Shift: 13 Exercises to Make You Who You Want to Be

I've just finished a new book called "Shift," by Takumi Yamazaki.  I hadn't heard of the author before, but apparently he is a very well-known Japanese author who's sold over 800,000 books and is a self-made millionaire.

The subtitle of Shift is "13 Exercises to Make You Who You Want To Be," and I think that's a very appropriate description of what you'll find inside.  This book is essentially a set of guided thought sessions to help you identify your goals and set specific plans in motion to achieve them.  In each section of the book, you will find a set of stories and advice, accompanied by short (but very deep) exercises to focus your mind and get you to write your thoughts down.

SHIFT

Each section is described in terms of a "Shift," through which you change your outlook on life.  For example, the Shift 2 deals with thinking about how your perspective and preconceived notions can limit your success.  Shift 2 is accompanied by an exercise in which you examine situations in which you feel you weren't able to do something - one example given in the book is:

• "I had plans so I wasn't able to go to the party on Sunday."

You then rewrite the statement in which you describe it in as a choice:

• "I didn't want to go to the party - I chose not to go."

Pretty simple, right?  This exercise is similar to ones I've done before, and I always find it a bit jarring, yet empowering to realize I really do choose what I will or won't do over 90% of the time in my life.  This reminded me of a saying from a friend of mine: "Pretend you create everything that happens to you. Now, decide you will create better things for yourself."  It really changes how you approach life to think of things this way.

The other 12 Shifts are compelling, too.

Exercise your mind

The point of Yamazaki's book is to help you reframe your approach and (hopefully) achieve better outcomes that align with what you really want.  I have been trying to get back on the Getting Things Done (GTD) bandwagon, and I find that Shift puts me in a frame of mind where I'm able to come up with better Next Actions.

Also, this book is a good reminder that you don't have to go it alone - one of the cool things about this book is that many of the exercises include special instructions on how to apply the Shifts in this book as part of a group.  I think this would be a fun book to explore with a book club or a group of friends.

Shift is easy to read and has a lot of interesting visuals.  The exercises are the main attraction, though, and I highly recommend Shift to anyone who wants to take control of what's going on in their life.

Pzizz Sleep Science - now there is an app for that!

A few years ago, I became an avid user of a product called "Pzizz".  In the words of their website, Pzizz is a "a unique audio system that helps you nap during the day or get to sleep at night, " as well as helping you "Solve sleep problems, boost energy and reduce stress."

The original version of Pzizz that I purchased is an application that runs on your computer, then generates a custom sound file you can play on your iPod or other music player.  Pzizz allows you to create "nap soundtracks" that use scientifically designed audio to help you sleep.  You can create two kinds of naps with Pzizz:

1. "Sleep naps" which help you get to sleep and influences your sleep in a way that helps you get a good, deep sleep and wake up refreshed.
2. "Energizer naps" which help you take a short nap and wake up feeling refreshed.

I am a huge fan of Pzizz - especially for jet lag and long, grueling trade shows.  I wrote about my experiences with it here in two posts: "Pzizz: State Of The Art Power Napping" and  my "Pzizz Field Update."

Recently, I discovered that there are two iPhone apps for Pzizz - one for Sleep naps and one for Energizer naps.  I bought them both a few weeks ago in the App Store - very reasonably priced, and they work like a charm.  Click the links below to see them in the App Store.  Enjoy!

Digging out from under stuff

I spent this week on the east coast of the US, where there's just been a huge snowstorm.  I ended up getting stranded for a couple of days, which disrupted quite a few aspects of my plans.  I thought this was a great metaphor for work, and came up with a few parallels.

Plan ahead

One thing I did right on this trip was check the weather report before flying from the west coast to the east coast.  I found out it was very cold, and that a snowstorm was very likely.

As a result, I was able to bring a heavy coat an gloves, plus some extra clothing in case I got stuck.  I also did some research on alternate flights and methods of transportation - just in case.

I was traveling with two colleagues, so I made sure they were aware of what was coming so they could plan, as well.

Look for options

When our flight got canceled on the first day of the snow storm, we explored our options:  wait for a flight the next day, or drive to our next city.  We asked for a lot of advice from others, looked at weather forecasts, etc. and eventually decided to stay put for the first night and wait it out.  Why?  See the next point.

We also explored options for places to stay for the next couple of nights (just in case) and booked a room at a local hotel - with free WiFi, even.

