Why Try To Get Out Of Your Box, When You Can Use What's In It?
Batman gets out of the pit because he finally fears death.
Fear can be leveraged. We can dance with fear. We can use the second strongest emotion to our benefit.
Or, we can shun fear and rely on the first strongest emotion: love.
Perks to both.
People without fear aren’t lying to you or themselves, they’re merely taking a different path to the same destination.
Only people who let fear hold them in the pit, wrong themselves.
Stay Positive & Rise
All the above are real because they are my reasons for not doing creative work.
Interestingly enough, I write this to remind us we are in control of changing any one of these, but we’re afraid. The list above is a list of excuses.
The real reason for not being creative, not doing work that matters, not building something remarkable is fear.
Stay Positive & Where Will You Put The Fear?
Two of the biggest reasons you stay stuck and don’t do anything is fear of inadequacy and fear of failure.
You may be good at many things, but a master of none. No matter what you do, it won’t be good enough. Have you felt this before?
Failure can suck too, but that is a mindset one has about failure.
Ask someone who has never failed before and they will say failure is terrible, just absolutely terrible. Ask someone who has failed plenty of times, me for instance, and I will say failure is necessary, it’s a stepping stone, and… I’m alive.
Staying stuck is a choice. Being afraid is a dance. You can’t stay stuck if you’re moving, can’t stay stuck if you’re dancing with the fear that pursues you.
Stay Positive & People Die Standing Still
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Welcome back to another Q&A with a remarkable marketer as part of the Unlocking Potential series. I heard about a woman named Mariah Haberman when I first moved to Madison, I found out she worked at the PR agency I hope to work at, and then I got to see her speak not too long ago. (Post about impressions and link to her presentation here.)
Mariah has drive, excitement, and more passion that I thought one person could have. It will be clear as you read on. Without further ado, welcome Mariah.
Q: What motivates you to get out of your bed in the morning?
Mariah: Caffeine! And lots of it! I am so not a morning person so the fact that I make it into work before 10 a.m. is a miracle in itself. That said, I can honestly say I have never dreaded a day of work. Getting to discover Wisconsin is a cool gig but I think working alongside amazing and talented people is just the best thing ever. (Also: Free Sprecher root beer :D)
Q: What business would you say you’re in and how did you get there? What’s your story?
Mariah: I have a weird hybrid role: I’m both a television/radio host and a PR and social media marketer.
I always dreamt of working in television. In fact, I can recall writing my sixth grade career report for Mrs. Herbers about my aspirations of becoming a news anchor. In college though, I threw those dreams out the window after coming to the conclusion that a television career in Wisconsin during a recession was a ridiculous dream to have.
So I picked public relations. And upon graduating from UW-Oshkosh, I threw a few suitcases in my tiny ’02 Corolla and with my shiny, new diploma in tow, I made the trek to Chicago. There, I worked as a temporary assistant at an entertainment PR firm. Next, I decided to freelance back in the Madison area and then I worked at a wonderful marketing agency in town.
Meanwhile, I spent three years competing for the title of Miss Wisconsin. That endeavor really reignited my desire to pursue television. So, I reached out to the one contact I had at Discover Mediaworks and asked if, by any chance, they’d ever consider letting me guest host an episode or two. After several months of back-and-forth, the crew finally invited me to come in for an interview and audition. Apparently, they saw something in me, and the rest, as they say, is history!
Q: What are four life lessons you’ve learned from following your muse?
1) Make things happen for you.
2) Be nice to people.
3) Own up when you’ve messed up.
4) Never take yourself or your work too seriously.
Q: You’re constantly putting yourself out there. How have you dealt with fear – be it of rejection or failure or even success?
Mariah: I hate to quote the most buzzed about kid flick of all time, but when it comes to being in front of crowds, you really have to just let it go. I’ll get nervous from time to time during the preparation of a big shoot or speaking engagement, but once I am on stage, or those cameras are rolling, I don’t even let myself go to that place of self-doubt. You’ve really gotta own it and believe in yourself, and when you make mistakes, you assess and move on.
So much of the television business I think is listening to your own gut. You are going to get people who absolutely adore you and your work. And the opposite of those people are Internet trolls :). I take it all with a grain of salt—both the compliments and the critiques.
Q: What do you do to continue growing in your field? Are there a few special practices or habits you think people reading may benefit from doing too?
Mariah: The idea of being stagnant or out of the loop as both a host and marketer downright scares me. I am constantly trying to learn and get better at my craft whether it be through improv classes or online marketing research—you name it. Regardless of how long you’ve been in the biz, learning is essential.
The beauty of working in the agency world is that you’re surrounded by folks who specialize in all sorts of things that you may not necessarily be an expert in. But making an effort to understand their work inherently makes you better at your own.
