Category: books

books, career, commitment, creativity, dreams, Second Step

Beautiful: Don’t Hedge. Commit. Be Yoda.

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

A few weeks ago, I watched an interview with Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad fame. When he first started out, he met a lot of people who said they were giving their creative dream a shot for a year. If they didn’t have any success in a year, then they would pack up and go home. “That was amazing to me,” he said. “It takes so much longer than a year to realize a dream.” 

This is exactly the reason I’m working on a new book, Your Second Step. You’ve taken your first step – you’ve identified your dream and you’ve started working on it – maybe part-time, maybe full-time. Maybe you haven’t seen the success you’d hoped for in the timeline you planned. So should you pack it in? Should you start to work on something else and come back to it later? In other words, should you hedge your bets?

Put aside any disappointment. Go back to the dream itself. Does it still matter to you? If the answer is yes, then don’t hedge and don’t give up. Commit. Double down. Invest more time and more energy, not less. Be Yoda. Don’t try. Do. And keep doing. Don’t back down now. You’re closer to your dream than you think.

art, books, experience, yoga

Beautiful: We Have to Close Our Eyes to Really See

Christa Avampato
The Little Prince
The Little Prince

“Here is my secret. It is very simple. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry from The Little Prince

“70% of our perception of the outside world comes through the eyes,” said my yoga teacher, Julia. I didn’t realize it was that disproportionate. The eyes are so powerful, so sophisticated that they overpower our other senses if we let them. Close the eyes, and we can hear, feel, smell, and taste with greater intensity. The information from these 4 senses is just as important as our sense of sight. Our combined senses lead us into our emotional intelligence. We need this give-and-take between our internal and external experiences. Together, they create the whole picture of our existence and help us to “see” clearly.

For a few minutes every day, I close my eyes during my waking hours and tap in. I scan my body for signs of change. I feel the ebb and flow of my breath. One of my favorite meditations is a sensory exploration. I imagine a place I’ve been or a place I’d like to go and I rotate through all of the senses to create a complete picture. What does the beach look like? How does it sound? What scents does it have? How does it taste? What does it feel like? And finally, how does it make me feel? This only takes a couple of minutes, and when I finally do open my eyes again, I find that a little piece of the beach is still with me. I carry right there, in my heart, and also in my nose, on my skin, in my mind’s eyes and ears, and even on my tongue.

From there, my experience of the world around me is richer because of what I’ve been able to imagine. Now I see not only what’s right in front of me, but also what’s possible which is almost always invisible to the eyes alone.

action, books, business, marketing, writing

Beautiful: To Read Seth Godin is to Love Him

Christa Avampato

seth-godinSeth Godin is the Yoda of modern times. He is well-meaning and honest in his crankiness, and I love him for that. I also love him because despite what the world tells you about personal and professional image, he is unabashedly, unapologetically himself.

His email is sethgodin@gmail.com. His blog, http://sethgodin.typepad.com/, doesn’t even have a vanity URL. His company isn’t some clever title; it’s just his name at http://sethgodin.com. I’ve never seen him give himself any kind of title except “author”. His tagline is “Go Make Something Happen”. (If everyone took that advice, imagine how evolved our world would be!) He thinks all marketers, colleagues in his own chosen profession, are liars and he tells them so; it’s the title of one of his most successful books and he’s not apologizing for that either. His popularity is based upon his inability to tolerate BS in its many forms.

He doesn’t let anyone off the hook for being less than they can be. He doesn’t stand for people who refuse to rise to their potential, nor for people who pump themselves up through image rather than substance. He believes that just because something is hard, doesn’t mean we should avoid doing it.

How do I know these things? I’ve never spoken to him. I’ve never asked him any pointed questions about life, work, and the world. I do read his writing, and this is what I hear in his words: stop waiting; stop making excuses; be authentic; stop pretending to be someone you’re not and be who you are. Those are messages to live and work by.

books, fiction, writer, writing

Beautiful: The Value of Fiction for Every Writer

Christa Avampato

0c8877b1a77b993d9857c2b5915213edEvery writer, regardless of genre, benefits from writing and reading fiction. Fiction is the place we go to find light when everything around us seems so dark. It’s our playground where anything and everything is possible. Fiction helps us to connect with our mind’s deepest secrets and desires. It’s a gateway to higher consciousness.

