We spend an incredible amount of time working on marketing to sell stuff. To that end, we develop these little stories, designed to evoke emotion, curiosity, connection – to manipulate an audience to come buy stuff. But there’s another, far more fascinating reason to tell those stories. When we tell a story that’s true, that we’re passionate about, that excites us, we become inspiring. We become elevated. We energise our organisations, teams, friends and family....
When developing a concept, it’s tempting to refine, polish, and make sure the direction is just perfect. It’s also tempting to let it “grow” naturally out of the organisation. Both options conveniently prevent you from having to put your own work into the world and standing by it. I believe that more often than not, it’s more important to make it, than it is to make it just right. The consequences of a wrong communication angle are most likely straightforward and low-risk: Total ignorance on the part of your target audience....
Meditation in its “pure” form involves emptying the mind to a state where it just exists undisturbed and calm. However, most meditation programs and introductions focus heavily on achieving a close proxy to that empty state – the state of full focus on only one thing. Usually it’s one’s breathing, the feeling of contact with the ground, or perhaps a soundscape of the ambient noise in one’s environment. When focusing 100% on any one thing, it calms the mind....
We have so little time. Often, I am struck by the insignificance of all that I am, and all that I have done. Struck by a desire to be more, do more, change more. A desire that all too often is unfulfilled. Is it fuelled by ego? If so it should be quelled. Is it a legitimate desire to change the world for the better? Perhaps “being more” is a means to an end - by being more, I can do more, and therein lies the meaning....
As life beats down upon a man, tearing at his resolve. The most important step a man can take is the next one. Not the first step on the journey. Always the next one. The journey is the goal. This idea was articulated in Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson, and resonated so deeply that it bears sharing.