Q: What has been a major highlight of your work?
Mariah: A viewer reached out to me on Facebook the other day to tell me that he and his daughter make it a weekly tradition to sit down every Saturday morning and watch Discover Wisconsin together. Hearing things like that – from people who make our show a part of their lives – is the kind of stuff that sticks with me.
Q: What is one characteristic you’ve noticed every successful marketer has? Better yet, what the heck does it take to become a remarkable PR pro or marketer?
Mariah: Great marketers want to learn; they are asking questions. They are paying attention not only to what other brands are doing out there, but more importantly, they’re noticing what people care about, why they do the things they do, buy the things they buy, and hang out with the people they hang out with. I think a marketer has to be easily fascinated by and curious about the world around him or her—and I’d say the same thing applies to great TV/radio hosts.
When you understand why people do the things they do, the ideations, strategizing and executing for brands comes a whole heck of a lot more naturally. (It’s still a tough gig, don’t get me wrong!)
Q: Would you tell us about a time you almost gave up and what you did instead?
Mariah: Interestingly enough, I actually have to tell myself to let go of things more often. (Noticing a theme here?) I get invested too easily. I love to dream big and I think the upshot of dreaming big is that you tend to bite off more than you can chew. So while “giving up” often has a negative connotation, I really have to continue to remind myself the importance of walking away from the stuff I can’t or shouldn’t fix.
Q: How do you try to live your life? Do you have a life motto or a particular quote you stand by?
Mariah: Nah. No life quotes really. I just try to live life to the fullest…you know, find the silver lining in even the crappiest of days!
Q: What is a dream you have or a project you want to create that you haven’t had the time for?
Mariah: Sooooo many. I want to write my own book(s). Open a wine bar. Learn French. And piano. And how to cook (better). And more time for travel would be lovely!
Q: Where can people find you and your work? (Shameless self-promotion here!)
Mariah: Why, you can watch “my work” every weekend on your TV screens (or laptops or tablets or smartphones)! Broadcast guide here: www.bobber.discoverwisconsin.com/broadcast …and because social media is my thang, I’m pretty easy to find on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram 🙂
Stay Positive & Curiously Alive
I’ve never heard of anyone finding gold right on the surface. Never heard of treasure, just sitting there on an island. Never heard a success story come easily. To get anything of value, there’s work, time, effort, sweat and an absolute resiliency involved.
Successful people don’t settle, they dig.
To get to an inspiring thought, a creative idea, a brilliant strategy one has to dig through the layers of fear, worry, anxiety, nervousness, resentment, and I’m sure a few other negative thought-layers I’m missing here.
Half the battle of coming up with a great PR plan or something as simple as a blog post is digging through the dirt until you find something pure enough, remarkable enough, worth sharing, doing, writing, etc,.
If we recognize that in any important decision there are mental and emotional layers we have to dig through, we can track where we are at in the process and obtain a confidence boost by knowing we’ve done the hard work of digging through our insecurities.
Another thing I’ve never heard of is our mind being empty of value once we work through the top layers of fear, doubt, and uncertainty. Nope. There’s something remarkable down there every time.
Stay Positive & Uncover The Remarkable
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I regularly write about the importance of being human, of momentum and of the need to continuously try new things. Top experimenter John Saddington is a living example of doing all the above.
John is linchpin who I recall wore a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle t-shirt to Seth Godin’s Pick Yourself event in Tribeca, and asked Seth a question about blogging platforms. It should have come as no surprise to me that John was asking for input because he was in the process of developing his new (and awesome!) blogging platform app, Desk.
John has been blogging for more than 14 years, so it goes without saying how much of a privilege it is to have him be part of this series. Without further ado, welcome John.
Q: You’re a hacker and a human. Tell us how you got into hacking. What’s your story?
John: Yes, that’s my tagline. I think it’s important to let others know that I am a human being. This is one of those “duh” statements but it carries a lot of personal importance to me. It means that I suffer and struggle with just as many things as the next person. But, I have “hacked” my way to a solution that works for me.
I will always be looking for more solutions to life, just as the next person, to ensure that I can survive and thrive in the limited amount of time that I have on planet earth.
Q: What qualities are needed in a person for them to become successful hackers, humans, entrepreneurs?
John: A willingness to experiment, be wrong, and fail. A desire to get help, all the time, and to stay humble. To be curious about learning new things and tenacious about not giving up. To be a person of integrity, honest, and true.
Q: For this next question, I’m sure there are hundreds of answers, but just write about the first two or three that come to mind. What are some hacks you can share about entrepreneurship?
John: Time box everything. What I mean by this is create a “start” and “end” point to all your experiments and projects. This helps create momentum and helps you establish objective markers for whether or not it’s actually working.
