Writing – Page 41 – Sarah K Peck

Motivation: surprising truths about what motivates us

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Sarah K Peck

What motivates us? Why do we do what we do? Do you do what you do for money, fame, notoriety, or general good will? (As a blogger and a landscape architect, I can tell you that neither of the things I do are for the big buckaroos. So why do I do what I do? And what motivates us to work hard – or other times, not at all?)

RSA, an organization for arts and “21st century enlightenment,” puts together fabulous videos and graphics about motivation, education, arts, and teaching – among other topics. Below is a link to their well-animated video about what movitates us and why we do what we do. Surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly), autonomy, mastery, and purpose are the three most important factors that drive worker productivity and success, not necessarily monetary incentives or higher pay (sorry, but bonuses just don’t cut it!). Based on research done by MIT and other economics and motivation schemes, this video tells a story about why we do what we do – and what to do to motivate people (and employees).

Here’s what they found, in a nutshell: “Once tasks go beyond rudimentary cognitive skill … larger rewards lead to poorer performance.” In contrast to what fundamental economics principals will tell us (higher rewards = better performance), this finding is somewhat strange. They tested it in multiple countries with different relative incomes (such as rural India versus the United States), and consistently found that higher incentives led to poorer performance. Thus, it’s not how much you get paid for the tasks you do — but whether or not the tasks involve appropriate levels of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. For tasks that are complicated, innovative, and require conceptually-based critical thinking skills, people’s performance is consistently better when they can work on what they want, how they want, whenever they want.

Google offers their employees 20% time to work on their own research projects of their choosing. Supposedly this is how gmail and other applications have been developed – by allowing the employees time to use creatively in their own way. Tell me what you think. Do you get free time at your work? Do you have autonomy? Do you work in an environment that allows you to create – and address – your own challenges, ideas, and inventions?

—

Like what you read? Like this on facebook or subscribe to new posts. Got a question or a comment? Leave it in the comments below. This blog is a work in progress and I appreciate any and all feedback.

Also, you can find me on twitter.

W. O. R. K. (It’s not a dirty word!): Ten good things about work

Posted on November 28, 2010 by Sarah K Peck

Well, it’s back to the grind – and unfortunately, I won’t be able to post as often as I’d like over the next few weeks as I wrap up some exciting research and writing projects elsewhere (more on that to come, soon!). Here’s a post I wrote about the grind of work from late last year, before I started this website. When the days get long and the work is intense, here are 10 reasons why we do it. Stay motivated and keep up the hard work, everyone!

___

W. O. R. K. (It’s not a dirty word!) Ten Good Things about WORK.

First of all, we all say it: work sucks sometimes. So many of the common complaints are about work. Work is hard. Almost everyone utters the phrase “I hate work” at some point or another. It’s easy to sit down and list the bad things about your job – but often it’s hard to remember the positive aspects of working. Believe it or not, there are positive aspects to having a job and doing work for someone else. Perhaps it’s time you changed the mantra from “I hate work,” to something like, “work wasn’t so bad today,” or, “Man, I’m tired but I certainly did work hard.” Here is a list of things that are good about having a job – and ways to stay positive when you’re having a rough week. Ten valuable things about work

1. A steady paycheck. Let’s be honest. Money is nice, and receiving a regular paycheck is an excellent way to be rewarded for what you do. Money gives you flexibility, power of decision making, the ability to consume, and it sets you on the path towards financial security. Of course, if you’re spending all of your money, or haven’t learned how to invest wisely yet – you probably owe it to yourself to learn a bit more about what to do with the money you have once you earn it. Still, having an income is a nice perk.

2. Meeting new people and making contacts. Throughout the course of your job, you will meet people inside and outside of your profession. Depending on the type of job you do, you may connect with the three people in your adjacent cubicles, you may be out giving client presentations on a daily basis, or you might be traveling and handing out your business cards left and right. These people are the foundation of your work life, and they are the network that you will establish yourself in. Enjoy meeting new people, finding out what they do, and staying open to the possibility of future interactions.

3. Learning new skills and professional development. Most careers today offer some form of continuing education, professional development, or on-site learning. Just by working – that is, showing up every day to do a task – you are probably accruing a valuable skill set. Keep your mind open for new opportunities to learn and ways to stay fresh in your field. Your investment now will pay off later – perhaps in a new task, a new set of responsibilities, or even a new job opportunity in the future.

