The two questions I am most often asked:
1.Where do I get the inspiration from, to post the articles that I write?, and
2.In a very busy life, where do I find the time to write?
These are great questions, as they are an opportunity for me to share some of my personal thoughts from a coaching perspective.
Lets consider the inspiration question first. In fact, better still let me give you an example. As a regular contributor to LinkedIn and a member of the “Writing on LinkedIn” Group, I received a post of writing tips from Daniel Roth who is LinkedIn’s Executive Editor. His advice comes down to a few very simple premises:
- There is no perfect piece
- If you don’t publish you won’t get feedback so you have no opportunity to improve
- The more you publish, the more feedback you receive which sets you up for future success
Personally, this resonates with a principle that I have adopted over time, when it comes to any activity:
“do a bad first draft, because you can’t edit a blank piece of paper”
or more succinctly,
“you can’t improve at anything if you don’t try”
If you don’t get the point, it is that if you write something and it is ‘wrong’, figuring out what makes it wrong, informs about how to make it right. Now take this as an analogy for your life or career aspirations.
So that comes down to the second question – where do I find the time? The answer is pretty straightforward, I make time for the things that are important to me.
- What has all this got to do with lessons in life from LinkedIn?
The first and most important lesson is that you have to DO. Whatever it is, be writing that post, looking for a new job, getting new qualifications if you don’t start, change will not happen. #Startsomething - Secondly “there is no perfect piece”. You can prevaricate on life and career decisions for eternity. There is seldom a good time to make a change, we can always find reasons why change can wait until tomorrow, next week next year… or forever. Accepting that perfection may not be possible is the first step towards whatever goal you have. Try.
- Thirdly, and lastly, are you prioritising the right things? There is a simple question that you can ask yourself here – “am I investing in the things I need to get where I want to be in life?”. Only you know the answer and if you ask it of yourself and don’t like what you hear, isn’t it time to change? #Changesomething
Where did the inspiration come from? – I watched a couple of Don Roth’s videos and used them to re-frame some of my own thinking in this post. Like Don, I am happy to put my thoughts “out there”. I don’t expect that people will either like or agree with everything I write (there is no perfect piece).
More importantly, I don’t let imaginary thoughts from people I have never met put me off publishing what I write (publishing is an opportunity for feedback). If you think I shouldn’t write posts then that would be great feedback, I’d respect your opinion, but I will keep going whatever. Just as long as you are prepared to answer the question “what is your contribution?”. Specifically what have you done that you have presented for public critique, that might help other people?
So, inspiration is everywhere. Open your eyes, look at things from different perspectives and be curious. You never know what you may find out about yourself, life, the way a television works, why the sky is blue… the possibilities are everywhere. You may even find that great business idea that is going to create the future life you want for yourself. It just so happens for this post it was something I was emailed from LinkedIn. Thanks to Don and LinkedIn for the idea!
The one thing that might hold you back is you. Are you finding reasons why you CAN pursue your goals and dreams or excuses why you can’t? Only you will know that answer.
Christmas will be with us soon. What it brings with us is time with the people that are important to us (if we are fortunate enough to be able to do this) as well as allowing us time for reflection and to “take stock”. This makes it a good time to start taking action on the lessons from LinkedIn. If you need a different life, it won’t happen unless you start doing something about it. If you don’t what will happen? Predictably, in 12 months you will be exactly where you are now, but a year older. If you do….
If you don’t know where to start or can’t figure out what needs to change, give us a call.
