One trait that they all have is being extremely positive in their mindset.  There isn’t anything that they can’t do.  If they set their mind to accomplish a goal they will achieve it and most likely with a little panache.  My mindset wavers from being insanely driven and focused when I’m angry or inspired to needing all kinds of proof when I have doubt regarding a situation.  It’s becoming clear to me that these folks have the same doubts I have but decide to try anyway.  It’s the equivalent of making the ask.  (I always enjoy it when my own bits of wisdom can be used against me.)

Another consistent thread is that these successful people all have networks of other successful people around them.  While some may say that it’s the Law of Attraction at work I tend to believe it’s the desire for competition.  These people are all high achievers and are willing to continue to work when most people would stop.  In order to get better they have to seek out the strongest “competition” who will challenge their thought process and every once in a while prove them wrong.

People are the people that are going to help you, without a doubt but if you’re going to succeed I think you need some people who will force you to grow in new and exciting ways.

What do you think?

Why am I telling you this and how will it help you?  There’s been a very funny result of my even minimal exercise: after about 2.5 miles I get an idea flow that is amazing.  I don’t know exactly why it takes 2.5 miles (typically about 45-50 minutes) to get there but it’s consistently there.  It’s where some of my best ideas for clients and potential clients have come from.  Also, it’s begun to give me some clarity on my own personal situation.

I’ve always believed that the so called “flow zone” is a very thin elliptical area on the chart that is where the level of the challenge at hand is almost perfectly in line with your skill set in that arena.  Athletes have spoken about it for years. So have writers and students.  Things just come easily when you get there.  I’m amazed at how many people don’t know what to do to help create their own flow zone for the tasks.  I’ve become obsessed with this recently.

If I need to do house chores, I’m listening to an audio book.  Typically for 15 minutes just sitting at my desk or even on my couch and then I’ll start.  I’ll look up and 90 minutes will have gone by and my house is all but vacuumed.  It’s an awesome feeling.

If I need to write, there’s a small select section of my iTunes collection that seems to get me in a spot where typing becomes almost like I’m playing along with the song.  I have to keep pressing keys to stay in time with the music.  (Or as Jana has said in one of my favorite tweets about me, “Watching @Kadedworkin drive a laptop reminds me of a lyrical piano player.#smaz” maybe I actually am.)

If I want to plan something out, it needs to be almost completely silent and I need a huge white board.  For some reason that first pass has to be done by hand on a wall.

I don’t really care about how peculiar my needs are.  I’m focused on getting results.  I know for me, sound and the lack thereof is a huge part in my being productive.  I’ve had to make a large effort to figure out what exactly works best in which situations.  I had to experiment and I had to trust my gut some times.

Do you know how to create a flow zone for yourself so you can be your most effective or happy or relaxed? What tactics are you using if you do know?  If you don’t know, what do you think might help you get there for the various tasks you have to get done? Try some different things out and get back to me about what has worked for you and what hasn’t.  I’m always interested in learning from your experience.

Observe

This is the first step after initial discovery.  People take time to observe the landscape of a situation or how the results of an action look.  This first section can also include reading a lot of books, articles and blogs.  This is where most folks try to gain the knowledge so they can replicate the success that they have seen others have on platforms.  Unfortunately so many people get stuck in the observation stage because that’s what they’re taught in school to do: acquire information and regurgitate it.

Contemplate

The next stage that people get to is the point where they either want to replicate the actions or an opportunity to do so simply presents itself.  This is where people allow themselves to think about the possible consequences of their proposed action and it’s in this place that a lack of self confidence kills projects and people’s ability to create what they want from life.  They give themselves all the reasons in the world to simply give up and eventually fall into a state of learned helplessness.  I think this is why so many folks (myself included) consume self-help books and yet never change their behavior.  They get in their own way and prevent themselves from simply trying to see if they can achieve any results.

Execute

This is the step that so few people get to, regardless of project size and scope.  It’s these folks who risk their own reputation and go out and do something.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been approached by students and other audience members after I speak who say they “could never” speak in front of large crowds.  On one hand that makes me really sad because I know that most folks have a great perspective and if they sat down and boiled away all the regurgitated crap that there are some real original thoughts in there that I can learn from.  On the other hand it makes it easier for me to get speaking opportunities so thanks I guess.  The people who get outside their own head and begin to execute are the one’s who are heralded as being thought leaders and icons of their area.  That simply isn’t the case, they’re simply the ones who had the self confidence or simply lacked fear about stepping out on the public square and risking embarrassment.  To be honest, it takes a lot of chutzpa to do this the first time in any area of your life but I know that for me, my friends and even the folks who I have had the honor of mentoring it’s worth doing every time.

What do you think of what I’m proposing?  How can you improve this model to make it even simpler and wide reaching?

