Each of us sees life from a different point of view – our own.

Full marks for observation eh (get it?) but this is extremely important to understand. Your viewpoint is not like mine, and mine is not the same as anyone else’s.

Our perspective is influenced by everything we do. What we read, what we experience, who we talk to, the life we lead. All of the myriad aspects of your life combine to give you a unique angle on whatever you see.

When you’re doubting yourself, It’s often easy to slip into thinking “Why should they listen to me?” or “Why would I be successful when others aren’t?”

We’re too quick to assume the everyone has the same outlook as us, and most importantly that everyone knows what we know.

They Don’t.

It’s easy to assume that everyone you meet has read everything you’ve ever read, experienced everything you have, and learned everything you have.

If you do assume this, then it’s also easy to believe that no one will be interested in your opinion.

Here’s the thing – others almost certainly haven’t learned what you have. Even if they did, they won’t have processed the information, combined it with influences from other aspects of their life and come to the same conclusion as you.

Seriously, you have plenty to offer, and you should offer it.

Why am I bothering to say this? Because if you don’t believe you have a worthwhile, valuable, unique viewpoint, it will hold you back from making the decisions which allow you to progress with your venture.

It will lead you to think thoughts like:

“There’s no point starting that business, because X already does that”

“There’s no point offering my services, because all the potential clients already know the same things that I do”

Not realising your take on problems is unique leads you to think that all the businesses there could ever be have already been created.

It’s easy to think that all the good ideas have already been had.

They haven’t, and if you’ve got a point of view on something, there are people out there that it will resonate with and who want to hear what you have to say.

It’s never been easier to find these people. They’re probably looking for you. Are you able to be found?

You’ve tried everything you can. You’ve looked at it from every angle but you’ve decided that’s it. You’ve assessed your current job and come to the conclusion that it just isn’t salvageable.

You’ve decided to quit and quit properly.

You’re not just going to get another job, you’re going to something completely different, something you’ll love.

If this sounds like you, I have 3 words of advice which you might not expect:

Don’t Do It!

Not yet anyway.

Use this process to work out when the best time for you to quit is. It might be now, but chances are it isn’t. Hat tip to Hugh Macleod in his How To Be Creative manifesto for putting it bluntly:

“People think all they need to do is endure one crazy, intense, job-free creative burst and their dreams will come true. They are wrong, they are stupidly wrong.”

I’d hesitate to call anyone stupidly wrong, but I think Hugh’s probably right.

There are six distinct stages to go through to make a life changing job move. There are sensible quitting points all along the way – which one is right for you?

Step 1 – Dissatisfaction and Frustration

Most urges to change or quit start here. You’re unhappy and you want something radically different. Life seems terrible, quitting seems like the only option.

Think for a minute though. Would you really be as unhappy if you had an escape plan laid out ready to execute?  Could you survive for a couple more months if it gave you the cash you needed to move on?

It’s possible the answer is still a burning desire to throw the towel in right now, but if you’re going to make that drastic move you need something to head towards. You need a dream.

Step 2 – Dreams

Dreams are the opposite of dissatisfaction. They’re your fantasies and detailed mental pictures about what life will be like on the other side. Without a dream your frustration will lead you away from where you are now, but you won’t have anything to aim towards.

If your dreams are really big and urgent, you might need to quit at this stage, but I’d still advocate a little forward thinking, even if its only a few hours worth to figure out what you really want: What your goal is.

Step 3 – Goals

To banish your dissatisfactions and crystallise your dreams, turn them into goals.  The more specific these are the better, but an element of flexibility in them is also essential.

The idea of setting a goal and then steadfastly ignoring everything over years to meet the goal is flawed. Define your goals, then Refine your life to meet them, but refine your goal if needed too.

You could quit with an audacious goal in mind and figure out how to make it happen as you go. Spending a little time thinking about how to achieve your goals will pay off hugely in the long run though – time to create a plan…

Step 4 – Plans

Plans are what make goals happen. I love a plan.  They don’t need to be detailed, but having one makes sure your efforts are directed and focussed on the right outcome. Without a plan, there’s no route to the goal.

Depending on the size of your goal and the audacity of your plan to reach it, this might be the time to quit. Other plans can run alongside your current job though, without any problems. Just take small regular action…

Step 5 – Action

Your plan is just a series of connected actions or steps which all contribute towards your goal. Plans are useless without action. Taking action starts to make things real – nothing matters if you don’t start.

