On December 31, 2018, Seth Godin sent a blog post called “Hilbert’s List”. In this post, Seth cites the 23-item list that David Hilbert published in 1900. He stated that these 23 problems were important for mathematicians to solve in the upcoming century. Seth says that led to a focused effort, and many of those problems have been either fully or partially solved.
So Seth made a list of his own that he believes technology should help solve. You can see it here.
I’m sitting with my vocal coach. Talking about what is and isn’t working right now. Where I see success, and where there are still “opportunities”. I notice there are times when I seem to just lose my concentration and go back to my old habits.
Then he says this…
The basil just never seemed to grow. I’d plant it in May and it wouldn’t grow much before the frost hit. It would look pale – almost yellow, and the amount I’d get to dry didn’t even fill a small container.
I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
Every day I get an email from Simon Sinek, called “Notes to Inspire”. It’s got a quote from one of his books or speeches, and is meant to inspire his readers to be better leaders. As good as the quotes are, and some of them are incredibly insightful, what I really love is what’s at the bottom of every email: “We imagine a world in which the vast majority of people return home each day feeling fulfilled by the work they do.”
Wow. That’s some world, isn’t it?
You’re standing in your bedroom, folded clothes in hand. You open the dresser drawer to put them in, and they won’t fit. You stare at the clothes and then at the drawer. And then you ask yourself, “What if I folded these clothes differently?” All of a sudden, all the clothes fit in the same space where they didn’t fit before. And you ask yourself,
“Why didn’t I think of that before?”
You know that trip I took to Los Angeles where I had to make a quick change for the first two days of the trip? And those days turned out to be a blessing? Such an adventure I had! Well, the return home was an adventure too.
Though this time, not one I want to repeat anytime soon.
I’m not one to second-guess myself. Once I make a decision, I’m all in. I’m going to make it work. So I haven’t woken up in the morning asking “What have I done?” In fact, on Monday I woke up thinking, “I’m so glad I did it!”
It hasn’t been without discomfort, however.
Creativity doesn’t always have to come from pain. But last week it did in my case. If you read Monday’s blog post, you know I had mouth surgery last week. And it’s still painful. And as I said, a girl's got to eat. So, before my surgery, I made a list of foods I thought I could make and eat post-surgery.
My plans didn’t exactly turn out as expected.
Strange experience #1 – going to the dump on a weekday. The stuff has been piling up. Almost a mountain in the garage. Odd closings over the holidays plus ridiculously cold weather caused me to postpone the trip I knew I needed to make.
And today I finally went.
It was only the second day of my retirement, when I got an email. “I work for XXXX Bank, and would like to talk to you about helping us with [a project similar to what I was doing when I left]. Could we set up a time in the next few days to discuss?”
What? I just retired.
