After searching the term “Burn Ships” in Google I can see I am not the only one to touch on this  familiar ”how to be successful” anecdote.  But hey…just because it’s played often does not mean it’s played out (I mean how many times have you listened to “Regulators”?…timeless)

The “burning of the ships” came about in a discussion I had with my best friend Daniel Gibson.  We chatted about a whole bunch of things…including my poor grammar and spelling  (sorry guys).  The final points we touched on were success, passion and complacency. Daniel felt that in pursuit of living a life you love…you need to rid yourself of any options to live any other type of life (if that make sense). Meaning, that we have a choice in the matter…a choice to not leave complacency or apathy as an option. A choice to live your version of success at all cost.

The “burning of the ships” comes to play in a relatable story that I heard a few years back. A historic event that I actually despise (Spanish imperialism in South America)…but nonetheless it happened and paints a very strong picture when it comes to firming you commitment to success.

Side Note: Not sure how accurate my portrayal of the story is:

Hernán Cortés led the conquistadors over to South America with the goal of finding and claiming the “New World”. He understood that the task would be looked at as insurmountable by most. He understood that to pull this off…he would need to kill off all excuses, plan B’s and reasons for failure. So he did just that. He sunk his own ships. He ordered his commanders (or whatever) to sink the ships so there was not conceivable way they can cross the ocean and go back to Spain. That stimulated a simple but extremely powerful mindset shift…that shift was that there are no other options. We win or we die. Defeat, failure, passivity were not options if they wanted to survive.

When it comes to our case we’re not taking about survival. We’re living in a space of abundance where there are unlimited possibilities. However the primary message still applies to our lives. What are our ships? Is it saying: “I can do that someday” or is it saying: “it doesn’t matter”…or is it just being mediocre. Living in a world of abundance haunts us with the “privilege” of building many ships. On the flip, our world also enables us to create anything we want.

So whatever your ships are..sink them. If not for yourself do it for the Aztec people that were killed by the Spaniards and would have loved to have sunk their ships for them .

We are the creators of our journey and our results…if we take ownership of that…we can accomplish anything!

Note: This was one of my contributions to the SF Mastermind Group.

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Here are some spontaneous thoughts I had leadership and wrote in my note book.  Here they are transcribed and polished (not much) for the blog.

Leadership needs to be different…now more than ever.  Many people realize this, many have stated this, some say our world is not working effectively therefore we need to lead differently.  I personally believe that leadership needs to be simplified.  Simplified to a level where ever single person on this earth considers themselves to be leaders.  Leadership as related to a group should be treated as marketing as related to a company…all encompassing.  Everything a company does creates a reflection of that company; therefore each action can be considered a form of marketing…good or bad.  Leadership should be treated the same way: every specific action a member of a group makes is a form of leadership…good or bad.  Ever decision made by one person has an impact the whole…from the top to the bottom of the group.  If we consider this we are far more likely to be more aware of the actions we take and the decisions we make.  We can step into the shoes of our groups and see how we affect them…their happiness, fulfillment, productivity, creativity and all else.

Leadership starts with accountability and it ends with it too.  It is created with questions like:

“What does my teammate need that will make a difference?”

…”How do my actions impact the team?”

…”How am I perceived?”

…”How can we all align under one strong vision?”

Leadership should be simple…be aware, be yourself, hold yourself accountable, and occupy the space of others.

-3/13/11

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My mom has always been a huge Neil Young fan…beyond HUGE.  We even watched the Super Bowl at his house when my brother and I were kids since our families had mutual friends.  My whole life I just thought he was a semi-aloof artist with an very interesting voice.  Today I listened…truly listened to Heart of Gold for the first time in my life.  I have heard the song hundreds of times with my mom humming along and archaically drumming on the counter tops while she cleaned the kitchen…but never really listened.

What I heard today was a song about the seeking nature of human beings.  The seeking nature to do good with no authentic reason why.  Something I have struggled with for the past couple years.

