Some inspiration

I was listening to my current favorite online radio station (Radio Oasis) and came across a new song by Melissa Etheridge (a singer-songwriter who I find very inspiring)

The track that caught my attention is "Open Your Mind" - which for me speaks to the power of "waking up" to one's potential and taking action to break out of our robotic existence and fully live life.

The grooves in my life were unforgiving
Over the years I laid them down night after night
Work eat sleep work eat sleep
Suffocating my delight
Until I was dragged into the light into the stillness
Into the white hot flame of my deepest fears
And as I came crashing through humbled and true
I was better than I'd been in years

While searching for the first track, I found this second track from the same album - the power of it made my hair stand on end - "The Kingdom of Heaven"




Both tracks are from her new album "The Awakening"
Here is the iTunes link to the album

And of course since I'm on a Melissa trip, here is "I Need To Wake Up" (from Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth")


Long may she rock! :)

The world needs more real leaders

My intention is to avoid discussing politics in this blog, however there is a trend I am noticing that fascinates me.

Observing the US Democratic nomination race, I am struck by how the choices reflect the distinction between a "manager" and a "leader":

Manager:
Focuses on the "how"
Emphasizes the "reality"
Leverages competence
Leads by authority and control

Leader:
Focuses on the "what"
Emphasizes the "possibility"
Leverages vision
Leads by influence and inspiration

For me, Hillary Clinton is the quintessential "manager": pragmatic, emphasizing her experience and qualifications. She constantly is promising "what I will do for you as President". I have no doubt that Senator Clinton would be a competent President.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, is acting as a "leader", through strength of vision and message, inspiring hope and possibility. His message echoes that of great, inspiring leaders, reminding us of "what we can do for ourselves".

Right now, what we need, whether in the US or Canada or Quebec or wherever, whether in government or in business, in public life or in private life, are not more managers who convince. We need more leaders who inspire, who can influence people to join in a vision to build something bigger than themselves.

When you want to get something done, be it to complete a sale or seek investment or engage with a colleague, is your instinct to "convince" the person in front of you, or to inspire them?

Which mode do you believe is more effective in the long run?


See http://www.yeswecansong.com





*I am a dual Canadian and US citizen. I am proud to be voting in the upcoming US Presidential election for the first time, no matter who gets the final nomination.

Living footloose and car-free

I was amazed to find out recently that relatively compact Québec City, where I live, has the third-highest rate of car use in Canada (Statistics Canada report here).

I guess that's why people look at me funny when I mention that I don't own a car, and haven't now for over two years. It helps that I live within three to ten minutes walking distance of major local and express bus routes, that the train station and intercity bus station is less than three kms from my home, and that I have the largest shopping complex in Canada (east of Montreal) an fifteen minute walk away. Plus my lifeline, Staples Business Depot, is just up the street.

What this car-free life gives me is a huge freedom as well as direct savings. Did you know that in Canada, owning a small car like a Toyota Echo costs $200/month in depreciation alone, just parked in front of the house, no licence, no insurance, no fuel? Add insurance, maintenance and financing, and you're looking at a fixed cost of $20.00 a day or more, just to own the car. Then add the variable operating costs (fuel), and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) becomes $0.50 to $0.90/km (depending on car model). (see the CAA Driving Costs report in PDF here, and an overview article here)

Think about it, just jumping into the minivan to get that litre of milk can cost 50 cents to 1 dollar per km...

When I really need a car, I have access to by-the-hour car rental, or carsharing, through Communauto. I pay a nominal per hour ($1.55/hr on weekdays, $2.05/hr on weekends) or per day ($18.60 weekdays, $24.60 on weekends) and per kilometer charge (29 cents/km for the first 100 kms, 19 cents after). Everything is included, gas, insurance, maintenance, etc. There are over a hundred cars in Quebec City, all easily available by bus, I also manage my reservations by Internet.

Tracking my car expenses over the last year, I averaged about $250/month on car expenses, at about 40 cents a kilometer. Compare that with the simple depreciation expense of $200+ mentioned above! Plus none of the hassles of maintenance, etc (which I hate). Factor in all of my other modes of transport (bus pass, intercity buses, trains, etc), and I've averaged about $400/month on all transportation.

Not only could I sleep during all that transport time (I tend to nod off quickly, even in a crowded city bus), but the best part, financially speaking, is that given that almost all of my car use has a business purpose, almost 100% of my car expenses are before-tax deductible!

You may say that you can deduct car expenses anyways, but looking at the fine print of the tax return, the government has progressively put so many limits and makes the paperwork so complicated that this benefit is quickly eroded.

Do you have a choice to let go of your car? I know that I fought with the idea myself before going cold turkey. It was the prospect of a large repair bill for a 13 year old car and no money to put down on a new car, that finally pushed me into this situation. At first I felt "poor", but now I am feel much richer because that's real money that I kept in my pockets.

