Archive for the ‘My Blog’ Category

Red flags are everywhere.

If you pay attention, you can find them pretty easily.

This morning, I spoke with the woman who is in charge of scheduling events for the organization she works for. They give out free space to groups with a good cause and don’t charge people who want to attend. I had a program in mind for her and wanted to see if she was interested. I told her my ProSpeakers club wanted to do a free showcase of the club’s speakers for local businesses. She said she is interested in hosting it, but first I had to fill out the reservation form. I began to give her my email address, and she interrupted with “What is your fax number?”.

My fax number? Really? What year is it again?

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There are 4 very popular questions I’m asked almost daily. Whether I’m running a seminar, having a one-on-one meeting, or just get a random call out of the blue, the same questions seem to be on everyone’s minds.

If you want to make this into a game, I’ll wait while you write down what you think the questions are. You can score yourself after you read what I’ve compiled.

Ready?

Okay, here they are:

1. How can I get a job without a resume? Are you crazy? (it’s really one question, they’re always together)

2. How can I do what I love and get paid for it? That sounds like a one in a million shot.

3. I haven’t worked in awhile. What do I say when I do get an interview and they ask what I’ve been doing since I lost my job?

4. How did you write a book?

There they are. How did you do? Did you think those were the questions?

I’ll start by answering question #3: What do I say when I do get an interview and they ask what I’ve been doing since I lost my job? I’m writing an ebook about #2 right now and don’t want to spoil it. If you want to know the answer to #4, click here. The answer to #1 will be turned into a short video series, so stay tuned for that.

Okay, onto the answer to #3:

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If you read my monthly newsletter, you already know that I’m giving away space in next month’s edition to the top 5 video submissions I receive. I love video as a means to communicate and want to see what you all can put together to share what you are offering the world. If you’re not currently receiving the  newsletter, you can sign up here and get on the list.

After getting a few questions regarding the contest, I thought I’d throw out some idea starters and tips for you. Of course there are very few rules so you can do almost anything with your 4 minute video, but if that means too many options are making it hard to choose one, maybe these pointers will help. Below are 6 different ways you can put your video together, with an example of what I have done in the past. Good luck!

For the rules and details on the contest, click here!

1.  Interview Others To Tell Your Story

Instead of being the one and only star of your video, try getting others involved to make it more interesting. Lots of short clips with thought provoking material and perspectives can sell a point very well without being repetitive and boring. For example, check out my “Project 2010″ video where I stop and interview people to find out what they want more of in 2010. I was curious about what was on other people’s mind as we entered a new year, so I asked. My goal was to get the viewer of the video to start thinking about the upcoming year and how they could get what they wanted. Rather than write a blog with typed out responses, the video does a good job of showing each person and what’s important to them at this point in their life.

Project 2010:

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Okay, after the longest blog title in the history of the world, I bring you one of the shortest blogs I’ve ever written. If you’re confused by the title, and why this is “Part 2″, go check out “Part 1” first.

Here Amy and I are discussing decision making and procrastination. I put this series together because there seems to be a great level of mystery behind what goes into running a business, how one knows what to do everyday, and how to motivate yourself to do what is best for YOU, not everyone else.

This series was born from several requests from clients and friends who wanted to know how I do what I do (not what I think they should do!). You asked, so here you go:

Mr. Dean Dwyer

Welcome to the first ever guest blog at my365degrees.com! How excited am I that it’s from someone who does very cool work, is an awesome writer, and has a great story to share? His name is Dean Dwyer, and I met him in New York back in January. He’s from Toronto and is just as much of a fan of Seth as I am because he made the trip just for his book launch. Dean’s blog is The Quit List and the concept is “addition by subtraction”. Basically, quit doing the things that are holding you back and start doing the things that make you happy, successful, <fill in the blank>. His blog is insightful, funny, and you’ll probably find yourself thinking about what he wrote days later.

I wanted to include his story here because it fits in nicely with the main message in my book and, well, all the work I do! If you have a story like his or know someone who does, encourage him/her/you to send it to me to be featured here! I want more stories like this one!

Enjoy his story!

(And no, this isn’t just another way for me to get out of writing a blog…although it did cross my mind).

Oh, and yes, the series I started a few weeks ago will be back soon, promise.

The Courage to Quit

By Dean Dwyer

We all have moments of epiphany; a moment where we see the writing on the wall.  A moment where we realize the work we are doing is not in line with who we are.  A moment where we realize if we don’t change, we might just end up riding the out the remainder of our life wondering, “What if?”

While I would like to say that we all act on our epiphanies, our visions of a better more amazing future, the reality is most don’t.

