1. Can you describe the life you want?

2. What does a perfect day look like, from the moment you wake until the moment you sleep?

3. Do you have an end goal in mind?

4. Is there a problem you want to solve?

5. Do you want a thriving business that lasts after you’re gone?

6. Are you wanting to make someone’s life easier?

7. Are you putting work into the world that is fulfilling?

8. Do you regularly experience love, prosperity, joy?

9. Are you creating a legend you’re proud of?

10. Have you found time to honestly ask: what makes my heart soar?

I don’t know about you, but I’m over titles, degrees, labels, accolades.

I want to know about the work you’re proud of, the art you shipped, the dreams that light your face with promise.

I see “hope” as wishful thinking. I believe there are concrete steps you can take — today — to make your wildest dreams come true.

Focus your vision on what really matters to you.

What skill/tool/lesson do you wish you would have learned earlier? Read responses from yesterday’s #cxchat here.

• Leaders who give their time and of themselves endear those around them, building trust and respect among teams.
• “Scarcity mentality” repels and detracts from passion, energy, and fulfillment.
• Altruism and great financial success are not mutually exclusive.

Observation #2: Some of the best connections arise from places of abundance and giving.

• When you are focused on “the other,” conversations are more meaningful, authentic energy is exchanged, better solutions can be brainstormed.
• Folks can sense greed and selfishness; it is not attractive.

Observation #3: By giving to others, you can more clearly identify what brings you joy.

• True growth comes from helping others, encouraging someone’s dreams, furthering their project.
• Helping may be learned as a practiced skill but can emerge as a core element of your being.
• Most artists, creators, and makers are givers — they share physically, mentally, and emotionally of themselves. Dedicated to their craft, they put their art into the world expecting little (if anything) in return. The emphasis is on the work, the sharing, and not necessarily the outcome.
• Meaningful dreams evolve from a special sauce of individual enthusiasm, passion, sweat — and the generosity of others.

Tweet at me. I’d love to hear your thoughts on generosity and success.

This post was inspired by this week’s #cxchat Q3: How has generosity helped build your network? You can read a summary of responses here or join our next #cxchat Monday (6/17) at 2pm ET.

Quitting is a largely underrated skill. By removing yourself from situations that are detrimental to your growth, you place yourself on the fast track towards opportunity and success. Read more on why quitting might be good for you in this NY Times article.

A few things you might consider quitting:

• where you live
• your career
• relationships
• your job
• destructive habits
• irrelevant projects
• time wasters
• negative thoughts

Why (and when) should I quit?

Questions to help you decide if quitting is the best option:

1. Is this person / situation / job / environment helping me move closer to the person I aim to be?
2. Do I find this person / situation / job / environment supportive or destructive?
3. Am I inspired to think big, create, start, and finish?
4. Is the work I am doing meaningful, important to me, bettering my community, and/or changing lives?
5. Do I mostly feel calm, confidant, and secure?
6. Am I able to nourish most aspects of my being (mental, physical, spiritual) and accomplish the goals I’ve set for myself?

[You can also check out this Should I Quit? online questionnaire. Or find someone who can help you walk through this process.]

You always have options.

Instead of quitting, you could:

• hope the situation improves
• wait for things to change
• complain about them
• work to improve them
• ignore them
• get fired
• settle

The important thing is that you realize you have choices.

The difficult part is honestly assessing which one is right for you.

There’s a second of hesitation. You question whether you’re going to look like a fool, if your idea is stupid, if you’re wasting your time.

I had one of those this week.

Actually, I was petrified. I was trying something new, and I was scared it wasn’t going to work.

When you face moments of “This might not work,” do you turn around or keep going?

I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with #cxchat. I’ve seen twitter chats before, and I’ve questioned their value. I wasn’t convinced participants share authentically and reveal honest opinions. I was worried that no one would show up and thought I would be answering my own questions.

If you overcome fear and risk looking like a fool, good things can happen.

Not only did people participate, they shared. They shared their successes, their tools for creation, their secrets for building communities.

Digital strategists, managers, entrepreneurs, comedians (here’s looking at you, Matt Haze), designers, coders, coaches, artists, producers, writers, strategists, and marketers from all over the nation joined in. Responses were generous, thoughtful, honest, real. One of the participants even designed an incredible booklet for all to share; it’s now featured on Slideshare.

You can see what else was discussed during the chat here.

New connections, new resources, new perspectives.

I’d say #cxchat was a success. I’m glad I didn’t let fear get in the way.

(For those of you who missed it, we’ll be hosting another #cxchat Tuesday at 4pm ET.)

The next time you think, “This probably won’t work,” dive in, headfirst, and relax knowing most mistakes can be corrected. Who knows, you may stumble upon something great…

It’s up to you to define the dividing line between obsession and creation. It takes honesty and acceptance to separate work you’re proud of from slop that requires more attention. However, if you don’t begin, you won’t have anything to revise or shape. Your idea will be just that — an abstract concept with no real testing power.

What if you could accept a tolerable first iteration? Embrace the fact that unless you’re lucky or highly skilled, there’s a good chance you’ll look back at your first draft and cringe. Set specific goals and concrete checkpoints to overcome perfection paralysis and create something rather than nothing.

Do you wonder how other people get started? Not sure how to label finished from needs work? Ask others for tips during today’s twitter chat, 4pm EST (use #cxchat).

