The View from Perfect

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on October 20, 2009
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Last time, I mentioned that there is always a perspective available from which everything is perfect.  Let me show it to you.

It’s perfect that I’ve spent a month, six customer service calls, four SIM cards, and still don’t have my phone number transferred to the new provider, because:
I needed the practice in dealing with frustration.
It’s helped me find other ways to connect with my clients.
Who wouldn’t want that story to tell?

It’s perfect that our beloved cat Pumpkin became terminally ill and suffering, because:
We learned to practice compassion for her, even when it was hard.
We had a chance to experience our values around life and death.

It’s perfect that we miss Pumpkin and grieve her, because:
It connects us to the human experience.
It helps us appreciate what we lost and what we have.

It’s perfect that the sun is rising on another day in Las Cruces, because:
Just as Doug says, it is another day in paradise.

All of life is a gift.  Its ups and downs, joys and frustrations need never have existed.  Death, too, is a gift.

How do you find this perspective?  One short-cut is this question:  ask yourself “How is this perfect?”  Thanks to my sister Martha Beck life coaches Michele Woodward and Amy Johnson for sharing their experience with this.

Another way is to read books from authors who understand this.  I’ve just begun looking at the works of Esther and Jerry Hicks, and they have clues.  I’d also like to recommend A Thousand Names for Joy by Byron Katie, who lives in that perspective, and Elements of Poker, by Tommy Angelo, who has found how all the stress of poker is perfect.

Finding the perfect in everything gives comfort and peace.  I know.  I’ve needed it.  So I will end this with thanks to my life coach, Dee Carrell.  Dee’s coaching has been by far the most supportive and powerful way for me to find this perspective.

Writing Tip

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Try on the habits of other writers, and remain flexible.

The methods writers use for writing vary a lot.  Some write at a specific time - morning evening or noon - some in a particular place, some wherever and whenever they can.  If you read about a system that sounds intriguing, give it a try.  You may discover a clue to your own unique way of writing.

Small Steps

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“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Neil Armstrong, as he placed the first footprint on the Moon.

This issue’s Small Step for Space:  Prepare an exhibit for the USA Science Festival.

The organizers of a successful science fair in San Diego want to put on a national science festival in Fall 2010.  They are seeking exhibitors.  The goal is to excite school children about science.  Find more details at http://www.usasciencefestival.org/

Writing Tip

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Plan to join National Novel Writing Month.  This is an annual social event, where a growing number of writers attempts to write a 50,000 word novel in the thirty days of November.  The emphasis is on quantity, not quality.  It’s a beautiful exercise to help you adjust your perfect-o-meter.  I completed the challenge in 2003, and it improved my writing significantly.

Book Recommendation

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Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman

Brief Lives is my favorite volume of the graphic novels collecting the seventy-five issues of Sandman.  Recently when our cat died, I reread Brief Lives and found it comforting.  In graceful word and pictures, with rich allusions and beautifully observed dialogue, it tells of the story of how two persons named Dream and Delirium go looking for their missing brother Destruction.  How did Neil Gaiman become so wise?

The Perfect-O-Meter

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on October 6, 2009
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I often hold myself to high standards.  I like to do things well.  I like to send out email without typos and craft my sentences to suit my audience and ride the asymptomatic line ever farther towards the truth.

Then sometimes, I don’t.

See, I have a perfect-o-meter with an adjustable dial.  It has its usual setting, and drifts back to it if I let it go.  I can also crank it up and crank it down.

Here are some situations where I crank it up:

When I’m working for a client whose own perfect-o-meter is set high.
When I want to make something that will last.
When I want to impress someone.
When I take pleasure in attending to the details.

Here are some situations where I crank it down:

When I want to meet a deadline.
When I have a client who wants to save time or money.
When the work needs only to fill a short-term need.
When my internal compass says this is all I can do now.

Editing is like building lighter bicycles.  If you have an average bicycle, you can shave an ounce off its weight for a few dollars.  If you have a high performance bicycle, you can shave an ounce off its weight for a hundred dollars.  If you have a world class bicycle, to further lighten it without losing performance costs thousands of dollars.  Each point of improvement costs more than the last one - whether you are taking ounces off a bicycle or polishing a piece of writing.  This is called the law of diminishing returns, and it applies to a lot of situations.

If you are a world-class bicyclist, having a world-class bicycle is worth a big investment.  If you are commuting to class, it’s not.  What’s good enough depends on the circumstances.

My adjustable perfect-o-meter serves me well.  It lets me meet each situation appropriately.

And one more thing - there is always a perspective available for which everything is perfect, exactly as it is.

May you freely find the perfect-o-meter setting that best serves you in every situation.

Anna

Small Steps

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“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Neil Armstrong, as he placed the first footprint on the Moon.

This issue’s Small Step for Space: Watch the broadcast from the space station this Friday.

Guy LaLiberte, founder of Cirque de Soleil, is orchestrating a broadcast from the space station and multiple locations on Earth in support of Water for All.  Check out how space can bring attention to good causes — and prove it does!   Details at:  www.onedrop.org

Book Recommendation

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Embers of Humanity by Anna Paradox

This is the novel I completed for National Novel Writing Month 2003. I was surprised at how well-formed it was. It’s available as a $3 e-book on my website. Caution: it does contain explicit sex, the possible demise of the human race, and an entire chapter about shoes. I have corrected the typos, and otherwise left it unedited. So, it serves as an example of one possible setting on my perfect-o-meter - and as an example of how lowering the setting let me write a full novel in just thirty days.

Making Persistence Easy

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on September 15, 2009
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“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. … Persistence and determination are omnipotent.” Calvin Coolidge

The other half of success through small steps is persistence. A small effort, expended daily, adds up to a huge result.

This is great news for those of us who sometimes have only a little time or energy to spare in each day. It’s also great news for those who want to accomplish large projects. Like Rome, books and businesses and weight loss and world change are not completed in a day. In many cases, a small action, repeated, is not only easier than doing a whole project at once - it is the only way to complete the project at all.

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” Benjamin Franklin

If you find the thought of persisting discouraging, I have great news for you. We used to think that persistence came from personal willpower. The greatly persistent - who held a goal with unwavering courage - had some type of moral fiber that let them do it. They became great because they started with the attitude and skills that let them persist.

That may still be true. The determination to persist is a useful attitude.

And we also now have a technology to make persistence easy. Like many valuable discoveries, it has been refined through games. Game makers want their customers to enjoy their games, and keep playing them. So they have been looking for the elements that entice people to persist in playing games. Recently, they’ve put words around these discoveries, and begun calling them “addictive game design”.

Two of the elements of addictive game design are: small rewards frequently and larger rewards infrequently.

Can you see how you could incorporate those elements into some task you wish to persist in?

Martha Beck’s book The Four-Day Win illustrates this process for the goal of weight loss. Check it out for inspiration for any goal. Another approach is to work with a life coach. The coach can help you structure your goals into small steps with small and large rewards along the way. For many, the hour of having the full attention of the coach is a reward in itself.

May you easily persist in the actions that lead to your unique greatness.

Anna

Small Steps

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on September 15, 2009
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“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Neil Armstrong, as he placed the first footprint on the Moon.

This issue’s Small Step for Space:  Become a space entrepreneur.

Check out the history of Jeff Greason for inspiration. It’s available here: http://tinyurl.com/qpfw2b

Notice that his education is a B.S. in electrical engineering, and that his previous work was as an Intel engineer.  Then, after two years at a rocket company, he co-founded his own business in 1999.  Ten years later, XCOR Aerospace is profitable and influential.  It can be done.