Quixoting™ - A Quest for New Ideas

What Motivates You? What Shapes Your Ideas?

Every one of us should have something.  Something driving us forward in life.

Yours might be desire or fear.  Narcissism or morality.

I've found that in life this motivating pressure has ebbed and flowed.  Sometime I am driven in ways I cannot slow.  Other times?  Not so much.  Life slows to a somewhat uncomfortable pace.

Of course, I know I should get comfortable with slow.  I should get comfortable with it all.

For me, many of these motivators are experience driven.  For example, back in elementary school I got into a scrap and had no idea what to do.  So I flailed around, backed off and ran.  Tough guy, right?

That motivated me to be prepared for a similar encounter in the future and, perhaps, to find ways to avoid the scrap in the first place.

In high school, my parents divorced.  And as the oldest living at home, I had new responsibilities.  I was, in fact required to be "responsible". 

In college, 6 months in, my dad lost his job and I lost my college funding.  So I got two jobs and made it on my own until, two years later, he got back on his feet.  I learned that I can make it on my own.  That "if it is to be, it will often be up to me".  I became independent after those two years.  I learned that I have a strong survivor instinct and that, if backed into a corner, I have the strength and confidence to find a way out.

This college experience was the most influencing of all.  But you combine it with the high school experience and I now see a pattern.  A pattern that explains one of the reasons why I did not launch any of my ideas up until now.

I was trained by these experiences to be conservative.  To not take big risks.

During the first 20 years of my career, I have largely played it safe.  Did what I had to do.  Late hours and long commutes (I had two separate jobs early in my career where driving 1.5 hours each way was common). 

Why did I do it? 

Well, I need to take care of my family of course.  They need primarily as a source of income, right?  Well, no, of course not.  They wanted me around most of all!

Now, looking back, I see my motivators being a bit twisted.  And as a good friend suggested recently, those motivators from high school and college served their purpose.  They got me through my hunting an gathering stage.  I made it!  A successful Vice President!

Now, as I head into my second half, I want to be less driven by conservative guarantees and more by the drivers in my heart. 

So it makes total sense that I am launching my ideas or letting them go.  Releasing them to the world. 

There's a great book out there about this time in life.  You will find something in this book by Bob Buford.  It's called Halftime - Changing Your Game Plan From Success To Significance.

It doesn't mean that you can't be successful.  Just that your reasons for wanting to succeed get adjusted (my conclusion, not necessarily the author's).

So what I am asking you to do today is: think about what has been your driving force over the past years.  And take some time to see if that force is still relevant.  Still positive.  Still correct.

Through my own discovery process, I've found a new motivating force.  One that is far less conservative and survival-focused.

I am taking more risks.  And that is a good thing.

The Narcissistic Nature Of Being An Entrepreneur

Starting something - anything - requires a real dedication.  A lining up with a life's purpose and a significant sacrifice in other parts of your life. It also requires guts and determination.

When you think about it, though, it also requires that you fall in love with your idea and, in so doing, with yourself.  Because on the tough days when things feel headed down the toilet, only you will be singing the praises of your idea.  And if you stop singing, well, you won't even need to flush.

If you aren't familiar with the term "narcissism", you may at least know that it has a negative connotation.  Its origins lie in greek mythology and tells the story of a boy, Narcissus, who falls in love with an image of himself in a pool, not realizing it is a reflection of himself.  The modern use of the term is to characterize people who think mostly of themselves.  Self-absorbed.  Sound like someone you know?

My point here is that I don't see how you can be an entrepreneur without spending some serious time staring in the pool.  The difference, of course, is the purpose for your visit to the pool. How many of us have looked in the bathroom mirror before a presentation or big meeting and said to yourself:  "You can do this.  Go kick some tail out there".  Being a cheerleader for yourself and for your idea or company may be narcissistic, but full of larger purpose, it is pragmatic and necessary.

What do you think?

So, why am I writing about narcissism?  Well, I saw a quote the other day from Albert Einstein that I had forgotten but had once guided some of my decisions.  The quote?

Only a life lived for others is worth living.

Kind of socks me in the gut every time I read it.  My issue is that this sentiment runs headlong into a typical entrepreneurial mindset, does it not?  If you are working 12-16 hours a day trying to build your business, what time is there left to help others?  Really.

Well, certainly building a company can add jobs in the long term.  And building up a large workforce helps the economy.  Also, once you become CEO of your own creation, you get to choose how you treat your employees and their families.  You can have a big impact on a lot of people.

You can also, I guess, steer your company toward community pursuits.  A non-profit perhaps.  You can take the Paul Newman approach and give your profits (or a portion) to charity.  That works.  How about starting a company that supports the new green economy?

But there is another aspect that still bugs me a bit.  And it has to do with this blogging business and social media in general.  But it really stretches to include more than that.  The aspect?

The need for self-promotion

You see, blogging is a highly crowded arena.  It's like being a drop of water in a 40 foot wave breaking on the shore of Oahu.  Every other drop of water is trying to be bubbling white on the crest of the wave and shimmering in the Hawaiian sun. Of course, there are no elbows being thrown.  Everyone is very nice. And everyone is wiling to help you find your way.  It is just a sheer battle of will and determination.

So the ones who succeed, as far as I can tell, do so by being excellent self-promoters.  They also tend to have started a number of years ago when the market was less busy and they have built a following with excellent content.  Original, useful and/or personal content.

I've struggled a bit with the self-promotion part.  You see, I've always wanted to have a curtain of humility over things I've done in my personal life.  "If people like what I've done/written, they tell others and, over time, those others will come."  The problem is this is not a static market.  In fact, it is always changing.  I've learned that if you are not self-focused to some extent, the 40 ft wave will pick you up, drop you in the sand and drag you out to sea.  OK, that's a bit dramatic, but it can feel that way.

