Project Exponential

Month: July 2012

  • A manual for daily adventure

    It’s easy to get stuck in a rut. Go to work, come home, throw together dinner, veg out on the couch.

    You’ll never live the life you secretly wish for if you become routine’s slave. You have to shake things up.

    When you enjoy your life, you’ll inspire people around you to test limits they’ve drawn for themselves. Passion and excitement are contagious. Improved relationships, enhanced creativity, boosted productivity, discovery of yourself and the world around you are just a few byproducts of a life with fire behind it.

    Sounds great, but how does this happen? Certainly not overnight.

    Here are 80 ways to get you started.

    We all have different thresholds for daring and adventure, so pick a few that feel brave to you and dive in. Let me know how it goes.

    1. Pack a lunch. For a friend.
    2. Go see a movie by yourself.
    3. Bring a slinky to the office.
    4. Rotate a stack of favorite photos in your wallet.
    5. Buy sidewalk chalk.
    6. Invite people you don’t know very well over for dinner.
    7. Dance.
    8. Call a friend unexpectedly, for no particular reason.
    9. Put Play-Doh on your desk.
    10. Write a love letter. To yourself.
    11. Stroll through a bookstore and notice which section pulls you in.
    12. Buy the Sunday paper and savor it with a treat.
    13. Do something to fail. Something you know you’re miserable at. And enjoy.
    14. Ride a bike. Rent if you don’t own one.
    15. Host a themed party.
    16. Take public transportation, even if you think it’s slower.
    17. Start a scrapbook with images you tear out of magazines, newspapers, funny office memos.
    18. Schedule a coffee date with someone you admire.
    19. Write a pageful of questions. Don’t worry about answers.
    20. Try a new restaurant.
    21. Mail a thank you note.
    22. Walk home from work a different way.
    23. Book a trip.
    24. Stare out the window.
    25. Set aside fifteen minutes to write. About anything.
    26. Make a themed playlist.
    27. Ask a friend for a book recommendation.
    28. List 100 things you’d like to do before you die.
    29. Sign up for a class.
    30. Teach a class.
    31. Move! Jump. Climb. Skip.
    32. Bake lasagna for the local firehouse.
    33. Compliment a stranger.
    34. Brush your teeth with opposite hand.
    35. Run an extra 5 (minutes, miles, blocks, laps).
    36. Concentrate on nothing except pouring yourself a cup of tea.
    37. Host a trivia night at your place.
    38. List 10 “self care” items. Aim to do 2-3 each day.
    39. Order in. Unplug and turn off everything. Eat by candlelight.
    40. Support a local business owner.
    41. Take your workout outside.
    42. Don’t send an email. Walk over to your colleague’s desk.
    43. Smile at a kid who isn’t yours.
    44. Find a recipe and cook.
    45. Look up. See the sky.
    46. List 4 things you are thankful for in this moment.
    47. Pick up your favorite book and head to the park.
    48. Watch a black and white movie.
    49. Make yourself feel uncomfortable.
    50. Consider the book you’d write.
    51. Bake something — a pie, cookies, bread. Wrap it in pretty paper and give it away.
    52. Set a new fitness goal.
    53. Initiate conversation at the coffee shop.
    54. Volunteer.
    55. Do 1 thing today that really excites you. Tell no one.
    56. Sing loudly in the shower/your car/your backyard.
    57. Doodle.
    58. Plant something.
    59. Allow yourself 5 minutes of nothing.
    60. Set out to scare yourself.
    61. Paint. Draw. Make something. It doesn’t have to be good.
    62. Visit a farmers market.
    63. Count your breaths, 6 seconds for each: Inhale. Pause. Exhale.
    64. Buy yourself flowers.
    65. Book a massage.
    66. Style your hair differently.
    67. Hide a note for your partner to find.
    68. Put your other shoe on first.
    69. Be a slob. Don’t make the bed. Leave it on the floor.
    70. Daydream.
    71. For one day, don’t make any plans.
    72. Write on a napkin.
    73. Eat with chopsticks.
    74. Act like a tourist.
    75. Clean. Throw out junk. Organize.
    76. Build a tent in your living room.
    77. Pretend you’re famous.
    78. Ask yourself: “If you could do anything, anywhere, what would it be?”
    79. Donate money to a cause you’re interested in.
    80. Write down what your life looks like this time next year. Five years from now. Next week.

