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blogging creativity transcending work life

The one clear thing Part 2

November 10, 2010

 

In  The one clear thing Part 1, I talked about the complexity and challenge around me and how the writing of this blog has emerged as one clear thing I can focus on at present. 

Finding ‘the one clear thing’ is the message emerging from all the complexity and multiplicity around me. It can be so easy to get overwhelmed and do the wrong thing or nothing. There is an almost innate tendency to make things more complex than they need to be.

What does it mean to ‘find the one clear thing’? It means keeping the complex simple. It means providing a cut-through to moving on and solution. The one clear thing is emerging for me as:

1. Identifying the key question(s)

2. Beginning the essential work

3. Making the daily steps

 

 1. Identifying the key question(s)

What key question(s) can you focus on, ask, that if answered carefully and consciously, would enable all the rest to fall into place?

This approach enables you to:

  • focus energy and effort 
  • avoid resistance and distraction
  • avoid the allure of complexity

As an example, in a workshop recently, we were working to resolve a complex business issue. The workshop was focused around a single, powerful question honed from a previous workshop of senior managers. It was our task to answer it. It was incredibly hard to keep the group focused but with the aid of a very skilled and dogged external facilitator, at the end, we were able to clearly and succinctly answer the question. We will use these principles to drive future business directions, structure and staff capability development now that we are clear.

Chris Guillebeau also uses the key question approach in his World Domination work to guide goal-setting for individuals and the difference they can make.  In ‘A Brief Guide to World Domination – How to live a remarkable life in a conventional world’, Chris talks about personal goals, ordinary people pursuing big ideas and also through this, making a difference in the lives of others. The key questions he asks you to consider, ‘the two most important questions in the universe’ are:

#1 What do you really want to get out of life?

#2 What can you offer the world that no-one else can?

I have written about this in an early post, ‘Why Transcending?’ and shown how answering these questions helped me to develop my focus here. Read Chris’s Art of Non-Conformity blog to see many examples of people who have used this technique to get them focused on the one clear thing that matters to them in their life’s work. For me now, the key question is reviewing ‘How can my blog work here bring my answers to those two key questions to life?’

Jonathan Fields in a recent post, The Bucket List Lie on his blog, Awake at the Wheel, also encourages us to keep it simple by making a list of one:

A single, meaningful action you’re going to take before the end of the day to move you one step closer to a single, deeply meaningful quest. 

Julie Kay of JK Leadership Development and the wonderful Developing Leaders Online encourages businesses to focus on The single most effective question you can ask in the context of customer service and feedback from clients. It’s a great question because it’s solution focused and provides some metrics for knowing when improvement has taken place.

You can see that the first step identifying the key question is:

  • action oriented
  • solution focused
  • resistance averse

So what’s the key question for you right now, the one clear thing that can take you forward?

I’ll explore the next step ‘The essential work to be done’ in a follow-up post very soon.

Image, The base of Looking Glass Falls near Asheville, North Carolina by Alaskan Dude from flickr and used under a Creative Commons license with thanks

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blogging creativity transcending

The one clear thing Part 1

October 31, 2010

It’s been quiet here. You may have noticed. Quiet from my side and also the readers’ side. No surprises that the two are linked. There’s been a lot happening. There is a lot of complexity around me at present.

I am doing the Unravelling e-course with Susannah Conway and a wonderful group of women from across the world and there is much delving into deep layers in that space.

At work, there are challenging issues to solve, multiplicity, new systems being implemented, many projects on the boil and a constant search for streamlining and solutions.

At home, there is much change currently and on the horizon as my daughter finishes school. The effects of grief and chronic illness in the lives of my immediate family weave a web of constant challenge. And the dog is suddenly quite disabled and has to be carried from one place to the other.

So yes, it has been quiet here but I do so love this blog, what it means to me and how it tracks my progress and development, my thoughts on transcending issues like I am experiencing now: the cut through, the coping, the methods, the strategy, the passions. I am loving Unravelling at present for also taking me through this in another way; mainly through images, photos, but also writing, connecting with others and a supported environment for creativity and expression.

