Help us celebrate the one-year anniversary of Start Finishing – get your own copy of the Start Finishing ebook, FREE for just a few more days! September 24, 2020, marked the one-year anniversary of the release of Start Finishing. As I’ve reflected over that milestone during the past several … [Read more...] about Start Finishing’s First Anniversary
Turning “How” Problems into “Who” Solutions
The first question most people ask when they have a problem is “How will I solve this?” We’re conditioned to go it alone, to figure out how to do everything ourselves, and to ask for help only after we’ve exhausted our own resources and capabilities. That mentality is overwhelming, and it’s … [Read more...] about Turning “How” Problems into “Who” Solutions
How to Use the Five Keys to Overcome the Air Sandwich
This is the third post in our three-part series covering the air sandwich. You can read part 1, “The Air Sandwich: Why Your Big Picture and Day-to-Day Reality Don’t Link Up,”, and part 2, "The Five Keys to Overcoming the Air Sandwich". In the first post in the series, I covered the five … [Read more...] about How to Use the Five Keys to Overcome the Air Sandwich
The Five Keys to Overcoming the Air Sandwich
This is the second post in our three-part series covering the air sandwich. Be sure to read part 1, “The Air Sandwich: Why Your Big Picture and Day-to-Day Reality Don’t Link Up." In today’s post, I address the five keys — the foundational virtues and habits — that are necessary for us to truly … [Read more...] about The Five Keys to Overcoming the Air Sandwich
The Air Sandwich: Why Your Big Picture and Day-to-Day Reality Don’t Link Up
One of the reasons your best work might not be getting done is that your day-to-day life doesn’t align with your vision and goals. You feel strain when you’re doing a lot of things — when you’re “accomplishing” a lot (read: checking off to-do list items) — but yet you don’t feel accomplished, … [Read more...] about The Air Sandwich: Why Your Big Picture and Day-to-Day Reality Don’t Link Up
Your Morning Routine: Start Small and Stack
I was talking to an Academy member the other day, who was needing some help figuring out how to chunk and sequence her 12-week project. Instead of focusing on a "work" project, she made the excellent and hard choice to focus on "getting herself together" (her words), since the last year has been a … [Read more...] about Your Morning Routine: Start Small and Stack
4 Practices to Balance Your Solo and Collaborative Work
Over the last few weeks, I've felt that I was in an "I've fallen and can't get up" spiral when it comes to writing. I was on a great streak of drafting posts every day and then I stopped. This isn't the first time a daily blogging stint has expired after about a month. In fact, it's actually more … [Read more...] about 4 Practices to Balance Your Solo and Collaborative Work
Make Some Old Friends
I stumbled upon "Old Friends" by Ben Rector this morning and had tears of joyful nostalgia. It made me think of the many teenage moments I shared with old friends, especially Scott: The time he shot me in the groin with a BB gun. The time he fell through the hole in my grandma's house. … [Read more...] about Make Some Old Friends
What Are You Listening To?
Editor's Note: Angela wrote a companion post, Care in What You Consume, about her experiences in 2004 during Charlie's deployment, and in 2020 with COVID-19. This post provides Charlie's perspective of the same two time periods. --- When I deployed for my Operation Iraqi Freedom tour back in … [Read more...] about What Are You Listening To?
How Many Projects Is COVID-19 Creating for You?
In Start Finishing, I defined a project as anything that takes time, energy, and attention to complete. Too many of us are only counting our work or business activities as projects, but the reality is that they only make up a fraction of all of the projects we're carrying. Weddings, backyard … [Read more...] about How Many Projects Is COVID-19 Creating for You?
Three Little Things to Get the Day Back on Track
This morning got on like the start of a country song. I stayed up too late last night, got up late this morning, misplaced things I just had in my hands, and lost twenty minutes in a social-media-and-news clickhole when I was getting my laptop hooked up to my monitor for the day's work. In the … [Read more...] about Three Little Things to Get the Day Back on Track
How to Use Your GATES to Make Your Project Easier
A few years ago I got an email from a reader — let’s call him Arnie — seeking advice on how to grow his (written) blog. In his email he mentioned that he wasn’t good at writing and didn’t enjoy it. A sentence or two later, he mentioned how much he loved talking and creating videos. Being distant … [Read more...] about How to Use Your GATES to Make Your Project Easier
3 Questions to Triage What Needs to Be Done
The last few weeks have thrown up in the air a lot of our rhythms, plans, and confidence. But it's not just that those things have been unsettled – it’s also that new stuff has been added on top of what we had before. What I've been reminding folks (who are open to it) is this: while a lot of new … [Read more...] about 3 Questions to Triage What Needs to Be Done
What Matters Now?
Rather than just jumping in and talking about how we're updating our plans and adjusting to COVID-19, I've been making sure to ask my clients "What matters now?" first. It's not that the goals we set and plans we put in place a few weeks ago are all irrelevant – it's just that now some of them are, … [Read more...] about What Matters Now?
When Does It Hit You?
How long does it take for something that touched your heart to really hit you? For me, it's almost always time-delayed by at least three or four days. Sometimes it's three or four months. It's not that I don't feel whatever I went through as it happened. It's just that the impact often doesn't … [Read more...] about When Does It Hit You?
In Times Like These
So much of the last few weeks has revolved around COVID-19, but our lives are much bigger than that. Elders are passing. Babies are being born. Lovers are meeting, breaking up, and making up. Fetch water, carry wood. In the long view, we'll most likely remember COVID-19 the way we remember 9/11 – … [Read more...] about In Times Like These
Do It for the Love
A common thread I've heard in my conversations with clients, colleagues, and friends is that they're hesitant and more than a little guilty about wanting to keep at their best work. Doing their best work during a pandemic – and, gasp, enjoying it – feels wrong. Here's the deal: many of us need to … [Read more...] about Do It for the Love
How to Stay Sane and Productive While Working from Home
We know a lot of you are looking to be as productive and balanced as possible in your new work-from-home situation due to COVID-19, which is why we hosted a webinar on “How to Stay Productive and Sane While Working from Home”. You can watch the recording of the webinar above or over on … [Read more...] about How to Stay Sane and Productive While Working from Home