viking fridays – everything you always wanted to know about life change*
August 15, 2008
*But were afraid to ask…
Today’s Viking Words of Wisdom are short and sweet, and can be summed up perfectly by Friar’s picture.
The secret to life change, to productivity, whatever, can be summed up as this:
1. You have to take action somehow; and
2. What works for me may not work for you – so you have to create your own plan.
That’s it.
The Vikings knew this – hey, they were people of action, right? Nobody chops off heads without action! And, they definitely made their own rules, with all the horned helmets, kilts, Wunderbars and pillaging.
So while there is a lot of great stuff out there telling us how to be a better person, change our lives, find true happiness, and so forth, it all starts right here.
Inside of you.
Believe me, I’ve read it all. And what have I learned?
Something quite similar to what I learned when I had my first child. A good friend of mine said to me, “everyone you meet will give you words of advice, opinions, tips on how to raise children – tips that worked for them. It might work for you, or it might not. You have to figure it out yourself.”
So by all means, go out there and read all of that great stuff about Getting Things Done, Zen to Done, 7 Habits – it’s all good. But strangely enough, a lot of this stuff has been said many times before.
Even way back when by the Vikings. Don’t believe me? Just look at this quote:
Wake early
if you want
another man’s life or land.
No lamb
for the lazy wolf.
No battle’s won in bed.
- The Hávamál
I quoted this one before, in my post wake early. So this isn’t new, but many productivity experts go on about the virtues of rising early. You could change the language slightly, put it on a PowerPoint slide and charge people $1000/hour for it!
And it does work – for some people. For others, not so well.
So I haven’t told you anything new today – or have I?
If you remember one thing, remember this:
“You know what you want to do, where you want to go – don’t be afraid to ask for directions. Start your journey when you are ready. But in the end, you’ll likely have to make your own map, because only you will know when you have arrived at your destination. The answers you are seeking are inside of you, and if you look deeply enough, you will find them.”
Hey, I got the first comment! Is that because I “woke early?”
Off to win my lamb … er, tackle my writing project, with renewed productivity. Thanks, Brett!
Rebecca Smith’s last blog post..Where’s the semicolon love?
Rebecca,
Perhaps you woke early, or everyone else is asleep! Or maybe they’re writing that book, running that race, starting that business…
In any case – good luck – you have what you need inside of you.
WHOA! Where is everyone? I thought I was going to be the end of a long line of comments here. So much for me getting up early, as I said I would! But guess what? I took ACTION last night. Spurred on by the beauty of my site I started and finished all my site text. Woohoo!
This is a FANTASTIC post, one of your best. It was well written and the point was so ON. It’s kind of what we’ve been talking about.
The greatest thing about blogging and the community is that although, yes, you have to figure out the best way for YOU, you are never ever alone. I have been overwhelmed by support and encouragement as I try to figure out things for myself.
Brett, your post has inspired me further. With a thunderstorm booming overhead and your words in my heart, I have a feeling I’m in for a focused and productive day!
Cheers, buddy! To figuring it all out our own way, but together!
steph’s last blog post..When Peeking is a Good Thing
PS. I love Friar’s cartoon! It strikes me as funny, but also so perfect for your post! What a great portrayal of your point.
steph’s last blog post..When Peeking is a Good Thing
Steph,
I figure they’re off doing productive stuff – which is a good thing! Not that you’re not doing productive stuff, mind you…
Thank you my friend – I’m glad that you liked it. I really did have our conversations in mind when I was writing it, too – because you are right, you’re never alone out here. The conversations I have with you and everyone else, by email, or on the blogs, help me to figure out who I am and how to get where I want to be.
Go forth today and do great work! Doing it our way, together.
And I agree – Friar’s cartoon helped shape this post for sure.
Yes a, yes and yes.
Yes to-it’s a great message
Yes to-I also love Friar’s cartoon
and yes…its going to be a productive day…I can feel the juice humming along inside my veins already. Steph….I CAN”T WAIT to see EditQuest come to life. I know its going to be spectacular! I’ve been thinking about you all morning.
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post..New Adventures
@Wendi: wow! Thank you so much! I’m really touched. you just made my comment even more true, about that support and encouragement! And more than ever I feel such a wish to meet all you guys together. I keep seeing us laughing and hanging out around a campfire.