This weekend I started reading The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. I can hardly put it down and when I do, I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s one of those books that lives with you for a long time. Its bizarre tale unfolds through the eyes of Julia, a grown woman who reflects back on her youth just before and just after a fantastical event that turns the entire world on its head. It reminded me of the value of purely fictional stories and the role they play in our real lives. 

Our lives are largely works of fiction – stories we make up, stories we tell to others, and stories that others tell us. The events of our lives run through a filter that colors them, changes them, gives them meaning. That filter is responsible for our individual human experience. In this way, fiction doesn’t mean “false”; it means “with perspective”. The words of fictions are some of the truest words we can ever read or write because they come so directly and purely from the heart. Maybe that’s what makes it so difficult to write; maybe that’s why it sticks with us for so long. 

books, business, career, work

Beautiful: My New Book – Your Second Step: What to Do After Your Leap

Christa Avampato

I’m writing a new book called Your Second Step. And here’s why: the hardest step of any journey is the second one. The first step is filled with excitement for something new. You’ve pumped yourself up, done your research, and put in all the time to figure out where you’re going, what you’re doing, and why. Everyone lines up to cheer you on – “quit your job”, “start your own company”, “move to a new city”, “go out with that special someone who caught your eye”, “get on that plane ride halfway around the world”. Go go go! You can do it!

Everyone loves a new beginning, but a slightly older beginning is something else entirely.

Step 2
That second step can be brutal. It means you are committing to continue to the third step and beyond. Some of the excitement and adrenalin of that first step has worn off. You put so much energy and effort into that first enormous step that you’re exhausted. The parades that promised to stick around for your marathon of change all went home just after the starting gun went off. They went back to their own busy lives, and they took their signs of encouragement, cow bells, and orange slices with them.

Maybe you’re already facing some adversity, failure, or disappointment early on. You created a beautiful plan, and its not unfolding the way you want it to. You closed the door on your old life, and the Universe is not holding up its end of the bargain by opening up that proverbial window. And it promised it would!

Guess who else is here? Our old friends – Fear, Regret, and Pride. And though you successfully turned down the volume on that little nagging voice at the back of your mind, it somehow wrestled a megaphone out of the hands of your faithful companion, Courage, and is now making up for lost time with a very loud proclamation: “You can’t do this! There’s still time. You can go back to where it’s safe and predictable if you turn around right now. Last chance. Be reasonable!”

And I want you to take the second step? Really? Yes. Yes, I do.  

My new book
This summer I wrote my first full-length play (I’m heavily editing it before sending it off to festivals) and now this book, my next big writing project, is based on a conversation that an old friend of mine and I are having about how to remain true to our life’s mission. How do we tirelessly keep living an authentic life, especially when the going gets tough?

When I responded to my friend’s first email, I realized that my response was actually the outline for my new book, The Second Step. I know a thing or two about what it takes to move beyond the first step of a journey. I know all about procrastination disguised in research and wrapped up in drawn out strategic planning sessions. I learned a lot by falling flat on my face, over and over and over again, literally and figuratively. I understand the excuses that we dress up as reasons. And good heavens, do I know all about that nagging little voice of self-doubt, energy vampires, profound disappointment, 3am nightmares, serious financial worries, sacrifice, and fear so intense that it causes hives. I. Get. It. It’s a bitch. But it’s no match for my grit, stamina, and determination. And it’s no match for yours either.

Your Second Step will help you discover your own strength for the journey through a wide variety of methods – from yoga and guided meditation (you knew that was going to be in there, right?) to business know-how to inspiring stories and resources that I use all the time to healthy food recipes that will keep you fueled for success. I’ll be there with you throughout the journey – way beyond the second step.

Most of all, this is going to be fun. This is not some boring exercise manual or stale business book. I’m going to share my own story like never before. It’s about time that I get these stories out into the world so that they can help you. Stay tuned for more updates in the weeks and months ahead by going to Your Second Step website.

books, technology

Book Reviews: Arduino Robots, The Modern Web, and How They’re Going to Change Your Life

Christa Avampato

Hanna-Barbera had it right all along – we really are moving into the age of The Jetsons. Flying cars may not be at a hovercraft lot near you just yet, but robots are on the rise and the modern web is about to change how and with whom you communicate, online and off.

