Zugunruhe: Helping great people get [good] things done: Zoog.un.roo.ee

Make it up, make it happen

We must not be afraid of dreaming the seemingly impossible if we want the seemingly impossible to become a reality.--Vaclav Havel

When Jim Carrey was a struggling unknown, he wrote himself a check for $10 million dollars for “acting services rendered.” He dated the check eight years in the future. Then Carrey proceeded to act “as-if” to create a successful career far beyond his wildest dreams. (He earns $20 million per film) Carrey’s story has some relevance for just about anybody who wants to succeed at something true big. You can set an intention and act your way to success.

Here’s how it works. Decide what it is that you want to be: the world’s greatest dad, a bestselling mystery writer, a Fortune 500 CEO. Base all your actions from that moment forward on your intention. You don’t have to believe that you’ll succeed. All you have to do is chose to be the person you want to be. All that’s needed is some careful thought around what the practices of the highly successful are and then emulating those practices.

Let’s say you decide you want to be the top sales person in your organization. What do top sales producers to everyday? One thing that do is get referrals. How do they do that? They ask for them (among other things). Now you know what to do. When will you do that? How many times this week will you ask for referrals? Set a goal for the number of referrals you’ll get and go after them. See how it works?

What is your intention for your life? Your seemingly impossible dream is only one decision away. Choose it. Live it.

How about a Not-to-do list?

Determining your core intention, the aim of your actions is one of the first steps to achieving great success. To determine the right things to do, you must have a very firm grip on what it is you wish to achieve. The second step is to stop doing the wrong things.

Here are a couple of ways to implement a rigorous not-to-do policy.

1. Say no more often.
I was chatting with a good friend yesterday and the topic of saying no came up. She, like many of us, has trouble turning down opportunities and requests. I asked her, “What is your core intention right now?” As we chatted, it became clear that core intentions work a bit like concentric circles. An immediate goal--one that is a closer milestone--might dictate one strategy while a more distance goal would suggest another. How do decide between the two?

Here’s an example. Let’s say that you are working on your PhD. Your immediate goal is completing your degree. Your bigger goal is to land a job at a top-notch university. Someone asks you to co-author a paper with them. The topic is not directly related to your dissertation. What do you do? The balancing act is around time, energy, and ROI (return on investment). If ROI is high (a very prestigious journal, well-known co-authors, a stunning result) then taking on the extra work might be worth it. If the ROI is low, it might be better to stick to your own work. Again, knowing what your intentions are is key.

2. Rigorously filter out activities that waste your time from your schedule and daily habits.
Returning to your core intention, create a phrase that describes what life is like you’re your goal is achieved. Phrases like “world famous neurosurgeon,” “top selling member of my team,” “best selling novelist.” Then, as you look at your activities each day, ask yourself, “What would I be doing if I were a certain I am going to be a [fill in your phrase here]?”

I can testify that this method has a stunning effect on what you stop doing. I’m working toward greatness, so my question is “What would I be doing if I were truly great?” This question put the quietus on checking email too frequently immediately. Truly great people do not waste time hovering over their inboxes.

The bottom line: Know what you want. Say no to what you don’t want. Don’t do things that don’t lead to what you want.

Remember the Milk and Thunderbird: eureka!

Hurray! Mike Wu's handy little extension for Thunderbird/Lightning is now up and running. To download go to: http://rtm.tbird.mwu.googlepages.com/home.

To get to the ReadMe, you'll need to use StuffIt Expander or similar on the .xpi file.

Here are some handy hints for you to smooth your installation:

1. If you haven't already done so, install Lightning.
2. Using Tools: Add-ons, install the xpi file.
3. In the Calendar view, go to New Calendar. You'll want to choose the "on the network" option and select: Remember the Milk Provider.
4. In task view, you should now have a task that tells you how to authentic the API that allows T-bird and RTM to communicate.

In following the instructions to authenticate, I encountered some confusion. Ultimately, I authorized the API by pasting the authentication URL directly into my browser, then deleting my first RTM network calendar and starting over. At that point, I pasted my usual RTM URL (the one with my user name in it) in the URL space below the Remember the Milk Provider choice. From that point on, the RTM Provider worked exactly as expected.

Enjoy!

GTD and Remember the Milk with Thunderbird, Revisited

I was talking to a fellow GTD geek the other day. One thing had been holding her back from taking off and getting the most out of GTD: lack of a trusted system. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about integrating Remember the Milk (RTM) with Thunderbird. I'm finding that RTM is a valuable and very trusted system for me now. I email tasks to myself using the list import feature, Jott tasks directly into RTM, and worry a lot less about forgetting things. Because my list is hosted on their server, I am much less concerned about losing it to a meltdown like the one I had a few weeks ago.

