L-R: Kane, me, Cree, Garrett

No exploding tires, no big catastrophe this time, don’t worry.

But I had it in mind to write a great review of what happened at SOBCon08, and then I thought—especially in light of all the great reviews being posted out there—would that really be helpful? Would it help you to hear about the things I did, the food I ate, the people I talked to, and the sights I saw on my trip to Chicago this month?

No, not really. It probably wouldn’t. (Other than to give you social proof that SOBCon is great, and you should really go next year if you’re even at all curious.)

So, what would benefit you?

1. I had a great time. Now you can be happy for me (thanks).
2. It was a great catalyst for a number of decisions I needed to make, and you’ll be hearing about the fruits of those decisions very, very soon.
3. It reinforced for me the importance of friendship, community, and why it’s so great to go to events like this.

Because the information I heard was great, but it didn’t make as large an impact on me as when I went last year. At SOBCon07, I had been blogging about three weeks… so the information presented blew me away. Everything that anyone said was so helpful, so new, so eye-opening.

But this time, with a year of blogging behind me (never liked the whole ‘under my belt’ metaphor), it was the people I met and hung out with that really made the event. Last year’s connections and friendships got renewed and deepened, and I got to meet a bunch of new people, too. I even got to hug a few fabulous people I’ve known from across the world, and met face-to-face with for the first time.

And, true, I made some great business connections, too. It turns out that quite a few people are in need of a WordPress-based webdesigner, or know people who are, and so I ran out of business cards before too long (a problem I’m happy to have). And, it was the first time I’ve really been at a public event since making the transition to full-time webdesign work, and it felt good to call myself a webdesigner, and not have to try to explain all kinds of esoteric, spiritual-intuitive stuff. (And, admittedly, it was great to be with other web-and-blog-savvy folks, so I didn’t just have to say, “I make websites…”)

In the week or so since being in Chicago, what I think back on the most was the time spent laughing, talking, eating, walking, and shmoozing with the wonderful people. As someone who works alone, at home, 99% of the time, having a chance to “press the flesh” (and I mean that in the cleanest of ways) with friends and colleagues is indispensable.

Relationships are the cornerstone of what makes life juicy, I believe.

• Looking at it in a worldly way, you could say that life isn’t made by the stuff we have, or the things we do, but by the lives we touch and the hearts we influence and are influenced by. Some of the best moments in our lives are the ones involving other people, and the deep, meaningful connections we have with them.
• Looking at it in a spiritual way, you could say (as many have and do) that we are all One. That at our core, we are all connected by the spirit that enlivens and interpenetrates everything… and the more connection we experience, the more fulfilling and meaningful our lives become. And the more we interact and relate with people, given the right intention, the more we realize this.

Of course, these are two perspectives that start where they start and meet in the middle, but I find that to be indicative of most truths. The more you look at it, the more you see the same thing being said, just from different angles.

And so, it turns to you

What’s your social situation like? Are you normally alone, or saturated by contact? And because both are important for all kinds of reasons, we each need strategies to get the right balance of what we need, when we need it, of course… but just so we don’t make this too cumbersome a conversation, let’s focus on the get-you-more-people-time side, for now (we’ll get into the get-you-more-alone-time side later.)

What do you do to get more people-time?

Image of “The Cool Table” by me. L-R: Christine Kane, me, Chris Cree, Chris Garrett.

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2008. | Permalink | 7 comments

This past weekend I attended SOBCon08 (the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference) in Chicago, and today I had planned to write all about it. There were some fantastic messages shared, I made some great new friendships, lots of new connections, and had a blast with everyone I met.

Of course, writing about it was what I was going to do today, but… on the way home from dropping off my rental car, we had a tire blow up on the interstate. Knock on wood, we were fine, although the wheelwell got a bit ripped up when the tire’s tread flew off.

And, knock on wood, even though there were a bunch of cars around us, there were no collisions, no problems (except ours)… everyone was fine.

And, knock on wood, the tire actually still worked! The tread blew clear off, but the rest stayed on and inflated, so we could actually limp along in the shoulder until the next off-ramp. (And no, it wasn’t a retreaded tire… the guy at the tire shop said that what happened really shouldn’t have happened. But, of course, it did, so it just goes to show that improbable things actually happen all the time, just in case those of you out there with 100% normal lives were wondering.)

And, amazingly, we were able to drive on the busted-up tire all the way into the next town (over 10 miles), and then into the next town—ours—without incident. Why so far? There’s only one tire place on the way, and they didn’t have one in our size (it’s a truck tire shop, primarily). The shredded tire held its air for one last journey, and we made it all the way to Bob’s Tire Service…

… where, knock on wood, the guys were awesome. We were out the door in about fifteen minutes, with two new tires on the car (we needed two because we were driving on the spare, due to a previous blowout a month or so ago), and filled with gratitude.

And that is the reason I told you the entire story.

Because throughout the entire adventure, we were filled with gratitude about all the wonderful things that conspired to make it as easy a process as it could have been. There were so many places along the way where this story could’ve turned ugly, but it didn’t. There were so many ways in which we could have gotten negative, cursing life… but we didn’t. My girls even did fine with it, finding ways to play and look on the bright side through the whole thing.

And while it means I have to postpone the SOBCon review for another day (because I’ve got to take my daughter to our soccer practice—she plays, I coach—in a few minutes), I’m brimming with gratitude over how fantastic my day has been so far. And that choice—the choice to choose gratitude over whining—made all the difference.

So, can you cultivate a practice of gratitude?

I used to hear people talk about gratitude, and my answer would be, “psh.” I figured that gratitude was for people whose lives were going fantastically, and those of us with struggles might get there someday. But the truth of it is, gratitude is not a by-product of a fantastic life, but how you get to have one in the first place.

