If focusing was easy, everyone would being doing it.

This is where a lot of motivational ra-rah fails us: “Just focus. Zero in, prioritize, it’s easy when you …just focus.” True, things do get exponentially easier when you hone in on your objective. But the actual choosing of what to focus on can be excruciating. It sucks to delay great projects. Pacing yourself is a drag. It can feel downright masochistic to say no to juicy opportunities.

When we recognize the fact that focusing can hurt, then we can face it directly, make better decisions about where we’re directing our energy, and move on more quickly toward success. The act of focusing requires contraction, ruthlessness, and deafening resolve. Wince. And then come the sweet relief.

Medicine tastes bad. Swig it back.
It hurts to say goodbye. Your plane is leaving.
Focusing can be painful. Make your choices.

focus.

1. Grieve for your ideas, the ones that will never see the light of day. Pruned. Aborted. Not meant to be. Under-resourced. Not as shiny as all your other ideas. Bye bye idea. You made me feel more creative, sassy, sexy. Thanks for passing through. Some ideas are only meant to flirt with you — quick confidence boosts on your way to lasting passion.
2. Bow respectfully to time, like it’s your honorable Jujitsu partner. Einstein said, “Time exists so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” What a beautiful, agonizing truth. Because when you’re on fire with ideas and things to make-do-build, don’t you wish it could all just happen at once? Time and gravity. Part of the human deal. Inescapable, really. Thankfully. Sometimes.
3. Put some ideas in escrow. They will wait for you. Patiently ripening.
4. Trust your muse. She may like to blurt stuff out at you at 4am, muses tend to be impulsive. But she also knows that one nuked idea will lead to another that is destined to be manifested.
5. Get off on the pain. As in it hurts so good to focus. When it sucks to set ten ideas aside and choose only one, relish in the agony, like an athlete loves the burn. You are getting ahead.

focus.
essential.
friction.
infinitely illuminating.

An even greater feat of creative swiftness, Geldolf pulled LIVE AID together in about seven months. It was one of the largest-scale broadcasts of all time, with a global audience of nearly 2 billion. In terms of production planning, it happened at the speed of light.

One of the greatest portrait painters alive, Francesco Clemente, says that if he can’t finish a painting in a day, he’s not that interested in it. Jack Kerouac believed that his uncorrected spontaneous prose, “visionary tics shivering in the chest,” were the most artful.

Fast can make something that lasts.

HOW TO ACCOMPLISH GREAT THINGS QUICKLY

1. Let yourself be moved. Swept up. Spurred. Taken.
Geldof saw a report on Ethiopian famine on the nightly news and sketched out the LIVE AID plan that night. Don’t hold yourself back. Do not censor your passion. Fuck being practical. Do not be logical. You do not have to know how you’re going to pull it off. In fact, it’s better if you don’t. Think of all the greatness-makers who have said, “If I knew what this was going to take, I wouldn’t have started.” Just be seized. Go with it. This wave of “I gotta do this!” will lead you to a strategy.

WhiteHot backup, read: On Bright Faith And Why Falling In Love Is Totally Uncool

2. Simply believe that you CAN — and will — do incredible things in a very short amount of time. Not all the time, of course. But more often than not. Creativity doesn’t need to be a process that is drawn out — contrary to what a lot of perfectionists and self-sabatogers think. Hell, sometimes it doesn’t even need to be thought out well. You just need to get it out. This requires that you…

3. Trust. Trust hard and trust strong.

WhiteHot backup, read: Open up anyway.

4. Be on the watch for for synchronicities.
When you fully commit to pull something amazing off in short order, angels hear the alarm and slide down the cosmic fire pole to give you earthly assistance. Trust that people will be placed on your path and they will get you where you need to go faster than you could get there by yourself. Think of crazy deadlines as compressed magic time.

5. Set seemingly impossible deadlines. I did it for The Spark Kit. I wrote/filmed it in 11 weeks, it lead to a book deal, which we sealed in a few days time. And Your Big Beautiful Book Plan — which is massive. We pulled a team together to launch in 8 weeks. In both cases, I announced the launch date before I’d started on the projects. Mo.ti.vat.ing.

