Escape from Cubicle Nation

Frustrated by stalled progress? Celebrate small wins

Who among you has not felt frustrated by stalled progress on your dreams, and the seemingly endless flow of tasks to complete?

I firmly believe that we make real progress in our lives when we don't just look to huge wins and the realization of ambitious goals as success, but rather celebrate the small ways that we make meaning, add value and enjoy our lives on a daily basis.

This month's ezine article tackles this topic, and encourages you to applaud your small wins so that you create a general positive forward momentum in your life instead of berating yourself because you aren't making the progress you desire on big projects.

As an example, I found insight and growth from the following tasks this weekend that some of you might consider terribly mundane:

• Completing 5 loads of laundry without complaining or leaving a load to mold in the washer because I was too lazy to throw it in the dryer.
  
  Takeaway:  If I don't spend hours obsessing over why I detest a task so much and just start doing it, it will be over before I know it and I will feel great that it is taken care of.
• Surviving a day of at least thirteen two-year old toddler meltdowns involving varying degrees of screaming, tears, flailing limbs and heartbreaking expressions, all while keeping my cool and only resorting to bribery by candy once.
  
  Takeaway:  Deal with conflict and anger in a calm, patient way and call in reinforcements when it gets to be too much.  Maintain a sense of humor in the face of adversity and stay centered on the long-term benefit of the conflict.
• Cleaning up my desk and inbox and organizing my projects into folders. 
  
  Takeaway:  When work becomes overwhelming, stop, clean up, organize and prioritize.  Clutter in your environment contributes to clutter in your brain.

By focusing on little wins and seeing the lessons in everyday tasks, you will cultivate an attitude of growth and gratitude that will make your life more interesting, energized and pleasant.

Most importantly, you won't waste your valuable emotional energy beating yourself up and can get moving on making progress on your goals.

The full article is here.

How do you celebrate the small wins?  Do you think it makes a difference, or do you find that tough self love clobbers you into high gear?

You CAN do good and do well

(click image to enlarge)

I know that there are a lot of good-hearted people out there who want to use their lives to make positive change in the world, but who also have the entrepreneurial bug and need to take care of their families.  Contrary to popularly-held beliefs which say that you must forgo any material comfort in order to save the world, you can create a good life as a social entrepreneur.

For today's radio show, I am interviewing the dynamic Amalia Souza, director of CASA (Center for Social-Environmental Support) in Brazil, and serial globe-trotting social entrepreneur.  Amalia has done so many things in her 20+ years since college, from working in over 50 countries, to helping install computer networks in Africa, to facilitating delicate meetings between Amazonian tribes and non-governmental organizations to working with North American foundations to increase the level of funding from the U.S. to international locations.

She also happens to be a good friend and my former college roommate.  So I am very delighted to talk to her about the key things she has learned about how to affect positive change while still having a free, interesting and comfortable life.

Show details:

Date:  Friday, April 27
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  You CAN do good and do well:  lessons from a social entrepreneur
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Package your smarts so you can make money in your sleep

The words "passive revenue stream" have always been quite musical in my ears as I imagined the joy of getting my toes painted while knowing that hundreds of customers from all over the world were happily typing their credit card numbers to download electronic products from my website. 

"Passive" may be a bit misleading, as there is very active work required to create and market an information product.  The key, however, is that once you have put the work into creating it, you can set up systems to sell it on your site which don't require your effort or time.  Contrast this with a live workshop you may teach ... even if you teach the same content over and over again, you are required to spend your time traveling to and from the workshop location and teaching the class.

What exactly is an information product?

Information products can include things like:

• An electronic book or workbook, most commonly known as an "e-book"
• An audio program available either as an Mp3 download or a CD set
• A web-based training program which could include multiple media, including video, audio and written information

The main reason to create an info product is to package your acquired wisdom into a tangible product that does not require your physical presence to be useful.  This can supplement your income and greatly expand your potential market. 

