Does your mind ever start looking for an answer to something without even knowing the question?
Mine does, every so often.
Sometimes it comes from within:
“Pssst. This is interesting and important,” my mind says. “Go check it out.”
“But why? This doesn’t even have anything to do with what I’m working on,” I respond. “I don’t know anything about that topic/idea/industry.”
“Just check it out. Trust me.”
Other times, it comes from the outside world. Articles that I’m reading and podcasts I’m listening to and stories I’ve heard recently spontaneously present themselves and overlap with one another, sparking new ideas and taking on a life of their own.
The past few months has been one of those periods.
That little voice inside has been whispering, “You can do more. You can do better. Go find out how.”
And without actively looking, bits of inspiration and insight and partial solutions have presented themselves in the form of people, tools, and opportunities.
This time around, it has to do with the concepts of scale, leverage, and impact, and – more specifically – the idea that there is a formula for getting more done with less, for making more of an impact with fewer resources, and for delivering value to people and businesses in a way that scales without compromising your own life.
What I accomplished for my friend Lindsay this past October is precisely what I’m looking to dissect. Questions like:
- What are the systems that allowed me to raise almost $30,000 in three months as a side project?
- How can I do more projects like that on a more consistent basis?
- How can I show others what I accomplished and why it worked?
I don’t have the answers (yet), but that’s what I’m setting out to analyze.
Time to Think Bigger
Currently, I work in a space that changes every day. It is our job to keep tabs on all of the new services and features the Internet has to offer so that we can pass along best practices to our clients. The good news is that we’re really good at what we do.
But lately I have been sucked too far into the details. Is it really worth my time to find the absolute best Twitter app for iPhone? Do we really need to build a custom widget, or will something off the shelf for a fraction of the cost accomplish the same goal?
As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
It’s time for me to dig into the principles. It’s time to uncover not only “what” works, but “why” it worked (and has worked for years). It’s time to take a broader view, a systematic approach to defining and analyzing the systems that make online and offline successes happen.
I don’t know where this journey will take me, nor do I know how deep the rabbit hole goes. But something tells me it’ll be a fun ride.
Join me?