Zane Safrit

Here's How I Stay Focused

In the Age of Distraction and in a turbulent period of disruption and change and learning - sorta like your life, I expect - I’ve found a few steps, routines that sustain my focus through the day. I share them in the hopes they might help you, too.

Well Begun is Half Done.

Eat a Light Dinner; Eat It Early

I try to eat my lightest meal at dinner. And I eat it early. Nothing like trying to go to sleep on a fully stomach. It doesn’t work when you’re 59.

Nightly Journal

I plan the following day before I go to bed. Before I go to bed, I plan the next day.

• Three to-do's. I list three things I want/need to get done in as much detail as I need. Usually, these are bullet points. I list them in order of priority, so that when in the morning, I only need to look at this list to start working. No fumbling papers, looking around, wondering what’s next.

• Three lessons. I list three lessons I learned that day. It’s interesting to see the same lessons being learned. But, hey, I’m learning them and writing them down helps reinforce my awareness of those lessons being learned that day and the following.

• Three gratitudes. I list three things for which I am grateful. More on that later. But it’s a simple habit to end each day on a positive note and it reinforces the discipline to look for the positive. Key in these turbulent times.

Calendarize the Following Day.

I schedule these three to-do's on my calendar. I schedule everything on my calendar, well not EVERYTHING, but everything important that needs its own reminders. I set up text alerts to remind me to move along to the next one. This helps reinforce their priority and supports those quiet moments of mental preparation around each one. Those quiet moments come as I fall asleep or shower or walk/exercise.

Early to Bed - Early to Rise

I go to bed early. I find I sleep better when I go to bed early. That’s tough in the summer. But rising early on a summer morning, when it’s cool and sweet and quiet, is worth missing a summer rerun.

Keep the TV Off

This was a big habit to break. I liked TV, until I saw how much time I wasted watching it and getting nothing from it. Every so often I scan through the channels and find nothing’s on. Okay, True Detective was great. And come college basketball season it will be a challenge. But not watching TV gives me an extra hour or two to work, to read, to visit, to go to bed early.

Once a week, I may watch a movie on NetFlix.

Early to Rise.

The earlier I get up, the more productive I am.

Holy Hour.

Robin Sharma calls this the holy hour and he recommends getting up at 5 AM. I recommend going to bed early and getting up when you wake up.

Then I meditate. I have practiced TM and the TM-Sidhi program for ... 40 years. I started in 1974. Wow, that’s a long time. I find it’s a great way to start the day and end the day.

There are many spiritual practices. All roads lead to Rome; all paths lead to God. Find one. Practice it.

Breakfast.

Biggest, bestest, meal of the day. Since I eat dinner early, it’s often 12 - 14 hours before I eat breakfast. I’m hungry by then. My breakfast is a power shake of yogurt, fruit, whey protein and yeast (ooodles of B vitamins.) And espresso. I start each day with two double espressos. This may not sound earthshaking. It is for me who once loved McDonald’s biscuits not too long ago.

But the breakfast, all organic, gives me the right fuel to power me through the morning. I am clear and energized and focused.

Gratitude List

I start each day writing a list of 10 things for which I am grateful. Bullet points. These are anything from my health, to my latest workout, to the work I accomplished the previous day, family members and friends, breakfast, espresso, the weather (big impact in Iowa), music, anything.

I am ‘addicted’ to this step. It just sets my mental focus right at the start of the day. That focus on the positive stays stronger through the day. It’s a mental discipine, it’s not a denial of challenges but the discipline, reinforced every day, to give attention to that for which I owe gratitude.

Skip the News; Find the Inspiration

I start each morning with inspirational lessons, reminders, news. It works in tandem with my morning meditation, my gratitude, and my breakfast.

I still struggle to minimize my news consumption. I’ve always read newspapers, since I was a kid. These stories fascinate me.

Also, I find it irresponsible to be uninformed.

On the other hand, it’s finding balance between getting things done that matter and reading the news. A work in process.

Work in 90 Minute Blocks.

In between these 90-minute blocks, I run errands, do situps or pushups or stretch, make calls, check the rest of the day, etc. I make sure my phone is far away and the alerts are muted.

Fueled and Hydrated

I eat clean and healthy, that includes ... yes, raw vegetables. No more junk food, no desserts, candy bars, pastries, fried food, minimal carbs. I choose organic. Yes it’s more expensive. But I see it as an investment in my health, fitness and productivity.

I notice when I don’t, I’m not as focused and clear and productive. We don’t have time to be unproductive.

I drink ten to twelve cups of water.

Post My Goals

I write them, print them and stick on the 'fridge so I can see them every day.

Affirmations

I use them. I say them on breaks between tasks and calendar items. Not obsessively, but two or three times a day. There's no ceremony, no candles lit or incense burned. I don't chant them. I say them. Boom, done. Move on. It improves the self-talk and like the morning gratitude list recalibrates my thinking towards goals and next-steps rather than fears and anxieties or aggravations. I see it helping create a more favorable response from my social connections, too.

Stay off Social Media

I hit it and leave. I target one day a week for in-depth comments, not just likes, on LinkedIn and G+. I spend 30 minutes, usually over lunch, scheduling my tweets and G+.

Exercise

But this is a whole 'nuther discussion. But bottomline, do it and do it consistently and set goals and work towards them. A personal trainer, even for 90 days and twice a week, boosts the results.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY

Being consistent with these steps brings consistent results and progress towards my goal. That's accomplished with minimal stress, duress. A proper perspective is maintained through which the daily challenges and interruptions are managed.

I heard somewhere that each day is our life in miniature. I figure that each moment, each 90-minute block is my day in miniature. String enough productive, meaningful, rewarding, moments together and you have  that kind of day. String enough of those kinds of days and you have a meaningful, productive, rewarding day that leaves a legacy worth remembering.

I haven't seen anything to contradict this assumption. The evidence keeps piling up that supports it.

Disclaimer

That’s it. I hope it helps you. It’s helped me a tremendous amount.

These ideas are not original. You'll see them around.

I shared them here because it's important that 'everyday' people share what works, put it in our words, integrate it, make it their own and take it out of the hands of 'experts.' Own it.

I hope it helps.

Blue-Collar Kinda Days

I was out running two weeks ago, tapering down for running in today's Pilgrim Pacer Marathon.

The run was a regularly scheduled out and back, 7-miler all in, a few hills (yes, there are hills in Iowa...). I was hoping to make it a negative split. Make the back half about 2-3 minutes faster. An old route. I know all the seams in the concrete sections, the places where the concrete has broken and crumbled from too many ice storms and too many trucks hauling either livestock or grain.

It just was not happening. It was a slog. The adrenaline and endorphins stores must have been depleted or they were on strike. Either way, they weren’t contributing. Legs were tired. Heart rate was ten points above average.