For the past couple years I have been seeking to embody my mantra of “adding unique value” to this world.  Deciding to make an impact as an entrepreneur I quickly found that I had to look beyond my own self fulfillment and focus on making a positive  impact on the world (as my entrepreneurial efforts had an adverse impact on my bank account and many other personal areas).  However, I have not been able to tap into a genuine state of generosity where what I do is fully for others.  Stuck in my mind I guess…not giving myself enough credit for giving and always needing to give more and focus outside myself…funny enough all these thoughts have been me motoring my own self worth (see the paradox?).

I have been able to find a ton of happiness in becoming a contributor.  By focusing outside myself allows me to be more present…happiness is in the present.  Happiness I am finding is becoming a contributor outside of ego.  I think this is the state of “being” Neil was searching for.

Listen to the song…it’s amazing!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh44QPT1mPE

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*The Holstee Manifesto….

Thanks Ashil!

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The feeling of being lost within your own mind is one of the most helpless and common feelings people encounter.  Some people accept it as commonplace, others struggle to find a way out.  The best you can do is find some type of clarity within a system that promotes segmentation… existential enough for you?  What I am saying is that we are all products of our environment, anenvironment that is governed by a system that is not the most nurturing place for the thinking mind.  The product that the system typically creates is one of segmentation and mental clutter…what I now refer to as mental cubes.

Over the past couple months I have noticed a lack of focus and decisiveness in my mental processes.  Being committed to multiple businesses, creative projects, research and other more leisurely endeavors has split me into so many mental cubes that it has limited my ability to think and produce.  Not being able to produce at the level I expect from myself has created a subtle yet constant anxiety…and thus the perpetuation of the segmented mind.

Being aware of your mind’s deficiencies does not solve the problem.  Even while writing this post I am being distracted away from obtaining deep thought.  Phone’s buzzing, browser tabs just asking me to click on them…the life and times.

When it comes to the segmentation of thought I often think of office cubicles and the managers that run the office.  In a corporate office you have hundreds of employees occupying hundreds of cubicles.  From a high level the office looks a successfully organized ecosystem.  You have this team here to communicate with this team, for this reason…it all makes sense.  However, when you step down from the ivory tower you truly witness the chaos, hundreds of individuals all with their own tasks to complete and goals to reach.  There may be some general method to the madness but the more you view everything on a macro level you understand everybody and every cube is so different from one another.  Managers who try to control everything have control problems.  However, managers who focus on one objective or one theme unifying can manage from a distance with a sense of clarity.

With all that being taken into account it’s time to become minimalistic, it’s time to create a unifying theme.  There is a place outside the cube…there is a place where mental clarity and deep thought can be reached…one thing at a time.

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Today I can confidently say that I am an entrepreneur. I am one, because I say I am, I feel I am and I make a unique contribution to the world.

Here’s me diving deeper into this topic…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lay8pq9XlHE

When did you know you were an entrepreneur?  What is an entrepreneur in your mind?

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In the spirit of the launch of the free  Success E-book by 30 of the worlds most awesome bloggers!  Here is my take on the all encompassing yet hard to define term “success”.

The Marriam Webster Dictionary defines success as the following:

favorable or desired outcome; also : the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence

Well Marriam and Webster whoever you are…I beg to differ…

Success is commonly defined as a destination, an outcome, basically a single point.  That destination is typically determined by the money, status and/or power that the successful person has obtained.  There are some obvious problems with this positioning of the concept of success:

1st: If success is a single point in the road, what was before it and what follows after it?  Every successful person (by societal standards) knows that success was not achieved at one single point in their journey.  It was achieved by failing, stumbling and learning a 1,000 times before you “succeed”. Telling successful people they have “made it” and now “succeeded” is a completely backhand bitch slap to the face of any person who has spent hours grinding, months flat broke and have had their decisions questioned by many of their loved ones.  Those truly successful people have always known they were successful regardless of their external life situation.  They also know that passion does not relinquish once you “make it”.

2nd: Who chose these metrics?  Money, status and power not only focus on the outward and some what superficial nature of success but it excludes millions of successful people that work under a different set of metrics.  Simply reflect on the accomplishments of Mahatma Gandhi.  An individual with little money, status or power led one of the largest political and spiritual movements the world has ever witnessed.  Marriam Webster would fail to declare Gandhi as a “successful” individual.  Live by your own metrics of success not anyone elses!

Without future addo here is how I define success:

-Success is loving who you are and being proud of what you contribute to the world. Achieve it by doing what you love, surrounding yourself with people you love and not settling for ordinary.

