Category: decision-making

career, choices, decision-making, education, teaching, yoga

Step 198: Decisions, Iriquois-style

Christa Avampato

I heard Jeffrey Hollender, CEO of Seventh Generation, speak at the World Innovation Forum and he explained his company’s decision-making philosophy with respect to the environment: they consider how their decisions will impact the world in seven generations (roughly 70 years.) Seventh Generation took a page from the law of the Iroquois. After Hollender’s inspiring talk, I created a similar decision-making rule for myself: when making important decisions, I think about how I’ll feel about my choice 7 years from now.

This has brought up some interesting effects that may seem small on the surface, though are huge underneath:

1.) I had a hard time figuring out how to fit my yoga teacher training into my schedule. I had to make trade-offs with some other projects like Innovation Station and finishing my first e-book. Ultimately, I decided that the yoga training could lead to a service that I could offer independently, giving me more flexibility to pursue so many of my interests. 7 years from now, I will be very happy I gave entrepreneurship a shot with Compass Yoga.

2.) I went to Greece a few weeks ago and soon after I made those travel plans my sister asked if I would visit for a week only two weeks after I returned from Greece to help her out with her kids while my brother-in-law was out-of-town. I usually wouldn’t ask to take my vacation days from work so close together. I’m in Florida now having a blast with my little nieces. 7 years from now, I will be so grateful for this time – I am already grateful for it now. Work will manage without me just fine.

3.) When the opportunity to teach at LIM College presented itself, working the class into my schedule was difficult. I could have just passed on the chance to make things easier at work. However, I’ve been wanting to teach a college level for the past few years, and that opportunity can be tough for a young professional to come by. So even though it was difficult to re-work my schedule, I knew that if I didn’t accept the teaching assignment 7 years from now I would regret it.

4.) Now 34, I’m considering how I spend my work life. For some time, I have wanted to turn more of my career toward the field of education in some way. It would be easy to just continue down the professional path I’m on, even though I know it’s not my passion. I make a good living at a popular company. 7 years from now, I know that I will wish I had made the move to education much earlier on. So even though making a career change can be challenging, particularly in this economy, I have to go for it.

This decision-making philosophy is helpful, but not easy to implement. It requires trusting my gut much more often than my head. The heart can take the long-view; the head can’t. In recent years, my head has won more often than my heart. The practical side of me has taken a bit too much control. I need a better heart-mind balance in my decisions. Thinking 7 years ahead helps me do that. I’m grateful to the Iroquois and Seventh Generation for the lesson.

The image above can be found here.

creative process, creativity, decision-making

Step 165: 37 Tips from Hugh McLeod

Christa Avampato

I’ve heard Hugh McLeod’s name mentioned several times in the last week. My pal, Amanda, just let me know that the image I posted on my blog earlier this week was his work and I love it. Hugh has a daily cartoon and a newsletter that he sends out. Hop over there and sign up for some inspiration. You can also join him on Twitter and Facebook. In the mean time, here are 37 tips he lists on his website that have worked for his creative spirit.

1. Ignore everybody.

2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours.

3. Put the hours in.

4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being “discovered” by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.

5. You are responsible for your own experience.

6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.

7. Keep your day job.

8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.

9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.

10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.

11. Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.

12. If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.

13. Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside.

14. Dying young is overrated.

15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.

16. The world is changing.

17. Merit can be bought. Passion can’t.

18. Avoid the Watercooler Gang.

19. Sing in your own voice.

20. The choice of media is irrelevant.

21. Selling out is harder than it looks.

22. Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.

23. Worrying about “Commercial vs. Artistic” is a complete waste of time.

24. Don’t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.

25. You have to find your own schtick.

26. Write from the heart.

27. The best way to get approval is not to need it.

28. Power is never given. Power is taken.

29. Whatever choice you make, The Devil gets his due eventually.

30. The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.

31. Remain frugal.

32. Allow your work to age with you.

33. Being Poor Sucks.

34. Beware of turning hobbies into jobs.

35. Savor obscurity while it lasts.

36. Start blogging.

37. Meaning Scales, People Don’t.

37. When your dreams become reality, they are no longer your dreams.

choices, decision-making, priorities

Step 163: Stones, Gravel, and a Jar

Christa Avampato

This week O’Reilly Media sent me a book entitled Your Money: The Missing Manual by JD Roth, the author of Getrichslowly.org. The book is chock-full of helpful money tips and resources. No matter what your level of financial management, the book has something useful for everyone. I’ll review the book in a later post, though wanted to share an anecdote in the book that applies to goal setting and how we spend our time.