This isn't anything new for me. Runners among the readers will shake their heads and thing Yeah, been there...Many times I’ve started a run, ‘not feeling it’, but after ten or twenty minutes the bones are warm, the legs loose, breathing and heart rates say ‘thank you’ as the endorphins and adrenaline kick in. Runners among the readers will shake their heads and thing Yeah, been there...too.

Not that day. And as I hit the second mile I knew, well, this was going to be a slog.  This was a blue-collar kinda run, one foot after the other. Keep. Moving.forward.

Do you ever have days like that at work, at home? It’s just not happening. There are no opportunities that day; there’s only obstacles. There’s no creative insights, no innovative solutions arising, no aha’s in meetings as a collective rush of endorphins and adrenals kick in. Or so it seems because for us, inside our heads, it’s a blue-collar day. We’re slogging away, cogging our way, cogs and cubicles in a machine. On those days clients, co-workers, bosses...they’re like hills and winds rising up to taunt us, always in our face. Coffee doesn’t work, nor do carbs and desserts.

But like the blue-collar run, we have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, finishing one routine task after the other, trudging through one more Monday morning sales meeting, one more weekly report.

Sure, we have to.

But, that’s where the rewards are earned; on these kinds of days. The blue-collar run, the blue-collar day, is the foundation for those successes and achievements and accolades, personal or public, where solutions appear to  come easy, meetings flow with great ideas and smiles and excitement; execution flows smooth and easy, around and over all those boulders that once stood in our way. Our colleagues are brilliant; that’s why we wanted to work here and are so glad we do. Our bosses are encouraging and supportive; maybe they are all the time.  But after slogging through those blue collar days when we’re not feeling it and it ain’t happening...maybe we finally emerge through the clouds and see it; maybe they see us, too.

This isn’t earth-shattering to read or to share. Ok, for someone in a world of 6 billion, maybe this is earth-shattering. It's a reminder of one simple, obvious truth(?) we can forget when the legs grow tired and we're still miles from home or the mind is dull and the back aches and if we have to go to one more meeting....

It’s my story that might resonate with a few, reminding me mostly, that, success is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. Some days, most days, are blue-collar days. They’re the price of admission into something better, bigger, grander. A day or two where smiles are the currency and the product and everyone’s buying. We put one blue-collar day after another until we get there.

That’s what I did that cold, windy, day running past fields laid bare with giant combines whose cabs are protected from the wind, heated, radios playing, air-cushioned seats...one foot after the other. No the split wasn’t negative. It was a positive split of thirty seconds. But I finished. And on another run I’ll make that negative split. And when I face another blue-collar run, I’ll know what to expect that day and in the future.

Blue or not, have a great day!

PS: Thank you Peter Engle for sharing that phrase, and many miles, with me many years ago, maybe twenty years ago now. All the best.

PPS: Here's another inspiration to help you through those blue-collar miles.

Less is More

A friend of mine asked me how was I doing.

I answered Fine, good, happy.

We didn’t have time to talk; she was rushing into her office and I was rushing out for a quick run.

But while I ran I thought about her question. How am I doing?

Fine, good, happy.

Ok, great. But...how, why? 

I'm not an expert here nor am I claiming the following snippets will change your life and you too can have all your dreams come to...too and for a special offering price I'll reveal my super-secret. 

I'm just saying...I’ve learned that being fine, good, happy comes from understanding less is more. 

• Less judgmental, more curious;

• Less meddlesome, more freedom;

• Less surfing, more learning;

• Less TV, more sleep and more work;

• Less multitasking, more results;

• Fewer detractors, more friends and supporters;

• Less gossip (and I LOVE a good story); more output and more happiness and more smiles

• Less ranting; more helping.

• Less sarcasm (work in progress); more listening and helping.

• Fewer loud and vexatious people ( I loved being one, watching the reactions...); more silence and peace and smiles.

• Less aggravation; more sleep and better sleep.

• Fewer deserts; more energy.

• Less caffeine; more sleep.

• Less cafe-society; more running, readin' and writin'. 

• Less finger-pointin'; more responsibility.

It’s a work-in-progress, ebbing and flowing, sometimes more and sometimes less.  Old habits die hard. But in general, the results leave me feeling... fine, good, happy.

 

Less is more. Life is more.

Build Your Fort - Week 11: Keep.Moving.Forward

Recently, I announced a weekly series of posts with 5 tips, tools and resources to help us entrepreneurs*...Keep.Moving.Forward.

Here's Week 11 and its theme:

Build Your Fort

Preface: I was out for a run this weekend. Generously, optimistically maybe, I call it a run. Factor in the walking, then the pace becomes more of a shuffle. But...I got 'er done.

Through the riffs of Dickie Betts and Greg Allman's voice and their show in Fillmore I started thinking about this week's post.

The first thought was...Build Your Fort.

I acknowledge this symbol** may have a basis in fear. Put up the walls. Add the little guard towers and walkways...very feudal, very colonialist with all its implications.

But that's not the fort I'm thinking about.

Your Fort is where you plant your flag and say....

By God, this is where I make my stand. Right here. Right now. This is me. These are my values. These are my talents and strengths, my foundation. This is my community. This is where I start. From here, I'll keep.moving.forward.

That's Your Fort. Note that it starts with you and extends to the community and you keep.moving.forward.

I've built my fort a few times. Like all things in this temporal world, each of those forts faded away. Either I left the fort or the fort left me. But with each version...in its building and inevitable collapse I found clarity, a positive ROI for my investment in my strengths, others who I could help and who could help me. I kept.moving.forward.

These steps were not articulated at that time. But, by moving forward and by finding those who I can help, they can help, I can articulate them.

Discover Your Strengths

Brian Brim, co-author of Strengths-Based Selling, discussed with me recently this process and the Clifton's StrengthsFinder. He talked about how understanding our strengths helps us:

talk about how to be stronger in our approach to engagement...Stronger in our approach by having conversations...by understanding the elements of engagement and how you can manage those things.

The whole point was being able to answer:

How do I create a long-term sustainable career ... and avoid that burn-out factor?

Translation for this post: How do we keep.moving.forward on a sustainable basis?

Because at the end of the day:

Strengths-based selling is about accelerating the best of who you are.

This is key to finding the resources to invest more in our talents and further develop those strengths. And it's key in being able to sustain our movement forward. AND...it is key in building a community of others whose strengths as members we can compliment.

This is key. Do not go pass go until you take this step.

Build Your Castle on a Hill

Erica Anderson in her book Being Strategic, describes the 4 steps of envisioning and designing our castle on the hill. I encourage you to buy her book, read it, use it. The 4 steps are basically questions starting with:

• What is?

• What's the hope?

• What's in the way?

• What's the path?

Answer those questions and well, you're off to a good start moving in the right direction.

I do a grave injustice here as I breeze through her book. So...get the book.

Build and Man the Gates.