How?

Gratitude is not a by-product of a fantastic life, but how you get to have one in the first place.Try it. Even if the ‘fit is hitting the shan’ all around you, see if there’s something you can honestly be grateful for. At first, it might come out like, “Well, at least I’m still breathing…”, but hey, that’s a start. Start wherever you have to — that’s what I did. At the time, I was feeling a lot like Eeyore, moping about my circumstances, but I tried it anyway. And I kept trying to see the bright side, no matter how grey things were looking (and at the time, they were about as grey as an elephant wearing sweatpants in a London fog, let me tell you…).

And you know what? It works. Our lives have totally turned around in so many ways since then. And, just as in my story today, even when things aren’t completely optimal by your standards, you’ll be a lot happier about it if you can be grateful for all that’s going on that’s worth being grateful for. Because, really, there’s always something worth being happy about.

What are you grateful for? How can you, right now, see the silver lining that’s in your life? Add it to the comments below this post, please — because you never know how your words can spark profound change for someone who may read them.

Image by tasteful_tn on Flickr

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2008. | Permalink | 13 comments

Well, you shoulda been at SOBCon… because in no less than five of the presentations, I found clarity to be a ubiquitous theme.

The Iowa Trio (Mike Sansone, Drew McLellan, and Mike Wagner) talked extensively about knowing who you are, where you’re going, who you’re going there with, and the importance of being intentional with how you’re representing yourself, rather than just letting it happen accidentally.

Phil Gerbyshak, who led off the day, had “Know Thyself” as his cardinal rule of building successful relationships, which was later echoed in Wendy Piersall’s presentation, when she spoke about getting clear on your mission. Wendy’s passion about bringing your mission — your reason why you do what you do — into your work was really compelling and profound; so much so that she (and lots of us in the room) were on the verge of tears a few times, because of the nearness-and-dearness of our heart’s devotions.

Perhaps my favorite presentation of the day, however, was David Armano’s. He went from speaking about clarity to conversation to community and beyond… a lot of what he spoke about resonated with where my BPL groups are going, and his slideshow was clear, clean, and simple (I want to design like David does when I grow up).

Wake up, son!

One of the key points around clarity he shared right off the bat, which woke me up big-time, was the statement/question: “You are unique. Is your blog?”

That question started me off on a caravan of thought that’s rippled out ever since. And whether or not you blog, it’s a darn good question. What makes you someone others should pay attention to? And not just on an educational-content level, but on that deeper level of purpose and meaning, where hearts get ignited as well as minds?

If you’re here reading this with me, then you’re thinking about more than just ideas. You’re thinking about reasons. Convictions. Passions. Missions. And I believe that it’s on this level that meaning gets made, that transformation begins, and you can have the kind of impact on people’s lives that you got into business for in the first place.

So, is it a good, if not great, idea to get clear about what you’re about on a marketing level? Is it even more important to get clear about what your mission is, what your passion is, and why you do what you do?

According to David and the others, it’s pretty darn essential.

It helped me get more clear about where I’m going and what my personal brand is. I actually spent the entire flight home soul-searching, philosophizing, and writing about it. And the more I chew on it, the better it tastes.

I’d like to hear what this conversation does inside of you, too. What are you passionate about? Do you feel that passion making its way into how you present yourself? And, is it translating to a gut-level feel about your business?

(You may not really know the answer to that last one, unless you ask your patrons. So go ahead and ask. And, if you’d like to comment on mine, please feel free…)

Image by Sister72, used by Creative Commons License.

And thanks to all who commented on the previous post: Liz Strauss, Jonathan C. Philips, Wendy Piersall, Dawud Miracle, Terry Starbucker, Tony D. Clark, Phil Gerbyshak, Kammie, Karin H., Mary Schmidt

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2007. | Permalink | 17 comments

I’m shocked — I thought you were married!?

I am married, silly. And I love my wife the most. But I’m also in love with Wendy. And Phil. And David. And Liz. And Jonathan, Kammie, Ben, Peter, Sean, Christine, Lisa, Lucia, Lisa and Chris, Ari, Lorelle, Easton, Director Tom, Alex, Mike, Marcus, Terry, Kent, Sandy, Franke, Tony, Michael, Derrick, Drew, Ashley, and Andy.

(and of course I’m in love with Dawud, but you knew that already)

Have you gone off your rocker?

Yeah, you could say that. Last weekend, I got off my rocker and went to Chicago for SOBCon07. I met so many fabulous people, had so many engaging conversations, and learned so much great stuff, I’m head over heels in love.

There were so many fabulous people there, it was hard to keep track (so if I forgot someone I connected with from the list above, my deepest apologies… I still love you!). And I heard many people say on many occasions that this was the best conference they’d ever been to.

So, here’s the deal: there are many great accounts of SOBCon out there, so I’m not going to try to recap the breadth of what happened. Instead, I’m going to share with you some of the amazing lessons I learned, and the insights and ideas that came to me as a result of what I experienced there.

I’m going to roll out a series of posts that shares with you the deeper message and learnings I experienced from going to the Windy City for 48 life-changing hours. It’s the best way I could think of to bring the power and synergy of such an event to all of you who couldn’t be there.

Why?

Because I want to see you there next year, of course!

Let the games begin!

Image by Sister72, used by Creative Commons License.

And thanks to all who commented on the previous post: Communicatrix, Jean B, Mark Silver, Karen DeBolt, Celeste Varley, Judy Murdoch, Dave Schoof, Mona Grayson, Licia Berry, Peter Flaschner, Ellen, Shawn

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2007. | Permalink | 17 comments