Organic growth is a blessing and a curse. 

On one hand, customers know and like and trust your brand, sales are coming in, and there is no need burn all your cash on marketing activities. Sing praise to the gods of commerce. 

But nothing grows forever. Except maybe ears and noses. 

Facial cartilage notwithstanding, gravity always triumphs. It’s undefeated. Everything plateaus eventually. 

And therein lies the curse of organic growth. 

Doing great work and then sitting back with your fingers crossed and waiting for the phone to ring is not a smart or sustainable business strategy. 

What got you here will not get you there. 

Eventually, you have to make the transition from an emergent strategy to a deliberate one. Otherwise you will continue to be, as my mentor used to say, riding a bicycle downhill and thinking your legs are strong. 

Now, does that mean every successful brand needs to be boosted by a powerful marketing machine working every conceivable angle? 

Not necessarily. The great music critic reminds us that the spoils go to the innovator if he is willing to double down and never rest on his laurels. 

If your brand has been blessed with the gift of organic growth, make sure you don’t become entombed in the complacency that will eventually spell its decline. 

If your road is beginning to level out, it’s time start pedaling. 

Make that, start peddling. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What sign is your business pretending not to see? 

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

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

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Arendt wrote that each of us stands our ground between the clashing waves of
past and future. 

This is a contentious cusp in which we find ourselves. Because
if everywhere we go, we drag our past behind us like a turd on a stick, then we
never take the chilling but necessary next step into the future. 

That’s the
whole problem with the past. There’s just so damn much of it. It has no
imagination, it’s terribly unchangeable however we look at it, it’s always
exactly the same, and it’s far too easy to romanticize it out of proportion. 

Is
it any wonder that we grope among the dry bones of the past, trying snatch at
some scorched pleasure to make our present life a little cozier? Is it any
wonder that we continue to do the same things over and over again, whether or
not those things still work the way they used to? 

We are afraid of letting go.
Terrifying of dying to our former selves, growing and evolving and changing
into our next unknown incarnation. 

That’s why we cling to the idea of the
unchanging self. To avoid death. To tranquilize ourselves away from reality. 

Our prayer, then, buoyed by the optimism of hope and change, is as follows. 

Let
us fight against the pressure to live in the past. Let us not freeze in the
face of an uncertain future. Let us trust that a whole new world awaits us that
is more beautiful than we could possibly realize. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you prepared to live into a future you love? 
* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

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

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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In the moment, it’s tempting to dwell on our shortcomings and mistakes. 

To allow the gaggle of hungry ghosts to taunt us with memories of our failures. 

But when it comes to our complete body of work, meaning, everything we create, contribute, affect and impact in our lifetime, it’s important that we take the long view. Because even if certain individual efforts appear to have less value than others, the portfolio of the things we do have power together. 

There is a sense of emergence where our disparate works come alive as their elements are integrated into one another over time. 

Taylor Swift made an inspiring point for all creators in a rare public essay about the state of the industry. She claimed that the future of music was a love story. That the value of an album is, and will continue to be, based on the amount of heart and soul an artist has bled into a body of work.

Key word in her philosophy being, bled. 

It is what will make our work significant in the moment, as well as in the future. 

And so, even if it feels like you’re rowing against the current of your own life, trust that time will take you to the other side of the story. Relish in the challenge of creation more than the chore of competition. Execute great work for its own sake. For the pure pleasure of using all of your gifts to make a difference in every part of your life. 

And instead of preoccupying yourself with verifying whether or not history has been mistaken, keep your head down and keep moving the story forward. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What if your entire body of work was a pitch to your imaginary angel funder?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

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

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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The interesting thing about a snowball is, the bigger it gets, the more internal cohesiveness and collective gravity and apparent momentum it possesses. 

And once that icy little bugger gets going, the experiment itself becomes smarter than its creator. It begins to take on a life of its own. Steering itself onto a new and better course than originally planned. Growing into something we never could have imagined. 

What’s difficult, of course, is getting the courage to push the snowball down the hill in the first place. 

Consider how many of us never make it to that point. How many of us give ourselves permission to never start. 

Is it because of our lack of talent? Our dearth of resources? Poor timing? No base layer under our winter coat? Enough expertise about the shape, density and properties of water molecules? 

Those sound like more excuses to retreat into fear. 

Truth is, the snowball never leaves the top of the hill because of a lack of trust. We do not trust the beautiful unity of nature’s laws. We do not trust our own creative mechanism. We do not trust the beginnings of the faith we are now developing. We do not trust that our future will be cared for. We do not trust ourselves to find our way as we continue to grow. 

