willie jackson

Blog

  • Prickliness empowerment

    When I’m connecting a freelancer with a client or business with whom I have a relationship, I often indicate that the person (or business) is “easy to work with” (if it’s true). This might imply that being easy to work with is a good thing, but I’m not so sure.

    In the same way that a resume designed to be used for a dozen job applications makes it a perfect fit for exactly nothing, it’s probably ok to reserve compatibility for an ideal client or consultant. This doesn’t mean that vitriol should be reserved for those you pass over, of course…

    There are countless platitudes about how you need to say no to what’s wrong in order to say yes to what’s right (for you), and I think there’s merit to the idea behind that.

    I suspect that Jonathan Ive and Steve Jobs bumped heads on more than one occasion, and that they both realized that the juice was worth the squeeze.

    I guess what it comes down to is determining what you ideal criteria are, and then working on enhancing the things that give you and your great match the synergy needed to ensure the success of a project.

    If this involves a refusal to work with amateurs or a rejection of brown M&M’s, then so be it. Being willing to reject nine losers is the only way to ever find winner number ten.

  • Don’t give them the pleasure

    Some people aren’t going to like you. Most times, cowards are content to gossip and quietly disparage your name in your absence. Word may or may not get back to you about this.

    If you have a high profile, people may feel bold enough to confront you directly (or anonymously, if you “live” online). The purpose of the confrontation is to get a reaction, and it only feeds the beast to even acknowledge the attempts.

    It seems a bit foolish to gratify those seeking to upset you by acknowledging their efforts, so I’d avoid feeding into it altogether. If this means that you have to keep a poker face until a kickboxing class where you blow off steam, then so be it.

  • Unnecessary extremes

    In the startup world, a lack of sleep, nonstop work, and a general disregard for personal wellbeing (at the expense of productivity) is glamorized.

    Among novice writers, it’s common to hear of individuals clearing entire days or weeks of their schedule to do nothing but write.

    In high pressure professional environments (top tier law and consulting firms), late nights, weekend work, and (under important deadlines) even sleeping at the office are all relatively commonplace.

    I’m not sure these extremes are necessary, much less sustainable.

    I don’t need to lecture anyone on why getting poor sleep is a bad idea, but few (so far as I can tell) seriously explore the benefits of getting a lot of sleep.

    I’m relatively new to the world or regular writing, so I don’t have much to share on that front aside from my personal observations.

    Having spent time on a project (in my former life) where staying until 10PM was the norm, I can think of no better way to ensure burnout and developing a resentment for the work causing it than long, draining hours.

    The older I get, the more I appreciate consistency, boldness, and quiet strength.

  • Mindless self-sabotage

    Between Twitter, Facebook, news sites, and a few other productivity-sucking locations on the web, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that I lose between 5 and 20 hours per week engaged in brainless content consumption and social interaction.

    Here’s the thing though — I don’t carve out time to waste every day. There are dozens of times per day where I mindlessly open up a new tab, visit Facebook, and drool on my keyboard (slight exaggeration).

    So I find myself constantly interrupting…myself throughout the day. I did it while composing this post, even though I know the punchline and solution in place!

    Anyway.

    I don’t talk about it very much here, but I’m a geek. Really, I’m fascinated with technologies that would make a non-technical person weep with boredom.

    Using this to my advantage, I put a very simple tweak in place on my computer. Without boring you with the details, I configured my system to send me to a very boring site (that I built and run) every time I visit one of my time-wasting sites.

    And every time it happens, it’s a (small) surprise since wasting time and distracting myself is something I’ve practiced for years.

    There’s no telling how long this experiment will last (a man can only go so long without checking for friend requests…), but it’s a small step towards the awareness that can help me eliminate the self-sabotaging (and subconscious) behavior.

    Wish me luck.

    But not through Facebook.

  • Bringing it home

    Solving global hunger is important.

    Also: bringing job opportunities to underserved demographics, finding a cure for cancer, and ending the depletion of natural resources. I’m all for changing the world.

    But we can start by holding the door a stranger, saying “good morning” (and meaning it) with a smile to the Starbucks barista, and picking up the phone to catch up with an old friend every once in a while.

  • What do you want to be known for?

    This is a question that’s worth addressing, even if the answer is not made public.

    The reason some people move through their careers a surgical focus is quite often because they have made a conscious decision about their career’s trajectory.

    That is, by virtue of the fact that they’re moving with a particular goal in mind, they’re able to make strategic steps (and even sound decisions “on the fly”).

