Walt Hampton, J.D.

Creating the Work & Life You LOVE

Love It or Leave It

by Walt | Oct 10, 2013 | Success | 1 Comment

You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out. –Steve Jobs

I have a client – articulate, driven, highly educated and talented – whose business is failing.

Because she doesn’t love it.

I have a friend who is having a devil of a time landing a job in a field in which he has worked for years – and excelled.

Because he doesn’t love it.

Love for what you do is the only thing that sets you apart.

Love for what you do is the only thing that will sustain you.

Benjamin Bloom (of Head Start fame), while he was a professor at the University of Chicago, did a study of 120 outstanding scholars, artists, and athletes. He was trying to figure out what made them tick; and even more important, what common factors contributed to their greatness.

He controlled for intelligence; he controlled for family background. He discovered that geography didn’t matter; that race didn’t matter; that socio-economic advantage didn’t matter; and that it didn’t matter whether these folks were ‘naturally smart.’ The only thing – the one common denominator – that distinguished these folks was extraordinary drive.

And the only thing that fuels extraordinary drive… is passion.

A love for the ‘game.’

A love so keen that it propels you out of bed in the morning and sets the day on fire.

A love so strong that you can take the heat, endure the pain, keep the faith, go the distance.

There are lots and lots of sales people, countless Internet marketers, a bazillion coaches, more lawyers than real people, doctors out the ying yang. A nearly inexhaustible selection of authors and artists and plumbers and HR managers and executives and electricians.

Your ‘job,’ your position, is not unique.

But you are.

Over the long haul, you can never compete on price, credentials, ‘novelty,’ flashy ads or noise.

Because at that level, everyone looks the same. Your voice disappears in the landscape. All noise; and no signal.

But when you’re on fire, you stand out.

When you’re filled with passion, there is no one else who looks like you. No one else who can possibly compete.

When you claim your own authentic voice, there is no competition.

None at all. Your success is guaranteed.

Your energy signature is yours alone. It carries the day.

Here’s the truth: Just because you’re good at something, or have done something for a long time, doesn’t mean you should keep on doing it.

Dale Carnegie once said, “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.”

And you can’t possibly have fun unless you’re really feelin’ the love.

Steve Jobs said, “[T]he only way to do great work is to love what you do…. Don’t settle”

Each of us is called to do great work.

Find that love.

Don’t ever settle.

Quiet

by Walt | Oct 3, 2013 | Journeys, Success | 0 Comments

Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
— 1Kings 19:11-13 (NRSV)

I have a buddy who studies anomalies… things that are at odds with the norm… things that don’t necessarily make sense at first blush. He does this as a means for predicting market trends… and making investments. He ‘picked up’ the purchase by a Japanese airline of automatic electronic defibrillators (AEDs) long before they became expected fixtures in nearly every public venue.

I came upon an interesting anomaly recently: The population of monks resident in monasteries around the world is at a record low… while the number of guests visiting and staying in those monasteries is at a record high.

Why?

One reason is that we crave the ‘sound of sheer silence.’

I’m reading a fascinating book right now written by George Prochnik: In Pursuit of Silence, Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise. Prochnik postulates that as the world becomes more noise-filled and chaotic, we search ever more desperately for respite, for ways to control our acoustical environments, for islands of quiet and renewal.

We seek peace.

There is, of course, a rich tradition for this search: From before the mystics and the Desert Fathers to Thoreau’s stay at Walden Pond. Indeed, the Jewish mystic Isaac Luria posits the pursuit of silence as nothing less than the foundational act of the universe. As in, out of silence, creation comes.

But this search is not just about some existential ideal. It is integral to our well-being: We cannot possibly be whole when constantly fragmented and bombarded by the world… the roadway noise, a TV in every checkout line, an iPod in every ear; connected and available, online and amped up, 24/7/365.

We need quiet not only to survive… but to thrive. Did you know that your breathing, your heart rate and your blood pressure increase when exposed to noise, even when you think you’re ‘used to it,’ … and even when you are asleep and don’t ‘hear’ it? (!!!)

Noise can kill.

I spoke recently at a professional conference. The conference was fairly ‘cutting edge’ in that it included a track for personal development in addition to the traditional tracks on the tools and tricks of the trade. My workshop was on emotional well-being. I shared a guided meditation… a four minute island of refuge in an otherwise crowded day. I couldn’t believe the palpable hunger in that room for those few moments of quiet.

I used to believe that I was the anomaly… the introvert who needed silence in order to re-charge. (And introverts do for sure.) But the truth is that all of us, introvert and extrovert, need quiet to rest, renew, recharge and restore.

The flight to the monasteries may be a trend worth investing in.

A Spiral Staircase

by Walt | Sep 26, 2013 | Journeys, Success | 0 Comments

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sometimes life feels like a scene from that old Bill Murray movie: Goundhog Day. Every day the same thing. The progress we want to make, the goals we set… all seem to elude us.

What’s true is that, if we are mindful and earnest in our efforts, we really do make progress… it’s just sometimes difficult to see.

I am a fan of the religious writer Karen Armstrong who wrote a beautiful memoir entitled The Spiral Staircase. She likens her own growth (and the growth we all experience on this grand human adventure) as something akin to climbing up a spiral staircase… not necessarily repeating the ‘sins’ of the past… but turning back on those experiences, returning again and again, often from a higher perspective, to those certain lessons that continue to be necessary for us to learn.

Places that feel like old ground; places that feel familiar… but are not the same.

Our journeys, lived deeply, sometimes – necessarily – take us through these places. In our relationships, in our studies, in our jobs.