Geek that I am, however, I'm always looking for ways to make the system work a little better. Today, I learned about an add-on for T-bird called Lightning that allows integration of a calendar and task list. Check out the video above. I’ll be trying out Lightning ASAP and will report back to you on how it goes.

Another GTD’er turned me on to what looks like a great way to organize next actions and projects in RTM: check out this video by Ryan McGeary. (Thanks, Dan!).

Anyone else using RTM and T-bird for GTD? How’s it going for you?

Southern Crossings

I’ve been traveling for the past seven days. My mom was homesick--ready for the company of her sisters and the taste of southern food. I hadn’t been home in a long time so I agreed to accompany her as her chauffeur.

I drove to my hometown and started making phone calls. I saw people I hadn’t seen in years and years. I went to see the lady who used to take care of me when I was six years old--she took one look at me and said, “Girl, you favor yourself!” One conversation with a woman I went to high school with touched off a reunion with a friend I hadn’t seen in 30 years. People tell me I don’t look older and I’ve decided to forgive them all for lying to me like that.

To be honest, I’ve been in culture shock. People call me sugar whether we’ve met or not except for my younger cousins who call me “Miss Tara” and ma’am. Boys (and I do mean boys) flirt with me shamelessly. It’s not about me, of course, this is just what southern boys do. They’re good at it and they enjoy it. Me, too. When my friend told me about her daughter’s coming out party, I had to remind myself that she meant it was an introduction into high society, not that her daughter was a lesbian. One person proudly told me that his son was going to college at Oxford--Oxford, Mississippi, that is--at Ole Miss. Everywhere I go, people are dressed in camo. Not for hunting, but at the mall. I saw a girl in a sequined camo tank top with hunter orange short-shorts and pink flip flops the other day. She blended in nicely with all the other girls who were similarly attired.

When I got here, people asked me where I was from. They said I talked funny. When I get back to Oregon, I’ll get the same question--no telling how long it’ll be before I stop using y’all as an all purpose form of address. As in, “Where do y’all want to go eat?” or “What are y’all fixin’ to do?” The moment I knew I was really in the swing of things was when the following sentence came out of my mouth: “Y’all people are crazy down here.” This in response to a very large, jacked up 4-wheel drive pick up that came barreling around a curve on my side of the road. I slammed on the brakes but he smiled at me so charmingly that I immediately forgot what I was mad about. Did I mention that I’ve enjoyed all these southern boys?

I’d been away so long that I’ve committed many a faux pas. I’d forgotten how to peel crawfish and after being reminded how, I declined to suck the heads. Ordering ice tea was more complicated than I remembered--the waitresses look at my reprovingly and say, “Down here, we have sweet and un-sweet. Which do you want?” I’ve had enough sweet tea to float a houseboat and give me “sugar diabetes.”

Truthfully, though, I’ve had so much fun since I’ve been here that I’ve gained seven pounds and started calling everyone I meet “baby.” I was a nominal vegetarian when I got here. That had to go out the window as soon as I arrived. It’s because down here, every meal revolves around meat. The days begin with a big breakfast. All my aunts fix me bacon and eggs and while we’re drinking our coffee, lunch is being planned. Except they don’t call it lunch--it’s dinner. At dinner, we start talking about supper. Every meal includes dessert, coffee, and lots of conversation. People tell us their funniest stories and we all laugh so hard that tears roll down our faces.

They say you can’t go home again. And I guess that’s true. I don’t want to live down here. The fixation on bassfishing and lack of wireless access would get to me after a while. But a visit now and then is just fine. Now, if y’all excuse me, I have to decide where I’m going to dinner and think about what we’re having for supper--ok, baby?

How often are you creative and courageous?

When you take charge of your mind, you take charge of your life. When you understand your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and desires, you can direct them to any end you choose. Wisdom comes from taking the time to study yourself, to know why you are the person you are. Taking charge of your mind is a thoughtful, reflective, solitary process. Only you can come to understand the complex inner workings of your own mind, and you must be willing to spend the time and effort that gaining such insight requires.--Napoleon Hill

Ever feel like you’re trying to drink from a fire hose? Everything is coming at you in one huge gush: the email, the phone, text messages, drive-by interruptions, and all those pesky fires that seem to break out everywhere, all at once. And still, there’s that yearning. The yearning for some time to take a deep breath, get a handle on what’s important. How often do you have time to step out of the stream?

One thing I know for sure is that when I don’t take time to be reflective--what David Allen calls being creative and courageous--I quickly lose sight of what I’m working my tail off for. It happened just this week. I got caught up in all the busyness of my business. The weather turned from warm spring to cold and gloomy. My mood followed suit. I allowed myself to get really pessimistic. I forgot who was in charge of my mind: me.