Let’s say we have a mason jar, a few big stones, and a lot of gravel. We need to get all of the gravel and all of the stones into the jar. What should we do first? We could pour in all of the gravel to create a nice level surface and then try to stack the big stones on top of the gravel. If we take this approach, we find that the big stones don’t fit in the jar neatly. Now, let’s put the big stones in first and then pour the gravel on top of the big stones. This second approach allows the gravel to do what it does best – fill in the small little spaces around the big stones. Everything fits.

This analogy sheds light so many areas of our lives: how we set up our to-do lists, pack for vacation, design our living space or office, decide on a career or a job, and build relationships. We need big, clear priorities (the big stones) and then we have lower priorities (the gravel) that can fit in and around the bigger stones. Getting the big stones, our biggest priorities, placed first helps us meet with success, and ultimately drives our happiness.

On Friday afternoon, I started to feel overwhelmed with my weekend. I have friends in town, a birthday party tonight, and lots of personal things to get done on my to-do list. The jar analogy helped me organize my time:

Big stones
See my friends who are visiting
Finish the rough draft of a syllabus for a class I will teach in the Fall
Work on my e-book on entrepreneurship

Gravel
Friend’s birthday party – it’s an all-day / well-into-the-evening party so I have lots of options of how to attend
Clean my apartment for a friend who will be in town on Monday
Grocery shopping
Some blog writing
Planning for a SWSX presentation I plan to submit in the next few weeks
Get in some yoga
Doing some prep work for my Greece trip in a few weeks
and the list goes on…

Now I have a much clearer path to a successful happy weekend. Make progress on the big stones first, and then fill in with gravel when and where I can. I hope this analogy helps you, too!

decision-making, dreams

Step 157: Choosing What to Do

Christa Avampato

“There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue those.” ~ Michael Nolan

Opportunities run rampant, so much so that sometimes we miss them. They appear like streaks of light across our line of vision. They wake us up for a moment, and then when we’ve realized they passed, we sink back down and wait. But sometimes, an idea, a dream catches more than our eye. It grabs ahold of our hearts and just won’t let go. As Brian says, “True passion would rather chew its own arm off to free itself rather than die on the vine.” A bit grotesque, but you see what he means. You may even feel it, too.

I have notebooks and blog posts and diaries full of dreams, little sparks and glimmers that caught my eyes from a very young age. They are packed away in boxes in my closest (and thankfully, though not surprisingly, survived my apartment fire last year.) I remember their magic and beauty when I re-open them and read some of their words. I realize how many of my dreams changed and died and were replaced by other dreams. The real ones, the true ones, did not need to be written down. They took up residence in my heart, and they are the ones I still carry and will continue to carry:

1.) To travel
2.) To help
3.) To write
4.) To love

Simple dreams – 8 words in all that express my life as I want it to be lived, today, tomorrow, and always. They comprise the lenses through which I view all the opportunities that cross my path. If it serves one (or more!), I take it up. And if it doesn’t, I let it pass on by without regret. After all, a dream that only catches my eye is better served by being passed on to another person who holds it in her heart.

The image above was created by Eric Perrone.

change, choices, decision-making, dreams

Step 156: Take What You Get or Make What You Take

Christa Avampato

“It is–as we see it–our life. To live … or lose. To form … or allow to be formed.” ~ Tom Peters

Tom Peters has knocked it out of the park this week with his quotes. I wonder if he and I have some secret psychic linkage. Someone once said to me that I have two choices in life: be a narrowcaster or a broadcaster. I think about that choice a lot. Tom Peters says the same thing in this quote. Either form your own road or hop on a road that someone else formed, not for you, but regardless of you. Said that way, I don’t have a choice. I have to go my own way. That’s my nature and I’ve got to be true to it.

