We assume that having more time will set our creativity free. 

That once we are gifted with an infinite clock, then we will finally be able to tackle the project we have been putting off for so long. 

But what if our need for more time was just another convenient excuse we used to take ourselves off the hook from executing? 

Look around, nobody has enough time to do anything. 

It’s the collective complaint of our generation. 

And yet, that doesn’t stop people. Every beautiful thing that has ever been created in this world has been made by somebody who didn’t have time. 

Hell, if time were the only barrier to getting things done, then every painting on our wall, every book on our shelf and every program on our phone would not exist. 

Parkinson discovered this law in the fifties, teaching governments and organizations that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. Which means, the worst thing we could ever have is all the time in the world. 

What we actually need is less time. A constraint to set us free. 

Rodriguez was known in the indie film world as a rebel without a crew. The musician and filmmaker wrote in his book:

Low budget projects put a wall in front of you that only creativity can allow you to figure out how to get around it. The fewer resources you have, the more you are forced to be creative. 

Dozens of award winning, million dollar movies later, his theory holds true.

If you struggle moving from idea to execution, start by getting out of the victim position in regards to time. Give yourself an impossibly short deadline instead. 

Force your brain to invent new and interesting ways to focus your attention and create something pure without overthinking it. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How could you constrain your timetable to make your dream more achievable? 

* * * *

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

How can we create abundance where there appears to be scarcity? 

By telling ourselves a story. By believing that story. And by rearranging the arc of that story so we are nearly always safely on the best possible side. 

Here are a few from my greatest hits catalogue. 

Temporal abundance is the story that we are the source of time, that we can make as much of it as we want to, and that we have exactly the right amount of time to enjoy everything we want to do. 

Creative abundance is the story that we are plugged in to an imaginative energy that is present in all things, that every season in our lives contains generative potential, and that whatever we entrust into it will multiply exponentially. 

Monetary abundance is the story that we are the arbiter of our own prosperity, that nobody is standing in the way of our ability to create value, and that money is flowing into our lives from all directions. 

Talent abundance is the story that we have sufficient resources to achieve our hopes and dreams, that they are readily available to us, and that they will equip us to live the life we want to live. 

Social abundance is the story that we belong everywhere, that our relationships are the chief transforming aspects of our lives, and that we are richly supported by a diverse community of beautiful people who want nothing more than to be there for us in our time of need. 

When we tell ourselves these kinds of stories, over and over again, we will leave insufficiency behind and move toward a world of prosperity. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you choosing to become the source of abundance, or waiting for the events of life to inspire you to find it?

* * * *

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 time to bet more heavily on ourselves is when we have the benefit of house money. 

When we are in the black and feeling good and can afford more risk. This is precisely the time to try new things and maybe even fail in good cause. We are in position of strength, and we have to take advantage of it while we can. 

Thaler conducted the pioneering study on gambling with house money back in the early nineties. He asked participants to consider the following scenario. 

You walk into a casino. While passing the slot machines, you put a quarter in. Surprisingly, you win one hundred dollars. And so, now what? Will your gambling behavior for the rest of the evening be altered? Might you make a few more serious wagers from your wallet while taking a swim at the pool? 

Of course it will. The unexpected hundred dollars alters your behavior. It changes the way you frame options you face in the world. 

When my startup fired twenty percent of its staff several years ago, everyone was shitting themselves with fear. And rightfully so. Layoffs are scary and confusing and startling. You barely have enough time to even register what happened before you’re gone in the blink of an eye. 

But luckily, we found a way to frame the experience in an optimistic light. Since we still had eight weeks left on our payroll, but very few tasks and no obligation to keep our regular office hours, we essentially earned two months of paid vacation. We were playing with house money. 

By doing this basic math, it showed us that there was really no need to panic. And that drastically decreased the pressure we put on ourselves during our job transitions. 

Where might you be playing with house money? What fortuitous situation might you be in where you can afford to bet more heavily on yourself? 

Remember, all forms of gambling are based on the absolute certainty that, ultimately, the gambler will lose more, over time, than they win. 

But when it’s not your money, it’s a whole lot more fun to play.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Is now the time to double down on 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

How do people transform even the smallest events or situations into breakthroughs in thinking and action? 

By doing everything and nothing at the same time. 

In the spirit of doing everything, we engineer a continuous flow of breakthroughs by allowing for the creation of a portfolio of experiments. We just keep trying stuff. Every damn day. Exponentially increasing our activity level, trusting that discovery will be the consequence of our earnest interest. 

Simon once commented on his songwriting process that there is always new musical ground to be discovered right there on the same keys he has been playing forever. Every artist can consistently find new ways to express themselves on their instrument. 

That’s doing everything. It’s a function of focus and discipline. 

But doing nothing also works as a method for finding new breakthroughs repeatedly. 