As most things in life, it all goes back to control. 

We are scared of letting go. We are afraid of giving ourselves over to nature and surrendering to the gravity of the hill. 

This is how momentum starts. Something has to add energy to the system. We might say that what momentum needs, is a moment.

Will you claim yours? 

Remember, the beauty of the snowball is, everything sticks to it. It cannot help but integrate all things in its path to help it grow bigger and faster and stronger. 

To quote the greatest cartoonist of all time, today is a magical world, a day full of possibilities. 

Let’s go exploring. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you still giving yourself permission not to start?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

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

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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There is no use begrudging the world for not revealing everything to us according to our precious little timetable. 

All we can do is forgive reality for being what it is. 

One of the key ways we do so is by replacing obsessive thinking with healthier responses. Actions that are life giving. 

Cameron reveals in her book about prosperous hearts that wherever there is ambiguity or uncertainty, there is room for obsession. And so, part of our work is getting our psychological train back on the right track. 

Here are a few examples that have been helpful for me:

Instead of obsessing over the things we can’t control, we commit to live joyfully with what we can know right now. 

Instead of freezing in the face of our ambiguous future, we abandon the futile quest for certainty and embrace the essential endarkenment of the human condition. 

Instead of relying on reassurance to keep our head above water, we move forward without perfect and complete information. 

Instead of obsessing over the one divine clue that will bring us certitude, we think of one small positive action we could take on our behalf. 

Point being, when we forgive the world for being what it is, that is a gift we give ourselves. One that soothes our obsessive tendencies. 

We liberate our bodies from the captivity into which we have fallen and learn to live with not knowing more. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What if certainty about the future was a sign of mental illness? 

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

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

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Breath is the simplest vehicle of transcendence. 

It literally ends the trance, as the word indicates, because conscious breathing stops our racing mind and alerts our body to the fact that we want to be calmer. 

Especially when we practice inhaling and exhaling through our nose. This process elongates and slows down our respiration. It helps us take fuller, deeper breaths that oxygenate our lungs to their full capacity. 

Years ago, during an especially stressful period in my career, chest pains started to become a regular occurrence. To the point of a few emergency room visits, just to be safe. 

And although doctors never found anything remarkable, thankfully, there was one occasion that stood out in mind. While hooked up to the ekg machine, doctors said they wanted to detect and record my heart’s electrical activity. Just to make sure the chest pains were nothing series. 

But it was a busy night and they said it would take about an hour. And so, with nothing to do but sit on the hospital bed and wait, I took the opportunity to practice an impromptu nasal breathing meditation. Just to help pass the time. 

About twenty minutes into it, a nurse swooshed open the curtain and came running up to my bed

NURSE: Are you feeling okay sir? 

SCOTT: Yeah, why? 

NURSE: Your respiration is at four. 

SCOTT: Is that good? 

NURSE: Well, most patients who come into the emergency room clock in at about twenty. 

SCOTT: I’m just doing a breathing meditation. 

NURSE: Then what are you doing here? 

SCOTT: Good question. 

She discharged me ten minutes later. 

Lesson learned, whatever threat you seek to transcend, try to find a way to breathe through it. 

Use your breath as the magnificent instrument of circulation that it truly is.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What is your best tool for ending the trance? 

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

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

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Boundaries are, at their very core, an elevated expression of love. 

To self and other. When we express obedience to our letter of inner law, putting every choice its proper place in the economy of our version of a fulfilling life, then we are living from heart center. 

But when we don’t set boundaries, we are only enabling people. Ourselves included. 

We are stepping away from our highest good and granting others permission to do the same. 

A colleague of mind from the startup world reports to a workaholic manager. Her boss notoriously piles on too many tasks during the day and has unreasonable expectations for evening and weekend message responsiveness. 

Sound claustrophobic and stressful? 

At the beginning of her career, she says, it most definitely was. But when asked how she learned to set firm boundaries, my friend offered a helpful insight. 

Never assume people know how they are imposing on you. 

Especially if you work directly for the company founder. That person is likely to be deeply passionate about the organization. And their tunnel vision will make it hard for them to make the empathetic leap. Their brains will not compute. 

Wait a minute, why isn’t every single employee as devoted as me? 

And so, how narrow or how wide we draw our circle of commitment all depends on our disposition, on our definition of a fulfilling life. 

For some of us, if it makes zero sense for us to meet people’s otherwise unjustified expectations, then we mark our territory and hold that line. 

