December 2011
11 posts
Best of 2011: The art of shipping
I first came across the term “Shipping” in this context on Seth Godin’s blog. Put simply, shipping is the art of creating something, and then sharing it with others. That might mean telling your boss about that secret idea you’ve been nurturing at work; it might be posting a blog, publishing that book you’ve been writing, or recording a song and then posting it online. What it is is not what’s...
Best of 2011: It’s 11 Dollar bills, but you’ve...
In 1965 Bob Dylan recorded a song called Subterranean Homesick Blues which includes the line “The man in the coon-skin cap by the big pen, wants 11 Dollar Bills, but you’ve only got 10.”
On the surface these may not be the most profound lyrics Dylan has ever written, but these words have a hidden significance for me. I often quote them to myself when I come up against resistance, whenever I feel...
Best of 2011: Plant an orchard
If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be? I would tell myself this: start a business and don’t give up. If your success isn’t instant then keep going because growth takes time.
Can we get metaphorical for a minute? Starting a business is like planting an orchard; it takes resources – time, energy, money – to cultivate the ground, and then you have to...
Best of 2011: Process
Process can be a frustrating thing. I mean, who really wants to wait and work for their dreams to be fulfilled? Not me. I want it all and I want it now. I want to just close my eyes, click my heels and wake up in Kansas.
But success doesn’t come instantly, does it. Achieving your goals is going to involve failure, discovery, difficulty and joy, it’s going to take time and it’s going to take hard...
Best of 2011: Just because there’s someone better...
I can remember the specific moment I gave up wanting to be a graphic designer. It was late 2006 and I was standing in the Alan Fletcher exhibition at the Design Museum in London. I remember thinking to myself “I’ll never be as good as Alan Fletcher so I might as well give up now.” And so I did.
In a moment of frustration and jealousy I threw away the thing I was best at and most passionate about....
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Best of 2011: Don’t re-invent, completely...
I first discovered Urwerk a few years ago when I began developing an interest in wristwatches. I fell in love with them instantly. Urwerk create the most astonishing watches you have ever seen – seriously, they are just incredible. What I love about them is that they haven’t just taken a conventional watch design and then tweaked it; Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei have seized the opportunity to...
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Gifts that give twice
www.nomoreslaves.co.uk
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