If you’ve never participated in a twitter chat before, check out this handy resource. Twitter chats are great for creating new relationships, asking questions and polling groups.

#cxchat will focus on all things connections. I’ll post a few topics to get us started and welcome your suggestions (send an email to info@projectexponential.com). Professional and personal questions are fair game, things like:

• What’s the best way to ask for a LinkedIn recommendation?
• How can I leverage connections in my job search?
• What’s the benefit of follow-up calls?
• How do you nurture and build a tribe?
• How have you successfully managed conflict?
• What relationships have been most meaningful to you?

You can find some other tools to help you participate here.

Look for me from 4-5pm EST on Tuesday @redheadlefthand and send any questions my way.

1. Fairy tales are real.
2. Adventure isn’t just for vacation.
3. Your work can be meaningful.
4. You have the ability to create more stability and security than with any employer.

Throughout my work with industry leaders, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and 1:1 clients, I’ve pinpointed three key areas that prevent belief in the above:

• Resentment
• Lack of focus
• Stagnation (disguised fear)

As a result, I’ve developed a methodology to help people push beyond perceived limits and get what they really desire. It’s based on the following principles:

Get honest

Easier for some people than others… make the time and find someplace quiet to sit down and get real with yourself. You’ll need to make a commitment to be honest about what it is you want, how you spend your time, who your closest relationships are, what kind of environments nourish your soul. Being able to identify crucial aspects of your personality, character, likes, dislikes, and leadership preferences (do you listen, lead, or follow?) can help you with the next step.

Set goals

The goals you set for yourself provide the framework for your energy and efforts. Without specific goals, you won’t be as effective; your intentions and actions less efficient. The trick is to identify goals that are meaningful and relevant for you (sometimes folks confuse another person’s expectations and preferences with their own).

Once you’ve labeled what you want and have set both long and short-term goals accordingly, you’ll be able to do your best work. Get what you want by working backwards is a post that can help you create a plan that will crush obstacles and conquer blocks (both internal and external) that might stop you in your tracks. Your fears have a more difficult time hiding when you have concrete goals in mind and on paper.

Ship

The final stage, and perhaps the most important. Perfectionism, commitment issues, laziness, self hatred — these kinds of things show up here. Guess what? They’re mostly about fear. By forcing yourself to put your work into the world, you’ll learn that products don’t need to be perfect to be finished. You may even realize that your biggest obstacle in getting things done is…you. Ship, and show fear who is boss.

I’ve been using a tailored version of this formula with a number of clients and have watched incredible transformations take place. If you’re interested in learning more and seeing whether our work together might help you, feel free to drop me a note. I’d love to hear what’s working (and what isn’t) for you.

Athletes call it The Zone. A moment when you and performance mix with sacrifice and joy and little else matters. Vision becomes narrow, your focus steadfast and locked onto the end result. All the rest, from relationships to household duties, fades into periphery.

Consider your must trusted communities. Most likely, you’ve endured together, you’ve grown together, or you’ve experienced hard work together. Challenging times weave lasting bonds, and nuances become sacred. We separates us from them.

Why, then, do we race towards finish lines alone? Some of the greatest benefits of creation’s final stages — the connections, the struggle, the lasting memories — fall victim to schedules, timelines, preoccupation, and restricted sight.

We’ve entered a new economy. One in which people have become the most valuable unit. Do you create time in your day to connect with those around you? What will support you when you need it most: your work or the relationships you’ve made along the way?

The Project Exponential community continues to grow. We’re building stronger connections and finding even more ways to help you do your best work. If you missed this morning’s newsletter, see what we’re up to here.

Chances are you may never find yourself on the big screen. That manuscript? It might end up in more trash cans than hands. And your promising business venture? You’ll be lucky if you get funded within the first ten pitches.

So you have a choice: you can sit back and wait to be called upon…

Or you can claim ownership of your own success.

Don’t wait for the best opportunities to find you. Create them.

Steps can you take to build your tribe, ship your art, design a viable solution — today:

• Start a blog and schedule a regular publishing calendar.
• Organize monthly roundtables with speakers of varied and interesting content.
• Record a series of podcasts on subjects you’d like to learn more about.
• Make sure your plan doesn’t include a stroke of luck or a winning lotto ticket.
• Pitch your mentor, pitch your friend, practice your pitch on the stranger in the elevator.
• Plan a film festival in a friend’s backyard (or rooftop).
• Set a recurring alarm and write for twenty minutes each day.
• Gather three friends and meet every other week to discuss challenges and progress.

Note: This blog post may sound harsh, but I want you to realize this is your life, your career, your dreams, your goals. No one else will take responsibility for them.

The most successful among us have failed, yet it is a subject riddled with anxiety and fear. We are afraid to be called out as a fraud, so we avoid talking about moments of doubt and insecurity. It is, in fact, the ability to screw up and fail that drives innovation, creativity, clarity, success, and more…

Brené Brown says moments of struggle and failure help us realize who we are.

Seth Godin received hundreds of rejection letters before finding that crack in the system.

Jason Russell and the Invisible Children team hosted countless school assemblies, rallying crowds and spreading their message long before the Kony 2012 video went viral.

Imagine if companies gave “Employee of the Month” awards to those who tried new initiatives and failed. The rule-followers and safe-players? They get pink slips.

Questions to consider:

1. How have failures contributed to the person you are today?
2. How are you encouraging those around you to fail more often?