Getting Work To Work

The past year has been an interesting journey for me personally and professionally. I've had a few highs, but the lows have been plentiful and educational, to say the least. I've been spending a lot of time and energy trying to figure out the problems that have been plaguing my business, but a question popped into my mind after starting the book, The Solutions Focus: Have I been spending too much time thinking about the problems and not enough time about the solutions? In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I'm going to explore the mental shift from problems to solutions and how I'm creating a possibility machine that keeps me focused on bringing forth the future, today.

I'm sure you've heard this phrase attributed to Jim Rohn before: "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." While it is often used in the context of success, I've always felt like there was something missing. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I'm going to explore not only this quote, but a quote from Falling Awake by Dave Ellis and how it helps me to have a broader understanding of not only relationships, but words, consciousness, and results.

"Conversations have a power far beyond what we normally consider. Our words create our consciousness—what we pay attention to and think about. Our consciousness creates our actions, and our actions create our circumstances. The result is the world as we experience it." — Falling Awake by Dave Ellis

"What could the future look like?" — This is one of the driving questions of Bend Design, an annual conference in Bend, Oregon, that brings together a wide-range of leaders and creatives to learn new ways to connect, collaborate, and impact the world with creativity. In today's interview episode of Getting Work To Work, I talk with René Mitchell and Martha Murray about all things Bend Design and how the conference has impacted their professional pursuits. We also dive into the importance of having multiple creative interests, how obsessions show up in their creative work, the importance of broadening your perspective, and wise insights into the balance of client work, pet projects, and life.

I had a mind-altering epiphany on Tuesday: I am at peace with who I am, what I'm doing, and my plan for the future. If I'm to be honest with you, this shocked me because I've been chasing this need for peace for as long as I can remember. In 2012, I made several attempts to finally understand myself. I got a master's degree, started teaching, took several personal development courses, and still didn't understand or believe that I was on the right path. I didn't take action. And for the next seven years, I would make a bunch of decisions, both good and bad, that ultimately led me here: relaxing in who I am.

What stories do you and others tell about the place you do your work? I've been thinking a lot about this question after watching Muscle Shoals, a documentary about two recording studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama that captured a certain sound musicians have wanted since the late 1950s. Who are the pilgrims in your stories that travel from long distances to get a taste of your place? These are but a handful of questions to consider as we continue to digitize more and more of our world where place is no longer the same.

What does it mean to be creative? Is it something that you can just add to a project, like salt or easily accessible energy? Is it something that is part of a process or something that we label creative at the end of a lengthy project? These are a few of the questions that I explore with Matt Gardner—a digital product designer from London—in this interview episode of Getting Work To Work. Right out of the gate we dive into what it means to master our crafts in an age where industries and technologies change so quickly. From there, we move into the importance of self-awareness, teamwork, building habits, triggers for creativity, and how Matt thinks of the future as a sense of vectors or directions instead of goals. A fascinating conversation that really has me thinking about what it means to be creative.

Have you ever thought about the shape of your day and what brings you the strongest sense of satisfaction? Have you purposefully designed your day with a focus on core activities or do you allow yourself to be driven by the concerns of the day? As entrepreneurs, the intentional shaping of our day is crucial to long-term success and flat out enjoyment of our lives. But I do think it's not something we spend nearly enough time thinking about, stress testing, and allowing it to evolve into what it needs to be.

In the stillness of the morning, I spent some time reading, reflecting, and filling my heart and mind with wisdom and questions. The first question, inspired by The Three Marriages by David Whyte, gets to the heart of today's topic: "Am I committed to today's work?" The second powerhouse question draws its inspiration from the pages of Feck Perfuction by James Victore: "Do I have the courage to fully commit to the work of tomorrow?" Courage and commitment go hand-in-hand in the transformation our lives, if we are willing to do the work both today and tomorrow.

In today’s interview episode of Getting Work To Work, I talk with Lindsey Charlet, CEO & Founder of HUB Collective, about what it means to be purposeful and powerful in a world obsessed with pretty. The conversation starts with her journey to become the leader her company needed by learning to embrace vulnerability, feedback, and doing things differently. We travel through stories of improv work sessions, getting to the heart of the matter, listening and being of service, and resting in what she knows and who she is. We end with a declaration to celebrate people for where they are at.

There's been a little bit of intimidation and procrastination this week with the dreaded blank page. I've had so many thoughts swirling in my mind, but nothing was sticking out. I couldn't really find something to land on. Come on brain, I've got stuff to say. I just couldn't get traction until I started thinking more about a request that came in through email: Do you have any photos of you doing your thing or playing around? I didn't. Which led me to think: Why don't I? Because I don't really play enough and I don't make time to practice.