Instead of assuming something is wrong with you for feeling a particular way, understand how this moment gives you options. 

Learn to say to yourself, I look forward to the disruption this will bring. 

Here are a few of my greatest hits. 

Exhaustion? That’s a signal that you are getting closer to an important understanding. 

Stuckness? That means you have moved through all the easy stuff. 

Fear? That’s proof you’re alive and breathing and on the right path. 

Tension? That means amazing opportunities for growth and deeper intimacy. 

Boredom? That means you’re ready to move onto the next great adventure. 

Anger? That means you now have the strength to do what is necessary to take care of yourself. 

Tears? That means something true happened. 

Every feeling and emotion wants something from you. And that’s a good thing. There’s important information in that space. 

And so, instead of scrambling to feel better immediately, trust that it is not necessary for you to be in perfect control of your difficult moments. 

And don’t be so afraid of letting the experience find you.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

If feelings are guests renting time inside your body, are you willing to sit down and listen to them?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

The story we tell ourselves is, if we could just phrase it perfectly, maybe this person will finally change. 

If we could just teach them the right names for things, maybe they will come to their senses and become more like us. 

That’s how it works, right? Keep hitting people over the head with our version of the truth, and they’ll eventually learn to see things our way.

It’s such a lie. Such a colossal waste of energy. 

And admittedly, there’s a part of me used to enjoy counting the minutes until people finished working through things the way I thought they should. I delighted in turning every conversation into a codependent fixing contest. 

Until I realized:

Wait, this is exhausting. And never worth the effort. Trying to think of ways to get someone to see their need for help is a not a good use of my time. 

Treating people with curiosity and understanding and acceptance and compassion, that is. Allowing people to figure things out for themselves, that is. And giving people the dignity of their own experience, that is. 

Whomever you’re working overtime to change right now, try trusting their heart. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you still trying to change people who don’t think they have a problem?* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

Joy is not an accident, it’s a choice. 

One that we actually have control over. 

The problem is, most of us are so
emotionally guarded that we don’t allow ourselves to manifest our delight.
We’re too intent on bracing ourselves for the worst. 

And so, we hold back from
trusting and experiencing joy. Because people might point and whisper and stare
at us like we’re nuttier than a bag of trail mix. And the happiness will become
so great that it might disintegrate us. 

I once shared an office with two
coworkers who couldn’t have been more different on the joy spectrum. 

One was a
flamboyant, dancing, whistling gay designer whose clothes were so tight, you
could tell what religion he was. 

The other guy was an introverted, midwestern,
conservative programmer who always looked like he was ready to stab somebody. 

Watching the two of them interact was priceless. It was like living inside a
sitcom. When an upbeat song would come on the radio, the designer would
spontaneously break out into song and dance like a human flash mob. 

And without
fail, the sourpuss would look up from his screen, slowly crick his neck to the
left, give the designer the stink eye and simply say, stop. 

But he never did. The show went on. The force was strong with
this one. 

Do you allow yourself the weakness of being happy? 

Many people don’t.
They have a hard time entering fully into an experience that gives them
pleasure. Because they’re afraid it might jinx them. Or cause the other shoe to
drop. Or expose them to potential disappointment and shame. Or worse yet, cause
them to lose their sense of self. 

It’s a very real fear. But the good news is,
once we discover that it’s completely unfounded, what awaits us the other side
is a disco that never stops. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How are you orienting yourself to that which delights you?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

There are exactly zero scientific studies that have shown any evidence behind the accuracy of horoscopes. 

For entertainment purposes only, as the disclaimer says. 

Of course, we all see what we need to see. Why not let the placebo effect have its way with us? Sometimes it’s just more fun to believe. 

I once read my horoscope from a trashy tabloid left behind on the train. And the message was surprisingly touching. The newspaper read:

When your confidence is fragile, even the smallest upset can derail you. 

It was exactly what I needed to hear that day. Because feelings of disappointment and disillusionment were pulsing through my head. And I was beginning to feel disgusted with myself. 

But as one of my heroes once said:

The world may disappoint us, but we can choose not to disappoint ourselves. 

There’s always a concrete way, however small, to act on our own behalf. 

My preferred technique is through inhaling. Not with intoxications, but inspirations. Song, books, pictures and artifacts that are guaranteed to provide me with a sense of aliveness and empowerment. 

My phone and wallet are full of them. Ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice. 

Like my list of one hundred goals for the year. Having that on my person at all times is very empowering. Because you never know when you might need to fire a salvo of confidence into yourself. 

Disappointment often comes without warning. And you have to equip yourself to refill that reservoir quickly, and in ways that are uniquely appealing to you. 

