By all means...live.

    "A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams"                                                                                                                               - John Barrymore

There's the saying that "age is just a number" and in many ways, it is often true. There are twentysomethings who are old souls and then there are seventy year olds with the energy of teenagers.

In life the reality is that we get older. It does not mean, though, that we must become old. Yes wrinkles may emerge, our tastes change, and our whimsical ways may slow down, but in it's truest sense "old" is a mindset, not an eventuality. Without a doubt we do change, evolve and become different, but on occassion (if we are lucky) we can end up back where we began, having the opportunity to be a beginner and see life for its vast opportunities as we did when we were children. Not once, or twice but as often as we have the desire to learn, be novices, and experience the world in new ways.

Living life means different things to different people. Do you live within the boundaries? Do you color way outside the lines? That's really up to you because truly, there are no rules. One thing I'm sure of though, getting old is a matter of how you are in this world. And this is determined by your being and your pursuits in life. It's about making decisions and embracing those choices, regardless of their outcome.

The most beautiful life is one without regrets. One in which your spirit is forever youthful. Seeing opportunitities in the challenges and being fearless in the pursuit of that which makes you feel the most alive.

Choose to be lucky...

Ladies and gents how often are we in our daily lives consciously or unconsciously preparing for that break? Meeting that right person. Attending that right event. Going to that right place. But how do you know if it's right or not? Well, you don't.

Whether you want to accept this fact or not...(as the old saying goes) there's nothing guaranteed in life. You can pour your heart into a project so that it can see the light of day. You can give blood sweat and tears in order to bring a concept to fruition. By sheer mental force and a diabolical knack for influencing people, you are able to make ideas happen. It doesn't mean, though, that things will happen the way you want them to. Regardless, whatever it is that you do, your desire (I would imagine) is to make an impact, affect change or simply get recognized for your efforts. You want to succeed (in whatever way that may mean).

Now many say its about persistence. Some suggest it's about being smart. Others chalk it up to dumb luck - being at the right place at the right time.

Well from where I sit (and in my own experience...time and time and time again) I'd personally recommend investing heavy with number three (and stock options on the first might not be too bad either). But instead of looking at it as 'dumb luck', see being lucky as an attitude and a strategic way of 'being.' 

From a blog post I did in 2009 there are 4 basic principles for being 'lucky' and generating good fortune:

• Being skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities.
• Make lucky decisions by listening to your intuition.
• Create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations.
• Adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

Now in today's world where we are bombarded with social networks this and digital media that, what's the relevance? In a market where change is everywhere and what's coming next, we  can't predict, we have to know improvisation (the parent company of being lucky) which is about knowing how to generate consistently positive outcomes from unforeseen circumstances. And what better way to illustrate this point...

New Martini - Luck is an Attitude.

The choice is yours...

The ability to choose (and then be engaged in rational/irrational thinking in relation to those choices) is what fundamentally differentiates us as humans from every other living species on this planet.

Everyday we make choices. The steak sandwich or the turkey burger. Develop an advertising campaign for the business or engage in a social media strategy. Take a job where the pay is excellent or choose a career opportunity allowing you to do what you have always dreamed...

How often, though, are you presented with the choice of seeking out similar surroundings or pursuing diverse experiences? And what do I mean by that? If you're an engineer maybe there's an opportunity to hang out with a local poetry group. If you're an aerobics instructor maybe there's a chance to participate in some capoeira (if only to just watch) and delve into that world. Maybe you're a technologist and you'll go and shoot the breeze with a publicist. Are some of these interactions a bit extreme, possibly, but you understand my point. What are your choices to introduce variety and diversity (or even possibly something radically different) into your life?

Now you might ask what's the point? My response would be; we are living in a time where the arranged routines of our lives have been disrupted, and 'normal' as we knew it...is gone...forever. If you are in the business of commerce, then unconventional thinking is your first class ticket on domestic and international flights to a future with new complexities, expanded dimensions and unbridled opportunity. A future where one of the ultimate value-adds, that you can bring to the table, is diverse experiences and then the ability to synthesize those experiences into things people want, need and/or desire (and will pay for).

Now looking at one set of options, you can choose the blue pill. You'll wake up just like yesterday, last month and the year(s) before travelling the road of traditional ideas, that unfortunately, possess minimum to zero growth opportunity for the future. Or you can choose the red pill and see just how far down the rabbit hole you can go towards creative thinking, digital exploration, and business model innovation.

As always, the choice is yours.

What's your weapon of choice?

 

One of my favorite sayings in the whole world is "Never bring a knife to a gunfight". In my opinion there's nothing better than words painting a picture that make things so clear, in so few words: You have to be prepared for what you are facing.

In 2011 the upheaval in the market continues. Whether its politics, education, business, or economics, the question is: what's the way forward?

For business, technology has become the game-changer in more ways than we can possibly imagine. Whether it's the cloud, digital media, or the democratization of the marketplace, it's impact is everywhere and the revolution has only just begun. 

The issue though is that in the current environment a lot is going on: an economic recession, joblessness, educational stagnancy, a shifting marketplace, and political stasis (to put a few items on the table). The market, unlike anytime in recent history, is full of incredible challenges. But where there are challenges there are opportunities. 

The mistake we don't want to make is to bring the wrong weapon to the big clash. Yet so often that's what happens.

We focus intently on tactics when we need to establish strategies. We get enamored with activities when we need action. We turn the bass way up on technology making it hard to hear the voices on narrative.

As a friend of mine Tali Krakowsky states in her blog post - The Story of Story: Obsessions with Narrative; "Today data is pervasive. It is so readily available and so in abundance that it has no value. Data is no longer significant or interesting in itself – what makes it so is how it is delivered and experienced.

Ladies and gentlemen in a market where time is of the essence, business models are rapidly changing  and attention is a scarcity, how do we create value?  Choose the right weapon(s): curation, empathy, storytelling, pattern identification, design thinking, improvisation and  culture creation. These are good starts.

At the end of the day the weapon you choose, is your choice. What's on the table, though, is that in a 21st century networked world, where the limit for novel ideas is only defined by the creativity (or lack of) in your 'mental reach', how far is your actual reach when all that's at your disposal is a switch blade?

For you my friends, I have three words...

The market is in a state of flux...arguably like no other time in history. Now what this exactly means (and how the impact is/isn't being felt) will depend on who you are talking to, what you're talking about, and what particular industry is in question.  

Nevertheless with the rise of social media, the economic downturn, the tea party rebellion and most recently the OccupyWallStreet movement...something (big) is afoot.

For me the most recent (and ongoing evidence) that what's happening isn't just a tremor, but a tectonic shift in the market, is a recent indie film by Swedish co-directors, David Dworsky and Victor Köhler, called Press Pause Play.

Now back in 2008 I wrote a blog post entitled Sex, Drugs, and Rock & (what's next?), about how the internet is dramatically changing the music industry and creating a new kind of counterculture in an unprecented way. From my own research and process of connecting the dots, I definitely concluded; folks, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. 

Almost three years later, to the date, Press Pause Play spotlights a new narrative and brings into sharp focus the reality of today's digital revolution.

I highly recommend that you check this out. If you're an artist (in any sense of the word), techno-geek, and/or digital provocateur...then you're going to ab-so-lute-ly love this film!