The Power of Presence - Getting Started with Meditation

The Listener by James Christensen Art

I have been meditating each day for 467 days consecutively as of this morning. It's not something I normally talk a lot about and I'm not looking for a medal. It has however, made a significant impact on my life and I'd like to think the lives of those around me. I'm not really sure why I started, though I'm sure it had to do with understanding myself better and not being satisfied that external things could not fill the hole within me.

I'm sure this is the spot where someone might say I should seek insert religious figure here. To this I say I already have done that am very secure with how I view my faith and my spiritual self. I am talking about below the level of feel good sugary frosting that can sometimes surround religion. I am talking about a deeper place.

Blaise Pascal asserts that, “All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

We fill our down time with devices, mindless browsing, with clickbait, with social media. We look to avoid this silence by filling the the quiet time with noise.

It would be a fallacy to suggest that the inverse of this quote would be the solution to all of our problems. However, I believe the silence is a place where I as an individual can see myself and my thoughts, and be mindful of the actions that are inspired by these thoughts. I can observe without judgement my thoughts and be present with them - not dull them.

The change for me was not instant - I had to put in the work - and I'm guessing you will too. Here are some tips to get started.

Start small
See my previous post on building Atomic Habits.

Establish your place
I recently completed reading The Power of Myth and in the chapter where Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers discuss 'Finding Your Bliss' there is is this advices

[Sacred space] is an absolute necessity for anybody today. You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.
[…]
Our life has become so economic and practical in its orientation that, as you get older, the claims of the moment upon you are so great, you hardly know where the hell you are, or what it is you intended. You are always doing something that is required of you. Where is your bliss station? You have to try to find it.

Use an app - or don't
I have used meditation apps like Headspace or Calm to keep me on track. I also utilize the Breathe app on my Apple Watch as a reminder throughout the day to return to the present.

What should you expect?

I have no idea what you will experience. For me it has allowed me to separate thoughts from reality. It's allowed me to sit with things that were difficult and not hide from them. Every time I meditate I am refreshed and find the lessons seeping into the flow of the day. This is where the real power for me has been. I am fully aware - present in the moment - and mindful of my responses and actions. I still make a lot of mistakes and that's OK - I have a way to observe them, learn from them, and be better because of them.

Let me know your expertise with meditation either on Twitter or in the comments below. 

The Crazy Ones...

The People Who Are Crazy Enough... 

During the last retreat I showed a picture and quote by Heraclitus - an Ancient Greek Philosopher. "A man (or woman) can never step in the same river twice" - which often gets simplified to make the point that "There is nothing permanent but change". The focus is on the changing times around the person in the river.

Just like that person, SiteCrafting exists in a turbulent world of change. If we think about the technology in 2003 compared to the possibilities of today, it's comical. Our worries, concerns and challenges were different than they are today and they will be different tomorrow. What endures however, are values. What do we stand for? Who do we say we are?

 As a reminder, here's our values as articulated in our Brand Book:  Communication, Learning, Dependability, Transparency 

At SiteCrafting, we are: Reliable, Creative, Confident and Authentic

We are not: Boring, Unresponsive or Satisfied with "good enough" 

The river may change, but the person/company must remain true.

In 1997, Steve Jobs returned to Apple Computer. Apple was in a state of disarray. The clip below is Steve Jobs introducing the Think Different campaign to a group. His explanation and ultimately the rolling of the clip is the beginning of the Apple we know today. I would encourage you to watch it and learn from the Crazy Ones.

Answer the Question They Are Asking

At SiteCrafting, we get hundreds of questions every day from clients. People's worries range from "how do I set up email?", to "how do I understand Google Analytics?" to "how can our website be used to grow our business?". One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to dismiss these questions and not look to the deeper meaning.  I'd like you to watch the short video below (maybe more than once) and then figure out how WE can collectively answer the real questions people are asking more effectively. It has poor video/audio quality, but the message is not.

The key point here is not "What time does the 3:00 parade start?" The question(s) they are really asking are - "How does this affect me?" "What do you recommend that I do?" If we look at the questions above in this light, our answers will undoubtedly be more thorough, more personal, more in-line with the "Trusted Guide" we are striving to be.

The Ps Have It

When asked what kind of company we wanted to have, I would often say, "I want to run into my clients at Safeway and not have to hide behind the oranges" I wanted a partnership between SiteCrafting and the client built on mutual respect. A relationship where both sides were genuinely appreciative of the partnership. 