So to the blog. I have been wondering if I am on the right track. Have I lost my way here? Is ‘Transcending’ the right focus? Am I connecting? Am I lost? I have been thinking about starting a second blog about my work on reading as it doesn’t seem to connect. Whenever I post on reading and book voyeurs, my stats seem to dive and take a while to pick up. But this is important to me – reading as a form of transcending and riding above, crossing over, connecting. Reading has kept me focused for much of my life on the present, what could be in the future and how to get there.

Fortunately today I came across a couple of great posts from Penelope Trunk, originally via the communicatrix and her fantastic Friday round-up which led me to Penelope’s post ‘Being a snob creates too many limits’ about books, love of books, book sorting, reading and many things I am also passionate about. Then at the end, I read these words as if written for me:

You will notice there are not any work-related books. Anywhere. Which is odd because I receive at least one in the mail every day. I don’t save those books because they bore me. I wish I didn’t have to write that. But I think they bore you, too. That’s why you read this blog.

The best advice about how to conduct yourself at work is to know yourself, and get new information—from outside your own experience—about what is possible in the world. And that is what fiction, and plays, and poetry, and this blog, are about.

Hola! Fantastic and that is truly why I write this blog also. I know I am in another place altogether with far, far fewer readers than Penelope with her thousands of subscribers that she has built up, but I recognise the essence and motivation. I also try to connect what I know from work, from reading, from experience and distil it here. ‘The one clear thing’ was the title I planned to write about today and I have my draft of notes around that. It will need to be part 2. The one clear thing at the moment here, part 1, is to keep focus here in moving forward.

So I read some more of Penelope’s blog. I read:

Penelope’s Guide to Blogging which is excellent – great summary advice and links to previous articles Penelope has written that delve into each topic in more depth.

The one of course that attracted me: Don’t Start a New Blog: Stick with the one you have  How come this woman is inside my mind and talking straight to me today? I think she has been talking for a while and I just haven’t been in hearing range. The words that jump out at me are:

But each of us has multiple aspects to our personality. This doesn’t mean you need to start a new blog. It means you need to understand how your changing self integrates with your old self. Your blog is a way to watch yourself change. Your topic is a way to ground yourself. Write at the edge of your topic. That is where things are most interesting, anyway.

So thanks to Penelope Trunk and Colleen Wainwright, the communicatrix for the leads (do so love the communicatrix’s Frrrrriday rrrrround up. It often seems to get me back on track somehow) and to Susannah Conway for the Unravelling experience which is one of deep change right now. I will:

  • write at the edge of my topic
  • explore my topic as a way of grounding myself
  • understand how my changing self integrates with my old self
  • know myself and get new information about what is possible: at work, at home, in creativity, in writing and through blogs, twitter and other connections

That is the one clear thing for today: the writing of this blog as the way forward and the steps it might take from here.

Do you have any other thoughts on blogging and keeping clear on your focus there and elsewhere?

Image, Glass of Water by gfrphoto from flickr and used under a Creative Commons license with thanks

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blogging creativity writing

Blog writing heroes

October 10, 2010

 Last post, I wrote about ‘The Writer as Hero’ and how my favourite writers inspire me and my writing, just as sporting heroes might be a source of inspiration to others. I’m excited to be writing today about my blog writing heroes. These are the people I have followed online through their blogs who have successfully built a blogging presence and reader platform over time, committed to regular writing both on and off their blog and are writing towards further publication of their work offline.

These writers are among My Seven Stars and are such great role models with unique vision, commitment to craft and belief in their goals. They have set writing goals, strived to put this into practice and shared the journey with others through their blogs. They are true writing heroes influential in their impact on my personal journey of a writing life and that of many others.

