All the founders that pitched did a wonderful job. Great energy in that room. Thanks to Daniel and the team at CENTRO for hosting the event. Congratulations to the winners! https://roundrockchamber.org/round-rock-chamber-start-up-pitch-competition-winners/
This is a very exciting initiative and I look forward to welcoming many more defense industry companies to the city.
https://roundrockchamber.org/round-rock-chamber-announces-new-defense-innovation-fund/
The sound of a dog barking in the background – most of us have experienced it on a conference call. A neighbor’s lawn mower or even my own family’s lawn mower has provided a dull buzz for many of my calls. Many of us have been gifted with the occasional toilet flush from an “unmuted” meeting participant. These breaches of conference call etiquette are well satirized on the internet.
But now we have our entire family at home with us. Maybe there are 2 working parents and 3-4 kids trying to do online school all at the same time. It’s a somewhat stressful time/space deconfliction exercise that is going on all over the world.
One of the beneficial side effects of the work from home requirement during this pandemic is the opportunity for all of us to meet our co-workers’ families.
That introduction might be accidental and not completely appreciated such as this video that went viral a number of year ago. https://youtu.be/Mh4f9AYRCZY
I would encourage all of us to welcome such “distractions” and introduce our family to our co-workers. Put the little ones on your lap and let them wave to your team over a zoom call. Let them tell your team about their day and what they have planned.
Another benefit to this new operating environment is the chance for your children to see you “at work.” I know in some of my roles I have found it difficult to explain to one of my children what it is I do all day at work. This week my 3 kids go back to school after a 2 week spring break and I am encouraging my older 2 to do their school work with me in my home office. I am sure it won’t be a perfect environment for me or for them, but that is ok.
If you start to get frustrated with your home office / family situation please remember this…
Somewhere in your community there is a single mother of 4 kids under the age of 10. Her occupation is 3rd grade teacher. Maybe she is the teacher of one of your kids. Her new reality is teaching online to her 20+ students while supporting the learning of her own children. And you thought your situation was challenging…
Finished 2/11/20 – 240 Pages
My Medium feed is full of articles that capture portions of the practical advice that this book offers. Very quick read, but very useful. Many of these tips I have tried in the past and many have been part of my daily practice for years. I really like the justifications that Jocelyn offers up for implementing the practices. It gives me a renewed energy to implement these strategies.
A great section in the book is on how to say no to commitments via email or other communication channels. She has lots of helpful templates and examples.
Many of her insights feel pretty logical when you read them, but the thing to remember about email and other tools of modern work life is that they are similar to social media in that they provide a shot of dopamine related to a sense of accomplishment. “Processing email” makes us feel productive, but it most cases it isn’t actually helping us progress towards our goals. There are obviously some email interactions and digital interactions that do move projects forward but the key is limiting as much as possible all the ones that don’t. This book is full of tips on how to do that.
Finished 2/8/20 – 641 Pages
This is only the 3rd book that I have finished in 2020. I have been reading a lot of different non-fiction books at the same time and haven’t made a lot of progress in any of them.
This book by Nelson DeMille is another one in the John Corey series. I got into these books after running out of Daniel Silva novels to read.
John Corey is as politically incorrect as they come, but the books are entertaining from an Action/Adventure point of view. I know very little about Yemen geography and history and although this book doesn’t get into a ton of Yemen detail it did give me enough to spark my interest in learning more. In an effort to learn a bit more about Yemen history and culture I have added the following 2 books to my “To Read” List.
Back to the Blog….
It has been over 2 years since I followed the advice I have given many times. When talking with friends and acquaintances I often encourage them to write, to publish, to get out there with their ideas. I have read many blog posts and many books that encourage such action as a way to build a practice of exploring your own thinking, but for way to long I have been giving in to “The Resistance” as Steven Pressfield calls it.
I read a great article yesterday while sitting at my daughter’s swim meet that got me motivated once again.
https://link.medium.com/cIM9QrtIU3
The article mentions the power of compound interest of writing which makes a lot of sense to me and is something I believe in greatly when it comes to reading.
I have restarted my journaling practice inside of the DayOne Journaling app and am enjoying the interface and the reflections that it encourages. It’s such an easy app to engage with and the design is sharp.
And although my reading practice really hasn’t taken a sabatical like my writing practice did, what I haven’t been good at lately is reflecting on what I am reading and harvesting the lessons from my reading. I aim to change that…
I have been on a bit of a family health focus with my reading lately.
I’ve always been a fan of Kelly Starrett and his mobility practice, but I really enjoyed this article about taking a contrarian approach to raising a family as it relates to sports, fitness and movement. Committing to an hour of “play” a day seems like an impossible task given kids over scheduled lives these days. I suspect it is very similar to sleep in that investing in it has a greater return on investment then the time allotted to it.
Bonmaten,
Greeting of the day in Creole because on this day in 1718 hundreds of French Colonists arrived in Louisiana and founded New Orleans. If they hadn’t been brave enough to settle that mosquito-infested land many years ago we all would have missed out on beignets at Cafe Du Monde.
TED Talk that you need to watch!
Why you should define your fears instead of your goals
I think this is possibly the best 12-minute time investment you can make today outside of spending time with your family. I’ve been a student of the Stoics for many, many years. This video is a great explanation of the misconceptions of Stoicism. It also provides ways to implement some of the ideas.
Do you have an open door?
I totally agree with this concept from the article Why My Door is Always Open, “…communication and transparency leads to trust and trust leads to speed.” The leaders I’ve respected the most are the ones that are transparent about the challenges the team faces, no matter how scary or overwhelming those challenges might be.
Are you an Amateur or a Professional?
A while back I shared a blog post from Steven Pressfield on what it means to be a professional. I think this article, The Difference Between Amateurs and Professionals, is a nice expansion of the topic. One of my favorite parts – “Amateurs believe that the world should work the way they want it to. Professionals realize that they have to work with the world as they find it.” The quoted concept has been very relevant for me recently in my career. Hopefully, it is a relevant reminder for you too.
A book that I am currently enjoying:
I’ve liked every book that I’ve read by David McCullough and I’m a pretty big fan of Teddy Roosevelt. If you’re a fan of Teddy or that period of history, I’d highly recommend you pick up this book.
Quote, that makes me wonder if I’m ever really thinking…
“A great many people think they are thinking when they are only rearranging their prejudices.”
— William James
Have a great weekend!
Brandon's Blog 