How can you tell when you need to quit your job? December 1, 2009
Posted by Mike in : Mike , add a commentA moment in the life of a worker who needs to quit:
Paul Barkin is a typical human. Been working at the same place long enough to know his job by rote. Creativity has left him and he sees his world as a cage he needs to escape. This is one of his typical morning moments:
Paul places the small bronze key in the left inside desk lock, he vomits in his mind, “God, I hate this”. Turning the key; he sees it turn a thousand times before, “One half turn up, insert with the ridges down… was it down…or up.” Leaning forward with elbows on knees, it’s the most comfortable he’ll feel all day.
Repeating the process to the other side, he opens the upper right drawer fishing for his favorite pen. Not sure what he’s going to do with it but wanting to feel its familiar smooth cool metal surface with the curled thumb grip. He extracts the pen from the menagerie of markers, pens, scissors and rubber bands that always seem to end up in the pen section of the plastic divider entangling themselves to the frustration of anyone wishing access.
Looking up at the P.C., “PROCESS 41 IS COMPLETE”. He marks the next state to be processed. “South Dakota”. With experienced hands he flicks the sliding keyboard into position from under the desk and whacks the keyboard a dozen times “D: [TAB] [TAB] \temp [ENTER] [F8]“.
Selecting Dakota, he completes the command initialization and is gone. Vaguely aware of what he’s doing, he sees tall grasslands flowing and ebbing in a symphony of winds. Each wave carrying him through luscious fields, across old wooden fences, neat, well maintained and weather worn to a soft grey.
Images of riders wearing Hudson Blanket styled jackets, swede brown with matching wide -brimmed hats. And hair. A woman. Gold-yellow hair. Moving like the rolling hills, swept back. Her gaze; solid; blue-green; penetrating; turn to meet his.
“BEEP!” He snaps back. “PROCESS 42 COMPLETE”. Feeling his heart beating the way it was meant to beat, he knows he has to get out of here.
The point is: When you find your days are like Paul’s, a mix of daydreams and repetition, its time to get the fuck out.
Can love stimulate creativity in business? November 28, 2009
Posted by Mike in : Mike, Motivation , add a commentIt seems most poets and artists have a muse. Is it that object of their affection that inspires them to create masterpieces or is it something else?
The answer is: both, but mostly something else.
Love can inspire you to create beautiful things, however the act of producing something you are passionate about makes you a creative and loving person. This will attract others of like minds and that will re-inspire you.
I have found that if you neglect that latter part and are waiting for love to inspire you, you will never create anything.
I lost sight of that recently and was focused on money, wanting a vacation and being a whiny bitch.
I left town in a huff last night and here I sit on a public computer in a lobby in Chicago realizing just how far off track I’ve been.
You have to love yourself first. And those you really love, that have actually inspired you, deserve to have that favor returned in a productive way.
Yes, love can give you creative energy, but just do the production as mundane as it may be. Starting will give you the fire you need.
What is love? October 7, 2009
Posted by Mike in : Mike, Motivation , 1 comment so farIt hits us all. They write reams of poetry on it. It’s used as an identifier of the ephemeral quality on things as diverse as soap to space walks. Is it the quality of something? You love your work. You love your mate. But what is that. In the book “Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance“, the author tried to unravel that mystery.
His motorcycle broke in the middle of nowhere. He needed a piece of metal welded. The only place in town was some tooth less guy who said it cost 5 bucks. He’s freaking out. “This guy is gonna work on my baby. No way!”. But limited choices and limited time make him hand it over as he heads out for a shaky cup of coffee. Upon return, the guy hands him the metal bracket and goes “5 bucks”. He looks down…and to his amazement…its the most beautiful weld he has ever seen. No rims. No lips. Rainbow smooth irridesence. He said “Jesus! Here is fifty! That would cost $200 in new york! “. The guy gives him back $45, says “5 bucks” and closes the door. What was that?!. Our traveler loved the weld. He loved the quality. But he contemplates this and comes to the realization that you can’t define quality. Put similar items side by side and most people can point to the one that is better. How do they know?
I challenge you to try it with a friend or two. You will only list things. Like this cap is tighter. That one has a cute bulb. Her hair is darker. Love and quality. We use them daily for people and for things. They define our work lives and our private lives. Yet they are not quanitfiable. So where do you put your passions. What do you love to do. And how do you define that. That is the challenge, and its my challenge as well. Pursue it, and there might just be a million bucks at the end of the road…unless your god damned set on $5.