You can very often start taking action without quitting your day job. If you want to become a novelist, are you using some of your free time to start writing? Want to run your own businesses? Why not start it now? what’s holding you back?

If leap of faith is required to take the next step, then maybe you need to quit in the action phase. You’ll have momentum from taking action, and this will only help you towards success. But maybe, you don’t actually need to quit until you’re already successful in your new area…

Step 6 – Success

In the best case, you can be successful before you quit your job. Perhaps your side business makes enough cash to become your main source of income. This takes away virtually all the risk of quitting – not only are you able to quit, there’s no downside or risk involved.

But What does success mean?

The answer is that you get to decide. Define it for you, take action and refine your plan until you get there. Just like your goals the definition of success for you can evolve and be refined as you go.

Success should be personal. You’re quitting to make yourself happier:

Make sure the success you’re seeking is yours and not defined by anyone else.

No matter what you define as the first stepping stone of success, you can grow from there. As the saying goes, nothing creates success like success, so don’t be afraid to start small and build from there.

Are you in the middle of one of these steps? Have you made the leap like this or some other way?  I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

However big a number is, if you multiply it by zero, then you get nothing. Not the razor sharp insight you’re used to getting from me here, you say?

Remember this sum when you’re about to launch something.

For me it’s the perfect analogy for when spending too long polishing a piece of work before sharing it with our audience or customers.

You can have the most perfectly polished book manuscript, but its worth nothing if you don’t publish it. If you never launch your product it will have zero impact.

How much longer is it worth spending on what you’re doing right now before launching it?

If it’s perfect but no one knows about it, it’s going to be a big fat zero.

This is a hard lesson to learn. Most of us have a tendency to seek perfection in our work before inviting criticism. It’s a great excuse not to launch – “I just need to tweak X and then I’ll ship it” It’s a legitimate reason to keep things safe, close and in control.

80% done and shipped, beats undelivered perfection every time.

The most you can score without putting it out there is Zero. What are you holding on to that’s really ready to go?

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I launched two products last week. Check them out – they are tailor made to help you get more done in less time.

P.S. – Why the duck?

To say life was complicated would be an understatement. It’s a hugely rich web of connections, activities, locations, relationships, responsibilities and countless other stuff.  It’s more than complicated.

If you want to change something in your life it can rightly seem a huge task. Knowing where to start can be difficult. Often, this leads people to think about change in huge chunks:

“I need to quit my Job”

“I’m going to move to Australia”

“I’m going to start my own business”

These can be great changes to make, and this “big bang” approach works for some people.

But for others, possibly the majority, this kind of wholesale change doesn’t work for two major reasons

1 – The change is so big to contemplate, it never actually gets made.

How many people do you know that say they’re going to do one of those things, but never quite make it.  They dream big, but acting on that dream is too scary.

2 – The change gets made, but it wasn’t thought through.

The same old problems are there in your new job. You land in Australia and find you still hate working in an office. You have a business now, but you still have a boss, only this time its you and you’re very demanding to work for.

So what should we do?  There’s still a lot of people out there who aren’t happy with their current lot and want to make a change – how can they make sure not fall foul of one of these pitfalls?

What if the answer lies in simplifying life.  Not in the sense that the minimalists would have you live with only 100 things, but breaking it down into a simple model, which we can use to work out what’s going on, and what needs to be changed.

What if we could model life using this diagram?

Life has a finite amount of time, represented by the box.  Everyone’s day has 24 hours, and no one is immortal. The box is24 hours deep by a lifetime long. Although the choices you make in the box can have an impact on how many sets of 24 hours you get to experience, there will be an end somewhere.

Within that box of time, you get to choose.  Life is made up of What you choose to do, With Whom, and Where. (The 4Ws).

Success is to choose the combination of these that make you happiest.

This is a very simple way of modelling something infinitely complicated, but those really are the basic choices you get to make. We’re far better at making choices when are options are simple, so bear with me.

The Fuel

At the top of the model is the “fuel”. This is about making things sustainable, letting you carry on doing your 4Ws for as long as possible.

Taking money first, you need to have enough money to meet your basic needs, and allow you to continue with your 4Ws. If your 4Ws don’t generate enough money, you’ll have to change them at some point, thus they’re not sustainable.

