Greg's Right FIT #367

Quick notes to help you grow your business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week. 

In this issue: 

- Thoughts on Momentum
- Being Human
- Random Stuff

Thoughts on Momentum

• The Eskimo have 50 words for the snow that surrounds them. Sales teams should do the same for management's attempts at motivation. There's more than carrot and stick.
• Researches say we attribute internal motivations to others that we'd rarely assign to loved ones or ourselves. We assume the worst. Next week, catch your thoughts and act as if someone is trying their best and see what happens.
• The trappings of power are real. It's intoxicating and with it comes devoted acolytes creating an echo chamber. It helps to keep one naysayer close, but it doesn't solve everything. 
• Creating content is easy compared to editing it. Wading through my latest book effort for the umpteenth time I keep getting stuck on this video. Even without context it's a joy.  Guy Starts Dance Party (stick with it at least 2 minutes)

Being Human - Sleeping on it

“It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.” ― John Steinbeck, Sweet Thursday

"You should sleep on it." I don't remember the first time I heard this advice and I can't recall where I heard the instructions for sleeping it either. The instructions, as I've practiced, are pretty simple as instructions go.

• Before going to bed, write down a list of the things you want to get done the next day because it clears your brain.
• After your head hits the pillow, take 3 cleansing breaths (inhale for a 7 count, hold for a 7 count, exhale for a 7 count) to reset your body.
• Phrase the problem you're working on in "How" or "What" terms. Like "How will I. . .?" or "What do I need to do. . .?"
• Sleep.
• Wake up, do your morning routine, and new/novel solutions appear. 

In an unscientific survey of my memory, it works. 

(Wilson is sleeping on it right now. He's next to me cooking up some sinister plot for bunny domination up by the looks of it) 

Random Stuff

"Vigorous writing is concise." Strunk & White, The Elements of Style

"And what if it's not vigorous?" – Greg

It's crunch time for my book. The manuscript is due February 1 and that means I read and re-read passages to myself until it sounds right. Once it's handed over it will take the proof-readers about a week to send back a thousand grammar and punctuation suggestions. It will be another week or two for the editor to say something like, "why is this chapter in here?"

It's painful, but I'm sure it's worse for real writers. 

Someone asked how much money my books make. It's not a lot. Instead of editing this morning, I did some calculating. To keep my standard of living, based on my last royalty checks, I need to write approximately 1,000 more books. (and cut my expenses) It's not a great plan, but it's a plan.

Last week I drove to Colorado. To pass the time I started listening to an audiobook. I say "started" because the reading time is 19 hours and 26 minutes. That's roughly 165,000 words. Holy cats. That must have taken him 10 years to write!  

For comparison, my latest screed will clock in at less than a quarter of that.

At least mine has drawings. 

A quick check of Amazon shows he has a new book. Same length. 3 years between books. He's no James Patterson, but in my eyes the man is a machine. 

Yes, I am procrastinating. 

"don't you understand? the human race IS an endless number of monkeys. and every day we produce an endless number of words. and one of us already wrote hamlet." – @LlamaInATux