It certainly is. And if you agree, this will make you smile.

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From Gus - The Possibility Hunter

I’m a big fan of Dr Seuss and I love ‘Oh,The Places You’ll Go’.

Read it and you’ll get off your Lorax and get started on your Great Work.

Except when you don’t. Because sometimes you won’t.

But it also takes you to the darkest place in Seuss-topia. A place called “The Waiting Place”. Oh the horror! It’s where you spend hour after hour waiting for buses, The Big Break, winning lottery numbers, some extra cash or “…a pair of pants or a wig with curls” (even Dr Seuss’ dark places have a fat slice of the ridiculous!)

Are you stuck in The Waiting Place? Just can’t get started on that awesome project?
Why not use your hiatus to visit Growing Happiness and check out their tips for avoiding procrastination? Set a starting deadline for your next project and write your own bus-ticket out of The Waiting Place.

Or if you are just into taking a break (as opposed to waiting) you could try the ‘Oh The Places You’ll Go’ online game. Or find out more about the ‘political’ Dr Seuss and his Oscar winning documentary ‘Design for Death’.

If you don’t know what you’re waiting for, why not begin that unexpected masterpiece no one knows is in you?

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Here’s what I’m doing in July and August. Apart from writing the book version of Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun. And enjoying the summer. I’m going to watch a talk from TED every day.

Here’s an example of why - Amy Tan talking about creativity and its sources.

It’s funny, self-deprecating and covers everything from Quantum Mechanics to genocide. And along the way, it throws some new insights onto the role of discomfort and ambiguity in the role of creativity. 18 minutes well spent.

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From Gus - The Possibility Hunter

Empty your mind. Be formless. Shapeless. Like water. You put water in a bottle it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes… the teapot. Water can flow, or it can crash.

No, those words aren’t Confucius’ words, they were the words of Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee: Kung Fu master, movie star, one of only seven men in history who looks good in a jump suit.
So, what is not cool about Bruce Lee? Who wouldn’t want to be a little bit like Bruce Lee?

But don’t fall into the old trap of donning a yellow jump suit and a picking a fight with Kareem Abdul Jabbar. What you want is a little of ‘the essence of Bruce’. The Positivity Blog brings you Bruce Lee’s Top 7 Fundamentals for Getting Your Life in Shape, to help us all get a little Bruceness.

While you’re at The Positivity Blog you should check out some of the other excellent posts. My personal (recent) favourites include “5 Kick-Ass Reasons to Give a Genuine Compliment, and How to Do It” (Why don’t you try it out on the next page you love when stumbling around around the ‘net) or “Picasso’s Top 7 Tips for Creating an Exciting Life” (why don’t you try it out while you’re alive).

Anyway, back to Bruce for the final word: Be water, my friends.

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My wife is a librarian, and she’s brilliant and passionate about getting people to read.

When she found out about this donation system, she got very excited - as did I.

If you love books, consider spreading the love (your own “possibility virus”)

You get to choose the book. A book you loved as a child. A book you want someone else to read. A book that means something special to you. Do something good. Pick the city, pick the library and *DO* something. You don’t have to spend a lot, but you, dear friends can make a difference.

Here’s the website

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From Gus - The Possibility Hunter

So what does it take to do what you want to do?

My sister-in-law has joined a band. Or rather she was shanghaied into one. Not only does she not play an instrument, but she never wanted to be in a band, yet apparently the band rejected her resignation. Of course, now she loves it.

I’ve wanted to be in a rockin’ band for 25 years (like Phil Collins), but I’m not in a band. I’m mildly tattooed (like Victoria Beckham), but I remain without band. I played the guitar for years and stagnated musically for over a decade (like Bon Jovi), and yet… bandless. I shamelessly name-drop (like, er, Phil Collins) but… on it goes.

How did this happen? Well, I forgot to join a band, so I’m not in one. Who would have thought?

What goal have you forgotten to action?

Steve Aitchison provides 8 excellent tips for taking action here.

Phil Gerbyshak, offers a few questions to ponder, and the biggest smile on the web, both of which you can find here.

So, check these out while I overcome my analysis paralysis (thanks Mr Aitchison) and fire up a two-fingered rock salute.

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Thanks to Molly Gordon who sent me this video link, which is a smart work of genius…

Maybe this should be part of The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun - asking the question, what makes you laugh?

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From our newsletter Outside the Lines

The Journey to Success

My company Box of Crayons is founded on the belief that people and organizations need to do less Good Work and more Great Work.

And I spend a good deal of time talking to people around the world about just how to get there.

And one of the questions I get asked is this:

How do I get to do more Great Work? What’s the process like to get from here to there?

Do I need to find the “life purpose” turbo-booster, strap it on, light the fuse and ka-BOOM suddenly I’m doing more Great Work?

Or is it like a light switch? I pull the cord and suddenly I’ve got 100 watts of Great Work illumination filling the room
And my answer?

Nope.