Time consuming tinkering and developing ideas glacially allows for breakthroughs we wouldn’t reach otherwise. 

Gillette writes in his wise and wisecracking memoir that the big secret of magic is simply misplaced priorities. Magicians are willing to work harder to achieve something stupid than people can imagine. He will practice things for years that most people wouldn’t consider investing an hour in. 

That’s doing nothing. It’s a function of patience and trust. 

If you want to make a place in your future for breakthroughs and epiphanies to exist, then consider doing either everything and or nothing. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How will you enable the uncomfortable but necessary rupture and rapture of discovery?

* * * *

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

Racehorses wear blinders. 

Their trainers believe these small squares of firm leather and plastic attached to the bridle on the horse’s head channel their vision. Blinders cut down the scope of their sight, they say, keeping horses focused on what is in front of them. 

That way, they’re not distracted or spooked by the crowds, bushes, poles, competing horses or jockeys around them. 

Eyes on the prize, my little pony. 

The debatable issue, however, is whether or not it’s possible to become focused to a fault. Because extremes in almost anything accomplish nothing. 

And so, as a thought experiment, consider a flip side to the focus equation. 

Have you ever been so focused on the goal that you missed new information? Have you ever been so focused on perfecting the task at hand that you failed to pay attention to the changing world around you? Have you ever been so focused on your destination that you didn’t take the time to reward yourself for what you achieved along the journey? 

In each of these cases, focus reaches a point of diminishing returns. And because we are not racehorses, because we are merely frail flesh machines, it may be unsafe to intentionally limit the vastness of our vision. 

With blinders, we see not the darkness and hear not the storm. 

The final thing is, focus also depends on how it’s defined. My understanding of the word comes from a place of identity, not activity. For me, focus was not about hammering one nail all my life, but hammering lots of nails, one way, all my life. It was not about following my passion, but letting my passion follow me. 

Because that race requires no finish line, only those who love to run. 

Ultimately, blinders might be your answer. Relentless, focused effort to the exclusion of everything else could be exactly what you need to win. 

Then again, nuzzling in succulent swathes of summer grazing pasture sounds like a win too.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What do you have to give up to focus on what will set you apart?

* * * *

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

Woody wrote in one of his recent movies that he didn’t know who he loathed more, those who use simple tricks to prey on the gullible, or the gullible, who are so stupid that they deserve what they get. 

As someone who’s always been a bit too trusting of others, this insight resonates deeply with me. 

Because on one hand, deception is part and parcel of being human. People deceive each other all of the time. Present company included. Deception may not be the most moral horizon to march towards, but it is still a highly useful tactic for accomplishing a goal. 

Duly noted. 

However, what happens we are on the receiving end of it? What happens when, somehow, all of the warnings in the world don’t quite convince us? And we end up buying into some unsafe story, only to find ourselves spiraling sluggishly in the swampy depths of deception? 

Years ago, twenty minutes before a job interview for a position that seemed quite exciting and lucrative, a friend of mine sent me a link the company’s profile on a career search engine. To my surprise, it had over a hundred reviews from former employees whose work experience was overwhelmingly negative. 

The one headline that caught my attention was:

Turn back now while you still can. 

That immediately activated the clangor of my internal warning bells. 

This is not a good sign. You would be foolish to block your eyes to this deception. 

Further research proved me right. This was not the place for me. It would have been a poor career move. 

Next time you hear a faint warning within, take action on your intuitive leads. But also allow your hunches and instincts to catapult you to move closer to fact. 

Verify your intuition with data. Stop wondering what you think and start asking what you know. Before deception sinks its claws into your flesh. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you picking the wrong people to trust?

* * * *

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

Seinfeld, the zen master of comedy, once made the observation that our blessing in life is when we find the torture we are comfortable with. 

In a world where everyone is doing everything they can to avoid painful feelings, this is a refreshing insight. Because it’s impossible to anticipate or avoid pain. 

Everything sucks, some of the time. And most things are hard whether or not we want them to be. 

And so, instead of trying to head fake all of that unpleasantness, we simply surrender to it. Seeking the perfect amount of suffering in our work. Accepting torture as the price of admission and the cost of doing business in this world. Trusting that it will become choice that we get used to making. And knowing it’s ultimately healthy and allows us to come out stronger the other side. 

Master that, and we have mastered life. 

But we don’t cling to it, either. We never treat our torture as a merit badge that earns us the right to be a smug wanker now that we have made it. 

Because if we engage in this public game of competitive suffering, trying to prove to people how purified we have become, then we have learned nothing. 

Remember, the point is to become comfortable with our torture, not complacent about it. 

As another comedian once wrote, it’s all suffering, but we survive by knowing how to spread it out. 

Before you blot out the torture right before your eyes, understand the power of your burden. Take responsibility for it. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What if your blessings and curses often come in the same package?

