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Learn To Work

By Filed Under: Achieving Goals

This was the year I really learned what it means to work hard.

I mean with real intensity.

I’ve always put the hours in – and then some. But, at the same time, I’ve always dabbled at work. I’ve put hours in without putting much more than that in.

All my life – all of it – I have coasted. I have done the minimum effort, and tried to make up by spending more time in it.  It’s easy to spot the places in business where coasting is allowed, where it doesn’t take much to shine.  Real Estate. Some sales jobs.  A lot of my life’s effort was bent on chasing the dream of not doing much work .

This is why Rich Dad, Poor Dad sells a ton of books.  We’re meant to believe that we’re just missing some easy trick.  Riches elude us because we just need a few “tweaks” or “hacks”.  You know, our bellyfat can be removed with one weird tip.  Searching for a fake hack is easier than doing real work.

We try to optimize our systems with GTD instead of becoming the right person or doing the right things.

The difference this year – for me – wasn’t the hours – they were fewer than last year (when I made about half the money and built nothing of lasting value).  The difference was the intensity.

I’m not yet a success, and I’m not going to pursue any type of personal brand. But what I did learn is this – and if it helps you, Godspeed.

  1. Talk way, way less. To your wife, to your friends. Make your kids shut up. It’s good for both of you. Talking includes IM and and the rest of it.  Spend the time…
  2. Reading books is huge- it makes you better by getting you outside of yourself. 60 minutes a day is a minimum for a busy day.  You have the time. 60 minutes a day is a hard book every 2 weeks. Alternate fiction and nonfiction.  To much of either is a drag, and most nonfiction stinks.
  3. Understand that doing it differently is way hard.  There’s a roadmap to mediocrity if that’s what you want.
  4. STOP the self congratulations.  Don’t allow it. It’ll wreck ya.
  5. Distractions steal your time.  Time is your life. Skype, RSS, blogging.  Look into RescueTime and figure out how you spend your screen-time
  6. Reduce the number of tools: Some are redundant and others are distractions.
  7. Your natural work rhythm is important.  Learn it, when you have energy. Do your best work then. (For me, it’s about an hour after I wake up and then I get energy around 9pm.)
  8. Remove indignation from your life.
  9. People are Jerks: Generally speaking. You have to work with them. That means that you have to lubricate things and anticipate what people will be thinking or doing.
  10. Eliminate: people that steal your soul, act patronizing.
  11. You need a place to get your thoughts into. Evernote and MacJournal are mine. (Hint: with evernote trunk running in the background, you can hit CMD-CTRL-N and have a note window pop up for later)
  12. Needing Approbation will kill you slowly and painfully.  You won’t get a victory lap.
  13. Indulging your wicked tongue: never helps you. That nasty remark, whate
  14. Cultivate: gratitude for your position.  Reading this blog means that you’re profoundly lucky.
  15. Cultivate:  benign indifference towards most people’s opinions.
  16. Don’t spend time managing complex GTD systems. You need to have a place for todo lists and that’s about it.
  17. Prepare in advance for repetitive tasks.
  18. Connect Daily with people you admire.
  19. Have a bad-ass dream and work to achieve it.

This is the best I can do. It’s what I learned this year. Next year, I hope to learn more.

My Footprint

By Filed Under: Application, Sales

I was happy, not long ago, to report that I had had 3 workstations:

  • “the big” imac to deal with video. (28″ with a dual monitor setup, loads of space).
  • a mac mini standup desk (and 30″ monitor) to deal with customer contact.
  • a white macbook for “writing.”

This was 3 workstations for just me. I wasn’t making a ton of money.  I was a poseur, hopped up on lists, GTD and other kludges that simply aren’t generally good ideas.  I wanted to be this serial entrepreneur.  All I was doing was spinning my wheels, reinventing my productivity systems time and time again.  I had it all: google notebook, evernote, Jott.

I had my own office, a place with my company name on the door that cost $1,000 a month or more, walking distance from my place.

All these tools. None of them necessary.

