Time, at its core, is nothing more than opportunity.  History is past opportunity, the future is potential opportunity, but the only opportunity that actually exists is the time you are experiencing right now. 

This leads us to 2 important conclusions:

1. If the only opportunities that exist are the time that we call now, then there is no need to regret.  Time that has passed, is opportunity that has closed.  There is no reason to wish, or dwell upon opportunities that didn’t work out as we had hoped.  Time has progressed and now those particular opportunities are no longer open.  Time has frozen them, historical, but impotent.
2. If the only opportunities that exist are the time that we call now, then future opportunities do not exist.  Some day they may exist, but from our perspective there is no certainty of any opportunity occurring even one second from now.  We can create predictions and statistical probabilities.  We can forecast and model a future reality.  None of this will make an opportunity occur, any more than we can change historic opportunities.  All we have the power to do, is look for likely grounds today, that appear fertile enough to produce opportunity tomorrow.  Tomorrow’s opportunities (its time) does not exist yet and so the best we can do is to guess at where the best opportunities may sprout.  Then with this information, we set out to craft ourselves until we are as much of a perfect fit for the potential opportunity as our current reality will allow us. 

These conclusions lead us down a path of reconciliation with the time that we have available.  We can drastically slash back the quantity of moments that we expect to perform in.  No longer is there any need to perform in the past.  Historic opportunity has closed  as soon as the moment has passed.  There is also no need or possibility of performance in any future opportunity.  These opportunities don’t exist, and they may never exist as we expect them to.  Our only cares need be for this very moment.  All that is left is to use the opportunities in front of us now, in a way that puts us in the right place for the next wave of opportunities that are slowly rolling out. 

This is a liberating concept that is available as soon as we are able to sincerely look at time as opportunity instead of all of the other rubbish that people tell us.   

Time is opportunity and now is the only time 

Contrarian investing is all about buying when others are selling and selling when the world is buying.  It is all about timing and swimming against the stream.  This can be a useful strategy for investors with courage, but I believe that it can also revolutionize other areas of your life.

Consider Contrarian Career development.  Most people guide their careers by looking at the demand in a particular industry today and seeing what is hot in the market.  If an area looks promising, they head  back to school or start working on their portfolio.  When they are prepared, they take their shiny new qualifications or CV and stand in the queue with a billion other people who looked at the same predictions that they did.  Their newly enhanced professional portfolio, has just landed them in the same place that everyone else is.  They have gone with the flow and now they are in a career log jam.

How much better would it be to look for signs of industries that people aren’t interested in.  Pick an industry (perhaps residential construction) that has just been through a boom.  Now the big players are laying off their executives because there is an oversupply.  Every one will tell you that construction is a bad industry to be in.  Your contrarian ears prick up.  If it takes you 5 years to be ready for a job like this, then start training today.  In five years time, the 7 year real estate cycle will be on the upswing and you will be first in line with a shiny new career.  While everyone else is heading one way, you head the other and you will have your pick of the best jobs.

Another example might be your morning commute.  On average, people live out of the city and work in it.  Every morning people stream into the hub and every evening they race out.  A contrarian thinker might choose to live in the center and work in the suburbs.  This could give you a faster and a more relaxed commute as well as a totally different neighbourhood and increased employment oportunities.

A third example would be consumption.  Simply being contrary in your timing and patterns of consumption can really work wonders for your lifestyle.  If everyone wants a booking for 7:00, then book your table for 5:00.  You will be guaranteed a vacancy as well as getting better service.  If the supermarket is busy after work, go before work.  If the world celebrates Valentines day on the 14th, get in early and take your partner out on the 13th.  (which is a lot better than the 15th if you want to make it look deliberate).  Contrarian consumption might mean buying before the trend or buying out of season.  It might mean consuming with uncommon decision criteria.  It might even mean simply reducing your consumption in a world that tends to increase it. 

