Week 13: Lessons from the Lotus

Have you ever learned something that apparently the rest of the world knew, but you didn’t? For me, that came in the form of a lotus flower yesterday. I’ve seen the flower all over. 

It’s about as ubiquitous as the zen Enso symbol in the business of mindfulness. I just never knew its story.

So when a new yoga instructor spoke about the lotus flower during class and an old friend shows up to a dinner party with a new lotus flower tattoo, I took this coincidence as an opportunity to learn more about the flower.

What makes a lotus flower so unique is that it’s a little beautiful bright flower that sits atop the water with roots that travel deep into the muddy muck far below.

Its symbolism represents the beauty that can grow out of the muck in our lives. What can it teach us? It turns out, quite a bit.

Two Simple Lessons from the Lotus Flower

1. Out of the Muck, Create Something That Matters

The muck in our lives can be life’s greatest teacher. As Pema Chodron reminds us, “If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy can be our teacher.”

When you put a microscope to the muck in your life, what can it teach you?

For Billy Starr, creator of the Pan-Mass Challenge charity bike ride which has raised over 500 million for cancer research, that muck came in the form of losing his mother to cancer.

After losing his mother to melanoma at the young age of forty-nine, twenty-five-year-old Billy hit a new low. It became hard to focus on anything other than the memories of his mother. So he went for a bike ride. Then another. And another. Instead of ignoring the muck in his life, he dug in deep and grew roots. These roots blossomed into one of the most successful charity race-like events to date.

Billy’s story is not unique, however. A number of people I’ve interviewed have turned the muck of their lives into an opportunity to create something that matters.

The formula? Multiply the muck times your unique talent and add in a big, hairy audacious dream that inspire you. The sum total will be far greater than anything you could have imagined before digging into the muck.

2. Bring Your Muck Into Focus

Yesterday I sat down to write with the full intention to continue work on a book I’ve been putting off. What happened instead, however, grew into over 2,000 words that I splashed in my journal like Jackson Pollock threw paint on a canvas. My stream-of-consciousness led me to discover that I have a bit of a problem with perfectionism.

Julia Cameron was right when she wrote in The Artist’s Way, “Just as a good rain clears the air, a good writing day clears the psyche.”

First, I wrote out all the things I really want to do in the near future, like getting my yoga certification. Then, I wrote out why I feel unable to do it. In the yoga example, I’ve had a deep desire for quite some time to immerse myself in an ashram in India for a two month-long yoga certification.

Since I can’t do this without sacrificing a job I love (psst -- that's teaching YOU), I’ve been putting it off until the timing is right.

All or nothing was my logic. And I’ve always been a “go big or go home” kind of guy. Perhaps it’s the snowboarder machismo in me. Compromise has always been a dirty word — a bit like sipping tea when craving coffee.

But this logic is perfectionism in a mask. And while perfectionism can be a beautiful trait, it can also lead to never getting anything done. So, I left it up to the power of intention. I literally wrote out that if a yoga certification class were to come to my attention that day in a timeline that allowed me to keep my greater responsibilities, I’d move to make it happen. It just so happened that an hour later I entered a new studio who just announced a yoga teacher training program that (at this moment) looks to fit in perfectly.

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If you can’t stand your classes and feel drained at school, identify what it is exactly that drains you. Is it because you’re not inspired or feel pulled down by negative classmates?

If you’re feeling held back, what is it exactly that’s holding you back? Is it feelings of self-doubt or a disempowering friendship?

But instead of just thinking about it. Pull the tangled ball of thoughts into a straight line by grabbing a pen or opening up a word processor.

Type.

Write.

Dig your hands in the muck.

Some other thoughts for your #20time blog post today...

Take a look at the final chapter in Start Something That Matters, then answer these questions today:

1. The first step is often hardest to take because it involves moving into unfamiliar territory. However the truth is that the challenges that occur later in an endeavor are often more difficult to overcome, but they don't feel nearly as hard. Why is that?

