What’s YOUR Pixie Dust?

My kids are all grown up now (gulp), so it’s been a while since I read Peter Pan, but I have to say:  I always loved the story.  The thought that you could sprinkle a little pixie dust on something and it would magically work, always intrigued me.

I thought about this the other day when I was on my way to lunch with Jake, one of my partners, because I swear that one of our supervisors has pixie dust.

Jake was wondering what it was that made it possible for this great supervisor, let’s call her Sue, to leverage her abilities so that multiple folks, working all at the same time on different assignments, always get their jobs done and done right.

While we were talking, I realized that Sue and her team could produce an incredible volume of work with really very little time involvement on Sue’s part.  Others, in her same position, have been unable to be this effective.  

So what’s the difference?

Pixie dust.

Sue sprinkles pixie dust on everything that she touches.  Just like Tinkerbelle leaves a trail of pixie dust behind her, Sue leaves a comment here, a compliment there, a suggestion here, and by spreading her pixie dust as she goes, her subordinates can fly.

Her ability to approach her team in ways that inspire them to get the job done is her pixie dust.

Dan Sullivan of The Strategic Coach coined the term “Unique Ability” many years ago to describe the one thing everyone has that allows them to be incredibly productive, energizing and impactful on the world around them.  

I write about Unique Ability in my book, Say Hello to the Elephants.

Well, now that I’m old and soft (except for my physique, which is now svelte like a rock star), I prefer to call this “pixie dust.” Emotionally, pixie dust is the phrase that really describes just how special your Unique Ability is.

I believe that we all have pixie dust. If you think about your day, where do you shine?  What can you do that produces superior results and impacts people in a way that others cannot replicate?

This is probably your pixie dust.  

I know that you have pixie dust, and you have to find it if you want to leverage that unique thing to make yourself happier and more prosperous.  

Successful people have identified what their pixie dust is and have used it to help them in their vocations.  

I have my own pixie dust, and it has helped me live a life that is magical.  Not to be cheesy (okay, I’m going to be cheesy), but pixie dust has allowed me to fly.

Pixie dust is your unique, intellectual capital. It represents the confluence of what you know and deploy in a way that others cannot.

So how do you find your pixie dust? Here’s step one…

Sit down where it is quiet and list all the things that you do.  Separate these things into four categories:

Things I do well.

Thinks I’m okay at.

Things I do very well...and...

OMG! I’m so good at this it would make your head explode!

That fourth column is where you will find 
your pixie dust.

If you need more help finding your pixie dust, check out the Unique Ability chapter in Say Hello to the Elephants.

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ARE YOU A SCARCICIST?

Whoa!  That’s the scariest cyst I’ve ever seen!

Oh, wait. I got confused. I’m not talking about scary nodules. I’m talking about people who have elevated topic of SCARCE-ness to a mantra …

A scarcicist.

To be clear, we hear scarcicists all of the time.

“If only we stopped this or that we would have enough of that of this.”

We hear this everyday from candidates on the campaign trail. We hear it from the talking heads and the pundits on the 24-hour news cycles. We hear that naughty corporations are to blame for using up all the stuff like plants, trees, land, air, water, gold, silver, zinc, oranges, apples, superheroes, clouds, etc.

We hear about all the evil countries stealing all the things from people.

We dare not keep using “stuff” and “things” because pretty soon we will be plum out of it!

Several weeks ago, Dan Sullivan, the strategic coach for entrepreneurs, sent me an email recommending that I read Abundance by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler. The book points out that rather than living in a world of scarcity, we are actually in an age of abundance.

Some say we are straining the world’s resources, daring Mother Earth to burst at the seams, so you know what I say?

We now have a war raging between the scarcicists and what I will call “The Abundance Bunch®.” ( I am trademarking this name so don’t even try it).

Scarcicists tend to believe that things are finite. They believe that if you get something, I won’t get something.  If something is used, nothing will be left to take its place. They also tend to believe that the distribution of resources are allocated unfairly. They want outside rules put in place to assure fair distribution.

