The Tortoise and the Hare

One day a hare saw a tortoise walking slowly along and began to laugh and mock him. The hare challenged the tortoise to a race and the tortoise accepted. They agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he’d sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race.

He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise, plodding on, overtook him and finished the race. The hare woke up and realized that he had lost the race.

Wikipedia Article – The Tortoise and the Hare

wii lan adapter shopping

I am looking for a Wii Lan Adapter, and really don’t know much. Amazon seems to have three ( one, two, three) options.

Will just a generic USB to Lan adapter work (it’s cheaper, though still not gigabit)?

Any suggestions and/or recommendations?

Android Party?

Save the Date for PodcampNashville3 – March 6th

PodcampNashville3 will be held on Saturday, March 6, 2010 – save that date now.

Years ago I went to the Mercy Lounge one Saturday, not for a concert or drinks at the bar (though those were available), but for a time of meeting, learning, and socializing with people involved in or interested in Podcasting. It was an ok event, with one stage, and some break out areas. The best thing I took away from that day was meeting Cliff Ravenscraft in person for the first time and being able to get to know him.

The next year, around the same time, came PodcampNashville2, this time at the Vanderbilt Owen School. That year I live bloged some notes. Lots of rooms, lots more people, lots more fun, and I did not make the mistake I had the first year – I stayed for the after party.

That fall I decided to go to BarCampNashville – many of the same people *work* both events, but I picked up on something additional that applies to both events: most everyone at both events is interested in learning, helping people, building ventures (could be their own business, or their own department), and something involving either better communications or technology.

It was at Barcamp 2009 that I decided that I would just go ahead and start planning each year to be at each event (podcamp and barcamp Nashville) if not any other reason to support such a great community of people striving to grow themselves or a venture to help others.

I’ll tell you more, and probably review some of my past notes (beyond any posts I can find), but today I advise and encourage you to make plans to be at PodcampNashville3. I’ll also be looking to be at a gathering of people the Friday Night before, either somewhere in Nashville, Cool Springs, or Murfreesboro area.

When you decide to attend PodcampNashville3 on March 6th, let me know & I’ll add you to a list of people to remind when more information comes out.

Paint The Picture

Today, not tomorrow, or at least the next time you are inspired to (for me it sometimes takes some time to get in the right “mood”) I want you to do something for your biggest project:

Paint a Picture

Use words, crayons, photoshop, clay, mud, or whatever media is best for you, just get that first vision captured in a tangible, or electronic form.

The topic? Your vision for that project. What you want or strive to have it be, and do.

This might be in regards to an organization you are working with (job, non-profit, start up, team, etc) or even your personal life. My plan is to do this with every major project that I am the champion of, including, but not limited to my personal website, a not-for-profit Real Estate Investor organization that I am committed to help, and a portion of the Boy Scouts of America.

Just writing this post is a part of this process for me. It’s a part of my systems. First to provide me some accountability, but also to share with people I am working with, or supporting. This is something I really want my clients and business partners to do. Not for me to “approve” or “disapprove” but first for them to remember and gain better understanding of themselves, and then to help me understand how I can better help them.

Once complete in one form, I might strive to make it in additional media. Since talking is sometimes the easiest I might start there, and then move to text, or a visual medium. Having those two versions is also important because it helps the iterative improvement process.

One thing I tend to do when building a system or business is to talk to lots of people about the idea. Even if the other people have nothing of value for me; the act of explaining, or telling the story, or painting the picture in and of itself helps me to improve the plans in real time. Thus, if you write out on a piece of paper your future story, taking and putting it into a computer will improve it, because you are working with it again.

Over the course of this year, I intend to review, revise, and rework the pictures I have painted in the past. This in turn will help me to be more focused on my goals, more motivated to get more done, and in the end more productive.

What is the picture you are working to create?

NHL Winter Classic 2010

One Hockey Game that I really enjoy watching each year has been the Winter Classic. Starting a few years ago, the game has been played outside January 1st in a baseball stadium; this year in Fenway Park. One year it even snowed during the game.

Here is a time laps of them building the ice:

I think I am going to Tivo the game, then watch it later that evening, if you wanna join me let me know.

defining faith

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

~Hebrews 11:1

because of the past

Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

~ Warren Buffet

never surrender

Success seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.

~ Conrad Hilton, founder, Hilton Hotels

if money were not an object

One common method for helping people discover their hedgehog concept/blue flame/purpose/mission in life is to ask the individual “If money were not an object, what would you do with your time?”

Other times speakers, authors, career and business coaches mention the “big why”: why are you doing what you are doing? Why are you pursuing your current path? And generally they stipulate that it is not, and cannot be, just because of money. Nobody (well, more or less) really wants little green pieces of paper, they want something else.

In the book Go Put Your Strengths to Work, there is an exercise where for a week whenever you get strong positive emotions from a situation or gained strength form an event, you write down on a card what was going on, and for strong negative or draining events – you do the same. At the end of a week you separate the cards and basically go through looking for patterns: what specific “who, what, when, where, and/or why” caused you to gain or loose strength? This exercise should help you:

1. gain better understanding of yourself and what makes you tick, and
2. provide guidance as to what you should do more of and less of.

This exercise is more difficult with an organization. It is not just one person, but the goals should be the same: gain a deeper understanding of what makes the organization tick & what the organization should be doing.

What if the first question when a new idea was brought up to a governing board was not “how much” or “how can we pay for it” but “does this help us achieve our purpose in life?” If that answer is “yes”, then the next questions should be “does it grow the organization in one of our primary resource areas (time, money, or brand)?” followed by, “do we have the strength & resources to make it happen?” Granted, there would be times when the answer to the last question is so obvious that the first two questions would not need a lot of time or energy spent when thinking about the projects. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to begin by asking and focusing on supporting the mission of the organization first and foremost?

I think the challenge I would give to you, future leaders and others, is to go back to whatever your fundamental business building material is. It could be an industry specific focus or not. Go through it again and each time the media asks a question or proposes a direction you should ask, “how should <enter org name here> answer this question?” or “how does this apply to <enter org name here>?”

Odds are many of the questions & plans will apply. If none of the thoughts in the media apply to each organization you are working with then you should probably find a better basis to build your career/personal life around.

If money were not an object, what would <enter org name here> do? Now, we should put all resources required for success behind that, if we possibly can, and do it. Then we should figure out what the “if we could do one more, then what would it be?” and do that.

It applies to you as an individual just as much as it does to every organization you have some level of influence on.

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