Remember, misery comes for everybody. Each day will bring us new indications of disappointment. 

And so, let us have the courage to admit them when they happen, feel the disappointment without shutting down and take action that rebuilds whatever is fragile within ourselves. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Have you learned to befriend yourself even when you disappoint yourself? 

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

Tracy’s book on leadership reinvention offers a sobering reflection. 

Life won’t follow the pattern of controls we try to put in place. Life never works out the way it should work out, only the way it does work out. It pays no attention to what we require for it to be meaningful. Even if we do try some kind of aikido approach, to stop seeming to strive for life to turn out as it should while still secretly hoping it will, life will continue to ignore what we think should happen. 

That’s the part that really got me. The idea that we can use reverse psychology to somehow trick reality into conforming to our wishes. Guilty as charged. 

Elmer used to pull this move when he hunted the wascally wabbit. He’d walk away whistling, pretending not to care where his prey was hiding. But then, as soon as the rabbit popped his head out of the hole, he’d come out with shotguns ablazin. 

Bugs never fell for it, of course. He was always hip to the drill. Fudd, on the other hand, was human. Which meant he tried to outsmart life. And it never worked. 

What part of life are you trying to outsmart? 

The good news is, it’s actually quite empowering to be present with the conditions of our lives. Learning to face reality with true maturity, knowing the world has nothing more precious to offer right now, it’s goddamn liberating. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Do you have the courage confront a world that is not always fair? 

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

I once knew a guy whose chief complaint about his career was:

I’m too good to be this broke. 

It’s a sentiment that always struck me as deeply entitled and sad. Because the truth is, the world doesn’t owe any of us a living. Nobody held a gun to our heads and forced us to start a business. And it’s not the universe’s responsibility to underwrite our deepest career aspirations. 

If you’re still not getting any traction with your work and you’re sick of meandering around all day waiting for the entrepreneurial lightning to strike, here’s an option you might not have considered. 

Quit. Leave. Walk away. Go do something else. 

Change directions proudly. Keep all the parts of your work that you love and let everything else go. Figure out who you were before the world told you who you needed to be, and go find a game that has better odds for you. 

What’s stopping you? Pride? Humiliation? Your unenlightened need for consistency? Your desperate attempt to protect a tidy career narrative? The fear of being labeled a failure? The shame of becoming the kind of person that big shot industry people wonder whatever happened to? 

Please. These feelings are temporary and they will fade like weather patterns. 

However, stubbornly running back to the dry well every single day, hoping there’s water, now that’s a life sentence. 

And there’s nothing noble about choosing to die of thirst. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How are you practicing being kinder to yourself?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

I read a devastating obituary about a celebrity drug addict who relapsed after twenty plus years of sobriety. 

The writer made an powerful point about how addiction isn’t a state of mind that wears off over time, but a permanent change in the shape and chemistry of the brain. 

He says that if you’re counting your sober days, months, or even years, don’t forget to watch your step. You may have walked a long way since you began, but the monkey you pulled off your back has been keeping pace with you the entire way. 

What a frightening prospect. Knowing that the darkness you already worked so hard to free yourself from can return at any time? God help us. 

That’s why we have to be vigilant. Not about drugs, but about all of the behaviors and habits and obsessions that threaten to steal our peace. 

Because the body never forgets. 

Take stress, for example. During the more chaotic chapters of life, it’s easy to reach a point where it’s so familiar, we take it for granted. We write it off and compartmentalize it and think to ourselves, well, I guess that’s just how it is. 

But that’s precisely when the darkness strikes. When our guard is down. When we assume we’ve earned the right to not give a shit anymore. And when we get so arrogant that we think ourselves unsinkable. 

In the words of my high school football coach:

Don’t get complacent. Your opponent will sniff it out and come back to beat you in the final two minutes of the game. 

Calamity will shake up whatever we have come to assume was permanent. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Is your success delivered you into a wilderness of false assumptions and bad habits?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

Everyone has potential crying out to be engaged. It’s what
it means to be alive. 

Rollo’sbookon man’s search for himself states it best:

Every organism has only one central
need in life, which is to fulfill its own potentialities. However, the task is
never automatic. A person’s development must be to some extent chosen
and affirmed by himself. 

And so, if we are to overcome the limited view of our
own potential, we must unearth the things that have been deeply buried and
obscured through a lifetime of misinformation. We must dig down beneath the
false story we’ve been telling ourselves. 

I have a performer friend who’s been
fighting this battle for years. He wouldloveto move into the fullness of his talent. He wouldloveto stretch beyond what he’s done before. And he wouldloveto double his fees and drop the
bottom twenty percent of his annoying low paying clients and travel less and
relax more. 

