Have a wonderful Year of the Dragon!!

Enchantment.

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Okay, I gotta admit. I don't typically experience nostalgia for Tommy James & The Shondells.

And yet, when I finished editing this image, the caption that came to mind was "Crystal Blue Persuasion" – but I wasn’t really sure why! So, I checked out the lyrics and found optimism in them. So, I posted the pic with that caption.

The song as an interesting genesis, and when I read the Wikipedia entry for it, I thought the inspiration for this caption was serendipity.

Here's part of that entry:

"James was actually inspired by his reading of the Book of Ezekiel where it speaks of the Blue Shekinah Light which represented the presence of the Almighty God and the Books of Isaiah and Revelation where it speaks of a bright future of a brotherhood of mankind living in peace and harmony."

...and here are the lyrics:

Look over yonder
What do you see?
The sun is a'rising
Most definitely

A new day is coming
Ooh ooh
People are changing
Ain't it beautiful
Crystal blue persuasion

Better get ready
To see the light
Love, love is the answer
Oooh ooh
And that's all right

So don't you give up now
So easy to find
Just look to your soul
And open your mind

Crystal blue persuasion
Mmm, mmm
It's a new vibration
Crystal blue persuasion
Crystal...blue persuasion

Maybe tomorrow
When he looks down
On every green field
And every town
All of his children
And every nation
They'll be peace and good brotherhood

Crystal blue persuasion
Yeah
Crystal blue persuasion
Aha
Crystal blue persuasion
Aha
Crystal blue persuasion
Aha
Ohhhh
Crystal blue persuasion
Aha

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"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. Most important have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. I have always wished that for myself. And now, I wish that for you." - Steven P. Jobs (Commencement speech at Stanford University, June 12, 2005) RIP Steve Jobs

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Ever since I discovered Instagram, I've become a big fan of iPhoneograpy. I've seen really terrific photos from other people from all parts of the world. And their shots have run from quick snapshots to highly edited, almost surreal images. Still, what I've discovered is that lots of people see the world in beautiful ways - so whether they're using editing apps or not, there are lots of great images.

As for me, I've become a bit of an app junkie. Partly, it's because...well, okay,...I'm kind of a technology geek. Yet, the other reason is that I can take fairly ordinary photos and use edits to bring out some beautiful dimension that might not have been so apparant before.

In any event, here is a sampling of some of my recent photos.

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Just heard a wickedly good song by Cage the Elephant aptly titled, Ain't No Rest For The Wicked. This video has the words: 

I especially love the chorus: 

There ain't no rest for the wicked, 
Money don't grow on trees, 
I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed, 
There ain't nothing in this world for free.
I know I can't slow down, 
I can't hold back though you know I wish I could, 
No there ain't no rest for the wicked, 
Until we close our eyes for good.

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As a personal branding and online identity strategist, it's my job to help people discover and nurture the qualities that make them unique in delivering the value they do.

Yet, uncovering one's personal brand is a process that goes on... and on. No matter how good you are, you can always be better. So, I was really delighted to discover this terrific sort video from Guy Kawaski who makes a great point about not thinking you've arrived. 

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Attributed to American film producer Samuel Goldwyn, one of my favorite quotes is “When I want your opinion I will give it to you.” Yesterday, it struck me that in this famous malapropism, Goldwyn inadvertently touched the idea of controlling the narrative. What prompted this thought was an outstanding TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie, “The danger of a single story” that came my way via a Torben Bernhard (@torbenb) tweet.
 
Her talk is a brilliant discussion of how stories can narrow our view of the world. More importantly, she captures the reality that the stories that get told are a reflection of power – especially the power to tell the story of another person and make it the definitive story of that person.

Ultimately, I think it’s dangerous to accept stories at face value. And while this clearly applies to events in the world at large, I think there is a more “up close and personal” application of the ideas in her talk. Specifically, the need to question the stories about ourselves. While a little bit of feedback from others can be a good thing, it’s important to read it in the context of what we know about ourselves.

Knowing ourselves, of course, can take some tough introspective work. Yet, the risk of not doing it is to accept the single story view that others have of us. And that, means we can get trapped in a story that is not truly ours. So, own your life; find and tell your story!