4. Benefits, bonuses and perks. Your office comes equipped with many little perks that we quickly take for granted. Even the morning coffee is a perk. If it’s an especially rough day, remember that the papertowels, the kleenex and the hand lotion in the bathroom are all small joys in today’s world – you just saved $15.79 at Walgreens because your work provided these small tidbits. Maybe it’s time to smile because your boss bought you lunch again! And beyond the little items, your employer may be contributing to your 401K, stock shares or other investments, yearly bonuses, paid days off, holidays, and sick days. Take a peek in your employee manual and review all the perks that you take for granted in your day-to-day work life. These are things you’d be missing if you were without your corporate job – even that morning coffee.

5. A sense of accomplishment and pride. Work gives you something to do, and no matter how long or arduous the day, you’ll get to the end of it with a sense of accomplishment, frustration, happiness, or exhaustion. Congratulations, you have just done something, and you’ve probably done it fairly well.

6. It’s what you do – a sense of identity. How do you describe to someone who you are? By telling them what you do. For better or worse, work is something that helps shape who you are – both for yourself and to other people around you.

7. Being part of something bigger than yourself. Work is about being a part of a larger group (or company) that together accomplishes something individuals probably cannot do alone. Being part of a business involves teamwork, collaboration, and communication. It may take as long as 2 to 3 years into your job before you see the payoff from your daily grind. At one point you will have a day where the project or task you’re working on gets done and you can look back and reflect on all of your hard work and contributions. New employees often jump right into the middle of a project and don’t have the long-range view of what it takes for a project to reach completion. Achieving that first milestone – and begining to see your work have an impact – can help get you out of the “I hate work” rut. If you’re still in the early months at your job, look around at your peers. Take a look at the work that’s being done in your office or with your company, and realize that no matter how small or trivial the day-to-day tasks, you are a part of a larger office that’s accomplishing a great deal of work.

8. Providing a valuable service to someone. When you walk into the office today, remember that you are doing something that somebody wants. As a lifeguard, for example, you’re protecting and potentially saving lives. As a waitress, you’re catering to someone’s pleasant experience and evening out. As a green services consultant, you’re helping “Mr. Smith” contribute to a greener, more sustainable world. Every time you perform your service – no matter what service it is that you do – you are doing something that someone else wants.

9. Helping capitalism – and the economy – go ’round. If it’s macroeconomics that really gets you going, perhaps you can stay motivated by knowing your work efforts – your daily spending, the tax dollars the government takes out of your paycheck, the miles you drive in your car, and the work you do for others – puts money back into our economy and funds government services such as infrastructure, education and unemployment insurance. So, congrats! You just helped build a road.

10. Work gives you something to talk about. If nothing else, work gives you something to talk about. When you leave at the end of the day, whether you hit up a bar, head home, or meet up with up with folks, you will eventually talk about the things you did during the day. “What did you do today?” is one of the most popular questions in our country, probably right after the famous “what do you do?” question used between people who are being introduced for the first time. Whether you talk about a boss you hate, a silly co-worker, or the dreadfully boring task you’re assigned to, you’ll probably spend a lot of your time talking about your job. The good news? At least you have something to talk about.

Happy working everyone! and 10 cheers for work.

What are your favorite things about your job? What are your least favorite? If you’re new to water falling upwards, and liked this post, you can subscribe to receive new posts here.

—

Also, you can find me on twitter.

Four Ways To Tap Into Your Own Creativity And Inspiration

Posted on November 18, 2010August 12, 2015 by Sarah K Peck

Creativity, innovation, and brilliance: why do some people have it and other people don’t? Creativity and innovation are the source of new business ideas, excellence in entrepreneurship, and talented individual success stories. It would be nice to assume that creative people are “just talented,” and fall back on the assumption that “you either have it or you don’t.”

The truth is, the most creative people understand what it takes to be creative – diligence, persistence, hard work and perhaps a bit of a struggle – and tap into various sources of inspiration and known methods for productivity.

Behind every success story – from Steve Jobs of Apple and Bill Gates of Microsoft, to Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook– there is an individual or a team working hard and following these three tenants of productivity: they understand sources of inspiration; they know how to create moments where creativity can flourish, and they certainly understand that behind every creative idea is unwavering determination, productivity, and a whole lot of hard work.

Look around: there’s inspiration hidden in the people you surround yourself with.

My number one source of inspiration? The people and the networks around you. If you want to be inspired, just watch interesting people, follow talented businesses, engage in new activities, and commit yourself to learning something new.

Become a student of what you want to learn. People are inherently fascinating. Bruce Desilva, a novelist who teaches part-time at Columbia University, describes people as “endlessly interesting.” When asked what inspires him, he replied:

“People do. Human beings are endlessly interesting if you just learn to pay attention.”

