Fortune Friday: "Your lucky number for the week is 3."

I am usually a little disappointed by these kind of non-fortune fortunes. But it only took me about a minute to see the genius in this one.

Jill, Landon, and Whitney. They are my lucky number 3. Without them I would not be who I am today. And for that I am truly grateful. I love you all very much.

To your good fortune!

Artists Should Shower More

To be clear, this post is not about the personal hygiene habits of some creative folks. We'll save that for another day. This is a followup to my previous thoughts about the creative benefits of walking and other less-cerebral activities. And I wanted to share a real-world example that happened to me last evening.

We have a flower bed from hell. And it is towards the front of our yard, at the edge closest to the street. Where everyone driving by can see it. Nice. Seriously, our soil must be inert because our tulips are barely surviving while our weeds and crab grass shoots are thriving with vigor.

So last night Jill and I decided to wage a frontal assault with the hopes that we can tame this unruly beast and set ourselves up for a long summer of easy weed maintenance.

I think we succeeded.

The added benefit was that while engaged in this near-mindless activity, I had an idea (completely unrelated to gardening) for a fun children's app game. Now whether I follow through with development is beside the point. This post is about harnessing non-creative activities for our good.

Now let's follow the daisy chain that led to this post.

It starts with our crappy dishwasher. It sucks. It is not so much a washer, as a hot water rinsing machine. We have to pre-scrub everything and that kind of goes against the whole point of having a dishwasher. Then if that wasn't enough, the powers-that-be decided to remove certain chemicals from the dish washing detergents. All our glassware looks like poo.

So lately we've been hand washing our dishes. Do see where this is going? If you correctly guessed that the idea for this post came while my hands were covered in suds, give yourself a gold star.

Weeding = creative insight. Washing dishes = blog post. Ah, the circle of life. It's a beautiful thing.

The next time you get stuck creatively, "Hit the showers!"

Fortune Friday: "You are going to have a very comfortable old age."

Woohoo, I'm going to win the lottery!

Okay, probably not. True, my initial response to this fortune was centered on my future financial security (or lack thereof). But as I like to do, I let this fortune sit with me for a few days; and new thoughts began to emerge.

I heard this statement once and it made me laugh. I wish I knew who said it, but I've been unable to locate the source. It goes something like this:

"When you’re in your twenties, you worry what people think about you. When you’re in your forties, you don’t care what people think about you. When you’re in your sixties, you realize people were never thinking about you."

Sad, but true. We spend so much of our precious life time worrying about the opinions of others. We want to be sure we're doing it the right way. That we're going to the right schools, associating with the right people, living in the right parts of town. We want to marry the right person and pick the right career.

We are so scared of doing it wrong.

But why? I mean really, who cares? The truth is it is mostly us doing the worrying. Everyone else is too busy trying to get it right—they don't have time to worry about us. It's a self-feeding cycle.

It reminds me of a time when I was going for a walk with my wife. Our pace had quickened to a point where I finally said, "Babe, why are you walking so fast?" She said, "Me? I was trying to keep up with you!"

But as I've gotten older—now in my forties and not caring so much what others think—I can see that "getting it right" is all an illusion. There is only one right way for me to live my life: My way. And for you, your way. That's it. And this is where the comfort comes into play. The older and more mature I get, the more comfortable I am with myself. I am okay with my dumb jokes that embarrass my kids. I'm okay with my middle-age body, wrinkles, and graying temples. I like how I laugh and how I think. I am more comfortable with me, as I am, than I ever have been.

And if the trend continues, I will be very comfortable in my old age.

To your good fortune!

The Secret Trick To Ending Writers Block

At some point or another, every writer, artist, engineer, musician, or creative-minded professional has run up against a dreaded wall. The wall of being blocked.

Some say there is no such thing; that it is a myth created by lazy minded amateurs. Some insist it is perniciously real, genetic even. Whichever camp you reside in, the point remains: sometimes the old synapses in the brain aren't firing on all cylinders as much as we'd like them to.

What is the magic cure-all for the dreamer's malaise? For me, I can sum it up in one word:

Walking.

