I guess one cant really start a post with an aside (given that there is no content to aside from), but as I sit here in DC at the Open City cafe, I am struck with the striking differences between living in the “big city,” and living in a place like Boulder. Aside from the obvious, there is one thing that strikes me as eerily the same. The energy.

Last night someone, who is pretty important to me (meaning I had a real desire to help), explained to me feelings of being overwhelmed. Of wanted to do some much more than she is doing right now and not knowing how to do it. When she asked me for The Answer, I said “Slow down.”

Her reaction? “Be serious!”

I am serious.

Before I started Current Wisdom and during the growth and sale of the company, I moved at lightspeed. I had to be better, faster, shit, just MORE than everyone else. What was important to me wasnt doing great work, it was being perceived as great. What was important to me wasnt creating something sustainable and scalable, it was being perceived as the best.

And what that quest culminated in was a distinct feeling of fradulence and an inability to focus on the things that were really important to me.

“But, Micah,” she said, “thats you. You have that kind of drive. You are ultra-competitive. You just want to win. In order to handle everything, didnt you just work all the time?”

I explained that yes I work a lot (because I love what I do), but at the end of the day, its about three things: energy, priorities and slowing down.

It took me 36 years to learn this with a few derailments along the way. I dont know if this will work for all, but it seems to be working for me.

Let me explain.

Energy:

To do great work, or to do many projects simultaniously, one must expend a great deal of energy. Sometimes, I get the best work done when its just me and thoughts focused at the computer in my home office. The world gets shut out and my focus is singular.

Other times, its like today. I sit in a noisy coffee shop, with the rising crescendo of noise becoming a white noise that continues to buzz in the back of my head as I begin the same hyper-focused behavior (this seems to be how I like to write posts).

But more importantly, I have gotten to a point where I recognize when my energy begins to wane. I dont try and “power through,” because that leads to poor output, instead I change what I am working on until I find the project that gets my energy to kick back up.

So, can I do more work in a city like DC? No, because my energy comes from a mix of internal factors and the people I am around. People in DC are much like people in Boulder, they just move faster. (I think that East Coast folks move faster because they have been taught that “its the way.” I think if you sat down a cross-section of folks from DC, NYC, Philly, Boston, etc and asked them why they walked so fast, they would not have a good answer. And asked if they ever slowed down, they would be appalled, without knowing why.)

Priorities:

The simpliest concept is often the most difficult. In most jobs, the assumption is that priorities are set by supervisors and our job is to complete the priorities laid before us.

The same with life. We have a list of “to-dos” which we assume all have a similar priority (even GTD and Covey use some variation on this theme, which is really a misnomer and forces people to split hairs).

I select 4 daily priorities: Personal, Professional, Psychological and Physical. Thats it. Sometimes, I will get adventorous and select 2 priorities from each quadrant. The goal is that if I complete those stated priorities, then I had a good day. If a priority is not completed, I move it to the next day. If it sits in a quadrant for 3 days, I dump it. Clearly, its not a priority.

Priorities come and go. They shift and change. The most important thing to remember about priorities is that they are personal. Your priorities are not always my priorities. I probably dont care about your priorities unless they affect my priorities.

Whats the punch line? Minimalize your priorities to what can be accomplished today to help you accomplish tomorrow’s priorities.

Slowing Down:

“I have to run at a 100mph, Micah, otherwise I will get nothing done.”

“The only thing you will accomplish is burning yourself out.”

There is a reason the turtle beat the hare. The turtle walked at the fastest speed it could obtain and still move forward constantly. (Read that again.)

More people need to do the same. Most people tend to try and achieve terminal velocity (the top speed an object falling obtains - resulting most often in certain death for a living creature) rather than constant velocity (a speed that can be achieved and sustained for long periods of time - not resulting in a conclusion of death).

(I took physics in high school. My only real knowledge of terminal velocity came from the Stallone movie. Please take that into account.)

There are two times that every day I physically stop. Lunch (I always take a lunch away from the office. My rule - no discussion about work); and when I get home and sit in my backyard and watch the dogs run around.

Those two moments, probably never more than 2 hours total per day, allow me to put in 12-18 hours per day (if necessary) comfortably.

Those two moments allow me to reset my brain, release any built up tension, refocus on priorities, replace my energy stores, and smile (which is probably equally important).

It took me 36 years to understand one simple equation: Life Trumps Work Always. (stop shaking your head. There are no exceptions, corollaries, interpretations, grey areas or what not in that equation. None.)

My first boss gave me some great advice that I truly didnt understand for years.

“Micah,” Larry said (because that was his name) “Do you live to work, or work to live?”

Now, when I start to get overwhelmed, when it seems that I will not be able to “do it, baby, just one more time” (yes, I quote Britney Spears, what of it?) I remind myself of that equation.

I work to live. And, generally, I have a pretty nice life.

Oh, and one more Super Secret….

Trust in yourself.

There is no one that can do everything you do better than you.

Dont believe me? Ask someone to do what you do exactly on a daily basis for a week. I bet you that you win.

Hands down.

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There are no hard and fast rules for startup success. There I said it.

Over the past week, I have been spending more and more time at the Techstars “Bunker.” A garden level office space in a hidden spot in Boulder where ten teams of startup hopefuls have gathered to learn from startup veterans.

I have met with 3-4 of the teams in different capacities. Sometimes its a formal meeting, sometimes it was a quick connect in a hallway.

