Project Exponential

Tag: challenge

  • A free program

    If you’ve felt it, you know magic happens when the right people enter a space.

    Sometimes it’s serendipity; most of the time there’s a driving force.

    I want to encourage you to take part in what Seth Godin has dubbed the Connection Economy — to use your most meaningful relationships to inspire you to create art, contribute to your community, and nourish the connections in your own life.

    Deepen the connections in your world and start conversations that matter.

    I’m thrilled by the prospect of sharing my passion and work. The capacity for what can happen when the right people come together is unlimited and largely untapped. Call this six-week program whatever you want: a book club, a group, an experiment, an adventure.

    There are people in your world who need to meet.

    Your efforts to organize this program may change someone’s life, but it’s up to you to make it happen. There are people out there who are stuck (as you may have discovered, paths are rarely straight and laid out). Be present and challenge each other with kindness and care.

    We all have something unique to share. Let’s help each other do the tough work.

    Questions? Successes? Let me know how it goes.

    Step 1. Form a group.

    Sure, you can do this alone. But a group offers support, accountability, and the ability to help you up your game. You want people who can call you out, people who can serve as your cohort and personal network as you advance your ideas forward. Your group is your sounding board, letting you know when you’re on track and gently nudging you when you’re off.

    It doesn’t matter how many are in your group; it could be one other person or four. Call up a few friends and send out emails, “Will you try something new with me?”

    Step 2. Time and place.

    Face time can’t be substituted. Choose one location and meet consistently, each week. Settle on the details and commit. Six weeks. No excuses.

    Respect everyone’s time. Everyone is busy. Make each other a priority.

    Step 3. Finalize your reading list.

    I’ve listed several books for you to use as a starting block. Recommended, but by no means required. If you have a book that has been especially influential to you, use that one instead.

    Sample book list:
    Linchpin
    Poke the Box workbook
    Superconnect
    Business Model Generation
    E Myth Revisited
    4 Hour Work Week
    Creatively Independent
    Make Your Idea Matter
    Host an unforgettable dinner party

    Step 4: Homework (Projects & Exercises):

    The activities suggested are designed to get you out of your comfort zone, inspire you, and reinforce what you’re reading. If you feel inclined to add your own twist, please do.

    Most importantly, set aside time to make writing a priority. I’ve listed a few prompts to encourage you and provide creative direction. Again, use what is helpful and improve what isn’t. Not everything will work for everyone.

    Week 1

    Reading: Bernadette Jiwa’s Make Your Idea Matter
    Project: Go find a journal that inspires you. Buy it from that indie book store you’ve always wanted to check out, look for something inspiring while you’re waiting in line, make it yourself.
    Writing exercise: Set your alarm for ten minutes. Choose one:

    • Imagine your dream life. Envision everything it entails. Now write. It doesn’t need to be complete sentences or thoughts, words are fine.
    • Ask questions. Write them down, every question you can think of. They don’t need to make sense. You don’t need to have the answers. Tangential is fine. Just ask.

    Discuss: What is the difference between dreaming and storytelling? Do you set aside time to create and dream? What stories do you tell yourself? To others?

    Week 2

    Reading: Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Work Week
    Project: Do something new this week. Cook dinner with veggies from the local market. Sign up for a class. Explore a new neighborhood. Get lost in a library.
    Writing exercise: If you could do anything, anywhere, what would it be?

    Discuss: How do you define work/life balance? Is a distinction necessary?

    Week 3

    Reading: Seth Godin’s Poke the Box workbook
    Project: Print out the workbook. Plan thirty minutes of uninterrupted time to complete.
    Writing exercise: Notice any areas of hesitation while you’re completing the workbook. Is there a particular topic that seems more challenging than others?

    Discuss: What obstacles stop you from shipping? How are you getting in your own way?

    Week 4

    Reading: Project Exponential’s Host an unforgettable dinner party
    Project: Schedule a lunch date or host a dinner party.
    Writing exercise: Set your alarm for ten minutes. Choose one:

    • What are the traits you most admire in others?  What are the traits you’re most proud of?
    • Assemble an imaginary Dream Team. You get five players. Who do you choose? What skills do they offer?

    Discuss: Talk about how teams are formed and what kind of environments contribute to their growth. What kind of people belong on your Dream Team? Who inspires you?

    Week 5

    Reading: Jess Pillmores’s Creatively Independent
    Project: Challenge yourself to write the first draft of your very own ebook.
    Writing exercise: Consider the uniqueness that you, and only you, bring to your work, your relationships, your family. What separates you from competition? What is that one trait that singles you out?

    Discuss: How do you stay inspired while working on a big [exhausting] project? What tricks and techniques have you found to be most helpful when setting big goals?

    Week 6

    Reading: E Myth Revisited and/or Business Model Generation
    Project: Brainstorm how you might turn $10 into $100.
    Writing exercise: Write out a sample business plan. What would you do if you had no excuses, no responsibilities? Journey back to the days of mowing lawns, selling lemonade, babysitting. What would change if today was your last day at your current job?