I celebrate the following blog writing heroes:

Chris Guillebeau

Chris has just published the book of  ‘The Art of Non-Conformity’ after building a successful blog of the same name. As Chris says,

One of the main reasons why I started AONC was to write a book. It only took two and a half years (it’s not dead, but publishing is indeed a sloooow industry), but here we are.

This dream is the same for many writers and I count myself among them. Here is someone who started the journey and committed to the vision of the ‘art of non-conformity’ in all its forms: travel, the nature of work, how we write, entrepreneurship, living your dream and providing the tools and the model for how to do it practically. I am a big fan and Chris’s work has been very influential to me over the past 18 months since I started among his readership. I am loving watching Chris promote his book across all 50 states in the US on the Unconventional Book Tour. In addition, designated proceeds from his book go towards his charity project in Ethiopia. The book and the projects around it are an excellent practical demonstration in every way of the ‘art of non-conformity’.

Joanna Penn

Joanna is another inspiration in writing, blogging and publishing; not least because she manages all this with a day job in another sphere. Through the ‘The Creative Penn’, Joanna has built up a strong audience of people interested in writing and publishing through providing loads of useful information, podcasts, links and experiential tips. Her resources on writing are excellent. Apart from this, Joanna has written a number of non-fiction books and is currently working on her first fiction book, ‘Pentecost’. On her blog, she shares the experience of writing this novel with her readers in posts such as ‘Editing your Novel: High level Story Read Through’ and ‘7 reasons why you should read your book out loud’. I look forward to reading ‘Pentecost’ when it is finished; I’m sure many of Joanna’s other readers are also looking forward to it. In this way, Joanna is developing the very platform based audience that she blogs about as a new publishing trend.

Susannah Conway

Susannah started her blog in 2006 and has developed a strong following for her beautiful work based around photography and creativity of all kinds that has grown out of grief and her healing journey.  Susannah has also created the Unravelling e-course based on photography and journalling as reconnecting and healing tools for how you see yourself and your world. I am a current Unraveller and although only in week 2, it is already a fabulously powerful personal experience. In May this year, Susannah announced ‘Unravelling: the Book’. She shares her writing journey on her book in posts like this one on overcoming getting stuck on a long piece of writing. Again, the reader platform for the book is already growing exponentially even before it is written based on Susannah’s blog and Unravelling presence.

Shanna Germain

Shanna is also writing her book, a novel, now. I have loved following Shanna’s writing journey from when I first joined her when she was writing on a remote Scottish island some time ago. Shanna documents her writing life, her commitment, her goals, her striving towards them and her publishing successes which have been many. In a great recent post, Here I Go, Shanna explains how she has been writing away, has had her novel accepted for publication on the basis of a synopsis and the first third, and how she is off for five days to a retreat in the woods to enter further into the writing experience of the novel. I am so excited for her. It is what I would love to be doing and hope one day to do; but Shanna is doing the hard work of making this real now. All courage to her.

Sage Cohen

Sage is a published poet, author of ‘Like the Heart, the World’ as well as the exceptional “Writing the Life Poetic: an Invitation to Read and Write Poetry’, one of the best ever books on the subtle art of writing poetry.  She also teaches the ‘Poetry for the People’ online courses of which I am a ‘graduate’ of levels 1 and 2. I loved these courses for their excellent teaching, mentoring and encouragement that truly helps poets to develop and re-engage. Sage has a blog and an ezine as well as a new book to be published through Writers’ Digest out in December this year, The Productive Writer. It’s available by pre-order through Amazon now. I know this book will be full of Sage’s practical and tested advice on productivity and writing. Again, Sage has built her readership through an online presence and e-courses in advance of the publication of her book.

So a sincere thanks to my blog writing heroes for being so personally inspiring to me.

Who are your blog writing heroes? How do they inspire you?

