It’s Thursday, and it’s time for more enthusiasms. Please let me know what you think via twitter at @jamiesmartcom, on my Facebook page here, or in the comment section. At the end, I’ll tell you how you can get one of your #enthusiasms featured in a future edition of The Thursday Enthusiasms (TTE).
1. A quotation I’m reflecting on this week
This week’s quote comes from the wonderful Seth Godin (more about him in a moment)…
“If you're remarkable, then it's likely that some people won't like you. That's part of the definition of remarkable. Nobody gets unanimous praise – ever.
The best the timid can hope for is to be unnoticed. Criticism comes to those who stand out.”
2. A book I love
I’m a big fan of most of Seth Godin’s books, but one of my favourites is the excellent All Marketers Are Liars. My first attempt to educate myself about marketing was an audio programme by Seth called “Making Money on the Web” which I bought and listened to in 2001 (on cassette tape, believe it or not!) Given how many dodgy “make money” products there are in the world, I got lucky with this one. He introduced me to the idea of “relationship marketing” and I used the approach to build my company, Salad. All Marketers Are Liars turned out to be a terrible name (it didn’t sell well at all), but the book is absolutely brilliant, giving a blueprint for authentic, values-based business in the 21st century. Godin gives you the big ideas, but you need to work out the “how tos” yourself. Fortunately, I like that. I’ve never had many heroes, but Seth is one of them, so when he gave me an endorsement for the cover of my 2013 book CLARITY, I was over the moon.
3. A short video that puts things in perspective
I saw this video from Good Magazine called If The World Were 100 People. The population of the planet is now 7 billion, a number almost too big to get your head around. But it’s easy for us to picture 100 people, so Good Magazine have put the 7 billion in perspective. The data is eye-opening, and I love the music too!
4. Some stunning photographs
I posted a quote about art on Facebook during the week, and Thomas Zakowski responded with a link to an extraordinarily beautiful series of photographs of lighthouses he’s created. Thomas gave me permission to reproduce one of the photos here (thanks Thomas!) but I encourage you to pop over to his collection on Viewbug http://www.viewbug.com/photo/13503441 and enjoy them all.
5. This week’s 3-minute miracle
There are some songs I’ve loved from the moment I heard them. Spaceboy by The Smashing Pumpkins is one of those. This is from their album Siamese Dream; the whole things great, but Spaceboy is a true gem. I’ve loved this tune every time I’ve heard it over the past 20 years. Just listened to it again. Still do.
That’s it for this week. If you have questions, suggestions or want to let me know what you’re enthusiastic about, just tweet one of yours and put my twitter name @jamiesmartcom and the #Enthusiasms hashtag in there so I can find it. If I’m enthusiastic about something you’re enthusiastic about, it might just get featured in a future TTE.
Big love
Jamie
P.S. Are you a coach, therapist, change-worker (e.g. sports coach, psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, business coach, bodyworker, etc.), or other 1:1 professional? If so, you may be interested in my new programme starting at the end of April. If you fall in to one of the above categories, here’s what I’m looking for:
- You have at least one year’s experience of working with clients (either paid, pro-bono or both)
- You probably charge by the hour, but want to use a “coaching package” model to increase your income & make it more consistent
- You have space in your practice to work with at least one longer term contract client, starting in May
- You’re an enthusiastic, friendly people-person
- You have a coachable spirit, and are willing to step out of your comfort zone if necessary, and
- You can keep a secret
If that’s you, then just email me at jsmart@jamiesmart.com, and let me know where you’re located and a little about yourself (if you don’t know what to tell me about, look at the list above for inspiration). Make the subject line “Project Glasswing”. I’ll be choosing people in the next couple of weeks. Talk to you soon! J