My last (but by no means the last) example is in production.  Imagine you were a strawberry farmer.  If you plant, fertilize and harvest at the same time as everyone else then your market conditions are the same as everyone else’s.  You will effectively be a market price taker (you will take whatever price the market offers you).  If you manage to harvest at the opposite end of the year - if you are contrary to the crowd - you will have little competition and will become a market price maker ( you have the oportunity to set your prices higher than normal because yours are the only strawberries on the market). 

Contrarian living can be applied to any area of your life.  Sometimes it makes sense, others it does not.  A little thought and practice will help you to see when to take a contrary stance and when to go with the flow.   

Bucking the trend is useless if you do it for its own sake.  Bucking the trend to get a better experience, a better deal, a better lifestyle is a secret that not many people systematically put to work.  In fact this is the only reason that it works.  If everyone wanted a Contrarian Lifestyle, there would be no such thing.  So lets keep this a secret.

Can anyone give me an example from their lives of where a little contrary thinking and action can make a big difference?

Thanks

Tom

The world around us is complex enough without us trying to take it in all at once.  We can only deal with one thing at a time but we are restless.  Our fickle eyes are never still.   Moving from one object to the next, then on again like some over excited puppy.  Our minds pick up and discard thoughts like they were shells on a beach.  Each turned over and then dropped back to the sand to pick up the next more exciting one.  How can we hope to concentrate on important things when we are so distracted?

Focus is number 1 when it comes to success.  You have probably heard that commitment is the most important thing, but without focus these are meaningless.  Focus enables commitment.  Commitment that is unfocused quickly spreads too thin.  Without focus commitment loses its strength and becomes downgraded to enthusiasm.  A good thing -but not enough to achieve anything remarkable.

True mastery happens when we become aware of what is important and what is irrelevant.  It shows up when we are able to focus our attention without working at it.  An expert archaeologist, instinctively focuses on the vital clues in uncovering hidden mysteries.  Their discoveries depend on their ability to focus on what is important.

Focus comes as second nature for all of us at some time.  Last time you found yourself hunched over your desk, painstakingly working on that obsession, that was focus.  When the hours disappeared and you found yourself riding a wave of productivity, that was focus.  Nothing came between you and your task.  Maybe it was a while ago that you experienced this, but you know the feeling don’t you?

How can we generate focus when we need it?  Is there a way that we can make ourselves focus on what we know is important?  Here I am going to ask for suggestions.  Please drop a comment below with your ideas on how to focus.  What works for you?  What do you find it easy to focus on?  When do you find it hardest to focus?  Lets try and work this out together.

Thanks 

Tom

So it happened again.  You longed for that job and someone else landed it.  You wanted to win but you came in second.  You set your goal and did what you decided had to be done, but it didn’t work.  What is wrong with these goals?  Why don’t they work? 

The problem comes down to deciding what is a controllable, predictable goal and what is just an outcome.  Let me explain. (more…)

Self development is a catch-all phrase, that has been used and misused for all sorts of purposes.  People use it interchangeably with self help, self improvement, popular psychology, personal development and a few other less popular terms.  Pedantics aside, what we are talking about here is pursuing your potential or pursuing a series of goals. 

Self Development has become a pseudo joke for many people because they automatically think of motivational million dollar speakers, cheesy catch phrases and worthless mantras.  A popular image of self development is portrayed in the film Little Miss Sunshine.  The father in that story is an up and coming self development guru, hoping to make it to fame and fortune, but never actually getting his own life together.  From images like this, we can be forgiven for believing that self development is often more fluff than fact.  That it is all about show business and manipulation for profit.

In reality, self development is something that effective people have been doing for centuries.  Who knows when it all began, but I assume that the first time that prehistoric man set his sights on something in the future - something out of his reach - he gave birth to self development.  From there we have come a long way.  We have developed and tested many tools, methods and processes to help us in pursuing our potential.  We have recorded inspiring stories and case studies of all sorts.  We have watched as the world has changed and morphed into what we now see, and to no great surprise, self development still counts as an extremely popular topic for learning, practice and living.