Growth… maybe not in that linear way so many of us strive for… but growth none-the-less.

One of the great gifts of the coaching process is the ability of the coach to see across the stretch of the road, to see the grand arc… to see progress when it feels, in the moment, like quicksand. And to re-assure that the way is sound, the ground secure.

Fall can be a time of new beginnings. But, as we return to our routines, it can also be a time of re-assessment… and frustration.

If the road ahead looks uncertain, don’t despair. The twists and turns can feel quit daunting. And circuitous.

Stay the course. It’s the slow, steady steps over time that lead to those magnificent results.

Be Cliff Young

by Walt | Sep 19, 2013 | Success | 1 Comment

I LOVE the story of Cliff Young. It is a story of audaciousness… but even more than that, it is a study in tenacity… stick-to-it-ness… something that all of us can use sometimes…

Cliff Young was a 61-year-old potato farmer who had never run a race before. He decided he wanted to run the Sydney to Melbourne, Australia Ultra Marathon… 543.7 miles! He arrived at the starting line wearing overalls and gumboots. The race officials wanted to deny him entry to the race fearing that he would collapse and die. Bad for publicity, they thought.

Cliff argued that he really did have experience. He told the officials and the press that he had previously run for two to three days straight rounding up sheep.

The race officials eventually relented. At a loping pace, Cliff ran continually for 5 days, 15 hours, beating all five of his competitors. He won. And not only did he win, but he beat the course record by two days!!! Because he didn’t know he was supposed to stop and eat and sleep.

He just kept going.

That’s the lesson. That’s the secret.

It’s mid-September. It’s easy to feel frustrated with how fast the year has flown. But there’s still time to push those projects forward, to achieve those goals, to finish those projects, to make those dreams come true.

So maybe it’s that running program; or pushing forward with your fitness and weight loss; maybe it’s a fresh commitment to networking and business building; or a relationship that needs to be strengthened; maybe it’s a trip you’ve been planning or a degree you’ve been pursuing; or perhaps there’s that product launch that’s been sitting on the back burner; or that soul-sucking job that just needs to be replaced. Whatever it is, get to it. And just stay at it.

Don’t quit. Just keep going.

Be Cliff Young.

Be A Control Freak

by Walt | Sep 12, 2013 | Success | 5 Comments

OK, people, it’s done.

Summer’s over. The vacation’s behind you. No more lazy lunches. No more casual Fridays.

It’s time to put away the Dockers… and the swimmies. It’s time to get back to it.

September’s here. Time to get busy; time to get serious.

No more leisure, no more playtime.

It’s time for work.

Uhhh, wait a minute: I object. I don’t want to give up playtime!

It is a busy time of year. But perhaps we can take some of summer with us?

In summer, it seems, time is more expansive; the rules more flexible; the boundaries softer.

And then September comes and – maybe it’s a holdover from going back to school – it seems like the time for fun is over.

We move back into our busy lives, our schedules chock full, shuttling around the kids, out to soccer games and swim practices, with evening meetings, volunteer activities and board commitments.

Many of my coaching clients feel like they’re moving back into the forest fire armed only with their squirt guns; their lives turned into an out-of-control carnival game of whack-a-mole. Reacting endlessly, and breathlessly, to the urgent.

Never really getting to what is really, truly the important in their lives.

And summer slips silently into the rear view mirror with perhaps some vague hope for respite and reprieve on some distant unencumbered weekend… or maybe in February on that “vacation… .”

There is a different way.

But it requires that you become a control freak.

That’s right, a control freak: someone who takes control of their lives!

No one else is gonna do it for you. You’ve gotta do it for yourself.

And this means that you need a bit of courage and audacity.

I know. I live it too. Bombarded by unceasing demands and expectations in every area of our lives. Inundated by inputs. Juggling multiple modalities of communication. Over committed and suffused with the anxiety of dropping the ball.

But here’s the truth: the in-box will always be full. None of us will ever get it all done. If you died tomorrow, you’d be replaced.

So why not pay attention to what truly matters?

People ask me how it is that I take so much time away traveling and adventuring. The answer: it’s a choice.

Last year, I took 13 weeks off. There were no disasters. No one missed me. The world went on.

And, damn, it was fun.

So here are some practices to consider before September gets too crazy:

Decide what really, really matters to you. Spend time on that. Get rid of the rest.
Get really good at saying no; if you find yourself saying you “should” do something, you probably shouldn’t.
Carve out time for yourself – every single day. No one else is going to do it for you.
Get up an hour early and enjoy the quiet. Use it to read and write and meditate and create.
Plan your weeks; and plan each day; actually schedule in the time for the things that matter most to you.
Turn off the TV at night and focus on the life you really want.

Here’s the scoop: at the end of our lives, no one is going to wish they spent more time in the office, billed more hours, sold more product, sat on more boards, went to more PTO meetings, or volunteered for more committees. It won’t matter whether you went to one more network group, whether your Facebook status was up to date, or whether you were well LinkedIn. What will matter will be the experiences you have had, the love you have shared, the lives you have touched.

What will matter will be whether you showed up in each and every moment to know the fullness and the joy of your life.

What will matter is whether you have lived without regret.

For that to happen, you’ll need to become a control freak.

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p.s. If you’re working on creating the work and the life you love, and would like some support and coaching, consider booking a complimentary breakthrough Strategy Session with me. We’ll get laser focused on you and figure out exactly what needs to happen to get you the results you want. Email me: [email protected]

This is an encore of a piece first published on September 6, 2012.