makes any sense or not, but I’m shipping it just the same. With a pounding head and a burning throat, I bid you good night.]

Recapping the No-Bonk Week

Christmas has come and gone, and so has the no-bonk week. I would like to thank all of you who participated with me (there were many of you who did so in secret, right? ha ha) and let you know how it went. It was a valuable experiment and I learned a few things. Here is a quick recap and some thoughts:

1. Every day (except for Christmas Day, when I slept in until 7:30), I was out the door by 6:10am, staying outside for at least half an hour, running and/or doing other exercises at a nearby park (you might not have known that playground equipment can take the place of a Universal gym). My first thought at 5:30am on the first morning was “What was I thinking? Why didn’t I say 8 or 9 instead?” The days were cold, dark and generally not very welcoming. Fortunately, it only rained on the first day (that rain was as invigorating as sticking your wet finger in a light socket, by the way). The rest of the days were just cold, and each time I ran past the Mount Scott Community Center, I would enviously look over at the people running on treadmills inside the warm, dry building.
2. My stated goal of the project—to survive the alumni game—was accomplished. The alumni team (with 19 players) won the game by seven points without anyone getting injured (soreness doesn’t count), although we would have won by more had your writer not missed some easy lay-ups and a couple free throws. I am over that now (sort of). Let’s just say it’s a good thing we won, or I would have had to spend all of 2011 figuring out how to prepare for next year’s game.

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Portlandia

Some of you have already seen this, but I think it’s worth sharing anyway. If you have spent very much time in Portland, you will appreciate a new series that the Independent Film Channel is creating called Portlandia. Portland is well-known for having a laid-back attitude about life and the series (at least the trailer) makes fun of this in a pretty hilarious way. After spending the last couple months traveling around PDX and writing about its coffee scene, I’ve seen many of the caricatures portrayed in the video. I would say that it hits a little too close to home, but then again, I heard no mention of bloggers in the video ;)

Enjoy.