Lisa: 00:00 Hello, you're listening to the Super Power U Podcast. This is Episode #6.
VO: 00:10 Welcome to the Super Power U Podcast where we reveal the mental models and tactical skills needed to activate your Inner Superhero! And here's your host, Lisa Betts-LaCroix.
00:22 Hello my lovelies, and welcome back to the show. This episode is a bit unusual; I was getting close to going live with my conversation with Tiago Forte for today's episode. In our conversation, we talk about Tiago's process for Getting Things Done and the work he does with clients merging creativity and productivity. But then podcast production disaster struck and I lost the entire file just a few hours before publishing.
01:01 So here's the backstory: Now that I'm six episodes, and almost a month since going live, it's become clear to me that I need some new systems for producing the show. Otherwise, it's just not
sustainable. My daughter the other day told me that I was like a ghost in the house. So honestly right now the editing is taking me a crazy amount of time, but the reality is I also really liked doing the editing. I also really like doing the recording and the social media promotion and making the graphics and on and on. My friend and accountability buddy Michael Cooper helped me identify yesterday that my love of learning new things just might be getting in the way of my working in an efficient and an effective manner.
01:59 I'm really excited about designing ways to systematize my production process. But if you happen to remember from last week's show, one of my personal low-level skills is Strategic
Thinking. Now, the nuance on this is that I'm actually pretty good at the high-level strategic thinking, coming up with the ideas and seeing how things could be and seeing the overarching big picture. But I'm not great at the rational step-by-step process needed to implement those changes and designing the details. So, because I really value asking for help. I hired my young adult child, my 19-year old child to help me think through the process and make a step by step list of the
tasks; making a clear distinction between those that I need to do myself and those that I can delegate, even if I might enjoy doing them myself. I asked for their help because they're very good at that kind of thing, so that was definitely my win for yesterday…asking for help in the areas which are not my strength.
03:13 So getting back to the point: somehow in the process of designing that system and moving the files to their new homes, I lost one of the data packets that's needed to play the Audacity file for the show I had recorded with Tiago. And so just a few hours before my Thursday deadline, I had no show. So, yikes! What to do!? After my initial freakout, my upset and my pacing, I decided to do a show about the show because, well, when in doubt, go Meta.
03:53 So this show is about strategies for when you're faced with adversity. What do you do, what should I do, and what is there to learn here? Now, here's the for-sure. If you do something new, if you start a new project, a new hobby, a new business, you will face challenges because this is life, right? OK? Now let's be real! In the vast scheme of things, this problem of mine is a minor obstacle. Maybe you could even say it's minuscule. It's for sure a true first-world problem, but I'm going to assume and guess that facing adversity and how we approach it is somewhat generalizable. That regardless of the scope of the challenges we face, that some of the same superpowers, some of the same skills apply to small problems and may share some qualities with those needed for bigger challenges and that how we approach hiccups or major difficulties reflects our general resilience.
05:10 So tonight I did what any extrovert would do. I asked my friends for input. I did it on Facebook because that's the fastest way to reach the people who are game to play. I described the circumstances and then I asked, “What do you do when you face challenges, especially when you're working on a new project or endeavor?”
05:36 Now I love me my friends; they always come through for me. Here are some of their responses. Let me read you what they said and then I'll point out how all of the suggestions they
offered fit into one of a few top-level categories. See if you can pick those out. First, Christine Peterson. Now, Christine is a nano-technologist and a futurist who coined the term “open
source” in connection with software. She'll be a guest on the show in the next few weeks, so definitely watch for her, here. Our conversation is going to be interesting. Christine said in
response to my queries, “First, I feel stupid and sorry for myself”. Then she said she might look for sympathy from a friend, eat some chocolate, play on Facebook and do a self-compassion meditation. Finally, she said she would apologize as needed and then try to fix the problem. In the end, she said,
“the goal is to soldier on”. Nice.
06:40 Next, I heard from Marlow Schmauder, who is a consultant with sector specializations in Ed-Tech, Fin-Tech, Distributed Ledger Technology (and don't worry, I don't know what that is either)
and blockchain technology. She's also really knowledgeable in gifted and twice-exceptional learners, and by the way is also a kick-ass practitioner of Krav Maga — except I know I'm saying that wrong. It's a crazy kind of martial art that she does with a sword and she makes a lot of her own leather armor to boot. So Marlow says, “I swear a lot. Then I try to fix it or at least get a solid start on fixing it right away”. Now this is a common theme: Do something, do anything, get a start, take a step, and that way as Marlow says, “even if you have to pass out based on exhaustion due to pushing through for far too long in the first place, at least you know you're on the road to having it remedied”. Then Marlow adds, “I also swear to make backups religiously and then I get my mind off it for the night with a glass of wine and a book or something to watch”.