WhiteHot backup, read: Time Kills Deals and 7 Other Points on Making It Happen

6. Focus like your life depends on it.
The faster you drive, the more you have to focus.

WhiteHot backup, read: Super Hero Syndrome + The Practical Response To Crazy Ambition

7. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT DEVALUE SOMETHING YOU MAKE BECAUSE YOU MADE IT QUICKLY AND EASILY. This is the most nasty killer of unfurled greatness. We think that because it came so swift and easy, it mustn’t be as valuable. Hogwash. When you’re operating from a place of your True Strengths — it’s easy. You’re more productive, happy, and…faster.

WhiteHot backup, read: The Manifesto of Encouragement (I wrote it in 10 minutes. It’s been shared 7000 times.)

So, no kidding: I’m just about to hit “publish” on this post, and I get this email from my creative compatriot, Alexandra Franzen: “In a bout of mania, I made a mini-product this morning: FIVE SCRIPTS TO FILL YOUR CLIENT DOCKET. It’s fun. It’s $15. And hopefully, it’s hella useful. Here’s a copy for YOU. ‘Cause, ya!. Today’s theme is: getting shit done, lightning fast.” See.

And now, here’s a copy for YOU to get manic with.

Believe in the possible, the swift, the power of lickety split.

. . . . . .

Reviews are streaming in for YOUR BIG BEAUTIFUL BOOK PLAN, which we launched last week. They are thrilling, we are thrilled, and I predict that a whole lotta people will be spending this holiday mapping out a strategy for their creatives empires. Please check it out.

Here’s how it happened: Last year I turned my life upside down. Took a break from marriage. Moved. Shelved numerous obligations to meet a writing deadline. Avoided said writing deadline for a long time. Slammed that writing deadline. Put my health significantly further up on the priority list. Chose yoga over blog posts. Hung with friends instead of wooing clients. Launched stuff at light speed. Killed projects. Stopped cooking dinner mid-boil to capture an idea. Talked on the phone with friends…in the middle of the day…for hours.

I lived more, because it was time for some things to die. I devoted myself more deeply to liberation because the longing to be free was the passion of my inner Christ. I had to arrive at thrive or I would get stuck in survival mode. In this dimension, nothing is predictable, and unbridled is the only way to go. It was not the time to “manage” my time.

Time management systems are tricky beasts. They may help us be more productive, but not necessarily less stressed, or more fulfilled, or more in touch with our true nature. We may look freer with our priorities all tidy, but too often, time remains the master and we get “given” time for obeying the system.

I’d rather be fulfilled than obedient. And it turns out that when I’m fulfilled, I’m…fulfilled — whether I’m productive or not. And that gives me plenty of energy to be more focused on what matters most, which makes me truly productive. It’s a beautiful thing. Here’s how I got there:

HOW TO PUT TIME MANAGEMENT IN ITS PLACE.
(BUT ONLY IF YOU WANT TO.)

1. Stop keeping a detailed to-do list. If it’s truly important, you’ll remember to do it. A few post it notes and texts to yourself should be all you need.
2. Say no, thank you to four things a day. My coach gave me this assignment. It changed my life.
3. Relentlessly focus on the one or two vocational desires that turn you on so much that envisioning doing JUST those things seems so fantastical that it borders on erotic pleasure (yep, I think it’s your birthright to feel that hot about your work in the world). Everything else that is not about fulfilling your most intense vocational desires is getting in the way of making your fantasy life a reality.
4. Work with talented and excellent human beings. Amateurs, posers and mediocrity-makers are time squatters. Move ‘em out.
5. Delegate the stuff that doesn’t light you up.
6. Have (only) 3 important things to accomplish every week. Make those three things happen and you’re closer to making your fantasy life a reality. Accomplish more than that and you’ll feel like a super hero (good esteem fuels fulfillment AND productivity.)
7. Batch n’ chunk. Pay all of your bills at the same time. Create a day just for errands. Make all of your calls before noon. This “while you’re at it” kind of momentum is incredibly efficient.
8. Ask yourself every morning what you really feel like doing. Not what’s most important. Not what’s expected of you. But what you’re most excited to do. Enthusiasm is the DNA of making things happen. Start there.

Flying without a to-do list made me worry. It was scary to let go of revenue streams and planned projects. Going to yoga when I had obligations actually took some moxie. Doing what I was truly stoked to do each day was unnerving, guilt-inducing and exhilarating all at once. And… it didn’t take long for this free forming time style to reveal my most lucrative, artistically satisfying, relationship-enhancing year ever.