Yesterday Fast Company ran a series of articles on robots and future tech trends. The articles included discussions about robots as teachers of collaboration, machines that are out to improve our lives in deeply emotional ways, and the creepy tech that wants to record our every word like an episode of Big Brother. I was particularly keen to hear their perspective because I have had my eyes fixed on two new books published by No Starch Press: Arduino Workshop: A Hands-on Introduction with 65 Projects and The Modern Web: Multi-device Web Development with HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript.

When I first enrolled at Penn as an undergraduate, I was in the engineering school. I switched to the College of Arts and Sciences as a sophomore because I spent my first year alone in an underground classroom full of people who had a hard time looking me, or anyone else for that matter, in the eye. Thankfully, undergraduate engineering classes have come a long way since then! Despite my exit from engineering, I’ve remained deeply interested in how technology drives society, and No Starch Press books are exactly for people like me.

Fun, informative, and gloriously off-beat, these two volumes in particular are for those looking to go beyond a surface knowledge of technology. They are for those of us to like to be down in the weeds building a solid foundation of technical knowledge so that we can rise up stronger and armed with the information to understand just how these platforms work. They’re for tinkerers, makers, and developers in the broadest sense of the terms.

The Modern Web
You’ve worked through your Codecademy lessons, taken a Coursera course on coding, hopped over to General Assembly for a meetup, and now you want to go further. The Modern Web is for you. Author Peter Gasston is very honest about his audience. You need a working knowledge of HTML, CSS, and Javascript to make the most use of this book. Peter is taking you to the next level beyond the basics. His main goal is to get you out of the mindset of device class.  “Don’t think of building a site for web and mobile. Think of building a site that works everywhere.” The lines between screens are blurring at a fast and furious pace. Our thinking as developers has to morph in the same way and at an even fast rate so we can stay on top of the latest developments in our fields.

Now that we’re clear on Peter’s purpose and audience, the book is organized in layers that mimics the underpinning of web development itself. He starts off basic and powerful definitions of terms and then uses those terms to explain the structures of the web (HTML). Those structures pave the way to visual design and display (CSS) which naturally lead us to behaviors (Javascript). Now that we have structures, display, and behavior, we can actually work on the pipes that get our content to as wide an audience as possible (APIs). He then touches on multi-sensory aesthetics through an exploration of images, graphics, web apps, and multimedia content.

To wrap a bright shiny bow around this book, Peter lets down his development hair and goes into the future. From is perspective, we are still in the infancy of the web and it’s still very much a digital wild west where disruptors and innovations stand to shake everything up. His advice – developers, stay informed and be a part of the conversation wherever and however you can.

Arduino Workshop
Author Mary Shelley was so ahead of her time when she wrote Frankenstein. We are born loving robots. We’re intrigued by getting a machine to do what we want it to do. After all, remote control cars and model planes, the darlings of childhood play, are forms of robots. We tell them to do something, and they do it, no questions asked. This is exactly why kids, and adults, are addicted to their mobile devices. We click something, it opens, and then we tell the machine to do something that it willingly does (most of the time). It’s empowering to make technology work for us.

Not content to just buy a programmable machine, we’re now getting up to our elbows in parts to actually build robots. The Arduino board, a cute, convenient contraption is a gateway product to help us get under the hood of our favorite gadgets and gizmos, and then it helps us craft our own. It fits comfortably into the palm of your hand but don’t be deceived by its size. Download some free, complementary software and it packs a powerful punch in its small frame. Created in 2005, it’s moved beyond its robot hobbyist status and into the mainstream maker movement.

Now that you’ve got an Arduino board (cost ~ $30) and the free software, the book gives you a brief background on project design and electricity and then you’re off to the races with 65 projects to get this little computer to work for you. You’re going to learn how to code, make lights blink at your will, create digital displays of information and images, build simple robots, remote controls, and GPS-enabled applications. Each project has detailed instructions and illustrations so they’re approachable for beginners.

