Escape from Cubicle Nation

The subtle tricks to creating an effective vision board

You must have been living under a rock if you missed the hoopla of The Secret last year, and the associated buzz about the Law of Attraction.  I know my readers range from the strongly skeptical to more woo woo than Jeffrey Osborne.  But I hope all of you like a post that I just did for Martha Beck's blog on The subtle tricks to creating an effective vision board.  More than a simple collage, creating a vision board can be a very powerful exercise for imagining your positive, joy-filled future.

I created my own board as research for the post, which I filmed for you this morning.  The video runs about 5 minutes (forgive my shaking, I was using the hand-held Flip camera and my cinematography resembles The Blair Witch Project at times).

Enjoy the post, and please share any tips for creating effective vision boards that you have learned along the way.

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If you have been around the field of personal development in the past 20 years, you have surely heard of vision boards as a great way to graphically illustrate your hopes and dreams, as well as increase the likelihood that you will get what you wish for.

Martha was recently on Oprah talking with Louise Hay and Cheryl Richardson about the Law of Attraction.  Helping to demystify  "the secret behind The Secret," they discussed practical ways to attract more of what you want in your life and less of what you don't.

Martha and Cheryl brought their own vision boards as examples.   Martha's included elements of friends and spirituality, as well as a picture of a dog that now hounds her to go for a walk.  Cheryl's included a picture of a man representing her future groom (who later appeared, and married her).  The show also featured two young sisters, Dominique and Brittany, who demonstrated that you are never too young to put the Law of Attraction to work.

If I would have known about vision boards at age 12, I would look like Cheryl Tiegs, be married to Tony Orlando, and have the Bay City Rollers play at my wedding.  It takes the expression "Be careful what you wish for; you just may get it!" to a whole new level.

But since I am putting together my first vision board at the age of 41, I tuned into a conversation with Martha and Master Coach Theresa Anderson for some tips on unconventional ways to create an effective vision board.

The basics

The mechanics of creating a vision board couldn't be easier:  get a piece of poster board, glue, magazines  and scissors and cut and paste to your heart's content.  If you are really motivated, go to the scrap booking section of your local art store and get some fancy stickers, colored paper or other creative materials.

Beyond the basics - how to make the experience much more powerful

What these basic steps fail to take into account is the impact of our social selves on the visioning process.  If we let our brains run the show, we can end up with a board with more bling than Mr. T, but devoid of real purpose and emotion.  This is unlikely to attract much of anything except dust on a shelf.  Instead, consider these tips to super-charge your vision board:

• Create the "anti-vision board," either literally by creating a board with images that make your stomach turn, or just by thinking about all the things that you don't want in your life.  The metaphor Martha used when describing this is the feeling of jumping in a deep diving pool, then pushing off the bottom to shoot up and see how high you can go.   When you know what you don't want, it can help clarify what you do.  It is related to Chapter Two of Finding Your Own North Star which I wrote about in a prior post, Was Nancy Reagan right?  How just saying NO can change your life.
• If you just grab the magazines lying around your house,  you may miss images that represent a future you haven't yet imagined.  Instead, go to a bookstore that has a really great magazine selection and play the Hot-Warm-Cold game:
  • Get as calm as you can by relaxing, breathing deeply and imaging an extremely positive experience in your life (a "+10 for those familiar with the scale).
  • Stand in front of the magazine rack and squint your eyes so you can't read the words but you can see the outlines of the images.
  • Grab any magazines that jump out at you, regardless if they make sense to your rational mind (Bug Collectors Today, Maxim, Off-Road Vehicles and Martha Stewart Living may be odd companions, but don't question it!)
  • Go sit somewhere comfortable and leaf through the images.  Weed out those magazines that truly don't resonate with your body.
• Feel, don't think your way through the exercise. Our rational minds imagine our futures in neat, organized steps.  So it is very tempting to search for images by thinking things like: "What is the logical next step in my career?' or "What kind of man would make me happy?" or "What tropical destination is most affordable for a family of five?" Martha says: "To act without thinking is almost unthinkable in our culture!  Powerful action can occur without any thought."
• Observe your process of making the vision board; it can clue you into the way you operate in life. So if you take too much time looking for the "ideal images," you may find that perfectionism gets in your way in general.  If you never make time to complete the exercise, you may find that you spend so much time taking care of everyone else's needs that you neglect your own.

While doing these things, watch out for these 5 DON'Ts: read the rest here.

