Because you only live once…
Passion
What is Cool?
Aug 7th
So Wordcamp today had a lot of cool. WordPress is cool. Matt is cool. We even talked about cool.
The question was asked to us in one of the session about what makes cool things cool. Why is WordPress cool software and Joomla not? What lessons can you learn from such companies?
WordPress is cool because it works and its easy. If WordPress required you to jump through as many hoops as Joomla, it probably wouldn’t be as cool. The iphone works really well. Zappos shoes are really good shoes or they will replace them or take them back.
WordPress is also cool because it is very focused. You know WordPress. It is a simple yet powerful blogging platform. Apple computers do well what they choose to do. They don’t try to be something for everyone.
James Dean was cool because he was James Dean. He had his personal brand and stuck with it.
Okay, great. So what does that mean for me, who has interests in a wide variety of areas? Can I make a personal brand? Can I be cool?
Even limiting it down to just my company, can I be cool? Answer me this: What is your one thing? What does ever action you take boils down to? If you can’t easily answer that, think of an action you take and answer Why a bunch of times.
Take for example a marketing firm. What is their one thing?
Well we do websites, SEO and article marketing.
Why?
We get our clients to the first page of Google.
Why?
We drive traffic to their site.
Why?
We want to increase their sales.
Why?
We want to make them more money.
Why?
We want to help the business be on better financial grounds.
Why?
We want to increase the happiness of the people in the company.
Why?
We want them to be satisfied with their lives and their business.
Wow. Check it out. I ended up in the same goal as I had on UnWorkaholic. Crazy.
So helping people live satisfying lives is important to me.
But thats not all I am about. There is also this other half of me that loves technology. For example, I’ve had a long standing interest in robotics and techie stuff makes me happy. I spend my free time reading about all sorts of nerdy things, from programming guides to electrical engineering textbooks. And yes, I have been known to do math on Friday evenings.
But nothing about this improves people’s satisfaction with life. In fact, I don’t really do it for any one but me. And yet I feel that that part of me is intrinsic in my personal brand, or it really should be. If I had to pick one this to do for the rest of my life and money was no issue, it would have to be programming. Yes, I am a nerd and I’m proud of it.
But why?
I love the puzzles and the challenge.
Why?
I like being able to come up with the solution to a challenging question.
Why?
I guess I get a bit high from being able to get things to work to my will.
Why?
It makes me hope that I might be able to add something to the world through my creation (even if my current creations are straight out of elec 101)
Why do I want to do that?
Because I want to add value to the world.
So both areas are about adding value to the world through technology.
So maybe my personal theme should be something like:
Making the world a better place one line of code at a time.
Okay, that’s kinda sappy, but I like helping people and I like to code. And those together and I’m pretty happy.
Nerd girl makes her stand.
What is your one thing?
7 Ways to Fail at Lifestyle Design
May 22nd
Here are some sure-fire ways to fail at creating the UnWork lifestyle.
- Read too much about Lifestyle Design. This one may be surprising to some, but reading too much can actually prevent you from accomplishing your goals. First, reading too much can cause you to become overwhelmed with ideas and then get so bogged down that you never act. Second, you can’t read it all, so saying that you just need to read that next product before you start is a guaranteed way to fail. So if you are looking to fail, go ahead and read too much.
- Never focus. Businesses that try to be everything to everybody usually don’t succeed. Even companies like Google who seem to be doing everything started with a very small focus (in Google’s case, providing the very best search engine). When starting your business, whether it’s a product, a blog, or anything, focusing on a very narrow niche or providing one well defined service helps you succeed. You can also always add more to it later once you have grown a bit. When you are starting out, if failure is what you are after, don’t focus.
- Never start. The best way to fail is to do nothing at all. Never start your blog or create your product. Never take the first step towards your new life. Of all the ideas for failing listed here, this one is the best. If you don’t want to succeed, never even try.
- Quitting too Early. Most lifestyle businesses don’t have instantaneous success. It’s not “build it and they will come.” But given that you are providing value to an audience that needs value provided to them, they will come. You just have to keep at it. If you find that they are not coming, try evaluating why and change your tactics slightly. But even if you are totally awesome, your success will not be over night. There will be times when you feel like you are writing to no one. If you want to fail, that is when you quit. If not, just keep at it.
- Not Quitting. When you start out, you may go through many ideas until you find the one that you like best. No matter what your niche, if after a month you can’t stand thinking about it, maybe that is not the niche for you. You need to be able to really enjoy your work. Don’t be afraid to quit something if it’s a bad fit for you. Trying to do something that you hate is a great way to fail.
- Don’t Produce Value. I mentioned this above, but it’s worth repeating. If you don’t add value, you are doomed to fail. Don’t repeat others. Don’t copy. Add something special that only you can add. Your whole topic doesn’t need to be unique, but you need to add something to the topic in order to succeed. If you don’t, do one would have a reason to buy from you.
- Don’t Market Yourself. Face it, if you are online you are a marketer. Jonathan Fields wrote about this in greater depth a few weeks ago. It is through marketing efforts, usually through social media and networking, that people find your blog for the first time. If no one ever finds your blog or sales page, no one will ever be a reader or buyer.
