106/365 – ” What do you delegate to others? ”

There are two different ways that people delegate tasks.

Some delegate the tasks they don’t want to do.
Others delegate tasks they think others would enjoy doing.

Neither strategy is without its flaws.

The former might lead to lower retention rates, while the latter means taking on the remaining tasks that nobody else wants to do.

I’m not sure which strategy is better, but one thing’s for sure: working with folks with the same work philosophy makes a world of difference.

#365Questions

104/365 – “Are you a pioneering or a follower?”

For the last few days, I’ve been assisting my friend in charge of sculpting dozens of skulls for an art installation I designed.

To build a skull, she has to study the architecture and geometry of every skull and then find a way to sculpt it into existence. With copious experience and a tendency to perfection, the process takes her about an hour.

On the other hand, it would take me only 20 or 30 minutes to replicate her carving with 80% fidelity and minimal experience.

It’s not easier because I’m exceptionally talented – but because replication is always easier than creation.

When admiring someone’s work, I think it’s important to consider whether they are a pioneer or a replicator.

Even if the output might be the same, the value they create isn’t.

101/365 – ” Do you need more help or motivation? ”

A couple of days ago, we put out a call for volunteers.

We had been building for over two weeks and were hoping to find a handful of extra hands to power through a list of simple tasks.

Due to the flu going around – we ended up with a volunteer DJ without the extra hands we were hoping for.

Though I was initially frustrated, the high-paced tunes quickly washed those feelings away, only to be replaced by a new fresh wave of energy.

Unexpectedly, this added energy was almost as effective as any extra hands we would have had to manage.

Help and motivation aren’t always interchangeable, but sometimes one can be a valuable substitute for the other.

#365Questions

97/365 – ” What’s one thing you want to get done today? ”

We’ve all experienced the challenges of infinite to-do lists and emails.

As we work our way down the list, we might find ourselves prioritizing the easiest ones, leaving us with a backlog of the most annoying, frustrating, and complex tasks.

But what if we start off every day by setting a goal to tick off the one unpleasant thing we “should” do that we’ve been putting off?

We always feel lighter after closing the loop on something unpleasant. Getting that one thing out of the way might help us start the day with some extra momentum!

#365Questions

96/365 – “ What does your personal dashboard look like? “

If your car didn’t have a dashboard, it would be impossible to tell how fast you were going, your fuel levels, or how many miles the car had driven.

The dashboard helps us track the health of our vehicle so that we can safely get from A to B, on time and on schedule.

But how many of us have taken the time to design the dashboard of our life?

Without it, it’s no wonder we sometimes drift away from our original intentions.

If you were to build one, what metrics would you focus on?

#365Questions

Nobody chooses to add problems to their lives.

Problems are undesirable, inconvenient, and frustrating to deal with. When possible, we try our best to ignore them. If not, we learn to tolerate them. And if that doesn’t work, we finally surrender to resolving them.

Challenges, on the other hand, are a choice. They’re an invitation for us to rise to the occasion. An opportunity to prove our worth. A character-defining moment.

In storytelling, challenges are simply problems waiting to be overcome.

In real life, the difference between a challenge and a problem is our mindset.

The beautiful relationships I’ve nurtured over the years, the privilege I hold, and a lifestyle of giving, have enabled me to tap into many unexpected opportunities.

From free RV rentals, sailing trips, and expeditions to charming accommodations, adventures, and tours, I’ve found myself in places, spaces, and situations that I would have never been able to afford if I had to pay for them.

These transactions have all been a byproduct of the often intangible relationship capital that I’ve accumulated over the years.

The last decade has been interesting. My salary hasn’t changed much, but the amount of relationship capital I have at my disposal has increased exponentially.

A new experiment I’ve been playing around with is converting the outcomes of great relationships into dollars. Seeing the numbers side by side is interesting. It helps justify a tiny part of why relationships are more important than dollars, even only looking through a capitalist lens.

Yesterday, I caught up with an old friend.

We gathered at another friend’s house and did the usual small talk that friendly strangers do as they get to know one another.

An hour in, she decides to announce: “You guys are cool. I want to be your friend. Can we be friends? How can I add you? Will you reply to me when I write to you?”

On the one hand, the interaction felt awkward and unnatural.
But on the other, I found it oddly refreshing and compelling.

Especially among strangers, human relationships are often nuanced. We hedge our bets and limit our expectations. It’s rare to have someone take that risk of rejection.

As long as boundaries are respected, that focus and clarity are admirable.

In a world where everyone is hedging, the relentless person stands out.

Yesterday, I had a meltdown.

After weeks of massive challenges in a project that was supposed to be a defining career piece – the one-ton art installation we had spent weeks working on was irreversibly bent out of position as it was hoisted into its final resting position.

With only hours to go before we had to leave the venue, there was no going back, and I felt like a total failure.

But after a quick cry to reset my emotions, I realized that the story I was telling myself of what was supposed to happen was completely different than the story that was expected of me.

My job was not to build anything perfect – After all, nobody knew what perfect was supposed to look like

My mission was to create something structurally sound, emotionally impactful, and dramatically different- and there was still time to do that.

Success is not measured by what we want to happen, it’s measured by what we need to happen.

To take a comfortable shower, you’re probably mixing hot and cold water to get the perfect temperature.

The hot water presumably comes from an electric or gas heater that sucks energy all day long to ensure that scalding hot water is available on demand.

But scalding hot water is not only a burn hazard; it’s a consistent and persistent source of wasted energy. Unless you’re using the water at its maximum heat, you’re paying to overheat something that is never used while contributing negatively to climate change.

The solution is simple: take one minute to turn your thermostat a couple of degrees.

Finding the smallest actions that can have the biggest impact in perpetuity is something we should always find time to do both in our personal lives and in our mission to fight climate change.

ht: Conversation with Tom Chi

The hardest job to escape from is one that has a good boss, good salary, good schedule, with good coworkers, good benefits, and good working conditions, in a place with good weather, good commute and good food.

But good isn’t the same as right.

The best job is not a good job, it’s the right job.
The best relationship is not a good relationship, it’s the right relationship.
The best community is not a good community, it’s the right community.

Don’t let something good keep you from finding something right.

ht: Conversation with Brenton Zola

During the day, the newly restored 300-year-old village I’m currently staying at oozes a feeling of calm, serenity, and escape from the modern world.

But as night envelopes the village and the sun’s warmth gets taken over by a cold evening breeze – the mood changes. The narrow schist streets and moss-covered rocks newly wrapped in long dark shadows feel more creepy than comforting.

No matter how much my conscious mind understands that I’m still in the same place, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I had landed in a horror film.

Although we like to believe that we are rational creatures, we are anything but. Our biases to a single moment or environment change the stories we live and experience.

Whenever possible, it’s helpful to revisit the same narratives at different times to gain perspective on what is actually true.