As Brian Brim discussed during his radio show, once we have defined our strengths then we can view through through our strengths-filter. That filter serves as the gate through which we now filter our world. What we share and express and where and how with whom we share it.

Big strengths, big filter, big gates. Not so strong...well, we have to be cautious.

Let in and embrace those who embrace and support our strengths. Keep out those that don't.

That's easy with digital content. There are so many tools and rules and filters and options to block, unfollow, not follow, not subscribe.

I've found it's really a matter of focus and commitment. Each week I adjust these filters.

Why? Because I keep.moving.forward in an ongoing discovery process. Less about them or me. It's more about what we might be able to do together. Once they're in your fort, they make the me become the we. Regardless.

Grow Your Garden

That's the garden of your mind, your heart, your soul. Who adds nutritious elements to your garden for you to consume?

Through the lens of your strengths-based filter, you know what you need to consume to stay healthy, grow healthier and keep.moving.forward.

Today's abundance of media and content and content-providers and content-curators and each of us serving as our own personal routers...makes this easy. Lists on Twitter. Twitter aps like Hootsuite, Google Readers, podcast subscription choices...On and on.

Frankly, I see more willingness among people to help each other....grow.

Keep.Moving.Forward

Seen through the filter of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, the departure here is a tossup. Does the fort leave us or do we leave the fort?

Maybe, both happen simultaneously.

But, as my friend Eric (call me) advised us with a chuckle, back in the day...Time and tide wait for no man. I never knew I'd be writing about that wisdom 10-15 years later.

We love our forts. I've loved mine and those I invited to join me. But all good things come to an end. And a bigger, better, fort awaits. Keep.Moving.Forward.

That is possible with these tools.

**********

* Just a reminder: we're all entrepreneurs.

Our whole life is a series "of hurdles, challenges, setbacks, disappointments, screaming euphoria, comparable levels of despair, a thrilling ride....” And like business entrepreneurs we’re pushed and pulled to invent and re-invent ourselves each and every day...or suffer the same fate as businesses who refuse to change: close our eyes to the world.

And like entrepreneurs in the business world, sometimes we get stuck. Sometimes, we need a tip, a reminder, a flashlight, a life buoy...And in this economy, we all need all the help we can get.

I hope this helps.

Feel free to share your tips, resources or means you have found help you keep.moving.forward.

Disclaimer: I'm a work in process with each of these steps, especially that last one. I'm getting better at the 2nd one. I overlook them all at different times, I handle them or have handled them poorly at others....But I Keep.Moving.Forward. I think you can too, if you take one of them today.

** The next image .after that feudal/colonialist image,  that came to mind was the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle.

First seen in the 1981 movie Stripes, but now...slightly out-of-date. Luckily, for this post and you my readers, my run came to an end and here's those 5 steps to Build Your Fort and keep.moving.forward.

Share Your Story: Week 10 Keep.Moving.Forward

Recently, I announced a weekly series of posts with 5 tips, tools and resources to help us entrepreneurs*...Keep.Moving.Forward.

Here's Week 10 and its theme:

Share Your Story

Look. We all understand the power of listening in creating community. We each have stories and journeys, accomplishments and setbacks, challenges and resources to share. That’s our story. So...jump in this pool. Share your story.

Tell a kid.

If you can’t excite a kid about your goal…maybe you should stop and consider. Is this the problem of the wrong audience or the wrong speaker or the wrong message? Kids default settings are to excitement, enthusiasm, openness, possibilities. And if you can’t find a fertile, receptive, mind with those pre-dispositions...maybe you have a problem. Maybe the problem is you need a break to rejuvenate your own excitement? But if you can’t generate excitement in this audience....

Publicize your story.

Take 30 minutes and share it publicly on a blog post.

Talk to a stranger.

Your story may inspire them. Your solutions or where you are headed may offer them hope or direction. They, in turn, might have a solution or two. Regardless, you will connect and you will keep.moving.forward.

Find a woman and share with her your story.

They have a skill that’s very useful for this conversation. That skill is their ability to cut through the crap. They are hard-wired for that skill.

Tell someone, even yourself, how deep you have stepped in it.

Nothing is so healing, so bracing and clarifying as a full audit of our lives. Ok, sometimes it’s cauterizing too. Wallowing with wounds in the mud need cauterizing; we don’t have time for the wounds to heal. We need to seal them. Right then. And , get the F out of there. I find the sting of this process and the stench of my own making is a powerful motivator.

**********

* Just a reminder: we're all entrepreneurs.

Our whole life is a series "of hurdles, challenges, setbacks, disappointments, screaming euphoria, comparable levels of despair, a thrilling ride....” And like business entrepreneurs we’re pushed and pulled to invent and re-invent ourselves each and every day...or suffer the same fate as businesses who refuse to change: close our eyes to the world.

And like entrepreneurs in the business world, sometimes we get stuck. Sometimes, we need a tip, a reminder, a flashlight, a life buoy...And in this economy, we all need all the help we can get.

I hope this helps.

Feel free to share your tips, resources or means you have found help you keep.moving.forward.

Disclaimer: I'm a work in process with each of these steps, especially that last one. I'm getting better at the 2nd one. I overlook them all at different times, I handle them or have handled them poorly at others....But I Keep.Moving.Forward. I think you can too, if you take one of them today.

Feed The Mind: Week 9 of Keep.Moving.Forward

Recently, I announced a weekly series of posts with 5 tips, tools and resources to help us entrepreneurs*...Keep.Moving.Forward.

Here's Week 9 and its theme:

* Feed The Mind.

Feed it with content that's inspiring, helping, uplifting, motivating, teaching, connecting...you with your goal and those who share it, can help you reach it, can help you help them reach theirs.

* Start each day with a good breakfast.

Remember? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Right? Ok, I'm a big fan of breakfasts. And now I start my day with diet of positive news. Doing that sets the tone for the day. By starting my day reading them I noticed my patience for gloom and doom stories has diminished. And m interest, my antennae for good stories has increased. And I find them in more and more places.

* Curate positive and inspiring news.

Right now, I subscribe to a few. They are:

• Help Others

• Daily Good

• KarmaTube

• Brain Pickings

• Jonathan Fields

• Chris Guillabeau

I created a Twitter list for Inspiration. I have a feeling my RTs from this list may appear pompous, a tone of lecturing (or hectoring). But I know when I see these quotes they serve as an inspirational roadsign....this way, this way. So, I know there are others who might find them easy.

My cousin, John, sends a daily email with inspirational quotes.

There are more. I may create a separate post to show who feeds my mind the most. (That may explain some things...)

And I start my day reading them.

* Join a mastermind group.

I never joined one.

But, I did join a CEO Peer-to-Peer coaching group from Peersight created by my friend Steve MacGill. This was a wonderful efficient means to create a collaborative teaching environment in private among my peers.

* Read...books.