Download the free Ebook and checkout what to success is to 29 other successful bloggers.  Don’t forget to checkout the brain child of this collaborative project, Jonny at The Life Thing.

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This post was inspired by my Deadhead mother who has helped shaped my life in the most interesting of ways. I love you so much mom

For those readers that don’t know the Grateful Dead, you will sure know some cultural staples they have helped cultivate, like the Tie-dyed shirts, music file sharing, hippies, and the classic jam session. Simply stated, they are easily one of the most influential bands of all time while taking a different approach from the rest. This post represents a revelation I had which revealed that the Grateful Dead go far beyond their iconic rock and roll status. They created music that not only represented their time but created a movement that was far ahead of its time:

Growing up in a house littered with stickers of dancing bears and skulls, it’s an understatement to say that I was a bit embarrassed of my Deadhead roots. Having a Dead Head mom, I was immersed in a world of music, singing, stack and stacks of cassette tape and peculiar tape traders (don’t ask). The longer I live more I realize that the Dead are embedded within by DNA…and no I am not saying this because I just acquired a bongo drum.

After a weekend coffee shop stop with my mom, I noticed the uncanny parallels between her lifelong journey of Dead Headness and my Social Media passions and work. She constantly shares music with other Deadheads while I constantly share interesting content through the web. She meets interesting people from groups across the country to talk about the Grateful Dead while I meet interesting people on Twitter in hopes of sparking up meaningful relationships. She gets into the zone by turning their music up full blast and humming along while I get in the zone by turning on some Calm Meditation on Pandora and blogging up a storm. I guess we’re not so different after all.

The more I spoke with my mom the more I understood the fundamental implications the Dead have on our Social Media Culture. I am a believer…they are the pioneers of Social Media…

“Social” Media is More Important Than Tradition Media

The Grateful Dead had only one top 40 album, yet they are one of the top grossing bands of all time as they made on average 50 million dollars a year on concert revenue alone (according to Seth Godin’s “Tribes”). How was this at all possible? The answer is very simple: they didn’t focus on gaining fans, they focused on building a community. They ignited a movement composed of faithful community members known as “Deadheads” who lived for the now, the music and the love of the people around them.

The Dead did not make their money from CD sales or other traditional media. They made their money from concert tickets, memorabilia and other concert items. Basically they monetized the longtail! They found a few passionate followers, they gave them the tools to spread the message (free music being one tool), they grew and scaled up (sort of), and put passion before money. Sounds pretty Web 2.0, don’t it?

Sharing as a Pillar of Conduct

Deadheads are renowned for their sharing habits. They have created a network based on trust and reciprocity, much like that of the social web. Deadheads share tapes, CDs, and DVDs of Dead shows (much of the media is not from the original source…Jerry Garcia never cared ). Deadheads build up credibility and become trust agents by sharing great shows, returning what was given to them and knowing their stuff. Do you see any parallels with the social web? Authentic Social Media Marketer’s equity is in their ability to share, reciprocate and gain trust. We share links, blog posts, insightful videos and more in hopes that we add value in people’s lives and gain respect in our community. It’s obvious that both Deadheads and Social Media Marketers learned the art of sharing at a young age.

The People Shape The B(r)and

The Grateful Dead was not maded up of 5-7 people playing instruments on the stage; the group was made up of the millions of people who lived and died by their music. The band was influenced by their followers just as much as their followers were influenced by them. The Dead actually went as far as collecting the names and addresses of Deadheads so they could send them newsletters about the band, gifts and even went as far as asking for direct feedback from their followers.

You will also notice that the majority of the Dead did not dress up in tie-dye and prance like the dancing bears around the stage (Phil Lesh looks and dresses like your dad). Instead, their followers embraced the band’s music and formed a culture and lifestyle beyond the music. They made the Dead the legends that they are now.

Brands that are leveraging social media the right way are embracing their customers beyond the dollars and turning them into true fans. These brands not only listen but actively ask their fans to shape their company; they ignite a culture of sharing and discussion. The Dead’s followers spread their music further than the band could ever imagine. A brand’s true fans evangelize a brand that they love and trust to a level beyond word of mouth. They will become an entity of the brand by authentically promoting the brand and its offering.