Robert Kiyosaki in "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" defines an asset as something that puts money in your pocket, and a liability as something that takes money from your pocket. So is your car really an "asset"? I now understand what he is saying. I can get all the transportation that I want, with few of the hassles, for a lot less money out of my pocket.

I now get around with smart mix of walking, bus, carsharing, train, and simply choosing not to go (it's amazing how many car trips can be avoided by not owning a car!). My personal and business activities take me everywhere around the province, and I don't feel limited in my mobility in any way.

I really believe that in the next 30 years, car ownership will go out of style, just as in the past 30 years smoking became no longer acceptable. Plus I get to be trendy-green!

Take a look at the latest from Sheryl Crow, called "Gasoline", (off her new album, Detours) imagining what a gas shortage ten years from now could be like:

Tempus fugit

I'm doing some planning for my 100 day challenge to write 100 articles in 100 days, and I now realize that when they call it a "100-day challenge", they mean 100 calendar days (7 Feb to 16 May) - not 100 weekdays. EEEK!

I guess it makes sense - as a solopreneur, my "business" is actually my "life" - a life project, integrated into who I am and what I do. I'm on duty 24/7 (or is that 27/8?) Why?

That means if I miss a day, that day is gone... I have to work twice as hard to catch up. Miss two days in a row, I have to work three times as hard...

No wonder sometimes people feel overwhelmed because their "to do" list never gets "ta done".

Moral of the story: Time does not wait until things are "convenient"

Bonus moral of the story: Money is flexible, you can always generate or find more. Time is inflexible, once you've spent a minute, you can never replace it.

And extra bonus: don't let things pile up because it gets harder and harder to catch up. Just like mortgage payments...

From the time calculator at www.timeanddate.com:

From and including: Thursday, February 7, 2008
To and including: Friday, May 16, 2008

It is 100 days from the start date to the end date, end date included

Or 3 months, 10 days including the end date

100 days can be converted to one of these units:

• 8,640,000 seconds
• 144,000 minutes
• 2400 hours
• 14 weeks (rounded down)

And as sayeth ol' Benjamin Franklin:

" Never leave that till to-morrow which you can do to-day."
- Benjamin Franklin

I'm living a 100 Day Challenge

I am a member of Coachville.com, a "social network for coaches". Many of my methods and tools have roots in the ideas taught by Coachville's Head Coach, Coach Dave Buck and its founder, Thomas Leonard.

Coach Dave and the Coachville team have set up the 100 Day Challenge to encourage coaches to get off their butts and do something (my words!). Each day for the next 100 days, there are support calls, forums and encouragement to take on an "action-oriented project" that is "disruptive to your routine". (i.e. pull me out of my comfort zone)

My project in this 100 Day Challenge is to write 100 "chapters" on the topic "From Passion to Profit" in 100 days. For me, a "chapter" is 1 to 3 pages on an idea related to the topic. To do so, I have set aside an hour each working day (adjacent to the time set aside for the check-in call with my coach).

I've been wanting to get into a regular writing habit for a long time... it sort of comes and goes (see the timelines on my blog, I have a spurt for a couple of weeks and then a dry spell...) With the support of Coach Dave, Coach TerriZ and the rest of the Coachville Member Services Team, I want to break through this barrier and develop a new ritual of daily writing.

The win with this 100 Day Challenge is that I will have generated all of the content required to finally organize my book, that I want to launch in e-book format (in English) and p-book (in French) this fall. I've been talking about this for years, now it is time (not that the time has been wasted, since I have been testing and refining the concepts in my coaching practice... it's just that now the gestation and deliver the baby!)

During my 100-day disruptive, action-oriented journey, I will be sharing my results with you in this blog.

I definitely want to write real soon about the importance of an action-oriented project and disrupting your routine...

Gotta go now, it's time to write!

A thought about hard work

“Successful entrepreneurs do not wait until ‘the Muse kisses them’ and gives them a ‘bright idea’: they go to work. Altogether they do not look for the ‘biggie,’ the innovation that will ‘revolutionize the industry,’ create a ‘billion-dollar business’ or ‘make one rich overnight.’ Those entrepreneurs who start out with the idea that they’ll make it big — and in a hurry — can be guaranteed failure.”


- Peter F. Drucker in "Innovation and Entrepreneurship"
as quoted by Janet Rae-Dupree in the New York Times (link to article here)

A thought about finding your way around obstacles

In the Globe and Mail, about k.d. lang's new album "Watershed", the singer talks about her inspiration:

"I love the metaphor of how water always finds its way around obstacles. And I like trying to apply that to your everyday life – of seeing obstacles, and rather than turn away and say, ‘Can't be done,' or ‘I'm too afraid,' find a natural way around them.”

-k.d. lang