The other fuels are equally simple. You need to be in good health mentally and physically. This doesn’t mean you need six pack abs and a PhD, it means that you need to be healthy enough to keep going for a good innings and happy enough to enjoy things.

If you have a job you love, but you sit at a desk and eat junk food all day and don’t exercise, then you’ll probably not continue to enjoy your 4Ws as long as you might like.

If you make a huge salary and hit the gym every day, but you’re not fulfilled and die a little inside when you cross the office threshold every day, there’s a good chance it’s not sustainable, and you’ll miss the point of life as it goes by.

The Footprint

The “footprint” is the output of your life.  It’s what you leave behind, not just after you’re gone, but in the hands and minds of other people in the present. It’s split into positive legacy, and negative residue.

A legacy could be a great work of art you created, a school or company you built, the way you brought up your children, or even just the kind words you said to someone.

Conversely, residues are negative environmental impact or harm done to other people – anything negative that you leave behind.

Understanding your footprint can have a profound effect on how you feel about your life, and so can have an effect on the mental part of the fuel.

The one thing I’ve deliberately left out of the picture is “stuff” – physical things that you collect through life. Whether stuff makes us happy, and indeed whether it should, is a debate for another time, but or the purpose of the model, lets assume that you accumulate the right stuff to support your 4Ws, and don’t look upon stuff as a means to an end.  Things are easier that way!

OK. that’s it then, life all summed up into a thousand words and a scrappy drawing. But why?

I thought about this model to help me take a simpler more objective view on life. If it’s interesting or helpful for you, then brilliant. If this model doesn’t work for you, then no problem – what would your model look like?

The point of this post is not just about modelling your life though. If we can create a simple model for something as complex as our lives, what other models could you create to help you solve problems? They might seem complicated, but they’re trivial compared to life itself right?

So that may be stating the obvious, but in the age of collaboration and connection which we live in, it’s easy to think that groups of people solve problems.

Yes, Open Source software is awesome.

Yes, so is Wikipedia.

Yes, so it that team at your company who launched the latest project.

But what’s easy to forget is that each of these group collaborations was started by an individual. Solving a problem takes one person to care enough about it to start fixing it.

Building a team around that person comes next.

So if you see a problem, whether it’s in your job, in your community, or in the world at large, remember that it will need someone – ONE PERSON – to step up and take the initiative to solve it.

One person. Yes there can be a team, and many problems can’t be solved alone, but every team needs a leader. Without a leader, teams lack the clear cause and direction to gather round.

So if you see an unsolved problem, ask yourself who’s leading the cause to fix it. Should it be you?

I spent the past few days snowboarding in Courmayeur, which was awesome. It’s a passion that I get to indulge in too infrequently.

I did quite a lot of thinking whilst in the mountains, and I realised that snowboarding can teach you an amazing amount about life and business. What a great excuse to hit the slopes if you ever needed one – “It’s part of my business education”. Maybe that should even make your trip tax deductible…

Enough daydreaming though, here are 11 lessons snowboarding can teach you. I’ve phrased a question with each to provoke your thinking about how the same lesson might apply to whatever you’re currently doing.

1 – Be in the moment.

Enjoy what’s going on right now. There’s nothing like cutting a fresh track through a steep field of powder to put everything else out of your brain and make the world slow down.

Are you busy thinking about what’s coming next, or taking in every second of now?

2 – There is always someone better than you.

Whether you like it or not, it’s true. Do strive to get better, but if you’re happy, then ignore everyone else. There’s also always someone behind you on the progression curve. Be nice to them and remember what it felt like.

Are you worried about what everyone else is doing, or are you concentrating on the best thing for you?

3 – If you aren’t crashing, you aren’t trying.

Taking some spills is inevitable if you’re pushing yourself to get better. If you don’t lose it a few times you’re probably missing out on being able to do much more than you thought.

Are you holding so much back that you never slip up?

4 – Talking about snowboarding is fun

But only actually riding gives you something to talk about.

Are you doing enough to have great true stories to tell in the bar, or will you have to exaggerate and embellish?

5 – You are not your equipment

There’s no need to have a £1000 snowboard to have fun on the mountain. It’s about the experience, not the gear. Conversely though, things get difficult without the right equipment. Riding in falling snow without goggles is pretty much impossible, and you’re not going to have any fun if your coat doesn’t keep you warm.