I don’t begrudge people who take someone else’s road and do well. I kind of envy them. That must be an easier path than the one I’m choosing to build. I just can’t stomach it. In the very depths of my gut, it feels like the wrong way to spend my days. Brian tried to tell me that yesterday. “The safe road is actually not safe at all,” he said. I sort of believed him at the time.

And then I woke up this morning with a great big illustrative light bulb over my head. Of course I have to build my own road while I’m walking it. One brick at a time. One foot in front of the other. My own instincts as my light in the dark. Would I really be happy any other way?

adventure, change, choices, decision-making

Step 155: Crossing the Chasm

Christa Avampato

“The word … is REFRAMING. Taking a task … and turning it into something-that-makes-a-difference.” ~ Tom Peters

Today, crossing the chasm means more to me than the gap between early adopters and mass appeal as explained by Geoffrey Moore in his excellent business book by the same title. I have two very competent halves: my logical, fiscally responsible side who has done an excellent job of helping me strive, survive, and thrive, and the daydream believer side who must make a difference in the world by doing spiritually meaningful work. Between them exists a very wide gap and I spend a good deal of my energy making the leap on a daily (and sometimes more than daily) basis. To use Tom Peter’s sentiment, I want a better frame.

Where else could I put this energy so that it better serves the bridging of this divide? How can I live my work and work the way I live? Fully. Passionately. Deeply giddy about dreaming and even more giddy about rolling up my sleeves and physically birthing those dreams into the world.

I refuse to believe that these are the idle words that an idyllic life represents and that few can actually achieve. I know that the two can reconcile. And actually, they must reconcile. The chasm has grown too wide for me, and rather than putting my energy into jumping further every day, today I started to build the bridge. Here we go…

The photo above can be found here.

decision-making, determination, future

Step 148: Ignorance as Gift

Christa Avampato

About 3 years ago I moved back to New York City after business school, no job, no place to live, and barely enough money to get by. I had the gift of a very large blind spot that prevented me from seeing that about 6 months later the economy would unravel into the great recession. Ignorance was not only bliss, but almost single-handedly responsible for making my current life possible.

Yesterday, I made my way to Laguardia airport for a much-needed vacation, by way of Astoria, Queens, my landing spot 3 years ago. My friend, Anne, needed a subletter just as I was graduating and I needed a cheap place in a good neighborhood. The Neptune Diner is right down the street from Anne’s and a favorite local spot in Astoria, owned by a Greek family that has been cooking up homemade meals for decades. They make an out-of-this world delicious, cheap lemonata chicken and it made for a fitting meal yesterday to celebrate how far I’ve come in 3 years.

I took a seat at the bar, ordered the chicken, and took a look around, drinking in my ridiculously good fortune. My mom and I came to Neptune when we moved my few arms-full of belongings into Anne’s. My mom was so proud of me, despite my lack of job, money, and a place to call my own. I was scared to death but I didn’t tell her. Despite my many wonderful friends and supportive family, I felt very much alone 3 years ago. I knew in my gut I belonged in New York again; I just didn’t know why. So I trusted myself and kept following my instincts.

Happily, it did all worked out. My gut knew the way. After a lot of networking, I got a job at the end of my first month back. I started this blog, which has provided me with a great abundance of opportunities to meet interesting people and share information that I hope helps others. It has also helped me land paying freelance gigs and opened my eyes to the opportunities in social media. I have a beautiful apartment in my favorite New York City neighborhood. Through diligent savings, I’ve got a nice little emergency fund tucked away and have started paying down my school loans faster than planned. Last week, I completed my yoga teacher certification. And my loving friends and family have only grown more supportive of my life. It’s been a full, happy 3 years.

Now, I find myself at another cross-roads that feels somewhat like that time nearly 3 years ago. For the past year and a half, I have intensely researched entrepreneurship, and mulled over the idea of starting my own business on the side, hoping to eventually make it my full-time gig. I know that transition takes time so I have a good day job that supports my entrepreneurial vision. No matter how much research I do, I know entrepreneurship must be lived to fully understand it. To really embrace it, I will have to put the books aside and jump.

