Mmm... steaming hot ramen.

What I enjoyed most about the movie, without giving away too many details, was the main ingredient that Brittany Murphey’s character, Abby, learned to infuse into her ramen that made it special: spirit. Because in the end, this was not a movie about ramen, or romance. It was about finding one’s place in the world by focusing on the how more than the what.

“How” comes from within

The fact that Abby learned to make a great bowl of ramen is secondary to what it required of her to do it. She got the recipe right long before she was able to make a meal that was worthy of being served to her customers, because she was taught that making soup isn’t just about getting a bunch of ingredients and assembling them. It’s about heart. Unless your soup has spirit, it hasn’t got anything.

It’s a lesson that, I believe, resonates for many of us. We spend a lot of time reading books about parachutes or real-life stories of people searching for their “perfect” jobs. We’re taught to believe that if we just find the right career, we’ll be mystically satiated, and we’ll labor away blissfully for the rest of our lives. The emphasis here is placed on the initial discovery, and the promise is that once that discovery is made, the rest is downhill. (If you think about it, this ideal is promulgated in many arenas, from relationships to parenting to politics.)

The Ramen Girl teaches something else, though. It teaches that “getting the recipe right” is only the first step. In order to truly do something well, to transform it from ordinary to exceptional—and to transform yourself in the process—requires an internal contribution that goes beyond meticulousness and hard work. You have to invest yourself in what you’re doing. You have to be willing to be vulnerable, to give of yourself to your patrons through your work. It makes work personal, intimate, and unique.

The Divine is in the Details

As a webdesigner, I can churn out code until the cows come home. I can tweak settings, configure plugins, and customize design details until my fingers turn blue. And in so doing, I can be a good webdesigner, and serve my clients well. I’ll even feel the satisfaction of a job well done. But, is that all I should hope for?

If you want to feel like you’re doing your best work, the scorecard that matters is not the one that can be judged by what shows up on the screen, or on the paper, or in the product. Satisfaction—the bone-deep, spirit-lifting, existential experience of meaning—is found in the value and the interaction of your work and its target. In other words, it’s what your work creates in the experience of another that comes back to you as satisfaction. If it matters, then it matters, no matter what you’re called, from carpenter to coach to CEO.

It’s in the pursuit of that intangible satisfaction that work finds its meaning, we find our purpose, and the path of mastery is made clear. And, at every step of the way, it’s up to you to choose the giving road, the road of excellence, the road of interaction and connection, with your soul laid bare. It may not be easy, but the best things in life rarely come without incredible effort.

Image by bass_nroll.

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2009. | Permalink | 8 comments

She lives so large, she makes superheros nervous.

Edna Mode, referred to as "E" (analogous to Superman’s "S", or Mr. Incredible’s "I"), fashion designer and costumer of superheros in Pixar’s The Incredibles, packs so much juice, boldness, and raw energy into her tiny frame that she’s a force to be reckoned with, even for indestructible superheros.

If E can have that kind of effect on fantastically empowered champions, imagine what thinking like E could do for you.

Superheroes are easy, darling. Mediocrity is much more difficult to work with—and it is in such great supply.

Why You Should Think Hard About Thinking Big

Oh sure, every motivational speaker out there is going to tell you, "Shoot for the stars! Dream! Be all you can be!" And it’s good for their business to do so; after all, they’re in the entertainment business. They’re there to pump you up, and help you face the big challenges that go along with big dreams.

But "thinking big" goes beyond just priming your emotional pump. It’s damn good advice.

Take a page from Google

Thinking big has helped Google go from an odd-sounding startup to a gargantuan online empire, the size of which most of us can’t even fathom. Bill Weihl, "Green Energy Czar" of the Renewable Energy Department of Google (yes, you read that right), described plainly the practical genius behind thinking big:

Even if you don’t always achieve 100% of audacious goals, you’re probably doing better than if you set milder goals.

Think about it: why not aim for a BHAG? You could aim for "decent", and you’ll probably arrive. Hooray for you. Enjoy that big helping of decent pie. Tastes like vanilla cardboard, doesn’t it?

Passion Ignites The Soul

Whether you follow U.S. politics or not, and whether your blood runs red or blue, you’ve no doubt heard about Barack Obama. Why is this man sweeping the nation, igniting the fires in people’s hearts, and renewing faith where it was once lost?

Because Obama knows how to dream.
Because he knows that dreams and hope are powerful forces.
And because he knows, as Seth does, that hope and love are far more powerful than fear.

Enough Theory — How Do I Get There Myself?

Thinking big is sometimes easier said than done, ain’t it? When you’re gripped by fear and uncertainty, it can seem tough to think like an advocate for living ginormously.

If you’re finding it hard to rise up and go, guns blazing, remember the words of E herself:

You are Elastigirl! My God! Pull yourself together! What will you do? Is this a question? Show him you remember that he is Mr. lncredible, and you will remind him who you are! Well, you know where he is. Go! Confront the problem! Fight! Win! And call me when you get back, darling. I enjoy our visits.