(Bonus list, at bottom of rest of post, in case you don't make it over there)

Other fun, inspirational sites to stimulate your creative thinking and collect images:

• istockphoto - use keywords to search from a gigantic database of beautiful photo images (this is a paid service since it compensates the photographers who contribute photos, but the quality is exceptional).
• Our favorite creativity coach Christine Kane wrote a post about her own experience with a vision board, which she followed up with How to Make a Vision Board which got a healthy 97 additional comments from readers!
• PostSecret is an amazing blog project where people create anonymous postcards with their deepest secrets.  It is another great place to get inspired by hand-created images, and the power of the authentic voice.
• 2008 Design Trends has some beautiful web design images that can stimulate your design eye.
• The cool picture of the day site has some really unusual and creative photos.

Lots of juicy tidbits for home-based businesses

You might remember my post from a few weeks ago where I mentioned BusinessWeek's solicitation for pictures of home-based offices.  They sorted through entries and came up with their favorite ten, published today (alas, Kathy's airstream trailer was not included, most likely because she didn't submit her photo).

I think my favorite is the last one (pictured), architect Neal Zimmerman who has a multiple-station set up which can accommodate different work activities like client meetings, project or administrative work.  If it were mine, I might have more art or plants, but that is just a minor detail.  I am a Virgo, so streamlined organization really appeals to me.  While funky and free, some of the other featured setups like typing on a rooftop would not work long-term. 

This feature is part of a broader segment on home-based businesses.  It includes some great stuff, like sorting legitimate home-based businesses from scams, productivity tools, an interview with Tim Ferriss and background on co-working.  If you are considering working from home or already do, check it out!

Have you been simmering a business idea for years?

I am working on a chapter of my book about testing and prototyping business ideas.

I would love to talk to a few people who have had a great business idea kicking around for years, but have yet to do anything about it because they don't know where to start.

Ideally I would like a mix of product, retail and service business ideas.

Does this sound like you?

If so, please send me an email to pcs (at) ganas (dot) com with the following info:

• Email subject "Testing business idea" (kindly use this, it really helps to sort the messages)
• Your name and contact info
• Your business idea (don't worry, I won't share it with anyone unless you give permission)
• What you have done so far to develop the idea (business plan, notes, prototypes, etc)
• What has been holding you back from acting on it

Thank you so much!

Wonderful brand and adoring audience-building lessons from Grammar Girl

I had the great pleasure of attending a lecture and book signing this evening by Mignon Fogarty, better known as Grammar Girl. 

For those of you unfamiliar with her work, two years ago she began her weekly 5-minute grammar podcast as a hobby and quickly saw it explode on iTunes.  Today, she has an average of 800,000 listeners a week.  As the Wall Street Journal said:

"So why does the show consistently rank in the top 40 podcasts on iTunes? The show is well produced. . . . 'Grammar Girl' found a narrow niche that a surprising number of people are interested in."

So who gives a hoot about grammar?

If the audience tonight is any indication, it is a cross-section of book lovers, teachers, schoolchildren, businesspeople and just about anyone who is hungry for an accessible, fun, knowledgeable 21st century writing guru who can answer their pesky grammar questions. I wish you could have all been at the event to hear the reactions to some questions:

Audience member:  "What is wrong with where are you working at?"

Rest of audience:  GASP!  (As if the question were "Why is it wrong to beat people over the head and steal their money?")

Audience member:  When do you use who and when do you use whom?

Rest of audience:  Collective murmur of appreciation (As if the question were "Can you explain definitively if there is life after death?)

Audience member:  What are your views of the word "irregardless?"

Rest of audience: Gasp of horror (As if the question were "Should we elect Ann Coulter President?" at a Young Democrats convention)

But perhaps my favorite moment was a question from a young boy in the audience who said

"My teacher made me visit your website, and I didn't even know you had a podcast.  Once I found it, I became a regular listener.  My question is  What is the proper use of a semicolon?"

Which young boys care about the proper use of semicolons?  Damn cool ones, apparently.  After she answered his question, he said "To bug my teacher, I always misuse "me" and "I."  It drives her crazy."

A boy who pesters a teacher with intentionally misused grammar instead of whoopee cushions is welcome in my classroom any day.

The best brand meets a need in a clear and simple way

What Mignon demonstrates so well is how to build an enthusiastic, tuned-in audience by matching a great market need (focused, enjoyable education about writing) with simple and accessible social media tools like blogs and podcasts.

This platform has led to lots of media exposure (The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Oprah) as well as a book deal which resulted in her just-released Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.

This video is another example of a great use of simple and pervasive technology that makes me feel like I know her, even though I just shook her hand for the first time this evening.  Notice how well she communicates about what she does, without sounding like a nauseatingly lame elevator speech.