07:54 OK, now enter Colleen Robbins who is a foodie friend and a chef-extraordinaire. She's an artist by my estimation and real-estate developer. And she cuts right to the chase! Says Colleen,
“Deep breath. Remind myself that I'm not dead. Weigh options and do something, even if it's wrong.” OK, short, sweet and true.
08:24 James David Smith, who is a friend from my days at high school at Humberside Collegiate in the west end of Toronto. Jim is an inventor, an entrepreneur, a theater technician, and I'm willing
to bet, still an amazing musician and piano player as was the case when we were in high school. Jim's advice comes by way of a story. He says, and I'm assuming this is his personal experience he shares when he says, “Similar situation. You're exhibiting at a trade show. You arrive to discover that your entire display, shipped ahead never arrived. It's lost. You're not going to see it before the show opens. This is where improvisational skills come into play. What can you do with nothing? Can you make a square of uncarpeted concrete and no lighting, somehow worked for you? Actually, you probably can because you have one unique characteristic. Your booth is unlike any on the show floor”. Creativity in action! I love it, Jim. Now what Jim suggested for my specific situation was that I do the equivalent of going Live to air. In a way that's pretty close to what I'm doing; Recording and then pretty much going straight to Publish, possibly even without accompanying Show Notes.
Now you can see how far I got on that endeavor. If I make it, they will be at Lisabl.com/6 and if there are no show notes there, then I'll get them done by next week. Jim also suggested that I scrambled to find a couple of people who can do telephone interviews right now on the spot now.
10:01 That would be fun and I'm going to put that idea and Scott Blackburn's suggestion that I go LIVE in my pocket, should anything similar happened again in the future. So a shout out to that Scott Blackburn, who runs an orphanage in Peru called the Buenos Samilla, where he and his wife Tracy care for tween and teenage girls who have previously been abused. Scott also suggests to me that maybe I should do a better job of backing up along with Kevin Faibish, videographer and cameraman friend from Toronto, Ontario, or T.O., as we call it there. True Faibish form. Thank you, Kevy. My cousin in Calgary, Adele, who's a nutritionist and a lifelong learner, says that when she hits a hiccup, she suspects it to be the result of working past the time when a break from intense concentration was needed. Point taken. She says, “I walk away, get some air — which right now means shovel the sidewalk– and convinced myself that it won't take as long to redo the project since I now know how to get out the bugs out”.
11:09 Right before I went into the studio, a few more gems showed up. This beauty from Heidi Kellison. I know Heidi because we compete against each other in Pro-am Ballroom Dance and
she's just one of the amazing women I am honored to share the competition floor with. She doesn't know this yet, but she and a few other of those women are absolutely on my Wish List for a future show on the gifts of competitive amateur dancing. I just love what Heidi said. Here it is: “Keep going. You'll likely produce something better than the original. Some of my best writing has been after a computer failure. My most creative ventures follow loss, so I give thanks for the opportunity even when I don't feel like it.” Wisdom right there.
12:03 Danielle Lynne Strachman, who is a managing partner of the 1517 Fund which invests in technology startups led by young founders, whom I originally met through the Thiel Fellowship
Network. Danielle says, “especially when it's like this where I hit a Tech Snafu, I have an ‘It's not fair' pity party and throw a tantrum and then I pull up my boots and do it again…with better backups”.
12:31 So you're seeing some themes here. My friend Pam Fox Rollins is an executive coach, speaker and the author of “42 Rules for Your New Leadership Role”; and she references her wise mentor
Bob Dunham from the Institute of Generative Leadership. Bob's advice in situations like mine is this: “Bigger than the breakdown”. Very nice.
12:59 And I'm going to finish up here with Susan Washington. Do you remember Susan from Episode #2? Well, Susan is one of my ongoing champions and supporters and mentors. She's an incredible coach and business strategist and she says, “When I'm overwhelmed and there are hiccups, the best self-management flows from having a steady, rested, clear and focused mind, which comes from having a good system and not too many priorities.”Susan models an amazing attitude and true resilience. She adds “Pressing reset, allowing learning (not failure) to happen and trying again is my lifelong commitment.” Let that sink in! “Pressing reset, allowing learning (not failure) to happen and trying again, is my lifelong commitment”! Me too! She also reminded me that I'm not alone and took the time to offer me encouragement, so…
14:07 I appreciate you always, Susan and the rest of you, too! Thank you so much for showing up and for contributing to this last-minute show. I want you to notice that all of the suggestions offered fit into a couple of high-level categories and I would say those categories are Acknowledgement, Action and Learning.