• Remember who you are: When you’re thinking small, it’s because you’ve forgotten who you truly are. Read testimonials you’ve been sent. Or things your best friends have told you about yourself. Recall your strengths, your marquee talents, and above all, the content of your heart. No matter what you’ve done in your life, this much is true: you have a glorious, shining heart, and you can remember that at any time just by sitting quietly and getting in touch with it.
• Confront the problem: Resist the urge to procrastinate, to slink away from your challenges and hide within the comfortable (but diminishing) blankets of the known. (And if you need a hand with this one, I know a resource you may be interested in…)
• Fight! Win!: Anything worth accomplishing is going to be hard work. Otherwise, every lazy-butt sloth out there would be king. You’ve got to declare what you want, no matter how crazy it may sound, and go for it like there’s no turning back. That’s how champions are made.
• Look on the bright side: When E makes a super-suit for little baby Jack-Jack (who hadn’t yet revealed his superpowers), his mother, Elastigirl, says, "Jack-Jack doesn’t have any powers." And E’s reply is, "No? Well, he’ll look fabulous anyway."

Words are useless, darling! Gobble, gobble, gobble!

Planning has its time, but action is key. As E said,

Luck favors the prepared.

And yet, when the rubber meets the road, all the planning, theorizing, and talking in the world isn’t going to get you anywhere; you must act. Action is the liberator of intention, the champion of your thoughts.

Yes, words are useless. Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble! Too much of it, darling. Too much! That is why I show you my work. That is why you are here.

Never forget to act. It is in the arena of action that your mettle gets proven, that your brilliance will be realized, and your goals and dreams fulfilled.

Now Go! Fight! Win! And call me when you get back, darling. I enjoy our visits.

Image via Wikipedia.

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2008. | Permalink | 5 comments

Malingering

If you’ve seen my kung fu movies page, you know I’ve got a thing for action movies. Well, let me qualify that: I like well-made action movies. And the more physical action in it, the better.

Really, it’s because I love human performance; I get the same rush out of Cirque du Soleil, gymastics competitions, and soccer/football games, for the same reason (action movies just add a little drama now and again, which is nice).

That’s a long way of introducing the idea that I watched the movie "300" a while ago (well, most of it; I skimmed through a few overly gory scenes). What impressed me the most was the actor’s physiques; these guys were chiseled. And not freakish, either; just balanced and buff.

A little Googling and YouTubeing later, and I was watching some videos online about how the actors got in shape for their roles… and lo and behold, they were following CrossFit routines — a system I’ve been following for the better part of this year, so I wasn’t really all that surprised. Haven’t heard of CrossFit? Maybe it’s because CrossFit is a far-cry from what goes on in 99% of the gyms across this country.

Rather than focus on individual muscles (the typical body-building, big-box-gym-circuit-training approach), CrossFit is all about what they call "General Physical Preparedness," or GPP. In Coach Glassman’s words (the founder of CrossFit):

From the beginning, the aim of CrossFit has been to forge a broad, general, and inclusive fitness. We sought to build a program that would best prepare trainees for any physical contingency — prepare them not only for the unknown but for the unknowable… in sum, our specialty is not specializing.

Specialization has its price

A number of years ago I was training heavy; using large amounts of weight in a very small range of motion. Why? Because it builds size. I got to the point where I was lifting over 650 pounds on a leg press machine, and I was bench-pressing over 300 pounds.

But then, I went to put my then-two-year-old in her carseat, and almost threw out my back. I thought, "Huh?" That major disconnect taught me there was something seriously wrong about my methods.

GPP to the rescue

With GPP, you are training everything, for anything. And therein lies the beauty of CrossFit, in my opinion. By doing this kind of workout, you get in better shape, period. For anything. For any circumstance you need it for. For life.

GPP -> GWP

Lest you think this is just a promo for CrossFit, let me open this idea up a bit…

What are you interested in, for example, in your work? You’re probably interested in working at your best, with your heart and spirit in tact. It means you’re interested in HOW you work, not just WHAT you’re working at (although that matters, too). It means you want to express your purpose in this world, find meaning, and find peace and fulfillment in what you do.

Can you see how you have to go beyond just getting more done? Can you see how you need to focus not just on hours worked, widgets sold, clients served, or workshops taught? Can you see how efficiency, or communication, or intuition, or stress-reduction alone aren’t going to come close to giving you the kind of life you want?

In order to show up at your best, you need to adopt the GWP approach: General Work Preparedness. Generalize, not specialize.

That means finding a way to include such factors as:

• Productivity: organization, scheduling, eliminating distractions, etc.
• The ability to maintain your focus: a combination not just of "arranging your work", but the mental and spiritual aspects of clarity, passion, overcoming obstacles, etc.
• Confidence: cited as one of the top psychological factors in athletic performance, it holds true for work as well; without a positive self-image, your ability to present your best value — and stand in it with resolve — goes the way of the dodo.
• Health: if you aren’t physically up to the tasks you set for yourself, how can you achieve what your heart yearns to achieve? Whether you need to focus on drinking enough water, eating well, having core strength (it takes a toll on your body to sit at a desk all day, if that’s what you do), learning to type dvorak so you don’t get RSI, or whatever, taking care of your health is a foundational part of working at your best.
• Rejuvenation: don’t forget the value of off-time as well. No one can expect themselves to work at anything 10 hours (or more) a day, five (or more) days a week, week after week, and not burn out. Rest doesn’t just mean physical rest, either; you have to nurture the needs of your heart and your mind as well, which could include spiritual time, time with family and friends, you name it.

Is that it?

No, there’s certainly more. But this article is long enough as it is.

The soul of it is this: Whatever line of work you’re in, you are a human being. That means you have a heart, a mind, a body, and a spirit (the boundaries of all these are up for debate, of course… but that’s for another article). And it pays to pay attention to what all of your needs are, if you want to show up at your best.

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2008. | Permalink | One comment