We have a lot of words around partnership - included are words like communication, collaboration, and respect, but I think the three P's below add up to the "Capital P" in Partnership

People

Do we have the right team on the bus? Are we a group of doers or just empty words? I also have told potential clients and existing clients that "SiteCrafting is the team you want with you during a knife fight". What does that even mean?

It means we stand by our word, our friends, and our partners. We don't run and we don't make excuses. When we are wrong, we admit it and we don't gloat in being right. 

A company is only as good as its people. 

Performance

"SiteCrafting does what it says it will do, every time." - Les Johnson North Coast Electric

The right people means that we don't take the easy way. Each of us work together to keep each other accountable and firmly pointed toward the goal. Our new brand book reminds us that we don't settle - "good enough" is never, ever good enough. 

Products

Do we have a set of solutions that will make the world, or at least the web world a better place for our clients. Absolutely. We have some of the most powerful tools, best designs, and forward thinking solutions around. Customers love the ease of use, thoughtful process, and one stop shop for hosting, development and design. 

Each of these Ps make up the legs of a stool, without one, it all falls apart. I am convinced that if we take the extra time to treat our partners in the way we'd expect to be treated by our service providers the final P - Profitability will take care of itself.  

Happy New Year 2013

No fanfare, no twitter posts, no Facebook mention or liking. Just a quiet start to something I hope will once again become a habit. Much like "needing to go for a run" or flossing before bed, writing is something that I need to make a habit and not an optional endeavor.

I hope the focus on the words will encourage greater depth of living, sharing and adding meaning to what it means to be me.

Over the years I have started and stopped, beat myself up for letting my writing slip along with other areas of my life. I am hoping to instead not strive for perfection but to "roll with it" much as live is a journey so should this writing.

If you've stumbled upon this, welcome. I hope I am able to offer useful information, links, or insight. I am also hoping to hear from you in the comments. I think it is only through sharing that we can truly grow.

Happy New Year and let's raise a toast to this being the first of many more. Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

Things to Check Out: Seeing the Edge Blog by PEMCO CMO and Friend Rod Brooks

The Unknown

Sometimes you work on something because it fills a gap between what exists and what you think *should* exist. In fact, I think most of the great innovations were things people saw as "missing" from day to day life. When you choose to fill that gap you take a risk. You risk a wasting of your time, you risk rejection, you risk losing control to those who would copy, slightly improve and then claim as their own. What you don't risk however is settling. You elected to act - to bring your idea, your gift to others. As Seth Godin says, "you shipped".

Instead of pining about what could've, what should've, what would've, you simply did. You delivered.

You haven't waited for a focus group or a risk assessment - you've just put it out there.

Thank you for stepping into the unknown. I wish more of us would.

Going Back to Cali, Cali, Cali

Just like that, I'll be on a plane back to the OC next Wednesday. Seems the power of word of mouth and referrals has me leading the jet-set life back down South. It will just be a short trip, a day trip, if you will - but it's worth it if we can add another satisfied customer.

It is our intention to make and keep big promises - if we do that we can be a fish - big or small - in any pond.

Commodity vs. Remarkable

I've been trying to put a certain concept into words for some time now, and only now after getting a little bit into Seth Godin's latest book Poke the Box have I been able to figure out what I have been trying to say to myself and my team. To summarize Seth - "Things pretty much work as expected, cars don't break down as much, iPads turn on every time to push the button..."

In our world content management systems and website management systems all pretty much work - though some a bit better than others.

In this world, not only can you not afford to put out shoddy products, but you can't compete with only good enough. If you're competing on good enough you have a commodity and are now subject to competing on price. Something most small businesses can't win. You have neither the volume, nor the cost advantage to compete on price. So what to do?

You already know this - be remarkable - move beyond competing on good enough - chart the course.

YouTube video is barely good enough, compared to DVD, what's remarkable is that YouTube put the ability to publish and distribute content into the hands of mere mortals. It was the implementation that was remarkable...

At SiteCrafting we are creating remarkable solutions and it all starts with people committed to that mindset - good enough is never enough.

Internet Access - A Tale of Two Evils

The date is 2001.

Let's pretend for a moment that your have been the only game in town for 40 years or so. You're known for arrogance, working on your own schedule and overall lack of service ethic.

Everyone in the area is waiting for Internet at speeds that are tolerable - speeds beyond 14.4 and 28.8. People may even be willing to pay big bucks for ISDN (that's right 64k, even 128k if you bind the signals together.). You keep us waiting, begging for service, you show us who is in control.