As I looked around the Neptune Diner, I reminded myself that from a place of fear and ignorance, good things transpire as long as we maintain the right attitude. My life serves as proof of that. I know in my gut, again, that this yoga-based business is the right idea, right now. I don’t know how it will all fall together. I just know that it will so long as I keep at it.

choices, decision-making, dreams, history, television

Step 120: Forget the Odds

Christa Avampato

“All quests worth undertaking … require audacity. And willpower. (Of course.) And persistence. (Of course.) But frankly, a persistent misreading of the odds.” ~ Tom Peters

The History Channel is running a series called America: The Story of Us. In each episode, the series talks about a specific chapter of American History. VSL highlighted it last week in their daily listing and I added it to my calendar. I could always use a little more history in my life.

I saw the series premiere and thought about how unlikely it was that we’d ever become a nation. The odds of success at the beginning of the Revolution had to be near zero. We are the most unlikely story ever told, and lived. This week I’ve been thinking about that episode in the context of pursuing my most unlikely dreams. The quote above by Tom Peters showed up in my inbox, and it reminded me how much courage comes from consistently misreading the odds, or seeing them and paying them no mind. If the people who fought for our early nation got out some paper, drew up a business plan, and calculated the NPV of America, risk factors and all, we’d have British accents.

I’m not suggesting that we throw every caution and hesitation to the wind. I’m suggesting that we have this one life, this one opportunity to do something extraordinary. People may not understand where we’re going. They may not understand why we’re making certain choices or taking a chance on a dream. That’s okay. They don’t need to understand. They’re crunching numbers and drawing up pro-cons lists and calculating odds. You’re out there living the life that you want to live, the way you want to live it. And in that scenario, there’s so such things as odds. You either live fully, or you don’t.

change, choices, decision-making

Step 107: Irons in the Fire

Christa Avampato

I got a chance to catch up with my friend, Amy, today. She is one of my dearest friends and will be visiting New York soon. She’s about to transition out of her current job and isn’t sure what will come next. Amy’s considering a number of different paths as she winds down from a wonderful job she’s had for the past four years. I’m so excited to see how everything plays out for her.

We talked about the need to put a lot of irons in the fire when we’re in the midst of change. When I was considering my next career move a few months ago, I applied to a PhD program, applied to a yoga teacher training programming, looked inside my current company at a number of positions, and started to look at external jobs as well. I explored every possibility that seemed interesting, and I ended up moving forward into a yoga teacher training program and finding a new job at my current company that I love where I can leverage all of my interests, from social media to technology to innovation. Exploring a lot of different options made the possibility of finding a combo I really wanted all the more likely. I found a little luck along the way and was dedicated to having my next move be one that really made me happy. Having options, and giving myself the freedom to consider all of them without being wed to one single path, was a key component for my next successful jump.

Our lives seem to move in concentric circles, Amy and I. It’s probably why we’ve been such good friends for so many years. I know her next step is going to yield a glorious new beginning because she’s worked so hard for so long and because she’s not afraid to live her life in many different directions. I’m glad I can be there to cheer her on.

choices, decision-making

Step 99: Planning for the Future

Christa Avampato

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

The future is a funny thing – we do our best to shape it, even when we know it has a mind and a plan of its own. I don’t think our planning efforts are a waste. I just think we have to be prepared to change direction, and even to change our convictions, when presented with new, compelling information. We were meant, as a species, to evolve.

I’ve found that a lot of prep work that I thought I was doing for a certain path has served me well as I took a completely different direction, often one I never imagined. My theatre work lead me to yoga and gave me the best business training of my life. My time living in Florida gave me an amazing mentor and taught me the art of fundraising. That fundraising work led me to join a nonprofit board once I had crossed back over to the for-profit world with a bank (go figure!) My unique childhood lead me to become a writer. Groundwork is laid when we’re not looking. After all, we need to put down the tracks before the train can arrive.

Often the plans we’re making don’t turn out to be for the result we assumed. And that doesn’t matter. Plant that tree. Go on that trip. Take that class. Meet that person who showed up in your life when you least expected it, and smile. There’s no telling where this all will lead, and truthfully where it’s leading is none of your concern. Just show up, heart open, awareness heightened, and just commit to bear witness to what unfolds.

The image above is not my own. It can be found here.