What does your body of work look like? What have you created over the course of the last
decade? If you don't have much to show for your efforts, what do you want your body of
work to look like over the course of the next decade?
   A body of work for authors would encompass the books they have written. A body of work
for filmmakers would encompass the movies they've made. A body of work for YouTubers
would encompass the videos they've created. A body of work for developers would encompass
the buildings they've built. These are often big things that take time to create. They are also
things that subsequently provide income to the creator. The author, filmmaker, YouTuber, and
developer are creating income-producing assets ... from nothing ... but their time.

   Stephen King writes for about 4 hours every day. Between 1974 and 1983 King published 15
novels. His first novel, Carrie, was published when he was 26 years old. His next 14 published novels
include Salem's Lot, The Shining, Rage, The Stand, The Long Walk, The Dead Zone, Firestarter, Roadwork,
Cujo, The Running Man, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, Christine, Pet Sematary, and Cycle of the
Werewolf. No doubt you'll recognize that many of these novels were subsequently made into movies.
   Creating a body of work takes time. Initially your return on investment is going to be zero. It might be
zero for a long time. It might be zero, for any individual project, forever. However, if you put the time in
and work to improve your process over years, eventually you should see results. The question is, what
are you putting your time into? How are you, literally, investing your time? Are you investing your time
into a future body of work or are you spending all your time on things that will have no future return on investment
whatsoever?
   People who create bodies of work sacrifice a certain amount of time today in order to create future
assets. They are planting seeds. They are growing as creators. It starts with deciding to allocate time to
create things for the future. For your future. As such, what if , to start, you set aside just one hour a day to the
creating process. Just start there. You can always work up to two hours, or Stephen King's four hours.
Maybe you have to get up an hour earlier each day given your schedule. So be it. But carve that out and
do so in deference to your future self. Finally, imagine looking back, one decade from now, reflecting proudly
upon the body of work you will have created ... from nothing ... but your time.

   There is a danger in the business world today. A danger and an opportunity. As our reliance on technology increases, so too does the opportunity to be more personal with clients and prospects than our competition. Take greeting cards for example. As the recipient of a greeting card, what would have more impact to you? A pre-printed, store-bought card that is simply signed, an e-card that is emailed, a personalized but automated card (ie. Send Out Cards), or a handmade card with a personalized message?

   Let's look at this another way. You are raising a child. But you cannot be there in person for that baby, ever. Instead, you merely touch it with the help of a monitor and a remote-controlled robotic arm.You witness baby's first steps on the computer screen. You hear baby's first words from your desktop. The words of encouragement you have for the child come from a printer in the nursery, which are then translated into an automated voice designed to sound somewhat like you."Goochy, goochy goo," says R2D2.

   The truth is, we are organic beings who need organic face to face, voice to voice contact. The more contact we have like this, the deeper the relationships we can develop. Compare the people you know whoyou meet face to face regularly with the people you know (ie.Facebook-only friends) who you have never even talked to on the phone, let alone met in person. Now look at your clients and prospects. You want and expect them to open their wallets but you've never even heard their voice?

   The more 'organic' contact you have with clients and prospectsthe more they have the opportunity to feel you really care about them. They can't connect with you and your product 'emotionally' in the same way when contact is merely electronic. They can't know you, and they may not be able to trust you completely. 

   If you can't meet them face to face, then talk to them voice to voice. If you can't talk to them voice to voice, then write them something with a PEN. Mix it up. Use technology, certainly, but sprinkle a little organic now and then and see what that produces.

   If you don't believe me, then kiss your spouse goodnight with the new app.

   This morning I sat staring at a blank screen for about 10 minutes, trying to figure out
what I would write a blog about today. Then, exasperated, I came up with an idea. I
walked out to the bookcase, picked up my dictionary and without looking, opened to a
page and stuck my finger at an entry. French Indochina. Really?

   I know nothing about French Indochina. Hmm. Off to Google and Wikipedia.

   So, to simplify things a little, French Indochina was basically French-controlled Vietnam
from 1887 to 1954. When I was much younger, I read George Orwell's Burmese Days, which would be the only account of that time and general region that I can relate to French Indochina.

  This seems to be how our minds work. Something is said, or mentioned, and then our brain sifts through the data banks to come up with related ideas or experiences.

  I enjoyed reading Burmese Days. Orwell's 1984 was probably the first 'adult' book I read as a junior high school student. I went on to read Animal Farm and Down and Out in Paris and London.

   Many of the countries in South East Asia I relate to books or movies. Burma brings to mind Burmese Days and The Bridge Over the River Kwai. Cambodia brings to mind The Killing Fields. Vietnam brings to mind Apocalypse Now. Indonesia brings to mind The Year of Living Dangerously.

   Part of this is because I have never been to South East Asia. The only way I can picture French Indochina is by picturing the closest images I already possess of that era and region.   

   The Quiet American by Graham Greene, is a book/movie that is set in French Indochina in the early 1950's. I read several of Greene's books when I was younger as well. Hmm.