Image, Young woman blogging – after Marie-Denise Villers  by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com from flickr and used under a Creative Commons license with thanks

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blogging

Gems #8 Blogging

September 12, 2010

Some blogging gems from recent weeks that have inspired and supported me:

The 7 essential parts of a blog by Misty Belardo, and on the wonderful Ink Rebels site, discusses the different parts of a blog and their impact on readability and ease of use. The post includes excellent practical tips for the mechanics of your blog writing. Being an adult literacy teacher by background, I appreciated this fresh approach from the perspective of readability. Now to put it into practice…

Another one from the Ink Rebels site, this time by Diana Adams, focuses on ’10 ways to become a more efficient and productive blogger’. I liked the way this article describes the hard work of blogging:

If you manage your own blog, in addition to writing posts, you read and answer your comments, network with other bloggers, do proper research for future posts, use social media to promote your work, subscribe and read useful RSS feeds, engage with your readers, find and size compelling photos for your posts, learn HTML, answer emails related to your blog…

I definitely can relate to the hard work involved in reading by way of background, the RSS management, social media engagement, the coalescing of thoughts to write, the revision, finding just the right photo…and then there is the day job!

As Diana says, it is a labour of love and people like myself, starting out and writing in between a very full-time role elsewhere, can begin to wonder and sometimes falter. But it is a love first and foremost; the labour is not all bad either and these insightful tips help you get more organised, efficient and able to take advantage of the time you do have. I especially like #8 Don’t get overwhelmed and #10 Remember your “why”. Great advice – I need to print this post out and put it where I can see it for encouragement.

I also enjoyed 5 steps to building a great blog from Grow with Stacy which defines 5 critical aspects for blogging development: time, effort, energy, networking and education with some down to earth tips and links for each one. The article is clear and concise with easy to remember advice.

I am letting all these tips and recommendations wash over me and come into play as I work up my skills here. What works for you?

Image, Face_itby Gabriela Camerotti from flickr and used under a Creative Commons license with thanks

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blogging creativity transcending

Power out, power up

September 5, 2010

Wild weather and the power’s out here in town this morning. The lack of being able to do anything – make coffee, cook breakfast, wash clothes – reflects how I feel here in ‘Transcending’ at the moment.

I know the lights will go on again and the charge will surge through, but all is strangely flat and without spark after what felt like a strong start in a new space here. So, to regroup.

I wrote about ‘The Value of Howling into the Wind’ early on and the value of writing and getting out there and moving, even if it seemed no-one was watching or reading. My last post was about getting to back to basics on ‘Transcending’, the word, the concept and what it means to me.

‘Transcending’ defines the connection of so much and is my modus operandi: my work life, my personal life, my creative life and the need to cut through, strategise, climb across and rise above.

The tools for me:

writing, poetry

family history

strategy, planning and goal-setting

creative connection and reading

music and the right song at the right time

the words of songs

a perfect image that sings with how I feel

symbols, associations, metaphors

story, narrative

time alone

a walk on the beach

connecting fully with another

the synergy of good conversation

twitter and reading and connecting via blogs

What’s not working for me:

difficulty in finding time to write

no time to myself

no time to plan next steps here

The ‘no time’ business is not something I normally say; I know no-one will give me any more time. I am with Chris Guillebeau when he says in a recent post: 

My strategic plan is: say yes to everything.  The tactic is: get up early and stay up late.

I said to myself a while ago ‘no more either/or’ after reading Danielle LaPorte’s great post on the suck factor of life balance. No more waiting till you get time for writing; no more thinking about waiting till you retire or get some leave, write now.  But it is a fact that my time is squeezed at present and the special time for recharge is what is scarce.

So a resettling now of finding this precious time to recharge, to climb across and transcend, to find the power source. Being an introvert who spends all day with people, it will be powering up through this room, this space, this candle, that cafe, that beach, that song and this white page I can find a space in to shine through.

Send some encouraging thoughts and tell me what you need to do to power up. It might help spark some quiet action here…and maybe elsewhere.

Image, Candle by Nick Merzetti from flickr and used under a Creative Commons license with thanks

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blogging transcending writing

I contain multitudes

August 14, 2010

I have been thinking more on the issue of brevity vs the longer post this week. I wrote recently in ‘Shorter posts, smaller steps’ about the value of working in smaller chunks for blogs, other writing and for managing many things in life.