The first person I’d like to call out is Annie Sorensen (@anniesorensen, anniesorensen.com).  She’s so elevated herself from being a work contact that I’m hesitant to even tell folks that I met her because of my job.  Incredibly intelligent and she has the ability to do anything that she sets her mind to.  Top that off with the fact that her husband Nate is one of the few people who I’m desperate to spend more time with.  He possesses such a cool confidence that I wish I had more of.  I suspect that I’ll have to make a trip out to Kansas City to see them both before too long.

The next group of folks that I have to thank for making me feel appreciated are the entire Polcyn family.  I knew that Grady (@gradypolcyn) was a stand up guy but I had no idea his parents, sister, aunt and girlfriend were all at the same quality of character.  Massive thanks to Glen (@bgfinancial), Becki, Grady, Paris (@parispolcyn), Jessie and Chantel for making me feel like family the entire time we were in Vegas.  I can’t wait to hang out with each of you again and I’ll be crushed if I have to wait until the next Vemma convention.

The final person who I’ve looked forward to interacting with over the last couple of weeks is none other than a member of the RenMen crew, Grant Peelle (@grantpeelle, renmenshow.com).  It’s amazing to me how much I’ll do to help people who I think are hustling. Every time I receive a DM from Grant or I finally pin him down on the phone I feel like I help bring in to focus the social media puzzle just a little bit more for both him and his and Alan’s (his business partner) entire organization. Such a satisfying feeling knowing that he’s not only seeking my counsel but then immediately putting it to work for his business.  I get the sense that he’s feeling like this is a one way street though where he’s constantly taking from our interaction and I won’t hesitate to say this publicly: Grant you’re teaching me how it’s possible to be actively be involved in many different businesses simultaneously.  The Big Bang Dueling Piano bar has a location out there in the C-Bus that I haven’t been to yet….we might have to resolve that soon as part of me swinging out there to hang for a bit.

Who are you grateful for either entering your life or stepping up in a more meaningful way since 2010 started? Leave a comment, @ reply or email me if you’re not quite ready to share that information publicly.

Barring the last three days which have been absolutely crazy (and will require me to go back and write more substantive posts) I am going to call the 30 in 30 for January a huge success and the numbers show that.  This more than anything proves that the idea of hustle and creating any content on a regular basis can grow an audience.

Are there some things I would do differently if I were to do it again? You bet. Has this experiment changed the way I think about blogging? No doubt. Will it affect my future behavior on this blog? Without question.  Should be fun to move this one in a direction that hopefully will help both you guys get value and get to know me a bit better.

There are a number of books in this space that I could have  (and may subsequently do) written reviews of.  Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely and Influence by Robert Cialdini were key to my studies outside the classroom.  That stated I look time and again at the content I regularly consume and except for football (yes, the European version) psychology plays a huge role in what I watch.  I mean seriously how many times can I watch episodes of Dragon’s Den (or Shark Tank) or The Dog Whisperer and not see the changes being made.

Here’s the interesting part: even though I know the game it doesn’t mean I’m not susceptible to it.  And now for the shocking part, neither are you.  The next time you race off to Amazon (or even a real life book retailer) don’t hesitate to pick up a book on perception or education because you never know how important seeing someone else’s frame and pitching content to them in the way they can most easily process it may make a huge difference.

This was a response I received to a tweet I sent out asking for content ideas because I want to make this more about helping others rather than simply reflecting on my own thoughts over my final week of 30 in 30.  First off, Kelly, thank you for your input.

The quick answer is yes, I get down and you’d be shocked how often it happens.  A single thing in a day can go wrong and that can be it for me, I’m off the rails.  I guess that’s part of what makes me so interested in entrepreneurs because they constantly seem to be hitting walls and coming back for more.  There are four primary things I do when I get down though to get back on track:

1) Eat an great meal.

I normally eat pretty poorly and getting an awesome meal at a restaurant I love can make me feel 10x better in an hour.  I won’t go out and grab a 1500 calorie monster meal either.  If you see me racing down to Chompie’s for a hot pastrami sandwich, Saigon Nites for some Broccoli Beef or the Penne with Chicken and Broccoli from the Fox Sports Grill you’ll know I’ve been down and am fighting to get back up.

2) Sleep

This is another one which does absolute wonders for me.  Maybe it’s because I’m constantly racing and doing 20 hour days but when things go bad, crawling into bed and going to sleep with no alarm clock can be a great reset.  Plus the symbolic deal of taking a shower afterward can be a huge plus.

3) Sing

If you spend any serious amount of time with me, my love for singing (and my past history with it) will come up.  I don’t know why it’s so incredibly cathartic for me but it is.  The interesting thing for me is the stuff I typically sing is not the type of music I typically listen to.  Most days you’ll find me at the office listening to some country songs but when I’m down and need to get going again, I race back to the boys with the biggest voices around, Michael Bublé and Josh Groban.