Some examples:

• You are a financial planner and work with individuals in a 50-mile radius of your office.  You find that you go over the same financial planning framework with all new clients, and have started to create some worksheets to help people organize their finances so that they get a clear picture of where they stand.  You could create an information product that included an audio introduction for each step of the process, detailed worksheets, and an on-line budgeting calculator.  This tool would be useful to many, many people outside your geographic area.
• You are a life coach and have a very unique way of walking clients through a visioning exercise using collages.  You conduct workshops using these techniques and meet with individual clients in your office.  You could create an information product that includes video of the collage making process, a list of tools and materials required, and templates to help people debrief their collage in writing.

Some of the information products that I have personally used and gotten a lot of value from include:

• The Infoguru Marketing Manual, created by Robert Middleton at Action Plan Marketing. 
• Build a Better Blog by Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman of The Blog Squad.
• The Book Sistah's 21 Step Guide to Writing, Publishing and Marketing a Book by my friend Sophronia Scott, aka The Book Sistah
• Pink Spoon Marketing by my brilliant coaching buddies Andrea Lee and Tina Forsyth

You'll notice that most of these products come with very lengthy online sales letters, which are the norm for many of the higher dollar information products.  There has been a lot of research and study done about these letters which point to high sales.  Some people find them overly long and detailed and filled with hype, but I think you can see some good examples here of where the value is clearly described, and the personality of the seller comes through.

My office partner in crime Suzanne, who I raved about in another post (if she ever decides to leave me, I will hold on to her feet and sob like a pathetic lover who has been dumped) just created an e-book called Organized for Success!  Get Organized and Stay Organized where she outlines some of the key strategies she uses as a professional organizer to get new home offices in shape.  She includes things like identifying your organizing style, managing your routine, and has a product guide where you can order nifty organizing tools online.

If you are interested in creating your own e-product, most experts suggest starting with researching the key needs and problems of your target audience.  If you have worked with clients for a long time already, this should be intuitive.  If not, you may want to spend some time visiting forums frequented by your target audience, reading magazines they subscribe to, and talking with them in person as much as you can.

And you don't have to create a paid e-book ... Seth Godin suggests giving one away for free to build buzz, much like he did with his "Unleashing the Ideavirus" book that he estimates has been downloaded on 2,000,000 computers.  Not bad for spreading the word about your expertise.

Which information products have you found to be really useful and worth your investment?  What ideas do you have for creating your own?

Controversy is good: go ahead, disagree with me!

If you were raised in a conflict-averse household like I was, you may find that this early history seeps into your business and you are afraid to upset anyone with a controversial product or service.

Big mistake!

The most successful (and interesting) businesses take a stand and create something different, unique, and meaningful for their target market.  You should be no different.

I was very inspired by Guy Kawasaki's take on this from The Art of the Start:

"Polarize people.  When you create a product or service that some people love, don't be surprised if some people hate it.  Your goal is to catalyze passion:  pro or anti.  Don't be offended if people take issue with what you have done; the only result that should offend (and scare) you is lack of interest."

This week's 6-minute podcast expands on this thought, and offers a few strategies for taking a stand while designing your business:

• Create from the heart and soul.  Let your rational mind have its place in the design process, but by no means let it lead. 
• Speak clearly and speak the truth.  My take on why Bob Sutton's book The No Asshole Rule is a success, and why it would have been so much less effective with a watered-down title such as Don't be a Jerk in the Workplace or The Successful Manager's Handbook.
• Know your niche.  If your urban youth-targeted product offends your wife or mother, you have a winner.
• Embrace your detractors. Learn to decipher useful information amidst snide personal comments.  Decide who to care about and when to delete offending messages, lest they stink up your inbox.
• Don't back peddle.  Tweaks and enhancements are good.  Total redesign to accommodate many diverse segments of a market will lead to watered down products and "design by committee," a phenomenon that should strike fear in the hearts of any corporate employee who has lived through it.

Finally, I want to distinguish between being bold or controversial for its own sake rather than as a means to create something of use, value or beauty for a specific group of people.  Ann Coulter is  my poster girl for the "rile em up, consequences be damned" approach to creating controversy.   I could be wrong, but it seems like little value comes from, as Bob Sutton would say, acting like an asshole for its own sake.  I don't imagine that I have one Coulter fan in my blog feed, but if I do, please point out where I am missing the boat.  Just refrain from the personal insults, ok?

