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The Only List That Matters

January 1, 2011 By 3 Comments



I’ll admit it. 

I’m a wee bit tired of the Best Of 2010/Top 10/Year In Review/Round-Up kinda articles. How many “tops” can there possibly be? I swear, I think I saw The Top 10 Small Mushrooms for Omelets the other day. With its companion list: The Top 10 Large Mushrooms for Sauces.

OK, so I got a little hungry reading them – but those kind of pointless, space-filling lists definitely make it on The Top 10 Things That Annoy Me.

And while I’m complaining, let me further state that I am not a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions. They just always seem a tad… forced. Unrealistic. Fake.

But, I am a huge fan of learning – the past holds gifts I can use in the present to make the future more full. 

So, what can we learn from 2010?

First, there’s this guy named Seth Godin. Seth is an amazing thought leader who tackles how to create success within the new rubric of social media, lightning-fast moving markets and pop-up businesses. [Frankly, Seth is the kind of guy who would have asked me to dance in high school.  And I would have said no (thank you), thinking he was kind of nerdy and weird. I'm being honest - I mean, look at the guy. Yet, at our 25th reunion, I would be kicking myself because Seth would be the most intriguing, engaging, intelligent man in the room. That's the way it goes.] 

One of Seth’s key ideas is “shipping” – meaning, an idea or product that sits around waiting for perfection won’t earn a nickel.  You gotta get that sucker out the door and into the marketplace.  You’ve got to ship.

And how better to review 2010 than looking at what you shipped?

Did you get the big strategic planning memo done? You shipped. Did you build a team? You shipped. Did you hold the team together after the CEO died? You shipped. [And did it very well, I might add.]

Did you get a new job? You shipped. Did you get a new couch (I’m thinking of you, Becky)? You shipped, girl, and be proud of it.

I’m guessing there are plenty of ways you shipped this year, if you just start looking at it that way.

Me? 

I was freakin’ FedEx in 2010.

I shipped, baby. Sometimes even on time.

Michele’s 2010 Shipping List

And, last, but my most important accomplishment:

  • I was a present, engaged parent for my children

Yes, I shipped.  And it feels pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.  And looking at the list in this way points me toward 2011 – because you know the secret to happiness, don’t you?

Do more of what you like, and what you’re good at, and less of what you don’t like, even if you are good at it.

Why not make your own list? What did you accomplish?  What did you ship?

What are you good at?

And what does that tell you about what you’re going to be doing in the New Year?



Filed Under: Career Coaching, Getting Unstuck, Happier Living Tagged With: , , , , , 3 Comments

Let’s Play Ball

June 27, 2010 By 5 Comments



Do you know Seth Godin? OK, I don’t know Seth Godin – but my friend Pam does, so that makes me one degree of separation from Seth. [Just for the record, I am also one step from Kevin Bacon two different ways - Anne will write me later today to say, "He's my neighbor!", and Kevin played my friend Mike's dad in a film.

So, obviously, I win "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon", thank you very much.]

But back to Seth.

Seth is a blogger. A writer. A thought leader. Every day, he writes a shortish blog post that usually prompts great thinking.

I say “usually” because, frankly, sometimes what he writes kinda misses. Sometimes it’s out there. Or just a bit off.

Which, naturally, reminds me of baseball.

Bear with me.

Do you know that the guy who has the all-time highest batting average in the history of baseball, Ty Cobb, failed two out of three times he was at the plate? Yep, Ty Cobb’s sterling average was .366, which means that he got one hit just about every three times he was at bat.

And he’s the all-time leader.  All-time.  Which, for those keeping score at home, means “amazing”.

So, it’s OK if Seth swings and misses once in a while. At least he’s in the batter’s box, taking a swipe at it.

Seth uses a word to describe being up at the plate – he calls it “shipping”. His point, and it’s a good one, is that shipping – being out there doing what you do – is more important than being perfect.

And here’s where so many people struggle. They anguish, and languish, and never, ever ship. Because what they’re doing has to be perfect. Because every time they stand at the plate, they have to hit a home run.

Which, is, of course, statistically impossible.

I shipped last week. I launched the 5 Questions That Can Change Your Life. I wrote it on Monday and tested it, talked about it, edited it, and put it up for sale by Sunday. This past Friday, I did a class about the 5 Questions, which you can download here.

Hundreds of people have been exposed to this idea in the last week, and tell me that they’re clearer and have a better direction as a result. For that, I am gratified.

But most of all, I’m really happy that I shipped.

I didn’t anguish, or languish. I got it out there.

Using this same strategy, my new book I Am Not Superwoman: Further Essays on Happier Living, should be available next month.  (I receive the physical proof this week!)  But here’s what you need to know – this collection of essays took a little over two months to go from manuscript to physical book.  No anxiety, no hand-wringing, no second guessing.  Why?  Because my focus was on shipping, and shipping soon.

So let me ask you this simple question: where do you need to ship? Where do you need to get in that batter’s box and take a swing?

Kiddo, stop sitting in the bleachers, a spectator at the game of your own life.  Get in there.  Take a swing.  Because, statistically speaking, one of these at-bats you’re going to get a hit.  And it just might be a homer.

Filed Under: Clarity, Getting Unstuck, Happier Living Tagged With: , , , , , , , 5 Comments