This habit is easy for me. I have always been an avid reader of books. One of my first disclaimers with my wife, before we married, was never leave me alone in a bookstore. I will drop $100.00 in a heartbeat. She laughed...but only once.

Now, this habit is satisfied with my weekly radio show. People send me books, for free! And I am honored with the chance to speak with many of these authors.

I use a quote from Jim Rohn to ask questions of my guests. That question is:

Leaders are readers. You're a leader. What are you reading?

Remember that leaders are readers. They are constantly learning, constantly feed their minds, new knowledge from new sources. Today, that demand to constantly learn, unlearn in order to relearn is at a premium. And it will only grow.

Read...to lead.

This week's guest on my radio, his book and message, falls right in-line. Today We Are Rich, by Tim Sanders, is a wonderful book that goes into far more detail and offers far more resources on the topic here. Our conversation starts at 9:30 AM, Central. You can listen here.

* Walk Away; Walk THAT Way.

You already know the following, right?

• We have a limited number of hours during the day.

• During this time, we will be challenged or teased or tempted by moments, experiences and yes, even our friends and family and co-workers to wallow in the mud.

Walk away when that temptation arises. Walk THAT way towards our goals and solutions and those who want to walk that way, too.

I am late to this. Well, maybe I am late to understanding how necessary it is.

At times, I have been the one that needed to be avoided. I am glad that happened. (Yes, at times it was painful.) Otherwise, those bad habits would have been reinforced. And, hopefully, I won't return to that role.

I have found now, as I start my day, set the tone and direction, repeat this practice daily, that this becomes easier. I walk THAT way. And in doing so, I think I help those around me walk with me, THAT way.

**********

Reminder: We're all entrepreneurs.

Our whole life is a series "of hurdles, challenges, setbacks, disappointments, screaming euphoria, comparable levels of despair, a thrilling ride....” And like business entrepreneurs we’re pushed and pulled to invent and re-invent ourselves each and every day...or suffer the same fate as businesses who close their eyes to the world, refuse to change, and slowly disappear.

And like entrepreneurs in the business world, sometimes we get stuck. Sometimes, we need a tip, a reminder, a flashlight, a life buoy...And in this economy, we all need all the help we can get.

I hope this helps.

Feel free to share your tips, resources or means you have found help you keep.moving.forward.

Disclaimer: I'm a work in process with each of these steps, especially that last one. I'm getting better at the 2nd one. I overlook them all at different times, I handle them or have handled them poorly at others....But I Keep.Moving.Forward. I think you can too, if you take one of them today.

True confession:

Where is the balance between real-world and pragmatic vs discouraged and demoralized? When do we cross from being positive into being pollyannish? And vice versa, when do we cross from being realistic into being cynical and discouraging?

By nature, I have always been drawn to the aberrant behavior. Just fascinating, I thought. But, somewhere things shifted. And like that album, What once were vices are now habits, suggests, aberrant behavior from 'back in the day' has now become...commonplace, routine. What's interesting for me are tales of hope and inspiratin and accomplishment, tools and resources to bring us to our goals, data and research that shows how we can feed our minds in order to replicate that pattern, that result, that world. It seems, we, me, could benefit with more of us feeding our minds...positive food. Imagine a media channel who broadcasts a daily list of World's BEST People or Today's 5 Inspiring stories? It is doable. The tools and resources from digital andsocial media make curating that news a snap...if you want. That is the key. The motivation for these media outlets might be there is a much bigger audience for this news and it would be an easy, inspiring way to differentiate yourselves and generate positive word-of-mouth for your work. Just a thought.

* istockphoto: Mark Swallow

Keep.Moving.Forward - Week 8: Volunteer

Recently, I announced a weekly series of posts with 5 tips, tools and resources to help us entrepreneurs*...Keep.Moving.Forward.

Here's Week 8 and its theme:

Volunteer

Volunteering offers hope and help to others. Not preaching, just sharing an observation.

And sometimes, ok most times, the hope and help we each need is found only in the hope and help we give.

Granted, that’s tough. And I have stumbled on this one. But...when I remember it, it always works.

Being a fan of baby-steps* more than herculean tasks (especially since I can choose to create either) I prefer a regular routine of baby-steps. Here are some baby-steps, steps I can take with a high degree of confidence that it will yield something positive for someone else, generate a little forward momentum each and every day.

Volunteer with Local Organizations.

Each town has nearly unlimited opportunities for volunteers, especially in this economy. Our little town has a volunteer coordinator with offices in our local library. I’m sure other towns have similar ones, too.

I walk by the offices of our local food bank, The Lord’s Cupboard, at least weekly, if not daily. My challenge was walking in the door and letting them know I wanted to help. Finally...one day I walked in and said I wanted to help. I’m glad I did. They welcomed me with open arms. We talked for a few minutes and came up with a plan.

Each Friday afternoon I load up our car with food and deliver it to several places in town**.

Help Your Neighbor

My neighbor came over with his snow plow several times this year. Made my day.

I’ve shoveled the walks of my neighbors when they’re gone. It only took a few minutes. Made my day.

Now, with social media, neighbors on another continent.... live next door to us.

So...shovel their digital sidewalks. Clear their path. With all the tools and resources online, the challenge is two-fold:

1. a willingness;

2. which opportunity with which resource.

Just take a baby-step.

For that matter, we all have families. Does any family not have volunteer opportunities within it?

Be A Curator of Inspiration.

Ultimately, we're all curators. It's just a choice of what we curate.

My cousin John shares an inspirational quote every day by email. He started this during the 2008 great Recession when he saw the need for a little light and hope. A few years ago he had a few hundred people on his list. They all came through word-of-mouth. I'm sure that number has continued to grow. (Me? I found out through a google alert.)

Most blogging platforms offer a clipping widget. That lets you clip some portion of an article to your blog. I use Posterous to share a daily story of inspiration here.

Share what you know. Jonathan Fields shares wonderful tips for entrepreneurs and well, anybody, at his site. There are many others, as well.

LISTEN

This might be the most powerful, most highly-leveraged, act you can volunteer to offer.

Just listen.

Family, friends, co-workers, a neighbor. Just listen. Let them share their stories. We all have great stories and great challenges. We need to share them; we all need to hear them.

And it takes so little. Just listen.

Be a Mentor

Some companies create mentoring programs. They match senior and junior members together. Traditionally, those programs have been designed for the senior members to share knowledge and wisdom with the junior members. These days I think it is an opportunity for a two-way street given the rapid changes in technologies and attitudes between generations.

Don’t wait for a formal program. Be alert. Find one person and make yourself a resource for them to learn.

Take One Baby-Step.

The challenge is not to change the world. The opportunity is to help one person, one time. So, take that one baby step. Help one person, one time. See how it feels.

Then take another. Make it a habit.

**********

* Just a reminder: we're all entrepreneurs.