Secondly, get help. Do more things with others and less alone.
Q: Tell us a bit about Desk PM: How did you go about strategizing a publishing app so it would be as successful as it is? What sort of questions did you ask and answer before you built and shipped the app?
John: There wasn’t a strategy. It was luck and a long marinating process (over 12 years) as I thought about this application as it tied so closely to my writing and blogging over the last 14 years. Then, I executed. That’s about it. I didn’t deliberate or try to do massive planning or anything like that. The only question that I asked was this (and one that I continue to ask): Do I still love this app? Am I using it every single day?
If the answer ever becomes “No” then I’ve lost the original vision and I should throw it all away.
Q: What’s the most recent big decision you’ve had to make and how did you rationalize your decision?
John: The biggest decision recently was to join with some friends to work @ The Iron Yard. This was the culmination of long-standing relationships and a deep love for education (I got a Masters in Education). I joined them full-time in late 2013.
Q: Would you mind sharing one of your biggest failures and how you worked past it or what you learned from it?
John: I raised ~ $300,000 and spent much more than that on a failed iOS app that netted, over a two year period, just north of $1,300 dollars. I am still learning from this fiscal failure of an app and project. I am still recovering. I wrote a few things here.
Q: Who and where do you go to for motivation? Any particular mentors or bloggers?
John: I go to my friends and most importantly my wife and kids. I find a ton of motivation in my quiet times as I reflect on spiritual topics, God, and through meditation.
Q: Perhaps there’s a couple quotes or life mottos you live by?
”Never give up.” – Dad
“Always have options.” – Dad
“It never hurts to ask.” – Dad
Q: What is the biggest challenge todays entrepreneurs are faced with?
John: I’m not sure. Does that matter?
Q: This one might be a toughie, answer however you would like. What does it take to create something remarkable?
John: It starts with a decision to pursue it and then it requires the courage to not quit.
Q: Where can people find you and you art? What’s the best way to reach you?
John: My personal blog: http://john.do
Stay Positive & Publish On
1) You’ve got to give yourself time. For some that means working a job they don’t love because it affords them a few hours at night they can work and not worry about paying the bills. For others this may mean living in an area that is cheap, quiet, far from distractions. It may mean a hiatus from family and friends or it might just mean waking up an extra hour earlier. Without time, you won’t be able to do work that matters.
2) Get funded in odd ways. You’re fortunate enough to be creating in an age where crowdfunding is a popular method of supporting your art, your project. But don’t neglect the opportunities that don’t require a healthy network of supporters. A simple grant here, a one-day-a-week job there can do the trick. And remember, you don’t need a mass of supporters, you only need a few people who already value your work, who are your core tribe.
3) Write out your story. If you have to force it to be interesting, then change your story. Go restart your pursuit in a way that is whole-heatedly interesting. You can own a motto and a personal statement, but keep it to yourself. Let it inspire you and only you. People want to hear your interesting story, not the four word motto that only breaths life for you or the promise you made yourself at the start of the new year.
4) Declutter. Destroy. Decrease your inventory. Purge your inbox, your Evernote, your journals. When going through your collections, either find a way to use what you’ve planned, written, drawn immediately or toss it. Don’t think of incomplete projects and musings you see as failures to launch, see them as ideas that never had life in them to begin with. It’s okay. Let them go. It will be weight off your shoulders now and save you time later.
5) You don’t need regular input and feedback when you’re in the creating phase. Create in privacy. Fail in privacy. Closing your door means you shut out criticism that cripples your momentum, it means shunning the naysayers that drain your motivation, it means giving nothing for others to judge you by.
6) This tip and what prompted me to write this list comes from Teresita Fernandez’s commencement address: when someone compliments your work, don’t believe them unless they can convince you why they believe it’s good. “If they can’t convince you (and most people can’t) dismiss it as superficial and recognize that most bad consensus is made by people simply repeating that they ‘like’ something.”
7) Other than bad habits, you don’t have to give up anything you love or want to do in life in order to create remarkable work. You can travel to all the countries you want, have as many babies as you want or go to school for five more degrees. You can create remarkable work all the while. You don’t have to forfeit your dreams to do work that matters.
8) Don’t believe you need a mass following to fuel your work. A few people who support you, who care about you, who believe in you is all you need. Don’t tell yourself otherwise.
9) Be nice to everyone. Be gracious. Be thankful. Be sincere. Be personal. Be human. Be likable rather than interesting.
10) When you face fear, troubles, setbacks in life–be it with your fitness, family, finances, faith, friends–fall back on your work, your art to hold you up, not drugs, not alcohol, not other miserable people. Remember that the work you create to help others, can also help you.
Stay Positive & Any Other Principles You Think Are Essential? Tweet at me: @thegarthbox
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