Her presentation was a great way to spend an hour, and it really got me fired up for my own book tour next Spring.  Great work Mignon, I can't wait to see what comes next! (Since this post is on grammar usage, now I wonder if I should have capitalized "Spring."  Ideas?)

What song captures the spirit of your company brand?

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Minneapolis musician Owen Sartori filled a need I didn't even know I had, a theme song for Escape from Cubicle Nation:  The Cube.

Another thought came to mind while writing the chapter of my book called "Define the spirit of your brand":  what song captures the essence of what you want your customers to feel about you or your company?

Mine came when I was blasting the radio yesterday morning on the way back from dropping Josh off at preschool.  My old fogie readers (like me!) will remember the classic Lean on Me by Bill Withers. I love and adore this song. It has a down-to-earth friendliness that I really want my clients to feel, as well as a "when we work together, we lift each other up" message which speaks to the reciprocity in a coaching relationship.  Rather than positioning myself as an elusive expert, I like to work as a down-home, friend next door here to help you through the rough spots of your employee-to-entrepreneur journey.  The fact that I work primarily on the phone and he finishes the song with "Call me" is icing on the cake. 

I briefly explained the concept of "spirit of your brand" in a guest post for the New York Times:

Describe the spirit of your brand. Any business you choose is a reflection of your unique personality. Queen Latifah’s personal brand says “self-confidence.” You feel this spirit in all her work, from rapping to acting to promoting Cover Girl. To add cohesion to many different business ideas, choose a word or small phrase that describes the spirit of your personal brand. This could be something like “smart entertainment,” which would cover a syndicated comic strip, video game production company and romance novel.

Much more than just a company name, brand spirit is a living, breathing, multi-sensory experience that includes images, words, sounds and feeling.

I am dying to know:  what song captures your brand spirit?  If you can, let me know what your company does (or will do) and why the song fits.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

The trick to nipping late-night Oreo nashing

For a bit of a change, this week I focused my Martha Beck post on the relation of eating habits and the brain.  Those of you who know me well are aware of my late-night sweet attacks, when I feel as if I cannot write a single word unless I have a big pile of Oreos by my side.  It is contributing to what my friend Andy Wibbels aptly called Bookfat which is an ailment that plagues first-time authors (I read his description and wept -- with laughter and empathy).

I wish I could say that writing this post totally eliminated my sugar habit.  Awareness is the first step, so tonight I will try to examine my thoughts instead of raze a pile of cookies.  Wish me luck!

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Do you ever fantasize about looking in the mirror and using one of those magic "before and after" wands to shrink your chubby thighs to the size of a long distance runner's? I know I do. We are bombarded by weight loss commercials, fat-free food and stick-thin Victoria's Secret models wherever we go.  Yet we persist, at least in the United States, in being one of the chunkiest people on earth.  We eat without abandon, then try to balance our excess with a variety of fad diets.  Low carbs one day, high protein the next, lemon juice and cayenne pepper fasts wreak havoc with our minds and bodies.

Switch your focus from your body to your brain

The real problem is that we have been obsessed with managing our bodies, when in fact, the attention needs to go to our brains.  Martha explains:

"People get fat because their brain's calibration of the amount they need to eat, and the amount of intake they should store as calories, is altered by neural structure and its interface with the endocrine system.  The starved and frightened brain drives overeating and low metabolism.  The calm and secure brain drives a very different set of biological motivators and consequences. In other words, when your brain is fixed, you eat less and burn off excess as heat, whereas the "famine brain" caused by stress and hunger-- including dieting -- really does make you consume more and store more as fat."

How to calm down famine brain The first step to getting a handle on the state of your brain in relation to food is to examine the thoughts that lead to feelings which lead to actions which lead to results.

Thought or Belief:  I have so much to do!  I am overwhelmed.
Feelings:  Stress.  Fear.  Anxiety.
Action:  Stuff 42 M&Ms in your mouth
Result:  Stubborn metabolism and no chance at fitting in those skinny jeans

Change your thoughts, acknowledge your feelings 

read the rest here (the full post contains a 20-minute recording of a coaching session where my friend weight loss coach Lisa Cavallaro tries to get at the heart of my Oreo habit)

Scared of forming a partnership? You should be if you don't follow this advice

A couple of months ago my husband was in discussion with some business associates who wanted to form a joint venture construction company.  Since just about everyone I have ever met in business has told me to run screaming from partnerships, I was quite leery of the whole idea.

So in addition to asking a lot of questions, I sent a Twitter message to my buddies and asked what advice they had regarding partnerships.  The overwhelming response was:

Do your research and "date before marriage!"

One of the strongest voices was my buddy Jonathan Fields, who offered some really concrete advice.

