Shipping

I'm borrowing a term from Seth Godin's Linchpin book. Seth mentions that all of us have some genius in us, the difference is, do we ship?

Ship refers to finish the project, deliver the goods, or do we let the ideas die before they are complete?

This post from the DLM Blog has some ideas on the subject:

How to Finish What You Start

Posted: 09 May 2010 09:03 AM PDT

Do you have a whole bunch of half-finished projects gathering dust?

Perhaps it's that fitness routine which you swiftly abandoned (along with all the accompanying equipment). Maybe it's a craft project which has been taken up space for months. You might have musical instruments which you never learned to play, college courses left unfinished, websites half-created, a novel that you started writing and never finished.

I used to be great at starting things, and really bad at following through. Over the years, I've learned to get better at finishing what I start.

Step 1: Decide Whether it's Just a Whim
Sometimes, you'll have a great idea for some new endeavor. Maybe you want to:

• Learn to play the trombone
  
• Take up fencing
  
• Become fluent in French
  

... and so on. Your interest might have been sparked by something you read, or by a movie you watched, or a friend who's passionate about a particular hobby.

Before you run out and buy a ton of stuff, and before you sign up for evening classes or dedicate every weekend to this, give yourself some time to figure out if it's just a whim. However keen you feel right now, wait a few weeks. Sometimes, an idea which seemed great at the time just doesn't last.

Step 2: Make a Firm Commitment
If you are going to start something new and finish it, you need to really commit to it. I wouldn't recommend spending large amounts of money (though that definitely can make you feel a stronger attachment to something) – instead, I'd suggest that you block out some time to spend on this project on a regular basis.

That might mean that you have to take a hard look at your diary and get rid of some other activities. You're not suddenly going to find a spare hour or two every day ... you need to think about what you're already spending your time on.

Step 3: Keep Track of Progress
It's easy to start off keen, spending a diligent half-hour a day on your project for a week or two ... only to hit a busy patch in life. I'm sure you've had projects which got put aside "just for now", only for months to go by without any progress at all.

It's easy to lose momentum when you're working on lots of different things. If I've got a project which I really want to move forwards on, I find that the best way is to keep track of the progress I'm making.

There are all sorts of ways to keep track, depending on your project. Here are some possibilities:

• Keep a food diary, a spending log or a gratitude journal to focus your attention on a particular goal in your life.


• Use an online tool like Joe's Goals to tick off the days when you accomplished a particular task (e.g. going for a jog)


• Ask a friend to keep you accountable by having a weekly check-up session


• Write a checklist for your project and tick off tasks as you complete them. Make a note in your diary to review the checklist every week (or whatever interval suits you).

Step 4: Have an End in Sight
It might seem like a silly point, but if you're going to finish what you start, you need to know what "finished" looks like!

Some projects have a natural end point – but many don't. For example, when have you "finished" with a diet? When have you "finished" learning to play the piano?

If your goal is to "write a book", be clear whether you mean "write a draft" or "finish it to the best standard I can" or "get it published". These are all different goals and different endpoints. If you're doing your first NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, every November), then just finishing a 50,000 word draft is a great achievement. If you're aiming for a career as a professional writer, then you'll be looking at an end point of publication.

You might find that your goal doesn't have a finish line at all. If you're getting fit, you don't suddenly achieve fitness and then stop! With goals like this, set yourself some targets to keep you going. You might want to run a half-marathon in two years' time, and a marathon the year after that. You might aim to bench-press a certain amount of weight.

Finally ... if you have lots of half-done projects, don't feel bad about letting some of them go. That might mean throwing out old materials, selling those books you'll never read, or formally resigning from that course. Quitting is a way to finish a project – and it can free you up to take on something new.

Written on 5/09/2010 by Ali Hale. Ali writes a blog, Aliventures, about leading a productive and purposeful life (get the RSS feed here). As well as blogging, she writes fiction, and is studying for an MA in Creative Writing.

Photo Credit: cole24

Fort Wayne Site-of-the-Day

I may have featured this organization during the Winter Games.... Looks new to me! Click on Pic.

Gettin' The JOB

Wisdom from Harvey:

How to spend your first day in the job market

By Harvey Mackay

When I scrolled through the unemployment data recently, one number stood out for me head-and-shoulders above all the rest. More than a quarter of our young people are out of work.

What young adults need to worry about is not how to shine on their first day on the job. It's about learning to excel your first day on the job market. If you're a young person entering today's job jungle, it's a little like suiting up for an episode of Survivor in the outer reaches of Borneo.

Here are some tips that can help drain the pain from your job market debut:

• Don't bulk e-mail your credentials or résumé to everyone and their cousin. In the e-mail age, a résumé is just another bunch of digital clutter. Every day, companies are using more and more sophisticated tools to block the inflow of unwanted applications.
• Intelligently use snail mail to differentiate yourself. I'm not just saying that because I'm in the envelope business. Make the letter you send as distinctive as you can. Address it to a particular person. Link your cover letter into the recipient's school affiliation, hobbies, or -- best of all -- an acquaintance you have in common.
• This is all about making the A Team. Maybe you had the valuable experience of playing a varsity sport in school. If you wanted to excel in athletics and make the academic grade, you learned pretty soon that the first skill to master is time management. Getting a job is a job. Plan out every precious day. When you climb out of the sack, commit yourself to making X number of calls and blocking out time to study business news on the Internet. When your head hits the pillow at night, you should think: "Clothes in shape? Appointments confirmed? Schedule set? Sign off. You've had a busy day."
• Don't waste time on the Internet, and don't upload stupid self-damaging information on social sites like Facebook. Stay away from game sites. They can addictively suck away valuable hours day after day. Will your instant recall of the latest dish about Lindsay Lohan or Justin Timberlake get you a job? The party animal photo you're keen to upload to Facebook may be fun for your pals . . . but eliminate you from a firm that is about to extend you an offer.
• Build human networks. What are your career goals for the next 1-2 years? Find people in your community and on the Internet who are already where you want to be. Learn exactly what it took to be where they are.
• Volunteer. Killing time is suicide. If you don't have a job, volunteer to help others. You'll feel good about the contribution you make. If you're asked to raise money for a good cause, you'll learn what kinds of salesmanship works . . . and, when it doesn't, how to accept being rejected. If you're a positive, high-energy volunteer; you might even impress a community leader who can help you find a paying job of the sort you're after.
• Learn specific credentials and get them. Find out what certification is required for the job you want and why it's important. Talk with people who have gone through the certification program and exams to learn the biggest challenges. Keep your credentials up-to-date. High tech fields upgrade their standards constantly.
• Give people good reasons to recommend you. Professional recruiters will tell you that your best assets in a job search are the enthusiastic recommendations of employed, well-respected experts in your field. Learn what skills and attitudes these people value and what they look for in an up-and-comer.
• Stay in shape. Being in top condition will keep you energized and improve your overall sense of discipline. Working out is also a great way to channel the frustration of being rejected into a positive result.
• Prepare for every job interview as though it were a trip to the Super Bowl. Research the firm inside out. Ready yourself with intelligent questions to ask. Be poised and on-time for your meeting. Debrief yourself and grade your performance immediately after the encounter.

Mackay's Moral: You may not be after a sales job, but you have to be one great salesperson to sell yourself.