  • Invest in yourself.

    Success and anything worth doing comes with sacrifice.

    Money, time, pride, effort, energy, friends, family, hobbies, confidence, reputation — these are just some of the things that end up on the table when you go all in.

    How are you spending them? Where are you channeling your time and attention and means?

    Fear often pulls up a chair and convinces us we have limited resources. When fear starts talking, the stakes are raised and we can be faced with tough decisions.

    Are you in it for the long haul or are you looking for the short-term gain?

  • When was the last time you did one thing?

    Read that again.

    When was the last time you did one thing?

    Not two, not six, not four.

    Checking email, eating breakfast. Halfheartedly listening to your partner while making a list of grocery items. Calling your mom while watching CNN and scanning your iPad for Facebook updates.

    We’re bombarded. We’re hungry for information and validation and surprise, and we are impatient.

    One of the most valuable things you can do for yourself and for your clients and for your family and for your relationships is to make the decision to commit to one action. Give each moment your all, and watch what happens.

    Fight and focus and concentrate to be 100% there, fully tuned into the messages you’re receiving and what you’re sending to those around you. You don’t want to miss that big shot you’ve been waiting for just because you were too preoccupied to notice it.

    The person you wanted to meet (and who wanted to meet you) might have been at the party, but you weren’t there to meet them.

    Commit to the present today.

  • Show up.

    You have something unique to share.

    You have an interesting perspective that is valued.

    You have a secret, something that could make her work better.

    You have an experience that could shed light on his challenge.

    Someone has something for you.

    But you have to show up.

    Whether standing in line at the post office, refilling your mug at the water cooler, asking a question in today’s lunch seminar, or hesitating before sending that email, see how you can show up today.

  • What’s the dress code?

    A commonly asked question, no matter what kind of event. The answer is usually simple:

    Dress how you’d want to represent yourself.

    By asking, “What is everyone else going to wear? What is acceptable?” think of the position you’re placing yourself in. Are you wanting to see if you’re most comfortable shoes, the ones that have taken you across continents and through cities, would be appropriate? Did you want to sport your oldest, most worn (most comfortable!) jeans to a meet a group of strangers? Were you really considering renting a tuxedo or digging that gown out of the closet?

    Are you worried you’ll stand out? Or are you hoping to sneak by? Are you afraid of looking “too nice” and separating yourself from the crowd in that way?

    As much as our teen selves and our inner rebels hate to admit, what we wear and the way we wear it communicates bits of our personality and what we stand for. Our clothes and our appearance is the easiest way a stranger can assesses us, and it is often the first thing we’re judged by when we first make contact.

    Recently, I attended an event where I watched a couple who went “all out” — yes, complete with costumes — easily start conversations and move with ease around the room. Their dress served as a flag, signaling to other guests that they were ready to meet and mingle and share ideas. It worked.

    So really, does it matter what the dress code is? Instead, think about:

    How do I want to represent myself in this situation?

    What would make me feel most confident when I enter? When I’m introduced?

    Do I want to fit in?

    Or do I want to stand out?

  • We’re so careful.

    We carefully plan our days, scheduling meetings and appointments to maximize our energy and time. We plan our evenings, scheduling outings and time at home in an attempt to balance work and play. Yet what if this careful planning is actually getting in our way? What if we’re creating a series of insulated experiences and limiting ourselves from true magic?

    It seems (too often!) that moments of inspiration—those flashes of brilliance when you just get it, “Aha! I need to write this down!”—happen when we least expect them. The memories we cherish and the stories our friends eagerly clasp are often the result of something unexpected, unplanned, maybe even a “mistake.”

    What if we are limiting ourselves and our own potential by limiting our exposure to the unpredictable? When we travel, we easily relinquish control and let ourselves live, experience, explore, and get lost.

    What would happen if we released control in our day-to-day?