Brett would chopping the wood with his Viking axe. Helmets, anyone? 
Now, just as I put the period on that last comment and clicked to send, the power went out. That thunderstorm will NOT ruin my day, I tell you! But man, it’s given me reason 12,265 why I need a laptop.
steph’s last blog post..When Peeking is a Good Thing
Brett, happy viking Friday! You are so right! I love listening and learning to others but the wisdom still passes an internal filter. Others (like you) have provided insight, new perspectives, and encouragement but yes, ultimately I still have to choose how to apply those directions. Can, Will, Believe my kilted wonder friend!
Oi, Friar, where are you this Friday morning? Wake up, O Viking renderer!
steph’s last blog post..When Peeking is a Good Thing
This Viking’s still a bit loagy from drinking Viking Grog last night, to be able to comment anything intelligent.
Maybe later in the morning, after some more coffee.
NYARGH.
Friar’s last blog post..Basil the Special Dog (Update Part II)
Haha! I guessed that, actually. Colin just texted me from Quebec. Some business meeting last night! The suppliers took him out and he is now hungover. I asked him how much he’d had and he said MORE THAN 12!!!! He NEVER drinks like that. I’m mortified.
steph’s last blog post..When Peeking is a Good Thing
Vikings FTW!
“No lamb for the lazy wolf.” Love it.
[...] utterly grateful, and in the same breath I steal yet more inspiration — a Viking phrase from his post this morning, for my [...]
@Wendi,
Isn’t Friar’s cartoon just the best though? Yes, it certainly is going to be a productive day (and has been, so far) – and Steph’s dream is going to be so much more than anyone could have imagined.
@Steph,
It sure would be nice to meet everyone… we need to put together some sort of meet & greet for our little group.
Bonfire is definitely a requirement! And you do need a laptop, or at the very least, a UPS to keep you going when that happens…
@Karen,
And a Happy Viking Friday to you too! That’s just it, isn’t it – take what we have learned from others, and make it our own. That is part of what we need to do on our path to success.
@Friar,
You just needed some Viking Coffee ™ this morning… that would have fixed you.
@Dave,
There really are so many great quotes in the Havamal (though I’d tend to leave out the ones which give ‘advice on love’, those ones are a bit “dated”…)
[...] your situation, but there’s no substitute for action. As Brett points out in today’s Viking Fridays post, there’s “no lamb for the lazy wolf.” [...]
@Brett
I finished pounding the coffee beans (which I looted) into a mulch with the hilt of my broad-sword.
So I’ve had my Viking coffee..I feel much better now.
Friar’s last blog post..Basil the Special Dog (Update Part II)
@Friar,
I hope you set fire to the village after you looted it
You do indeed have to find your own way. I’m trying to find mine. But I *am* taking action and we’ll see what happens. Just reading about others doing it here helps. Again…that vibe thing.
My good friend is having ‘life issues’, shall we say. I can see what she can’t, because I’m looking from the outside. Can I tell her what to do? Of course not. I do give her some insights but I can never say, “You have to do this…” She wouldn’t listen anyway because we all do what we *really* want to in the end. Our own choices. All I can do is be there for her and be her friend. I hope she finds her way though.
Nice post Brett. Simple.
Karen JL’s last blog post..Want Some Free Story Consulting?
You can charge $1000/hr for that shit? Can’t comment…I need to power up powerpoint now…
Yeah, almost everything has been said and written before. If you know that, accept it and actively seek to learn from it, you can get ahead very fast.
“No lamb for the lazy wolf” says it perfectly. People are often way too lazy to accept that the key to success, productivity, life, the universe and everything often consists of decisions, action and perseverance. Once you accept…errr…embrace this, you’re well on your way to succeed.
And yes, I love that cartoon too
Lodewijk’s last blog post..Productivity Secrets
@Karen JL,
Thanks a lot for saying that – I’ve always believed “simple is best”. I really do think we have all we need inside – we just need to find it.
And we need to have friends, and to be friends. We need friends to be here for us as we try to figure things out, and we need to be there for our friends as they do the same. Simple.
@Lode,
Yep, $1000/hr ought to be about right.
