A day late, because I was applying the sort of laser focus it takes to program Perl, HTML5, and CSS3 along with implementing JQuery. I remembered and took the time to retweet some of my favorite tweets. I just did not take the time to create this post.
No regrets though. I spent some quality time with my wife, programmed, and edited video sending a project off completed. It felt good, but the grind is never over. I’ve also fielded a number of calls and emails over the last two days squeezing me. This adds to the stretching and growth resulting from the responsibility and learning I’ve experienced over this last year. As my friend Clarisa told me, “Breathe,” and “Breathe, in case you forgot!”
“It’s like yoga,” she said. “Focus on your breathing especially in difficult poses. You will find that you may stretch deeper into the muscle or find your limit. Both are important.” Thanks, Clarisa. Yours is great advice fit as an organizing frame for this Monday’s Motivators.
1. Dig Deeper. I read this tweet two ways. The first is a call to limit the time that social media and television receive in your daily time budget. That investment of time may not be conducive to creativity, innovation, and greatness. But, another way to view this tweet is to limit the subtle deception, distraction, and disillusionment of social media and television. Challenges are not always overcome in 30 minutes minus commercials. The choices are not always as simple as Good or Evil. You cannot always demonstrate your intention with a simple “Like.”
Digging Deeper is about recognizing the need for creativity and innovation–to be your greatest self everyday, in every situation. It is to create opportunity. It is to innovate in action. Resist the inclination presented in the media toward immediate gratification, quick fixes, and easy money. Know the truth of a detailed plan, a high-functioning team, and daily discipline. It’s a reminder I need as I stretch.
Don’t let social media or the television absorb all of your creativity. Learn how to step back and innovate your greatness. #DigDeeper
— OhMotivation (@HillMBA) December 22, 2014
2. Purify Within. @ItsLorraineN quotes Wayne Dyer and energized my self-reflection. I am being squeezed. You may know what it’s like to be squeezed, stretched, challenged, or taught. What is coming out of you? I am finding new ideas, persistence, new discipline, generosity, and new priorities. I am also giving up on expectations based on omnipotence, total control, omniscience, and perfection. I am learning to rely on others through delegation, communicate more completely, plan more flexibly, and engage more immediately. For you, I offer what I have learned thus far. Do not focus on the fairness or inconsiderate nature of the mechanism that is squeezing you. Focus on the refining nature of the experience. Monitor what comes out of your–the actions, the thoughts, the person you are becoming. Find true humility, new skills, and new knowledge. Then, open your eyes to greater opportunity.
What comes out of you when you are squeezed is what is inside of you! ~Wayne Dyer
— Lorraine (@ItsLorraineN) December 22, 2014
3. Create Opportunity. It seems that I come back to this idea each week. Waiting, hoping, wishing while complaining is not a good look. The person who said “Good things come to those who wait” was talking to people who were asking after an opportunity. The opportunity was already visible.
This tweet adds the requisite advice when the opportunity is unseen. You have to create the opportunity. The beauty, the simplicity, is that your creative ability rests with your interests. Produce from the point and motivation of your interests, and you will create opportunities to distribute your product through simple sharing with other interested populations.
#Opportunities don’t happen. You create them. #ChrisGrosser #qotd #entrepreneur #success
— Sylvia (@ohsunnymornings) December 22, 2014
4. Lead. One of the greatest lessons I have wrestled with as a programmer and big picture thinker is the so-called KISS principle. It makes perfect sense to “keep it simple, stupid.” Yet, I have argued that simplicity can result from elegant complexity. What I am learning is that the principle is not individual. It is collective. When you keep the process, mechanism, or relationship simple, you enable others to collaborate without extensive training or intensive support. Less is more because it reduces the lead time to launch. Simple is better because it reduces the learning curve. Building in pieces rather than constructing the total solution makes action more immediate. It’s a lesson I must learn in order to support a high-functioning team. While being rewarded in discussions for visionary thinking, I must KISS the devil goodbye with simplicity in the details.
Less is more, simple is better and action is imperative. #leadership
— Leadership Cures (@LeadershipCures) December 22, 2014
5. Relax. @Kaydyma is a coach for single mothers. I benefit immensely as I eavesdrop on her encouragement to her target audience. This tweet reminded me of Clarisa’s advice. BREATHE! You are winning. You are stretching. You are growing. You are learning. That’s what you are here for. That is purpose–to find reason in each moment, to experience with your whole being, to enjoy the journey more than the destination. And characteristic to the @kaydyma brand, when you feel a bit overwhelmed, Relax! Take a deep breath. Now, #DoItAnyway.
Not only is it important because of those who are counting on you. It is THE expression of YOU and your contribution to the world. Relax means stop fighting your purpose, extend it beyond what you thought you could accomplish. I, for one, believe in YOU. I also recognize my need for your greatness to share the load.
Relax. You’re going to win. Keep on and #doitanyway
— Kaydy (@Kaydyma) December 22, 2014
