David Herz, Coach

Sometimes you just get one of those e-mails you have to share. Here's a particularly good one from James Altucher:
How I Learned To Be The Most Selfish Person Alive (Or... What I Learned From Podcasting This Past Year)

What you can accomplish in the next year, or ten, and what can we do to make that happen?

I start with the old saw that “people overestimate what they can do in a day and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” I think it's a good point of departure. Some of us start on big projects, become overwhelmed, and give up. Others drive ourselves, regardless of the impact on other areas of our life, to accomplish what we said we would. But some, and these I consider wise, recognize that any project, big or small, is just the sum of many smaller steps all designed with that particular goal in mind, and if we take just a few steps every day, in a year (or ten) we'll have come quite far.

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I had a conversation with a good friend of mine this week. He's a very successful lawyer, one of the best I know. He's so good that business comes to him. He's also well read and enjoys literature. I invited him to take me on as his coach.

He hasn't taken me up on my invite yet, but he did choose to share with me, and I was impressed; so I share with you.

About two years ago, he was offered some business, six figures worth. He looked into his life, and how he was spending his time, and said to himself, “I could take this on, or I could spend this time reading and exploring literary criticism.” He chose the latter, and since then, he's set aside some time for himself every week to do just that.

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So I was speaking to a programmer friend of mine the other day. She works on a web site for a company that provides mail handling services. As I was on the phone with her, I looked at the most recent iteration of the website.

It's pretty at full size, but I scaled it down to see what would happen. By the time it got down to even tablet size, the site became unusable. (I know, I know, this site has the same flaw; I'm working on it.) This company helps people manage their mail and allows remote access, thus saving time and providing peace of mind. I mentioned to my friend that it doesn't scale, it doesn't look right on a smaller screen. What went on in my mind is that if a prospect comes to this site on a mobile device, he'll leave before this company can deliver its message, make its offering, or make a sale.

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It's Tuesday, and I've a hundred unfinished ideas that are not ready for a post, but it's Tuesday and it's my day for a post; so I'll write, and I'll keep my word, and I'll win my game.

Because here's the thing. Even if this isn't my best work, getting it out is how I win. And I'm learning that winning is what keeps me going and playing harder and better next time. And one of my games is to post once a week.

Another of the games I am playing right now is rowing three million meters this Concept2 ranking year, which runs May 1 to April 30. I took it on last year as well, and failed miserably. Last year I started alright, but every time I missed a day, three million loomed larger until I gave up. I ended last year just over a million meters.

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