Team Wil Wheaton

“If you like nerds, raise your hand. If you don't, raise your standards.”
― Violet Haberdasher

In case you've missed it, Wil Wheaton has pretty much become the King of the Nerds (he has his own new show!), and that is a level of awesome most of us will never reach.  Ten years ago, heck, 3 years ago, that would have been a hide under your bed, anxiety-inducing title.  No one wanted to be labelled a "nerd."

Flash forward to 2014, and nerd is the new cool.  Or something.  My point is, we, all nerds collectively, have found our place on the internet and in the world.  Our fear of being who we are, thrown out the window.

http://www.webpronews.com/wil-wheaton-has-advice-for-kids-being-bullied-2014-03

So, since I ask this in every post:

What does this have to do with business?  

Well, for me, it allows me to include a ton more self-deprecating humor in my presentations and writing.  It also made it acceptable for me to talk about my strange hobbies, including entomology, brain dissection, and welding large metal dinosaurs without feeling like I'm going to be harshly judged or branded a weirdo.  My interests, which have been all mine for over 30 years, can now be shared with a wider audience.  And the reception has been amazing.

What does this mean for the rest of us?  

I believe that more innovation can and is happening.  Science fiction has created so many useful products.  Jules Verne's Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea lead to Simon Lake creating the submarine.  Igor Sikorsky took another Verne book, Clipper of the Clouds, and made a helicopter.  H.G. Wells' books lead to many more inventions, and Star Wars was the inspiration for cell phones and others.  Nerds created these.  And nerds, with their new-found platform, will create even more.

What will I do with my nerd platform?  

So far, it has allowed me to take my love of brain dissection and neuroscience, combined with a deep understanding of psychology and mental illness, combined even further for my passion for politics, to help spread news about the NIH's NeuroBioBank to a broader audience.  It helped me realize that my passions were in Public Health so that I could pursue those, as well as my fascination with infectious diseases, into a career path.  I can combine that with my entrepreneurial attitude, and become a consultant on Public Health.  My nerd platform allows me to do what I love, what I'm passionate about, and now instead of bizarre or obscure, it's interesting.

Nerd culture is giving everyone a chance for new conversations.  Bullying, and in turn, anti-bullying campaigns, are driving forward due to nerds like Wil Wheaton.  Carryovers from past cult classics can co-mingle with modern day pop culture, getting people interested in things like role playing games and steampunk.  Shows like The Big Bang Theory show how adults can be almost child-like with excitement about things, causing them to geek-out.  Dragons and comic books are mainstream, and even my least nerdy friend has seen every Marvel movie to date.

Take this opportunity to innovate.  Take this moment in time to delve into your deepest, darkest nerdisms and pull something creative and inspired out.  Collaborate with your people on the next big thing.  There are few wrongs that can come from this time of freedom.  

Thank you, Wil Wheaton.

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

The Zombie Apocalypse and lessons in failure

“Sometimes you have to do something ugly so that something beautiful can grow.”
― Cedric Nye

Bear with me today, I'm taking a huge leap to make a few big points.

First of all, I'm not big into the whole idea of this zombie apocalypse phase.  I'm not a doomsday prepper,  I'm not a soothsayer.  I'm not Will Smith or Woody Harrelson.  I'm a business owner who understands preparing for when things go south.  The truth is, my business anti-fail plan is more thorough than my SHTF plan.  But I have a feeling that we can learn a thing or two from the other side.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31GHBl2wVfqKmXywVBHYWp82Nvw57zK_gcKbdnYnsrv-iHTziGoQP1iWMuR8VdR8uN5GOAVr-_uYdEgMtzJEr-6CQ0wGWjSVVDChtNAUX5lMjMgg_ZW4Kl0uqBTEPyjN27W_B8utQVZL2/s1600/tumblr_m4rs9asC2Q1rux18io1_r2_500.jpg

Let's start with some established rules of zombie survival (according to Zombieland) and swing them into business.  

Rule #1 : Cardio.  

Why is good cardiovascular health important in business?  Well that's obvious.  We've all read dozens of articles about the hazards of sitting too long at work.  So let's take this a little further - how does this impact your anti-failure plan?  Did you know that one of the contributing factors to burn-out is poor health?  Including a fitness plan and good diet are key to your survival in business so that you can keep on keepin' on.

Rule #2: The Double Tap.  

This idea can incorporate into business on so many levels.  First, the double tap may relate to editing your documents.  You write; then you edit.  Double tap.  Second, it may mean closing a deal.  You make the initial contact; then you ask for the sell.  Double tap.  And in our anti-failure plan, third, learn everything,  Get a mentor; then go to a seminar.  Double tap.

