Last week, I took a well-needed and well-deserved vacation (err, “staycation”). Other than the sole Facebook post and the occasional tweet about how horrible the NBA officiating was during the Suns-Lakers series, I also largely unplugged–at least from blogging, social media outlets, and the like.
Photo courtesy of "hennpict" -> http://www.flickr.com/photos/tlh3rd/
I took the opportunity to, among other things, reflect on the direction I want to take with this blog and those to which I contribute. I’m still in the decision-making process, so posting here may be sparse. I also think I’ll find myself asking you more questions than answering them.
In the meantime, during my vacation, I was reminded of a small exercise that all of you can do–the idea which came from Seth Godin in his book Linchpin
The idea is simple: Shut up and think for five minutes a day.
Godin uses Richard Branson (of Virgin Airlines/Records) as his prime example. He says that Branson likely works his ass off during the majority of his days, but he spends probably five minutes a day thinking about new ways to do things.
Five minutes a day to innovate. To dream. (In Branson’s case, to ideate Virgin Airlines when he owned a record company.)
What could you think up in five minutes:
- A new way to reach your customers
- A new functionality for your existing product
- A new product to bring to a new audience
- A book idea
- How to finally solve that complex math problem
These are just some examples.
Seriously. I’m talking about five minutes a day. Your daily (hopefully) shower likely takes you more time than that… so hey, you can kill those two birds with one stone.
Tell me: If you devoted five minutes a day to just thinking, what do you think you’d come up with?
