Hacking Your Passions

On a hike with friends in the woods last week, one person asked the following question to everyone in our group:

“If you had to describe yourself using just one word, what would it be?”

Everyone answered more quickly than me. I take questions like that pretty seriously, and found myself irrationally afraid of answering incorrectly. The closest I came to was “connected” because it has many meanings I think apply to me (though my second choice of “geek” would have been fairly accurate as well).

That question, and the process I went through to get to an answer, got me thinking on another path. Maybe the appropriate follow-up question would be:

“If you could choose one word to be described as by everyone who knows you, what would it be?”

What do you aspire to be remembered as, as opposed to what you believe you would be remembered as today. How would you like to be able to most accurately describe yourself? In one sense this is harder than the first question, because it’s more theoretical and less concrete than the question asked of me by my friend on that trail in the woods. But in another sense, it is easier in its lack of need to be based on the reality of now. It is an opportunity to create a new, somewhat different shade of you.

As alluded to in a recent post, I have been working on focusing my life through a simple, specific set of goals or, if you will, mission statements. Between last night and this morning, I came closer than ever to figuring out what one of the big mission statements ought to be. It came partially out of conversation with a friend last night (in a bar this time rather than in a forest) and partially while walking this morning along a canal with my wife. This new mission statement is:

“To inspire myself and others through my actions. To be outstanding in the pursuit of my goals. To be generous in my respect for and trust in others, so that others may come to trust and respect my generosity.”

To be remembered, in one word, as “Inspiring”. That’s my dream.

What’s yours?

I spent a year of my life recently going through an intense development program at the company I currently work for. I learned untold numbers of new skills, and built significantly on those I already possessed. I learned over time how to succeed in that role, how to take the potential it held and what was expected of me and push myself to harness the opportunities present and excel. In other words, I would deem my role in that program a success.

As I moved into my new role in the company, I wondered how to take what I had learned and apply it to the new tasks at hand. What had made me successful in meeting/exceeding expectations in regards to my previous responsibilities, however, didn’t necessarily transfer one-for-one to the new role. I addressed this discovery with a friend and fellow coworker, who challenged me to consider that what worked before might not apply at all to the new job. Some things have, but it has been wonderful and an entirely new journey to learn what I need to do differently to meet and exceed the needs of my new team.

When I read this post regarding getting past done, and learning what you can from the successes and failures of a project once it’s passed, the first thing I thought of was this “aha” I had, of taking the new role and treating it like, well, something new, different, with different needs and responsibilities and expectations.

“If less is more, then nothing is everything.” – from the blog article The Zen of Attraction by Graham English

This is a really nice summary of many things I try to make sure are in my heart and habits from day to day. I’m particularly passionate about:

Promise Nothing
Just do what you most enjoy doing.
Hidden benefit: You will always over-deliver.

“The present moment is always small in the sense that it is always simple, but concealed within it lies the greatest power. Like the atom, it is one of the smallest things yet contains enormous power.” – Eckhart Tolle

This is one of the lessons I am particularly desperate in somehow providing a mentee when I’m in a mentoring relationship. People always seem to want opportunity to knock, but it is, all the time, wherever you go! You just have to learn to see the potential in things, to make connections, to question everything… to remember how good we were so many years ago in our childhood at asking “Why?“

Seth Godin had two related posts recently, both on the importance of who you know. The first regarded self promotion versus word of mouth/buzz created by others.

The truism of the web: people talking about you is far more effective than talking about yourself.

The second post took a different tact/approach to the old saw that it’s not what you know but rather who you know.

I wonder if there’s a more useful measure: who trusts you?

From the Endless Innovation blog comes a post about some lessons we can take away from the writings of Leonardo da Vinci on the things we perhaps ought to focus our minds on, in the pursuit of enlightenment and innovation. For example, my favorite:

Connessione: A recognition of, and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena.