The Scariest Thing You Can Do
The scariest thing you can do is ask people to join you on your mission.
In that moment, you are vulnerable and exposed. Your self-worth is on the line (if you let it be).
So the scariest thing I can do today is let you know that after months of experimenting with the Project Lab, I have reformatted its hard drive based on input from real humans like Lisa and Bob who are working to put their heads down and focus on their Most Creative Work.
Introducing the Pod Format
Just before the pandemic struck, I was working at a startup in the innovation consulting space.
Our sales pipeline was drying up alongside a retracting economy. The leaders of the company devised a plan to put us into “pods” where we would do experimental work on projects that didn’t exist. This helped shake up our teams and put us together with people we weren’t typically working with.
The company ultimately could not survive the pandemic as its main client was the owner of shopping malls and offices which was the worst possible client you could have at the time.
Yet the pods stuck with me as a brilliant idea.
Fixed Length of Time Creates Structure
The problem with the Project Lab before was that it had no end date. Sessions were scheduled fairly consistently throughout the week but no one was committed to one specific time slot. And nor could they be committed without a fixed end date.
This is why all creative work needs some sort of constraint in order to flourish.
Next Pod: NUNU-19
I am giving the pods unique names to help add some structure to them.
Nunu-19 will run for the month of April. We already have two Most Creative Souls (MCS) in there, we are just looking to 2 or 3 more.
This pod is running on Tuesdays at 11am PST or 2pm EST.
It costs a one-time payment of $30 USD to seal your commitment into the group. After you pay the money you are sent a calendar invite with your Zoom link.
You can join as late as next week, Tuesday April 2nd.
Our meeting is about an hour long which includes a check-in about how your projects are going, and it includes a co-working focus round to help clear off a task or two that you have been procrastining.
Possible uses are:
Writing a book and getting it published by the fall
Launching a startup and getting your first customers
Mastering your instrument and playing a gig this summer
Creating an art show for the summer
If this interests you, and you believe that I speak some sort of truth on this subject, then trust your gut and don’t overthink it.
If this is not for you yet, I can arrange to put you on a waiting list for May and you will be committed to go in a pod that month. Then I find the best day of week/time for everyone that has come forward. Just write back if you have any interest or questions.
Remember if all else fails and my pitch has gone flat: The scariest thing you can do is to ask people to join you on your mission. That is what all sales is about.
If you are asking the wrong people to join you, then you will feel icky. If the people are aligned with you, then you are doing a good deed to invite them along.