But for whatever reason, he won’t allow for that kind of growth. 

Maybe because the idea of owning his full potential is too overwhelming. Maybe
because the change in circumstances that growth would require is to scary. Or
maybe the pain of staying where he isn’t yet greater than the cost to change. 

All I know is, year after year, he keeps accepting gigs and projects that are easy.
They only challenge him in ways that makes him look like the smartest person in
the room. 

Even he admits it. There’s no need for him to be that good. There’s
nothing stretching his game. 

These are the stories my friend
tells himself. This is the misinformation that creates an inability for him to
realize his potential. And it breaks my heart. Because I can tell that it’s a
deep source of dissatisfaction for him.

The question is, how do we help
somebody move their personality closer to the blueprint of its highest
potential? 

I don’t know. That might not be an answerable question. We can’t
force somebody to situate themselves in the soil that best suits their growth.
Sometimes all we can do is love them. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How did you overcome the limited view of your own potential?
* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

No matter how much attention I got, the loneliness still
returned. 

And I couldn’t take it anymore. 

Because deep down, I knew there was a
whole life unlived by me. I knew that if I took a moment, I would find a beautiful
new world waiting for my participation.

And so, I forced myself to look at what
was blocking me from including and working with others in my life. Only to find
an outdated story. A calcified layer of thinking. A delusion that I could allow
myself not to need anyone, and not be needed by anyone. 

Goldberg’s words echo
in my ear.

We can only get so far on our own, but eventually, we have
to join. It’s so true. No matter many powerful reasons we have for isolating,
life is a wilderness too fearsome to assail alone. And denying the reality of
our desire to be with others is simply not healthy. 

It was time. I was finally
ready to give up my choice for loneliness and make contact with those around
me. Because god knows that brooding about my situation and stewing with my
feelings of isolation was only worsening my situation. God knows it does nobody
any good to labor alone and think about how steeply the odds are stacked
against them. 

Point being, we shouldn’t congratulate ourselves for being willing
to go to great lengths to avoid unnecessary human contact. It’s not a badge of
honor, it’s an insult to our humanity. 

Cameron said it best in her book about
the artist’s way. 

A sense of
loneliness and isolation arises not because we lack relationships or
interactions with others, but because we lack that relationship with ourselves. 

As usual, the battle starts within. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you finally ready to move from stagnation and isolation into expansion and cohesion?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

What if menacing gray curb snow became popsicles?

What if augmented reality eliminated littering?

What if we sold psychographically analyzed microwave scraps?

What if we shorted the secondary market for karma?

What if doctors could take toot samples?

In this episode of Steal Scott’s Ideas, Alex, Eli & Alexandra gather at Metric Collective for some execution in public.

**Sponsored by the Schmuck Parade Music Festival

---

Execution Lesson 107: Charisma is code for can’t execute

Emerson was nothing short of a creative genius.

Not only was he a prolific philosopher, writer, lecturer and founder of the transcendentalist movement, but the man was featured on a national postage stamp. Quite the impressive career arc.

And yet, his creativity wasn’t the only arrow in his professional quiver. Emerson was equal parts ideation and implementation. As he observed in his influential book about nature, good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they be executed.

This is a trap many highly creativity people fall prey to. Because we are always working in the realm of abstraction, living in the haze of ideas, adrift in the clouds of possibility, it’s easy for us to lose the thread.

Especially in a team environment. Nothing against a transcendentalist who lives in a cabin in the woods, but in the modern world, our coworkers and managers will often have to remind us to reign it in and come back down from the clouds and focus on practical solutions. That’s the way organizations thrive. There are no awards of merit for abstraction or subtlety of thinking, it’s the effect on the bottom line that matters.

Now, this doesn’t mean our imaginations have to die a horrible death, but they do have be channeled productively. Otherwise our unordered minds will lose track. And probably annoy the hell out of our coworkers.

The secret is learning how to separate and transition our thinking. Creating boundaries to plan our thinking processes in a detailed and cohesive way.

Debono has a name for this form of lateral thinking. Wearing and switching hats. It helps people easily focus or redirect their thoughts, the conversation, or the meeting.

For example, wearing the green hat involves making statements of provocation and investigation, seeing where an idea goes. This invites people to think creatively and outside the box. But the group only wears this hat for about two minutes at a time. Then they switch to a different color, perhaps something more practical and discerning, like the black hat.

This kind of process may feel unnatural, uncomfortable or even counterproductive, but it does work.

If we creative people have any intention of executing our ideas, eventually, we do whatever it takes to get out our heads and into the real world. LET ME ASK YA THIS…Are you a charismatic visionary who loses interest when it comes time to execute?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com