Go here to listen to or download the podcast.   If you want to subscribe to the feed, here it is.

Nice Wall St. Journal Online Small Biz Blog List

Today's Startup Journal (part of the Wall St. Journal online) has a feature on what small business owners can learn from blogs.  I am thrilled that Escape from Cubicle Nation made the list, and invite you to check out the others, some of which I am familiar with, and others that I am eager to check out.  The list includes:

• Work Happy
• Franchise Pundit
• Young Go Getter
• Biz Bang Buzz
• Venture Capital Cafe
• Marketing Blog
• Small Business Trends
• The Invent Blog
• How to Change the World

For new readers from the WSJ, here is a sample of writing from this blog to give you a taste of what's here:

My swan song to corporate consulting which caused quite a stir for a few days (drew 20,000 hits and 400 incoming links the first 2 days .. a record for this blog!)
Open letter to CXOs across the corporate world

Follow up letter to corporate employees:
Open letter to employees across the corporate world

Managing your life topics if you are or are considering becoming an entrepreneur:
Avoid becoming the stressed-out, overworked entrepreneur
Overwhelmed with too much to do?  Outsource everything possible

Building your business and networking:
How to avoid fright-inducing link sharing and networking techniques
How can you find great mentors?
How do you introduce yourself?

Developing the mindset of an entrepreneur:
5 ways to get out of "job" mentality when starting a business
Here is a picture of my 10 million dollar yacht

Overcoming fears:
Is there a sure-fire way to know if your new business will be a success?
Is starting a small business impossible if you are the sole income earner in your family?
Why is it so scary to go from corporate drone to entrepreneur?

Finally, a popular post on operating in a global environment that has excellent tips from readers in the comments section:
How not to be a cultural knucklehead in a global business world

Welcome new readers, and thank you to all of you who have frequented and contributed to this blog!

Hot topic for cube dwellers ... how to prepare financially to start your own biz

This week on the radio show, I am interviewing Lynnette Khalfani, a former Wall St. Journal reporter for CNBC, on the topic of preparing financially for the move from employee to entrepreneur.  She has written a number of successful books including Zero Debt, The Money Coach's Guide to Your First Million, and her new one, Zero Debt for College Grads (for those of you in your 20s, 30s or 40s, who are still paying off student loans).  She also recently appeared on Oprah, so decided that the next logical step was to appear on my radio show.  (Hah!  A girl can dream.  Honestly, she is a very nice and down to earth person, and I feel very lucky that she agreed to appear on the show.)

I know that this is a HOT topic for a lot of cube dwellers who really worry about how to self-fund benefits, plan for cash flow,  decide how much personal debt is appropriate to bring into self-employment, and a whole host of other concerns.

I am writing the interview questions right now (yes, I script the shows the day before ... keeps things fresh, and frankly, I am worthless without a real deadline).  I would LOVE to get some of your specific questions and concerns for Lynnette so that we can address them on the show tomorrow.  Leave the questions here in the comments, or send me an email to pcs (at) ganas (dot) com.  Please put "Questions for Lynnette" as the subject line.

Date:  Friday, April 20
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  The corporate employee's guide to preparing for entrepreneurship
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Searching for your perspective on the timeless "what work am I meant to do?" question

One of the best parts of my work is helping people figure out deep and meaningful personal questions such as "What am I meant to do with my life?"  It is also one of the most challenging parts of my work, since the process to discover the answer is totally different for different individuals.  Through my own life experience and witnessing those of others, I am convinced that the process, loosely defined, contains some of the following elements:

• Commitment to finding an answer.  Not being satisfied that your current life is "as good as it gets," you want to continually evolve and grow and get more and more in the flow of work you are meant to do.  This is different than being perpetually dissatisfied ... it is more a continued commitment to stay engaged and happy with what you are doing.
• Research, analysis and attention to the external world.  It is important to expand your view of work from that which you have experienced personally to all the different ways work is done in the world.  This will give you new ideas for both what you could do and how you could do it.
• Quiet, internal reflection where you tune into your intuitive and emotional self for answers.  This mainly involves listening to your internal voice and gently quieting the one that screams "but how can you ever make money at that?" or "what kind of responsible corporate father wants to become a pastry chef?"
• Healthy, supportive environments where you feel safe to explore alternative ways to view yourself and the world, and are surrounded by people who like to do the same.  These can be on-line or in person, and include the most important environment you frequent, your home.
• Attention to and reflection on the work you do every day.  When do you feel energized?  What drains you?  What are you excited to learn about?
• Participation in a wide variety of formal and non-formal learning activities.  This allows you to test new areas that you are interested in, surround yourself with others interested in the same topic, and develop specific knowledge and skills in new areas of interest.
• Engagement in creative and physical endeavors.  This includes everything from visiting a favorite hiking trail to seeing an art exhibit.  Although I have a hard time describing it rationally, there is something very important in this process about tuning into your body and expressing yourself creatively.
  

In my own journey to discover the work that I am passionate about, I did the following assortment of things:

• Voracious reading
• Workshops where I focused on this question exclusively, such as with my mentor Martha Beck
• A trip to the top of Machu Picchu in Peru
• Years of martial arts training where I pushed myself to the edge of my physical and mental limits
• Years of doing creative work and reflecting on what I liked and didn't like
• Experience living for extended periods of time in other parts of the world
• A slew of personal assessments such as the DiSC and Myers-Briggs
• Some miserable personal and professional situations where I felt what it was like to not be doing work I was meant to do
• Writing, blogging, and connecting with those I am interested in working with
• Many conversations with my best friend Desiree and husband Darryl

I have taken some stabs at writing about this topic here:

5 ways to discover what you are meant to do with your life
Prologue to 5 ways to discover what you are meant to do with your life
Don't know what you want?  A picture paints a thousand words
Why do some struggle with their life purpose while others seem born knowing it?
Is "do what you love the money will follow" a bunch of new age crap?
Go in search of your people
The sweet spot of your work

But despite the fact that I feel extremely excited by my work, I still struggle with finding the best ways to help others answer the question: What work am I meant to do?  So I was curious:

• For those of you who have figured this question out, what was your process?
• For those of you who work with others to figure this question out, what tools do you find the most helpful?  Feel free to be very specific, and include links to books or URLs, even if they are your own!  No shame in self-promotion here, if what you have to offer is relevant to the topic and audience.
• For those that are still figuring this question out, what has worked for you so far?  What are your biggest stumbling blocks?

I don't believe there is a magic potion to quench this deep personal thirst, as it is part of what gives each of us spice and intrigue as we journey through our life.  What else would drive us to the top of mountains in Nepal, into jungles in the Amazon, to quiet cathedrals, temples or mosques or to enroll in yoga classes where we gaze at our belly buttons looking for meaning and purpose?

But I do find the pursuit of helping others answer this question to be a very interesting and exciting thing to do for the next decade or so. So let's get started!  I will share the helpful anecdotes, tools and processes I encounter with you and with my coaching clients, who are used to my strange and unconventional ways.

Thanks in advance for your wisdom!

Guy Kawasaki talks to me today about changing the world and avoiding market research

I really enjoyed my conversation with Guy Kawasaki this week, as we pre-recorded today's radio show on the topic of "Changing the world by empowering entrepreneurs."  It airs today, details below.

We talk about contributing meaning to the world through your ideas, how to express your idea succinctly, a primer on venture capital and the importance of getting going FAST.  He had some really interesting ideas about the value of market research ...namely, don't bother, which was kind of oddly comforting for someone like me who likes to take and idea and run with it by gut feel rather than by reams of confirming data.  Some of the rest of you may disagree wholeheartedly, so tune in, and let me know your thoughts after the show!

Date:  Friday, April 13
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  Changing the world by empowering entrepreneurs
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

Enjoy your weekend!
 

I have a "great job," lots of money, responsibility and respect. Why aren't I happy?

In the late 90's, I had a lot of fun conducting career development classes inside network giant Cisco Systems, which at that point was experiencing the benefits of an insane stock price increase.  As follow up to the classes, I had one-on-one sessions with the participants to discuss their personal career aspirations and goals.

