#Trust30 Day 27 – A recipe for no regrets

I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady. I wish it to be sound and sweet, and not to need diet and bleeding. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Think about the type of person you’d NEVER want to be 5 years from now. Write out your own personal recipe to prevent this from happening and commit to following it. “Thought is the seed of action.” –Harley Schreiber

Five years from now, I don’t want to be someone who has a lot of regrets for being afraid to try things. I don’t want to be stuck inside a cubicle staring at a computer screen thinking what the hell am I doing here? I want to be able to look back and say that I had the courage to start a project and see it through to its completion, to some good ending point.

While working on these projects (you’ve already heard that one of them is to write books), I want to keep my sanity by doing things like exercising, eating right, spending time with friends and family, traveling, etc. If these things aren’t part of the next five years, I would look back with some serious regrets.

A recipe for making this happen would include learning how to be more organized. I am not great at taking the time to write out the steps that it takes to reach my goals.

The recipe would also include a healthy dose of discipline to make me as productive as possible. It might even require me to set a regular 6am (or earlier) wake-up time, unless I decide that I’d be better off working through the night.

The recipe will require me to ask for help, for someone to collaborate on projects with me. It will require me to seek advice, something I prefer to not do.

Overall, the recipe doesn’t look too complicated, so I am optimistic that there are some good times ahead and not many regrets. 

Trust30 Day 26 – A Call to Arms

The secret of fortune is joy in our hands. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

What if today, right now, no jokes at all, you were actually in charge, the boss, the Head Honcho. Write the “call to arms” note you’re sending to everyone (staff, customers, suppliers, Board) charting the path ahead for the next 12 months and the next 5 years. Now take this manifesto, print it out somewhere you can see, preferably in big letters you can read from your chair.

You’ve just written your own job description. You know what you have to do. Go! —Sasha Dichter

Dear everyone,

It’s on. Prepare yourself.

Signed,

The Boss

#Trust30 Day 25 - Overcoming false expectations

Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

We are our most potent at our most ordinary. And yet most of us discount our “ordinary” because it is, well, ordinary. Or so we believe. But my ordinary is not yours. Three things block us from putting down our clever and picking up our ordinary: false comparisons with others (I’m not as good a writer as _____), false expectations of ourselves (I should be on the NYTimes best seller list or not write at all), and false investments in a story (it’s all been written before, I shouldn’t bother). What are your false comparisons? What are your false expectations? What are your false investments in a story? List them. Each keep you from that internal knowing about which Emerson writes. Each keeps you from making your strong offer to the world. Put down your clever, and pick up your ordinary.—Patti Digh

If I were to rewrite the first sentence of this prompt, I would remove the word ordinary and in its place use the word authentic, because in this context, ordinary is far from ordinary. However, I do understand what she is saying—that we should harness the power of our uniqueness. There is absolute scarcity in the competition to be us (since there is only one) and therefore, the gifts we bring to the world carry great value.

The disease of comparing ourselves to others is a dangerous malady. It is human nature, but it can be deadly. We all do it. I am guilty. From time to time, I catch myself comparing myself to:

1. People with successful websites, who have written books or have been able to promote their online businesses better than I have.
2. My brother, who is a successful farmer. He has found exactly what he wants to do in life.
3. Other coffee authors. I often wonder about the wisdom of writing about coffee. There are many sites and many books that have been written about the industry. Why would anyone bother to read something that I write?
4. When I was at music school, I compared my guitar skills to those of my classmates and many of my professors. Those comparisons drove me out of school.
5. I compare myself to people who have thousands and thousands of “followers” on Twitter or who have built up engaged, active communities online. Those people are “successful” in social media.
6. I compare myself to entrepreneurs who have a talent and a special drive for creating businesses. They seem fearless in selling themselves or their ideas.
7. I compare myself with people who have put up websites and had remarkable success very quickly. Their stories are encouraging, but at the same time frustrating because I compare myself to them. I would prefer to find success quickly, but I am receiving the valuable lesson of perseverance.

These expectations and comparisons may be false, but they are real. The challenge is remembering they are not true.

When we are able to accept who we are, when we are comfortable in our own skin, we can just be. Not many people can  do that, but the state of mind is worth aiming for. It is what makes our “ordinary” exceptional. 

#Trust30 Day 24 - Intuition

The secret of fortune is joy in our hands. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you could picture your intuition as a person, what would he or she look like? If you sat down together for dinner, what is the first thing he or she would tell you? –Susan Piver

My intuition might be a scribe, pen in hand. Never stop writing, you will find your voice, he would say.

My intuition might be an eagle. Spread your wings, and you will soar.

My intuition could look like a younger, more-in-shape version of myself. Go for a run and then hit the weight room, you’ll feel stronger, ready to take on the world.

Perhaps my intuition looks like a wizened old man, full of wisdom beyond my years. Choose your path carefully but with enthusiasm. Life goes quickly.

My intuition might look like Batman. Drop what you’re doing and start fighting for the underdog.

Intuition might look like Kurt Russel, playing Wyatt Earp. You called down the thunder? Well now you’ve got it. Skin that smoke wagon, and get to work.

Intuition might look like Dante Alighieri, or Leo Tolstoy. Write about injustice with passion, so those who committed it will be forever remembered for their misdeeds.

My intuition might look like Frank Sinatra. You’ve got to get up on that stage and sing, man.

Most likely, though, my intuition would look like….me.  Don’t settle, don’t ever settle, he would say, your struggle will be worth it.

#Trust30 Day 23 – The Courage to Connect

Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Who is one person that you’ve been dying to connect with, but just haven’t had the courage to reach out to? First, reflect on why you want to get in touch with them. Then, reach out and set up a meeting. –David Spinks

As you might have read a time or two over the last three weeks, I want to write a book about coffee in Portland (one reader pointed out that I have mentioned writing a book about fifteen times). No book about coffee in this town would be complete without the story of Stumptown, and to get that story, I need to talk to Duane Sorenson, the founder of the company. I have not yet summoned the courage to ask him for an interview, but I will. Soon.