(side story – last year the median CEO of the top 100 companies made $70,000 per day – so assuming an 8 hour day, almost $9000 per hour, before tax – let’s say they pay out 50 percent in tax etc. – which they don’t – but lets say they make $5000 per hour take home – paying someone $1000/hour for advice would be like you or I buying lunch out! So get yourself 5 or 10 clients like this, and give them 1 hour of advice each per month – ta da! Instant business plan!)
Now, to action! We have all that we need.
The answers you are seeking are inside of you, and if you look deeply enough, you will find them. – I spent my 30s devouring every single Self Help book in sight. And they were helpful in giving me points to ponder. However, true change occured with I started ‘going within’, in a variety of methods, and I found all the answers were there just waiting to be found. I don’t read the books anymore, as I find them incredibly repetitive. I do enjoy reading some wonderful blogsites I have found because every once in awhile, something that is written gives me a much needed kick the backside, on some action I have let slide.
Urban Panther’s last blog post..The beginning of the end
I’m so pleased to see you recommending going your own way. Everyone who makes it and writes the book only shares the methods that have worked for them. They may work for you and they may not. Yet when we find our own source of enthusiasm we can seize the day.
The other unknown variable is when a method that works five times in a row will suddenly work no more. That’s why it works well to understand that results don’t always come in direct cause/affect fashion. They more frequently come parallel to the actions we take.
Tom Volkar / Delightful Work’s last blog post..Starting Over
So, so true! You can read all the books, attend all the seminars, and buy all the videos but nothing changes until you take action. I think a lot of people are waiting for their pie to fall out of the sky instead of building wings and then flying up there to get it for themselves.
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..Work Your Jaws
@UrbPan and Melissa
Go to Chapters, and you’ll see a plethora of self-help books. Shelves and shelves of them.
I think it’s a sign of the times….our yuppie society is experiencing ANGST, and we want to feel better. We just dont’ know what to do..and there are too many people wanting to find the “Easy answer”.
Dont’ know what to suggest myself.
But if I could write one of those books, I’d jump on the bandwagon and cash in on this trend…!
.
Friar’s last blog post..Basil the Special Dog (Update Part II)
@Panther,
I think perhaps I have done a fast-forward of your 30’s then (in about 18 months). And I agree with you, for me the blogs are still a good thing – especially the comments and the interaction, and the ensuing kick in the behind from the friends we have made.
I’m especially looking forward to being a lab-rat. I figure Alex is going to give us a good run…
@Tom,
Thank you that – I really believe it to be true, as one thing I’ve said often is “use the right tool for the job”. So what works for one, may not work for you – and then as you say, may not work every time.
Kind of like what you’ve said in your post about Starting Over – which is very good, by the way.
@Melissa,
Take action – action that works for *you*. And I know that you already know that. Don’t wait for the pie. Bake it yourself.
@Friar,
Maybe a lot of us have been taught that we need to seek help from an “expert”. I mean, why would anyone value *your* opinion? You don’t have 30 years experience. You don’t have a bunch of papers on the subject.
(You know what I mean. Think “thermowell” – I know it isn’t directly related to this, but in a way, it is – because you know what you want to do with your life, and you’re figuring it out on your own. I can’t tell you what to do, or how to do it. I can only stand by you as your friend.)
But yeah, a lot of folks think they need to get the answers from someone else. But if we look hard enough, we already have the answers.
Brett,
I’ve been MIA much of the day and I come back to one of your best posts. So simple! Take action, and do it your way. The two very hardest things to do. It’s so much easier to be a follower, and make excuses. Thanks for this excellent Viking Friday.
Tom,
“The other unknown variable is when a method that works five times in a row will suddenly work no more.” I love that statement.
That’s exactly why it’s so important to be charting your own course—if the winning methods no longer work, you can make adjustments a lot easier if you, and not some guru, are the one in charge.
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Observing Brilliant Service
This is indeed one of your best posts ever Brett. You perfectly captured the sentiment behind all the self help messages, all the guidance and what not that is out there to help people in need.
If they are not ready to help themselves, then nobody can. Just look at Steph and what she managed to do after SHE realized what she truly wanted.
Friar has indeed captured the meaning of your message with this image too, or was it the other way round? Either way, it’s fab.
