[Gary] Peeples Helping People, LLC

I love it when they call me Big PARPA

In a 3 minute video found on the Harvard Business Review website, Tony Tjan sums up the process of creating a flexible business plan. It's succinct and spot-on, in my opinion. 

Assuming you either:

(1) write business plans for a living;

(2) have to sell for a living;

(3) have to pitch ideas to internal business leaders for a living;

(4) plan anything, at all - ever; or

(5)  have any goals in life, period;

I think this is good advice. Just swap the business-y words for your personal goal-setting words and it should still work for you. 

Below are the key points [which I qualified with a word that I've chosen to represent each step]. If you have the 3 minutes, though, it's a good video and he explains what these points mean.

How to build a flexible business plan

1. Start from the heart. [Passion]

2. Think big, but start small. [Actionable]

3. Have a basic framework. [Realistic]

4. Know the trade-offs. [Prioritize]

5. Keep it iterative. [Adapt]

So, P.A.R.P.A. — I suppose — is another way to sum it up.

Which is good because I happen to love it when they call me Big PARPA.

Again, that video can be found here: Tony Tjan's video on hbr.org

What do you think? Thoughts, advice, experience writing plans? Please share.

Shirtless in the Arctic Circle

This was last week when my buddy Ryan and I were in Iceland.

After driving around the country — making our way North — we took a 3-hour cargo ship from Siglufjordur to Grimsey Island.

The Northeast tip of Grimsey is the only part of Europe that barely makes it within the Arctic Circle [the 66th degree, or whatever]. It was cold.

Naturally, we took our shirts off.

The other day I wrote about doing the unexpected to create a memory. I realized, you may not know where to start sometimes.

It's not that hard to do; here's a suggestion:

Try starting with the opposite of what you would normally do and brainstorm your way back to "normal". Somewhere along the line you'll find something that might work.

I mean, sometimes you just have to go shirtless in the Arctic.

Be more successful right now - with this one word

First, here's a list [and videos if you have time] of successful people:

1. Steve Jobs

2. Bill Gates

3. Frank Lloyd Wright

4. Buckminster Fuller

5. James Cameron

6. Mark Zuckerberg

7. Tom Hanks

8. Harrison Ford

9. Lady Gaga

10. Tiger Woods

All completely different personalities, careers, and specialties; but with one common thread: They each have an unmatched PASSION for accomplishing their goals.

Someone once told me:

I never went wrong when I hired the person who wanted it the most.

Want to be more successful? Be more PASSIONATE.

PS. No one on that list graduated College.

How to be more memorable

I just got back from a trip and it reminded me of an interesting concept:

The unexpected is the most memorable. 

Think about it. 

Take any recent vacation; you probably remember the unplanned parts [the detour you took or the scary road conditions] before you remember the hike you took or the beach you sat on.

Or any recent party you hosted or went to; you likely remember the things that went wrong [the burned main course or the spilled wine] before you remember a conversation or a joke.

The unplanned, the interruption, the unexpected — it burns in your brain. You didn't see it coming and it stands out. 

If you want to be more memorable, seek to provide the unexpected.

Maybe a cluttered desk isn't so bad

 

How do you get 17,429 people to like your status on facebook?

Become one of the most well-known rappers of all time and post the word "What?"

 

Be more like Kurt Vonnegut - 8 ways to be more interesting

In the book Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction, Vonnegut made a list of eight rules for creating a short story.

I would like to repurpose them as:

A list of ways to be more interesting

1. Use the time of a listener in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the listener at least one idea or fact he or she can connect with and root for.

3. Every idea should be supported by the desire to achieve something.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things: reveal character -- in you or the topic -- or advance an action you want the listener to take.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading topic, discuss the awful things that have, will, or could happen - in order that the listener may see what you, or the topic, are made of.

7. Talk to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your listeners as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Listeners should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves.

 

What is the future of social media?

Okay, so this is tough to predict, but here's how I think about it.

Most everything we see come out, year after year -- at events like SXSW -- is some form of a convergence of ideas already created. And designed to increase speed -- make something more 'now' then it was before.

GroupMe is texting meets thread chatting, but in real time. 

Quora is Q&A meets opportunities for connections between industry, thought, and business leaders. In real time.

Klout is quantitative measuring meets abstract social influence. In real time [and is constantly calculating]. And is totally awesome. Just sayin.

These examples aren't perfect, and you may have a different opinion on the definitions of them, but it's probably safe to assume we all agree they are converging ideas for faster results.

And ultimately, life is an endless circle of earn-purchase-enjoy; so all of this is designed for us to do more of those three things.

So that said, I imagine the future of social media will be rooted in leveraging the convergence of current ideas -- or parts of ideas -- so that we continue to get info, money, and personal enjoyment faster. 

Maybe that means eventually connecting our financials with the networks within which our money exchanges hands for speed of earning, spending, and shifting.

Or maybe combining video chatting with a site like Quora, creating face-to-face Q&A with business leaders for speed of networking, relationship building, creating legacy.

Or maybe the barrier between celeb and average joe will be further eliminated [twitter has chipped away at that] by some celeb-avgjoe-Quora site where people engage directly with celebs.

Which could provide opportunities for people to be even more influenced directly by those they idolize or follow. And feel more directly connected and a part of their lives. 

I should patent that.

So, again, I can't claim to know the answer, but I can suggest a way of thinking about it:

The future of social media is a converging of ideas to get everyone closer to what they are trying to get out of social media. And faster.

The difference between being good and being irreplaceable

My man -- Seth Godin -- nails it in very few words.

The underlying difference between where you are today with your job [or careeer] and where you want to be, might just be in how you are looking at it.

No one has to give you permission to think and react. Just do it. Create your legacy.

Now for a straight-up Seth Re-blog. Sometimes you just gotta, KNOWWHATIMSAYIN?

Are you doing a good job? -- Seth Godin

One way to approach your work: "I come in on time, even a little early. I do what the boss asks, a bit faster than she expects. I stay on time and on budget, and I'm hardworking and loyal."

The other way: "What aren't they asking me to do that I can do, learn from, make an impact, and possibly fail (yet survive)? What's not on my agenda that I can fight to put there? Who can I frighten, what can I learn, how can I go faster, what sort of legacy am I creating?"

You might very well be doing a good job. But that doesn't mean you're a linchpin, the one we'll miss. For that, you have to stop thinking about the job and start thinking about your platform, your point of view and your mission.

It's entirely possible you work somewhere that gives you no option but to merely do a job. If that's actually true, I wonder why someone with your potential would stay...

In the post-industrial revolution, the very nature of a job is outmoded. Doing a good job is no guarantee of security, advancement or delight.

Original post: Are you doing a good job? [via Seth Godin] 

How social media plays a major role for marketing [via @jeffbullas]

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International School Of Management How Social Media Plays A Major Role For Marketing And Publicity Of Large Events

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