active life

You do things because :

1. You have been doing it or planned earlier to do it.

2. Someone tells you to do it.

3. You see opportunities in future and you decide do this for achieving that goal.

Zombies live with first 2 drivers for all their lives.

Active life needs 3rd kind of attitude.

It might not be just ‘what’ but ‘when’ as well. Purposeful life needs core activities done because one wants/plans to do. Eventhough there would be still be many things that need to be done for external / past reasons.

In those cases atleast one should have control over ‘when’ and/or ‘how’ to do, if not ‘what’.

marketing of ideas

The main point is to communicate about new thing to prospective user.

- stories are best medium of communication.
- interuption advertising is one way ( most broadly used)
- Ad-entertainment is another.

In any case a existing market is essential where prospects gather. Group permissions are easier than individual ones. For instance, I prefer an Ad on train compartment, than one in my mailbox.

So steps for marketing are :
Find markets where prospects gather/participate.
Find ways to tell your story – funny, entertaining, teaching, giving hope or thrillingly.
Create business plan – how much do you think you can earn in next 2 years.
Then figure out how much you can afford to spend on story telling.
Story should be :
Interesting / compelling
Related to the idea / product

marketing ideas

Ideas should be written else they are forgotten
Ideas should be told as stories.
Ideas should be tried out.
Ideas should be implemented not just played with.

Then,

Product that came out of the above should be marketed, made to reach the audience.

The ‘user’ doesn’t know that you have a gift for him. He doesn’t trust you even he comes to know.
He also is not interested in trying new stuff, nor he has time to do trials.

We choose through heart

We perceive the world through emotions – it feels cozy, warm, dull …today etc.

We choose things that excite us emotionally – sensuous, tasty, intelligent, safe… feel. Some are basic emotions, while others are secondary – like feeling emotionally correct (as organic movement or giving gifts makes you feel).

This is very important for any creator. If others have to try / accept your creation, it needs to appeal to them viscerally. ipod cannot be sold as bigger hard disk, or smallest music player – it had to be marketed as wanted thing. Same with fashion, you don’t buy fashion stuff because of left brain.

Is it true that right brain is the master of decision making (especially to adopt new stuff) ?

Same also applies to presidential candidates, they have to win by that feeling rather than comparative points.

Is there anything that we humans choose based on left brain ? probably not. We use our analytical ability as a tool / like calculator. Real world is often so complex that it is very difficult to create a logical model that matches reality.

So we choose our food, cars, partners, business, investments, jobs,charity, luxury…even soaps, everything through our hearts. Therefore it is very important to keep this in mind as a creator.

Find a positive emotion that can be connected naturally to your creation – more specifically the core value of the creation.  Figure out what will enhance that feel. Market through that feel. (PS: all good advertisements are appealing to the heart not mind). Appealing to heart doesn’t mean just romantic, sensuous only. It means it ‘feels’ – exciting, safe, satisfying, fulfilling, happy, intelligent or anything positive. Here is list of emotions, I think that are involved in our daily decisions (taken from Wikipedia):

Affection · Anticipation · Anxiety · Awe · Compassion · Contentment · Curiosity · Desire · Ecstasy · Empathy · Enthusiasm · Envy · Epiphany · Euphoria · Fanaticism · Fear ·Gratification · Gratitude · Guilt · Happiness · Hatred · Hope · Hostility · Hysteria · Inspiration · Interest · Jealousy · Kindness · Love· Nostalgia · Panic · Pride · Rage · Righteous indignation · Surprise · Sympathy · Wonder

Emotions are very messy things

While they are excellent guides for complex reality. Emotions are very mis-leading as well. How we feel might not always be accurately reflecting what is the reality. That’s one of the reasons to loose money in stock market or become obese (sugar tastes desirable).

There is no tolerance for fake. If the underlying value is not in-sync with the emotion attached to it, the whole thing can turn sour (negative).

So which emotion does www.plumdots.com represent or can represent – hope, envy, inspiration, pride, curiosity… enthusiasm ? I think ‘Hope’ – hope to find a better / satisfying job. or Smart /intelligent – that I can find what others cannot.

Needs, Goals and Desires

There are things that one “Need to do”, and there are some, “Goals to achieve”.

But the “Desires to fulfill” are done first among all others.

Need to : are mostly forced from outside

Goals : are logically arrived at

Desires:  have emotional drive behind them.

How does one convert all activities in life into “desirable” ones ?

When I imagine the output and fall in love with that, I desire it.  While everything in life has little grey in it, it is the ability to see the bright spots that would generate passion.  

Take a task – cleaning the bathroom (boring!!). Look for interesting / pleasurable outcomes. Imagine and embellish the output further. “I wish we had spic and span bathroom”.

This is not easy, especially for repeat jobs (like cleaning of bathroom). But habit(which is other way to get things done) might not always help in getting things done. That’s where I need creativity to imagine a interesting outcome time and again.

Can every activity be desirable ?

I am not sure. But most of the stuff we do as habits. Like brushing teeth. There is no meaning in using desire as the driver. Though many times such things are also driven by desires (white teeth, attractive self).

Life driven by desires (to achieve something) is passionate one. Life without desires makes us machines.

Why are you a generalist

Why does anyone choose to be generalist ?

Seth has a point that world only requires specialists. But then why does anyone choose to be a generalist.

My answer is :

1. Because some specialist roles die with time – what happened to master watch maker – not the luxury kind, but the town /street’s best.

2. Many times your specialization depends on what pays you at that time. Not on what is required in future and therefore you tend to generalize.

3. One cannot predict the future specialization need. 

Or simply put… because one couldn’t figure out which specialization would make money and survive in future, one choose to be a generalist.

Everyone wants a specialist, but there could be very few who can survive being one.

 

Impact of catalysts in life

Every time I see someone getting more than I do, I wonder is it because that person put in more effort or took higher risks or was lucky. In mathematical terms :

Returns (Rewards) ~ fn ( effort, risk taken, luck) 

Returns are a function of efforts, level of risk taken, right timing. Missing in this equation is the effect of catalysts/dampeners such as money, relationships etc. Catalysts act like multipliers in the function. Therefore one can rewrite the above as :

Returns = fn( effort, risk, luck) * (Catalyst power / Dampener power)

If the above is true, the recipe for success is 

1. Work hard 
2. Take calculated risks
3. Hope to be lucky (or pray if you believe it helps)
4. Identify possible catalysts – ensure their presence and effect
5. Identify dampeners – ensure their absence and reduced impact

Which are the catalysts for success?

In business and career, 

• Money 
• Relationships
• Prior success
• Relative Position / Power

things like that are the catalysts. Therefore rich becoming richer / successful is apparent trend in the world. One cannot ignore the importance of relationship as a major catalyst. 

Catalysts take lot of time to build. Which is why instant successes or riches are rare / impossible.