Without time for reflection it is frightfully easy to get swept along by all the doing and forget about strategy. Why are you doing? What’s the purpose of your actions? In the end, you--and only you--are in charge of your mind, your actions, your responses. When you refuse to step out of the stream and participate in that “active, solitary process,” you sacrifice the opportunity to access great inner power.

How much time do you need to be creative and courageous? As much as it takes. Try it--even for one hour in the coming week. I challenge you to put an hour on your calendar, preferably away from your desk, and with pencil and paper, do some reflection. One of the most powerful questions I’ve ever used for this sort of thing is: “what am I pretending not to know about myself, that if acknowledged, could make a major difference for me?”

Accessing your inner power requires time and effort, yes, but when you understand and really know yourself, you acquire great freedom. Freedom to choose response over reaction. Freedom to go after instead of settle for. Freedom to play at a level ten instead of giving your second best. Freedom to be in charge of your own life.

What does the economy mean for small business?

We live in some interesting economic times. According to a report in the April 14, 2008 issue of Fortune, the current slowdown differs from previous slowdowns in one key way. Usually, the economy drags down the markets. Not this time. This time, the markets are dragging down the economy. I’m not an economist, so I can’t really explain how this market-economy relationship works. But the take home message is one that I got loud and clear.

It seems that this sort of slowdown has a sobering precedent. The last time it happened in the US was 1929.

It was in 1929 that the stock market melted down. The result was the Great Depression. Not many folks alive today remember the Great Depression and those that do were forever changed by it. If know someone who recycles, reuses, and buries money in Mason jars, you are probably looking at someone with a memory of the Great Depression.

One thing that really hurt folks back in 1929 was that when their banks failed, they lost everything. Banks still fail, y’all. According to the FDIC, three banks failed in 2007. In just the first three months of 2008, three more have failed. Global investment bank, Bear Stearns, tanked recently and got propped up by a buyer with some help from the Feds. And a big one is teetering on the edge: E*Trade just about went under a few weeks ago. According to published reports, the FDIC expects between 100-200 banks will fail over the next two years.

Yes, if your bank is federally insured, your deposits (up to $100,000) are considered safe. In fact, one report I read painted a somewhat rosy picture of bank failure. The quoted FDIC source said that if your bank goes under, probably some other bank will buy it and you won’t even notice. If there’s no buyer, then the FDIC is supposed to issue you a check within 48 hours. But imagine the drain on the FDIC insurance if many banks all go under at once. Will you really get a check in a few days? What happens to you in the meantime?

Regardless of pending bank failures, what the economic news means for the small business owner is that hard times lie ahead. Prices will be going up and spending will be going down. Consumer confidence is dropping like a rock. Personally, I’m taking a hard look at my own numbers and making decisions about how to invest my time, money, and energy very strategically. I’ll continue to do marketing. Because no marketing means no business. Additionally, I’m really looking at how to build better relationships with my fellow business people. It’s good to have friends—friends who can help each other out when times get tough.

Maybe I’m paranoid. Maybe I lost my confidence in the government’s ability to respond after Hurricane Katrina. Maybe I’m being all doom in gloom. But I know one thing, I’m convinced that having all my funds in a single financial institution is a bad idea.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go buy some Mason jars and a shovel.

Marketing Study Group cancelled today

My bridgeline provider "spit the bits" today so I couldn't do today's call. If you called in and couldn't log on, my apologies. I'll reschedule the call and get a new bridgeline number to you shortly.

In the meantime, there is something I've been meaning to do: St. Joseph, thank you so much for your help!!!

Confessions of a GTD Geek

I love getting things done. Not just the book, but the actual doing of things, completion and the accompanying feeling of accomplishment. Because I enjoy getting things done so much, I’m always on the look out for new tools and tricks to help me in my quest. A few weeks ago, I had a big computer meltdown. I used the subsequent rebuilding process as a chance to overhaul my system. Now that I’ve had a chance to test drive the new tools, tricks, and software, here’s my report to you.

For several years, I’ve used a paper-based calendar: a homemade week-at-one-glance, and a homemade day-at-one-glance, with a Covey yearlong planning calendar for long range date capture. Just before the big meltdown, I started using iCal synched with an iPod Touch and backed up to my laptop via an older iPod.

After I recovered my files (some of them, anyway), I exported all my contacts out of Entourage (the Mac version of Outlook) and now use Mac’s native Address Book. One of my gripes with Entourage was that I could not export all the notes. I ended up copying all my notes into Excel and importing them into Address Book. Now, I have all my log ins and password hints (not the actual passwords themselves!) in one place, portable and safely backed up.