    Discuss: Would things be different if you consistently set aside time to write, dream, explore, learn?

  • Action

    One word separates problems from solutions.

    It is possible to witness a situation and do nothing.

    Or you can let it move you, think of a way to change it, make it better, and improve it from the way you found it.

  • 7 objections to overcome

    1. You’re not qualified.
    2. You don’t have the experience.
    3. You’re not connected.
    4. You haven’t done this before.
    5. This will require all of your time.
    6. You don’t have the resources.
    7. It’s out of your league.

    You’ll hear all sorts of objections. You get to decide if you’re going to listen.

    Develop responses you can quickly and easily remember. You’ll need rebuttals you can use for yourself and for the world.

  • Jumping is scary. Do it anyway.

    As a young woman, I hitchhiked alone and traveled across many countries. I went head-to-head with lawyers and counseled delinquents. I earned a masters from an ivy-league, received a state license, and wrangled my way into an entirely new industry. I directed and designed and produced successful events, facilitating valuable connections between people who otherwise might not have met. But it wasn’t enough.

    I needed more experience. I wanted more connections. I didn’t have enough knowledge. I wasn’t ready. And if I’m entirely honest, I didn’t think I was enough. (Turns out, I was wrong. I just needed to jump.)

    I know I’m not the only one. Everyday I talk to entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and artists who struggle to take the first leap into the unknown.

    …It’s not the right time…I don’t have the resources…I can’t find the time…I’m worried about money…

    We do this to ourselves. We sabotage our dreams. We’re afraid. Deep down, we know that if we put our mind to it, we have the capabilities to break our biggest goals into manageable, digestible chunks. But we over-chew. We convince ourselves the path we’ve been traveling on, the one we’ve been walking down for some time, is the safest and best option. We lower the height of our own sky and the limits to which we’re capable of flying. We lull ourselves into forgetting the sweet deliciousness of new experiences.

    Fortunately, it’s never too late. It is just a matter of making that decision. You must choose. Nothing will happen until you decide to venture away from the safe waters into territory where there is no rulebook, no play-by-play. While you can find leaders and teachers and people whose experiences might mimic your own (and it is imperative that you do), there is no “on the job training.” It’s up to you to figure it out.

    Sometimes the hardest thing is recognizing what you want. The next hardest is to begin. By recognizing there’s no prescribed way to land that dream job, dream family, dream life, we open ourselves to an entirely new world. A world that is uniquely ours to create.

    Dare yourself. Set goals and work backwards. Plan checkpoints along the way and reward yourself when you reach them. Gather information, collect the necessary experiences, and confidently step in the direction of your dreams.

    Don’t hold yourself back. If not for yourself, do it for the people around you. Show them what it looks like to lead a life that is uniquely yours, a life filled with magic and dreams and adventure. Jump.

  • The $12,392,786.00 blog post

    I have had the good fortune of meeting, counseling, and sitting in business seminars with intelligent, driven, successful individuals — and they just want to become better. Industries range from music to publishing, finance to social good, art to real estate. Age, life experience, and stage of life vary; students, fathers, midlife, C-level, nearing retirement, starting up.

    Despite a plethora of variables, I’ve noticed a few themes that come up again and again. In fact, they repeat themselves so frequently I wish I could bottle them for distribution, sending them around the world to inspire people to do more and dream big.

    I’m sharing them here in hopes they resonate with you.

    Why $12,392,786.00? Because I believe if you act, the following nuggets will add value to your work and life. And if you’re really diligent, you’ll see benefits worth even more.

    ———

    We get in our own way. Believe it, accept it, move forward.

    Be willing to listen — to the point someone could convince you to throw your idea out the window or drastically change it.

    Don’t wait. Do it now.

    No one is going to give you permission.

    You have a choice. Don’t be seduced into thinking otherwise.

    Relationships are important. The “unexpected ones” often prove to be the most valuable.

    Milk the in-between spaces. In-between jobs, appointments, calls, relationships, events, ideas. They hold more potential than you think.

    There are an infinite choices. Pick one. If it fails, there will be another.

    No decision is irreversible.

    Question. Ask lots of them.

    Who (or what) can you connect? Everyone can bridge two people, two ideas, two companies. And it will multiply.

    Stop trying to sell to people you don’t know. Start with the people you do.

    Be vulnerable. Connect, reach out. People cherish authenticity.

    What are you really saying? Get honest with yourself and with your audience. Cut the crap and get real.

    Don’t assume. You never know whose talents can help you and how.

    Set dates otherwise you’ll never get it done.

    Pick up that pen, make that call, stop waiting to begin.

    There is no perfect.

  • How do you see risk?

    Everyone experiences risk. No one is immune to the anxiety that comes with it.

    The difference between the daring and the successful is that they’ve learned to cope with it.

    Questions to ask:

    How can I minimize my anxieties surrounding this?

    Can I make myself feel better about this decision?

    The more you dive, the more you’ll enter the water in a way that doesn’t hurt, and the board won’t seem quite as high…

    Jump.