Doing What Works

If your passion is the saxophone but you spend your days staring at spreadsheets on a screen, the obvious solution is to spend your free time playing in a band. The not-so-obvious benefits to that are (1) something to daydream about as you attend to those spreadsheets, (2) less panic at whether either venture will work out because your proverbial eggs are spread across a couple of baskets, and (3) the great feeling that comes from knowing you’re good at more than one thing. You have lots of skills, and in this edition of Doing What Works we encourage you to find more outlets for those you most love to use.

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What Color Is Your Parachute? author Dick Bolles says our gifts don’t like to be caged up inside of us. They like to be out in the world and be used.

Here’s the Improv Everywhere sketch where strangers are applauded for making a soccer goal.

Quick. Think back on a couple of things you wanted desperately, things you didn’t get. Katie and I bet something better came along so fast you almost got whiplash, and that’s the kind of hope we hope to inspire in this edition of Doing What Works.

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Don’t forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he wanted!

Would you like the more concise version of the story Jerry Seinfeld tells at the end of Comedian?

Does this sound familiar? You stub your toe, and decide you’re being punished for something. I do it every time. Katie does, too -- but only jokingly. Ridiculous as it may seem, we all have ways of pretending we have more control over things than we do -- and in this edition of Doing What Works we give you permission to do, well, whatever works!

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Would you like to know more about my experience as a Biocybernaut [https://www.biocybernaut.com/maureen-anderson/]?

Gretchen Rubin [https://twitter.com/gretchenrubin] suggests you accept yourself, so you can expect more from yourself.

If you need encouragement to become the best version of yourself, I can think of no better online community than this one [https://stevenpressfield.com/blog/].

Do you allow yourself the luxury of acting on impulse? Of following your heart before your head gets a chance to weigh in? The most important decisions aren’t necessarily the most difficult, after all, and that’s the case we make in this edition of Doing What Works.

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Casting director Jane Brody [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0111036/bio] suggests you trust your first impression.

Night Guy, Jerry Seinfeld [https://www.instagram.com/jerryseinfeld/] says, is prone to making life hell for Morning Guy.

If you haven’t tried traveling alone, you might be surprised by how much you love it. Katie and I are such fans we’re forever angling for the next opportunity, and you might catch that fever in this edition of Doing What Works.

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Brooks Palmer [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13235741-clutter-busting-your-life] will help you see clutter for what it is (clutter).

Background tasking [https://www.linkedin.com/learning/time-management-tips/use-background-tasking-to-get-more-done] like driving can pave the way (so to speak) for some great ideas.

Doing what works means asking the difficult questions, then pausing long enough to make room for the answers. It’s true whether you’re talking to yourself (which we all do, all day long) or someone else. This edition of Doing What Works is an ode to what Maureen heard once -- that you should learn to pause, or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you.

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“I’m not on Twitter.” Moneyball author Michael Lewis [https://www.michaellewiswrites.com/index.html#top] says that’s why he’s so prolific!

The poet Taylor Mali [https://twitter.com/TaylorMali] says people sometimes use filler words for fear of ceding the floor.

“Constant chatter is an attempt at control.” ~ That’s from What Color Is Your Parachute? [https://www.parachutebook.com/] author Dick Bolles.

Do you have music that whisks you away to a favorite time of your life? Do you have a whole playlist like that? Or do you mark the passage of time by vacations with friends, class reunions, even the release of a new postage stamp? Whatever you love we hope to inspire you to love it without reservation. The way Katie talks about Taylor Swift in this edition of Doing What Works!

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Taylor Swift [https://store.taylorswift.com/] dropped her latest album a day and a half before we recorded this show. Can you tell?

And these are the Taylor Swift songs Katie quoted: “The Lucky One,” “You Need to Calm Down,” “Untouchable,” and “Daylight.”

I used to say I’m wired for worry. Now I realize part of the reason I was wired that way. Because I was saying it! Please don’t take my word for that, though. Listen to
this edition of Doing What Works and a discussion of a book Katie found illuminating, A General Theory of Love. You can, to at least some extent, rework patterns of relationships (the most important one being with yourself).

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A General Theory of Love [https://www.amazon.com/General-Theory-Love-Thomas-Lewis/dp/0375709223] “demonstrates that our nervous systems are not self-contained: from earliest childhood, our brains actually link with those of the people close to us, in a silent rhythm that alters the very structure of our brains, establishes life-long emotional patterns, and makes us, in large part, who we are.”

“We were all wounded in some domestic war. I found you to settle my score.” That’s from Melissa Etheridge [https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/melissaetheridge/enoughofme.html].

If becoming a published author is your dream, start with this edition of Doing What Works. Maureen walks you through, with Katie’s guidance, the steps you’ll need to take. Scary? Maybe a little. But worth it!

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Staying the Course: A Runner’s Toughest Race [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081663758X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1] is Maureen’s first book.

Why Design Matters [https://www.amazon.com/Why-Design-Matters-Conversations-Creative/dp/0062872966] is a collection of interviews of creative people by designer Debbie Millman.

Uncertain waits are longer than known, finite waits [https://psychcentral.com/blog/the-psychology-of-waiting-in-lines-8-reasons-that-the-wait-seems-long#2].

With the holidays approaching and more parties on the calendar, how do you keep the “fun” in function? By paying attention to the little things that mean a lot, that’s how. And in this edition of Doing What Works Katie and I share some of our favorites. You’ll never look at a wristband the same way, for example!

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You bring your own weather to the picnic [https://twitter.com/gretchenrubin].