Are you spending your money on the things which help, or the shiny thing with the seductive marketing?

6 – It’s more fun in a group

A day with your best friends on a small hill in poor conditions can still be amazing. Your team will help you out when you’re stuck, and wait if you crash. Not got your snowboarding gang yet? Get to the resort and talk to people there, don’t waste your time trying to find the one person in your town that might be interested.

Are you hanging out with the right people? Are you out there where the action is?

7 – Seeing other people progress rocks

The look on a beginners face when they link their first turns in control and without eating snow is priceless. You can literally see the possibilities and experiences open up before them.

Who are you helping along the way?

8 – Fresh tracks are the most fun

The feeling of being the first one down a pillowy soft field of freshly fallen powder is like nothing else on earth.  These sort of runs are rare (which makes them special) but you can increase your chances of experiencing them by:

• Spending a lot of time in ski resorts – the longer you’re there the better chance of a huge snowfall
• Using tracks and lifts that others have laid to get you to the good stuff.
• Being up early and in line for the first chair, not nursing your apres ski hangover.

• Are you doing something original?
• Are you putting in the effort to the right things?
• Who can give you a head start?
• What’s your equivalent of getting distracted by the bar?

9 – Fast isn’t everything

Snowboard racing isn’t very popular. It’s all about having a good time, not being the first to the bottom.

Are you racing for a reason? What are you missing along the way?

10 – Having lessons makes sense

It is possible to learn without a good instructor, but from personal experience I know it takes a lot longer, is a lot more painful and expensive to get to the same place than if you do hire one. It’s definitely worth it.

Are you learning from the right people? Are you investing in your own development?

11 – Look at the Gaps, not the trees.

This is my favourite. It’s so simple, but makes such a difference. When snowboarding, your direction of travel is closely correlated to where you look. If you’re trying to ride through a forested slope, look at the gaps and you’ll hit the gaps. Look at the trees and…

Are you looking at the opportunities (gaps) or the risks and obstacles (trees)?

What do you think? What do you love about snowboarding that I haven’t mentioned? Can you relate to the questions?

I’ve just had an amazing, inspiring, conversation with two friends over a beer. Nothing usual there then. Except it wasn’t your average Monday night pub chat.

The three of us were separated by thousands of miles. So far, in fact, that Google maps can’t calculate directions to them. A little searching reveals one is 426 miles north of me, the other 4,708 miles south west.

We have met only once in real life.

Yet these people get me. They get what I do, what I want to do, and why I do it. They push me to do things I don’t think I’m capable of. They tell me how it is. They spot the things I cant see. They don’t mind the fact that I can’t type or spell, or that I was eating a burger through much of our chat!

But enough of how great my friends are – that isn’t really the point of this post. What I’m trying to demonstrate is that people like this are out there. People that think like you think. People that want what you want. That are going through what you are.

We have an amazing privilege that would have been unthinkable two decades ago. We can connect with anyone in the world, for a few pounds per month spent on an internet connection.

We no longer have to select our friends from those who live in the same post code, city, country or even continent. The world can connect with us. Our team can be a tiny tiny slice of the whole f-ing planet’s population. That’s 2.4 billion people you can reach.

Your team is out there. It’s negligent not to connect with them.

It might seem like you’re trying to find a needle in a haystack though – how do you find the people out there, since there are so many possible connections? Here are 5 great options:

1 – Twitter

The conversation you want to join is almost certainly already happening on twitter. Use the search facility, follow a few hashtags, strike up a conversation with someone who seems interesting by just saying hi and introducing yourself. Linda describes Twitter as a virtual cocktail party, to which you’re invited – treat it like this and you’ll find your circle in no time.

2 – Blogs

This might sound obvious, but have you done it? You read blogs about your chosen subject right? Have you connected with the author of your favourite blog? Have you followed the links to the sites of a few of the people who’ve commented? These folks are clearly into what you are, and in my experience, will welcome the chance to interact with a cool, like-minded person like you. I met Sarah by commenting on her blog. I then happened to sit next to a close friend of hers on a plane, before meeting her two days later. Connection eh?