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Be Warned. This post has a Parental Advisory. Yes. It does.

So, there I was for my CrossFit workout, this morning, and the Trainer says he’s gonna put on a Girl Talk mix. Something inside me revolted, in that moment. I was thinking if I was going to do a hard-core work out, at least I wanted hard-core music – and not a musical journey to “mamby pamby land.”

Yet, sweetness and light is not what came out of the sound system. No. Instead we were treated to this provocative mash up. Yup. Great workout.

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People who know me, know I’m pretty much an own-your-life kind of guy. So much so, that I sometimes advocate going beyond rules and changing the game entirely. In fact, just this week, I did a blog post on how this applies to careers.

So, during a subsequent conversation, with my friend and former fitness instructor, Sam, I gained a new perspective on following rules. After mentioning how unfit I felt, these days, she said simply, “Rule 1: Cardio.” It was a totally unexpected response; yet, I some how managed to come back with “bathrooms, seatbelts, and double-tap.” And we both had a good laugh.

She went on to tell me how much she loved quoting rules from the 2009 comedy, Zombieland, then hastened to add that most people are clueless about one of the film’s funniest elements. Described by the Wikipedia entry as “A running gag, and a central theme throughout the film, …the list of rules [are ones the character] Columbus comes up with for surviving in the zombie-infested world.” Not all are mentioned but you can find a list of 32 of them here.

Having had time to reflect on rule following, I suppose if you need to survive a zombie apocalypse, you should follow the rules. Otherwise think for yourself!

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Frankly, I would have been taking and sharing photos, anyway. Yet, I have to admit that I love cool effects this app allows, and I'm thrilled about  the social context for sharing photos that this Instagram provides.

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Okay, "Cats Playing Patty-cake, what they were saying..."  is a clever video. Very well done!

So, I let my cats watch it and they were inspired to take it up a few notches! Well, they're New Yorkers, waddaya want? They play for keeps, and keep thier mouths shut!

Oh, and if you missed the original, here it is:

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Seems to me that today we are encouraged to tell our stories, as never before. Actually, career coaches have long stressed the importance of being able to respond well to “tell me about yourself.” Yet, today personal branding and social media are driving story as a key to becoming known, liked, and trusted. Clearly, there is little question that we need to tell our stories.

The real question is: How?

You don’t need to know that “storytelling” produces over 11 million results on Google to realize that storytelling is a creative pursuit open to a wide range of interpretations and approaches. So, how do you proceed when crafting your story for online consumption?

In the spirit of full transparency, my partner Carol Ross and I have addressed that in our Remarkable Online Profile kit. Still, we can begin to give you some guides for what constitutes a solid story:

• Commands the listener’s attention from the start, so they want to keep reading.
• Has a clear theme that defines who you are and what you offer.  
• Validates what you offer by giving the reader a sense of your career journey without getting bogged down in details of your employment history.
• Shows the attributes and competencies that make you stand out.
• Has particular words and phrases that “ring true,” and are especially clear and emotionally powerful.  
• Clearly communicates how you make an impact.
• Makes an emotional connection that sets the foundation for creating trust and likability.

Of course, telling your story does take a substantial investment of time. Yet, when you have it, you have a tool that can best establish your brand and attract interest, online and off.  Ready to tell your story?

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I'd like to say that the Rolling Stones had it all wrong when they wrote and performed Get Off My Cloud. But that was 1965, and things are different now. Today, it's amazing how much more the cloud can do for us, even if we still have a tendency to think of it as my cloud.

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Sorry, but I can't imagine I'd ever again be a fan of a phone with Windows on it. But I do love these two commercials:

Season of the Witch

Really

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Finally made the jump from Blackberry to iPhone 4. And yes, I've take a few photos. Mostly mundane , I suppose, but they're meaningful to me. Here's a small sample...

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Recently, in my Twitter stream, someone posted “perception is projection.” Interestingly, I had never seen this familiar Freudian idea expressed quite this way. While not a big fan of Freudian psychology, I do think many of his ideas have some weight. And the notion that people have a tendency to ascribe their own undesirable thoughts and emotion to others seems to hold up in every day experience.
 

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