What other ways can you fail at all creating a lifestyle business?
8 Ways to Find Your UnWork
May 1st
My last post was about looking for your UnWork in your childhood. I wanted to follow that up is some more ideas about places to find your UnWork.
1. Your Job
Okay, I know this is suppose to be about gaining freedom from your job, but if you like your job at all, that is a great place to look for your UnWork. I work as a Web Developer and really like the work that I do. I definitely plan on incorporating programming into my UnWork lifestyle. What aspects of your job do you like and want to continue doing?
2. Your Social Groups
Are you in any clubs or groups for social reasons? What attracts you to them? Is that something that you want to keep in your life? Some social groups may be purely for entertainment, but others may have real substance to them.
3. Your Friends
Think about your close friends. What attracts you to them? What do you enjoy to do with them regularly? What have you helped them with in the past? Another option is to just ask them what they think would be a good fit for you. You may get answers that you didn’t expect. Even if you don’t get any ideas for UnWork, it’s a fun experiment to do to learn more about yourself.
4. Your Reading Material
This one was a big one for me and ultimately what led me to my UnWork ideas. What do you read on a regular basis? What topics do you enjoy reading about? Would you be able and interested in writing about any of those topics? This is especially true for blogs that you may read regularly.
When searching for my UnWork, my rss subscriptions were really telling. Most of them were either programming, productivity, or lifestyle design. Those are the three topics that I consider to be my UnWork.
5. Your Hobbies
What do you do in your spare time? What of these activities add the most value to your life? Even if the activity itself isn’t something that you’d consider to be UnWork, some variation on these activities can lead to both UnWork and product ideas. I have an unannounced product that I’m working on that was inspired by an activity I enjoyed but also considered a waste of time.
6. Twitter
Who do you follow on Twitter and other similar social networks? Whose tweets do you just love reading and why? Are they tweeting about topics that interest you? What are you tweeting about?
7. Vacations
For many people with a regular job, vacations are a rare and treasured time. What do you choose to do with this time? What do you go see and learn about? Do you have any future vacation plans that could tell you something about your UnWork?
8. What Do You Love
What things do you just love? What topics could you just learn more and more about and never get tired? Really, all the previous ideas boil down to this one, but its worth stating on its own. What makes you want to get up in the morning?
Have you found your UnWork? If so, what helped you discover it? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments.
Find your UnWork in your Childhood
Apr 29th
Think about yourself as a child. You had energy and excitement. You were not yet coded by social norms. You just followed your interests. If you are having trouble figuring out what your UnWork is, try asking that young version of you.
What I wanted to be when I grew up?
So the answer to this question that you gave as a child is probably not very useful. I wanted to be a vet. Okay. Great. That doesn’t really interest me now. But ask yourself “why?” Why did I want to be a vet? Because I wanted to care for animals. Why? Because I loved animals and working with animals. Okay, Great! Maybe my UnWork could have something to do with animals. (It does, btw. I’m using my blog to raise money for Wildlife Rescue).
What did I like to do?
Children have many hobbies and interests as they grow and change. Some of them were phases that passes and some of them stick around (at least in some form) when they grow up. What hobbies did you have that you still have an interest in?
I really loved organising when I was little. I would organize all of my toys and hold events for my stuff animals so I could plan them. And I never could have too many school supplies.
I also loved fundraisers. I would create little businesses where I would sell stuff in order to donate the money to charity. I don’t know how many times I got in trouble for selling candy at school. I would always think outside of the box when coming up with these schemes. This has translated well into my UnWork, which deals with finding unconventional ways to make a living.
What did I collect?
Another place to find possible UnWork ideas is your childhood collection. I collected all sorts of things, from McDonald toys to Rocks. Do any of these collections still interest you? Could one of them lead to an UnWork topic? Or, if not your UnWork, could one of them be a good niche to generate your income?
Find a good idea in your childhood? I’d love to hear about it below.
Photo By: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arcticpuppy/ / CC BY 2.0
Spirit of a Traveler
Mar 23rd
Look around you.
Right now.. Look up for your computer or phone or iPad or whatever you are readying this on and look around you.
Notice one thing that you have never seen before. Even if you are in a really familiar location you can probably find something that you have never seen before. Maybe it’s a crack on the wall. Or something that fell off of your table. Doesn’t matter. Just notice something.
Next time that you are on a walk, do the same thing. Notice 5 new things.
Okay, now do it while riding in a car. (Maybe not while driving. I don’t want to be responsible for a wreck.)
There are amazing things waiting to be discovered in your own backyard. But why haven’t you noticed them before? I’d guess it’s because you got so comfortable with your surroundings that you never really looked.
Now think of a time when you were looking. When was the last time that you went on vacation and were a tourist in a place you have never been to? Think of all of the Amazing things that you saw and discovered that day. I’d bet that you saw things that the locals had never even bothered to notice.
This, my friends, is the Spirit of the Traveler. You discover things because you are there to do just that.
But my challenge to you is this: Try having the Spirit of the Traveler in your every day life. Who knows what you will discover?Find something? Love to hear about it in the comments below.
Photo By: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uggboy// CC BY 2.0
