How do I keep a beginner's mindset?

One of the best things we can do to drive progress and innovation is continue to operate from a beginner's mindset.

Yes, there's times when expertise and experience and deep wisdom have a role to play, but the ability to approach thing's from a beginner's mindset it a game changer.

Two things recently have really helped me engage in life from this pure perspective: yoga and spending time with kids.

I've been taking multiple yoga classes a week for almost 3 years now, and yet I still feel like a complete noob every time I hit the mat. Perhaps an outsider might be confused as to how, after hundreds of yoga class with some amazing teachers, I can still be humbled and feel like I know nothing. It's part of a discovery process where poses and positions only truly reveal themselves after so much practice and iteration.

A similar thing happens when I spend time with my niece and nephew and friends' kids expect its more of a re-discovery. As long as I can remember, kids have always loved me, and I think I can finally articulate why. I think it comes from the deep empathy that allows me to try to understand the world from their perspective and see the world through their eyes. I ask kids so many questions to help me remember what the universe looked liked when I was young.

I went for a long walk in the woods with my niece and nephew this past weekend by my parents house where I grew up. I've spent hundreds of hours in those woods as a kid and yet this weekend, we discovered things I've never seen before. It was quite an adventure. For all of us.

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When it comes to innovation, the best new ideas and breakthroughs are almost never coming from the people who think they know it all and have nothing left to learn. It's coming from the folks who, no matter how much they know, are still able to start with a blank sheet of paper and an unlimited repertoire of what's possible.

This ties back into my favorite question of "What if?" A beginner is always asking what if. What if I could do that arm balance or connect that binding on the yoga mat? What if I didn't assume I knew all of the secrets treasures of the woods I grew up in? What if we didn't do things the way they've always been done?

When it comes to truly innovative and game-changing products and solutions, the ever-curious mindset of the beginner is far superior to those who believe they already know all of the answers.

What's been going on behind the scenes?

It's Sunday night, and I haven't written a post all week.

I haven't gone a week without at least two posts since I started writing again. And I also made a promise to myself that I wouldn't write if I had to force myself to do so. So it's been a lot of radio silence recently.

The short version of it is this:

I've been in the process of selling my apartment since the beginning of last summer. I had some major tenant issues, eviction, lockouts, court appearances and way too much wasted time and energy. I finally was able to get the squatters out, put the place on the market and it went under contract at the end of October with an expected close before Thanksgiving. More delays and headaches.

This past week the buyer finally had to walk from the deal due to their inability to secure a mortgage.

So it's back to square one on the selling front.

It's been a long process. I'm doing my best to remain open to the gift and what this experience is here to show me. I'm also ready to put this all past me so I can focus my full attention on that things that matter most.

Now that the initial scramble of this past week is behind me, I believe I'll be back to writing more frequently without having to force anything or publish stuff just for the sake of checking the box. I miss you all and can't wait to be regularly writing again.

Where the hell is the gift?

Everything is a gift.

This is a core belief that has been instilled in me over and over again for many years. We have an opportunity to find a gift in each and every situation that presents itself to us. The good, the bad, the ugly, all of it.

“Everything is a gift of the universe – even joy, anger, jealously, frustration, or separateness. Everything is perfect either for our growth or our enjoyment.” -- Ken Keyes Jr.

I'll be the first to admit. It's not always easy to find the gift. It may be buried deep or may take years to reveal itself.

Sometimes it takes an external perspective or coaching to help reveal the gift. It's a line of questioning I refer back to frequently. If this less-than-desirable thing has happened, will happen or must happen, so be it, but where is the gift in it? What can we learn from this? How can we leverage it in the future? What has it revealed to us that we were previously unaware of? How have we grown or changed in response to it?

On a conversation this morning, I've witnessed this scarcity-to-abundance flip unlock a new idea that could turn a loss into a massive win for everyone involved. It was a shift that took place in only a few minutes and yet could have far reaching positive implications.

Some of the best and most unique innovations in recent memory have come as a pivot when one thing seemingly didn't work but it opened up the possibility for something far, far greater than previously imaginable. Interestingly if I was a professional investor, I would definitely figure out how to filter for this mindset in the entrepreneurs I was investing in.

You can't force a gift to reveal itself, but we sure can do our best to be open for when it does.

Why do I have a love / hate relationship with my own blood?

I just donated blood on Monday night. The whole process is uncomfortable for me, and yet I keep going back. Here's why.

Back in 2011, Joe Yevoli started the NYC Tech Blood Drive. He had such a compelling, inspiring and tragic story behind why he was organizing the blood drive that I instantly signed up.

(The story is still up on the web if want to read it and instantly feel peer-pressured into donating yourself).

Even though the NYC Tech Blood Drives are a thing of the past, I've been donating as regularly as I could ever since. And I'll tell you a little secret. After all these years, I still don't enjoy the process.

One time, a woman at the front desk asked me what I wanted to donate. Cluelessly I responded by asked them what they needed. She told me that I qualify for a special type of donation called a Double Red Blood Cell donation.

"Great, let's do it!" with no idea what this meant.

Basically, they draw your blood, separate the red blood cells and pump the plasma and platelets back into you so that they can collect even more red blood cells. It's so intense on the body that I'm only able to donate once every 16 weeks (as opposed to every 8 weeks for a regular donation). I don't recommend it, but also look at it as a personal physical challenge.

For those of you who didn't pay enough attention in biology like me, red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body to the organs and tissues. An after affect of donating that much red blood cells for me personally is that I have to take it easy for a few days afterwards, and I don't like not being at full strength.

But.

My single donation every 4 months is enough for 2 live saving blood transfusions. On top of that, every 2 seconds in the US someone needs blood to survive, and 1 in 3 people need a lifesaving transfusion during their lifetime. There's a lot of talk about impact and improving lives in the tech and entrepreneurship worlds, and this is the most tangible and simple way I've found to directly create that impact.

So whatever short term annoyances I have to deal with by being temporarily slowed down feels totally worth it. If you're in a position to spare some extra blood, please find some time to donate!

Is it ok to feel sad?

I used to be completely closed off from all of my emotions (it's a longer story for another time). For the last 18 months or so, I've been working on expanding my emotional range more and more every day.

With the world on fire, my country being on the brink of an unnecessary war and so many other tragic things seemingly happening all at once, it's a lot to take in.

I feel sad.

I feel sad for the people of Australia. And for the animals on that continent who are being devastated. And all the families and loved ones who suffer the endless casualties of war. And for the poor. And for the ill. And the people facing discrimination. And. And. And. Even writing this I feel myself going down a spiral so I'm going to stop there.

And it's real. It's ok to be sad. Or angry. Or frustrated. Or whatever other emotion may be coming up for you me at this moment.

Even as I started writing the title of post, I had a moment where I decided to postpone writing this until some point in the future. I don't want to write this tonight I said to myself very unconvincingly, and that's when I knew I had to write this now.

I used to think of sadness as a sign of weakness or some other bullshit. Emotions - bah, that's some sissy stuff. Not for me, who needs 'em, I would say. I would put my head down and work harder. Or just as bad, drink enough alcohol to make it go away for a while. Or use any other distraction to completely check out instead of feeling my feelings.

And while ignore was bliss for me for a very long time, I'm now aware of how much of the world, the light and the dark and every color in between, I was missing by being so closed.

I feel sad, and that's ok. I will still wake up tomorrow morning ready to spread light and continue building a more beautiful world.