2. Think about all the people in your life -- your friends, family, and members of your school community. As you're thinking about starting something that matters, who are five people who you could reach out to for advice? How could each of these people help you?

3. Now that you're finishing up your #20time project (or will be over the holiday break), how will you seize the day (carpe diem)? Are you interested in starting your own business after school or has this project helped you make a big change in your life? Where will you go from here?

It's a bird. It's a plane. It's an Ewok Poodle.

Week 12: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Failing Forward

It's that time of the week where you get to sit down, dig deep, and use the class time to work on your 20% Project. Use this time wisely to either work on your blog, contact your mentor, or work on your project. 

You may also use this time to look up new virtual mentors and write about how they influence you. For instance, yesterday I watched the documentary Slingshot on Netflix and am amazed at the inventions and personal drive that Dean Kamen commits to on a single basis. He once said, "My biggest worry is I'm running out of time and energy. Thirty years ago I thought 10 years was a really long time.'

Side Note: I know that some of you are stressing out about the project because you have a SMART goal and want to achieve it, yet reality kicks in and something takes too long or you get sick or...you get the picture. Realize that this is normal. This is your fight-or-flight amygdala kicking in and saying it's time to survive. That's why procrastination forces people to complete something they were putting off earlier on.

Here are some deadlines, just so that we are all on the same page:

1. TED-like presentations will start Jan. 11. You will have the Friday before to rehearse and write your final blog post.

2. You will need 14 blog posts in total by Jan. 14th at 11:59pmEST. 

What to write about today?

How about writing down 5-10 lessons you've learned so far from the 20% Project. These could be small lessons like "write blog posts in the morning because my mind is fresher then" or they could be on the larger scale, "SMART goals take consistent checking in because a long-term goal needs short-term check-ins". Explain the story behind how you learned these lessons.

Cheers!

P.S. Poodle Puppies Prancing and Playing in Puddles

P.P.S. What literary element is that!?

Week 11: Wrapping Up The Holidays and Presentations

Including today, there are only 3 more Fridays before holiday break. That means we only have three more days to work on the 20% project in class! Yowzers!

It's time to start thinking about your final presentation, where you will present to the class your project, much like a speaker does for a TED talk. 

The TED-like presentation is the final assignment for the 20% project and to properly be ready, you need time to reflect on what you did with the project and share this with the class.

Keep in mind that the TED conference is where brilliant minds from all over the world meet to share an insight they discovered after completing a project, doing a bunch of research, or creating something innovative.

Since most of you have only been in the thick of your project for a few weeks, it makes sense for you to have the holiday break to reflect on your project so that you can come back in January (the start of a new year) ready to share your reflection with the class.

Presentations will be between January 11-22 and you will be asked to sign up for a day. Just like you would in the real world, you are expected to be fully prepared and ready to go on the day of your presentation. I will give out more explicit guidelines, but here are the basic guidelines for a successful TED-like talk:

• Length: 7-10 minutes (no more, no less)
• Share the before, during, and after of your project idea
• Consider storytelling (show, don't tell) elements
• Use very few slides with only a few images or writing 

*You'll need to practice to get the timing down, so use your relatives visiting for the holidays to be your audience :) 

**I'm taking ideas for set design, so talk to me if you're interested in extra credit :) I need a set designer and someone to film the presentations for each class.

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What should you write about in this week's blog post? Cover two things:

1. Share specific stories and/or photos of your work to show your progress.

2. Give a shout out to another student's blog. Use this link to read other students' blogs. Make sure to write specifically about another student's project, how they inspire you to challenge yourself more, and include a link to their blog. In the "real world," online entrepreneurs (like bloggers and vloggers) use backlinks to help grow their own audience. This is usually done through guest-posting or having an entrepreneur with a larger audience link back to your work. Of course, both you and the entrepreneur with a larger audience should be reaching a similar audience. Take a look at Pat Flynn's advice for growing your blog with this video here to see more of what I mean. You can also listen to my interview with Pat here. 

Okay -- the ball is in your court. Create something awesome.

Oh yes....the poodle! Poodle yoga anyone?