Rule #10: Don't Swing Low.  

When you're working on building a business, the last thing you want to do is swing low.  I'm not talking about taking things low and slow, I'm talking about your expectations.  One reason entrepreneurs succeed is because we just don't give up.  We swing high and swing for the fences every single at bat.  Yes, some ideas take time to develop, and some ideas just don't pan out, but our success isn't because our first business worked; it's because or third or fifth or twentieth idea stuck.  Tenacity is the key.

The last rule of the zombie apocalypse that we need to remember in business is:

Rule #22: When In Doubt, Know Your Way Out.  

This is highly contradictory; some entrepreneurs believe that if you have an out plan, that you're not 100% invested in your business.  I disagree; knowing where that line of failure is can be key.  If you know when your idea is failing and you pull the plug, you can save reputation, especially with investors.  Driving a train on an incomplete track will lead to failure.  Have an out plan; know what failure means; push that line if you have to, but stop if it's broken.  Failure doesn't mean failure; it means that you need to rework your thinking and planning for the next big idea.

Obviously, I cannot cover enough advice about failure plans in a blog post; especially because I was amazed at how many other of Zombieland's rules fit in business: #8 Get a Kick-Ass Partner, #16 Opportunity Knocks, #19 Break It Up, #20 It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint, Unless it's a Sprint, Then Sprint, #21 Avoid Strip Clubs, #29 The Buddy System, #32 Enjoy the Little Things, and lastly #33 Swiss Army Knife.  Maybe someday I'll cover more rules of the zombie apocalypse in business, or you can leave your Zombieland survival rule in the comments!  Take time to develop your own zombie apocalypse plan anti-fail plan for business, and let me know if you find some creative rules to follow.

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

I refuse to do what I love most

“I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and say to myself "well, that's not going to happen”
― Rita Rudner

I'm huge on telling people to do what they love as their career.  I'm constantly coaching and trying to find opportunities for people to follow their dreams.  I advise jaded workers to find a passion project that they can put time toward, because it will bring them a balanced happiness and can transfer positivity and opportunity into their every-day career.  

But here's a secret: I do not do what I love most as a career.

Am I a hypocrite?  

Or am I on to something?

My second year living away from home while attending college, I received a phone call from my mom.  She told me that I should just move home and she'd help me start a catering company.  There you have it: I LOVE to cook.  I quickly shot that idea down and kept working toward my degree, which at that point was probably pre-law, or entomology, or communications.  The truth was, I wasn't interested in giving up my future as a lawyer who wrote press releases about her newest insect discovery, or whatever I was working to be.  I didn't know what I wanted to be, but I knew what I didn't want to be.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1751577/redesigning-food-trucks

Catering might have been a good fit for me as a career.  I've "catered" many a dinner party, large event, and even wedding for family and friends.  But to cook for strangers, to have to take classes on the proper use of the proper utensil and how to properly julienne and chop and dice... that didn't interest me.  I don't follow recipes, so most things I make aren't able to be reproduced.  My understanding of cooking comes from an innate understanding of portions and proportions.  I know what ratios to make whatever bread or pasta or soup or anything.  But as a career?  It didn't work in my mind, unless I could operate a food truck.  And then only maybe.

I enjoy cooking.  I make, mostly from scratch, about 10 meals a week.  I don't buy pre-packaged foods; I buy produce and meat and staple items and combine them to make whatever I want.  I get inspiration from cookbooks, but use the recipe as a guideline, barely.  I recreate foods I have in restaurants.  I make most of my creations by looking at a picture of pleasant-looking food and guessing. 

That is not how you operate a business.

I have a feeling that being a chef or caterer or anything relating to food would make me hate cooking.  I spent time as a teen working in fast food, and helped open a restaurant early in my career, but to actually devote my life's work to cooking just feels wrong.  It feels suffocating.  It feels uninspired.  I flirt with the line between cooking being a passion and work with one of my developing companies, but it's less cooking and more recipe development.  That's not cooking to me.

I do what I love every day.  I help businesses succeed.  I teach people how to operate their business and turn their dreams into profit.  And in doing that, I achieve my dreams and have success.  

I save my top passion for me. 

 I keep cooking as what I do for my family, or for my creativity, or for my relaxation.  And everyone should have something that they do, aside from work, that is just for that purpose.

So no, I'm not a hypocrite.  I truly believe that each of us need something that we love more than our job.  Something different from our families and relationships.  Something that is just ours.  And sure, we can share it with others, but they don't have to like it.  They won't always.   And that's okay, because it's just for you.

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur