The following is a guest post by Rick Clemons.

 

Clipping along on my daily 25-mile bike ride. Cars zipping past me at 60 mph. And suddenly there it was. A dried up apple core of unknown variety lying by the side of the road. I almost ran over it but saw it at the last moment. Maybe it was the adrenaline of knowing if I had hit it just right I could have been propelled into traffic or over the side of the road. Regardless, that little apple core got me thinking…How did it get there and where did it come from?

Seriously, how many miles, hands, boxes, buildings, trucks, planes, trains, automobiles had that one little apple core endured before landing on the side of the road in Riverside, CA.

How many families, have been impacted by that little apple core’s journey to the side of the road? To start, whose ancestors started the apple orchard that grew the trees that produced this apple? How many families did that apple orchard support? How many families suffered when that apple orchard didn’t produce in less productive years?

Once harvested, did this apple go to a warehouse or go immediately to some form of shipping container? Regardless, how many people were involved in the chain to ensure this apple made it to the store/fruit stand to be purchased and consumed? Once purchased, how many people were involved to ensure whoever purchased this apple, was able to get it home, get in their car, on their bike and take it with them. Yep, there were people producing the gas for the car, building the store or fruit stand, creating the technology to ring up the sale of the apple, and then those involved in displaying the apple to make it look appetizing. And that only scratches the retail, supply chain involvement of humans and machinery.

Then somewhere along the way, who ever was eating the apple decided they wanted to retrieve it from the refrigerator that is run by electricity being delivered by some energy conglomerate employing hundreds of thousands of people. That person then got on their bike (designed, crafted, marketed, and sold by hundreds of other people)  took the apple as a energy snack, ate it and threw it on the side of the road so that it could decompose and nourish creatures whose lives thrive at the road side.

And all this from an unknown, dried up, apple core laying on the side of the road that I discovered on a bike ride.

Funny how an apple core that may have arrived from as far away as Chile, or Russia and sold for around $.50 had such a large impact on life and my bike ride!

Brings a whole new meaning to the apple of my eye!

Rick Clemons is a personal and professional coach. You can find him at Life Incognito.

[Photo: Flickr Member meddygarnet, licensed for use under Creative Commons license Attribution 2.0 Generic]

The following is a guest post by Ryan Barton.

Last week, I built my phone a home.

It doesn’t have antenna bumpers, nor does it boast one of those fancy battery charging pads. Frankly, it’s not much to look at, but it serves its purpose. It’s a resting place; a small bowl.

In a society that markets a new phone as the best way to get back to life, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Drastic measures must be taken.

We need to unshackle ourselves. We need to remove the phone clip from our proverbial belt. We need to escape our smartphones.

And here’s how we’ll do it.

Escaping the norm

Before we explore five ways you can cut your smartphone’s leash, we need to recognize the difference between the norm and how you escape from the norm.

What’s your day like?

Do you spend it in front of the glare of a computer screen? Maybe on your feet all day in a retail environment?

It’s an elementary question, but don’t underestimate its significance.

Articulating the difference between what you do and how you escape from what you do dictates how you’ll declare your smartphone independence.

How do you escape?

It’s different for all of us.

Meals, sleep, time with your loved ones, quiet moments alone, reading, even exercise — they’re all ways we escape the norm.

So why do you let a simple device pull you from your escape?

If you’ve ever been in a productive working groove, then suddenly interrupted, you understand how difficult it can be to find that rhythm and focus a second time.

It’s the same with your escape. Once you allow yourself to be interrupted, it’s exponentially more difficult to fall back into your escape.

Now, instead of pleasure reading, you’re contemplating the latest email. Instead of enjoying a quiet dinner with your spouse, you’re wondering who’s texting you, what they want, and how the world will end if you don’t reply now! now! now!

When the ship’s sailed

Cruise industry giants practically give away empty staterooms as a sailing’s departure date approaches. They figure once once the ship sails, those empty staterooms don’t earn any onboard revenue — that opportunity is gone.

But, sell the rooms for cheap and suddenly you’ve got a few more passengers on a ship in the middle of the ocean spending money on alcohol, excursions, and keepsakes.

Similarly, once you deviate from your escape, that moment’s gone.

The interrupting phone calls, Twitter’s @ notifications, the temptation to check your email (yet again) — you allow them to pull you away from your escape. And suddenly, instead of being in a moment away from the norm, that experience — that moment — has passed and will never be regained.

5 ways to declare smartphone independence

For some of you, I fully understand your phone is your escape. It represents a portal away from reality and into an online world where suddenly, you’re important (I owe it to my followers! They need me!).

Even still, I urge you to consider one of these five steps:

1. Leave it behind

There’s a mental checklist before walking out the door — keys, wallet, and phone. Misplace your phone and you’re suddenly clawing your way out of a panic attack. You’ve misplaced your “life,” your contacts, your “to do” list — they’re all missing.

But it’s a different feeling when you purposefully leave it behind; you’re in control, you pull updates when you want them, you don’t need your phone.

Next time you need to focus on your work, turn off your phone, eliminate any temptation to check it, and leave it in another room. Next time you need some fresh air to clear your mind, go on that nature walk without your phone.

Instead of dependence, you’ll soon realize the desire for more smartphone independence. You gotta have more of it. It’s freeing, it’s calm, it’s quiet.

2. Remove the leash

Before you balk at the idea of leaving your phone behind in case of an emergency, let’s talk.

I’m not suggesting you ditch your phone completely. I’m recommending you spend more time with your head up. Your phone’s a tool, not a time suck.

So what’s tying you to it? What’s seducing you to take it out of your pocket every three minutes?

When I examined my own smartphone use, I spent a lot of time in wonderfully-distracting games and social networks. But that’s just it, they’re distractions, taking time away from my core focus. They didn’t feed my revenue stream. They were a waste of both time and battery.

I understand, your smartphone is important, you’re a business person, always on the go, you need to stay connected.

Great — find a network that doesn’t drop your call. Congratulations, you’re connected.

So what’d I do? I uninstalled Foursquare, the games, the mobile chat services and suddenly had less of a reason for a phone distraction.

3. What are you gaining and what’s it worth?

Every time your phone’s not ringing and you’re still captivated by it, you’re seeking something — an answer to a trivial question, interaction with an online community, something to satisfy your short attention span. But at what cost?

Before picking up your phone again, weigh your decision carefully. Because that simple action of diverting your attention carries more impact than you might realize.

Over on his blog, Mark Schaefer asked a great question— is your smartphone more important than the person sitting across from you?

What a great visual of our rude behavior. Who’s more important? A client or your spouse? A mystery Twitter follower or your kid?

If you’re like me, a growing inbox is a daunting challenge. But checking your mobile email every three minutes isn’t the answer to your growing inbox.

Here’s your challenge: check your email twice a day — this is something that Tim Ferriss first recommended — first a bit before Noon, then again around 4:00 PM.

Now, of all those emails, how many were of the absolutely, must, have to answer right now, variety?

I experimented with this approach myself and found just two emails in a week’s time that needed to be answered immediately. Sure, there were important emails in there, a couple new business opportunities, but nothing that was more important than spending time with my family or friends.

And this realization changed the way I use my smartphone — and at the same time, made me significantly more productive, focused, and more respectful with the people I’m with.

With this new information, I’m no longer tied to my phone to answer email — there’s no need for my immediate response. There will always be something else to do. But seldom is it so important that you need to drop everything else.

It’s far too easy to justify answering your phone just this once, maybe a quick text before the appetizers arrive, or responding to an email during the commercial break.

But you’re stronger than that. You hold the power over your phone. Commit to who’s more important in your life and put your phone aside.

4. Separation of work and play

In my book, Smart Marketing I write about eliminating obstacles between you and your customer’s purchase. Remove barriers to information requests, make it easier to checkout, empower your customers to share their purchase with their community.

And it’s a similar approach to using your smartphone — eliminate any temptation that would cause you to become dependent on your smartphone — because sometimes, our own self will just isn’t strong enough.

Julien makes a strong case for using two devices — one being a weekend phone that lacks anything extra. Now, you have no choice; there’s no self will battle to be waged.

Or consider John’s Phone — the perfect weekend phone — a device that comes with a physical address book, a pen, and lets you make a call, that’s it. No widgets, no apps, just a phone. Maybe that’s why the battery lasts three weeks?

It’s almost shocking isn’t it? We’ve come to the point where, as a society, we’ve become so dependent on our devices we’re seeing new technology designed to escape the new technology.

5. Give it a home

Let’s circle back to the beginning of this post — I gave my phone a home; a small bowl in the kitchen.

It has nothing to do with charging the battery, nor is it the best place in the house for reception.

When my wife and I sit down for a meal, putting my phone in its home is part of setting the table. Grab the napkins, the plates, the condiments, light a candle or two, turn on some Linda Rondstadt, and put the phone in its home.

When it’s in its home, I’m not accepting calls, I’m not breaking away to respond to a text message, I’m not monitoring the latest Twitter updates, and I’m not refreshing my email inbox.

Without saying a word, that action tells my wife I respect and value my time with her more than anything or anybody attached to that little device — she has my undivided attention.

This isn’t just about meals and time with your spouse though; your own independence is equally important.

If you’re like me, your smartphone is a fixture on your nightstand just as much as a lamp or a book. But when that’s the case, your morning ritual is centered around your phone.

Press “Snooze,” roll over, throw your alarm clock against the wall, check your email while still in bed, take a shower, lather, rinse, dry off just enough to check your phone yet again, and repeat.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, your phone is your alarm clock. Rubbish. Grow up you big businessperson and pony up five bucks for a proper alarm clock so your phone can have a home of its own.

Create a new morning ritual — wake-up and read, make some breakfast for your spouse, or get out and exercise.

Smartphone independence and new technology

There’s no denying it — it’s amazing to consider the potential of new smartphone technologies — its apps, its design, its aesthetic lure.

And yet, it’s important to remember that just because your smartphone is capable of A, B, and C, you don’t need to always use it.

Take back your independence from your smartphone. Physically take control — give your device a home, actually remove the battery, show your phone who’s the boss.

I know all too well how difficult it may be for a smartphone addict to consider these recommendations. So try out one at a time, nobody’s asking you to quit cold turkey.

Remember who’s real and breathing, who has emotion and cares for you, and who’s more important. Now, commit to make them a priority. Your phone can wait.

Ryan Barton is the author of the “Smart Marketing” and he writes at The Smart Marketing Blog for Small Business Success; you can follow him on Twitter, where he shares entirely too much information. He wrote “Smart Marketing” with the intent that small businesses would glean insightful information and tangible marketing strategies so they too, could compete competitively with industry giants.

This is a guest post written by Rick Clemons.

Chris Brogan’s post, If You Had An Extra 30 Minutes, inspired this post.

If you had a rainy day weekend what would you do?

1. Clean out those closets, drawers, file cabinets you been avoiding
2. Play a board game with your kids instead of videos
3. Write a hand written letter to someone
4. Slow down and just watch the rain fall
5. Bake something from scratch rather than out of a box
6. Build a romantic tent out of sheets and blankets and snuggle up
7. Gather rain water and use it to wash your hair later in the week
8. Be a kid again and go dance out in the rain
9. Lay in bed and be thankful it’s raining so you don’t have to wash the car
10. Use whatever technology you have to record the sound of rain and listen to it during meditation on a sunny day
11. If you have a pool, be happy you won’t have to add water
12. Smile knowing you won’t be lying that you can’t make the party that you didn’t want to go to (rain is always such a good excuse)
13. Turn your sprinklers off and do a happy dance knowing the water bill will be less this month
14. Create your own TV Marathon Weekend from your DVR
15. Mix a rainy day playlist on your iPod for future enjoyment
16. Make trash can soup from all the leftovers in your refrigerator
17. Do something you haven’t done since you were a kid – finger paint, play with Legos, play hide and seek inside the house
18. Indulge yourself fully – write in your journal, do crossword puzzles ‘til you’re cross-eyed, soak in your tub until you’re shriveled
19. Just relax knowing that you don’t have to hustle-bustle all weekend
20. Look forward to the sun which will spawn the growth of spring flora

The point, have fun on a rainy day and take it for what it is…potentially a day to just, well…let the rain wash over you with a new perspective on life!

Rick Clemons is a personal and professional coach. You can find him at Life Incognito.

[Photo: Flickr Member dalesmithimaging, licensed for use under Creative Commons license Attribution 2.0 Generic]

You love new stuff.

It’s exhilarating downloading new apps to your iPhone. It’s a trip checking out social platforms that promise to dwarf Facebook itself. And it’s especially exciting waiting for your MacBook Air to arrive in the mail.

Fun fun fun.

So it’s hard to imagine that successful markters are afraid of technology.

But they are.

They’re deathly afraid of shiny stuff. They avoid it for all they’re worth. They’re not doing it unconsciously, either – they’re deliberately staying away from it.

These master copywriters understand that technology hinders you from doing what you’re supposed to be doing – write. If you’re engrossed in how cool your iPad’s external keyboad allows you to edit that slick Pages document, you won’t be focusing on your content.

You’re using Yahoo instead of Gmail? Yes, and here’s the reason. You’ve given Google Analytics a rest and have started using Woopra instead? Absolutely. You’ve heard that Quora’s going to replace blogging and you’ve deleted your WordPress? Not yet, but here’s why.

Meanwhile, you’re so busy discussing all this cool technology that you’re completely forgetting why you’re even here in first place.

Successful marketers recognize that if they’re busy learning new applications and interfaces, all of their writing time will vanish before their very screens. They’ll be so absorbed in gadgets that they’ll ignore their audience.

But they still use technology, because, after all, that’s their distribution model. They still have to make all of these choices. And yes, they still have to spend time picking out their weapons of choice.

And of course, you should too. Everyone has to. But you’ll never use technology correctly until you become afraid of it.

How do successful marketers harness red-hot technology?

1. They understand it’s a waste of time playing with new toys that are just a few months old.

They know that only a fraction of new technologies stick. Most apps and sites never get outside of Silicon Valley. If marketers check out every single one of them, they’re wasting precious time.

Consequently, they view every “breaking news” technology with deep suspicion.

You might be thinking this question: Is being the first one important? Is there an advantage to arriving to the races before others get there?

Well, it depends on who you are. Yes, it’s super important for investors, serial entrepreneurs, power users, and media hackers. No, it’s not a priority for successful marketers. They’re not worried about it in the least.

Here’s why. Being the first one is hard. You’ve got to have your ear to the ground and be listening intently. This is time consuming, and marketers are too busy doing things that have real ROI: they’re busy writing.

For most of us mortal humans, by the time you’ve heard about it, you’re not the first there anyway. You’re probably not even in the top 1%. And since it’s too late, you might as well get back to work and see if it’s going to stick around.

If in doubt, sit it out.

There are clear advantages to being the very first one there, but the risks of it dying out are too great for marketers to dabble around. It has to reach a critical mass before they budge. That leads us to the second point.

2. Once they think a technology will go big, marketers register an account.

They finally overcome their fear and step into the woods. They do this for two reasons:

The following is a guest post by J.T. O’Donnell.

Every week, I talk to dozens of people who are really dissatisfied with their careers. Granted, in my line of work, that’s to be expected. But lately, the numbers have gone up – with good reason. With 84% of Americans saying they want a new job in the new year, and a Harvard Business School survey indicating we have a 23-year all-time low in job satisfaction, odds are a good number of people in our lives don’t like what they are doing.

This week, I chatted with a woman who was really, really unhappy with her career. It went something like this:

ME: So, what’s bothering you about your career?

HER: I feel completely trapped. I hate the job I’m doing, but can’t imagine doing anything else. Honestly, there isn’t a single career out there that interests me. I’ve read all sorts of books, taken at least a dozen online tests, and I still can’t find anything I want to pursue. I look at the job boards every day. I’ve probably applied to at least 100 jobs online. I’m so sick of working in my current job I figured I should at least find a new place to work – but I never got a single call for an interview. And truthfully, none of the jobs even sounded that good.

ME: Wow. Nothing? That’s tough and I can appreciate your frustration. Tell me, are there any people in your life who you feel have exceptional career paths? Who are your heroes?

(This is where it got interesting.)

HER: Oh yes! Tons of folks are my heroes. I know so many people who have incredible careers and lives – I’m so envious of them. My older brother and his wife have killer jobs and lots of money. They have EVERYTHING – a great house, kids, fancy cars, vacations. I’d love to be like them.  And then there’s my best friend from college, Jenny. She works for this huge media company in NYC and goes to all these parties and meets celebrities. She’s having the time of her life. Also, I think the president of the company I work for has it made too. She started her company after leaving the corporate world to raise her children. She’s really put together and has the work-life balance thing down. That’s just it! There are so many people doing better than me, I feel like a total failure!

ME: Yes. I can see how you would feel that way. (And then, is the most compassionate tone possible, I said,) You need to stop admiring your heroes. It’s making you a victim.

There it was. The reason she was feeling miserable and couldn’t shake it: She was so busy admiring heroes that she had taken on the supporting role as the helpless victim.

3 Reasons Admiring Heroes Hurts Your Career

I told her that admiring so many others for their career success and satisfaction was something she needed to stop doing immediately for the following reasons:

1)      She was making herself feel bad.

2)      She was making herself look helpless to others.

3)      She was making it hard for people to want to help her.

That last one is a doozy, isn’t it? It’s true though! When it comes to careers, people are more willing to support winners, a.k.a. heroes. When someone is positive, proactive and passionate – they are acting heroic, and people like to help and be associated with heroes!

We’re All Great Storytellers – The Problem is we Tell Career-Limiting Ones

My advice to her was to get Noah Blumenthal’s book, Be the Hero. In it, he explains that when we see ourselves as the victim, we create stories in our heads – 3 different types of stories that hurt our ability to find success and satisfaction. They are:

• People Stories – where we blame individuals for our reality.
• Situation Stories – where we tell ourselves we are in a dead-end, no-win situation.
• Self Stories – where we focus on our limitations and weaknesses.

When you constantly admire others and see them as the heroes, you create People, Situation and Self stories that make you the helpless victim. What a career-killing trio!

Don’t Need to be a Super-Hero, a Regular Hero Will Do

One of my favorite points Noah Blumenthal makes in his book is the fact that we shouldn’t strive to be a super-hero. We need to know when enough is enough. We don’t have uber-strength. So, until we find Kryptonite, we need to avoid injury. If a situation is truly beyond our control we should look for an alternative and not feel badly about it. This resonated with me – it’s easy to want to stick with something because you don’t want to fail. Yet, this can often lead to hurting yourself. Sometimes, you need to accept a situation and move on, but not until you’ve first assessed whether you’ve done what you can to tell the story from a hero’s perspective.

P.S. – Ironically, someone gave me a copy of Be the Hero after a discussion we had about his career. I get asked to review books frequently, but hardly ever do recommendations. Why? Rarely, do I find one that grips me like this one did. It is a short, powerful read with great tools in the index you can use to rewrite your stories with a hero’s mindset. If you are considering a career move in 2011, I’d suggest reading Be the Hero and then keeping it in plain view on your desk. Let it be a constant reminder to stop admiring heroes…being your own hero is far more fun and rewarding!

J.T. O’Donnell is a nationally syndicated advice columnist and founder of the top 10 career advice site, CAREEREALISM.com. She is also the CEO of CareerHMO.com, an online service that gives anyone the ability to get personalized, unlimited career coaching from experts for a low monthly fee.

The following guest post comes from Rich Dixon.

How’s this for a one-sentence bio:

I spent thirty-five years teaching mathematics to adolescents, the last twenty-four from a wheelchair.

That statement often elicits expressions of condolence. The wheelchair’s not such a big deal, but teaching math—to hormone-crazed teenagers—in a public school? The typical reaction is a sad expression, a slow, sympathetic head shake, and pitiful words like, “You poor thing!”

It’s an odd reaction, because my current work presents a much greater challenge than motivating a classroom filled with kids who fail to perceive the intrinsic beauty of mathematics.

I’ve become—GASP—an entrepreneur! I’m one of you.

A flawed image

I always envisioned an entrepreneur surrounded by a trembling staff that fears and caters to your impulsive whims. A sinister laugh echoes through the glass-walled corner office as you contemplate the mangled remains of crushed competitors.

Power-crazed, slimy, soulless, greedy Gordon Gekko—that’s who I thought you were.

Of course, we’re not like that at all (note to self: perspective changes when you becomes we). I’ve met some great folks who are working toward achieving ESCAPE VELOCITY. We’re actually a pretty diverse collection of people seeking to do something important on terms that make a bit more sense.

I write and speak about encouragement and confronting adversity from a faith perspective. I’m curious about what enables one to step away from the perceived comfort of cubicles and the illusion of dependable paychecks.

There’s clearly no magic formula for uniqueness. However, I’ve observed that those who succeed in this realm seem to share some common attributes.

One particular characteristic unites the successful folks I’ve encountered on my new journey. Some might call it optimism. I call it …

Hope

This isn’t hope like “I hope I get a new bike for my birthday.” That’s a wish. Entrepreneurism isn’t a magical trip on the Good Ship Lollipop.

Hope: an expectation based on faith.

“Faith” in this context doesn’t necessarily mean religious faith. It might, but I’m thinking here about assumptions in general. Stepping into your own endeavor, whatever that might be, requires a leap of faith. Here are some of the elements that comprise the hope I see in successful entrepreneurs. They’re stated in first-person. See how many you agree with.

An Entrepreneur’s Hopeful Assumptions:

1. I believe in my ability to influence positive outcomes in any situation. Even when I can’t control events, I can take actions that increase the probability of a positive result.
2. I view events in a larger, and generally more positive, context. A big slide in the stock market is an opportunity to buy at bargain prices.
3. Positive events impact my overall life in a positive way. Negative events are limited to a single aspect of life. Spilling my orange juice is an isolated occurrence; a great, interactive Q&A session makes the whole day brighter.
4. Positive events are the beginning of a beneficial trend. Negative events are isolated and less likely to become patterns. A jump in web site traffic means things are looking up, while un-subscribers indicate folks who really didn’t fit my circle anyway.
5. Others have innate value and can contribute in positive ways. I welcome comments and input from everyone.
6. I look more at long-term consequences and outcomes than short-term results. Doing the right thing in the right way may not lead to success today, but over the long haul it’ll get me closer to my destination.
7. I judge behaviors, not people.
8. I am responsible for, and capable of, analyzing and developing my own character and capability. I’m too busy improving myself to waste time being a critic.
9. I learn from the past, anticipate the future, and live in the present.
10. I can laugh at myself. I take serious things seriously and myself not so seriously.

Being hopeful doesn’t mean being a Pollyanna who simply ignores unpleasant realities. But it seems that the folks who’ve achieved some measure of their personal ESCAPE VELOCITY believe that hard work, cleverness, and perseverance are likely to lead to positive outcomes.

Do you need to work on any of these attitudes? What would you add?

Rich Dixon writes about confronting adversity and moving forward with hope at Bouncing Back.