When I go to Techstars, I sit and I listen. I hear conversations that I have now heard dozens of times in different formats and in different places.

When I go to Techstars, I sit and observe. I see who is working with movement, and who is working to keep busy. Its always easy to pick out the real from the fake, the wheat from the chaff, the cream from the milk.

I have read some great accounts by previous teams. Their insights are key to understanding their potential. Their thoughts reveal their focus.

I have watched teams continue to grow past Techstars. I have listened to the roar of accomplishment by some, the pomp without the circumstance by others. I have seen the teams that have been so laser focused on succeeding, regardless of the challenge, that they appear to disappear from the public eye.

I have seen the teams where personal ego has destroyed collective success. Where talking about what they would like to be seems to never match what they are. The teams that spend time most of their time waving their hands and imploring you to not look at the Man Behind the Curtain until the time is right, and once the Man Behind the Curtain is revealed, the world realized not only is he just a man, but he is a man that we have all seen a hundred times before.

I have been asked if Techstars is different than the natural process of other startups. Does the cauldron that all Techstars teams are thrown in, accelerate the success or failure of the startup?

The short answer is no; all startups have a natural life. Some live forever and some are killed in their cribs.

I have been asked, what makes for startup success? Startup success revolves around the process not the product, and for true startup success, there are three simple rules:

1) Listen and absorb.

Spend time each day asking someone a question you would like the answer to. Dont always ask the same person. But do ask the same question to multiple people.

Absorb their answers. Dont run off and do them. You are not asking to be dictated to, you are asking for an opinion. An educated guess. A knowledgeable response. Absorb and classify answers as such.

2) Make Decisions. Live With the Consequences.

Dont take forever to make a decision, but dont make it too fast. Be knowledgeable. Be decisive. The difficulty is not making a decision, its living with the consequences. The first decision we all make, each day, is “should I get out of bed?” The real question is “Can I live with the consequences today will bring?”

Revel in the consequences. It is there that success and failure live, not in the decisions we make.

3) Move Through Failure.

Failure is a process. Every day, fail. Fail again. Learn. Then fail again. That process will lead you towards success more quickly than anything else. Mistakes are never bad. Repeating mistakes is the worst thing you could ever do.

As an added bonus, here is the best question you could ever ask a mentor or someone you are hoping to learn from: “What do you suck at?”

Take a moment to enjoy the process, the cadence, the rhythm of startups. Its a unique experience that only a few truly understand and appreciate.

A couple of days ago, I was asked, “How do I get started blogging?” And after explaining different blog platforms, etc, I lowered my voice and said, “What to know what my three rules of blogging are?”

Nodding, the person said quietly, leaning in as if I was about to impart some special code that only “real” bloggers knew, “yes.”

Looking in both directions, (mostly for the waitress as I was thirsty), I said, “Listen closely, for I will not repeat these.”

At this point, I figured you guys know that I am making this crap up, but given we all like stories, I will continue…

“For these rules are never to be spoken aloud once they are heard. They are never to be written down once they are seen. And, if you ever pass them on, I charge only 25% in royalities. Do you accept these terms?”

Without hesitation, the gentleman quickly nodded and his grin spread it what only could be considered a bad case of gas. Being a posititve guy, I decided to pretend he was grinning with glee.

“Fabulous,” I bellowed.

And, I am now over this stupid italic story concept. Sometimes you try and fail, and sometimes something just makes you laugh.

My Three Rules of Blogging:

1) Write as if the only person who will ever read your blog is you.

Its important to always be proud of what you write. To feel that the words you are placing on the screen will exist forever, and ten years from now, you will still be proud of what you wrote. I only write things that I have been thinking of, and think are interesting. On occassion, I will write about things that make me laugh. But regardless, I write for me. And, I am my harshest critic.

The nice benefit of this is when someone seeks me out to talk about how their struggles with their own personal Andrew were helped by reading my blog, or a CEO of a company emails me to get my thoughts on a subject because of the examples from my life I have used, I am still amazed, pleased and proud. I love that feeling, and I never want to lose it.

2) Dont write on a timeline.

When I started blogging, I tried to write every day and I hated it. So, then I tried to write every week. Hated it. When I have been asked to write for others, and there is a deadline attached I literally puke in my mouth a little.

Inspiration is not something you can get in the quarter machines outside the grocery store. It has to come from something organic, and it has to come in its own time. Sometimes, I have 3-4 posts sitting in my head, so I write daily or multiple times in a day. Sometimes weeks pass before something interests or inspires me.

Either way, I only write when I want to write. I think it makes the product better and something I can be proud of. After all, according to rule #1, I am just writing for myself. So, I am the only person I am trying to please.

3) The moment when an experience or conversation makes you think to yourself, “I should blog about that,” is the exact moment you have become a blogger.

Just because you write on a blog platform, you are not a blogger. A blogger is someone who wants to record their thoughts and experiences in an open format that others might read and enjoy (or even learn from). So, until a person sees the world in that context, s/he is not a blogger. S/he is just a writer.

And fundementally, thats the difference between the two. Bloggers want, invite, hope for, two way conversations to occur about what they write about. Writers just want people to read what they wrote.

So is becoming a blogger that easy? Yes, it really is.

1) write for yourself;

2) write when you want to;

3) write out of a desire to record and share experience and ideas.

Thats it.