#trust30 post#31: Image...

Mess up your hair. If you are wearing makeup – smudge it. If you have a pair of pants that dont really fit you – put them on. Put on a top that doesn’t go with those pants. Go to your sock drawer. Pull out two socks that don’t match. Different lengths, materials, colors, elasticity.
Now two shoes. You know the drill.
Need to add more? Ties? Hair clips? Stick your gut out? I trust you to go further.
Take a picture.
Get ready to post it online.
Are you feeling dread? Excitement? Is this not the image you have of yourself? Write about the fear or the thrill that this raises in you? Who do you need to look good for and what story does it tell about you? Or why don’t you care?

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This does nothing for me. Why don't I care? Other than looking presentable in order to deal with others, image is less important to me than what I can get done. If looking goofy will in any way help me get things done, I'm all for it.

#trust30 post#30: 10 Year Text...

Imagine your future self, ie, you 10 years from now. If he/she were to send you a tweet or text message, 1) what would it say and 2) how would that transform your life or change something you’re doing, thinking, believing or saying today?

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1) RT@10YearBenerator: It's all robots and spaceships, man.
2) No change. Pretty much confirms what I already know.

#trust30 post#29 Overcoming Uncertainty...

Write down a major life goal you have yet to achieve or even begin to take action on. For each goal, write down three uncertainties (read: fears) you have relating to each goal. Break it down further, and write down three reasons for each uncertainty. When you have three reasons for your fear, you’ll be able to start processing the change because you know where the fear stems from. Now you’ll be able to make a smaller changes that push you towards your larger goal. So begins the process of “trusting yourself.”

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Blah blah blah comic book for myself blah blah blah fear of failure/fear of success blah blah blah keep drawing. Blah.

C'mon, now, really.

#trust30 post#28: Alive-est...

When did you feel most alive recently? Where were you? What did you smell? What sights and sounds did you experience? Capture that moment on paper and recall that feeling. Then, when it’s time to create something, read your own words to reclaim a sense of being to motivate you to complete a task at hand.

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When did you feel most alive recently?
Digitally painting a robot.

Where were you?
At work.

What did you smell?
Nothing. Darn allergies. *sniffle*

What sights and sounds did you experience?
Sights, the pixels on my monitor changing color as I painted… Sounds, the sound of the stylus on my tablet.

Capture that moment on paper and recall that feeling.
Does typing on a computer count as a paper alternative? Let me recall that feeling right now. Ahhh. Seriously though, it felt pretty invigorating, realizing I was doing something for work and genuinely enjoying it.

Then, when it’s time to create something, read your own words to reclaim a sense of being to motivate you to complete a task at hand.
Roger wilco.

#trust post#27: Personal Recipe...

Think about the type of person you’d NEVER want to be 5 years from now. Write out your own personal recipe to prevent this from happening and commit to following it. “Thought is the seed of action.”

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In 5 years, I'd hate to be the type of person who still hasn't learned anything from any of these prompts. So my own personal recipe to prevent this from happening is to take these prompts to heart, no matter how redundant they turn out to be.

#trust30 post#26: Call to Arms...

What if today, right now, no jokes at all, you were actually in charge, the boss, the Head Honcho. Write the “call to arms” note you’re sending to everyone (staff, customers, suppliers, Board) charting the path ahead for the next 12 months and the next 5 years. Now take this manifesto, print it out somewhere you can see, preferably in big letters you can read from your chair.
You’re just written your own job description. You know what you have to do. Go!
(bonus: send it to the CEO with the title “The things we absolutely have to get right – nothing else matters.”)

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Concern yourself with learning, growth, development.
Get better.
Get it done.

#trust30 post#25: Most Ordinary...

We are our most potent at our most ordinary. And yet most of us discount our “ordinary” because it is, well, ordinary. Or so we believe. But my ordinary is not yours. Three things block us from putting down our clever and picking up our ordinary: false comparisons with others (I’m not as good a writer as _____), false expectations of ourselves (I should be on the NYTimes best seller list or not write at all), and false investments in a story (it’s all been written before, I shouldn’t bother). What are your false comparisons? What are your false expectations? What are your false investments in a story? List them. Each keep you from that internal knowing about which Emerson writes. Each keeps you from making your strong offer to the world. Put down your clever, and pick up your ordinary.

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False comparison:
There are a ton of artists out there many, many years my junior who are putting out so much better work than I am.

False expectation: I should be putting out so much better work than a ton of artists out there many, many years my junior.

False investment in a story: I'm gettin' too old for this...