Easy does it.

xo

If consensus is overrated, I think balance is too. I have no interest in living
a balanced life. I want a life of adventure.
- Chris Guillebeau

In the end, the quest for balance is bogus. Love your burdens. Love them hard. And when your loves knock you down or your weak ankles trip you up, stop worrying about balancing – ‘cuz you’re not – and bounce.
- Kelly Diels

Life balance. Low fat cheese. Walking shoes. Small talk.
Life balance. The term makes me feel bloated and late for my own party.
Life balance. Stressful.

The pursuit of balance makes us juggle. It puts us behind (always behind,) makes us guilty, neglectful, imbalanced. It’s as useful a concept as original sin. You can never get it right.

If you want to do great things, striving for balance is a losing game. I don’t think remarkable artists, scientists, activists, entrepreneurs, or generous souls set out on their giving journeys with the aim to be measured and harmonious. Meeting your potential is inherently full of tension (creative tension.) Trying to be balanced about it is onerous and futile.

Fuhget about it. Put balance on pause and feel into…

The out-of-whackness of your life – gigs, kids, commitments, projects. It’s a lot. Yes, indeed it is.
The passion in your cells – to eat life whole, to innovate, to score, to, as Emerson put it, “leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition.”

Feel into….
The hunger to fill the hole in your soul – doesn’t matter how it got there – if it’s there, it’s there.
The aspirations that show up as dreams or strategies.
The curves of your drive.

[HOLD FOR THE PUNCHLINE:]
If you’re alive, ambitious, or depressed; inventive, in the lead, or rapturous – you are imbalanced. The off-kiltering of your life may make you gasp – in grief or in glory. You could be on the leading edge of your consciousness – thriving. You could be a total mess. Things may need to be put in proper order. Loved ones. Goals. Your well being. Your mental clutter. Your blood pressure. Your Mastercard statement. But…

[THIS IS THE PUNCHLINE:]
Getting “balanced” is not the remedy to stress.

Passion is.

I burn a lot of omlettes. It’s a regular occurrence – I’m drawing robots with my kid, I’m jotting down an idea I don’t want to lose, I’m taking the call. And then the smoke alarms goes off. I “work” on holidays. Last Monday I stayed in bed and read all day. I send birthday gifts three months early or three months late – but it’s just the right gift. I can eat cereal every day for a week, wearing the same clothes, never leaving the house because I want to finish a book. I like last minute trips out of town and not answering email for days. The last time I was at a monastery, I tweeted about it.

This is not a balanced life. But it works. And the more I pursue my passions, the more uncomplicated my life gets, actually. There’s not much in my life that I resent. And if resentment builds, I’m swift to get it off my plate. It’s not the imbalance-ness that stresses me, it’s doing meaningless things that aren’t taking me where I want to go.

MOTHERS + CEOs
When we talk about the whole life balance issue, working mothers are central to the conversation. How does the screw-life-balance-and-go-for-passion theory apply when you’re juggling P ‘n L’s and macaroni ‘n cheese? It’s about an overall proportion in your life, not perfection. It’s a work hard / play hard equation. It’s about draining your reserves and filling them up again with precious moments or a stolen day. You give give give give give and give some more, and then you get. It’s a wonky equation – creating works of art always is – but if you don’t stress about how you “should do it”, you can create the best way to do it.

When passion is a priority – passion for family, vocation, for meaning – your energy intensifies. And when your energy is more focused, more, “aimed”, you begin to care less about the things that don’t really matter. You avoid crappy jobs, you stop over-controlling your kids, you nag and complain much less – with everyone. You get the help you need to pull off the important things – whether you’re a CEO or an aspiring freelancer, and that support takes the form of a house cleaner, a VA, or a friend or mentor to jam with.

REFUSE TO BE BALANCED
When you refuse the banality of balance and go for full on life (which includes full on productivity and full on stillness,) you’ll see the inevitable mess of it all as something more beautiful and purposeful – full of peaks and valleys – an adventure. The climb can be rigorous, grueling sometimes, but the air is cleaner, and the view will blow your mind. The fruit you’ll find on your own tilted path is so much sweeter – and there’s so much more of it to share.

View the segment: STOP DOING Lists … Mark Kelley and I talk it up this week.

If I’m to realize my intentions, what I stop doing is just as important as what I start and continue to do. Stopping = the white space. Stopping = room to run free and create from the deepest place of being without restraint or compromise. Stopping = more time for what matters most.