14:28 So, Acknowledgement! Quite a few of my friends suggested some version of self empathy, self-connection or self-care, whether that was in the form of honoring the frustrating feelings, asking for support, doing a meditation or some other centering activity, or just simply having a moment and indulging oneself in pleasure like chocolate or a little Pity Party. It's my belief that if you take the time to honor difficulty when you face it, that you'll probably realize pretty quickly that “this too shall pass”.
15:03 Action. The next theme I'm pretty sure you'll have noticed was the advice to take action. The point I heard repeatedly was that any action, a small step, maybe even not the perfect action is better than none and sooner is better than later. Like getting back on that metaphorical horse. Taking immediate and positive action will result in increased confidence in your own resilience
and confidence in your ability to overcome the challenge you're facing and to just generally give you the sense that you got it. I'm big on community and so I really love the idea that your first
action might be to reach out and ask for support or encouragement or help. There's never a better time than when you're faced with a challenge to find your heroes, your mentors, champions and supporters, and often connecting with them is the silver lining. You get to remember that you're not alone and sure you can pay it forward the next time around.
16:13 The third and final overarching theme is Learning and having a growth mindset. [Postscript: I think I should have called this one Attitude and it would have been an alliteration!] Simply asking, “What can I learn from this situation? What is the lesson in this?” You can ask, “Why did it happen?” and resolve to do differently in the future, and then also get curious about the good that is coming from the situation because sometimes — maybe even always with the right attitude– a bad situation can actually turn into the best thing that ever happened. For some reason, that just simply
needs to be uncovered.
16:49 So this episode is turning out to be an example of that. In the end, it was really fun to put together. I ended up with an unintended and unplanned collaboration with friends, which
absolutely thrills me. So, thank you again to all of you who contributed to the ideas that I put together in this session at the last moment to make sure that I got to publish something.
17:17 So it turns out you just never know how things will unfold and sometimes surrendering to reality offers lessons and learning. Sometimes it's even better than you expected or could have
planned for as Harriet Beecher Stowe, who is an American abolutionist and the author of “Uncle Tom's Cabin” said, “Never give up for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn”.
17:43 So that's it for today. We're keeping it brief and since I have a little bit of extra time, I'll a bit more housekeeping than usual. First of all, I hope you were able to do some of the visioning and
goal setting from the past two episodes. Since I published last week's Part 2, I heard about another super cool tool that I'm planning on integrating into my system. And that is the “100 Goals for the Year” spreadsheet from Brittany Hoopes. You can hear all about it on her show Soultiply, Episode #3, which is on Gamifying Goal Setting. I will definitely link to it in the show notes.
18:27 And in more sister-podcaster news, I want to give a shout out to Meg Brunson for launching her show, “FamilyPreneur”. I was so thrilled to be a guest on her Episode #3, which went live yesterday, Wednesday, January 10th. We talked about growing up in an entrepreneurial family and some of the things I learned about marketing from my many years as a film and television actor. I will put a link to Meg's show in the notes.
18:58 Next week, we will definitely, actually be returning to featuring amazing superhero guests, so stay tuned for that conversation with Tiago Forte…and also my upcoming and truly fascinating
conversation with Melissa Monte of the “Mind Love” Podcast…has that woman got some stories to tell! Also up soon is a conversation with my young friend Sophia Fitzmedrud who is a published author at age 14, and who along with her friends at Heirs to the Oceans, is an amazing example of working towards a better world. In this case, these kids are taking the Ocean crisis into their own hands through education and advocacy.
19:45 So in wrapping up here, I just want to take a moment to say that my big, huge goal and my dream in launching this podcast is to reach those people who want to level up and who want to go
big, who are committed to being their brightest selves and who want to be a part of a community and a tribe of others, in solidarity, support and inspiration. And I am so incredibly committed to finding ways to show up for you so that together we can inspire and empower each other and others. So I would be so incredibly grateful if you'd be willing to help me make this show something that truly serves you! Please, please, please send me feedback! Give me ideas for shows or topics you'd love to hear us explore. You can email me at hey@lisa.com. You can also go on Facebook and like the Super Power U Podcast page and comment there. Find me on twitter where I'm @lisabl and
please, if you haven't already, subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Podcast Addict, or whatever your favorite podcast platform. A review on iTunes is the best in terms of helping us
reach more listeners, but if you're not an iTunes person, that's no problem. A review anywhere is appreciated.
19:45 So I'm going to wrap it up there for today. Please do come on back next week. Until then, shine bright and know that I appreciate you. Bye for now, my lovelies.
VO: 19:45 Thank you for listening to the Super Power U Podcast. Please subscribe to the show on iTunes and get more information at LisaBL.com.