Then very shortly after, via twitter, I read a recent post of Jonathan Morrow on Copyblogger, advocating for quality, not quantity, in ‘The  Three-Step Guide to Getting More Traffic by Writing Less‘  and recommending that one strong post a week will work better, drive more traffic and be less onerous than more regular posting: ‘There’s no set number, but here’s a suggestion: start with one really good post per week, and if you have time, work your way up.’

This seemed to totally contradict what I had just read from John Sherry in his guest post, Why bite size is the right size content’ at Virgin Blogger Notes and what I’d written about. But I believe what Jonathan Morrow wrote also and I can see the sense in one well crafted post a week. They both make sense – how to reconcile?

Like all things, it’s clearly not ‘a one size fits all’ story. After I wrote my post on the value of shorter posts, I reflected on a longer post I had read and loved recently: Your Own Revolution: Poetry, Publishing and the Internet. This was more like an essay, fully developed, and I thought that there has to be a place for the longer, reflective thought piece in all this. Sometimes I love to write like that and love to read work like that and have something very deep and solid to take away. But does a post have to be long to be deep and solid? Which is better?

To help me makes sense of all this, John Sherry who wrote the original post on ‘bite size chunks’ chimes in on the comments to Jonathan Morrow’s post saying:

‘Good, sensible advice Jonathan. Slow and sure to start, building it up as you go. It’s easy to compare with top blogs and bloggers with their active presence and high subscriber numbers but best to first get a firm foundation. Get blogging at a pace that’s comfortable and then reach out a bit and connect to the wider blogging community is a wise suggestion.’

This is a lead and taking a little further the analogy of driving from E L Doctorow’s image from ‘Bird by Bird’ discussed in ‘Shorter posts, smaller steps’: We need to have the driver’s skill-set for all occasions and conditions. Sometimes, we might choose to drive in short bursts with frequent stops; other times it might be a longer haul, perhaps getting to the destination quickly or other times, meandering and enjoying the view. Having all these tools in a blog writer’s repertoire means we can write as required and as we feel for the topic, the timeframes and our focus at the time. And for maximum reader impact.

Like I wrote about in ‘Planning to be fluid,’ you need to have a strategy, a roadmap, to guide the changes in your driving and your itinerary, keeping in mind the conditions. But it’s also great to be adaptable, diverse and fluid. One of my favourite quotes is Walt Whitman’s lines from ‘A Song of Myself’:

‘ Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.’

SOME people out there are posting hardly any words at all. Led by Susannah Conway, an ever-growing team of bloggers are having a rest from words and posting only photos for the month of August. Called ‘The August Break’, bloggers all over the place are joining in – you can see some of the collective photos here on flickr.

I also love Danielle LaPorte’s posts that are only a few concentrated words. A recent one, soul equation, had me thinking all week about presence demonstrating the punchy power of a purely held thought.

For me though, I need to put a little less pressure on myself and take smaller steps just now. I need to establish a rhythm and a pattern and not get overwhelmed by volume or density. I need to settle my strategy, to calibrate and fit it with my life, and keep my content clear. The long and the short of it are all tools for the repertoire, just suggestions, and it is best not to be too prescriptive either way and to just modulate as you go. As John Sherry continues in his comment to the post of Jonathon Morrow:

‘Get to know your blog and what it’s about and let it develop organically. I have taken that route and it’s been real fun and now I’m getting right into it naturally. You want it to be enjoyable not a chore.’

Yes, I think that is exactly the point: enjoy yourself, your blog and what it’s creating in the process. And that is something I am enjoying immensely and is perhaps the true heart of the matter.

People who honestly mean to be true really contradict themselves much more rarely than those who try to be ‘consistent’.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

Image, Morocco, Marrkech, Pattern by Frank Douwes from flickr and used under a Creative Commons license with thanks

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