As a consumer, I was wounded by your "only game in town". I was wounded so much that I was trying to find someone else to provide land line service to me, even though there was no one else. Your operation was focused more on what you could make off me more than what you could do for me.

Now it is 10 years later...and you want to make a deal to me...BUT

A provider emerged to capitalize on the dissatisfaction I had with with you. What's ironic is that now I hate them even more than I ever hated you...I pay for channels I'll never watch, for a phone I rarely use, and for internet that is "fast" but with big strings attached.

Now I am looking at an ad for your Heavy Duty Internet and I wonder...can I trust you? Can I trust anyone?

What's funny is I'd gladly hand my money over to someone I felt was interested in what I wanted as a consumer. Instead, I spend my time searching for the lesser of two evils. I can't wait until I find it so I can banish both of you.

18 and What to Do?

I have a lot of people ask me about getting a job and what they should study and how they should prepare. I wish I had a bunch of answers that fit the mold, but I don't.

I do know what I would do if I were forced to do it again and it may surprise you. Now as a disclaimer, I can safely say that I would not EVER give up what I have, my wife, my children, my life - but I think I have somehow ended up lucky. As a result, I don't think I can recommend that an eighteen year old count on luck.

What I can say is that you need to maximize your exposure to a variety of experiences -get out of your comfort zone, move beyond the comfortable. You need to extend yourself beyond the here and now, beyond what is "expected".

One thing I have always said to myself is that there is nothing more risky than playing it safe. Nothing more limiting than allowing someone else to determine your future.

If I were 18 and could do it again, I'd pack every asset I had into a bag and drive to Alaska. I'd focus entirely on being the best guide I could be. I'd be the guy everyone requested. I'd know more about effort, failure and success than anyone else. I'd also know that some things you can control and some things you can't. The one thing you can control is your response...

In my learning as a guide I'd realize that the past doesn't matter (You should've been here yesterday) and the future is later (You should come back when the river is in shape) I would know that I need to deliver my best every day.

While we can't all go back and be guides, we can all learn about living in the present about delivering EVERY single day...

Saving $.35 to Pay $15.00

Historically I carry no cash. I'm a debit card and now iPhone Starbucks App sorta person. So today when estimating my parking time in downtown Olympia, I dug into my ashtray and found some change. I grabbed a couple of quarters and a few dimes. I dutifully placed my money into the meter and thought - an hour and 12 minutes will be plenty. So I stowed the extra $.35 in my pocket for a rainy day.

You already know how this ends....

Yep, I saved $.35 to pay $15.00 in fines for going over 7 minutes on parking....

Note to self (and to you): Put the extra change in the meter and just walk away if you're back early. Besides, you may help the next person.

There's a lesson here about risk vs. reward.

On the upside - I paid my fine online at http://www.olympiawa.gov/pay in no time, so I can forget it for now.

Fitness is a Personal Race

On the way to the airport today I passed a truck. On the side was the tagline "Fitness is a Personal Race". I wish I had seen the name of the company, but it was brilliant.

On the whole fitness level - isn't is all about getting better each day? Aren't you only racing against yourself?

I immediately re-focused to business. Oftentimes, I'm asked to comment on what others are doing - how are we responding to external threats and competition? I answer as authentically as I can always, and it sounds something like this...

Our focus needs to be on making ourselves better. Setting the bar higher each and every day to innovate, serve and differentiate. How can we possibly worry about what other are doing?

You see, I believe that business is a personal race - and if you push yourselves each day it really doesn't matter what others are doing - in the end, you win.

P.S. If you hold the trademark on Fitness is a Personal Race...I'd love to give you credit here...

Thoughts on Turning Thirty

9 years and 365 (roughly) days ago I received this poem. I'm not certain who sent it to me, but I can't believe it was nearly TEN years ago when it arrived.

I share it now with you because it has stuck with me for these ten years and now I need a new set of thoughts which will likely come tomorrow...

Turning Thirty

It isn't that I fear
growing older—such things as fear,
reluctance or desire
play no part at all
except as light and shadow sweep a hillside
on a Sunday afternoon,
astonishing the eye but passing on
at sunset with the land
still unchanged: the same rocks,
the same trees, tall grass gently drifting—
merely that I do not understand
how my age has come to me
or what it means.