To get a sense of how others in the global Arudino community are using Arduino, take a look at the Instructables site where people have shared their creations. The sky’s the limit now has a whole new meaning!

books, cooking, food, learning

Beautiful: Life Lessons from Baking Bread

Christa Avampato

I’ve been in my kitchen exploring the recipes of Jim Lahey, Founder of the famous Sullivan Street Bakery. His no-knead bread recipes have turned many non-bakers into flour tossing evangelists of the hearth, this girl included. About a year and a half ago, I wrote a post titled I Don’t Bake after making a disaster of a pumpkin pie and quickly began to assemble a collection of essays on other things I don’t do that are commonly considered to be in the wheelhouse of American women. Jim Lahey made a liar out of me and I couldn’t be happier about it. I’m now churning out bakery-quality breads from my tiny little hovel of a kitchen.

In the midst of my bread-baking frenzy, I started to reflect on what I’ve learned in this 18-month journey from non-baker to baker. There are a lot of lessons in the process, and most of them have nothing to do with the task at hand.

Have patience
It is something I used to have in short supply. By nature I am one of those people who wants everything yesterday. In the process of baking bread the Lahey way, it takes roughly 24 hours and most of that time I’m not doing a damn thing except giving the concoction of flour, water, yeast, and salt a chance to meet, mingle, and coalesce under the proper circumstances. The bread requires more patience than skill to bake up to its potential.

Do less
Adding on to the bit about patience, Lahey’s recipes require restraint. I am someone who likes to do things, but with bread baking I have to let go of that impulse. The more you do with this dough, the harder it is to create a crusty, delicious loaf. The trick is to do less, far less, than you think you need to.

Have the right tools
This is one piece of Lahey’s method that requires focus. You need a very hot, reliably calibrated oven and a hefty cast iron dutch oven with a lid that can withstand the heat. There are no compromises here. You can’t make do with a faulty oven and a different kind of pan. The right tools make everything easier.

Try, try, and try again
Your first loaf might not come out perfectly. Your 10th loaf might not come out perfectly either. Lahey is very honest about his bread brick road, and there were many bricks along the way. He’s not shy about dumping bread that isn’t up to his standards but he never lets that deter him on his journey.

Spend your life doing what you love
In Lahey’s book, My Bread, I found his personal story to be even more riveting than his recipes. He put in countless hours of training and experimenting to get where he is, many of them in Rome as an apprentice baker. At the center of all of his efforts is his great love of bread. His motivation is pure and his passion unabiding. These two ingredient are essential to good bread and a good life. Find what you love and keep doing it.

Have you learned lessons in the kitchen that have pervaded other areas of your life? If so, I’d love to hear them!

books, eating, food, health

Beautiful: Mark Bittman, My Parents, and I Are Part-Time Vegans

Christa Avampato

“Hi Gang! Guess what? Oh, you’ll never guess in a million years so I’ll just tell you. We’re becoming vegans and tonight we launched the operation.” This from my mother who is 71 glorious years old and a passionate omnivore. Their chiropractor has recommended a vegan diet to improve overall health so they’re going for it. If Bill Clinton, fast food’s most loyal customer, can do it, so can we. Somewhere, Mark Bittman is smiling wide.

Ironically (or as my therapist, Brian, would say – synchronistically), when my mother’s email arrived I had just started reading Mark Bittman’s new book, VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health . . . for Good. Her email flew into my inbox about 6 hours after I read the intro to Mark’s book and I thought, “You know, I should send this book to my mom.” Oh, Universe…

I’ve failed at being a vegan, and for that matter being a vegetarian, for many years. That Mister Softee song starts playing on my block, and I’m done for. (Mister Softee and Access Hollywood Live – my guilty pleasures.) It’s been a sore point with me for some time and I had all but resigned myself to never being able to live up to my dietary potential. I know being a vegan is better for me and for the planet. And I love animals, very often more than I love people, so why couldn’t I just do it?!

