Project Exponential

Tag: explore

  • 10 questions to the best version of yourself

    1. Are you surrounded by people who encourage you to step up your game?
    2. Does your work excite you?
    3. Do your daily priorities align with your grander visions and dreams?
    4. What do you gravitate towards during unscheduled time?
    5. Have you set subgoals that tee you up for greater success?
    6. Do you schedule time each day to recharge and create?
    7. Have you written your dream list?
    8. Do you actively step outside of your comfort zone and seek adventure?
    9. Do you scare yourself regularly?
    10. Are you proud of the story you tell? (Is it positive or discouraging?)

  • New and different

    Different experiences are necessary for growth. Without adventure, how can you see the world in a new way?

    You’re not expected to like everything. The important thing is that you do, acquire more information, and grow.

    Have you placed yourself in a new situation recently?

  • A free program

    If you’ve felt it, you know magic happens when the right people enter a space.

    Sometimes it’s serendipity; most of the time there’s a driving force.

    I want to encourage you to take part in what Seth Godin has dubbed the Connection Economy — to use your most meaningful relationships to inspire you to create art, contribute to your community, and nourish the connections in your own life.

    Deepen the connections in your world and start conversations that matter.

    I’m thrilled by the prospect of sharing my passion and work. The capacity for what can happen when the right people come together is unlimited and largely untapped. Call this six-week program whatever you want: a book club, a group, an experiment, an adventure.

    There are people in your world who need to meet.

    Your efforts to organize this program may change someone’s life, but it’s up to you to make it happen. There are people out there who are stuck (as you may have discovered, paths are rarely straight and laid out). Be present and challenge each other with kindness and care.

    We all have something unique to share. Let’s help each other do the tough work.

    Questions? Successes? Let me know how it goes.

    Step 1. Form a group.

    Sure, you can do this alone. But a group offers support, accountability, and the ability to help you up your game. You want people who can call you out, people who can serve as your cohort and personal network as you advance your ideas forward. Your group is your sounding board, letting you know when you’re on track and gently nudging you when you’re off.

    It doesn’t matter how many are in your group; it could be one other person or four. Call up a few friends and send out emails, “Will you try something new with me?”

    Step 2. Time and place.

    Face time can’t be substituted. Choose one location and meet consistently, each week. Settle on the details and commit. Six weeks. No excuses.

    Respect everyone’s time. Everyone is busy. Make each other a priority.

    Step 3. Finalize your reading list.

    I’ve listed several books for you to use as a starting block. Recommended, but by no means required. If you have a book that has been especially influential to you, use that one instead.

    Sample book list:
    Linchpin
    Poke the Box workbook
    Superconnect
    Business Model Generation
    E Myth Revisited
    4 Hour Work Week
    Creatively Independent
    Make Your Idea Matter
    Host an unforgettable dinner party

    Step 4: Homework (Projects & Exercises):

    The activities suggested are designed to get you out of your comfort zone, inspire you, and reinforce what you’re reading. If you feel inclined to add your own twist, please do.

    Most importantly, set aside time to make writing a priority. I’ve listed a few prompts to encourage you and provide creative direction. Again, use what is helpful and improve what isn’t. Not everything will work for everyone.

    Week 1

    Reading: Bernadette Jiwa’s Make Your Idea Matter
    Project: Go find a journal that inspires you. Buy it from that indie book store you’ve always wanted to check out, look for something inspiring while you’re waiting in line, make it yourself.
    Writing exercise: Set your alarm for ten minutes. Choose one:

    • Imagine your dream life. Envision everything it entails. Now write. It doesn’t need to be complete sentences or thoughts, words are fine.
    • Ask questions. Write them down, every question you can think of. They don’t need to make sense. You don’t need to have the answers. Tangential is fine. Just ask.

    Discuss: What is the difference between dreaming and storytelling? Do you set aside time to create and dream? What stories do you tell yourself? To others?

