Travis Hellstrom's Blog, page 10
May 18, 2014
10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Graduated College
It’s graduation season and hard to believe that I graduated college seven years ago this month.
Inspired by this article shared by close friend Michael, I thought it would be fun to share with you 10 things I wish I knew when I graduated college:
1. Stay around inspiring people
I’ve heard there are two kinds of people: those who inspire you and those who drain you. I’ve found that to be true in my life. It’s important to stay around people who inspire you and not waste your time with people who manipulate you or drain you or that you find out you can’t trust.
2. Work with good people
Sometimes it’s tempting to work because of money, power, fame, or job security and work with people who we might not want to associate with otherwise. Don’t do it. Do work you’re proud of with good people.
3. Be a giver and avoid the takers
We all know givers and takers in our lives, don’t be a taker. Be generous and sincerely help others. It always works out for the best. It helps you find the other givers really quickly too – people who gladly give to others when they feel how great it is to be around someone generous like you. It also helps you find the takers who would use you up as much as they could. Avoid avoid the takers.
4. See the world
If you’re inspired to study abroad or do something crazy awesome like join the Peace Corps, I say go and do it. It may be 30 years from now before you have a chance to do something like that again. I know plenty of people who regret not going or serving abroad, but I can’t think of anyone who regretted going out and doing it.
5. Enjoy discomfort
Most people spend their whole lives trying to be comfortable. They buy new stuff constantly, they stress out when things aren’t just perfect, and everything seems like an emergency and an imposition. The world is constantly changing and it’s out to get them. Learn to enjoy discomfort and realize that it’s just part of growing and changing constantly. Then you will not only grow and become a better person, you also inspire others to dream to become better too.
6. Don’t be a victim
Whether you think you’re a victim or not, the world is not out to get you. Whether you think you are or not, you are responsible for your life. You control your thoughts, your habits, and your life. If you don’t like the way the movie of your life is going, write a new script.
7. Help others succeed
We all have the chance to help others succeed. Write encouraging emails first thing in the morning. Thank people regularly and send them things that you think will be helpful to them. Write recommendations for people you love working with. Ask people you admire how you can help them. Judge your success as a leader by how many people you helped advance personally and professionally in the last year.
8. Build your personal brand
The job market is changing rapidly and will continue to change. One thing that won’t change is how important it is to have a good reputation, people who trust you and a personal brand that’s authentically you. Start your own website (it’s easier than ever), share your experiences and thoughts on a blog, or create something awesome and put it out into the world (which brings me to #9).
9. Create something of value
Write a book and give it away for free. Create an online course by recording yourself doing something you’re talented at. Send out an email to your close friends and colleagues and ask them what they think you’re great at doing. Teach that. I’ve written three books, taught two courses, helped launch two companies, and organized an online conference in the past five years. I’m not special, the technology available just makes this easier than ever before.
10. Be the kind of friend you wish you had
Constantly ask yourself how you can be a better friend. What do you wish someone would do for you? Do that for someone else. Eventually you will surround yourself with people who treat you as good as you treat others.
There’s a lot more I’d like to say, but luckily I have plenty of space to share it in.
Until then, no mattter when you graduated or will graduate, good luck and I hope you have fun every day from here on out!
May 12, 2014
How Meditation Changed My Peace Corps Experience
The word meditation conjures up a lot of different thoughts in people’s minds, but for individuals who have attended a meditation retreat they will probably say it was incredible.
It can share invaluable lessons about perception, sensation, the space between you and your mind, patience, pain and pleasure (and the destructive power of them both), and most of all, your weaknesses and your strengths. Going on a retreat was one of the most incredible experiences of my life and it was a great way to prepare me for my Peace Corps service.
Retreats can inspire you to think about your life in a new way, and put you in a great receptive state, so you are better ready to take in the unique and incredible world of a Volunteer. If you have the time before leaving for Peace Corps, consider signing up for a free Vipassanna meditation retreat, which you can learn more about here.
Learning how to slow down is a huge advantage in the Peace Corps. College and jobs in America can be very fast-paced and it will be hard to slow down at first, but spending some time not doing anything at all can be quite helpful. Something like a retreat could be one of the best things you have ever done and prepare you for the Peace Corps in ways you could never imagine.