One meeting in particular stuck with me, as I talked with an extremely successful young woman who had been with the company for a long time.  I had remembered in class that she was a little "numbed out," meaning that it was hard to get a real reaction out of her beside guarded pleasantries.  In the individual session, it was very different.  She started talking:

"Before I took this class, I had a strange, nagging feeling that something was not right about my current situation, but I couldn't figure it out.  I would beat myself up for complaining about my job, since I had achieved all my personal career goals and had a situation that most people would envy:  a great job, a great salary in a well-managed, growing company and tremendous stock options.  But despite these things, I was still unhappy.  When we did the exercise about defining personal values in the class, I had an intense reaction.  I went home and compared this list to the list of values currently represented in my work environment."

Then she started crying.

"And I found that not one of my top 10 values was represented in my current work situation.  Suddenly, I understood why I was not happy!  It was a big relief."

What she described is a very common feeling from people inside corporate jobs.

Each of us has natural, organic preferences for how we feel the most alive, relaxed, happy and passionate at work. These can include things like:

• Physical work environment:  type of building, color scheme, how desks are laid out, natural vs. artificial lights, etc.
• Type of business: for-profit, non-profit, retail, established, start-up, your own biz
• Business culture:  how people treat each other, values displayed by actions of all employees (not just words), policies and procedures or lack thereof
  
• Communication styles of managers, clients and co-workers: direct or indirect, confrontational vs. relaxed and open
• Size of business: number of employees
• Type of work content:  what the company is in the business of selling, IE. financial services, retail, consulting, consumer products, software, etc.
• Skills and talents used in work: which skills you are using in your day to day work activities
  

Here is a little example of how your ideal work situation may be juxtaposed with your current, uncomfortable work situation (click on image to enlarge in pop-up window):

I liken it to the metaphor of wearing a shoe two sizes too small.

Your ideal situation is akin to wearing a pair of size 8 wide shoes of a stylish, comfortable brand that feels custom made for your foot.

Your current situation is akin to wearing a pair of size 6 narrow shoes, in an unflattering material, with a heel that is both ungainly and unattractive. (sample picture of said shoe at the top of this post, courtesy of my favorite "ugly shoe of the week" feature at Shoewawa.  Said the author of this particular shoe:  "I know what you are thinking.  It begins with "what" and ends with "the hell.")

So why in the world do we try to jam our foot into an unattractive, uncomfortable shoe, otherwise known as our day job?

Because our social self (shaped by family, educational institutions, the media, religion) is so strong that we believe that our "great job at an investment bank where I have an outstanding reputation, many years experience and an amazing salary" should make us happy.  Even if we know that it is in direct contrast to the picture of our ideal life!

So like the stepsister from the grisly Cinderella story from the Brothers Grimm:

"The eldest went with the shoe into her room and wanted to try it on, and her mother stood by. But she could not get her big toe into it, and the shoe was too small for her. Then her mother gave her a knife and said, "Cut the toe off, when you are queen you will have no more need to go on foot." The maiden cut the toe off, forced the foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the king's son. Then he took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her. They were obliged, however, to pass the grave, and there, on the hazel-tree, sat the two pigeons and cried, "Turn and peep, turn and peep,      there's blood within the shoe, the shoe it is too small for her, the true bride waits for you."

As much as you want to make yourself feel good about a situation that is not right for you, it will feel awkward, uncomfortable and downright painful after awhile.

So stop pretending, put away your knife, and get to work defining the kind of work best suited to you.  If you already know that, start planning to make that vision a reality.

Update 4/19:  Perfect example of what I am talking about here.

Excellent post on usability tips for your blog, gleaned from dozens of bloggers' experiences

I just came across this excellent post on blogging usability tips from Tom Johnson of I'd rather be writing.  He describes twenty different examples in very clear language, accompanied by helpful graphics.  It doesn't necessarily have new or revolutionary information, just a great reminder of the basics needed to start a solid, useful blog.  He also lists lots of great resource links at the end of the article.

I know that I am due for an overhaul and upgrade in many areas of my blog (revamping categories and adding search to start), so I am going to evaluate many of these tips myself.

Well done, Tom.