Some people use self development concepts in order to keep up.  It is reasonable to assume that the correct tools and methods can help us catch up and keep up with the rest of society.  If you feel significantly left behind, then this sort of self development will help you.   

Others, on the other hand, are interested in getting ahead, and need a completely different kind of toolkit.  The conventional tools that help you catch up with the population, rapidly become useless if you seek to do something extraordinary.  While an effective diary system may serve you well in your attempt to get through your day, it just may be the thing that holds you back from flying really high.  While becoming indispensable may be great for reaching the top of a company, it may be terrible for launching your own company.  This is the same whether we are talking about physical tools, psychological concepts, mental concepts and even actions.  We all need the right tool kit related to our desired level of performance.

Is there one best way to self develop?  These days, self development comes in many different shapes and sizes.  There are so many that it becomes baffling which you should follow. Perhaps up to half of the self development out there is useless.  This will become clear to you when you study it, and try to put into action the cliches and apparent wisdom that it is based on.  The other half comes in many different flavours and styles, because it is developed and packaged by people who appreciate different things.  The good news is that there is some style to suit most people out there.  These styles range from cold hard action at one end, to emotional, flowing, warm concepts at the other.  What you find cold and intellectual, I might find exciting and easy to put to work.  What you find warm and nurturing, may make me feel nauseated and demoralized.  I consider that LifeGoalAction clings closer to the action end of the spectrum than the emotion end, but I guess that depends on your perspective.  The main point is that there is something for any taste and today it is easily available.

Despite the variation, there is one overall principle that guides effective self development.  When you find a system of self development that suits you, it is imperative that you settle down with it, and persist for a relatively long period of time.  No matter what tools, methods, and sources you use, it will take time and patience to see results.  This time could be weeks or years depending on your goals.  Either way, if you continue to chop and change, you will hardly ever see success.  Always following the latest philosophy or technique may be exciting and motivating, but it is hardly ever as productive as finding what works and sticking with it until you see your results. 

To be really effective in pursuing your goals, find one stream of personal development and stick to it patiently.  Experiment and trial elements of that stream but stick to one basic concept for as long as it takes to really try it out.  If you do this patiently, you will find that self development can take you closer than you ever dreamed to your potential, no matter what that is.

When someone describes a life that is compartmentalised, it is meant as an insult.  They are describing the way that a person behaves with one set of ideas, morals and values in one area of their life and a completely different set in another.  They are describing someone with a lack of integrity.  I use the word compartmentalism to describe a very different and positive concept. 

Compartmentalism is dividing and making compartments around different parts of our lives.  The problems with this begin when we try to build walls between our compartments that will fence in or out our morals.  I choose to string up relatively light weight fences between the compartments in my life.  Fences that are just strong enough to restrain my motivation.  This allows me to effectively pursue a number of goals at the same time without any one of them being disadvantaged by problems in another.  Let me explain.

  (more…)

Imagine you are packing to take a trip up river in a small boat.  There are two different approaches to deciding what to take.  The first is to think of all the things that you would like to take with you on your trip.  The second is to think of the things that you wouldn’t want to be without on your trip.  As you can imagine, the two approaches could end in two very different results - one of them wet and soggy.

This is the scenario described in the novel Three Men in a Boat (1889) by Jerome K Jerome.  He uses the image of the load that we might carry in a boat, to discuss the load we carry in life.  His words describe the situation better than I could so I have included an excerpt below:

“How many people, on that voyage, load up the boat until it is in danger of swamping with a store of foolish things which they think are essential to the pleasure and comfort of the trip, but which are really only useless lumber….fine clothes and big houses…friends that do not care for them, and that they do not care for.  Expensive entertainments that nobody enjoys, with formalities and fashions, with pretence and ostentation, and with…the dread of what will my neighbour think”

He goes on to suggest that if we choose carefully what we fill our lives with - our load - then we will find our life simpler, more free and more maneuverable. 

