September, 2011

09/30/2011

40 in 40: #27

One of my sons went through a difficult experience recently.

It was not something he had anticipated, not a situation he wanted to be in, and changing the situation was going to be painful.

No parent wants to see their kid deal with a painful situation.

But pain is inevitable and in many circumstances the only thing you can do is act.

And then wait.

Lesson #27

You have to give time, time.

That may sound trite.

But for a lot of issues that we face, time will be what is needed. In fact for many things time is the only solution.

Great relationships don’t happen overnight, they take time.
Businesses don’t happen overnight, they take time.
Children don’t mature overnight, it takes time.
Broken legs don’t heal overnight, it takes time.
Culture isn’t affected overnight, it takes time.
Doctors aren’t trained overnight, it takes time.
Getting a job if you are out of work takes time.
Creative work like we do at Blue Ocean Ideas doesn’t happen overnight.

It all takes time.

What things in your life do you need to give time, time?

Keep moving forward,

Greg

09/29/2011

40 in 40: #26

Some weeks I work really long hours.

In fact the next 6 months are likely to take quite a few hours per week to accomplish what I want to. I won’t be working 80 hours every week but it’s going to be a lot.

I rarely let my inbox get above 30 email messages. Which means I manage email from bed, the bathroom, in front of the TV, and other places outside of work.

I wake up early to get to work. And I often stay late.

I try to exercise every day.

I’m trying to be a part of a small group at our church every other week.

I serve on a few non-profit boards and volunteer organizations.

Lesson #26

Work-life balance is a myth. I can no sooner keep it balanced than I can hold the tide back. My life is an integrated whole: family, work, spiritual life, exercise, reading, recreation, etc. are all part of one life. That life shares time, energy, talent and treasure.

There’s another part of this story:

I take 4-6 weeks of vacation a year (two weeks uninterrupted in the summer, a week at Christmas, 1/2 weeks at Thanksgiving and Easter).
I try to have dinner alone with Elise at least once a week.
I take Riley to breakfast every Friday.
I don’t miss many sporting events for the kids.
I try to be creative about how to spend the time with my family

David Greusel of Convergence Design speaks to this very clearly:

“I have also come to believe that the idea of achieving work-life balance, as it is referred to in the Human Resources departments of large companies, is a myth. I don’t cease to be an architect when I go home at night any more than I cease to be a husband and a father when I leave home for work. I have been trying very hard to de-compartmentalize my life the past few years. I want to be a whole person who is husband and father and architect and citizen twenty-four hours a day, attempting to order my various responsibilities so that I can discharge them well. But I think the notion that what results is a balance between work and family and community commitments is absurd.

“It is more like a well-rigged sailing ship, where keeping the lines in proper tension results in moving briskly across the ocean to your intended destination. My life is at least as complex as a three-masted schooner, and that requires making constant adjustments to keep the lines in the proper tension, neither too taut nor too slack”

And as I’ve said before…this is not about doing more or being busy.

Different people like different paces of life. I happen to enjoy when things are moving along at a clip. And occasionally I crash, or get sick (like today), or unplug on vacation.

That’s not a standard for anyone else and plenty of people think it’s too much. Part of the struggle for each of us is figuring out what YOUR rhythm is.

How are you keeping the lines on your ship in the right tension?

Keep moving forward,

Greg

09/28/2011

40 in 40: Lesson #25

Route 40

40 in 40: #25

By the time I was 20 I thought I had life all figured out.

By the time I was 30 I thought I had “arrived”.

Now that I’m turning 40 I realize how much I have to learn about everything.

That doesn’t diminish what I know. I know quite a bit about a number of things. There are even things you could even say I’ve mastered.

But for every topic that I have mastered there are 5 areas that need serious work. I need to fill some of those gaps with knowledge.

And even more importantly I have to practice. The only way to master anything is to practice.

This is true professionally, personally, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Almost any able body can run a marathon if they train for it. But very, very, very few people show up at the starting line and finish a marathon without training.

Lesson #25

Mastery is not an accident. It is the result of sustained practice at learning particular skills.

One of my favorite quotes is from Willie Nelson when he was asked about being an overnight success:

“Overnight success feels great after playing 10 years in honky-tonks behind chicken wire.”

Keep moving forward,

Greg

09/27/2011

40 in 40: Lesson #24

Route 40

40 in 40: #24

I spent my 20′s thinking about things.

I liked things. Wanted more things. It wasn’t all I thought about but it took up more mental real estate than I wished.

I would spend a lot of time organizing and reorganizing my things. It’s how I exercised control over my life (which often felt out of control).

I had friends that would borrow my things and if they weren’t returned the way I lent them I would get angry. You messed with my things.

About 10 years ago I read the 5 vows of spiritual power from A.W. Tozer. All of the vows are very helpful but for me this one was a personal watershed:

Lesson #24

Never own anything.

Things and the striving that go with them can derail me very quickly in my life. The freedom from that is terrific. I am a steward of things.

But they aren’t mine.

They can be gained, lost, lent, damaged, and destroyed. In the end they are just things.

I still often want things. To be honest I don’t think what I want is the problem.

It’s not our desires that are the problem.

It’s the ordering of our desires that creates the problems.

How are you ordering your desires? What’s taking too much room? What desire needs to be given more room to grow?

Keep moving forward,

Greg

09/26/2011

Weekly Update 9-26-11

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Highlights From The Last 7 Days

The scoop:

Team Blue Ocean Ideas has started a number of new projects in the last week: one working on a real estate photo sharing site, one for the 3rd largest association in Baltimore where we are helping to lead and shape their marketing efforts, and one is for a motion graphic project. In addition we have a boat load of projects in the hopper. Looks like it’s going to be a busy fall.
My gorgeous wife turned 4x (you’ll have to ask her what x=). You can follow her on Twitter for updates on how 4x is going.
Facebook is close to releasing Timeline for the general public. It’s very slick and probably another game changer in terms of how powerful Facebook is.
If you want to try the new Facebook Timeline here’s a link that tells you how to install it.
I was VERY excited about Google plus but I’m pretty sure the recent changes to Facebook including lists will probably kill it and show once again that Google doesn’t do social. I still like the IDEA of circles but the bottom line is if they can’t get masses to move their it won’t be successful.
Timeline will make Facebook more attractive again to those who have found it has gotten stale.
I ran my final marathon training run on Saturday morning at 7am with my cousin, John. John’s been VERY gracious to run 3 out of the last 4 training runs with me even though he could and probably should be moving faster than I am. I love being able to spend time together. 3 hours of running goes a lot faster with a partner.
Josh’s broken leg seems to be healing nicely. After a part time start to last week he was back in school full days Thursday and Friday. The broken leg has only helped his comedic skills.

What I’ve been reading:

Steven Pressfield has been inspiring me with “The War of Art” and “Do the Work”. I bought “Gates of Fire” on my iPad. Going to get started on that this week.
I missed «GO» because I was in the hospital with Josh. But I have been studying up on the Enneagram and especially how different types deal with each other. Elise and I are 6 and 8 respectively.
Great, short, post about using a sharpie for UX and wireframing.
The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion. Tom Hood & Jackie Brown over at MACPA told me about this one. We preach this all the time. The way we say it is “Everything Matters” but it’s the same idea. I had a client make a bold statement on Friday: “We have a brutally strong strategy” while discussing an idea that is all about gaming pageviews to get people to believe a result that isn’t accurate. He doesn’t get it.
No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton. I’ve never read anything by Thomas Merton before. This is my first foray. I’m a couple of chapters in and my Kindle app already has LOTS of highlights.