And then Mark Bittman gave me permission to try on veganism on a part-time basis. Now this kind of deal is music to my ears. His plan is simple – give up highly processed food (okay, I can let go of Mister Softee in favor of real ice cream but do not ask me to give up Billy Bush!), eat more plants, and be a vegan until 6pm. Once 6pm rolls around, I’m free to eat whatever I want. There’s nothing magical about 6pm. There isn’t even anything magical about making dinner your non-vegan meal. He’s saying give yourself one meal to have whatever you want and then be a vegan the rest of the time. He even gave me permission to slip up and fall flat on my face off the vegan wagon once in a while. And then he told me that I can always just start again.

This is similar to the advice that I got when I first really started to learn how to meditate. I had tried for a number of years, wouldn’t feel anything happening, and give up. Then, I read some advice from Sri Swami Satchidananda. “When you notice your mind wandering, just come back. It happens to everyone. You don’t have to give up. Just start again.” Now three years later, I’m still practicing meditation and teaching it to others without any kind of angst or sense of inadequacy. Failure is only permanent if we allow it to be.

And so, I started right then and there to be a part-time vegan, after beginning Mark’s book and reading my mom’s email. I didn’t need to plan to start. It wasn’t hard; I didn’t need to analyze it and make a pro / con / consequences / “oh crap, what am I going to do if this doesn’t work out” list. I just decided to begin. Want to join me?

books, business, creativity, work

Book Review – Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster

Christa Avampato

What gets measured gets done. I think about this idea every day as I run my business. Authors Alistair Kroll and Ben Yoskovitz wrote Lean Analytics to help entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs from companies and organizations of all shapes, sizes, and persuasions to answer the following questions:

1.) What data is important to my work?
2.) Why is it important?
3.) How do I measure it?
4.) What do I do with the results?

In addition to this straight-shooting advice, it’s also chock-full of case studies and interviews, as well as thought-provoking graphics that will have us digging deep into the questions of life, happiness, and the meaning of worthwhile work. It provides readers with a set of exercises to help you ask the right questions of yourself and your team and get to the answers as quickly as possible. My favorite exercise is a one page business plan template that takes 20 minutes. It’s turnkey resources like this that make this book priceless for everyone who desires to build anything of value. It’s useful on a holistic basis, and also for individual projects and teams.

Throughout the book, you’ll find key takeaways clearly highlighted and embedded within the relevant text. Lean Analytics packs a powerful punch of information. These key takeaways keep readers focused and on-track so that the information is highly relevant and immediately useful rather than overwhelming.

Another key feature that so few books have is a section that helps readers figure out the stage of their business or project. Then it goes further by giving us litmus tests to make sure we’ve assessed the situation fairly, are working on the right problems, and measuring our progress accurately. If your business builds a product or service, this book is priceless – it takes you through the discovery, development, build, and testing processes in an approachable, step-by-step manner.

Owning a copy of Lean Analytics is like having a management consultant / cheerleader / truth sayer right by your side every step of the way. Get it and use it well.

art, books, creative, creative process, creativity, design

Beautiful: Blender Master Class from No Starch Press

Christa Avampato

blender_simonds_complete_V7.inddDesign skills are quickly becoming a part of the necessary knowledge base of professionals in a wide variety of fields. Plenty of courses, online and off, free and fee-based, are cropping up to demystify the process of design. Open source design software is also paving the way to help us evolve from media consumers into media creators.

If 3D design is on your wish list of skills, you’re in luck. Blender is an incredibly popular open source 3D design suite with a massive user community. No Starch Press has just published the book Blender Master Class by author and professional 3D artist Ben Simonds. The book guides you step-by-step through 3 intricate projects by teaching you modeling, sculpting, materials, and rendering skills. The book also explains how Blender interfaces with GIMP, an open source graphic design program, and includes a DVD with all of the relevant files for the projects described in the book.

Simonds makes Blender, a sophisticated program, approachable by breaking down its basic features one by one. Blender is used by many artists for animation, simulation, and game design. However, these features are not covered in this book. Simonds focused his efforts on the niche that needed to be filled – helping new Blender users understand the basics of creating still images.

With this book you can quickly get started on the task of getting those 3D designs out of your imagination and into the world. While Blender can feel overwhelming at first because of all of its bells and whistles, you’ll have Simonds with you on every step of the journey as a guide and supporter. I can’t wait to see what you create!