Fact is there was nothing that I did that needed to be “managed.”  I would have been infinitely more productive had I just gone to where I was drawn.  I kept thinking that this next tech gadget would be the one that recreated me. That saved me.  That changed things. That made me thin, happy, and rich.

Thing is, I was human sprawl. I was going wider without attacking real problems. I spent hours on productivity overhead, and before I could start to work, I had this convoluted system to manage.

Now, I’m making more money than I have in my life, I have a more stable business, and I’m happier.

My whole business fits in a small bag, on a 13″ macbook air.  I have an iPad for pitching. I have a PO Box for getting my mail.  I use things like Tout  and Batchbook. I could probably get  by without them just fine. I work from the back bedroom of my house, and the odd coffeeshop.  I do more real work than I did when I had these endless GTD lists.

I had a productivity apparatus that had become a one person bureaucracy where I barely had permission to get anything done ever.

There’s a lot of waste and failure points when you have a system with a ton of tools, and one that requires a ton of gear changes.

Now, it’s time to look at reducing my footprint in other areas:

  • What I wear
  • What I own
  • How I eat.
Being a “minimalist” is just as much of a sham as being a productivity junkie. They aren’t going to make any major changes. I have to figure it out though- I can always have less stuff. Fewer headaches.

A Preview: 8-15-09 I’ll have a course up.

By Filed Under: Business Building, selling/marketing

I’ve gotta do it.  Seriously.

I’ve been a real estate agent, and I know about a sales cycle that ends in the winter.  I know that business gets hardeer in the winter than it is during these delirious and delicious summer days.

Hell, I’ve gotta do it because Brian lit the path so well.

That course is excellent for copywriters, that book was excellent for people starting a business.   Buy the freelance X factor.  I did.  I also didn’t include an affiliate link there, because I don’t want anyone to be confused: buy it for your benefit, not mine.

So It’s Time To Create a Membership Course

I’m not a coder.  I’m not particularly good at writing.  I know a limited amount of PHP, and I use consumer level programs on my Mac.  Yet, I have security financially.  I have money coming in every day.  I don’t use PPC, and I don’t use anything that’s past twitter.  I know a small amount about SEO, but I’m no Wolf.

I’m making money despite this stuff.  I’m making money that has allowed me to take a $140k debt down to $35k in 19 months.  [Honesty box: we live in a hovel in the Midwest].

“It” is translating my hardscrabble sales skills into helping freelancers get clients.  I don’t consider myself a freelancer trainer, but what I did provides peace of mind.  I still have cash crunches, but I don’t have to take short cuts, I don’t have to lie cheat or steal.

“It” is ensuring that every freelancer knows what I know: that our security is only in our ability to provide service to others.

“It” is to create a membership site–a brief training class, say 12 weeks.  This will give people the playbook for how I got business last December.  How I’ll get more this December.    Time is moving fast, friends.   Time is the enemy of freelancers.

Getting into the “broke cycle” sucks.  You get confused.  You get screwed up.  I know.  I’ve been there.  I’ve been levied by the IRS, I’ve been knocked around hard.   Your mind doesn’t work, not at all, when you’ve gotta sweat your living.  Freelancers, those that are striking out a path deserve to have some light on it.

This Christmas can be a glut of consumerist anxiety spending, or this Christmas can be a celebration of peace and prosperity.  Your choice.

Stay tuned, put your name in the box to the right, and in about a week I’ll have the details.

Details Friday.

David Allen Named to Genuine Chris’s Board of Directors.

By Filed Under: Uncategorized

[Two weeks ago, I told you that I was going to be doing a Board of Directors post once a week.  Here's the first one.]

David Allen Named To Genuine Chris’s Fictitious Board of Directors.   GTD’s David Allen, author of  Getting Things Done has been added to Chris Johnson’s board of directors.   David is the source of inspiration for Chris Johnson as he forms businesses that make money, and gets tasks off of his plate.   Through his books, David has provided astounding value to Chris Johnson  as he moves into the freelancer sales space.

“Productivity doesn’t happen by itself” David was quotesd as saying. “Form and Function must match for maximum productivity.”