It's almost like some small
forest creature one might find
outside the door some frosty autumn morning,
tired, lame, uncomprehending,
almost calm.
You want to stroke its fur,
pick it up, mend the leg and send it
scampering away—but something
in its eyes says, "No,
this is how I live, and how I die."
And so, a little sad, you let it be.
Later when you look,
the thing is gone.

And just like that these
thirty years have come and gone,
and I do not understand at all
why I see a man
inside the mirror when a small
boy still lives inside this body
wondering what causes laughter, why
nations go to war, who paints the startling
colors of the rainbow on a gray vaulted sky,
and when I will be old enough
to know.

More to come...

Be Extraordinary

Carpe Diem - Seize the Day - Make Your Life Extraordinary

Those who have seen Dead Poets Society read the lines above differently than those who have not.

However you read them, their message is the same. Make your lives (or life) extraordinary.

What have you done recently to stand out?

How has saying yes or no put you in jeopardy or made you vulnerable/special?

What makes you so extraordinary that others should pay attention?

I have a son who is truly exceptional and I'm glad he is the way he is and I'm sorry that I did not recognize it earlier. I will not make excuses for him or ignore his contribution. I can say now that he doesn't fit in with the prescribed formula of cool kids and the "in" crowd. My mistake has been in trying to make him appear that he should.

I am committed to him as he is - awesome - why would I ever expect anything less? Why should you?

The Great Lie

Here is the lie I will not tell my children.

No, it's not Santa Claus or The Easter Bunny, it is the lie surrounding education and the hoops you must jump through to experience success. We've built our entire system on a factory that no longer exists...

My degree has nothing to do with what I do. My success is tied directly to my ability to fulfill my promises.

If you want a manual to success, here it is - Do what you say you will do every time and do something worthwhile - ease someone's pain better than anyone else can.

Do this in extraordinary ways and you win...always!

Excellence

I expect it and so should you. If you don't get it - look somewhere else.

The Last Wild Place

People ask why I go to Alaska. It's so far they say. Aren't there plenty of places to fish in WA.?

Well, when I was a boy my Dad drove from southern California to SE Idaho for family vacations. We stopped to see family, but I remember seeing him come alive in the high deserts of northern Nevada and southern Idaho - no people, just wild. I remember 4:00 am trips to remote creeks to stalk fish.

I learned to fish in those small creeks where fish had no pressure from fisherman, just the pressure to survive amid the harshness of nature.

It seems these wild places are vanishing. There are very few remaining in the lower 48. (the Upper Queets and Olympic Peninsula rivers being remaining exceptions)

I love Alaska not because there are a lot of fish for me, there are. I love it because this is the place where my sons may find the wildness for themselves and their sons.

I come alive here because I find it to be the last of the wild places. It is my high desert. My prayer is that it will remain so for my children and their children.

I want my Dad to see this place.

Marketing Restart

Wouldn't it be cool if instead of spending time coming up with slick campaigns to convince potential customers how great your company is - your marketing department focused on providing tools and avenues to let your customers and employees share your message with others?

Your company would need to clean up its act a bit I bet. Each touchpoint with customers would need to improve. Each employee would need to see themselves as "thee" marketing department. Each transaction would need to be of such high integrity that your customers would have no choice but to refer you to others.

Now that's a company worth working for and buying services from.

Too bad most take the easy route and just come up with a new "message".

140 Chances at Creativity

I remember hearing complaints (still do) around why Twitter chose 140 characters for status updates. Why not 200 or 256 or 1024? It turns out that number was initially selected for compatibility with SMS messaging. Though most modern tweets are not done via SMS (though many still are).

There has been an interesting by-product from this limit, creativity. Here are a few:

• URL shorteners such as bit.ly take long urls like this - http://www.brainfroth.com/2010/08/three-legged-entrepreneur-stool.html and turn them into http://bit.ly/95H7oh
• Hashtags offer the ability to "tag" or categorize tweets
• Third party tools such as twitpic offer hosting of media such as photos and video.

The point is this. How do you see the 140 characters? Do you see it as a limit or an opportunity to be creative?

Worry, Worry, Worry No More

Taking a look at the news is a pretty daunting thing. Economy, terrorism, flooding, famine, etc. etc. It's bleak. Many folks feel one step from the edge and many are. Businesses are shutting down, entire downtowns have been decimated. What to do? I mean really, what can you do?

You can do the following:

1. Choose to control your destiny.
2. Control the way you respond to situations as they arise.
3. Create your own reality by pushing forward
4. Embrace the challenge

Whatever you do, don't just sit there and worry. Don't just resign to let life happen to you. Life rewards action.