Managers really only have as much authority as their employees allow them. If a manager or organization steps outside an employees zone of indifference then the employee makes a choice either to adjust the zone…or resist.

Those employees who are the most valuable have many choices. In making changes that violate employees zones of indifference organizations set off a potentially damaging dynamic. That is, the employees with the fewest choices may adjust their zone of indifference and stay. The employees that the organization most wish want to keep may decide to just leave. (Of course, even those who stay may resist in other ways.)

An advantage for people who do something different by enhancing their skills, expanding their networks, and telling compelling stories about themselves and their work, are not stuck when such rulings come down from above in their organizations.

Do Something…Different!

I am NOT a believer in quitting your job & following your passion…not that i am not passionate about what I do, but I don’t necessarily depend on that passion for my livelihood.

Passion, real passion, comes from expertise…skill…mastery. I have a passion for theater, and if you have that passion as well, my advice is to pursue amateur theater in your community. I do NOT advise you to quit your job and move to New York or Hollywood. If you build enough expertise…good things will come into view.

You don’t reach your goal by dipping your pan in the creek once.

You must do it over and over and over again.

Sometimes you find nothing in the pan.

Sometimes you find more.

Sometimes just the tiniest speck…but that tiny speck shows you that there IS gold where you are panning.

If you look closely enough, there is a tiny, tiny speck of gold on that index finger.

Keep panning.

A few words about luck

Some people believe they are lucky. Their luck may be good or bad. “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.”

Some people don’t believe in luck.

But one has to acknowledge the role of chance or, at least, randomness in our lives.

The problem, the opportunity, is: How do we increase that we will be favored by randomness, chance…or luck?

I think it is by trying a lot of small experiments and seeing where they lead.

For example, one of my favorite experts on public speaking, Darren LaCroix, held a contest. He would give a presentation in whatever city created a facebook page and get more people to like it than any other city.

I started a page for the city I was in at that time, Fort Worth, Texas. I was new in the area (a problem) and thought it would be a great opportunity to get to know people in Fort Worth.

We did not do well. We had 40 likes. The winner 373. We finished 6th. Oh well. Bad luck.

The winning city was Austin, Texas. The date Darren offered was January 24. As luck would have it, Darren already had a workshop scheduled in Dallas, Texas on January 28.

Darren decided it would be wise to fill those empty dates with free presentations that would give him a chance to sell his educational tools. He usually does that through local Toastmasters districts. He contacted the toastmasters district leader and, because of my efforts in Darren’s contest, she asked me to organize the event.

Which, of course, was exactly what I had volunteered to do when I entered into Darren’s contest.

Chance played its role. Any other city might have won. Both Cleveland and Seattle got a lot of likes. Had either of those cities won it is unlikely that Darren would have filled an open date in Fort Worth, Texas.

So was I lucky?

Yes, but I contributed to my luck by volunteering to do something. I wouldn’t have been asked to organize the event had I not started the facebook page for the contest that I lost.

Did I fail? Did I succeed? Was I lucky?

You decide. All I know is that I learned a lot and had a wonderful experience.

Who know where else it may lead? I don’t.

But I’m willing to keep my eyes and my mind open to possibilities.

Do something…different!

What can you DO?

“To combat your mind-set, adopt the five-second rule. Move from idea to execution in five seconds. Pretend that if you don’t, the idea will start to melt. The longer you wait, the more likely you’ll have only a puddle left to work with. If you think that’s not enough time, guess again. Five seconds is a lifetime for your brain and plenty of time for your thoughts and feelings to step in and kill the idea,”

List out activities you want to try, pick one, and do something about it.

Exercise 1. List 20 activities you’d like to do.

Exercise 2. Pick one!

Exercise 3. Do something about it…now!

What something? Well what can you do RIGHT NOW!

Then what, then what, then what?

Do Something Different!

Sean Forbes is a singer. He is also deaf. Watch this:

Do Something Different!

Star audio

first-apple-computer

The REAL X factor is aka the will to succeed and was the title of a book by George Plimpton. Plimpton said that people who succeed actually fail MORE than those who don’t.

The difference?

They learn from their failures.

Anything worth doing is worth doing…badly.

As long as you learn from it and correct it.

Each failure is a necessary first step in your journey to do something different and do it well.

Doing something badly is an opportunity to succeed.

Do something different. Do something badly. Fail. Learn. Succeed.

Oh, she wound up publishing her diary as The Broke Diaries and even appeared on Oprah. She then wrote the book Mixed: My Life in Black and White about being of mixed race.

She creatively made something out of the circumstances of her life. Her circumstances were the same as thousands of other young, broke college students. But Angela responded creatively. She went on to be executive producer of the TV show Scrubs.

What have YOU done. Have you been broke? Graduated college?

You see, you don’t need to have done anything tremendously unusual. You just need a viewpoint.

Do SOMETHING…do it now.

Do something different!

That’s your job.

Cute little fella, huh?

But you have more to offer than is used in your job. Way more.

That blue circle represents your skills, knowledge and assets. And that circle is growing. That’s way bigger than your job!

The green circle is your organization’s wants and needs. You could do lots more for your organization, if only you could get the chance.

But your organization isn’t the only entity that can use your talents. That purple circle represents what the world will pay for. That circle is always changing.

Finally, the red circle is what the world wants and needs regardless if it is ready to pay. This is the world of volunteering. Guess what, it pays rewards that money can’t buy. In any case, volunteering can lead, directly or indirectly, to getting paid.

You are way bigger than your job. Entrepreneur yourself!

Do something different!