This is why “careful” is really trouble

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When you own a small business you wear many different hats and must navigate working both in your business and on your business.  As an entrepreneur I spend about 40 hours a week working inside my business (fully clothed, thank you) taking care of administrative tasks, interacting with my customers, producing work for my customers, and helping my staff do the great work they are capable of.  This work is important, necessary, rewarding, and, to be frank, safe.  It’s the appropriate work for me to be doing during those 40-hours each week, but it is not my best work.  My best work is the thought work that I accomplish when I’m not inside my shop.  It is the big picture, pie in the sky, has-anyone-ever-tried-this-before, terrifying kind of visioning that can’t happen from inside the trenches, but must happen somewhere.  It’s my job to think big and challenge my own conventions.  It’s my job to find the time, place, and situation that is most conducive to productive thought and go there regularly, even if I have to be naked to get there.  And whether you are an entrepreneur or not, I believe it’s your job too.

Of all the work that I accomplish in and out of my shop I can confidently ascribe the most value to the thinking that happens in my shower.  While there are lots of other situations in my out-of-the-shop life that I find great thinking takes place, none is more consistently profitable than when I’m perfectly alone, standing under streams of hot water.  Which makes me wonder.  Where does it happen for you?  Do you know?

I think we all would be well served to think about the work we do and to consider when, where, and why we produce our best work.  Regardless of your vocation or where you spend the bulk of your time there is a thing that matters to you that you do best in a specific circumstance.  Perhaps you like to write in the morning, or sit at your desk on an exercise ball.  Something out there is a catalyst to do your best work and you can probably figure it out if you think about it for a little bit.

And it’s not an accident.  It’s biology, chemistry, physiology, psychology, and probably about a dozen more “ologies” that I understand even less.  Thankfully it’s not really important that I understand every detail of why I do my best thinking in the shower, but that I recognize the value and actually do it.  I believe putting yourself in the situations that yield your best work is a repeatable practice.

When you are “in the zone” and really connecting with your work in a meaningful way it offers a kind of high. I’m sure there’s some chemistry involved there too.  It’s a place you wish you could operate from all the time, and it can be frustrating that you can’t, but if you were doing your best work all the time it would just be called work. It’s the fact that you can’t always be doing your best work, in your ideal circumstance, that makes it valuable.

So figure it out.  Find your “shower”.  Convince yourself, your boss, or you spouse why it’s important and beneficial and go there when you can.  Remember, pursuing your best work will make you valuable and necessary in ways that your peers are not. You will still need to do a lot of good work, but don’t ever forget that YOU have “best” work.

As for me, I need to go take a shower.

That’s all I have to say.  Now go be awesome.

When I decided that I wanted to start running during the summer of 2009 I didn’t know what to expect out of my legs or my lungs.  I knew that the best mile I had ever run was a 6:38 in high school, but that was 16 years ago and I just wasn’t sure what was realistic early on.  I decided that a 5k distance would be something that I could commit to doing on a regular basis, but I needed to start smaller.  A mile seemed realistic, and I was pleased to complete my first mile run in just under 10 minutes.  Having this point of reference I was able to begin setting incremental goals to better my times and increase my distance.  In a matter of a few weeks I was running that same one mile route in about 7:30 and moving up to a two mile route.  Once I got my two mile time down to 14:02 I moved up to a 5K distance.  Each time I changed distance I slowed down to adapt to the added mileage and after about week at each distance I set a time goal.  Each time I set a goal I was pointing myself toward something that I could not do.  I ran my first 5K in 25:36 and after a few weeks I decided that I wanted to run a spring race here in Fairbanks, AK in 23:00.

Without a point of reference it is difficult to set a goal.  With a point of reference it is difficult to set lofty goals.

When you think about something that is real, or something you have done (like running a specific distance in a specific amount of time), you automatically create an invisible bubble around it.  This bubble is your perceived sphere of possibility.  Because you know something is true, you also believe that things within a certain range of that true thing are probably also be possible.  This is good for setting incremental goals because it is easier to get your brain around shaving 5 seconds off of your run this week than it is to imagine shaving 3 minutes off your run over time.

Of course, that sphere of possibility can lead you to focus on what you perceive as possible in the short term and miss out on the fact that setting a goal is really choosing to do something that is, at least currently, impossible.

When I started blogging I knew that I was passionate about sharing my insights about entrepreneurship, personal organization, and personal development with other small small business owners.  I knew early on that I wanted to do this through writing, speaking, and one-on-one coaching but it was difficult to muster the confidence to write down “Speak at West Valley High School” (my Alma Mater) or “Give a presentation at a Chamber of Commerce Luncheon” on my list of goals.  A friend of mine (Seth, you rock) really encouraged me to pursue my writing and helped me to recognized the value that I had to offer.  His support really got me going and helped me to believe that something like speaking publicly about entrepreneurship (when I had barely started blogging) wasn’t sheer insanity.

What’s your thing?  What’s the nugget in the back of your mind that seems too foolish to even write down?  What is the thing that you’d be a little embarrassed to share with anyone else?  Want to write a book, radically increase sales, give a lot more money to charity, learn an instrument, or run a marathon?  Want to travel the world, or go back to school?  Rarely do any of the awesome things happen on accident.  If you really want it you are going to have to decide to go after it, and be relentless.

My advice?  Write it down and review it often.  Hide it if you have to, but if you really want to get serious then I suggest you tell someone.  Not everyone, but someone you trust that believes in you and will be straight with you.  You can do things that you don’t believe you can do, but you probably can’t do them until you start to believe you can.  If you aren’t reaching out for something that isn’t currently possible you are moving backwards.  Set incremental goals, but don’t short change yourself by only looking at short term possibilities.  Remember, it’s only impossible until you do it.

By the way, I ran a 5K a few weeks ago in 22:36.  Time to set a new goal for that spring race…

That’s all I have to say.  Now go be awesome.