I know how to go, go, go. Stopping, I’ve learned is the stuff of mastery.

Master Jim Collins sums it up brilliantly in this USA Today article. He brings forward three profoundly simple questions from Darwin Smith CEO Kimberly-Clark, which became the foundation of the Hedgehog Concept:

1) What are you deeply passionate about?
2) What are you are genetically encoded for — what activities do you feel just “made to do”?
3) What makes economic sense — what can you make a living at?

If your answers to what you’re doing come up no, no, and no to these questions – then stop doing it. Shut ‘er down. Take it off your plate. Let it die. Cease. And exhale a sigh of relief. You can move with more velocity toward your dreams.

Look back on this year and get very clear about what sucked. What didn’t work, got mired with resentment, felt onerous, weighed you deadly down? A note on resentment: you can’t continue to do things you fully resent and think they’re going to transform into enjoyable activities over time. It just doesn’t work that way. Think of resentment as a blaring, mega-watt STOP sign. And stop.

WHAT’S YOUR STOP DOING LIST? Here’s mine for 2010:

1. No red eyes flights. Ever. Never worth it.
2. I will not leave Twitter, Facebook and Gmail open while I write. I need blocks of two to three hours to think clearly and craft that clarity into something useful. Writing is a “yes!” to all three of the questions.
3. No schlepping my old book to speaking gigs to sell. Forget it. I pay for extra luggage, I cuss at my suitcase as I’m heaving it up escalators. And besides, since I left my last company, I don’t make a cent off of the book (because I signed the copyright over to the incorporation.) See questions 2 and 3: I’m not passionate about it. I can’t make a living at it.
4. I will continue to lovingly decline requests for on-going coaching. I’m a Strategist. Capital S on that. I do my very best work around creativity and entrepreneurship, facing forward, thinking big while being ruthlessly pragmatic. I’m not great at untangling things that happened yesterday. See question 2. I’m just not made for it.
5. I will not pursue a conventional publishing deal for my next project. I will fly higher, faster, on my own for the next round. Innovate or die.
6. I’ll stop answering business-related email on weekends. I’ve thought of putting “I don’t work weekends” in my e-signature, but that’d be just obnoxious.

All of the above activities only serve to make me busier, or put me out of the zone of my true strengths. (And you know how I feel about busy-ness.) Stopping what’s distracting, draining, or aggravating you doesn’t require any heavy lifting or stamina. Just love and self respect.

So seriously, consider this a poll. WHAT WILL YOU STOP DOING FOR 2010? What ACTIVITIES are coming OFF your to-do list? What will create more space when you get it off your plate? This will be the topic for my CBC TV segment this week and I’m trolling for your chutzpah and boundary-championing.

xo
Danielle

That’s it – three essential, monumental questions for every entrepreneur. Whether you’re a hairstylist or a blogger, a lawyer or a widget seller, it’s the simplest questions that will illuminate the way. I’ve been using this inquiry strategy for years to build businesses and it never fails to light up what the top priorities are.

Like most simple things, you have to examine each question from every angle to fully glean its elegance and power. No matter what stage of growth your company is in, the answers to these questions should drive your daily actions.

Let’s use a hairstylist for example. {I happen to think hair stylists are seriously powerful citizens. You want to firmly plant an idea in the minds of thousands of people? Tell a hairdresser. He or she has the rapt attention of dozens of people a week. Salons are hotbeds of news and inspiration.} Back to success…

ROLE PLAY WITH A HAIR STYLIST

YOUR PRODUCTS + SERVICES. Most entrepreneurs actually “do” more than they perceive. Examine the benefits and the unintended positive consequences of what you give or make. Look for the deeper meaning of the result of your work.

1. What do you do (that gives you joy)?
Stylist says: “I cut hair.”
Me: No, really, what do you do?
Stylist: “I make people feel beautiful.”
Me: Uh huh. You’re getting it.
Stylist: “I’m a healer who happens to give highlights.”
Me: If you say so, then BINGO!

YOUR MARKET. Pay careful attention to who you actually attract … how do the people who buy your services or use your content/product see the world, what do they read, where do they shop, who do they listen to, what are their values?

