So I write this today from a great little coffee shop in Brooklyn, New York that I really think has huge potential. It has great coffee and incredible ambiance. Keep your eyes peeled kids cause this place is going to be huge someday. Mark my words. I predict big things for this place called Starbucks.
If that joke seems really lame, please understand that it was so much funnier in my head. OK lets move on and discuss some ideas that matter.
1. Finding peeps you connect with…
So I attended the live book launch of Seth Godin’s new book, Linchpin. The launch was incredible for reasons that were not immediately obvious to me. Of course, Seth himself was a wealth of knowledge. His passion, insight and his drive to help people do work that matters were exactly what I expected to get by attending.
What I didn’t fully comprehend was the value you obtain when you put a group of 500 people together who all share a common thread. Everyone at the event on Friday has a desire to do work that matters.
That bond alone created immediate connections with people I had never before met. And more importantly it removed an immediate pet peeve of mine…small talk. I can’t stand it for the simple fact it bores me to tears. Even my small talk bores me. I get these moments where I can hear myself talking and I’m like, “Man, I don’t even want to listen to me.”
But I had no such worries at this event. Conversations quickly evolved into meaningful topics of substance. It was evident immediately that this was a group of people I will continue to network with because I have discovered a niche of people that share my idea of creating work that matters.
Have you found yours? If not, how are you going to go about locating it? Flip me an email or leave a comment if you would like to discuss this in more detail.
2. What Central Park taught me…
I did a walking tour of Central Park yesterday. It’s a pretty spectacular place which resembles something more akin to a human zoo (minus the possibility of being mauled or eaten because I hate when that happens.)
As I weaved my way through the park I got to a somewhat quiet part where I was able to scale up a small rock face and just sit and observe the surroundings.
As I glanced around I could see the incredible buildings on either side of the park. It was a spectacular view, but this also got me thinking about the value of Central Park.
You see, probably 90% of the park represents what New York looked like back 150 years ago. The city has come a long way over that time. But the park is a visual reminder of what was and just how much progress has been made over that time span.
As people, it’s important we have our version of Central Park; something that we can look back at (revisit) to see how far we have come. You can’t measure progress if you don’t have a clear vision of where we were.
While it can come from memories, it is important to note memory is inherently flawed because it fades over time or in my case, deleted completely. Things such as journals, goals, pictures and videos help us to go back to points in our life to see where we were and measure just how far we have come.
Regardless of the method you use, you need something to gauge your progress otherwise you fall into that loop of always feeling you are spinning your wheels when in fact, you have made great strides.
3. Eddie Izzard and the power of reinvention…
I was fortunate enough to attend the Eddie Izzard comedy event at Madison Square Garden last night. I knew some of this work from You Tube. He has one skit which someone lego-sized (Yup! I’m making up words now) where he talks about being Darth Vader in the cafeteria. It’s brilliantly funny. It’s called the “Death Star Canteen.”
Izzard, if you don’t know, is a transvestite. However, for this particular show he dawned no women’s clothing for the simple fact that he doesn’t want to be associated or pigeonholed as that transvestite comedian.
There is a lot we can learn from that.
I think often times we pigeonhole (who in God’s name came up with that crazy word anyhow?) ourselves. How? By the labels we place on ourselves. Some examples include defining yourself by…
- your marital status (This is especially true of those who are divorced. I hate the word because it reinforces this notion of failure when our history of relationships shows that most will end. It is the nature of human relationships.)
- your job or career
- your education
- your faults or weaknesses
- your emotions (these are extremely arbitrary)
The question you need to ask is, “Have I pigeonholed myself?” If so, how are you going to break free in an effort to reinvent yourself?
*****
I have one more day in New York. I have no major plans other then to roam some small part of the city and enjoy its simple pleasures. Here’s to you seeking out and finding your own simple pleasures today.
To ideas that matter,
Dean
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