BLOG

If you’re like many people, you probably spend much time battling work-station fatigue. You’re cruising right along getting work done and then, gradually at first, you feel your body beginning to slow down. Your eyes get heavy, your concentration begins to wander, and then you’re either running over for a cup of coffee or a power drink. Otherwise, there’s a good chance that you’ll start to nod off at your desk and have to hope that nobody notices. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a third of adults don’t get enough sleep. The CDC says most adults need at least 7 hours per night. Obviously, an under-rested body will seek to have its need met, even when it’s not the most convenient time for your work needs.

If you’re fortunate enough to have a couch nearby or a company R&R area, you can grab a quick power nap when tiredness begins to set in. And there’s nothing wrong with doing so. In fact, a number of companies have begun to recognize the benefits of letting (and even encouraging) their people to grab a few mid-day z’s.

Starting a podcast is quite the experience and something that I had no intent of doing just a short time ago. Sure, I was aware of the wide range of podcasts and how some podcasters had achieved great things and developed wide followings. But with everything else that I had going on, and with zero personal experience with podcasting (as a listener, let alone as a host), I simply had no plans of adding this to my bucket list.

My perspective changed when I published my first book, Becoming the New Boss. I had approached the writing / publishing process a bit naively, thinking that if I produce a great book (which my mother says I did), the interest would simply follow. All I would need to do, I thought, was get it done, share it with my networks and do some advertising, and voila! I would have the next NYT bestseller (or at least an honorable mention).

But after speaking with my publisher (a small, growing Left Coast mom and pop, not a plush, big-time Lexington Avenue outfit) and other authors, I learned quickly that I would need to become the CPO (Chief Publicity Officer) of my book, in addition to everything else that needed to get done.

Post-prayer conversation at synagogue this morning with Cubs fan:

Me: (Yankees fan, tied 2-2 in ALCS) - Good morning!

Him (Cubs fan, down 3-0 in NLCS) - Well, it's a good morning for you!

Me: Well, it'll just be that much sweeter when your team rallies!

Him: (Laughs)

Me: I hope that you’re not content to go back into your cave for another 100 years of misery.

Him: (Half laugh) Well, we don't want to be greedy

Me: (Smug Yankees fan) Why not?

Him: We can't win it every year!

Me: (Summoning my inner George Steinbrenner) Yes you can!

The decision to hang a shingle and start a business can be one of the most exciting choices that a person will ever make. Few experiences can match the thrill of opening your own enterprise and crafting it your way, in your vision. Yet, becoming an independent provider can also present many risks, not the least of which is fiscal viability. Whether you have worked for years as an employee or are just starting out, there are certain things that you need to know and do in order to become recognized, respected, and, most importantly, able to generate a meaningful income from your business.

Today’s marketplace is unlike any other in history. On the one hand, there is more opportunity than ever before. For example, Web 2.0 has extended our reach and allowed us to go global with our merchandise, skills and services. We can put ourselves out there and let everyone know that we exist and stand ready to serve. The problem, of course, is that these same tools are available to your competitors as well. Moreover, there is always someone else in the Great Beyond that is doing what you seek to do, but doing it better and for longer than you have. How can you distinguish yourself and begin to develop a solid suite of services and a trusting client base?

In order to be successful, I suggest that you take lots of “Vitamin C” and think in the following terms: Clarity, Credentialing, Customization, Contributions, Communication and Connection, Celebration, Collection, Community, Confidence, Charitableness and Cushion.

At its essence, burning boats represents a point of no return, a psychological commitment where the party involved recognizes that they have crossed a line never to cross back. There is no hedging, no looking over one’s shoulder. Everything now – all thoughts and efforts – must be focused on succeeding in this new reality.

Hebrew tradition teaches a similar value. In ancient times Israelite armies would besiege enemy cities from three sides only, leaving open the possibility of flight. They understood that so long as the enemy saw that they had an escape route available, they would not fight with utmost earnestness and energy. In most cases, this played right into the besiegers’ hands.

Whether we face a true crossroads or simply want to achieve great things in our careers, personal lives, or both, it is imperative that we approach our decisions with a level of commitment that will drive us definitively forward. And if you lead others, you need to find a way to gain their commitment as well, to ensure that you work together towards your common goal of success. 

In a piece for Forbes, contributor Liz Ryan extolled the Millennial Way, or at least some of the logic behind it. In her column, Ryan sought to assuage concerns of baby boomer parents and frustrated executives, telling them that Gen-Y’s approach to life and their attitude about employment is healthier and more balanced than we think and something that all of us should have done years ago. “Anyone who argues for a more human-centric approach to work,” she wrote, “is a hero in our book, and that quality is what millennials are most well-known for. They aren’t willing to fall in line and take a lousy job just to get an apartment that’s the envy of their friends. What good would the apartment do them, if they hate their job and therefore hate their life?”

In her well-articulated defense, Ryan highlighted two millennial propensities: an aversion to drinking the corporate Kool-Aid and a capacity to reinvent themselves as circumstances and interests warrant.

Our youngest workers, she writes, were just getting started (or thinking about doing so) when corporate scandal and widespread layoffs punctured their parents’ golden balloons. The promise of peace and prosperity in exchange for decades of hard work and sacrifice to the corporate cause went up in recessionary smoke. Now, their children, fresh off of an economic near-collapse that almost shattered their own dreams and still put many of them on hold, remain uncommitted to the corporate credo, an irreverent quality that sends tremors of fear down the spines of upper management.