Conclusion

The Grateful Dead was more than a band… it was a movement. The same movement is taking shape in the digital space today. Thanks for teaching me your ways mom!

Disclaimer

If you are a Deadhead and are outraged by any small tidbits of misinformation I may have provided in this post, I apologize. I am merely a 2nd generation Dead Baby that ran around dodging spinning people at the concerts. I am not an expert.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVdTQ3OPtGY

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I still have a turkey hangover…You know that feeling of being in a constantly satisfying daze?  And no, I am not alluding to any extracurricular activities.  Anyways that is besides the point.  After having a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family and friends and away from my computer; it was much easier to take a step back and reflect on what I am grateful for.  I look at all the wonderful people around me, the incredible area I live in, my health, my mind and everything else that makes up my life to this point and am amazed at how lucky of a person I am.  Giving gratitude on Thanksgiving is assumed, however I sometimes get caught up focusing on the  things I don’t have instead of giving gratitude for the things I do have.  I don’t have enough money, I have not had a successful startup yet, I am still not in Paris…this misappropriated thought structure can lead to negativity in all aspects of life.  Instead giving gratitude allows one to feel the roll over effect of positivity.  And a positively charged mind can do amazing things.  It may seem hokey to pass out thank yous like handshakes, to thank your parents for what they have done for you throughout the years or to count your blessings each and every night; however small acts such as those can help shed an egocentric mindset that stunts personal growth.  The next questions is: what can I do to give gratitude that will allow me to evolve as a more fulfilled human being?  So in the spirit of Thanksgiving I have put together a short list of ways I will give gratitude from here on out.

1. Smile, greet and/or thank anyone who you pass by on the street, chat up at a register or see at the gym.  Basically, treat each daily occurrence with gratitude no matter how small.
2. Actually tell people close to you that you appreciate them and why you appreciate them.
3. Whenever your mind creates a barrier…count 3 things you are grateful for…then proactively overcome the barrier.
4. When you are not happy about where you are in life.  Take five minuets to writer out some of your past and current accomplishments.
5. Smile more.
6. Tell more people that you love…that you love them.
7. Greet every new day with excitement.

The life I live is an amazing one; it’s extremely powerful that I recognize that.  What are some ways you give gratitude?

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Two memorable things happened last week:  I read a post from one of my favorite bloggers, Carlos Miceli, called “Ignore Reality” and I had a long and deep conversation with my younger brother Matt.  Carlos explored the realm of the completely irrelevant.  He took a look at the statistics, assumptions and boundaries that our society manipulates in order to keep the status quo the status quo.  In school we were told the A student becomes rich and successful, the jock gets the girls and the dumb kid is doomed.  Our entire life we are conditioned to accept this, wave the white flag and be content with whatever comes our way.  At 22 I almost fell into this trap…luckily I recognized something was terribly wrong and now strive to be someone terribly different.  So when my brother called me and needed help to get out of his rut, I was strangely excited.  He wanted to start moving forward but couldn’t figure out how.  While speaking with him, one thing I immediately noticed was when I suggested some possible options there was usually some initial excitement that was almost always followed by a “but”.  My brother is bright, athletic, good looking, charismatic and a leader yet he has trouble getting past the limitations he  imposes on himself.  So with the little wisdom I have, I suggested him to think beyond those limiting thoughts and think “what if”.

“What if you can do whatever you want…what would you do?”

I came to a realization that many people are governed by limiting factors (not the bio term).  Limiting factors which develop in each of us overtime due to over exposure to mediocrity.  These are some of the most dangerous agents in our lives.  They are agents of  restriction, fear and complacency.  They are the thoughts in your head that tell you, “you will never get that job, they only hire Ivy League grads” or “she will never go out with you, she’s way out of your range.” They hold you back from where your heart wants you to be.

So start to challenge assumptions that you have never thought of challenging before.  If something is one way, ask yourself why and find out why.  If you think you can’t do something just go do it.  Take actions which will help you break away from what limits you.  Simply put…unlimit yourself!

Strive to be an outlier…remove yourself from the statistical data.

PS) This is NOT an endorsement for Metro PCS (your welcome FCC)

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