Blog

Three little words and other anti-new year resolutions

2012-01-03T15:02:55Z

My family has some interesting perspectives on resolutions, that oft-repeated, too-little followed tradition of dedicating ourselves to a goal or mission every January 1st -- one which is usually forgotten or abandoned by January 10th (or dare I say the 4th).

One relative loves resolutions. She loves them so much that she tries to implement them on other holidays, not just the start of the year. “What’s your birthday resolution?”, she has been known to ask, to a response of sighs and head shaking.

Another relative refuses to make resolutions. “I’m already perfect, so I see no need,” he declares. “You can’t improve on perfection.” My sister and I laugh and shake our heads at that proclamation too.

As I mentioned in my first blog post, once you embrace entrepreneurial life, you have to learn to go easier on yourself sometimes. This is a learning process definitely, and so it’s taken me a while to stake out a position on new year resolutions. Where do I fall between those two poles: endlessly improving or going with what you have? Or are there other options?

After spending a short amount of time trying to describe a middle ground between those poles, I realized that of course there are other options. Three alternatives I particularly love are mentioned below.

One of my favorite alternatives is the desire list. Or a dream list, or a pleasure list.... the key distinction is that it’s a list of pleasurable goals, things that you get excited just thinking about (like a trip somewhere), and not things which you should do (like losing weight often is for people). It can be for any length or any time frame, or even just for this day or this hour. The genius in this is that by choosing or reframing goals to focus on what gives you pleasure, you tap into your intrinsic motivation instead of beating yourself up.

A few years ago, I did a mega-version of this, which was the 101 in 1001 list. (In case it’s not obvious, I have a thing with lists.) This is essentially a mini-bucket list which you commit to enjoying within 1001 days, or about three years. I love that the finite timeframe keeps you away from postponing the items. I made one of these lists in 2008 and am happy to say that I accomplished over 85 of the desires including visiting Greece, Turkey and Paris, and taking a tango class. There is an entire community of people making these lists together at the Day Zero Project.

The third alternative, which I read about just this week are choosing three words. The idea is that you choose three words as a theme for the year. It’s less specific but I like the idea of “pillars” for your year. The three I chose for 2012 are belief, persistence and light. In starting something new, I need the first two -- and so as not to take myself too seriously, I want the third. Lightness as in humor, less stress, and even healthier food.

Where are you on the new year’s resolution spectrum, and do you like the idea of three little words for your year? Thanks for reading and happy 2012!

Present Perfect: tips for entrepreneurs on embracing the imperfect

2011-11-10T14:25:59Z

One of the first lessons I’ve had to learn as a new entrepreneur is that perfectionism radically slows you down.

Let me clarify. Perfectionism slows you to an abysmal crawl where you hardly get anything done. Perfectionism chews away at your ability to advance on your ever-growing, omni-present to do list.

I’m learning to embrace imperfection.

This never would have happened in the past.

Without offering any excuses for my previous behavior, suffice it to say that I usually beat myself up a job not well done, in leaving loose ends not neatly tied up, checklists not properly checked off, paper and email copy arduously wordsmithed, presentation layouts pixelly perfect... the list goes on. I am creative, but I strive for order.

Of course, there is never enough time to properly do those things. Sleep, exercise and house cleaning are normally the first things to suffer (sadly, I will admit that this occurs in the reverse order.)

Now there is even less time. And I am beginning to suspect that the trend will intensify. Oh my.

So I’m rapidly embracing IM-perfection. Yesterday’s lost battles are today’s triumphs. It used to be that I aspired to "Inbox Zero." Now, any day I get to inbox 50 is a banner day. If I can eat something green every day, then I no longer care if I cooked that food myself.

So here are my five favorite "streamlines", imperfect solutions that help me get more done and stay (sort-of) sane:

Embrace salad bar meals: on average, I'm using my stove about twice a semester during the school year
Have a place for everything: in your house, in your files, in your notes. Speedy retrieval (and putting away) is everything.
Do annoying errands in batches: bills, laundry... ahem, dishes. (I don't recommend the latter. I have recycleable paper plates for the really bad weeks.)
Regularly prune commitments: I used to be an "over-joiner" - some of you will know what I mean. I've drastically cut back and am loving it.
Never cut back on friends or (completely) eliminate exercise: huge wins for sanity!

If you are looking for additional reading on this, my favorite blog on this subject is Zen Habits. It would be great if there were a "zen habits for entrepreneurs", but in a way, Leo is an entrepreneur, so I think his posts are amazingly relevant and always leave me feeling more, well - zen. Definitely check it out if you haven't.

What about you? What imperfections and shortcuts have you embraced to get more stuff done? Any top tips for streamlining your entrepreneurial life? Please share in the comments. Thanks for visiting and reading my first post!

Hello world!

2011-09-30T02:07:45Z

I love the rush - there's no other way to describe it - of creating something which didn't exist before, whether it's a company, an experience, a collaboration, or even better - something I haven't thought of yet.

After many (at times extreme!) twists and turns, I've figured out that the best way to do this - and get to repeat it a bunch of times - is to be an entrepreneur. This blog is about what's a first-time journey for me, in order to document it and to help me keep up the momentum to continue. Currently, I am studying at MIT, helping out at an early stage venture capital firm called Founder Collective in Cambridge, MA. Formerly, I am all of these things: aspiring novelist, interface developer, product manager, street hockey player, and triathlete (I could add 'mathlete', but that would be giving too much away, and we just met). I love technology, writing, and reading certain favorite blogs - I have always wanted to blog but have never done it seriously. A friend and I made a pact to keep a weekly blog, so here goes.

Since I've started working on this project, my learning curve has gone into overdrive. I'm a goal oriented person and the process of starting a company, if nothing else, forces you to learn to embrace and enjoy the ride. To further that enjoyment, this blog is going to document our experiments, lessons, mistakes and wild successes on that journey, which others have described as a roller coaster. This blog is going to help me take a step back and take a deep breath and to be perfectly honest, I don't know exactly what it will be about yet.... However, it may include some or any of the following: advice, useful tips, and resources on entrepreneurship (for example do you know the top university based incubator programs for startups?), tidbits that we learn along the way, and stories of people, projects and companies that I hugely admire.

As an added bonus, you will have the opportunity to meet a wide-ranging cast of characters, including (but not limited to), my brilliant co-founder, kooky classmates, cheerleaders, naysayers and the entire peanut gallery. Our company seeks to improve educational outcomes using technology enabled learning and disrupt a few industries, while we're at it. Of course at this stage, we don't know how it will turn out - so I can't give the ending away yet. I hope this will become a two-way conversation.... follow me on twitter or post a comment. I'm looking forward to sharing this journey with you... buckle up and hold on tight - I know I am.