Not only will a light boat handle well and ease the complications of your journey, it will also be fast and efficient.  By only including what is really important to you, your progress towards your goals will be more direct and reliable.  And the really beautiful part is that you will have spar

e time, rather than being constantly at the mercy of time.  As you sail along the river, you will be able to watch and listen, fine tune your course and plan ahead.  Your time will be more flexible and less stressful, and in the end the journey will be more like an adventure than a struggle.

“You will find the boat easier to pull then, and it will not be so liable to upset, and it will not matter so much if it does upset; good plain merchandise will stand water.  You will have time to think as well as to work.  Time to drink in life’s sunshine”

There are a million things that I would like to include in my life.  Our world offers endless oportunities like that.  But when I am in a sane, sensible state of mind I realise that very few of these things are actually important to me. 

 I love playing music, but not enough to devote hours of practice, so playing music does not make it into my boat at the moment.  The idea of writing a novel excites me, but I know that if I concentrate on that, then something more important will suffer.  I often toy with the idea of buying a little Japanese vintage sports car, but I know it would become just another time trap that sucks my energy from the things that are really important to me.  Instead I have decided to limit the number of things that I include in my life.  This lets me give each of these things - relationships, projects, goals, passions - the time and energy that it deserves.  This allows me to run and jump at oportunity rather than struggle under a massive burden.  It allows me to steadily and deliberately move towards my goals and still gives me the space to enjoy the journey.  By minimizing my luggage, I have reduced the chances of failure, but also increased the chances of recovery if I should capsize.  I have found that there is no downside to reducing my load.  When I take the important things with me and leave the others behind I never look back. 

“You know we are on the wrong track altogether.  We must not think of the things we could do with, but only of the things that we can’t do without.”  Jerome K Jerome (1889) Three Men in a Boat

What would you like to include in your boat but know that it would just weigh you down? 

Photo credit : Loaded by 416 Style

Our Western world seems to be heading further down the road of individualism and self actualization every day.  We believe that we are in control of our own destiny and we know that we hold the power to shape our futures.  While this is true, it must be held in balance with the knowledge that all of our lives are interconnected. 

If we focus only on our own actions then we are heading down a long lonely road to disappointment.  The reality of life in our world is that every time we act, there are others involved, turning our action into an interaction.  Missing this point has been the down fall of individuals and organisations throughout history but never so much as today. 

If we see an action that is truly effective, a closer look will show us a stream of important interactions.  Test this out.  Take any example of an important action and look for the interactions that occur before, during, or after, that bring power, meaning or fulfillment to the situation.  If you look hard enough, you will find that an effective action is always surrounded by vital interactions.

The effective people in our world instinctively know that they are always interacting with real people, whether it is obvious or not.  They are able to see these links and maximise the mutual benefits of the interaction no matter who is involved.

The ineffective people in our world seek to make short term gains by acting without thinking of the others involved.  They believe that they can succeed at the expense of others.  Take the example of most online money making schemes.  No doubt you will have received many propositions from people who would love to help you make “Big Bucks Online”.  While I am sure there are a few reputable companies that get mixed up in this group of scams, the majority are based on one sided - Action only - thinking.  The focus is all on what you do, what you will receive, what you will spend it on.  In most cases there is a total disregard for the other people that you will inevitably interact with along the way.  Your product, your message or whatever you seek to distribute to the world will be accepted or rejected by real people.  Even if you are doing business online, there are genuine, thinking, breathing people behind these interactions.  If you create or perpetuate a scam then it will be real people who will be scammed.  If you spread pipe dreams or lies then real people will get hurt or disillusioned as a result of your actions.  This is no way to live an effective life.  Exploiting others will harm them, harm the medium, harm your peers and eventually harm yourself.

