Mindset

EPI-62: Herding Satellites

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It Starts With Big Sleep

Every now and then, I sleep in an almost comatose fashion.

The loss of working time the next day often frustrates me.

But I learned long ago that these “Big Sleeps” usually result in a “Big Work” day, in which I get an incredible amount of work done, at scale.

As I pondered this reality, it reminded me of an article I wrote on my old site back in 2012.

So that’s what today’s episode became: the discussion of that article, what it meant when I wrote it and how it applies to the way I work now, both for myself and for you.

Here it is:

It’s all about herding satellites for me. As I’m developing an idea, be it to satisfy the need of a larger project, start a new project, or find a new path when it all gets too murky, I become aware of the “herd” of satellites that start coming my way.

They appear, need to be directed, and then utilized. This one thing – the herd and what to do with it – is my number one skill set.

But I can’t give it context. That’s my partner’s job

So, this is a two-parter, really. First, the herd.

I’m writing this because I feel there are many out there like me; people who have great ideas, see the bigger picture, know where to get all the parts to make it a success but can’t make it all go, once assembled.

In my mind, when I begin to tackle a problem or develop a new plan, the goal is to gather. I gather knowledge. I quiz people who are specialists in their field. I confer with those who are already successful at doing what it is I’m attempting to build.

I sit quietly and think and ponder, A LOT!

Silence is like medicine to me. I look forward to trips in my mind the way others do when they go on vacation. I can’t wait to see what inspirations and “a-ha!” moments are going to hit me as I let my mind wander. There is a deep pleasure for me in making the necessary connections between all the pieces.

This is when the actual herding begins

I am huge on metaphors. They’re my favorite way to convey an idea or explain a concept. The one that I started seeing, back when my projects started become quite large, was the satellites orbiting a planet.

The ideas, the wisdom and tips, the tools, the services and existing infrastructures, the joint venturing, my skills, and more all start to swirl around the planet that is my main goal.

They’re spread apart a bit and traveling in a wide arc around that planet. As I test certain hypotheses, learn more from people ahead of me in the game, consult with my partner(s), and do that heavy thinking that I love so much, the satellites start to tighten up their grouping.

The gravitational force of the main idea becomes stronger

Some satellites end up being removed as I realize they don’t fit or were outright incorrect for the job. The rest get prioritized based on relevance to achieving the main goal or in relation to the amount of work that will be required to get my money’s worth out of their use.

And they all start to get much closer together as the basic plan begins to make itself known. The picture gets clearer. My confidence in my ability to understand what I’ve built and my ability to convey it to key individuals connected to the plan, grows.

Then it all becomes part of the main mass

All the satellites come crashing to the surface of my “idea planet” and become absorbed – become integral, working pieces of the operational whole.

The herding is done.

Now the farming can begin

And this is where my partners come into play. Details give me a headache. More like, they tire me. I’m talking about the ins and outs of implementing all that I’ve gathered. Not my job. I’m the guy in furs who’s armed to the teeth, who hunts alone. I leave it up to the village elders as to what to do with the resources I bring back.

Maybe this is you. Maybe you’re an idea guy or girl. The abstract appeals to you more than the physical. You get the ball rolling. You scrounge, dig, and shop for what’s needed and leave the battle planning up to others.

If you’re a smart, big thinking, yet unsuccessful business person then find your other half

My main partner does what I can’t. He sells, builds the marketing plans, and strategically lays out all the little lines and details of how all the satellites I gathered will work together. The day to day routines. The ways of making the plan understandable to the various third parties involved. Turning my big idea into a functioning resource that we can sell. Helping all the satellites to understand how they will work together with one another in a way that allows everyone to win.

So, don’t give up if you’re that dreamer – that smart, interesting person who everyone likes but whose life no one envies. The person whom everyone admires in some vague way but is pitied or ridiculed by those same people, behind your back.

I’ve been there and seen it all. But I found the one satellite that had been furthest from my reach – the person who makes my abstract value a tangible commodity. You’ll find yours too, once you understand that you need one. Took me 15 years. You might want to save yourself some time and frustration and find yours quicker.

EPI-61: The Power In Bipolar

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Bipolar People Have Powers The Non-Afflicted Would Envy

But that doesn’t mean much when the illness is leading the way every day.

So, the mission becomes 2-pronged:

How do I survive this shit?
How do I repurpose all this juice and whatnot for the good?

Horrifically simplified but that’s basically The Deal.

My bipolar journey has revealed info and insights about myself, the world around me, my place in it and who might value me the most.

It has also made clear to me that I am a force to be reckoned with.

You don’t just DO what I DID!

You fight your way to where I landed.

And the battle is worse than actual physical combat.

What does that tell us about our bipolar selves?

We are strong, beyond measure.

And this illness only hits a small percentage of the population.

What does that tell us?

We are unique.

