willie jackson

Blog

  • Lessons and ideas

    Some of the greatest lessons are the ones that no one can teach you. It’s possible that people can push you in the direction of the epiphany, but you experience the revaluation for yourself.

    The key to having frequent revelatory moments is putting yourself in a position to receive them. Ideas come to those who appreciate them when they come, so your job is to do something with them when they do.

    Do you write ideas down when you wake up or when they arrive? Discuss them with a fiend or mentor when they’re compelling enough? Act on them immediately and work on reducing the friction between inspiration and action?
    Or do you allow the thoughts to pass through your consciousness as though they were never there?

    Inspiration is precious and we should position ourselves accordingly. Good ideas come freely to those who create an inviting environment for them.

  • Counterintuitive

    The last thing a sick, weak person wants to do is eat food and yet that’s exactly what’s needed for them to recover.

    When someone develops a lesion on their gum(s), the correct course of action is vigorous brushing rather than avoidance of the tenderness.

    A chronically tired person should actually spend 30 minutes of downtime getting exercise rather than lying on the couch watching TV.

    And someone living check to check should find a way to put a few dollars away every month rather than spending it all on urgent expenses.

    These things don’t make sense in the moment when we’re compromised (mentally, emotionally, and physically), so we have to develop the right mindset before the unexpected takes place.

  • Enabling boldness

    It’s no secret that the education system is failing.

    For highly motivated individuals, this doesn’t matter so much. There’s the old Mark Twain quote…

    I never let my schooling get in the way of my education.

    The more I reflect on education and watch in horror at the classes of apathetic and clueless masses spill into a job market that doesn’t exist, the more I grow concerned for this generation.

    What’s needed is a radical rethinking of what education looks like, and for everyone to care a lot more.

    I think Amber Rae cares.

    Either that or she’s completely crazy, but I’m not sure that the distinction matters.

    Amber recently announced The Bold Academy which is perhaps her most audacious adventure to date. I had the pleasure of working with Amber last year for The Domino Project where she served as the Chief Evangelist.

    During Domino, Amber launched The Passion Experiment, which helps people get “unstuck.” Smart people. People like you.

    And The Bold Academy is a more fully-realized version of the Passion Experiment.

    The Bold Academy is 4-week experience designed to help college students and recent grads find clarity, build confidence, and unlock their full potential. If you want to do big things to “change the world” but aren’t sure how to get started, we’re creating this for you.

    I’m not sure anyone is better at what she does than Amber is.

    So if The Bold Academy looks like something that you’re terrified to apply to, then you should almost certainly throw your hat in the ring.

  • Rethinking careers

    I find myself constantly returning to the idea of careers and how they no longer mean what they used to mean, particularly for my generation.

    At dinner last night, we talked about what we’d give a TED talk on if we had to do one tomorrow. When pressed for details on my “Rethinking Careers” talk (which no one has actually asked me to give…), I mentioned things like:

    • Forgetting most of what you’ve learned in school, as fast as possible
    • Realizing that many of the individuals advising you on life outside the halls of academia have not in fact ventured very far from said walls
    • How no one knowing who you are or what you do (when beginning a freelance career) can be a huge benefit since you can fail in obscurity without anyone noticing

    Ideas like these (and a laundry list of additional ones) are always churning, so as I flesh these out a bit more, I will share them here on the blog. Perhaps in ebook format.

    Also: on Saturday, April 21st I will be moderating a panel at the Find and Follow Your Passion Conference.

    Come say say hi.

  • A seat at the table

    Sometimes you just need to pick a different table.

    And bring your own chair.

  • The power of conviction

    Just before leaving my job in April of 2010, I had a series of discussions with the Managing Director of Atlanta’s office, Craig Ramsey.

    I wanted to be sure I was making the right decision, or to at least give the company a fair shot at addressing my concerns before I struck out on my own. Craig is a fellow FSU alum who I’d met at several company events, and someone for whom I have a great deal of respect.

    I ended up moving forward with my plans to leave the company, but I remember telling people on more than one occasion after leaving that if I had worked with or reported to Craig during my time there, I would probably still be employed there.

    Why? His conviction.

    Craig believes in what he does, and has the work ethic to prove it. There is of course a measure of conviction required of any executive who hopes to remain employed for long, but there was an honesty to Craig’s conviction that made an impression on me.

    I don’t think the importance of conviction can be overstated.

    In your department, your startup, or your writing — it’s what will cause people to rally around your cause, subscribe to your newsletter, be moved to tears at your prose, and burn the midnight oil for your idea.

    Conviction is what provides the push when discouragement sets in, when distractions appear, and when shortcuts are considered. Conviction is the mental and emotional transfer of your belief in something that then be internalized by others.

    Give us something to believe in.

  • Be the resource

    My father half-jokingly laments that he doesn’t like watching the news because he’s always finding out that some food he loves is killing him. The fact that he’s from the rural South notwithstanding…

    It’s true.

    We’re constantly bombarded with reports and studies about the things that have made their way into our everyday lives, and how they’re going to cause cancer of the everything™ in twenty years: cleansers, asbestos, cell phone radiation, DDT, lead paint, high fructose corn syrup, water, oxygen, the list goes on.

    The trouble is that in many cases we get this information second and third-hand from media outlets looking to create the latest hysteria, with research funded by companies looking to sell us a cure or solution. Everyone’s biased! Who should we trust?

    I think one solution is to get curious.

    We have access to unbiased research if we’re willing to look for it, and you can bet that there’s someone trying to get the word out about their findings.

    And if it’s not a popular opinion to hold (see: it could cause large companies to lose lots of money if the truth got out), it’s likely that their efforts have been undermined and disregarded, making them all the more willing to talk to you about their opinion.

    Help them start a blog. Or release an ebook.

    Or perhaps you can be our resource. I’d love to know what you find.

  • Look for snowballs

    The most terrifying part of any worthwhile undertaking comes right before step one.

    Once you’re moving, momentum and positive feedback loops and sheer determination help you along. It won’t be easy no matter the circumstances though, and there will be times where the momentum fades and your enthusiasm wanes.

    It’s your job, then, to look for projects and opportunities that will propel you along once you’re moving by the sheer excitement of the idea or value of the project. Things that excite you at the very thought of them.

    We can count on the burst of energy at the beginning of the race (adrenaline) and at the end (our friends cheering near the finish line), it’s the middle ground that becomes the most troublesome foe during the act.

    So look for snowballs and get moving.

  • Closed-minded danger

    It’s easy to dismiss certain things as being for “other people” but not ourselves. Yoga, meditation, raw food diets, vision boards, the list goes on.

    Maybe it’s because of the way we were raised or a general skepticism or downright discomfort in considering something new and terrifying. Maybe we’ve just never tried.

    The danger in being closed-minded is that we eliminate the chance that a novel experience will spark something within us and create magic.

    Trying something new might result in our entire world view being shifted. Maybe turned on its head completely. And that’s the point, isn’t it? If we’re not growing, we’re fading into irrelevance and obscurity.

    Our thoughts become stale, our bad habits take deeper roots, our prejudices crystallize, and before we know it, we’re the person we swore we would never grow up to be.

  • The level playing field of opportunity

    No one in history has ever had more than 24 hours in a day to complete their work. Not the President, the Queen, Mother Teresa, or Leonardo da Vinci.

    If you’re reading this, you are undoubtedly smart enough to learn anything you set your mind to.

    You have access to more information in your iPhone than was ever considered possible 100 years ago, and you are living in what is undoubtedly the greatest time to be alive — during the information revolution.

    So.

    …how will you change the world today?