Our whole life is a series "of hurdles, challenges, setbacks, disappointments, screaming euphoria, comparable levels of despair, a thrilling ride....” And like business entrepreneurs we’re pushed and pulled to invent and re-invent ourselves each and every day...or suffer the same fate as businesses who refuse to change: close our eyes to the world.

And like entrepreneurs in the business world, sometimes we get stuck. Sometimes, we need a tip, a reminder, a flashlight, a life buoy...And in this economy, we all need all the help we can get.

I hope this helps.

Feel free to share your tips, resources or means you have found help you keep.moving.forward.

Disclaimer: I'm a work in process with each of these steps, especially that last one. I'm getting better at the 2nd one. I overlook them all at different times, I handle them or have handled them poorly at others....But I Keep.Moving.Forward. I think you can too, if you take one of them today.

* When you add up all those baby-steps I’m thinking that herculean task, that stall inside my head that needs cleaning, could perhaps be accomplished. That my plan. I’m sticking to it.

** It is a time - management issue; I avoid commitments unless they are ones I can keep. I will find more. Check back in a few months.

Keep.Moving.Forward: Week 7 - Focus

Recently, I announced a weekly series of posts with 5 tips, tools and resources to help us entrepreneurs*...Keep.Moving.Forward.

Here's Week 7 and its theme:

Focus

Ok. The theme last week was Relax.

Now that you have...it is time to

Focus

Here are 5 ways to help bring and keep focus and Keep.Moving.Forward.

Organize your desk.

For god’s sake, for your sake, organize your desk.

Few things bring greater peace and clarity, with a little breath of fresh air, to a cluttered and throttled mind than…organizing my desk. As daunting as the task appears...its reality is far simpler. The key is just to start and to set a time limit. Sometimes, cleaning one thing can implore us to clean another and another...The choice with obsessive/compulsive tendencies is where to ...focus them. Me? I prefer obsessing over A. keep.moving.forward; b. quickly removing distractions.

Be impatient.

If you’re not impatient about reaching your goal maybe you should ask if it really matters.

Close browsers and applications

Limit your time on social media.

I love social media. Who doesn’t, right? ( Ok, my oldest sister...but I still love ya. ) On the other hand who hasn’t sunk oodles of time in link and links and tweets and tweets.

• Set time limits. I block out time in the AM, a little at lunch and some in the evenings. At most.

• Don’t follow everyone. At that point, it’s not personal. That’s the point. It’s not personal. I follow those who add meaning, add value to my day. I want the same in return. Follow me if I add value and meaning. Don’t if I don’t. That’s the only way to learn and be efficient and Keep.Moving.Forward.

Sever ties.

This may not be required.

But, moving forward means leaving the past and the present behind. Some we know may...how to say this gently...be unable to accept us in a different light, a different role, and may be unable to celebrate or support us as we pursue our goals.

It is painful, sometimes.

Sometimes this can serve as a wakeup call for others, too.

But pursuing our goals is disruptive. It involves change not just in our physical and financial settings, but in our relationship settings, too.

Change is good. But, sometimes, we change when others aren't ready and, if we're honest, that's happened with us, too.

**********

* Just a reminder: we're all entrepreneurs.

Our whole life is a series "of hurdles, challenges, setbacks, disappointments, screaming euphoria, comparable levels of despair, a thrilling ride....” And like business entrepreneurs we’re pushed and pulled to invent and re-invent ourselves each and every day...or suffer the same fate as businesses who refuse to change: close our eyes to the world.

And like entrepreneurs in the business world, sometimes we get stuck. Sometimes, we need a tip, a reminder, a flashlight, a life buoy...And in this economy, we all need all the help we can get.

I hope this helps.

Feel free to share your tips, resources or means you have found help you keep.moving.forward.

Disclaimer: I'm a work in process with each of these steps, especially that last one. I'm getting better at the 2nd one. I overlook them all at different times, I handle them or have handled them poorly at others....But I Keep.Moving.Forward. I think you can too, if you take one of them today.

Keep.Moving.Forward: Week 6 - Relax...

Recently, I announced a weekly series of posts with 5 tips, tools and resources to help us entrepreneurs*...Keep.Moving.Forward.

Here's Week 6 and its theme:  

Relax.

Do Something Fun Today.

Right now. And if you can’t find something fun to do right now, fun as you define it, well....you need to walk away from your desk....slowly...slowly...

Take a Holiday.

30-minutes, 1-hour, 1 day, 1-week. Consider it an investment in advanced solution research. There’s tons of existing research that report time off from seeking a solution gives our brains time to relax, ruminate in the quiet of our mind/unconsciously, collect our thoughts and BAM the solution presents itself in its totality or more totality than when we labored to find a solution.

 Turn Off Your Cellphone.

Silence is golden. Silence is the well-spring of creativity. Silence allows us to focus. Silence allows us to get stuff done. Silence is peace.

There’s a scientific basis for this step, too. Your cellphone transmits RF radiation. That’s not good.

Also, the part of our brains closest to the cellphone is the part of the brain that starts being overly active (link).

So, yeah, turn off that cellphone and keep it away from your head.

Treat Yourself to a Dessert.

 I’m a big fan of a daily dessert. And I’m a big fan of eating dessert as an appetizer. (Life’s short...) Maybe too much of a recent fan, really, if you judge my beltline and what’s beginning to roll over it, lovingly of course.

A daily dessert is a daily just reward. Really... these days? We all deserve one; we all need one. So, go get ya one. Right now.

Yoga/Meditation/Prayer

As I get older and creakier I turn more to stretching, a little yoga, every day 15 - 20 minutes or so. Total. And I have practiced meditation for going on 37 years. Somewhere, somehow, I find the time for that. That’s me. I do it for the clarity, the mental reset, the perspective, the energy. Here too you will find tons of research showing the mental and physical benefits.

Do it. Do it every day. Something. The question of what is mostly irrelevant. All roads lead to the same house.

Link: 8 Weeks to a Better Brain.

Bonus: 11 Ways to Reduce Morning Stress

Disclaimer. Obviously, we can't keep.moving.forward if we relax and eat chocolate mousse cupcakes and roll around and do yoga all day and take holidays with our cellphones off (or even left behind). ( And if we eat chocolate mousse cupcakes daily we will end up rolling around whatever we do)

On the other hand...these are simple steps, taken in small sizes, that help rejuvenate, re-create, and re-inspire us to keep.moving.forward.

**********

* Just a reminder: we're all entrepreneurs.

Our whole life is a series "of hurdles, challenges, setbacks, disappointments, screaming euphoria, comparable levels of despair, a thrilling ride....” And like business entrepreneurs we’re pushed and pulled to invent and re-invent ourselves each and every day...or suffer the same fate as businesses who refuse to change: close our eyes to the world.

And like entrepreneurs in the business world, sometimes we get stuck. Sometimes, we need a tip, a reminder, a flashlight, a life buoy...And in this economy, we all need all the help we can get.