May 8, 2014
What To Do When You Have Too Much To Do
“Time management” is really a misnomer—the challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves. Satisfaction is a function of expectation as well as realization. And expectation (and satisfaction) lie in our Circle of Influence. Rather than focusing on things and time…focus on preserving and enhancing relationships and on accomplishing results—in short, on maintaining the P/PC Balance.
The only place to get time for Quadrant II in the beginning is from Quadrants III and IV. You can’t ignore the urgent and important activities of Quadrant I, although it will shrink in size as you spend more time with prevention and preparation in Quadrant II. But the initial time for Quadrant II has to come out of III and IV. You have to be proactive to work on Quadrant II because Quadrants I and III work on you. To say “yes” to important Quadrant II priorities, you have to learn to say “no” to other activities, sometimes apparently urgent things. You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically—to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside. Only when you have the self-awareness to examine your program—and the imagination and conscience to create a new, unique, principle-centered program to which you can say “yes”—only then will you have sufficient independent will power to say “no,” with a genuine smile, to the unimportant.
We accomplish all that we do through delegation—either to time or to other people. If we delegate to time, we think efficiency. If we delegate to other people, we think effectiveness. Many people refuse to delegate to other people because they feel it takes too much time and effort and they could do the job better themselves. But effectively delegating to others is perhaps the single most powerful high-leverage activity there is. Transferring responsibility to other skilled and trained people enables you to give your energies to other high-leverage activities. Delegation means growth, both for individuals and for organizations.
May 2, 2014
May 1, 2014
April 28, 2014
Inspiration to Write and Finish
I loved an article from Nathan Barry this week,
A lot of people get to where you are now. A half finished book, an iPhone app with just a few customers, or the perfect idea that just needs circumstances to fall into place before they can build it. These people, like you, are on the brink of something great. Truly changing their own lives and careers through what they can create…
Back in high school I had friends who always had big ideas, which they talked about loudly and frequently, but nothing ever happened. Years later I’d run into them and they’d still be talking about the epic trip they are going to go on or the company they are going to start. But after years, nothing has happened. That’s not you.
As my friend Jeff Goins says, ”You can outlast those who are lucky and out-work those who are lazy.” That’s how you win.
Nathan is definitely speaking right to me. That is where I am with so many projects.
It’s easy to get half-finished, or even 99% finished, and not push all the way.
Interestingly Leo wrote a similar article on Zen Habits this week, speaking right to me too in How I Tackle a Big Writing Project.
It’s a wonderful piece and talks through, with quite a bit of humility, how Leo was able to complete an eBook in just two days. It seems amazing but really it’s not.
In my experience the actual time I spend writing is minimal usually. I think about something for 10 hours for every hour of writing I actually get done. In his case he just skipped all that middle work, which I talked about earlier this week in The Tale of The Two Writers, and just did the 10 solid hours he needed to write the book.
I love it.
I’m inspired by both Nathan and Leo and I’m eager to reconnect with my inner writer more in the coming days.
Whatever it is that you are wanting to do deep done, I hope you can reconnect with that too.
April 25, 2014
The Tale of Two Writers
Two writers sit down to write.
One writes for five hours.
One writes for one hour.
Who do you think got more quality writing done?
The second writer did.
It’s a trick question.
The first writer scribbled everything down on a napkin first. Then he copied it into his favorite moleskin journal. Then rode it very clearly with great grammar on a legal pad. He then typed it into a typewriter and reviewed it as a manuscript. Finally the editor took the manuscript and published it in a book. That’s how long chapter 1 took. After five grueling hours all the writer wanted to do was rest.
The second writer finished several chapters in one hour. She skipped the napkin, moleskin journal, legal pad and typewriter. In fact she skipped the editor and publishing company too. She knew she wanted her final product to be an ebook for the world to see and worked on that from the beginning. She spent her extra time meditating, relaxing outside, hiking around a mountain, and boosting her creativity so that she could sit down and write so more. After her five hours all this writer wanted to do was write some more.
Be the second writer.
Write smarter, not harder.
We want to see what you’ve written.
April 22, 2014
Five Friends
I remember driving from King’s Dominion with 4 of my good friends in college.
It was a highlight of that year and one of the best theme parks I’d ever been to, lush and covered in beautiful trees.
