Creative Risk

When you make something real, and it comes from somewhere inside you, you put a little piece of yourself on display. Alone and undefended in the world. Open to criticism. It can be terrifying. It always pays back dividends. When you create, you expose yourself. You become vulnerable. When people move to support you in that vulnerability, that’s when you build a tribe. When you create, you project an unmatchable authenticity into the world....

November 17, 2018 · 1 min · 164 words · bear

Be The Spectator

Sometimes life is scary. Overwhelming. Hard to figure out. Uncertain. Sometimes it can be useful to reframe the situation, when faced with hard choices. Imagine being a spectator, watching the story unfold. If you were looking at a character, in your situation, faced with the options you face, what do you think should happen? What would be the most interesting step the character could take? What has been foreshadowed? What is the right thing to do?...

November 16, 2018 · 1 min · 112 words · bear

Making It Worth Remembering

Life is made up of a long series of fragmented experiences. Every day is a chance to write something new into memory. But most of life, for most people, passes and is forgotten in a blur of meaninglessness. I’m working hard to change my path through life, and create more moments worth remembering. It doesn’t have to be hard. For me, two things work well. Noticing. The simple act of taking time to take in the experience of the everyday....

November 15, 2018 · 1 min · 185 words · bear

The Art of the Deflector Shield

Sir, we just lost the main rear deflector shield. One more direct hit on the back quarter and we’re done for! C3PO Never let down your deflector shields. Tend to them and nurture them. They keep you safe from hits on the back quarter! When thinking about how to protect your productivity, deflector shields are a marvellous tool to activate. Deflector shields can take many forms. Templates: If someone wants to dump work on you, make them format it in a way that forces due consideration on all aspects of the problem....

November 14, 2018 · 2 min · 231 words · bear

Modes of Feedback

In an ideal world, everyone would feeling sufficient belonging, and be comfortable enough in vulnerability towards each other, that this post didn’t need writing. We’re not there yet. The most effective, kind, and valuable type of feedback is the accurate type. The type that isn’t wrapped in layers of extra-communication to soften the blow. The type that helps the receiver enter directly into a discussion to establish the truth of a matter....

November 13, 2018 · 2 min · 309 words · bear