The Abundance Bunch® thinks differently. They believe that human innovation and new technologies will create WHAT we need WHEN we need it. If demand exists for something that is limited in supply, something will come around to fill the hole. Ingenuity will always triumph. Lastly, the connectivity of our world through technology will enable the sharing of thoughts and capabilities in such a manner that any challenge is surmountable.

You might be thinking this sounds a little hokey. You must also think that The Abundance Bunch is a horrible name. You are wrong on both counts. First off, great name. You are all just jealous you didn’t think of it first.

Secondly, I just think that all of us have a choice. We can wring our hands, blame everyone else, and wait for others to fix what ails us …

Or we can be a support-mechanism that creates a brighter and bigger future.

When you think about it, The Abundance Bunch® will never be below-the-liners (The Oz Principle - see my blog from March, The Dirty Word). They are looking for ways to impact and influence.

Today, I challenge you to join The Abundance Bunch®. No scarcicists allowed! 

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Procrastination: It’s Like Wearing White on Labor Day, but Worse

6:30 pm. Omg. When was the last time I trimmed my ear hairs?

6:48 pm: I think I need a little break. There’s definitely a wall that needs staring at.

7:11 pm: Staring at walls is not nearly as fulfilling as you might think.

Okay, I’m clearly procrastinating … I must right this blog. I must.

Procrastinating is evil. It’s also insidious, which makes it double evil. It’s a lot more dangerous than other evils (like wearing white after Labor Day) because it isn’t always obvious.

On face value, procrastination seems like one of the sillier things that we do to ourselves.  We could do the task at hand and get it out of the way and then be able to go about our business of plucking ear hairs and staring at walls. But it never seems to work out that way … 

Excuse me, I have to go lie down for a second.

7:53 pm: Damn you, procrastination. But it’s totally true … most of us put off these simple tasks (like writing a blog) so that they blow up and bigger and bigger and become a huge stress in our lives—so stressful, in fact, that we spend so much energy worrying about what we have put off that we don’t do anything productive with the time we have “freed up” by procrastinating.

(Really worried I’m not going to finish this blog. It’s making me exhausted … Think I’m going to watch America’s Got Talent. Be right back)

9:07: I can’t believe they voted them off!

Oh, right …  Procrastination continues to create pain for much longer time than the pain of getting it done in the first place. Dan Sullivan, the great mentor of The Strategic Coach, says that when you have something difficult you need to do, and you know that it’s going to be painful, you have two choices.

1)      You can either have a long, slow pain that will constantly be there, or

2)      You can have a fast, possibly worse pain—a pain that will then go away.

Procrastination ties into perseverance. We have to persevere and ignore the devil on our shoulder telling us to procrastinate. Things never take care of themselves, and they usually snowball into a bigger mess that takes longer to clean up than it would have by just doing it in the first place.

Man, I really want to finish this but I just realized I haven’t gotten the mail yet. One sec.

9:30 pm: You would never guess what came in the mail? My subscription to Field & Stream.  Love that new equipment section.  I can’t believe the innovation in duck calls.

Wait … where was I?

Today’s challenge: Persevere through the work you have in front of you. By getting it done today, you give yourself permission to have a great day tomorrow. Start with the first thing, get that done and go to the next. 

You have the satisfaction of taking something from point a to point b. You won’t have the constant feeling you get when you procrastinate. Get into the habit of doing this for yourself and for your clients. It might be painful at first, but it’s better than having constant pain. Feel the joy of progress!

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The Fifth Element

It has been quite a while since I published my last blog. The Summer and Fall go so fast that I forgot to think. Publishing this blog helps me do just that. It helps me think!

Dan Sullivan, the creator of the terrific executive coaching program, Strategic Coach, discusses what he call four common referability standards. I believe them to be actually four reliability factors. These are just as essential in business as they are in everyday life, which is why I have instilled these qualities and characteristics in my children.

• Be on time.
• Say please and thank you.
• Do what you say you are going to do.
• Finish what you start.

What's that? You ask. Those are only four?

Everybody calm down. I’ve added a fifth: Think before you act.

I tell this to my children all the time. (If only I had to say it once, how much more blissful life would be!) This fifth element applies just as much to my business associates as it does to my children—and to me. Actions have consequences. And not anticipating those consequences can make them inherently more dire.