    Week 2

    Reading: Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Work Week
    Project: Do something new this week. Cook dinner with veggies from the local market. Sign up for a class. Explore a new neighborhood. Get lost in a library.
    Writing exercise: If you could do anything, anywhere, what would it be?

    Discuss: How do you define work/life balance? Is a distinction necessary?

    Week 3

    Reading: Seth Godin’s Poke the Box workbook
    Project: Print out the workbook. Plan thirty minutes of uninterrupted time to complete.
    Writing exercise: Notice any areas of hesitation while you’re completing the workbook. Is there a particular topic that seems more challenging than others?

    Discuss: What obstacles stop you from shipping? How are you getting in your own way?

    Week 4

    Reading: Project Exponential’s Host an unforgettable dinner party
    Project: Schedule a lunch date or host a dinner party.
    Writing exercise: Set your alarm for ten minutes. Choose one:

    • What are the traits you most admire in others?  What are the traits you’re most proud of?
    • Assemble an imaginary Dream Team. You get five players. Who do you choose? What skills do they offer?

    Discuss: Talk about how teams are formed and what kind of environments contribute to their growth. What kind of people belong on your Dream Team? Who inspires you?

    Week 5

    Reading: Jess Pillmores’s Creatively Independent
    Project: Challenge yourself to write the first draft of your very own ebook.
    Writing exercise: Consider the uniqueness that you, and only you, bring to your work, your relationships, your family. What separates you from competition? What is that one trait that singles you out?

    Discuss: How do you stay inspired while working on a big [exhausting] project? What tricks and techniques have you found to be most helpful when setting big goals?

    Week 6

    Reading: E Myth Revisited and/or Business Model Generation
    Project: Brainstorm how you might turn $10 into $100.
    Writing exercise: Write out a sample business plan. What would you do if you had no excuses, no responsibilities? Journey back to the days of mowing lawns, selling lemonade, babysitting. What would change if today was your last day at your current job?

    Discuss: Would things be different if you consistently set aside time to write, dream, explore, learn?

  • It’s easy to hide

    We’re exposed now more than ever before.

    Our steps are easily trackable, our buying decisions traceable with the click of a mouse. We document our lives on film for our friends and the world to see. We post our professional accomplishments on open social networks. We look for validation and response from what we show the world, from names printed in magazines to recognition in the neighborhood coffee stop.

    Yet we can hide like never before.

    We have unlimited options to conceal our true identity, forsaking vulnerability and connection for a clean, manufactured image. With so many distractions for us to choose from, we can hide from ourselves, busying our focus from concentrating on things that matter and topics we know to be pertinent.

    Our priorities become lost to routine and inefficiency.

    It’s easier to distract ourselves than sit down and get to the real, gritty work.

    It’s easy to check email and Facebook regularly.
    It’s hard to focus on making big things happen.

    It’s easy to sprinkle business cards around a room.
    It’s hard to develop meaningful rapport.

    It’s easy to leave a meeting without speaking up.
    It’s difficult to put your ideas on the line.

    It’s easy to attend a party not having learned anyone’s name.
    It’s difficult to make intentional introductions.

    It’s easy to speak on a panel.
    It’s hard to create an experience that changes the way someone feels.

    It’s easy to manufacture the same item over and over again.
    It’s difficult to create a once-in-a-lifetime work of art.

    Seth Godin recently reminded me of questions I can’t afford not to answer:

    Is this making me uncomfortable, pushing me to grow? Or am I hiding?

    Each day we have a series of choices that, when combined, contribute to the story we tell ourselves and the world.

  • Scare yourself

    The moment at take off, when you’re unsure of what lies ahead.

    That one decision that could branch into 15,000 possibilities.

    That YES! that sets your life on an entirely new path.

    The uncertainty that comes from doing something different.

    The quickening of your heart as you step into the unknown.

    Have you scared yourself lately?

  • 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.