So, if you are someone who is not ready to self-promote in the traditional way, you need to find a way to do it that works with your philosophy. But, I'm afraid, if you don't do it you'll struggle.  There are some I've seen that are really good at it.  My first reaction to them was one of consternation. The arrogance!  But I've met a few of them and they are actually really nice people . . .

Yes, there is a narcissism in social media as well as in traditional entrepreneurial ventures.  You have to believe in yourself even when it looks like you shouldn't.  And you have to tell people about what you are doing in ways that might make you uncomfortable.  Or not.

So, don't be afraid to look in the pool.  If you fall in love, don't sweat it.  And, remember, you'll need all the love you can get on those days when no one seems to be listening, buying your product . . . 

. . . or reading your blog posts.  :-)

Ready to do something great? Are you sure?

This post was inspired by another I read this morning by Thom Singer on his blog "Some Assembly Required".  Thom was kind enough to highlight Quixoting in his post (Thanks Thom!).  But, more importantly, his larger message is one that resonates well here.

His message?

Believe You Can Accomplish Great Things In Life.

I absolutely love that because your ability to make it through the difficulties of life relies upon a confidence built up at some other point in your history.  Each victory.  Each successful struggle (and often the unsuccessful ones) build character and strength that can be tapped for the rest of your life.

As evidence of that, check out the picture above.  Do you recognize the world class athlete pictured above?  Probably not, because he's not famous yet.

To save you the suspense, it's me - resting after my January 2007 Orange County Marathon.  Don't see the connection?  Well, here it is simply.

Do something great in your personal life and you build a general confidence that you can do anything. I trained my tail off for that marathon.  I spent hundreds of hours training for the marathon with very few people watching.  Sadly, even fewer watched on race day (where was ESPN?).

The point is that I, along with thousands of others that day, set out to do something big.  And the large majority of us made it.

So?

On the days when I wonder whether I can do something new in life.  For example, start a successful blog, write a book, build an idea website or anything else.  I consciously or unconsciously go to the place in my mind that quietly remembers what it felt like the day I crossed the tape with my family cheering me on.  It's like an auto-reminder that prevents doubt from seeping into my active thinking.  

It manifests into a basic thought:

Yeah, I can do that.

So, if Thom's phrase above isn't an automatic for you.  If your brain isn't wired for as much confidence as you would like, go out and do something big in another part of your life.

Everyone needs a great challenge.  And the rewards of being in the game are huge . . . 

The risk of launching a new idea

Launching an idea comes with many rewards. Initially you reward your ego simply by the act of initiating your ideas. By doing so, you are telling yourself that your ideas count. Longer term there is real satisfaction in seeing your idea develop and, hopefully, seeing your idea turn into cold, hard cash.

Launching an idea also comes with risk. The same way you are asked by your financial advisor about the risks you are willing to take, ask yourself similar questions before you step off the cliff.

So, what are the risks?

1. People may not like your idea. Hard to hear, but better to hear early than not at all, right? You'll have to adjust to hearing bad news. After all, you liked your idea enough to launch it. So, your internal discussions (between you and yourself) went pretty well. So, the first negative comment might hurt.

2. You may not get any objective feedback. This could mean that people don't like your idea and aren't comfortable sharing this with you. It could also mean that your idea has not driven any strong reaction (positive or negative). Both suggest a lack of commitment (in other words, you may never find out what people think). Furthering this issue is that this ambiguous feedback may take a long time to come and may cost you a lot of money.

One of the first ideas that I decided to test was my other blog titled Spin Strategy™ - Tools for Intelligent Job Search. My way of testing the concept in a low risk fashion was writing the blog. Perfect, right? You can tap into free blog engines and test your idea with the only investment being blood, sweat and tears. The only problem is in getting honest feedback. I've had a number of positive comments on the blog but very little concrete feedback on the plate spinning analogy which is the original core idea. So, I will continue writing the blog and, at some point here in the near future, I will digitize the concept on a web page to force some real feedback. The lesson learned is that feedback takes time. In fact, some say that it could take 6-12 months before you will know whether a blog has found the right audience to succeed and build a long term readership. Patience.

While I have tried to manage my expectations and look forward to getting objective feedback, I'm not looking forward to bad news. Hey, I have put a lot of time into this! And if the feedback is negative, what does that say about me and my ideas? Not as creative as I thought?

Say it ain't so.

Have an idea? Think big.

Steve Martin's second comedy album was called "Wild and Crazy Guy". I, along with many of my high school friends, used to have it memorized. In the segment of the album called "Wild and Crazy Guy", he provides a "required" comedian's financial disclosure. As part of that disclosure, he identifies potential concert income. The example goes like this:

In a 3,000 seat hall . . .

- if the ticket price was $3.00, the nightly gross is $9,000
- if the ticket price was $7.50, the nightly gross is $22,500
- if the ticket price was $800.00, the nightly gross is $2,400,000

He then says "This is what I'm shooting for - one show, goodbye!"

In 1978 this was a comedian's version of winning the lottery, I guess. Today in business you still need to think big whether you are in the boardroom or the back room of your small business. This is true because everything takes time. Whether the product or project has big or small potential it still takes the same amount of work, right? So why not focus on the big ones?

This reminds me of a small card I received from a restaurant in San Francisco called Palomino many years ago. It was kind of like the fortune from a fortune cookie. The message?

Be realistic - expect a miracle.

I still have that little card. I keep it on my phone as a constant reminder that anything can happen with hard work, belief in your ideas and a little bit of old fashioned luck or good timing.