A Powerful No

Earlier this week, I went to a great seminar (part of the EDGE Series by the SB Chamber) by Chellie Campell on "Financial Stress Reduction." Though the seminar actually ended up being not at all what I expected, I still thought it was amazing. She made one incredibly powerful statement that I felt obligated to blog about:

Without a powerful NO, your yes is meaningless.

That is pretty profound. How often do we as people say "yes" when we really want to say "NO!!!" I would even go so far as to say FUCK NO!

We need to take back not in a negative way, but an assertive way, our own ability to limit our commitments. There is plenty of rhetorical and righteous "no's" out there. I find them most odious when uttered by the religious zelots or ultra conservative/liberal pseudo-intellectuals who feel that their "no" is somehow superior to others.

I would challenge you to simply offer a strong, firm NO when you need it next. It doesn't make you a bad person. I just makes you clear and your YES more meaningful.

Generating content

You know, the effort involved in generating meaningful content is substantial. Both of my parents are artists, so I would have thought that I would have come to this realization much earlier in my life.

I had thought because I enjoy the activities of speaking, writing and oration, it would be effortless. Nothing could be further from the truth. Actually, if I am being critical, simply speaking or writing without point is simple and relatively effortless. Writing and speaking cogently, effectively and clearly is what requires the effort.

A client recently told me that most content generated in the English speaking world needs to be done at approximately an 8th grade level. I find this a bit troubling. Are we so incapable of reading? Is our vocabulary so limited?

It is truly shocking how repetitive we are in our patterns of communication. Not that Wikipedia is the end all of information, but this link provides some interesting facts on our language:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_common_words_in_English

What do you think of your language level? How often do you write or speak in a way that isn't casual? On average, I write 50+ emails a day, at least one professional document/article/communication and take at least 10 phone calls. In a week, I will likely speak publicly or in a meeting format a dozen or more times. I don't feel this is a great deal, but I do feel the effort during preparation and in the record keeping.

Blogging and Patch.com

Well, I was approached by Patch.com to begin blogging for them. Perhaps this will drive some motivation into me to move forward.

You should be able to see me shortly on http://losalamitos.patch.com/

That or perhaps the soundtrack of "Requiem for a Dream" will provide inspiration. I am certain something will with Anthony in Macau for the next 10 weeks!