It becomes obvious, then, what we have to do.  Look for the signs of real people in all of our actions.  A person assembled the PC that you are reading from.  A person runs the ISP that enables you to read this.  Real people around the world are reading this article at exactly the same time as you.  And believe me, a real person is writing this for you.  Temporarily forget about statistics, URLs, Page views, minutes, brands and every other construct that obscures the faces of real people and you will see millions of interactions in your life that you never saw before.  If you are able to connect with just a few of these people - people that you are already interacting with - in an uncommon and particularly human way, then you will be on the road towards making a positive impact in the world around you.

The other option is to treat the world like a toolbox that you can use for your own purposes, and that is all it will ever be for you.  The choice is yours.

Think of a situation when recognising that an action is actually an interaction, will help you to be more effective tomorrow.  Then write it in the comment box here for us all to see.

Thanks

Tom

Photo credit:DSC_0404.JPG by Riccardos on Flickr

Historically, the term Professional has always described someone who works in a Profession - a specialized occupation that requires a lot of training or qualification.  Today the term is used more generously, to describe how much time a person devotes to an activity or how much money they earn from doing it.  This allows us to talk of Professional Volleyball players, Professional Salespeople and Professional DJs. 

The term Professionalism is contrasted with Amateurism.  An Amateur is often seen as someone who does the same things as a Professional but on a part time or voluntary basis.  A Professional painter paints for a living, while an Amateur painter paints in his spare time.  A Professional dancer is paid to perform while an Amateur dancer performs for the love of it.  Some use the term Amateur in a derogatory sense, meaning “substandard”.  A critic might claim that a performance was flawed and amateurish.  This is meant to imply that an Amateur is not expected to be able to perform to the same standards as a Professional, and this may sometimes be the case.  However in many cases it is actually the Amateur who has the potential to come up with revolutionary success. 

I believe that Professionals have chained themselves to a situation that does not allow them to achieve excellence.  Professionalism restricts its members to achieving consistent, predictable average results, unless they retain the essential element of Amateurism - the element of play.

The professional attitude is all about work.  It includes how we look, perform and organize our activities, but whatever it touches it turns into work.  We are told that a person must be Professional in his work if he is to be treated with respect.  We are told that a Professional is trustworthy and predictable.  Professional advice is good, reliable and safe advice.  This description of Professionalism is a description of work.

The Amateur attitude is all about play.  An Amateur is a student, a researcher, an enthusiast who is passionate about what he does.  An Amateur is able to change and adapt to circumstances.  He is given the freedom to wonder and discover.  He is not constrained by the fear of failure or ridicule, as he realises that improving his performance requires risk.  An Amateur is not required to perform by others, an Amateur is compelled to perform by himself.

A professional must behave in a certain way.  He must present himself in an acceptable way.  He must be punctual.  He must perform.  He must be responsible.  He must be  respectable.  You see that professionalism is a description, but it is also a series of regulations.

An amateur wants to behave in a certain way.  She aspires to perform well.  She likes to dress in a certain way.  She loves to persist.  She chooses to be committed.  She has the freedom to experiment and risk in order to achieve results.  The amateur isn’t bound by rules and is free to play, and with it, to achieve revolutionary success.

Contrary to what we once thought, Amateurism and Professionalism are no longer about time or money.  We can’t tell the difference between an amateur and a professional by looking at how long people spend in an activity.  Neither can we pinpoint the threshold of Professionalism based on how much someone earns from an activity.  These definitions don’t work any more.  Even the world of certification and qualification is losing its control.  There are now many people who have a string of qualifications that they never use, while apparently unqualified (but extremely capable) people are carrying roles in society that we would assume require qualifications. 

So while the world is pursuing Professionalism, a small proportion of the workforce are actively pursuing Amateurism.   I am one of them.