Yep, it's that simple. So simple in fact that most of us write it off. Sorry for the pun—I couldn't help myself. But it is true. Few things get the gray matter in line better than going for a walk. For two reasons:

1. Anatomy

 The brain needs blood, oxygen, and nutrients to operate at peak capacity.

In today's world of increasingly sedentary—for those of us with desk jobs—workdays, our bodies spend an inordinate amount of time in semi-hibernation. We wake up from 8 hours of sleep and move about just long enough to get into our cars for 15-60 minutes of commuting, then move about again just long enough to walk to our desk and sit for 8 or more hours. In fact, the majority of our movement is simply moving between points of rest. Not a good formula for brain activity.

Going for a walk, doing some quick cubicle push-ups, or walking up and down a flight of stairs can get the juices flowing and infuse the brain with a much-needed pick-me-up.

2. Mental Disconnect

Maybe that is not the proper medical-psychological terminology. Let me use an example to explain. We've all had this happen to us: A friend asks you a question, say "What's that actors name who was in that spy movie?" And you draw a blank. And the more you try to come up with the answer, the more elusive the name becomes. So you forget about it and move on.

Then the next day, while making your bed—BANG!—the actors name pops into your head. Seemingly out of nowhere. We've all had this happen to us, right?

Just like computer RAM, our brain arranges things by priority, saving just enough bandwidth on the back end to handle trivial or day-to-day functions—which is where that actors name question got filed away. Then, quietly in the background, the brain chews on the question, rummaging through its memory banks. And voila, the answer emerges!

I can tell you from personal experience that I get almost all of my good ideas for writing, art, design, and creative projects when I am out walking. The feet get moving, the conscious brain sort of slips into neutral, and the neurons start popping. Step, step, idea. Step, step, idea.

Others say showering, blow-drying their hair, cooking, or even housework are their go-to activities for inspiration. I've even found painting—walls not canvases—puts me into a highly creative mindset. Paint rollers are very Zen. In fact, any "low-mind" repetitive tasks will do the trick.

So if you ever find yourself stuck or blocked, just slip on the old sneakers and hit the bricks. Soon you'll be watching the wall crumbling to the ground.

Fortune Fridays: "You are careful and systematic in your business arrangements."

Clear and conscientious planning is crucial to success in any business venture. Obviously it would be foolish to blindly run into the fray without preparing at least a little bit. That's a given.

But where I see a problem is when we are overly careful and systematic. We over plan and over think and over prepare. We spend all of our time preparing and not enough time doing. But there comes a time when the rubber meets the road—when we have to pull the trigger. We must take action.

You develop your site, print your business cards, draft your mission statement, and fine-tune your elevator pitch. These are all great things to do and can increase your odds for success.

But there is a caveat: You have to be okay with throwing them all out the window.

Because at some point you have to interact with your client. German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke said, "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy." Your plan needs to be flexible and agile enough to cope with the inevitable circumstances you could not account for.

So, remember to plan. Take massive action. But more importantly, go with the flow.

To your good fortune!

Serving vs. Pleasing

Knowing the difference can save your life. Okay, maybe not literally. But it definitely can make a lot of your relationships better. Maybe not easier, but better for sure.

So what do I mean by serving vs. pleasing?

In my experience, most people spend an inordinate amount of time trying to please people. We want to make them happy. We want them to like us. We want to be seen as the good guy.

But does this really serve them? Are our words and actions really in their best interest, or are we trying to soothe our conscience?

For example: a potential client inconsiderately flakes out on a meeting last minute. Maybe it was an oversight or they had a legitimate emergency. But most likely not. Now most people would immediately jump into salvage mode with a placating barrage designed to mollify the offender. "No problem, we can reschedule! I'm here whenever you're ready. Anytime 24/7."

In essence letting them off the hook.

Is that pleasing to the client? Yes. We've put their mind at ease. But did we really serve them? Or just make it easier for them to do it the next time—to us or someone else.