—

GTD was a godsend to me.  Last may, I was still a mortgage broker, I was starting my journey as a freelancer, and managing a few projects.   I had no clue, and I didn’t know ‘what next,’ about anything.   I started reading http://lifehacker.com right as it was turning into what Greg Swann calls a venderslut area. (I don’t fault them for it, it’s an AWESOME site, you just have to wade through a load of crap to get the good stuff).  They kept talking about GTD, and so I was naturally intrigued.

I got the book. I started rocking a moleskeine.   This was sometime in 2006ish, and it changed my life.  I handled more tasks better, I had more enegy, and the overwhelm was no longer there.

Organize.

Process

Review

Do.

I boiled it down to that, enough for massive improements.  And David Allen’s enlightened common sense approach helped me with that in a big way.  So, like everyone else, he’s on my “board of directors. “  It’s a totem ,a kludge, but I’ll tell you what, my office is organized.  More than it would be anyway.  And, for those of you that haven’t done this, please read the book today.

More to come, as I have to process stuff.

Perfectionism, Learning F–k Therapy.

By Filed Under: miscellany

Permission to think your thougths.  That’s what Teri called F–k Therapy, the new book that I’ve got coming out in just about 36 hours.  I’m excited about it because I’m proud of it.  I learned the mechanics of making an e-book with LO Survial guide (buy it because I AM taking it down).  This time, I’m going to learn how to promote it, as I go.  I’m excited about it.

Beyond the kitschy BS that we used to make, Steve and I gave every effort to make some good advice.   And it’s a blast, saying that your basement doesn’t need to look like Brutus Buckeye’s asshole, and making money doing it.  It’s going to be a blast promoting this over the holiday break, and doing what it it takes to sell this thing.  And it’s going to be a blast to do this.

Stay tuned compadres.  More f–king goodness is available.

Also–for those of you that read me, I’m going to give away the 1.0 and 2.0 stuff that gets me more freelance business than I cn handle.  I want to make sure that I keep freelancing alive and kickin’ and thus, in the sidebar is a way to get my e-book.  Yes, I want to build my mailing list, but yes, I also think that permission rented is permission destroyed.  So sign up, especially if you’re a freelancer.

Fun Little Link Post:

By Filed Under: Products, Projects and Process

First, for those of you that do this sort of thing:

www.chrisbrogan.com/if-i-started-today great post by the illustrious CB on what he’d do now.

Second:

DoFollow:  This builds your backlinks.  No substitute for mattering, but here we go:

http://seoimp.blogspot.com/2008/12/more-then-1000-dofollow-blogs.html

LifeHacker some time ago had a place to go to get your username on all sorts of blogs:

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/401713928/find-out-where-a-username-is-already-registered

Then Athol said g’bye.  I liked Athol.

Freelance Switch had a fab. post the other day: feedproxy.google.com/~r/FreelanceSwitch/~3/4GBo…

Ok, it was a month ago.

Remember Brother Jed?  He doesn’t show up in Reason very much, so here he is.

Andy Whiman’s taste is better than ours.  Here’s his list of good albums for 2008.  His blog is currently fantastic, mixing metaphysics, rock and roll and tech writing.

Precious and Abundant: Stealing Ideas is Obsolete

By Filed Under: Business Building, Start Here

Jonathan Fields got me thinking in this post:

http://www.jonathanfields.com/blog/steal-this-idea-im-begging-you/

Regarding ideas, he writes:

If it’s that good, people will try to knock it off the moment you gain any level of traction, notoriety or both. Maybe sooner. In fact, if they don’t, it just may speak to the fact that what you’ve got is either not nearly as cool as you think it is or you’re not able to communicate it’s coolness…

I know that people will steal ideas.  I steal ideas.   I work with great people at places like Lenderama and BHB and those folks throw off great ideas all the time.  For free.  For real, and they keep on doing it, all the time.  One of my synapses will fire a half formed idea, and then Tood or Greg or Pat will throw off some nugget that I didn’t know before.  And I’ll be enriched with thoughts and thought, and I’ll be able to do my job more effectively.  These ideas are given away for free.  All the time.