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..Sucked Into The Lion’s Lair
Kelly,
How true. That’s why it’s time for most of us to forget the guru and be the guru for ourselves! I know from my own experience and working with coaching client that there is almost always a better, truer answer accessed within than anything that can be found in a book.
The books are good as sources of inspiration – when we ask what does this mean for me, right now.
Tom Volkar / Delightful Work’s last blog post..Starting Over
@Brett – yes, I can’t wait for the experiment to unfold either. I grew up with my brother, and I know how he thinks. You are a very foolish, I mean BRAVE man. Good luck.
Urban Panther’s last blog post..Do you even care who’s looking?
Brett: A lot of my clients have psychological stress injuries and the only way to get them to action even a very simple task is to pound it in their heads over and over again. I’ve read a lot of those self-help books too and find that they are all saying the same thing using different words. They are pounding the message into our heads until we finally click and ‘action’ what we really need to do!
Brett/Friar: You guys are sooo unrefined! I’m drinking my espresso with a nice crema out of an antique porcelaine demi-tasse. But then again, I’m not hungover!
Urbane Lion’s last blog post..Manjigglies III – The Prequel
Ah ha haha ha.
“Refined,” with a fresh post discussing… erm… huevos. You are an urbane scamp.
Kelly’s last blog post..Tip of the Week: Nailing Your Focus
@Kelly – but he does look uber sexy in his patchwork rastafarian pj bottoms, bed head, facial stubble, sipping espresso from my grandmother’s porcelain demi-tasse cup. Urbane scamp indeed. *grin*
Urban Panther’s last blog post..Do you even care who’s looking?
@Kelly,
Hey, you’ve been busy, I imagine – you know, doing real work! Wow – thank you, I’m glad you liked it. I guess I’ve had this one stuck inside of my head for a few weeks, and it finally surfaced.
@Monika,
Thank you – it is something I realized for myself, too, when chatting with everyone out here, or by email (I know I’ve had chats with you, and Steph, and Kelly, and others).
I think it was Friar’s cartoon that helped me pull it all together.
@Panther,
I think I’m a bit of both, which makes it fun – the brave fool…
@Lion,
That is a good point. The ultimate self-help book would probably not be a book at all. Perhaps a one-page how-to with nice drawings. I’m thinking a picture of lazy old me tied to a chair, with my Viking alter-ego pounding on my head with a large hammer – the word ACTION written on the hammer.
(Friar, there’s your next cartoon…)
LOL I have an espresso machine myself. I’m still trying to make the perfect flat white for my wife – I can almost do the art with the milk now – I was able to draw an apple in the crema about a week ago. But all of the baristas in New Zealand we met last year were able to draw the silver fern leaf… wow…
I’d better go look at your latest post now, with a title like that… it has to be good.
@Urbane Lion
Yes…I agree…I am certainly NOT too cultured. I’m not really the demi-tasse expresso-slurping SNAG (Sensitive New Age Guy). .
I”m more of the “Roll up to Win” Timmy Hortons type.
Though if an expresso was put in front of me, I’d drink it.
PS. Okay, now you got my head churning ideas for more cartoons!
Sometimes I have worked with young artists who have had the creativity drained out of them , or tamped down until they had lost their individual vision. It is not hard to deal with. I get out fresh paper, or unroll a huge length of paper on the floor and we set about making anything, all kinds of things, with whatever we want. Just play for about an hour of so. NO JUDGEMENT.
A few sessions of taking someone back to themselves and beautiful things start to happen. Even lovely lambs can appear, drawn from their very hearts, if you urge them to make just the marks that they want to make.
I wonder at all this need for self help…maybe it is “back to self ” help that is most needed.
Janice Cartier’s last blog post..Week’s End
Kelly: Not just any huevos! Smooth ones! How’s that for sophistication!?
Urbane Lion’s last blog post..Manjigglies III – The Prequel
I’m wondering what my spam will look like by Sunday night…
When you combine a title of “everything you always wanted to know about life change” and then the comments turn to balls, you just know it’s going to be pretty damned funny…
(I actually got one spam message already about handjobs…)
Brett,
What a wonderful post! (And please tell Friar to stay off the coffee). As soon as I read your comments, with much laughter, I started to think of Robert Frost’s “The Road not Taken.” A bit heavy for this, but that’s where my head went! It frequently goes to oppositional places.
Thanks for sharing this!