I have already wrecked one great career, by pursuing professionalism.  I used to be a Professional builder.  I started off in building because I wanted to build; I loved to build.  I loved the satisfaction, the lifestyle, the interactions and even the hard work.  I ran  a company of tradespeople who built houses.  We were a young company, but I was deadly serious about creating a Professional business and that is what we were becoming.  I worked hard and long.  I took my Professionalism seriously as we sculpted our image, our capability and our reputation.  Over time, as I grew in Professionalism, I gradually began to forget why I loved building in the first place.  Soon I realised that there was no longer any satisfaction in it for me.  I had turned all of the play into work and there was nothing left for my heart.  No excitement and wonder.  I found that my ability to continually strive for excellence was leaving me.  When there was no play left in my work, there was no motivation for me to strive.  I could still be a competent and Professional builder in this state, but that was all.  I left my Professional building company behind and now I am an amateur again.   Once again, I am free to enjoy the journey towards excellence.  I am no longer afraid of risk or damaging my reputation.   I don’t have to cling to tradition or expectations.  If I choose, I am now able to really achieve something, all because I can now play as an Amateur.    

The sense of play is what separates the professional from the amateur.  While the professional fills a function, the amateur plays a game.  The surgeon with the Amateur attitude, much like the Amateur Sportsperson, is someone who feverishly pursues their potential.  They are not afraid to learn from areas outside of their field of expertise.  They are committed to grow no matter how much or how little they are paid.  In fact, while the Amateur may appreciate money, it is not the number one reason that he works.  The primary reason that he works is because his work is more like play.  He has developed a game that is so important to him that he wouldn’t dream of slowing down.  This amateur is going places because he wouldn’t be happy if he wasn’t.  Are you that sort of amateur?  If not are you missing out?

Thanks

Tom

Fake it until you make it

 Since when was it cool to dig up useless cliches from years ago, and try to resuscitate them for today’s audience.  If it was no good back then, why would it be any good today?

Fake it till you make it is no more effective than Lie to the world until they give you what you want.  The only difference is that it doesn’t have the catchy rhyme to it.

The Fake it till you make it doctrine basically tells us that we should look, act, speak and pretend to be something that we are not until we finally find some way to become that person.  There are 3 main problems to this idea:

1.  No matter how you try to justify the means by frantically pointing at the end, it is still a lie.  Faking it is one of those lies that will inevitably effect your personal integrity and erode your self image.  If you finally end up making it, will there be anything left of you behind the charade?
2. No matter who else believes your lie, it is very hard to convince yourself.  The important part of this is that it is you who will be doing the hard work to become who you want to be.  If you aren’t convinced , then what is the point.
3. If you are, somehow, able to convince other people that you are something that you are not (yet), then you will end up in all sorts of strife.  You will find yourself without the support and mentoring that someone like the real “you” might need.  You will be expected to perform like the fake “you” even though you are not ready yet.  You will alienate potential peers if they perceive that you are not at the same stage anymore.  Sooner or later, you will be found out, and the consequences for you will be less if you are found out sooner rather than later.

What, then, is the positive alternative to Fake it until you make it?

If you have a solid and reliable vision of what “Making it” will be like for you, then you should do the actions that lead to reaching that point.  There is no magic or secret tricks.  Once you know where you are heading, then do, say, think, be whatever is necessary to get you there.

“But hang on” I hear you say. “Isn’t that just like faking it?”. 

Not at all.  What I am suggesting is that you should deliberately do the things that directly contribute to you making it to your goal.  Forget the things that make it look like you have reached your goal.  Of course some of these things may overlap.  Perhaps leasing a permanent office for your brand new business could be seen as faking it if you have very little business to do in it yet.  Realistically, as long as you are not leasing it to try and deceive yourself or anyone else, it could be a legitimate and necessary step towards you making it.

As another example, the guy who buys and wears a suit to make himself look like the business man that he isn’t is very different to the young businessman who wears one so that there is no barrier between him and his clients.  For the first man, the suit is a disguise, to the second, the suit is a tool.

So isn’t it time that we buried the Fake it until you make it saying once and for all.  The very least we should do is confine it to a museum with all of the other useless coffee cup sayings that we might want to hang onto for their historic, rather than their practical, value.

Thanks

Tom