In business, most successful ventures start with simple ideas about how to improve upon something that already exists. Red Box and Netflixtook movie rentals to the next level by changing the way that movies were delivered to the customer – offering an additional layer of convenience. The idea of renting movies was not new; how they were made available was changed in a way pleasing to more people.

Paypal and Ebay took the sales and exchange of goods and items to a new front by opening up a virtual marketplace and reconfiguring how we exchange money. Facebook and other social networking sites reconfigured how we think about networking – replacing excel networking spreadsheets with a system that manages our networks and allows “friends” to update and exchange their personal information with us – for free.

Pete’s Coffee and Starbucks Coffee are profiting wildly from the sale of a cup of joe mixed with varying amounts of sugar – not a new invention. Want to make a few dollars? Bottle some water or brew some coffee. Hundreds of companies are doing it. The premise is the same: people and businesses are inspired by the world around them. Each of these ideas began with several concepts that weren’t “new.” Most complaints are actually opportunities to make something new and better by fixing or improving upon something that’s existing.

Cultivate Great Moments for Inspiration.

How do you get that “ah-hah!” moment? In each human mind, we revisit our understanding of the world as it exists from time to time. The mind is the most creative during sustained, semi-focused activity. Here are a few moments that creative people use for cultivating great thinking:

Drifting off to sleep: the mind, as it settles and unwinds, often is the most creative during this “unplanned thought time.” Many artists and writers keep notebooks by their bedsides to capture these moments.
Meditation. Practicing putting the mind into a relaxed, free-flowing state has been shown to induce more creative thinking.
Exercise. Many marathon runners and elite athletes describe exercise as a “sense of focus beyond everyday thinking.”
Walking. Some of the greatest philosophers were known to have many of their conversations while walking.

On a more personal level, here are a few more things that help me to be creative:

Driving. If it’s not in traffic, I find that driving, out on the open road, particularly scenic drives or roads that are familiar to me — can really be a place to let my mind wander. I’ve taken to carrying a tape recorder in my car, to “write down” the thoughts as they float in and out of my brain.

Swimming and running help me think by reducing the amount of ambient noise and clutter surrounding me (can’t carry an iphone in the water just yet!), and letting me get into a different rhythm of thinking that’s more in tune to the strokes of swimming or the pounding pavement of running. Sometimes I carry my “dumb phone” with me while I’m running, so I can stop and send a short text message to myself if I figure out a new idea on the way.

Sitting outside or walking through quite, green spaces. Being in a garden or an outdoor setting is lovely. It helps me think. Finding the parks and spaces to think – in your city, rural area, or suburban area – and changing it up from time to time – can really help kick-start your brainwaves.

Watch Out For Places and Spaces That REDUCE Inspiration

Just as there are activities that are conducive to creative thinking, there are also sustained activities that are not advantageous to free-form, imaginative thinking. Activities that are over-stimulating or entertaining by their nature (watching television, spending time in front of a computer) can, depending on how and how often they are used, reduce the creative impulses.

Unfortunately, I don’t always think in the same free-flowing way when i sit behind a computer. (The irony is, that i’ll sit behind the laptop screen, wordpress framework in hand, trying to come up with a post, and these are usually the worst posts. )

Furthermore, interesting research by Modupe Akinola, a professor at Columbia Business School and Joe Forgas of the University of New South Wales, Australia, suggest that our dispositions and our emotional framework can influence our creative impulses. In “The Dark Side of Creativity,” Akinola finds that being somewhat melancholy can actually improve your creativity. The research suggests that a sad mood can make people better at judging, accuracy, and observing the world around them.

Our creative challenges need diligence, persistence, and focus. Sometimes struggling through an idea — and working consistently on a hard problem, absent from distractions, despite being tired or frustrated — can be when we find the best insights.

Finally: Putting the work behind the inspiration.

Not every moment of brilliance comes during a casual stroll on a beautiful sunny day without any effort. Creative people don’t sit lazily by a lake, waiting for the next great idea. Most great inventors and thinkers toil away at their ideas, producing new iterations daily, until they figure out something that works. Perhaps hard work facilitates a sense of angst or anguish – stimulating further creativity through some emotional strain, as suggested by the research of Akinola and Forgas.

Even the most creative people forget about the anguish of the process – how difficult it can be to create – after they’ve arrived at a solution or design that works. When the inspiration doesn’t come — and sometimes we have to create even when we’re not in the thick of inspiration — get outside, talk to other people, throw ideas around, read, look, question, and wonder.