I hope this helps.

Feel free to share your tips, resources or means you have found help you keep.moving.forward.

Disclaimer: I'm a work in process with each of these steps, especially that last one. I'm getting better at the 2nd one. I overlook them all at different times, I handle them or have handled them poorly at others....But I Keep.Moving.Forward. I think you can too, if you take one of them today.

* iStock Photos:

• cupcake from flugga

• beach chairs from Yuri Arcurs

Keep.Moving.Forward: Week 5 - Baby Steps

Recently, I announced a weekly series of posts with 5 tips, tools and resources to help us entrepreneurs*...Keep.Moving.Forward.

Here's week 5:

Baby-Steps.

Let’s talk about those baby-steps. Did you ever see the movie What About Bob with Bill Murray? It’s not an oscar-winner. It’s uneven. Somewhere the director and actors realized...we have to end this movie somehow.

But...there’s some scenes in their that still make me laugh and in particular...ring true. That scene that rings true, keeps ringing in my head, is baby-steps.

Baby-steps. Small steps. Achievable steps. Steps where you don’t fall down, don’t fall back. Momentum builders, some might call them. Firm-footing. They are the lay-ups a shooter needs to get their confidence back, get a little mo’ going, in basketball (Yes, this is a sports analogy and tomorrow is March 1. )

Baby-steps are a great way, even a daily way, to keep.moving.forward. Let’s use the basketball shooter’s analogy one more time. It is applicable for entrepreneurs*. Every day is our shot at life. We get up; we take our shot. Maybe we take big shots or long shots. But every day we work to get open, get a clear view of the basket. And take our shot.

Some days...weeks...months...ok, years....that shot, those shots...miss. We still have to get up the next day and take our shot.

But, now we’re doubting ourselves. We’re hesitant when our opportunity comes. That innate enthusiasm, excitement and passion, has ‘left the building’ with Elvis. The building is our heart.

What do we do? We take baby-steps. Little steps where we won’t fall back, can’t fall down. Take them one a time, one-day at a time. Take them in order or jump around. Take one 5 times in a row. Take 5, once each. Just take them until you those baby-steps are ...a shuffle. That shuffle becomes a jog. The jog becomes a run. Those shots are made and now you’re on a streak. That’s a streak of making shots.

Here’s 5 baby-steps...to keep.moving.forward.

Invest 30 Minutes.

• Read about your goal. Challenges, solutions, resources, who's doing what.
• Write about your goal. This is just a step. It's not written in stone. It's a step to clarify.
• Clip some online articles for later reading. I find just reading the title is like planting a seed. I use Evernote . It's easy, free, private.

Create a Google Alert for Your Goal.

Find out what’s been said, what’s being done, by whom. Make it a daily alert. Read them daily.

Create and Use a Hashtag for Your Goal on Twitter.

(You are on twitter, right? Tweets, microposts, are the ideal baby-step. 140 characters. Come on.) Find and connect with others who use it.

Work in 90-Minute Blocks

Matthew E. May, wrote a great post (ok, I haven't found any post he's written that wasn't....excellent), over at OPEN Forum on the logic and physiology of working in 90-minute segments. (Now, I can't find the post. Matt? )

It works.

I take it one step further, as I remember from his post. I set up 3-4 projects to work on during a 90-minute segment. When I hit a writer's block or a solutions block or my attention dulls on a project...I can jump to the next one.

Sometimes, I work back and forth all the time being productive.

Sometimes I sustain the focus on one.

And, sometimes it's enough to know that I get a break in...x more minutes, as opposed to thinking 'oh, crap, I'm stuck here....all day'.

Talk with someone.

Tell them your goal. Tell them your challenge. Listen to theirs. Find a story to share and laugh about. It is so easy to feel you are alone:

• No one faces the same challenge. These challenges are insurmountable....

• We’re afraid. We’re a failure.

They remain our reality as long as we live in isolation, remain disconnected. That is why we keep.moving.forward.

This is a great baby-step that allows us to relax (which always helps a solution or a perspective reveal itself) and connect with those who have gone before us or maybe walk beside us, right now.

And, who knows? Maybe we can help them, having already taken these baby-steps to walk ahead of them.

**********

* Just a reminder: we're all entrepreneurs.

Our whole life is a series "of hurdles, challenges, setbacks, disappointments, screaming euphoria, comparable levels of despair, a thrilling ride....” And like business entrepreneurs we’re pushed and pulled to invent and re-invent ourselves each and every day...or suffer the same fate as businesses who refuse to change: close our eyes to the world.

And like entrepreneurs in the business world, sometimes we get stuck. Sometimes, we need a tip, a reminder, a flashlight, a life buoy...And in this economy, we all need all the help we can get.

I hope this helps.

Feel free to share your tips, resources or means you have found help you keep.moving.forward.

Disclaimer: I'm a work in process with each of these steps, especially that last one. I'm getting better at the 2nd one. I overlook them all at different times, I handle them or have handled them poorly at others....But I Keep.Moving.Forward. I think you can too, if you take one of them today.

** Matt May. Mat's the author of two excellent books, The Shibumi Strategy and In Pursuit of Elegance. He's also generously shared his time as guest on my radio show, twice. Listen here (June, 2009) and here ( November, 2010).

How do I find inspiration?

I look for it. I look for inspiration around me. Every day.

The more I look, the more it has become a daily habit, the more places and sources I find. They share big and small examples. Big stories and little. Groups with big sponsors led by a passionate visionary. And groups quietly devoting themselves to a purpose, a cause, a person. And people quietly devoting themselves, selflessly, with no acclaim and having great impact.

The key though is the daily habit.

I look and look with purpose.

I share an inspiration every day at this site: These Inspired Me.

How much time do I devote to this? 15 - 20 minutes a day. Posterous, the blogging platform I use for this project, is simple to use. I can email a post, use the browser widget to share it in a post, or post directly at the site. I then tweet each post, automatically through my Posterous settings. Posterous is free. I recommend it for just such an exercise.

Despite the glut of negative news, I find most stories from general news sites like USAToday, NY Times, ESPN...

* My friends on Facebook and Twitter are great sources.

* My cousin emails a daily inspirational quote to a few hundred people.

* Here are a few other sites I use:

BrainPickings

Daily Good

Good Experience

KarmaTube.

So, I look every day with purpose. And that purpose is to share a story every day. And explain why that story inspires me.

All of that combined helps me own just a bit of that inspiration. Own it in me, my head, my heart, my psychology. That inspires me. Every day.

That helps me Keep.Moving.Forward every day.

**********

A few weeks ago I announced a weekly blog post on the theme: Keep.Moving.Forward. Each week I would post 5 ways that help me do that. One of the ways I listed in the 2nd post was Feed Your Mind. I thought it might help to share, in more detail, how I do this. There is so much negativity, and so little time to develop a new habit, find sources of positive news that I needed a few false starts before I found a routine that worked. That's critical. Find a routine, like for exercise and diet, that feeds the mind positive and encouraging news. That helps us....Keep.Moving.Forward.