For others, people whose boundaries are perhaps more porous, we draw a line in the sand, but when given the appropriate reason, cross it. 

Both forms of boundaries are elevated expressions of love.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How do you respond when somebody steps across the boundaries of appropriate demand?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

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

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Entrepreneurs, those of us who undertake the risky pursuit of opportunity beyond our controlled resources, exist on something known as the experimentation execution continuum. 

We achieve our success by seamlessly moving from one project to another, creating of a unique portfolio of trials, errors, iterations and successes, ideally with little or no loss of enthusiasm along the way. 

This continuum can be profoundly scary and lonely and disorienting. It can drain your soul, not to mention your entire life savings. Make no mistake, entrepreneurship not for the faint of heart, the barren of spirit or the shallow of mind. 

The good news is, there is a valuable weapon acquired along this rocky path. One that we can use in every area of life, forever, until we die. 

The capacity for faithful instigation. The ability to take action without conventional luxuries like certainty, clarity, control and closure. 

Ah, the four horsemen of the entrepreneurial apocalypse. 

May they come riding on the scorching earth with cloven heels and shaggy coats. 

However, those of us risk misfits, those of us opportunity junkies, we move forward anyway. We trust that when we wade into this project with little or no support, we will not drown. We trust that in this unfolding creative process, all moments are valuable. We trust that our destination maybe unknown until we finally find ourselves there. 

Certainty, clarity, control and closure? These are the folly of fools. Not knowing is the form of torture humans have no choice but to become comfortable with. Maybe even learn to love. 

And so, if you have been receiving the warning flares of instinctual ripples of dreaded uncertainty, take a breath and tell yourself that you’re okay. Because while it that energy may be unsettling, it’s still energy. Which means it can be channeled. May you reach into the darkness, uncertain of what will be received, and cast your faith forward as light on your path. Whitley said it best in his most hopeful song. There’s a dirt floor underneath here, to receive us when changes fail, may this shovel loosen your troubles, let them fall away. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How strong is your capacity for faithful instigation?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

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

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Eskelinen is an artist who builds kinetic and mechanical sculptures. 

He describes his work as experimental, wooden, moving, contemporary art. 

One of his most notable pieces is a wonderfully complicated hugging machine. It literally squeezes you right back when it is embraced. Simply stand on a platform, grasp the handles, and lean into the hug. The mechanism causes a pair of wooden articulated arms to return the favor. 

And the best part is, this hugging machine manually powered. You can hug it for as long as you have the energy. 

Of course, this machine may not instantly boost oxytocin levels and heal your feelings of loneliness, isolation, and anger like a human hug will. But this sculpture is still a physical manifestation of the beautiful unity of nature. 

It reminds us that when we embrace change, it embraces us back. That the world supports us when we learn to allow it. Change may come to us swiftly and without mercy, pulling the rug out from under us on a moment’s notice. And maintaining our center in that ocean of chaos can feel like an impossible task. 

But when we surrender to change, when we lovingly lean in to it, and when we are amenable to the galvanic response of giving and receiving, we feel richly supported by resources, internal, external and cosmic. 

Trusting that whatever silly song of transition our life is singing, we can take the chance to dance with the universe. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Do you believe that the world’s trustworthy and everlasting arms are supporting you?* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

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

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Campbell claimed the hero is simply the one who comes to
know. The individual who undergoes a series of transfigurations, through which
the only mystery he seeks to understand is himself. 

To gain a store of proper
perspective, however, we must first gain a sense of personal trajectory. We
must treat our life like the journey it is. Taking a little dramatic license,
owning our role as the hero of our own story and understanding events in the
context of our overall narrative. 

Otherwise we will always feel stuck in the
muck and mire of daily life. 

It reminds me of an inspiring question a potential
employer asked me during a job interview. 

How will the skills you are building
here contribute to your story as an individual? 

It was a framing tool that this
particular organization used to give employees with clarity around progression
in the broader context of their individual careers. A narrative device that
helped team members view their journey of personal evolution from a higher
vantage point. 

I didn’t get the job, sad to say, but I never forgot that question. 

How will the skills you are building here contribute to your story as an
individual? 

If you are feeling paralyzed by the seeming need to choose among
many paths, take a moment to step back for a moment. 

Consider each of your
potential choices against the broader canvas of life. 

And lean towards the one
which places you on a path you were always intended to walk.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What is the scariest thing you could do that would be worth the journey?

* * * *

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!

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