Or at least, highly unlikely.

It’s less linear and more work, less miracle and more planning than that.

And Edmund Hillary is going to prove my point

Sir Edmund Hillary, 1919-2008

While many of us have metaphorically climbed mountains and conquered peaks, Edmund Hillary was the first person to summit the highest peak in the world, Mt. Everest.
He died earlier this month and has been lauded - and quite rightly so - in the press.

You may already know a few of the details of the ascent

- His background as a beekeeper in New Zealand - and how hauling around 80lb beehives helped build the strength that would help his climbing.

- His partnership with the sherpa, Tenzing Norgay - a friendship that would last all their lives.

- How he “cracked” the crucial move of the last part of the ascent, a 40-foot rock face later named the “Hillary Step”.

- That Hillary and Tenzing spent only about 15 minutes at the summit. Hillary took Tenzing’s photo, Tenzing left chocolates in the snow as an offering, and Hillary left a cross that he had been given. Because Tenzing did not know how to use a camera, there are no pictures of Hillary there.

But here’s what’s inspiring for me

Hillary and Tenzing didn’t just start at base camp and stroll up Everest.

They took it in stages.

Many stages.

In fact, over the course of 6 weeks, they did it in 45 stages, back and forth to Base Camp, back and forth to camps 1 through 9 - and then and only then the final push to the summit.

And what’s more - it was only a last minute decision that it would be Hillary and Tenzing that were to make the ones to go to the top. Up until then another climber had been expected to be the one - but was unable to cope with the final challenge.

So what do I take from this?

Two things:

1. You never know when your opportunity may come along. So even if you’re not “in the lead”, prepare and train as if you are - and see where that takes you.

2. No one gets to the summit in a single bound. Practically everyone who’s an “overnight success” has taken years to get there. It takes stages, and with every stage your mind and body expands to be able to cope with where you are now and gets you ready for where you need to go next.

What’s the Great Work you’re striving for now?

What’s the next stage you need to reach?

You can learn more about Hillary’s life here and about the Everest climb here

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From our newsletter Outside the Lines

Smart folks thinking out loud about the journey to success.

“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the actions.”
-Confucius, Chinese philosopher

“The heights charm us, but the steps do not; with the mountain in our view, we love to walk the plains.”
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer

“Little by little, one walks far.”
-Peruvian proverb

“Everybody makes his path differently.”
-Emanuel Ax, Canadian pianist

“In the middle of the journey of my life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.”
-Dante Alighieri, Italian poet

“For the poet the credo or doctrine is not the point of arrival but is, on the contrary, the point of departure for the metaphysical journey.”
Joseph Brodsky, American poet

“It’s not the destination that matters. It’s the change of scene.”
-Brian Eno, British musician

“The road to success is always under construction.”
-Lily Tomlin, American comedienne

“The Path that leadeth on is lighted by one fire - the light of daring burning in the heart. The more one dares, the more he shall obtain.”
-Helena Petrova Blavatsky - Russian writer

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From our newsletter Outside the Lines

You See I Want A Lot, by Rainer Maria Rilke

You see, I want a lot.
Perhaps I want everything:
the darkness that comes with every infinite fall
and the shivering blaze of every step up.

So many live on and want nothing,
and are raised to the rank of prince
by the slippery ease of their light judgments.

But what you love to see are faces
that do work and feel thirst.

You love most of all those who need you
as they need a crowbar or a hoe.

You have not grown old, and it’s not too late
to dive into your increasing depths
where life calmly gives out its own secret.

Translated by Robert Bly.

The half-glimpsed truth

I read recently that the gift of poets is that they must put into words something they’ve only half-glimpsed themselves.

I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by the number of “It’s the New Year Have Some Advice” newsletters at the moment, so I thought I’d offer less rather than more in mine.

Take some time to re-read the poem, this time not skipping down through it. Roll it around a little, like it’s something worth tasting.

What do you want? Everything?

Inspired by the poem, let me ask you to ponder these questions and see where they take you.

They’re not easy. But give them a little time, and they may thaw some ice.

(I’ve added my own answers in parentheses)

==> What’s the “shivering blaze of every step up” for you?

(The “shivering blaze” - what a wonderful description of “Great Work”! This for me is about taking my Coaching for Great Work training program into organizations and giving managers and leaders the capability to use coaching)

==> What are you thirsty for?

(I’m thirsty for optimism and courage)

==> Who needs you like a crowbar or a hoe? Who do you need?

(I’ve just realized that many of the talented people I know I keep safe and sound and contained, never inviting them out to use their talents fully. I intend to change that)

==> How have you grown old? How have you not?

(Over the holiday I celebrated by 40th birthday - woo hoo! - and am coming to realize the truth of the saying “inside every old person is a young person saying ‘what the hell happened?’”. I’m grateful I’ve not grown “old” by seeking adventures here and there).

I’m of course curious as to your answers - please post your thoughts in the Comments section below

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