Category: Keeping Projects Moving

Do Not Stop

Never give up on your desires and what you want to do. We’re talking about the core of you.

You may have to pivot to go around a boulder, and you may have to realign goals to make the best use of resources. It often happens when you explore out in the woods. Many of us are entrepreneurs, and as such, we search the landscape of needs and sales to others.

We may need to polish or change our approach, product, or our marketing. Each of these changes helps our product to grow. We do not give up on our product if it is something that can help others succeed. And we do not give up on ourselves or the people who back us.

How will you position your products to do the best they can for others?

Obstacles

In the part of the country I live in, spring is an exciting time. We get most of our snow in March and April. We have had snow in the city as late as June. When it comes to stepping up to spring, and the growing summer season, we are a little bit one step forward and one step back.

Once we determine to do something the one step forward in our lives and our jobs, it is a reasonable means of propulsion. Unfortunately, the one step back seems to be a significant deviation from our plans. Once we have determined to go forward, we’d rather not have things that tend to block our way or slow us down. Needing to slow down or deviate due to conditions we cannot control is painful. 

Once you set your plans in motion, what seems to be the obstacles that get in your way or slow you down?

Keep Moving

Sharks are always moving. Sharks need to move to keep finding food and to force water over their gills so they can have oxygen to breathe. If you have a dream, you have to keep moving just like the shark. Sharks move to eat and breathe, or else they would die. You need to keep moving toward your dreams, or else those dreams could die.

If you have a dream and you want to follow it, you need to keep moving in that direction.  Sometimes the conditions are right, and you make significant headway. Sometimes many obstacles clutter the landscape and get in your way.  It does not matter if it is infrastructure, marketing, or the weather. You want to keep on looking at finding the workarounds.

If it snows one day, and you take a day off to do other things, that gives you time to breathe, reflect, and do something a little different. That is a good thing because everyone, from time to time, will need a rest. If it snows every week and you’re taking time off, you’re losing ground required for getting to your goal.

If you have a laptop, you could work just about anywhere. Although some of the venues are more conducive to work than others. Do your best and maybe make a list of what you could do best where. That way, if circumstances cause you not to be where you usually work, you have a list of things you can do wherever you find yourself.

The idea is to minimize the obstacles that get in your way and prevent you from making progress towards your goals.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Believe In Your Work

If you’re going to do anything, you have to believe. You have to trust that you can learn to accomplish what you set out to do. You have to think it’s all right to make a mistake, or two, or three, or a dozen times, or even a gross of times. I believe it was Albert Einstein who said, “If you haven’t made a mistake you’ve never tried anything new.” All of this starts with someone believing in possibilities.

If you really, honestly, truly believe you can, then no one can stop you. If you really, honestly, think that you cannot, then you’re probably right. If it has to be done and you have no faith in your ability, then possibly you should turn the project over to someone who believes they can.

It is okay to be nervous, or scared, or panicky as you try something new. This is part of being human. And despite your best efforts, you have to realize that the first time you do, it will not be the apex of your creative goals. There will be lows and highs, setbacks and insights, failures and breakthroughs. Exactly how many times did Thomas Edison test different elements for the lightbulb? I am not sure, but the number 76 seems to stick in my mind.

If you are interested enough to do the work to get it right, you will eventually succeed. Just never give up trying. Never let others talk you out of your successes because of their lack of faith. Keep your faith and keep it close to you.

Realize what success will do for you, and realize what the success of your project can do to positively affect others. Never give up, never given, and never give out. Stay your course of what you know is right and always push towards the next goal.

I know you’re busy right now, and I don’t want to beat this point to death. If you pass a mirror along your way and see your reflection, tell yourself you are doing well and yes you will be okay.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Back in the Electronic Age

I often make a joke about what would happen if all of our modern electronics suddenly stop working. Do you know what would happen? We would be thrown back all the way to the 1970s.

Some people feel that modern electronics is more of a hindrance than it is a convenience. I was able to decide for myself this week as my incredible four-year-old phone’s battery died. As I began to miss important calls, and meetings with my accountability coach, I started to feel the years melting backward.

 Four years is not a long time, yet I started by looking at getting a new phone. Because I was in the middle of a plan change, I was not authorized to purchase a new phone online. I was told to go to a local store.

I went to a store in the mall, and the clerk advised me to go to the repair center for a new battery. The repair center was amazed that the phone’s battery had lasted the four years and they asked me what I wanted to do. It turns out four-year-old phone batteries are not always available, even at the repair center.

The people at the repair center were very kind though.  They checked out my account online and helped guide me to a phone that would do what I needed and fit into my limited budget.  They made the transition fast and even transferred my apps and data from my old phone to my new one. 

I truly appreciated the folks who helped me, and I am in a far better place than I was two days ago.  For now, I am comfortably back in the electronic age and ready to move forward into Tomorrowland.

If you have a chance, please give me a call.

I hope we can be together again tomorrow.

 

The Leader Within

Have you ever been working a project and somewhere towards the latter middle stage it starts to stagnate? This happens to many people, including myself. The significant action is to move past the lull, and forward with the project.

At times, and for many reasons, moving forward through a lull is hard to accomplish. And many times, having a project slow down can cause it to be shelved for months or even years. Many great projects, once slowed down and tied up in red tape, falter and fail. Not because they weren’t fantastic ideas, because they lost the momentum to find completion.

This is where real leadership stands out and does its best. It takes a real leader to understand the value of a project, and the return on investment the project can bring back to the business. A real leader can often spot the concerns which would bog down a plan and take steps to prevent the slow down before it occurs.

Now, I have a secret nugget of wisdom for you. There is a real leader within each and every one of us. The leader is there waiting to be encouraged and brought forward. The real leader will put the need of the project, and the needs of the people ahead of the fear of standing out or being noticed. The real leader is not as worried about ridicule or words sent her or his way,  as much as she or he cares about positive outcomes.

You hear many people say that the idea is great, only they can’t do it. Most people, though, will be able to encourage others and keep the project moving if they just try.

It takes courage the first time you stand to lead because you haven’t done it before. And yet, the more you do it, the easier it can become, and the more people will look up to you as the ‘can-do’ person.

Do not go out and look for a stalled project that you can elbow your way into. Just keep your eyes open and work your projects as they come up. If you keep them rolling on a positive track, people will sit up and notice.

Thanks for reading today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

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