   This was a good exercise. It makes me realize how much I've really loved historical fiction. Not the big, sweeping James Michener tomes, but books like Burmese Days, Brighton Rock, For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Farewell to Arms, King Rat and Lord Jim. Maybe that's what I should do a little more this Christmas. Get away ... into a good novel.

   Thanks, French Indochina.

   http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/
  (Looks like the Ayn Rand Fan Club and the Scientologists are skewing the Readers List.) 

The Grinch hated blogging
at least when he had to
anything he should do
invariably made him mad, too

It robbed him of freedom
He longed to be free
To have a schedule so clear
there was nothing to see

But there was always something
some task to be done
And all of those shoulds, well
they robbed him of fun

For how could the Grinch
just sit I-diddly by
when there were all of these chores to do?
he didn't know why

he couldn't just spend his days
out at the beach
why was retirement so far
out of reach?

So the Grinch sat and plotted
he fretted and schemed
until one day he realized
life wasn't what it seemed

The Grinch had a thought
it started quite small
and then grew within minutes
to be 80 feet tall

It wasn't that he had to do
the things on his list
There was something his thinking
had quite simply missed

He wanted to blog
it wasn't that he should
And the more he did write
well, the more he got good

He wasn't boxed in by
the format, you see
The Grinch, yes, he'd actually
always been free

to do what he wanted
to write in his way
he could do that tomorrow and
he could do that today

To add in the fun
to play with his words
this idea that he wasn't free
was for the birds

Yes, the Grinch loved his blogging
he had turned it around
to a new way of thinking
that was simple, but profound

The Grinch was so happy
he actually started a-humming
for the next chore on his list was
to keep Christmas from coming

   A few weeks ago I outlined how I was working on my habits. This started in early August when I attended a conference in San Diego and heard Shawn Achor speak (author of The Happiness Advantage). At the time, I made an entry in a notebook, intending to introduce one new habit every 21 days. Four of the habits came directly from Achor's speech, the 5th habit came from a book I'd read on the flight south (which mentioned the 6am Club). This week I finally got around to introducing the final 5th habit, and it seems to have more impact than the others.

   Before I get to that, let me review the other four habits, and how far I've come to this point. It is December 9th, 2013. *121 days ago I started with The Doubler, and have written about the most meaningful experience of the previous 24 hours, 119 out of those 121 days.

   I think that qualifies it as a habit now. 119 days ago I started writing out what I'm grateful for. (I know, I didn't wait 21 days to institute the second habit.) Anyway, I've now written out my Gratitudes 117/119 days. In both cases, I've done those exercises for 79 straight days now.

   63 days ago I started getting up at 6am or earlier. To date, I've been up at 6am or earlier 59/63 days, and 54 days in a row now. Yes, Sundays and holidays too. With regard to Meditation, I do my own 'version' of that, and started 62 days ago. I've been doing so 62/62 days. 

   As mentioned in my previous blog post I've also instituted a number of other additional habits that weren't on my original list of five, but it wasn't until this week that I started to focus deliberately on Acts of Kindness. I don't know why it took so long. It just happened that way. 

   But already it seems that this 5th habit has the most impact on my own happiness. 

  The acts of kindness I'm referring to are not toward people I know. They might not be witnessed by anyone when they happen, or necessarily be for anyone specifically. I actually don't want to speak too much more about this. It feels deeply personal and I don't think the impact can be conveyed by writing about it. Suffice to say that I have not been 'habitually kind to strangers' throughout my life. The early results seem to indicate there's a rather different planet out there than the one I've been living on.

   The experiment continues...

*I have a card on my credenza that says "Commit Perform Measure". I believe you cannot improve what you don't measure, thus the statistical tracking. 

**Shawn Achor says "Happiness is a choice". That's why I wrote the words "choice habits."

   According to Wikipedia, sliced bread was first introduced to the marketplace in 1928. I mention this, because I think YouTube is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Earlier this year I went up to Dawson Creek, British Columbia on a short business trip and when I was there I managed to capture a lightning storm with my video camera. Upon my return to Victoria, I wanted to put a short video together but I imagined having some slow motion shots of the lightning as part of it. The problem? I didn't know how to create slow motion shots with the editing software I was using.

   Cue YouTube. In a matter of seconds I was able to type in the name of my editing program, along with the words "slow motion", and sure enough other people had posted 'How To' videos about just that! All I had to do was watch one or two of them and I was able to create my own 'Lightning Storm - Dawson Creek BC' video, complete with slow motion lightning. 

   YouTube is full of 'How To' videos covering just about any subject you can imagine, and millions more are being created and posted every month. Last week I was having trouble with my achilles after a soccer game and sure enough there was a slick quick fix video for that too!

   Want to see how the fingering goes for a Pink Floyd guitar solo? YouTube. Cake decorating tutorials for beginners? YouTube. Learn Japanese? YouTube. 10 Useful iphone shortcuts? YouTube. How to open Skype? YouTube. 

   So to all those people who are selflessly creating helpful tutorials and posting them. Thank you. They're awesome. You've succeeded in helping to create the greatest thing since sliced bread.