Now I know what you're saying. "But I have to keep them happy. I need their business. I need their money!" But is that completely true; can you know that for certain? Remember, every business transaction is a two-way street. It is an exchange of goods. The client needs your service as much as you need their cash. The reason they need it is because true service is genuinely acting in their best interest.

As a graphic designer, I have had clients request some utterly ridiculous ideas. But in my heart I knew it was wrong for them—so I created something different. And I had to fight to help them see the bigger picture and to choose the new designs I created for them. Not out of ego (at least not always), but out of sincerity. Because deep down I knew that what I had designed would best serve their needs.

And the real secret? Your best, ideal clients will appreciate and thank you for it. They will sense your genuine caring. And that is hard to argue with.

Fortune Friday: "You have the ability to sense and know higher truth."

Every one of us, every single person on this planet, came into this world with a divine spark—an inner light—that is the perfect personal guidance system. Because truth is based on eternal principles. Truth is truth, no matter wrapper you put it in or what label you give it.

For example, I believe in God. Whether you choose to name it The Supreme Being, Spirit, Higher Power, God, Universal Consciousness or whatever, the fact remains that there is an intelligent force, greater than ourselves, behind the system. I just can't believe that our world is the result of some set of freak occurrences mashed together through space and time. It had to be planned. It's all too amazing to be some random fluke.

This ability to sense and know truth can also act like a built in lie detector.

I think most of us have, or at least have had, that inkling of when someone or something was not being completely straight with us. We knew. Deep down we knew. Right?

But as they say, knowing is only half the battle. The more important half is what you do with that information. Do you use that information for your benefit or for your downfall? Food for thought.

To your good fortune!

Do You Know Your Why?

In his enlightening TED talk, author and cultural anthropologist Simon Sinek explained the root cause behind all great innovators and creators:

They know their why.

Or in other words, there is an overriding purpose that drives all their actions.

Most typical businesses and creators spend a good deal of time touting all the benefits and bells and whistles of their products or services. They focus on the 'what'.

If they are better communicators, they may even go into the 'how' of their business. They explain the facilities, the processes, the staff, the systems.

But the real leaders start with 'why'. They share a story that connects. They build bridges of trust and empathy. They speak to the heart-driven, primitive motivations that move people to act how they do. The need for acceptance, for love, for fulfillment.

Similar to my previous essay on goals, taking time to figure out what truly drives you can pay huge dividends—not only to your pocket book, but to your soul.

Because when you really know your 'why' at a core level, all decision making gets easier. You stop second guessing yourself. You stop working with toxic clients. You stop cutting corners.

You come from a place of strength and love and service. And that is infectious.

Fortune Friday: "The only thing worse than being talked about is not getting talked about."

From a personal standpoint I am not sure I completely agree with this one. But it does have implications where our careers and businesses are concerned.

Some experts claim that undercapitalization is the leading cause of failure for new businesses. Meaning, they don't have enough cash reserves to cover the initial slow periods during the businesses' infancy.

The second cause, in my opinion, would be obscurity. Not enough people know that you do what you do. Say you want to be a professional home organizer. You're really good at it. Your own home is a shining reflection of your knowledge and skills.

But you're not making any money at it. How come?

The simple answer is not enough people know who you are and what you do. At a certain point, business is often a simple numbers game: The more people know you exist, the more sales you're apt to make.

So what is the secret to reaching a broader audience of prospects? Google AdWords? Optimizing your website for keywords? Passing out flyers in parking lots? Those can all work, sometimes wonderfully, but the easiest method is to do something work talking about.

Be remarkable. Remark-able. Able to be remarked about.

Start with one client. Just one. And. Be. Amazing. Repeat: A-ma-zing.

We humans are social animals. We love to share and talk and connect. And when we come across something truly amazing or delightful, our first instinct is to tell someone about it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how quickly the word spreads.

And don't be afraid to toot your own horn (or ask for referrals). It is not prideful or arrogant to stand up and say you do something well. Just don't be a jerk about it.

In business being talked about can be both good or bad. Not being talked about can be disastrous. Give people something to talk about, and clients will beat a path to your door.

To your good fortune!