Write Down Your Goals

Newbury Street had a friend in me on Saturday, ’cause man did I shop the hell out of it.

On a fact-finding mission for prices on snazzy shoes and blazers / sport coats (what’s the difference?), I’d briefly chat up the retail folk and then break their little hearts; I am not currently at a place where I can spend $400 to $600 on a jacket. I had always wanted to roll through the Back Bay with my homie named Visa, but you need almost a full day and the energy and… a reason. I had all three.

The reason came from writing goals down. This creates focus.

You may have lots of reasons to do things, but the ones you write down, and especially the ones you look at with some frequency, are the ones that get to the forefront of your unconscious. Napoleon Hill dedicates a whole chapter to the concept in ‘Think And Grow Rich’, where he says the subconscious mind first acts on dominating thoughts and feelings (like faith), so make your desires clear: reduce them to writing. He goes on to talk about the next step: flashes / hunches / inspirations. Rhonda Byrne’s ‘The Secret’ refers to these as inspired actions, where you are acting on instincts.

I could have (should have) dove into much delayed Spring cleaning, but instead I went with my gut and did something unusual, yet something in line with one of my goals: acquire a collection of jackets.

Mission accomplished. Thank you, Marshall’s. On Boylston Street.

Bow Ties and Shoelaces

Time for a new identity!

Or not.

Maybe you just came out of a relationship. (You cut your hair / sport a goatee / get your ear pierced.) Maybe you moved town. (You look for a new set of friends.) Maybe you’re digging deeper into or taking on a new hobby. (You try on a relevant persona.) Maybe I found my voice and direction in life. (I buy bow ties and shoelaces.)

It’s funny how it happens. I’ve heard it said, and I’m sure you’ve experienced it: there is an inner change that is reflected externally. What appeals to you evolves and you take on new things that make you say, “This isn’t something I would normally do! This isn’t me!” And yet, here I am, buying bow ties, an article of clothing I have not worn since performing at piano recitals as a kid. And yet, here I am, buying shoelaces, because, well, I’m suddenly inclined to wear bright colored laces with darker shoes. (If this becomes a thing, you read it here, first!) Both these inspired and fun style changes are happening right after finding my life vector.

Tell me I’m not the only one experiencing this.

Death and The Night

So… how about this: let’s die well.

When we die, let’s do that whole death thing with a sense of peace, however & whenever that ends up happening. It’s gonna happen, and when it does, when you’re right up against that point, there’s stuff that’ll go through your head. What do you want to be thinking? As I’ve shared a week ago, I like the idea of lying on my death bed and knowing I’ve given my greatest gift.

Besides living each day as if it were your last, or as if you’re already dead, to get the most out of life… death seems pretty far away. So is that feeling of impending end as a motivator for giving your greatest gift. So let’s scale down both the severity of death and how far it is in the future – let’s call this the night. Let’s re-do the previous paragraph, replacing ‘death’ with ‘sleep’.

When we sleep, let’s do that whole sleep thing with a sense of peace, however & whenever that ends up happening. It’s gonna happen, and when it does, when you’re up against that point, there’s stuff that’ll go through your head. What do you want to be thinking? As I’ve shared a week ago, I like the idea of lying on my sleep bed and knowing I’ve given my greatest gift.

Now, Steve Pavlina on his blog has a great post that covers one way to simulate the death bed scene, except with way less drama, ’cause I’m in my Stewie-from-Family-Guy PJ’s. The following, lifted from his article on The Power of Clarity, is what I keep in mind as I go about my day. Give it a shot.

I was once told by someone that I should end each day by crossing it off my calendar and saying out loud, “There goes another day of my life, never to return again.” Try this for yourself, and notice how much it sharpens your focus. When you end a day with the feeling that you would have lived it the same if you had the chance to repeat it, you gain a sense of gratitude that helps you focus on what’s really important to you. When you end the day with a feeling of regret or loss, you gain the awareness to try a different approach the next day.

You Have Good Taste

I ran across a quote from Ira Glass while reading Signal vs. Noise, the blog by the guys at 37signals (two of the guys from that crew wrote Rework). Of course, the quote was in posterized form – I’m guessing this guy was inspired. Enjoy.

Ira Glass Quote

Just in case you can’t get the above pic, I’ve written it out for ya. Enjoy. Again.

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners – I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.

Top of Your Todo List

Paul Graham is an expert in the Lisp programming language, co-founder of the tech incubator Y Combinator, and writes at paulgraham.com on entrepreneurship, hackers, and, in his last post, life: The Top of My Todo List.

It’s short and intersects with the spirit of my last three blog posts. Here is the punch line:

Don’t ignore your dreams; don’t work too much; say what you think; cultivate friendships; be happy.

I have heard that one of the big goals of life is essentially to die well: to lie on your death bed and know you’ve given your greatest gift. Paul sums this up: don’t be a cog. I like how Chris Guillebeau phrases it in ‘The $100 Startup’, which is actually from Steve Jobs: Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

Read Paul’s essay here.