And above all, iterate. Iterate, iterate, iterate.

People that are productive, putting their ideas to work, find successful ideas over time – through careful consideration, reflection, and hard work. Robert Sutton describes it well: “The truth is, creativity isn’t about wild talent as much as it is about productivity. To find a few ideas that work, you need to try a lot that don’t. It’s a pure numbers game.”

Towards legacies: what do you want your future to be?

Posted on November 9, 2010July 21, 2011 by Sarah K Peck

This post was part of a blog series on Brazen Careerist being sponsored by Entrustet in 2010. They asked Brazen members to answer the following question: What do you want your legacy to be? Here’s my response…

Image from AFM

What is a legacy?

Every day in college, I got in the pool. We swam laps back and forth across a 25-yard, under-heated, under-ventilated pool. Our coach, a looming, 6’-7” Italian man with athletic sneakers that made my hands look tiny, would cross his arms, stare down at us in the water and dare us to dream about our athletic legacy.

“What will YOUR legacy be?” he would ask, pacing up and down the side of the pool. “What are your biggest dreams, your aspirations, your hopes, your ambitions? When you leave college, what will be left of your talent? More importantly: how do you want to be remembered?”

This question of legacy drives us to define ourselves, define our goals, and think about our daily activities beyond the task-list of the day or the errands of the week. What do our cumulative activities add up to? Are we driven by money, by respect, by a desire to help or change the world, by a passion for what we do? In short, why do we do the things that we do?

And after we’re done doing them, what will our accomplishments add up to?

In the pool, I would touch the wall, stop for a quick gasp of air, check the clock and push off again, driving myself to swim faster, to do better, to reach farther. Some days, I would fail miserably, and my body would cramp up, check out, and stop performing in the ways that I wanted to. Other days, my mind would wrestle with the workout and push myself beyond what I was capable of. My coach, ever the inspiration, would bend down to the pool’s end, grab my shoulders and look me in the eye, and remind me to reach further than I was currently dreaming. “Stop dreaming small,” he would remind me, “And start dreaming big. Now.”

Not many people ask this of themselves on a daily basis: “who is the best YOU that you can be? Are you sure? Can you be even better than you dream of?”

Yesterday’s legacies.

In a blink, college was over, and those four years of intense training and shivering in the cold pool was done. My ten-workout weeks are done, and I’m beyond the pool now, and my legacy is what it is: I was a swimmer. It was a phenomenal experience. I was lucky to have this training, mentally and physically, towards reaching for challenges and defining yourself as a competitor, as a person, as an athlete, and as a teammate. The shadow of my name will be left in a few record books, perhaps for a few years, until a faster swimmer comes along and replaces my names in those books. I’ll tell the stories a few times – here, to my future children, to people I meet, to peer swimmers. But that was yesterday’s legacy.

Here’s the thing. You already have at least one legacy: your legacy is the print that you’ve already left behind, in the people you’ve met, the work you’ve done, the words you’ve spoken. Perhaps your current legacy is still in its infancy, or you are still hard at work in the beginning of a project that won’t make it big for several years. But regardless of where you are, your legacy is being made, right now. If all your work were to stop today, what would your legacy be?

You are what you do. Take a look around: do you like the waves you’re making on the world? People ask this question about legacies, because it helps us evaluate what we do and frame goals for the future.

What are tomorrow’s ambitions? What are your dreams? (Image from here)

Today’s legacies.

Today, my legacy starts again, in a different way. I’m more than just a swimmer or a runner (although many of my posts talk about athletics, running, swimming and triathlons as a metaphor for other life lessons).

I am a writer. I am a designer. I want to be an inspirational speaker and motivator. I think about complex problems and processes and apply design thinking to real-world problems. And more than anything, I want to be a teacher or a public speaker – because I love explaining things to people.

I am fortunate to have great bosses and mentors who challenge me to define myself, to define my goals, and to discover what I’m meant to contribute in this world. I work full time as a designer in a great office in Sausalito, California. I love design – but it’s not enough. And for some reason, this is transparent to my mentor.

In my annual review a year ago – we debated the direction of my future. There wasn’t any holding back: “Well Sarah,” my boss asked, a man with more years’ of experience than my current age: “Do you want to be a landscape architect?” I stammered for a minute, not sure what to say. He continued: “we are an office of landscape architects, so in order to do well – don’t you think you ought to want to be a landscape architect?