Rita
Rita’s last blog post..Why I Have NEVER Tasted Coffee
Hi Brett – You have a great point. Mind you – if it wasn’t for electricity, we probably wouldn’t have the choice – light and dark would make up our minds for us.
I think it’s a matter of soaking up all the advice – and as you said, working out which works best for us.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..Business Ideas: Can You Keep A Secret?
@Rita,
Thank you very much! (Friar, stay off the coffee…) You know, “The Road not Taken” is still so very awesome… kind of like what I had said above, with the ideas not being all that new sometimes. Frost’s words will always be relevant. Take the one less traveled by…
@Cath,
So true
only the morning light, and the rooster, would get us up…
(PS – I like your new post – it’s so hard to keep secrets sometimes, but you have to…)
“and that made all the difference.”
Rita
Rita’s last blog post..Why I Have NEVER Tasted Coffee
Brett,
Yeah. You have to figure it out for yourself. But the Vikings had their collective. We really don’t have that anymore, unless you live in a little town where everthing is prescribed.
Now, everything seems to be everyone for himself. I still don’t really believe that, but I do think for the most part we are cut off from eachother.
What I like about the Vikings is that they had the stars imprinted on their memories when they went sailing. Maybe that helped them figure it all out.
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..Don’t Cut the Horizon in Two
This post is so true Brett. I just wish it was that easy. I know I have to figure out what works for me, but sometimes it’s easier to just let others do it their way and try to copy it! Of course you don’t learn your lesson and down the road it will be found out, but somewhere something will click and you will be able to do it yourself, or should I say myself! It’s hard, but I know I will get there!
thanks for the reminder!
Love the cartoon!
Jenny’s last blog post..Say What You Need To
@Rita,
Exactly…
@Ellen,
I think our collective may be out here, for some of us. I find I have more “like minded” people out here than I do in my little town! We do have to pull together – we can’t isolate ourselves.
I think you may be right about the stars…
@Jenny,
You’re right – no one said it was easy, and so we can always use some of what the other folks have already done as a baseline. For me, Getting Things Done doesn’t work – or rather, I don’t work with it. Too structured for my life right now. So I choose a simpler approach to organizing myself.
You will get there – I have no doubt!
Change is internal, and once you have a hold of it from inside, the outside is simply a series of small steps. I am reminded of a saying by Zig Ziglar: “Inch by inch everythings a sinch!”
Harmony’s last blog post..Silver Medal – Golden Effort
I am addicted to self-help books and personal development and remain truly fascinated with the journey.
But, I agree that there comes a time when you gotta take those training wheels off and ride for your life!
Davina’s last blog post..My Turn To Be Seen
@Harmony,
So true, isn’t it – once inspiration strikes, the change is inevitable.
@Davina,
This title was so good – of course I’m going to read this post.
I see what you’re saying, that not all strategies are ideal for each person. For example, to gain discipline, some strategies are very effective for some, but won’t be as piercing for others. I think that is true.
But…
At the same time, there are principles to effectiveness. For example, right now I’m reading “How to Win Friends and Influence People” I’m at a section now called, “6 Ways to Make People Like You”
They are based on principles that have worked for people *who have succeeded*.
In other words, principles that have proven effective time and time again.
So while I see what you’re saying, I also believe that learning proven techniques and principles is a wise way to going about getting to the top.
Bamboo,
Oh, for sure – you are right, and I don’t disagree – all of these things are guidelines that have worked in the past.
My point, though, is that they are just that – guidelines – you can take them as a baseline, though I believe you should tweak them to suit your own personality and situation.
If you don’t do that, it might not be as effective as it could be, or – dare I say it – it might not even work at all.
Because I’ve seen that, time and again from a different angle – my current workplace is constantly rolling out new things to try and make the company more effective. They use as the basis what they call industry best practice.
The problem is this – they never tweak it for the very unique company that we are – and time and again, these new initiatives fail.
I’ve only been here for 8 years, and I have seen almost one such new initiative, that was touted as the greatest thing since sliced bread, fail per year I’ve been here.
If you want to make the employees work better, why not ask them what they need, rather than roll out some program that worked at a different company?
So I say it is with the self – I still agree with you, all of these books and so forth are great. I take what they offer, and tweak them for me.
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