Figure out your priorities

On the first day, one of the options was to drive on to our next city (about a 4-hour drive in normal conditions).  We decided that:

• The weather was too nasty for us to safely drive - especially at night, which is what we'd have been doing;
• The meeting we were heading to was less important than our safety;
• We could still get a lot of work done from the hotel.

In other words, our meeting wasn't worth risking our necks for.

Know your limits

The next day, all flights out were cancelled again!  At this point, we got a little tired of waiting around so we ventured out in our rental car.  The roads seemed pretty good, even though the planes weren't flying.  We didn't make this decision without testing our limits to make sure we could handle the situation.

We decided to go for it, but wanted some insurance (so to speak).  Working with the most helpful Avis car rental employee I've ever met (Nancy in Clarksburg, West Virgina), we managed to swap our little car for a big 4-wheel drive SUV (the last one available because it wasn't officially available - thanks, Nancy!)

Comfortable that we could drive safely, we decided to brave the roads.

Don't be afraid to ask for help

All along the way, we asked for help from others - advice from the people at the hotel; assistance from the aforementioned Nancy at Avis; help and advice from the (also friendly) United Airlines people at the Clarsburg airport; and more.  We couldn't have been successful without their help.

And we weren't shy about asking (nicely, of course).

The payoff?

• We got to our next city in good time, safe the whole way.
• We only missed one of our meetings, and got to our destination at least a day earlier than if we'd waited for a flight.
• Nancy at Avis connected us with a couple of very nice folks who also wanted to go to our next city, and we decided to give them a ride (ironically, they didn't ask for help but they were lucky enough to have Nancy as a "matchmaker" to put us together so all 5 of us could be successful).
• We learned the value of "good people" and being open to help from other people.

To net this out, when you feel overwhelmed, stuck, and helpless, try this:

• Plan Ahead,
• Look For Options,
• Figure Out Your Priorities,
• Know Your Limits,
• Don't Be Afraid To Ask For Help.

Advice: get some

I have been catching up on some old podcasts, and just listened to one from the Get-It-Done Guy about "internal advisory boards." In this podcast, he talks about creating a fictitious advisory board inside your head and using it to vet ideas.  Pretty novel concept, and he portrays it in an entertaining way - go give it a listen when you're done here.

That got me thinking about the use of external advisory boards, though.  I'm leading a project to define a very forward-looking product strategy, and I've come to realize I'm drawing too much on my own perspective and experience.  I don't want to limit my thinking so I've begun to engage with others as advisors, sounding boards, and contrarians to help me make my strategy stronger.

If you've never done this before, it can be daunting.  The first step is to admit you need help (pretty easy this time); the second step is to be open to others perspectives (again, fairly easy in this situation); and the third is to figure out who to ask to be your advisor.  That third one is a bitch, let me tell you.

I've been trying to make it easier by doing a couple of things:

1. I've written a list of the attributes I'm looking for (experience, perspective, type of input I'm looking for, etc.) for a number of advisor types;
2. I've begun to socialize this with some of my more connected friends who are most likely know someone or know of someone who can help;
3. I've written a document about the topic I want feedback on so I can get any potential advisors anchored in my topic;
4. I've begun talking to people more openly about their role as my advisor (interviewing, if you will).

This has worked pretty well - I have a couple of solid advisors on board, and a couple more in the works.  I am really looking forward to getting their input.

What about you - have you ever solicited outside advisors in any deliberate manner?  If so, do you have any advice you can share?

Looking for a job? Preparation can make a difference

A post from Jason Womack on "being ready" made me think of the importance of doing your homework before a job interview.  I've been interviewing a lot of candidates recently, and you can really tell the difference between those who take the time to not only become familiar with your company, but also spend time thinking about how they would integrate with your company.

This is more than figuring out what they key products are, what messaging is on the web site, or what recent press releases have hit the wire.

For me, the candidates that really stand out go beyond cursory research.  For example, I've encountered candidates who have prepared a document with their thoughts on our company's strategy versus our key competitors' - with recommendations for how to make our company more competitive.  I've also run across people who have called our company asking for information from our Sales team to see how we position ourselves, what business problems we solve, and how we engage with prospects.

The difference wasn't in what these folks knew or that they'd put forth the extra effort (though that tells you something about a person).  No, the key difference was in their ability to engage in a meaningful discussion during the interview process.  They behaved like informed members of my team, which made it even easier to envision what it's like to work with them.

So, if you are interviewing and want to stand out, get beyond a scan of the web site, engage with the company you want to work for, and bring informed passion to your interview.