Keep.Moving.Forward: Week 4 - Give Thanks.

Recently, I announced a weekly series of posts with 5 tips, tools and resources to help us entrepreneurs*...Keep.Moving.Forward. Here's week 4. The theme this week is:

Give Thanks.

Times get tough, times get crazy, setbacks all around you. Remember the partners that signed on and remember they go through these with you, too.

These help re-connect our hearts. And reconnect with those who help nourish it.

1. Say thank you to your employees, colleagues, partners, co-workers, team mates…Make it specific.

2. Thank your former mentor. Maybe, it's a boss or a colleague where you once worked. Call 'em up. Say thanks. Or just call them to ask how they're doing. That'll be enough to show you care. They'll understand. Remember: they mentored you.

3. Tell your spouse why you love 'em. Get specific. You should do this every day. But sometimes we forget. Thank them, too.

4. Tell your children why you love 'em, too. See above. Thank them for being the great kids they are even when it seems you may not see it. But you do.

5. Say thanks to your parents. Seriously. Just one day say thanks. Maybe, consider an apology for putting them through all the things we put them through; those things we do that’s just part of growing up. Sure they signed on for it. But…it shows you care. And you’ve grown up.

Now. Keep.Moving.Forward with a stronger heart, a renewed connection, with your key stakeholders, the ones with a stake in your success.

**********

* Just a reminder: we're all entrepreneurs.

Our whole life is a series "of hurdles, challenges, setbacks, disappointments, screaming euphoria, comparable levels of despair, a thrilling ride....” And like business entrepreneurs we’re pushed and pulled to invent and re-invent ourselves each and every day...or suffer the same fate as businesses who refuse to change: close our eyes to the world.

And like entrepreneurs in the business world, sometimes we get stuck. Sometimes, we need a tip, a reminder, a flashlight, a life buoy...And in this economy, we all need all the help we can get.

I hope this helps.

Feel free to share your tips, resources or means you have found help you keep.moving.forward.

Disclaimer: I'm a work in process with each of these steps, especially that last one. I'm getting better at the 2nd one. I overlook them all at different times, I handle them or have handled them poorly at others....But I Keep.Moving.Forward. I think you can too, if you take one of them today.

Keep. Moving. Forward: Week 3 - Connections

Recently, I announced a weekly series of posts with 5 tips, tools and resources to help us entrepreneurs*...Keep.Moving.Forward. Here's week 3.

The theme this week is connect. Reach out and touch someone or call them or connect with them. And in some cases…don’t.

Use Social Media.

Look. One of the best ways to Keep.Moving.Forward is to stay connected with others. One of the easiest, most convenient, scalable, near-limitless tools to grow connections and stay connected is…social media. My favorite is Twitter. Others love Facebook. I also love Posterous. Find the one you love. Use the one you love. Connect with the ones you love. Find more connections to love. Keep.Moving.Forward

Connect In-Person.

Look, again. It’s easy when times are tough to hunker down in our caves and huddle around our electronic campfires. Go ahead and do it. But do it briefly. Do it long enough to heal the bruises. Then go out and network in person at Chamber events and meetups organized on social media, go to conferences. I’m planning on going to one next week: EntreFest.

Ask For Help.

Sure, it's tough. It's humbling. It's scary. There are control issues. Who wants to openly admit we have failed or need help lest we fail again....

But we all need someone's help, each other's help. Remember, contrary to press releases gushing claims...there are no 'self-made' successes; everyone’s needed help.

Ask your friends or a professional or a coach. They have been there, done that. And it's flattering to be asked.

Help Someone with Their Goals.

First, listen. That’s the biggest help. Be there to listen. Then ask if you can help. Then help. Find out what connects the two of you. Offer them help. Offer them a shoulder to lean on. Share your experts, your ideas, your questions.

Sever the ties that bind.

Keep.Moving.Forward means Keep.Leaving the Past….Behind. Way behind. Or one step behind. Sever the the ties that bind us to what and who may stand in our way. Bad habits, toxic attitudes, unproductive patterns ...they all serve as the foundation for your ongoing failures. They attract an audience of supporters who support you remaining on that foundation.

This is tough. It’s painful, sometimes. But, a relief when it’s done.

Being an entrepreneur, being alive, means pursuing our dreams. It means leaving the safe confines of home, work, routine. It is disruptive whether we lead or watch someone else.

And some prefer the absence of this confrontation. That is the confrontation of pursuing a life worth living vs....layering our lives with denials and distractions.

This point deserves a longer discussion. I’ll do that in a future post.

Happy Valentine’s Day. Keep.Moving.Forward.

**********

* Just a reminder: we're all entrepreneurs.

Our whole life is a series "of hurdles, challenges, setbacks, disappointments, screaming euphoria, comparable levels of despair, a thrilling ride....” And like business entrepreneurs we’re pushed and pulled to invent and re-invent ourselves each and every day...or suffer the same fate as businesses who refuse to change: close our eyes to the world.

And like entrepreneurs in the business world, sometimes we get stuck. Sometimes, we need a tip, a reminder, a flashlight, a life buoy...And in this economy, we all need all the help we can get.

I hope this helps.

Feel free to share your tips, resources or means you have found help you keep.moving.forward.

Disclaimer: I'm a work in process with each of these steps, especially that last one. I'm getting better at the 2nd one. I overlook them all at different times, I handle them or have handled them poorly at others....But I Keep.Moving.Forward. I think you can too, if you take one of them today.

Keep.Moving.Forward: Week 2 - Feed Your Mind & Body

Recently, I announced a weekly series of posts with 5 tips, tools and resources to help us entrepreneurs*...Keep.Moving.Forward.

Here's Week 6 and its theme:

Feed Your Mind & Body

Eat Right.

This gets kinda personal now. Obviously, given our national rates of obesity, morbid obesity, diabetes, childhood diabetes…we as a nation remain ‘indifferent’ to what we eat and its impact on what we can do.

I’m neither a dietician nor a nutritionist. I’m not going to recommend foods and diets, organic or poison I mean Frankenfood I mean…MMO, Monsanto Modified Organisms…I digress.

On the other hand, food is fuel. What we eat determines what we can do…today and tomorrow.

Eat well. > Be well. > Do well.

Don’t eat well? > Then you can’t be well. > Then you can't do well.

Success is like running a marathon. Some miles we fly. Some miles we trudge. Some miles are endorphin-full; some are endorphin empty. We have to fuel our bodies to ...Keep.Moving.Forward.

Feed Your Mind.

Feed it with content that’s inspiring, helping, uplifting, motivating, teaching, connecting…you with your goal and those who share it, can help you reach it, can help you help them reach theirs.