The question to ask is, “Why don’t they?”
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Interview, Take 1

I’m going to admit it, I’m terrified. Every day. I can’t decide if that makes me less credible, or more relatable. I also can’t decide if it’s a good blog post, or too personal for the web. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a great thing to be terrified (that means there is growth involved somewhere), but is it a good thing to talk about? The verdict is that I’m posting it because I feel that if it’s uncomfortable, chances are, it’s a good thing to share. After all, who really wants to read the “Top 10 Tips on <fill in the blank>”. I think there are too many of those. Yes, I’ve made those lists before, but I’m trying to get away from those now. Moving on…

Yesterday, I spent an entire day with Amy Alvord, who is one of my clients. She asked me last week if she could shadow me for a day, since she wants to see what it would be like to start her own business (this could have something to do with me planting that seed in one of our sessions). I agreed, and we decided to not only turn the day into an observation, but also a series of short interviews between tasks, phone calls, errands, lunch, and emails. We videotaped everything. Seriously, we emptied my camera’s memory card 5 times and had to re-charge the battery a few times. After she left, I watched a few of the interviews and moments of “okay, do what you normally do and I’ll pretend there is no camera here, and that I’m not watching you“. What I saw was information that could be really useful not only for our “day in the life of an entrepreneur” documentary, but also for me. It was interesting to watch myself answering questions, at times searching for answers that I wasn’t sure where there for me yet. I found myself bored as I watched parts of it, thinking that I should get better at saying “I don’t know”, instead of continuing to talk while hoping that I will come up with some sort of useful nugget for the interview.

Another interesting observation I made was about the use of the camera. When the camera was on, I sat up straighter. I enunciated more. I smiled more. I was acting like a broadcaster or someone who wanted to be entertaining and interesting to watch. When we turned off the camera, I talked as I normally would, not paying much attention to my posture or how smart I sounded. Just being me.

What I’m learning is that as much as I talk about authenticity (and being yourself), it’s still really hard to do. Admitting this on my blog makes me feel partially redeemed for changing my physical self in the interviews yesterday, although it doesn’t get rid of the fact that I wanted to play the part of a smart business woman, not someone who didn’t know all the answers.

At one point, Amy asked this question: “Do you have a filter? How do you decide what to talk about and what to keep private? You seem to be very open about who you are. Why is that?” If you want to hear the answer, check out the short video below. It’s the first installment of the series of interviews I’ll be putting out over the next few weeks. Before or after you watch it, think about how you present yourself in your life. Are you trying to come across as someone you’re not? Are you afraid that if you disagree with someone or show your true self, that no one will like you? Do you feel that you’ll be happier if you ignore how you truly feel about something? These are thoughts I have every day, and am working towards better understanding them. It’s important to acknowledge that it’s a process, and it can start today, if you’re ready. I think these are the foundational steps to take if we really are invested in figuring out what we truly enjoy, truly want, and truly deserve.

Here it is, the first installment of my new series, “Inside The Mind (and Office) of an Entrepreneur, Part 1″

If you’ve been to any of my seminars, read my book, been a client, or have had a conversation with me, you probably know that I’m a huge fan of Seth Godin. If you don’t know, you’re about to find out. I love that he’s always challenging the status quo, giving out great ideas, and he comes from a genuine place of wanting to help people be better at what they do. I don’t know about you, but I can’t say I know too many Seth Godins.

For years, I’ve thought about what I would say to him if I ever got the opportunity to meet him face to face. How do you thank your hero? What do you say to someone who has changed the way you think about things over and over again? It may sound petty, but it was and has been very important to me to always properly thank people who influence me in a positive way. Seth has done this so many times through his insightful blogs, books, and posts on triiibes (his online community), that coming up with the way to say thank you was on my mind a lot.

We’ll get back to that in a minute. First, here’s the history:

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Yes, I’m being followed. Stalked actually. Don’t worry, there are no scary letters being sent to my house and no one is shining a flashlight inside my windows at night (not that I’ve noticed anyway), but I am definitely being followed. By what?

My ideas.

Did you ever experience that thing you call coincidence, that may actually not be a coincidence at all? It may actually be something called “synchronicity“? I think  the whole “in the right place at the right time” thing might be BS. There could quite possibly be a good reason for everything that happens to us, and lately, I can’t seem to get away from the things I am dreaming about getting.

Some call this “manifesting” as well. As in, if you think about it enough, visualize yourself doing this ‘thing’ enough times, it could quite possibly come true! I’m fascinated by this idea, mostly because I’m being followed by it.

Constantly.

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I always look forward to blogging. Or should I say, I always lookED forward to blogging. Lately, I look at my To Do list, see “Write Blog”, and go onto the next thing. I’ve been getting really good at avoiding writing in my blog by replacing decent posts with “other topics of interest”. As you might have noticed, I’ve been posting other people’s content on my website, like videos that I love and think you might enjoy too (and maybe not notice that I haven’t actually written anything with substance in a month). I don’t know if complaining about the eye doctor falls into the “substance” category, so I’d rather leave it out and make a point about what we should do versus the right thing to do.

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My friend Dana turned me onto this TED Talk last summer. Since then, I’ve watched it many times and it gets me fired up every time I watch it. If you’ve ever felt that you had something inside of you that wasn’t embraced, acknowledged, or appreciated, maybe it’s not you, it’s the system you live in and the people around you. Sir Ken Robinson talks about the lack of creativity and expression in educational settings and why this is a problem. Don’t worry, Dana and I are coming up with ways to start the healing, stay tuned