4) Eliminate what’s been getting me down

This is one that I think so many folks overlook.  If something is regularly getting you down, get rid of it, avoid it, or simply change your focus to those things you can put immediate wins on.  I suck at dating and I’m even worse as a boyfriend.  So instead of banging my head against that wall, for almost 7.5 years I simply didn’t date.  I broke that streak last year but now that I’m back on my own I am seriously going back to that frame for the remaining 2+ years that I initially set out for.  The same goes for business.  While I was a decent hack coder, my code wasn’t maintainable by anyone but me.  That being the case, it was easier for me and the organizations I worked or consulted for to simply stop having me code. Once I drop the thing that’s getting me down I’ll redirect that time and energy toward a project that has some immediate victories and quickly offset the down feeling I’m going through. 

That’s how I cope when things go wrong.  How about you? I would love to hear what you do to pick yourself up.

Over the course of the last few weeks I’ve been watching Leeds United (a third division English soccer club) play against some of the top clubs in the world in the FA Cup.  They’ve beat quite possibly the best team in the world (Manchester United) and forced a replay against Tottenham.  The heart of this team reminds me of something Coach Stewart taught me many years ago: Compete.

Nothing else matters when you go out, try your hardest and find someway to play up to those who you have no right to be competitive with.  Even when those games come around when you simply don’t have the arm (legs or bats) to win finding a way to simply be competitive can be enough to scare other teams into being scared to face you.  This psychological frame can be the difference between winning 9 or 16 games in an 18 game season and can be the difference between first and last place.  

This ideal of being competitive matched my own model of hustling and I think it shows in not only the quality of work I produce professionally but also the way I handle myself day to day.  There’s no one telling me I need to be speaking at universities across the western United States, producing a podcast to maybe 50 viewers a week or writing a book is the right thing for me to do.  It’s simply my own way of hustling and being competitive even if it’s with no one else but myself.  I think this idea of being competitive is why I have no fear in cold calling company’s CEO or negotiating million dollar deals.  I simply believe that I can be competitive in these arenas and therefore find a way to be so.  

So how do you become competitive?  How do you measure yourself and your growth?

I know there are a lot of student that I’ve spoken to reading my content and here’s my recommendation to you: Find what you care about and then find some way to compete in that field.  

How did I end up with so much content?  Well to be honest I love the people who’s content I consume.  Leo Laporte, basically anything from Revision3, Andrew Warner and his Mixergy project, Carpool with Robert Llewellyn and so many more are packed with great information.  These folks are who I aspire to be some day way down the line.  

But why not just delete back episodes?  Simply put there’s good information there and it seems incredibly wasteful not to at least give it a listen.  My problem is that I can’t have two different word tracks running simultaneously.  Yes, me the dude who reads books at 350% normal speed can’t have more than one word track going at once.  So if I’m listening to a podcast I can’t be writing an email or even talking via IM.  It’s just too much information for me.

I normally get out of this mess by sitting down and making a content Saturday a content weekend where I consume as much of it as I possibly can until it hurts and then some.  Sure it’s not the most elegant solution but it’s the one that makes me happiest even though I know I’m not retaining as much of this critical info as I can be.  Will I get through it all? Not a chance.  Can I get through a lot of it and delete the rest? I’ll have to because the next 10 days doesn’t look like it’s going to give me the time to consume all of this.  

Maybe I’ll go on Tim Ferriss’ information diet in February and see how not reading blogs or listening to podcasts affects my productivity and level of success.  Time for another experiment I think.  

How do you handle content backlogs like your DVR and podcasts?  Do some shows simply not make the cut? How do you decide?

I’m not writing about this to simply toot my own horn but rather to show those of you out there who are students and just starting out building your brand online that it can take literally 1 article to launch you along an awesome growth path.  The article in question (5 internet tools you should be using (but probably aren’t)) is now responsible for almost 35% of my total unique visitors this month and has doubled my number of page views.  Those are massive numbers from an article that took me less than 15 minutes to write.  

The words of Gary V come back to me time and time again “content is king but marketing is queen and we all know who runs the household.” In this case, I created something that was light hearted and fun while insightful and pushed it out to some 1200+ twitter followers only to be featured on another corporate-style blog.  If you think for a second that this isn’t going into a brag book of sorts to prove that not only can I do this kind of marketing for clients and companies I’m working for but also for my hardest client (me) you’d be mistaken.  

Being genuine and transparent is key and even though I’ve known that for quite some time I’m finding now more than ever that putting it out there completely without hesitation (warts and cheesy jokes included) is finding me some kind of audience.  Where I’m trying to take this blog long term, who knows, but it sure is fun writing to you guys and getting the great comments I have.  

I can’t say it enough, thanks for being so supportive in helping me show this much more publicly