The New Norm

If you are biased by local statistics like myself, you may be a Markov chain. Markov statistics are characterized by only the last N values. In my case, a month or three of high productivity (16-17 hours of good work each day) has completely reset my expectations of self performance. On this measuring stick I have fallen far from my peak over the past couple of months.

I find myself drawn to mindless distractions (World of warcraft) when I should be busy banging my head on web programming (I have fallen for the mysteries of lift on scala, python, and php), or editing my second ebook. These phases of rebellious slacking may aid my creative "far out" thoughts but they are terrible for actually accomplishing anything outside of substinence. So how do I expect to redirect my energies back to the new norm of super productivity I experienced over the summer?

I'm going to a party

Yup, that's my silver bullet. I'm going to a party thrown by the creator of gapingvoid, Hugh Macleod. There's nothing more self motivating for me than chatting with people who are pursuing a passion and trail blazing a helluva new work model. Hugh has been busy drawing cartoons on the back of business cards for over 10 years. And in the post I linked above, he briefly discusses his business/creative balance. Hugh has brilliantly crafted messages which express the idiosyncrasies of work life into images we can relate to.

It just so happens the guy who got me interested in blogging, Seth Godin, is going to stop in as well. I figure if a heretic like Seth can share his thoughts on best business and marketing practices and kick up his own web publishing business (squidoo is revolutionary) then what else is possible? My take away from reading and watching lots of Godin: each of us can make a profound change in the way the world works, and at the same time build viable communities that can rally to a focal point. I only hope he was trying to convey this message and I haven't just dreamed it up ;).