2. Who cares about what you do?
Stylist: “Humans with hair.”
Me: Could you be more specific?
Stylist: “Women…People who want to look great…Women between 20 and 50 who want the best possible cut and colour for under $100 … and like to talk about personal growth and baking.”
Me: Excellent. That is YOUR market. And the only market you need to care about is your own.

MARKETING TO YOUR MARKET. Effectively accessing your audience means that you’re reaching as much of your market with the least amount of effort. Quality + Quantity + Leverage. Repeat that to yourself before you spending a dime on marketing. Look for leverage points, vocalizers, mavens, influencers to spread the word for you … from the right trade show or celebrity, to the local socialite or class president.

3. How do you access who cares?
Stylist: “With business cards and an ad in the yellow pages.”
Me: Is that how the majority of YOUR market comes to you?
Stylist: “I get my very best clients by word of mouth referrals.”
Me: Whose word brings you YOUR market?
Stylist: “Becky the Realtor tells everyone. Janice is a total maven, she’s sent me at least ten clients. And Josie with the bakery and the flaming red bob … she’s so well connected.”
Me: Great. Give them each a free hair cut and a stack of business cards.

The formula for success is usually so simple it takes some time to really see it. The answers may take a while to find. Keep peeling back the layers until you come to the most elegant truth. Because the truth is what works. Simple.

. . . . . . . . .

check out the business books I dig the most

Well, I heard from them, pronto ronto. And the response was impressively clear, direct, and believably sincere. An excerpt:

“Yikes, we certainly messed up on this one! I just read your blog post, “copyright, bullshit, and good manners,” forwarded to us by one of our clients. I have to say I felt queasy reading it because your comments are right on the mark and these are things we know well. Before going any further, I want to say what should have been said in the first place: Thank you for the wonderful and entertaining post you wrote on “entrepreneurial time management: how i rock it”! We really appreciate you sharing your experience with this concept and how it’s helped you, and especially linking back to the original source on our website and providing proper attribution.”

When you screw up: tell the truth and tell it fast. Go direct. Admit to your faux pas poo poo and lay on the goodness. The entire letter was clear and thoughtful, they sent me a copy of The Dan Sullivan Question: Ask it and transform anyone’s life. Flowers would have been nice, but books are good.

Even in between the first weird/nasty letter arrived and the nice follow up mea culpa letter from the bigger boss lady, I continued to tell my Fire Starter clients who asked about productivity tricks about Dan’s Entrepreneurial Time Management System. A good product is a good product. Even smart companies make stupid mistakes. As my friend Donna says, we’re just all bozos on the same bus. Any good coach will tell you that.

. . . . . . . .

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entrepreneurial time management: how i rock it

what it means to forgive

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Leo Babauta is in no rush. Why hurry when you know what’s most important?

His new book, The Power Of Less, is an easy breezy read on “the fine art of limiting yourself to the essential…in business and in life.”

MY 4 FAVOURITE REMINDERS FROM THE POWER OF LESS:

1. Let your life be ruled by the moment. {Huh, is this a productivity book I’m reading?} Don’t schedule most appointments. If someone requests an appointment, tell them to call you a little before they’d like to meet and if you’re available, then meet.

2. If you aren’t finding yourself passionate about a certain tasks, allow yourself to move on to something you’re more passionate about. The more passionate you are about a task or project, the more energy you’ll put into it, and the better you’ll do with it.

3. Create a simple projects list … just three projects, not ten, that will have your entire focus until you see them through to completion. The other projects on your list go on the “On The Deck List.”

Leo is a big proponent of email checking restraints. His suggestion, like that of Tim Ferris’, is to set email times … check it once in the morning, and check it once in the afternoon. Leo admits that this is not as easy as it sounds. His answer is deceptively simple:

4. Every time you find yourself habitually switching to e-mail, stop yourself. Breathe. And then focus on your work instead. Your reward: you get a lot more done.

Got the itch to Twitter or check in on your Facebook friends in the middle of a looming deadline? Breathe. The itch will pass and your fans will love you all the more when you tweet. I breathe a lot.

Many productivity books have a drill sergeant running between the lines. Panic! So much to do to organize all that I have to do. The Power of Less is a sweet exception to that. Babauta’s energy is gentle and kind. No whistles. No drills. Just a zen-like understanding of what it takes to honour what’s essential.

RESOURCES + RELATED
: Leo is the the man behind the wildly popular ZenHabits.net
: Entrepreneurial Time Management: How I Rock It