Everybody can find 15 - 30 minutes to feed that diet to your mind. There are tools and technologies and plans that make that daily habit very doable. In fact, maybe I'll write a separate post on the tools I use and how I use them to do just this, every day. 

Free Your Mind

Meditation, prayer, quiet reflection, long walks in silence (don’t even listen to my radio show…). These are ever more critical as our world gets every-more noisy and distracting.

A culture of learning is critical to the success of an organization. Gary Harpst shared that insight with me in a conversation we had on my radio show. You can listen here. That culture of learning is also a culture of leaders. They learn the new skills, the technologies, the new business models, the new opportunities...first.

And we'll need to prepare ourselves to unlearn, too. The pace of change, disruption, global competition, new skills required for new jobs, and the opportunities they present will require us to unlearn as fast as we learn.

“The illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn”- Alvin Toffler

A free mind is a mind ready to learn. A free mind is a mind ready to lead.

Say Your Affirmations.

Say them outloud. Say them daily.

I confess I wasn’t a big fan of affirmations until recently. Affirmations seemed an excuse to neither plan nor do. Just affirm it and snap, crackle, pop (or click your heels twice) and there’s your reality. And those realities never popped…into being.

But I read The Answer. And I had the chance to interview its co-author Murray Smith. You can listen here. And then I undersood affirmations are one step I, we, need to take regularly. But if it is the only step we take, eventually we fall down and get nowhere. The other steps are planning and action.

Erika Andersen offered a different perspective in her book Being Strategic. Start with creating, as Erika calls it,  a reasonable aspiration or hoped-for future, your castle on the hill. Describe it in detail.What it will be like to build it, live it, see the world from it. And then she shows how we can build our own plan for reaching it.

I recommend both authors and their books.

Exercise regularly.

Regularly for me now is a lot different than regular was 10 years ago, 20 years ago.

But there are some constants.

I know I will have some success, some achievement, from a workout. Always.

Some days the results from a workout are enough to inspire me to keep.moving.forward. The other days they are like icing on the cake.

And regularly, I find solutions to challenges present themselves while I'm working out.

Exercise is a great stress-reliever. We're all under a great deal of stress. Exercise regularly.

**********

Just a reminder: we're all entrepreneurs.

Our whole life is a series "of hurdles, challenges, setbacks, disappointments, screaming euphoria, comparable levels of despair, a thrilling ride....” And like business entrepreneurs we’re pushed and pulled to invent and re-invent ourselves each and every day...or suffer the same fate as businesses who refuse to change: close our eyes to the world.

And like entrepreneurs in the business world, sometimes we get stuck. Sometimes, we need a tip, a reminder, a flashlight, a life buoy...And in this economy, we all need all the help we can get.

I hope this helps.

Feel free to share your tips, resources or means you have found help you keep.moving.forward.

Disclaimer: I'm a work in process with each of these steps. I overlook them all at different times....that only serves to confirm their usefulness.

Keep. Moving. Forward: Week 1

As entrepreneurs we face a constant barrage of hurdles, challenges, setbacks, disappointments, screaming euphoria, comparable levels of despair, a thrilling ride, great meaning, huge amounts of learning, stress and pride put on their families who are on the ride with or without prior discussion and the occasional success. Successes are rare. We make heroes from successes.

But, guess what? We're all entrepreneurs. We’ve all been entrepreneurs since the day we popped out* and asked Where am I? in a language and tone that anyone listening heard as screaming and crying.

We have no choice but to be lifelong entrepreneurs, too. Our whole life is a series "of hurdles, challenges, setbacks, disappointments, screaming euphoria, comparable levels of despair, a thrilling ride....” And like business entrepreneurs we’re pushed and pulled to invent and re-invent ourselves each and every day...or suffer the same fate as businesses who refuse to change: close our eyes to the world.

Inevitably, there comes a period when the setbacks mount, the challenges find no solutions, the doubts creep, our questions remain unanswered. Progress ceases. Our day is reduced to finding a to:

Keep...Moving...Forward.

Just one way. Today.

Over the past bit (too long to want to tally it up really) I needed that answer. Regularly.

With the help of a few friends, old and new, and with what’s called persistence here but stubbornness there... I found a few.

I wanted to share them with anyone. Maybe one of these will help you Keep....Moving...Forward, sooner and faster.

Here’s my first 5. Call them answers, ways or steps. Call on them when you need them.

Take a Break.

Rest is the basis of activity.

We’re on a long journey. The journey will not go away. It will be here tomorrow. I promise. So will the challenges. And new ones are on the horizon.

Take a break. Rest. Recharge. Spend time with family. Spend time with friends. Spend time enjoying something: a movie, a walk, music, sports, a good book, silence.

There's a practical aspect found here. Solutions, answers, resolution, understanding...they all choose to arrive here. Not sure why. Maybe, when we relax, when we choose to not focus so intently on a problem...we offer them a chance to dance for our attention. All those threads of awareness can form a dance line and we'll see it, hear it and applaud it.

We’ve earned both: the break and the answers. . We’ll earn some more, soon.

We’re climbing our own mountains. And even those who attempt Mt. Everest take a break, rest and recharge, at certain points on the journey. If they do it, it makes sense for us to do it as we attempt to summit our own Mt. Everest.

* Keep a daily routine.

• Prepare for tomorrow by the end of today. My success today increasingly is built on what I planned for it. That's done yesterday.

• Use a to-do list

• Keep the list short. I list my 3 most important goals.

* Turn off digital media at night. Stay out of The Shallows. I tend to graze digital media more as the evening progresses. Reasons for this are few; accomplishments are fewer. It is the mental equivalent of grinding your engine's gears. Eventually the engine or the gears or the clutch give out.

* Go to bed early.

* Sleep as much as you need. Don't use an alarm.

**********

I will post 5 each Monday, moving forward. I'll post them before noon, Central.

I will expand on one of them. And answer questions about any of them in comments.

There will 53 such posts, with 263 steps in all. Why not 365? One for every day? Well, because even in a journey we take breaks. Those breaks are important for a long journey. Breaks for family, breaks for the mind, breaks for the body. And 263 are the number of days in the year minus the weekend or 2 days each week.

Keep. Moving. Forward.

This theme for this year came to me first in a radio show with Deborah Shane. She kindly invited three guests to join her for an end of the year, wrapup show. The other two were JT O'Donnell of Career Realism and Michelle Villalobos: She asked us what themes we saw for 2011. I answered

Keep. Moving. Forward. The recession's not yet over; some areas are worse off than others. This is a key theme for all entrepreneurs in all times.

Later on, Chris Brogan asked if we had three words for 2011. I answered:

Keep. Moving. Forward.

Is there a choice? Again, I hope this list, this project, will help more understand that A. no we don't have a choice; B. I have the means to keep moving forward without pausing on the next step.