The biggest change was the switch to Thunderbird. After reading all the posts on GTD and Thunderbird at Entropic Principle (EP), I created separate in boxes for all of my email accounts (I have four that I check daily). Following the advice EP provided, I created a saved search and instituted a coding system to triage and tag everything that comes in. Using the colors that T-bird provides, I can now look at my saved search and see that green is “waiting for,” blue means needs action, pink indicates something that needs my review, etc. If there is no color associated with a message, it means I haven’t triaged it—when everything is in color, I know it’s all been handled and has a decision attached to it. This was a huge improvement for me. I’m still getting used to not seeing empty inboxes (which I greatly love to see) but on the other hand, my processing speed and efficiency has improved.

At the same time I switched to T-bird for email, I got really serious about using Remember the Milk (RTM). RTM is a dynamite (and free!) web-based task management tool. It rocks. It took me a few minutes to set up and learn the basic key strokes. I set up an RSS feed into T-bird and added RTM as an email contact. Now, when I process email, I start an email to RTM. As I identify next actions, I list those into the email to RTM. I hit send and POOF! My list appears in RTM. The really cool part is that T-bird subscribes to RTM so that my task list automatically appears in my in box. I triage tasks just like email so that all my next actions whether email or separate tasks appear in a single, handy list.

Last week, I got serious about getting contexts into my RTM tasks. For now, each task is written as: “Context subject/project next action.” For example, when I’m waiting for an email that is needed to place a call, the task looks like: “@wf Barb phone number for Alicia.”

The last piece of the puzzle is Jott. Jott is an unbelievably free, reliable service for capturing messages when you can’t get to email. I programmed Jott’s number into my cell and Jott myself all the time. The Jott messages show up in my inbox. Now, however, I’m Jotting to RTM. That means that my tasks don’t have to be transcribed from email, now those simple go from my voice into my inbox.

The funny thing about all this technology is that once I got it set up, it’s very simple to use. I feel more comfortable and trust my system more than ever. The only slip up I’ve noted has been when I failed to synch my iPod and missed a recent appointment (sorry, Nan!). Other than that, it seems to work very well.

So there you have it, that’s an in-the-weeds, runway view of my system. Hope you find it helpful. Got questions—no problem—email me. I love to talk about GTD. You might also enjoy listening to the podcast of the GTD group I facilitate. Check it out here.

More than 15 Minutes: Earn media attention and achieve expert status

If you’re in the process of getting people to know, like, and trust you on the way to some action—like buy, hire, donate, or volunteer—then you need to give some thought to how you’ll get media attention for your organization or effort.

Anytime you or your organization is mentioned on someone’s website, in the newspaper, a newsletter, on television, or anywhere else that your target market catches sight of you, that’s media attention. The most desirable sort of media attention is positive—it puts you in a good light and gives people a reason to like and trust you. Media attention is not advertising; it’s not something you can buy. Instead, media attention (from the Duct Tape Marketing perspective) is earned.

So how do you go about earning the right kind of media attention? Here are a few simple steps you can take to start.

• Identify the media target. Just as when you think carefully about who you’re marketing to, you’ll need a similar process to identify exactly the right media source to aim your efforts toward. What source does your target market admire and depend on for trusted info?
• Do your homework. It’s not enough to know that your target market reads a particular publication, you have to read it, too. You’ll learn more about the subjects your prospects are reading about as well as getting a handle on the sorts of stories your media outlet is interested in.
• Pay your dues. Once you’ve done your homework, you’ll need to pay your dues by starting small. Say you’re aiming for expert status in your own community. Check out the blogs written by the local reporter who covers news relevant to your field. Read their blog; submit your comments. A word of caution: always comment in a way that is relevant, professional, and on topic—spam will can your efforts in a hurry.
• Show up. Show up regularly and consistently with your core marketing message. Don’t just send a single press release or a news item and then stop. Put it on your calendar and send your items regularly. I’ve heard it said that it may take six or seven exposures before someone actually notices a marketing effort. Your news source is the same way; it may take several tries before you start to show up on their radar.

In the end, earning media attention is much like earning the attention of your prospects. It’s a process of know, like, and trust on your way to getting recognized. And once you get recognized and live up to your growing reputation, you’re well on your way to a good bit more than 15 minutes of fame.

Want to know more about earning media attention and achieving expert status? This month’s Marketing Study Group meets on Thursday, April 10, at 1 pm Eastern to dig deeper into the important topic. Want to join the live call? Email me or call 541-738-6339 for more info. To automatically receive the podcast for this and other great topics subscribe to this feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ZugunruheTalks using iTunes or your favorite podcatcher.