We were tired and it was almost 2 in the morning. We were switching the driving between the people who claimed to be the least tired. I’m sure we were all equally exhausted.
We talked to keep the driver awake. Someone said, “So… Who’s going to get married first?”
We all laughed and started accusing each other of being first. Some of us were in relationships, and others weren’t. It was a fun moment and I remember thinking it would be one of the last times many of us would be together. Some of us were graduating soon, others would in a year or two after that.
I don’t remember who called it or won the bet. We all bet we got it right.
Either way, it fell out this way:
One of us went into graduate school, then teaching, and is dating a very nice girl today.
One of us went into medical school a year later, started dating a fellow student and got married within a year. Now, six years later, they have three kids.
Another of us went into graduate school, then teaching, then graduate school again, then Peace Corps, and is dating a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer.
One of us finished undergrad that next year, did an extra year to finish his masters and then got married to his sweetheart from college. They have a little girl.
One of us finished school, went into Peace Corps, met a very nice girl, got married two years later, went to grad school and is sitting here in Vermont writing this story.
If I could go back to that night, I’d not only win the bet but I would also remind myself that I was right. This was a special moment.
We get older and it’s harder and harder to stay in touch. We all get busy and the future unfolds in surprising ways.
I hope I can always stay awake to those moments and enjoy them.
April 20, 2014
How To Get Rid of Ads Forever
I’m not a big fan of ads. So I got rid of them.
I very rarely see ads on my computer.
Here are my email and Facebook screens, for example.
How To Remove All Ads
In my case, it was a three-step process:
Download Chrome – I really enjoy Chrome. I’ve used Firefox and Safari, but I think Chrome is fastest and easiest.
Download Minimalist - Allows you to customize your viewing of any application, like Gmail, line by line.
Download AdBlock - Blocks every ad all the time.
That’s it.
Enjoy never seeing ads ever again.
April 15, 2014
Three Tips to Get Your Dream Started
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness concerning all acts of initiative and creation. There is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans; that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen events, meetings and material assistance which no one could have dreamed would have come their way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: ‘Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!’” – W.H. Murray
Tal Ben-Shahar shares this quote in his book Happier, which I love.
The quote is a wonderful reminder to anyone who is dreaming of beginning something.
Tal also shares this passage in his book,
“In 1879 Thomas Edison announced that he would publicly display the electric lightbulb by December 31, even though all his experiments had, to that point, failed. He threw his knapsack over the brick wall—the numerous challenges that he still faced—and on the last day of that year, there was light. In 1962, when John F. Kennedy declared to the world that the United States was going to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade, some of the metals necessary for the journey had not yet been invented, and the technology required for completing the journey was not available. But he threw his—and NASA’s—knapsack over the brick wall. Though making a verbal commitment, no matter how bold and how inspiring, does not ensure that we reach our destination, it does enhance the likelihood of success.”
I love that image, of throwing a knapsack over the wall. Tossing your backpack over the fence. There’s no going back now.
It’s a wonderful mental image for me. I know there are things I need to do in my life, but sometimes I walk up and down the fence. I talk about the fence. I sit down beside it and debate going over.
The boldness that Goethe talks about and the genius, power and magic that follows it. That’s what I need. That’s what I will do.
It’s time to jump the fence.
Three Ways to Begin
Here are three things that I know work for me:
Meditate. When I sit down and meditate, even for two minutes, it makes a difference. It helps me focus and remind myself of what’s important. It’s been years since I’ve meditated for hours a day, but length of time doesn’t matter as much as consistency does. No excuses. I can meditate anywhere, anytime.
Turn Off the Internet. I am most creative and productive when I don’t check email or even open up the internet browser. I make it a rule that I can’t open email or social media until I do my most important creative act of the day (writing, recording, reading, researching, whatever). Decide what you need to do to have a great day and do that before you do any other stuff.
Practice Gratitude. Write an email thanking someone. I know I just said don’t use email, this is right after you finish your creative act. Or write it in a document and send it later. Write a real thank you note. Call someone to tell them how important they are to you. Write 5 things you are grateful for every night. The people I know who do this are seriously way happier than people I know who don’t.
Whatever it is you are thinking of beginning, please do.
