Just do it

Seth Godin has written a new book called Poke the Box and yes, you guessed it – it is about the boxes we put ourselves in.

Whilst I haven’t read the book yet – it will be one for my bookshelf – it seems to be typical Godin and he asks you to ask yourself some really important question. We should be asking ourselves questions like “why am I doing what I am doing” or “ why aren’t I doing what I want to do” …then it is probably time to take action. One of the comments on Amazon is that this book is “rut-reversing”.

And sure, you might very well say that you don’t know what to do….well doing nothing isn’t the answer. Godin says in the Amazon interview …“Poke the Box is about the spark that brings things to life. We need to be nudged away from conformity and toward ingenuity, toward answering unknown questions for ourselves. Even if we fail, as I have done many times in my life, we learn what not to do by experience and doing the new. This isn’t the same thing as taking a risk. In fact, the riskiest thing we can do right now is nothing.” (Liz’s comment: always make new mistakes)

I think that you need to change (free) your mind a bit and yes, like Seth says “poke the box”. I loved the comment by one of the speakers at Cape Town FEAT. She said that she went on her adventure to the Atacama Desert after she shed 95kgs of weight – 80 of which was her husband (now ex-husband).

That comment got a chuckle from me but then I went on to think about all the different weights we do carry around with us….sometimes we just have to let go of these, move on, leave the weights behind. I think this is the first step in Poking the Box.

The Lesson

Chuck out all the anatomy text books, all of them! I can assure you that the section on the human brain is completely wrong.

The brain is actually divided into 4 sections, not 2. And each section controls a limb…..2 legs and 2 arms.

How do I know this? Because I think I might be failing dismally with my drumming lessons. Yikes: each limb has to do something completely different at the same time as each other – but even worse: each limb has to keep to its very own rhythm and beat and bring everything together to make a fabulous sound. Good grief.

My teacher is patient and I think now understands the words: lets take it slowly, very slowly.

I have had to throw out all my wild drumming experience gained on the steering wheel of my car and go right back to basics. My self image of drumming up a storm on the stage is fading and I have replaced it with the image of me tapping out “mama”, “dada” in perfect little beats; tiny baby steps of learning something new.

And this is the lesson: I have to keep reminding myself of the beginners mind. In Tai Chi we talk about entering each class, each and every time with an empty cup. We do this so that we are receptive to learning – not only of new things but also to improve and perfect what we already know. Each time we go into a class we fill the cup with new learning. This is called the beginners mind.

January Snippets

Desert Gaiters:

The Mark 111 version of our desert gaiters was hugely successful in Abu Dhabi in December. The 4 teams wearing them gave them the thumbs up – not a speck of sand sneaked through and they are light weight and very comfortable and fun…the teams specified their colours and we made them up in…bright green, bright blue, floral (yip, floral in the desert) and white. The photo opposite shows a team careering down a sand dune – if you look carefully at their feet you can see our bright green gaiters. And just check out the size of the sand dune - scary!

Books:

If you want to a read a book that tells a story of passion (not the bedroom kind) then get yourself a copy of Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. It is a true life story about a guy who went off to climb K2 – next highest mountain to Everest – didn’t make the summit and then got lost in the Himalaya foothills on his way back to the nearest town. And that is where this man’s incredible story began; his passion for one project and what has become his life's work. Well worth the read.

Best Text message:

I received a text message the other day from my friend Judy telling me to give her a call as soon as I got home so that she could run over with a book for me to read –makes my heart warm when people want to share their excitement and passion for something.

Learning something new:

I try to learn something new every year. So, because I am in the music industry, I decided that I should learn to play the drums. We have about 3 sets at work so I don’t have worry about equipment, and sound proof rehearsal rooms, and Thabo (one of our sound engineers) who has graciously offered to be my teacher. I bought my sticks and a practise plate today and begin my lessons tomorrow. It’s never too late to be a rock star.

365 Project:

One of my cousins posted something on facebook about her friend’s 365 project. So now I am friends with the 365 project person and she told me that whilst she didn’t invent the concept, she is doing it this year. Apparently it was started by some photographers and they pick a theme and take a related photo every day and after 365 days have an amazing portfolio. So I am passing on this idea – I don’t think you have to just do photography – you could do anything. Like a different soup every day….imagine the recipe book you will have at the end of the year. I would love to hear your ideas for a project like this…