And they are precious.  Look–if we apply the lessons that are here already for the taking, we’re going to get so far ahead of the curve, so enriched, so smart, that we’ll never finish.   The value of Twitter is mostly that we see other brains having firing synapes together.  Ideas are everwhere, and they’re precious.  An idea to use a spammy plugin like FeedWordPress to create a non spammy blog network came out of a conversation.  Anyone can use it.  There you go.  It just requires putting it into use.

And there’s the rub, isn’t it?  We all know essentially, in broad strokes, what to do to to make life happen.  We know that we need to pick up the phone and call people, we know we need to connect, think, help, add value.   And yet, we find ourselves not executing because the next big idea is right around the corner.   Well, the next big thing…is simply executing what we do well already.  It’s taking the bull by the horns and getting things DONE and not started.  Execution is more profitable than shere creativity.

There is nothing staggeringly new about what’s happening now.  The best of what we do is about elegance, not novelty.  Facebook could have been twitter, could have kept twitter from happening.  They didn’t go that route.  Twitter could have been blogging.  Livejournal could have been WordPress.  Etc.  Etc.   All of those ideas were half thefts, and just SCAMPER type solutions.    What was different is execution.  There isn’t really an ‘information advantage’ out there right now that has a lot of meaning, except in the realm of execution, finishing projects, getitng things all the way done.

Even though they are abundant–ideas are precious.  Having what it takes to finish, to do, to be, to have whatever we seek…starts with being created in the mind.   Instead of fighting over who owns the knife, we should help one another grow a bigger pie.  Or mix a better metaphor.   All it takes is a realization that scarcity and value are different things.  In an abundant world, we can continue to freely throw off knowledge.  Hoarding knowledge is going to become a thing of the past.

How can we encourage others to think?

How can we encourage ourselves to think?

How can we continue to make sure ideas grow?

Planning for the Loss of Momentum On A Project.

By Filed Under: miscellany

According to Basecamp, I have 13 projects right now, in various stages of completion.   Everything from blogging work to setting up my long delayed personal website at http://rightrightnow.com (I’ve had more fun connecting with people here).   I have two ebooks I plan on getting out, and about 6 blogs do deliver for clients by the EOY.  It’s all manageable stuff, most of the work is waiting on feedback, and I have plausible reasons (people not calling me back) for most of the issues.

Problem is, some of the stuff has been going on for weeks, and it is a momentum killer.   We only have some limited amount of bandwidth and we can’t have umpteen half done projects waiting for us.  David Allen aptly puts out the notion that each unprocessed loop consumes some amount of psychic RAM that keeps us from doing things more effectively.  And this is true (though I’ve taken in a ton of work lately).   So–in addition to the planning that I do, I have to have an action plan for when a project loses momentum–what to do.

I don’t really know the answer for this.   Sometimes the client absorbs the energy and is the obstacle, sometimes it’s circumstances (and sometimes, it’s simply my fault).   A conscientious freelancer needs to have a plan in place for this stuff though.  It’s not really about ‘causing’ or ‘manifesting,’ the loss of momentum.   It’s about having a plan in place to ensure it never happens.   So…instead of phrasing it ‘planning for the loss of momentum.’  Let’s say ‘ensuring that projects go fast and well,’ and accounting for normality.

Here are thoughts on how to do it–none of them are exhaustive–or even complete.  This is more or less a brainstorm:

  • Acknowledge the issue proactively at the beginning of projects.  “We’re going to plan–in advance–for the BS that happens on projects…and do something about it.”
  • Financial Incentives: Clients can be motivated by money, and having an understanding that if we have to chase down documents, etc, etc, we charge more than if we don’t.  Making this explicit can help everyone get the deadline done faster.
  • Check in:  Schedule Check ins on your calendar periodically, and don’t accept reschedules.   Have a mutual commitment to one another.
  • Stay far far ahead of deadlines: This is way more important than you think–really.   If you stay out in front, then there no issues in that regard.