But that percentage is growing among the gen pop.

What does that tell us?

There are more of us awakening to the fact that shit ain’t right and that we can’t tolerate it as well as those around us.

We’re not meant to.

We’re meant to get the message, develop a response to the problem and share our results with those who need us most, in ways only we can.

I know this might sound like I’m simply polishing a turd.

And if the illness reigns supreme in your daily life, that sentiment is closer to your truth than not.

But should you achieve some level of stability as a bipolar-prone person, I’m telling you…there’s more to you than you probably realize.

And someone out there desperately needs you to see this too.

EPI-60: YUUUUTTTTT!

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Marines Don’t Quit

Except for shitty jobs. This Marine will quit in a heartbeat from a shitty job.

Why all the sudden ooh-rah-ness Ken?

Just making the point that no matter what, if I say I’ll be there, I’ll be there.

I’m currently enjoying my 2nd major go around with COVID, since it became the in thing to do.

I’m fine. Fairly sick but most of the bouts of flu I ever had were far worse.

Although, the first time I had it, it almost got me. That was some grim shit.

Anyhow, the point is, I’m grievously wounded, yet here I am posting and podding.

Because I said I would. At this time. Every week. For you guys.

Accountability and dependability.

It makes me feel good to do the work even when I barely can.

It feels even better that I can be someone whom others depend upon, regardless of how hurt I may be at the time.

Should you ever build a thing that has followers, and really, that would be anything, you want them to miss you should you not appear at the regularly agreed upon time.

You want to be missed.

Not because you are such a goddamn wonderful person but because you know you’re doing your job well when you are missed.

Sit with that.

It’s powerful, should you absorb the scope of its potential in your career life.

Or even regular life, really.

And now I must move on. The VID is wearing me down fast. Gettin’ fuzzy around the peripheral.

You guys are the best!

EPI-59: Brother Bruce And I Ain’t Lookin’ For No Trouble

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What You Believe WILL Come True, Even Bipolar

So, Bruce Lipton came my way, many years after I’d already beaten bipolar.

But he’d been around for decades prior to me discovering him.

And just like me, Bruce was on a mission to share info that was hard to accept by most around him.
And just like me, he hung in there long enough to amass proof that what he said was undeniably true.

When I finally found him, he was one of a growing stack of people whose work confirmed what I’d only assumed to be true, intuitively, and what my life was proving to be true, anecdotally.

Now, regardless of anything, what I did and still do ensures bipolar will never return.

So I’m never going to stop doing those things.

But knowing they’d be of great use to others, while not having any proof beyond my word, has been a frustrating journey to say the least.

Yet as I continue growing, learning, sharing, researching…I keep getting proven correct by many people much higher up the knowledge and wisdom scale than I am.

Terribly satisfying.

And the key takeaway here is: what you believe will come true.

Many grey areas hiding within that simple statement. These areas can be dissected and torn apart to make it seem the message isn’t true.

But at its root, our beliefs dictate much of our entire lives.

At a bare minimum, I feel its important to do the necessary work to uncover what those beliefs might be and why.

They are your map of reality.

Wouldn’t you like a better idea of where you’re headed? And why?

Of course you would. Because that understanding is something that can then be acted upon, used in your favor, and help you change where needed to get the results you crave most.

Now go get you some Bruce!

EPI-57: Sorry, I Couldn’t Hear You Over The Sound Of How Awesome We Are!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:40 — 38.1MB)

So I covered a handful of interesting items from my rather busy (as of late) and chaotic (as of late) life in this episode.

The key point was sharing a quote from Simon Sinek, an author and TED speaker and more.

He stated:

The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have.
The goal is to do business with the people who believe what you believe.

Learning of this, many years ago, was an incredible moment of discovery for me.

If you really get what this means, your life will change for the better too.

It was a relief to me when I read about it in one of Simon’s books.

Think about it: how many people would at least be curious enough to want to know how I beat bipolar disorder without meds?

Even if they didn’t believe it was possible.

They’d at least be curious, I’d expect.

But many of those people either can’t do what I did, even with the tools and systems I offer.

Or they don’t believe it would even work and feel I’m full of shit, if not outright dangerous, for those who are hurting.

(Which I used to get told, here and there, btw.)

I want to make sure I’m only speaking…that’s actually speaking…to those who feel the way I do about this approach, or at least hope there’s something in it that would ease their suffering.

Enough so that they’d be willing to sign up to my newsletter and dig deeper into my world.

Out of those people would come my most supportive followers and eventually my best clients.

Which is exactly how I’ve designed the world of Bipolar Excellence to operate.

The whole thing is on autopilot.

It spits out or deters those who aren’t feeling it, so I never have to deal with people I can’t help or wouldn’t agree with.

And it draws those that match closer to me.

And that is what Simon was saying.

What might you build that could do the same?