    If you haven’t decided that you want to be the best at something, or that you want to be influential in your space, or that [insert a clearly defined and ambitious goal that you’d be thrilled to accomplish], then how can you make meaningful progress?

    You will probably be just fine in the long run, but who wants to be “just fine?” Making it up as you go is a fine plan for some, but there are no laws against stacking the deck in

    “I just wanted to be in engineering only – I never wanted to run a company, never wanted to run things, step on other people – Steve very clearly did, and wanted to be a top executive and a really important thinker in the world.”

    “He was always focused on ‘if you can build things and sell them you can have a company’ and ‘the way you make money and importance in the world is with companies’,” Wozniak said. “He wanted to be one of those important people in the world.” (via)

    – Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple

  • Why habits are so important

    Because a life characterized by squandered potential doesn’t come from taking a decade to find yourself, nor does a career of excellence come from a refusal to take weekends off. It’s far more subtle.

    The former comes from missed deadlines, a lack of accountability, and breaking promises to yourself. Refusal to take on challenging work here, shying away from fear there. Little by litte.

    The latter comes from a commitment to winning habits, showing up every day, and facing the unknown with courage and conviction. An extra hour at the office here, the elimination of unproductive habits there. Little by little.

  • Preventable failures

    Last night, I caught wind of Society Coffee‘s closing, which apparently happened in October.

    If you visit that link, it should result in absolutely nothing happening, because the site is down. My “humor” is an acquired taste, I know…

    I’m disappointed with the closing of Society Coffee for two main reasons:

    1. Practical: It was a great café with wonderful employees and delicious food
    2. Sentimental: I organized an event there with my Fairy Blogmother last year

    Thinking back, there were obvious areas for improvement, and no one did anything to address them.

    For what felt like months, Society punished its patrons with inadequate AC during the warm NYC summer. This is one of the reasons I stopped visiting, frankly.

    The food at Society was a bit expensive, and it was not uncommon for them to be out of critical items in the kitchen.

    They would have benefited from more community involvement (poetry slams, live music on weekends, etc.)

    Service was not always up to par, and some employees were a bit unfriendly.

    I could go on, but I can’t help but wonder what would have happened — how things might be different — if I had cared more and shared these frustrations with the owner.

    What a shame.

  • Sunday night gut check

    Sunday night is a great time to find out two things (assuming that you “go to work” on Monday morning):

    1. If you’re genuinely excited about what you do for a living.
    2. If you’ve set yourself up for a productive week (even if the first item is true).

    Momentum is a powerful thing, and the energy you take into a new week is like your turn when bowling or making a play (good or bad) on a sports team.

    If you do well, the positive energy flowing keeps you in a healthy mindset to continue doing the same. If you perform poorly, you’ll have a hard time recovering.

    I remember when I was on a plane twice a week for work. Sunday night is when I would pack and consider the tasks for the day ahead: the mountain of email, the early morning flight, the weather where I was going (harsh winter, invariably…), and the fact that I didn’t enjoy the work.

    As I’ve mentioned more than once, it resulted in me making some changes, with the worst of the culminating in multiple anxiety attacks one weekend.

    When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

    -Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

    Your situation might be as dire as mine was, but reflecting on how you felt last night my be an indicator of — at the very least — some things that need to be tweaked.

  • Pacing success

    I talked about this recently, but I thought I’d deal with the idea in less abstract terms once more: a lack of planning and perspective often results in unnecessary strain to a system.

    In academics, this requires a student to cram at the last minute. Poor retention, and sleep schedule shot to hell. Long-term mastery is traded for short-term information regurgitation, undermining the point of the academic pursuit.

    When trying to reach a short-term fitness goal (looking great in a swimsuit for an upcoming trip, for example), diets often aggressively curtail the intake of essential dietary components at the expense of long-term health. Training the body to hang onto carbs and fat once they’re reintroduced to the system (see: after vacation) would seem to be a bit unwise…

    And reaching a short-term revenue goal (for the short-sighted freelancer, this is known as “making ends meet”) with a rushed scramble for contracts can result in damaged relationships and lost business.

    The situations we get ourselves into by not pacing success over the long haul are completely avoidable. By eliminating unwise, unhealthy, and unprofitable habits on the day-to-day, we set ourselves up for Ben and Jerry’s style success: manageable and even predictable over time.

    We’re used to the big push, and type-A workers love “performing under pressure” but the kind of lifestyle you deserve is one that requires long-term planning and the corresponding daily habits.