This is preventive.  When momentum is lost, what then:

  • Regroup ASAP.  Reschedule milestones and deadlines ASAP.
  • Try to abbreviate the remaining workdays till project delivery & focus on the ‘lost sheep.’
  • Have a ‘back on track’ plan written in advance for the major stuff you do frequently.
  • Deliver SOMETHING the day you recognize momentum is gone, daddy, gone…a milestone, anything.  Stop other projects till the last sheep is in the fold.

I think that’s it for now.

Big Damn Goal Post. Part 2, a Budget

By Filed Under: Achieving Goals
In my last post, I talked about establishing what my expenses were and having an income goal.
The income goal comes from what matters to me–it’s not some arbitrary number.   Let’s think about a budget and some debt service/debt retirement:

It’s not natural for me to do a few things: be organized, do a budget.  I’ve had to build all sorts of things to do both.  GTD works–my version (of which I’m off the wagon currently, and climbing on).   But, I need to really know what I’m doing with my dough.   See, I’ve pulled myself far out of a deep hole with well-over-six-figures in unsecured debt.  Now, I’ve got to get the rest of the way out so I’m able to take another title shot and eff it up again.

I’m organizing a budget, and the first thing I’m going to do is try to establish my minimum ‘burn rate,’ or the number that exists WITHOUT regard to debt service.   A car payment can be put off for some months without consequence.  Not so much a rent payment (folks, because I wanted to knock out my debt, I radically downsized a while ago.  The plan is working, and when our tiny place is clean, it’s fun, and we’re radically decluttering and making each of our possessions fight to stay owned by us.)

The goal is to know–first–what I’m spending.  No clue.  No clue at all.   I know I’m wasting a bunch of money that we can stop wasting.

Rent Payment    $800
Gas Bill    $120
Electric Bill    $140
Internet    $36
Verizon Cell Phone    $133
Health Insurance    $240
Food:    $420
Car Insurance    $40
Health Club    $32
Gas:    $200
Total: $2146

Now–I can prbably get the food down a little bit, if I had to, and if I was real disciplined about it, but that’s been close lately.   Let’s gross that up for taxes–assuming I’ll have a tax rate at this level of 35%, and we’re at  $2897, * 12 = $34,765 gone before anything else happens.   That’s pretty low, and that’s promising.

Most freelance budgets don’t account for taxes.  I’m using 35% to make up for state and federal taxes up to $100k, and 45% on income earned after that.  Arbitrary to a point but it gives me some cushion.  I’ll get a lot of offsets, but I have to pay both sides of the effing payroll tax.

Now, I still have a car payment of $204, and student loan payments of about $175.  I also owe about $650/month to repay my “let’s stay out of jail” loans from 2005-2007.  The car payment is really nothing. My student loans went berserk when I was faced with going to jail or letting ‘em go.   Easy choice, kids, easy friggin choice.

So, my debt service is looking at $1029.  That’s 50% of my budget, really.  Ouch.  Still, manageable.  So, let’s gross that up again:

$1389.

Add this to $2897, and we have: $4286/month.   $51,432/year. $989 per week.

This doesn’t include a lot of ‘misc’ things currently, like doctor copays and car maintenance.  So, let’s gross this thing up yet again, by 25% to cover those things that I missed.   Let’s then bring this up to $1236/week.  ~$64k a year.  That’s simple enough to hit.  ~$247/work day for everything, including debt service.

That’s seriously thinking small, but it is a number I know I can do, and easily.  The next step is to take the number and subtract 8 weeks vacation (three weeks to move, five weeks for the rest of the year).   52- 8 = 44.   = $1454, which brings me close to $300/day.

Remember, kids, this is without ‘savings.’  Debt reduction or debt service is savings.  I need to build my cash position to about $15-18k in new money quickly so I have maximum operational flexibility.  That won’t be that hard.