* * * *

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

Every day, our minds go to places that are so unnecessary. 

Our pestering unproductive thoughts rattle us to the bone. 

And although we try to wrench those little buggers out of our psyche, calmly appraising them instead of carelessly accepting them, sometimes, there’s just no stopping that train. 

We feel trapped so terribly inside our own head. 

In this situation, the best thing we can do is to displace ourselves. To plunge into the world of other people and pursue the elixir of service. It’s the fastest, easiest, cheapest and most meaningful way to free ourselves from the morbid habit of thinking about ourselves all the goddamn time. 

That’s one of the great joys of attending a support group. It’s sacrosanct time where the focus isn’t just on us and our recurring bullshit. The container the group creates is centered around embodied listening, loving support and authentic feedback with each other. And that cultivates each person’s ability to get out of their own head and into the mire of other people’s lives. 

Not surprisingly, all our petty obsessions of self vanish in the light of other people’s shared troubles. The anxious feelings inside of ourselves evaporate in a hurry once we realize that we’re not alone and everybody is doing the best they can. 

It’s like they say in the recovery world:

Sometimes you need the meeting, and sometimes the meeting needs you. 

It’s give and take. 

But either way, there’s no scorecard. Our good comes from the giving of service itself, not the measurement of its results for others. That elixir is something we pursue for our own benefit. 

And so, if your thoughts are beginning their grueling march on you, and if it feels like the demons in your mind have pick the locks on their cages, displace yourself. Get out of your head into the world of other people. 

There may be a campaign of service marked out for you. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Have you done anything for anyone else today?

* * * *

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

Every day, new bits of knowledge come avalanching towards us in tiny increments like grains of sand piled on top of another. 

But while they may not feel overwhelming on a daily basis, those mental dunes can pile up awfully fast. And if we are not vigilant about metabolizing those grains into something more meaningful, our minds will suffocate. 

Cognitive researchers who study the deluge of information that bombs the human brain report that every day, people are inundated with the equivalent amount of over thirty gigabytes of information. 

That’s a sufficient quantity to overload a laptop within a week. 

But this is not a new problem. It’s not the fault of technology, although it has exacerbated the issue. 

Hindu scriptures warned us about information overload two millennia ago:

Undigested knowledge weighs down on us like bars of gold on a mule’s back, and that knowledge remains useless to us until we digest it and make it our own through assimilation and reflection. 

And so, all this knowledge is merely a commodity. It’s fuel. A cognitive carbohydrate that energizes and enables us to make decisions and take action and have experiences, during which we earn higher order gifts such as wisdom, perspective, insight, judgment and vision. 

Unlike knowledge, these gems live inside our muscles and bones. Which is why they’re so valuable to our lives and the lives of those we encounter. 

The question, then, is not whether we have downloaded all the books, but whether we have useful crucibles in which to develop our wisdom. Whether we are willing to create a conscious system for translating the cacophony into a coherent melody. 

If so, then we can melt those millions of tiny grains of sand into magnificent sculptures of glass, that we can either give as gifts to those we love, or sell for big bucks to those we work with.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Will you enter the castle of wisdom that lies hidden in fertile darkness just behind the eyelids, or watch more television?

* * * *

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

Koontz cites two key childhood experiences that later influenced his horror novel writing. 

First, he was regularly beaten and abused by his alcoholic sociopath father.

Second, he recalls the courage of his physically diminutive mother who bravely stood up to her husband and put an end to that abuse. 

It’s no surprise, then, that he made the following observation in one of his interviews:

To surrender to despair is to hand victory to the abusive person who made your life hell. But if you’re just happy, you’ve defeated the person who wronged you. 

He proves that living well truly the best revenge. And that abusive people loathe nothing more seeing us flourishing despite their continued cruelty. 

The tricky part is the happiness piece. Which, as we learn when we enter the real world, is not easy for everyone. Nor is it properly defined by everyone. 

My mentor, a former baseball player turned educator and preacher, once told me that happiness is incidental, not intentional. Happiness is not the target, he said, it’s the reward we get for hitting it. 

Because any idiot can hitch a ride on the passing clouds of imaginary pleasure and achieve fleeting satisfaction quickly, easily and inexpensively. 

Cinnabon proves this every time we go to the airport. Sweet, angelic, immaculate confections. Their rich, buttery brilliance conjures the divine. 

But if temporary bliss is our sole pursuit, then our emotional life may be in danger. Because if we are not focused on living with a purpose and honoring our cherished values, then we leave ourselves open to the whims, wills and ways of the world. There will always be something to complain about. And we will continually blame and resent other people for influencing our mood. 

On the other hand, if we nominate ourselves as the makers of our own meaning, the arbiters of our own fulfillment, the purposeful crafters of our own principled life, then happiness will not be far behind.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Have you ever questioned whether you had the option to be happy?

* * * *

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