The topic must have been rolling around in his head since today he wrote a great post titled "11 Ways to Avoid Entrepreneurial Divorce Court."  His recommendations include:

• Talk about relative strengths, experiences, skills and weaknesses. Take the time to get a really solid feel for who’s bring what, in terms of operating capability, to the table. Move beyond words and explore actions.
• Define broader lifestyle visions and core values - You may be on the same page when it comes to the business, but to the extent possible, you also want to either be on the same page or be able to foster genuine respect for each person’s outlook on the role of the venture in their bigger lives and the value they expect to run both the business and their lives by.
• Share venture specific vision, long-term goals/desired exits - Have each person write a detailed concrete description of the long and intermediate term visions for the company and, if appropriate, the desired exit strategies. Do this on paper and DO NOT DISCUSS them until they’ve been committed to paper. Then print them out and swap papers. Doing it this way will keep each person’s vision their own, rather than pressuring one or both people to relent to the perception of the other person’s public, maybe more strongly argued position. From these positions, now the real discussion can begin.
• Check out resumes, references, online reputation and interests - As much you value your gut instinct, be smart and do your due diligence. You cannot imagine the surprises you’ll find.

It is a great read and really good advice - read the rest here.  I also wrote a post about partnering a couple of years ago that compliments what Jonathan said - The delicate art of business partnering.

I am happy to report that after we did most of what Jonathan recommended, my husband did move ahead with the partnership (called Red Road Construction, which will focus mostly on infrastructure projects on local Native American reservations) and have had great early success.  His partners have skill sets and expertise that truly compliment my husband's, and their work ethic and values are very much in harmony with his.  We are very optimistic about our future, and excited to have found a great way to serve an exceptionally tight market.

So if you have some attractive opportunities come your way with new partners, be cautious but open-minded.  If I had followed all of my own fears, I probably would have nixed the whole idea of a joint venture and lost out on great learning and financial opportunities. 

Can Ex-Boss Object When Ex-Employees Start Businesses?

Nice gem of an interview with an employment lawyer from the always smart Marci Alboher , author of the New York Times blog Shifting Careers:

Can Ex-Boss Object When Ex-Employees Start Businesses?

This is often a very sticky issue, and I suggest you really follow the advice described in the article.  Nothing would be more of a bummer than getting mired in legal trouble with your ex-employer while trying to launch your business!

And the legal issues are not the only thing to keep in mind:  it is not a very good strategy to leave a former employer on really bad terms.  Unless they have been absolute maniacs, do your best to leave on cordial terms.  I started my consulting business by being hired by a former boss, and many of my old employee colleagues were instrumental in spreading the word about my new business.

Even if they take the low road, you take the high road.  Feels better, and I think it is better for business.

Follow up on "What should I do with my life workshop"

Last week, I floated the idea of running a 15-week workshop based on Martha Beck's book Finding Your Own North Star. 

A number of people expressed interest, so I put together a detailed outline and chose dates.  Based on the number of people on the list, I proposed two distinct groups, since I don't want to have more than 10 people in each workshop, for maximum interaction and coaching.

The response was great -- we are 75% full already!

The Thursday group is totally sold out, but there is still room in the Tuesday group starting on July 22.  So if you want to learn more and possibly join a motivated, supportive, smart group of people devoted to figuring out the next phase of their life, check out details here.

I am REALLY psyched about this and think we are going to have a great time together.  Hope you can join us!

Update 7/6/08 at 8:33am Pacific:  We're sold out!  Thanks to everyone who signed up.

If you are interested in joining a waiting list, I will start a new class when we reach 10 people.

You can do good and do well: lessons from "The Go-Giver"

I have a pile of books to read and review next to my bathtub.  The Go-Giver:  A little story about a powerful business idea sat there for awhile, until I finally picked it up the other evening and started reading it.  I was drawn in by the simple story, and got more and more encouraged by the premise as the pages went on.

A review of the book by Science of Mind sets it up well:

"For anyone that has ever believed that attaining success requires a greedy, self-centered approach, The Go-Giver:  A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea, could be just what the metaphysical doctor ordered.  The beautiful message contained inside this book can help us develop a more pragmatic, big-hearted and ultimately successful approach -- both to business and to life."

In my podcast interview with the co-author, Bob Burg, we discuss five key principles covered in the book:

1. The Law of Value       
   Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment
2. The Law of Compensation       
   Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them
3. The Law of Influence       
   Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people's interests first
4. The Law of Authenticity       
   The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself
5. The Law of Receptivity       
   The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving

The book is a nice, easy summer read with a great message.  You may intuitively know these things, but the real question is are you doing them? Enjoy the 40-minute conversation here.