I can fine tune this as I go along, as MINT is helping me do that (though the annoyance with MINT is that they don’t letcha put other bills that a bank doesn’t know about into the account–so they can make sure the information is really, really accurate.).  We’re also tentatively planning a move to Portland, OR, which is more and more likely to happen as time passes, and that move will cost $4500 bucks.  Still, the budget is what it is, requiring that I earn $989 per week, minimum.  That’s not that rough, as I’ve certainly been averaging more than that lately.  I have some business expenses which break down as follows:

Basecamp: $25/month
HEAP:  $9/month
Aweber:  $20/month
Hosting:  $25/month (i see this getting to be higher next year).
Misc. Software: $35/month.  (buying say, photoshop elements)
E-Junkie- $5/month.
Skype: $3/month.

Those are reasonably trivial expenses.  Some (Internet/Verizon) have some household overlap–and can be addressed however we want to.

Edit: The actual budget raised a little bit: it trends up to a  $69,000 cash need before savings.  I added some prescription copays, etc, to it so when the sidebar shows up, please realize that there are some differences.   I might circle back to this, but I have a hard target for my income.

All managable.

Moving Towards Splendor: Getting a Schedule That Helps You Do What You Do.

By Filed Under: Achieving Goals, Products, Projects and Process

I needed to make sure that I was doing things the way that I wanted to, and I wanted to make sure that I had time to run my money projects as well as the rest of the stuff I was doing & trying to do. So, I created a schedule for myself. It’s pretty intense, but I get to do different things all the time. I can meet what obligations I have and really understand what’s what.

The color codes are semi self explanatory:

Red – family time,
blue = gym
green = writing
gold = money earning stuff (top line lead gen)
purple: straight on execution.
brown: whatever i need to gtd/etc.

You can see the whole thing if you like. I can set you up too, if you like. I’m in week 2 of this thing, and so far it works fine.

I need to be in bed by 11:30 to make 5:am not be a burden and that’s the hardest part of this splendor quest thing.

GTD Commitment #2 I has a bucket.

By Filed Under: Achieving Goals

I has A Bucket GTD BucketOne tennant of GTD is the weekly review.

Basically–you put everything out of your mind and onto a device of either high tech (voice recorders) or low tech (jotter) design. You then have one inbox, and process everything in order that you get to it. You do stuff that takes less than 2 minutes, you drop/delete what you can, you delegate what’s not yours, and you defer the longer-than-two minute stuff that you need to do–just not right now.

So, for list number 2/2, I’m going to give you my buckets….all of this stuff gets processed at least once a week, most of it more often.

  1. Google Notebook: Being able to hit ALT + N to get to my notebook has been the single biggest reason that I switched to Firefox. I have: Stuff to buy, Books to read, ops manual, chris todo, someday/maybe blog/webcast home…stuff for mike (shared, naturally), message log (to record messages I get), music & mobird to get (when someone plays a cool song)
  2. A little notebook. Staples sells em 4.5 by 3.25. (not on catelog at staples, oddly). Carry it with you at all times–even in the shower.
  3. A bigger notebook. I carry a big old “man purse” with me everywhere I go. This has more of my “stuff” in it, and more of the things I am “to do” in it.
  4. A (too) cheap voice recorder: compared to the current one
  5. jott.com/email: I use google to put stuff on my todo list; it’s a filter that I can use to make this work.
  6. Single sheets of paper- I have them throughout my office, I stuck notes on them for stuff to do.
  7. ACT! to dos. (This is the worst system I have; I ignore way too much of this).

This is where I put stuff right now–then I do a sunday sweeep–every sunday night from 7p-10p, and I blast through what I can do.  I think that I need to make my review–as the Author suggested on Friday, AND on sunday, so I’m mentally ready.

I’ll tell you this:  I don’t have nearly as much stress.

Now, I’m not yet fully immersed in GTD. I’m about 40% of the way there–yet it has already probably created a 3 fold increase in the work that I do. I think that when fully implemented, I’ll see a (literally) 10 fold increase in the work that I’m capbable of getting done. I am reclaiming a lot of my turf via GTD and I am eager to see what more I can do.

Scott Ginsberg re -awakened my precociousness, the sense of expanding possibility that was once intrinsic. Was a huge kick in the ass about 4 months ago. GTD reawakened my command over my environment–the notion that I’m the captain of everything.

Probably the two most important finds this year.

List mania continues tomorrow!