Take the somewhat famous (or infamous) tale of a gentleman from Fort Sumner, New Mexico, who attempted to get rid of a pesky mouse. Once he caught the vermin, he threw it into a pile of burning leaves outside. The mouse, on fire, ran out from under the pile of leaves and back into the man’s house.

The poor mouse was destroyed. But if it is any consolation to you mouse-lovers, the house was destroyed as well. A clear case of not thinking ahead. The man was hell-bent on killing the mouse (in a despicable way). He did not anticipate the mouse would be momentarily alive, capable of running. He most certainly did not anticipate the mouse would be capable of running back into the house and lighting it on fire as well. And because he failed to acknowledge this possibility before throwing the mouse into a pile of burning leaves, he was consequently out one house.

Things go much better when you think ahead. Ask Tracy Porter of the New Orleans Saints. Some time ago, he picked off Peyton Manning and ran it back for a game-winning touchdown in the Superbowl. This wasn’t luck. Peyton Manning’s Colts ran their favorite play, a pass to the outside receiver. They had run this play a number of times during the game, and during the season. Tracy Porter knew there was a good chance they would run the play again. He anticipated and placed himself in the perfect spot for the interception. In his case, the consequences of his actions led to a Superbowl victory.

He thought before he acted.

So you decide.

Would you rather win a Superbowl or have a mouse burn your house down?

That’s what I thought. And speaking of thinking — of thinking ahead, in particular — you cannot run a successful business without anticipating what is around the corner. You might not always be right, but you will always be prepared. And being prepared will allow you to more readily adapt even when circumstances are not what you expected. Simply being reactionary to whatever events unfold is a sure-fire way to run your business into the ground. Time and time again, you will get caught blind-sided and be unable to deal with the crisis at hand. And if there’s one thing that’s for certain—one thing that does not require much forethought—there will be a crisis or two.

Beware: I’m getting ready to go off on a tangent.

Because thinking is The Fifth Element when it comes to reliability factors, and The Fifth Element is a fine science-fiction film staring Bruce Willis, let’s take another example of thinking ahead from a cinematic classic starring Bruce. In Die Hard, Bruce Willis is running all over Nakatomi Plaza battling terrorists. When he meets Hans, the ringleader, Hans acts like a frightened escaped hostage. Bruce tells him to relax, even handing him—the ringleader!—a gun.

Bruce Willis in "Die Hard"

Now everyone in the audience is yelling at the screen: “Don’t do it, Bruce! That’s the bad guy! Nooooo!”

Bruce turns his back and Hans tries to shoot him. But, surprise surprise, Bruce gave him an empty gun.

“You think I'm a shmuck, Hans?” Bruce says, as the audience breathes a sigh of relief.

Bruce thought before he gave Hans the gun. He thought: Should I give this guy a gun? I don’t know him. He could be a bad guy. I’ll give him an empty gun. If Bruce gave Hans a loaded gun and turned his back, that would have been the end of the Die Hard franchise and the title would have to be changed to Die Easy.

Before making momentous decisions involving the path your business is about to take, thoroughly examine all the potential outcomes for your decision. Think, if I do A, then B, C, and D might happen. You’re probably hoping for a particular outcome. But since there are no guarantees in life, simply operating on hope is just too risky. Consider what would happen if options C or D came to pass. Maybe these are less desirable options, maybe they are downright unacceptable—in which case perhaps not taking a certain action is the best possible scenario.

If you do go through with a specific plan, you need to also have specific plans ready for the possibility of things going wrong. That way, if things do take a turn for the worse, you can immediately go into action. You can say to yourself and your colleagues, “We thought this might happen, here’s what we need to do now.”

Having a plan of action in advance also allows for you and your colleagues to be more calm, in greater command when the — um — poker chips hit the fan. A lot of times, going into panic mode simply stokes the flames of a crisis. The ability to stay calm and keep a clear head is vital. And this cannot be done unless someone has planned ahead, has thought before they acted, has anticipated, and was prepared. In business, be a boy scout. Be prepared!

Today’s challenge:

Play a game of chess. Or learn how to play! No other game teaches you to think before you act like the game of chess.