3 – Conferences

Again obvious, but I’ve found them the most successful place of all for meeting cool people. Pick an event that looks interesting and sign up. These things are often about the people you meet more than the content. If you can meet one or two of your team there, not only will they be great allies in your endeavours, they can probably introduce you to another few people in your niche. There’s nothing like a personal introduction, even in the days of mass open social networks. If you do go down this route, don’t try to meet everyone. A few deeper connections are worth many superficial ones.

4 – Meetup / Eventbrite

Can’t afford to attend a big name conference? Have a look on these sites for what’s happening in your town. They’re full of small sessions which cover many many topics. There’s probably something out there near you for cheap or free, and the value of a real life interaction is huge. Dont know where to start? How about this worldwide series?

5 – Create your own event

If all else fails – or actually even if it doesn’t, the tools above give you the opportunity to create and organise your own meet up that’s entirely what you want it to be. You might not be organising the next SXSW any time soon, but remember, the inspiring conversation that started this post happened between three of us. It’s about quality not quantity in our connections. If you can find one person who you can help on their way as they help you, then you’ll be infinitely more likely to succeed. Want some tips on how to go about it? This free book from Michelle will have you hosting beautifully in no time.

So what are you waiting for? Go. Connect.

Go. Go. Go!

Back in July, I was given $100 with the instructions

       Start a project, surprise someone, or do something entirely different.

With it, on August 1st I started The Hundred Dollar Club.  Just over 6 months on, I think it’s time to review some outputs to date. What have I learned? What has THDC achieved? How have I changed?

I’m going to do this in three parts, of which this is the first: What I’ve learned about Running a community?

1 – One size does not fit all

We’re a diverse group of folks, which is what makes our community great. But it also means that one schedule for everyone doesnt work.

Initially I set out some weekly “tasks” which were great when they applied to everyone [Such as introduce yourself, describe your idea etc] but just don’t work when people are at different stages of their journey.

People who want to break out of a day job and into their own gig seemed to respond well to structure, accountability and deadlines. This doesn’t seem to work as well for those who have already “escaped”. Perhaps no surprise, but the idea of a structured escape plan is an interesting one which I’d like to revisit in the future.

If everyone were doing the same thing – say it was a group of people all starting a blog from scratch, I think a set curriculum would be perfect, but this community needs more freedom than that.

2 – Everyone can learn from everyone else

This possibly shouldn’t be a surprise, but frankly I’m amazed at the insight that comes from unexpected places. It can be too easy to listen to the “gurus” in your industry or niche, and miss an idea that seems obvious to someone with another background. Creating a hugely diverse group really brings new perspectives to a problem.

3 – Activity happens in peaks and troughs

Participants feed off each others enthusiasm and energy, and want to help each other. When there is a problem to solve or question to answer, THDC members are there. Part of leading a community seem to be encouraging these topics to emerge, not pushing every topic yourself.

4 – There is always a drop out rate

I can only say that I suspect this, having run only this one community, but I see consistent feedback from other groups, and it seems logical.

We started with 22 members, about 18 posted their bio update in the first week, and after 6 months we have 13 active members.

I think there are two learnings from this. The first is that numbers don’t mean everything in this space – a smaller more focussed group seems to be working well for us, and the “drop out” rate of 40% doesn’t matter a jot in terms of usefulness of the group.

The second learning is it’s OK not to be for everybody – what we do works for those who it works for, and if it doesn’t for others, that’s OK.

5 – Starting from scratch is a good thing

When people are introduced to the group at the same time, I think it’s easier to participate. People can be more open when they are all “new” at the same time and there aren’t any established figures. Ongoing forums or groups tend to have their long standing members, who are very well established, and know exactly how it works. This can be great, but can also be a little intimidating for new members. Having everyone start at the same time seems to be a good leveller, and allow everyone’s voice to be heard.

6 – You don’t run a community, you can only contribute and lead

The members of THDC don’t need someone to “run” the community. They don’t need rules and moderation, they just want a place to interact, and some topics to interact around.

I set up the place, and I’ve then learned that it’s my job to lead with interaction if needed, not drive the topic of every conversation.

There is definitely a balance to be struck between providing a framework then getting out of the way, and being there to help things along when needed.

I haven’t always got this right, but we’re learning to do this as group, and guess what – it seems to be working!

Look out for part two next week: What The Hundred Dollar Club Members Have Achieved So Far…

Sign up so you don’t miss it!