The scariest part for me, was answering honestly: I still don’t know. After a three-year masters program and several years in the field, I couldn’t say decisively. I’m not sure I can convey how terrifying it is to stammer out – to the people who’ve hired you – that you’re still not sure that this is what you want to do.

But I said this, to my boss: I’m not convinced that I want to be a landscape architect for the rest of my life. I will be embedded in this field – because I love design, I love figuring out problems, and cities and urban spaces fascinate me – but I’m not sure that I will continue down the ‘prototypical path’ of a landscape architect.

It was terrifying to admit that I haven’t figured it out, that I don’t know what I will do, that I’m not fixed on one legacy. And sometimes it’s really hard to understand what to do next if I’m not sure where I’m headed.

Today, your legacy is a combination of the dreams, aspirations, and goals you have about your future. Not all of it will go according to plan. And for many of us – those of us in our 20s and 30s and young in the field – we’re still figuring out how to carve our path, what the best use of our talents is, and what we are passionate about. A lot of it is trial and error, experience, and making mistakes along the way.

The point of this story is that it’s okay not to know what your legacy will be – it takes time to figure it out. Each year, you’ll whittle down more as you grow, learn, change, and understand yourself.

My boss was positive in his feedback. As a young employee, he encouraged me to look closely at what I like doing and why I like doing it. “You are curious to me,’ he said, “because I’m not sure I fully understand your point of view as a designer yet.” I laughed – because I was thinking the same thing. “Me too!” I replied “I am still figuring it out – and I think that’s okay.” Being honest about my learning process was huge.

What are your dreams? What makes you dance?

Multiple legacies: making waves

A legacy is something you leave behind; something you’ve contributed or given in some way. You will, undoubtedly, make multiple contributions throughout your lifetime. Each of us will have a lasting impression on our families and our close peers; you will contribute to your professional network, and for others, your contributions will reach out towards the greater world. Some contributions will be physical, built works, or products, and others will be less tangible – perhaps academic prowess, analytical theories, or words and messages of inspiration.

We probably won’t connect the dots of our legacies until after we’ve traveled through the projects and paths still ahead of us. Each experience, exploration, and adventure will contribute to the people we become and the thoughts and ideas we leave behind. In everything that you do, there will be ripples of your legacy, touching others. You may have multiple legacies.

Tomorrow’s legacy: future ambitions

A year later, I had another review. This time, I could elucidate a little bit more of what my goals are in my career(s): I want to work 25% in design, 25% writing, 25% researching and reading, and 25% teaching and presenting. This isn’t a tangible goal about a product or place that I want to be in the future. This is a process that I’d like to use towards building my legacy. This is the methodology and means towards some unforeseeable ends. I can’t map it out all in front of me right now – because if I knew in advance everything I’d be doing, well – that would be boring.

And I’m not sure I can do it all at once, I continued. But I hope to have at least 40 years, give or take, depending on where and how much I work. And so, for now, I’m focused on writing and design. Because I love both – and I love learning about both. But I can’t wait to be teaching, giving presentations, and sharing information with the world.

I want to be an inspiration to others. I want to challenge myself to be the best person I can be. I want to write – about what I’ve learned, so that other people can benefit. I want to teach and share information. I want to be a positive impact on the lives of people around me. I want to solve complex problems and design solutions to make the physical world a better place. I want to be amazing.

And yes, I want to have a legacy.

I’m just not sure quite what it is yet.

And that’s okay.

—

Also, you can find me on twitter.

Social media for business: presentation

Posted on November 4, 2010 by Sarah K Peck

I’m working on a bit of research for my current company on social media as a business tool. Clearly, social media tools have been widely adopted by many businesses – but for some reason, within the design world, especially in architecture and landscape architecture, social media strategies have not been as readily adopted.

Here’s a great presentation on Social Media for businesses. I love the graphic layout and style. Beyond the visual resonance of the presentation, however, the slideshow makes several good points. Adopting a targeted social media strategy for your business can make sense in creating an audience, gathering feedback, and giving a voice to your clients.

What social media tools do you use for your business? Are some of the tools more time-intensive than others? Which targeted audiences create the most interest in your site or product? What lessons have you learned? Check out the presentation, below, and feel free to leave ideas in the comments.

Social Media for Business

View more presentations from Presentation Advisors.

—

Also, you can find me on twitter. I’m terrible at twitter. Maybe you can help. :)

Happy birthday, happy Halloween – and enough with the stuff!

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Sarah K Peck

Sometimes I feel a bit like this pumpkin — squeezed full of food, overburdened with stuff, maxed out with things to do. (Maybe I’ve had a bit too much Halloween candy, too!). It’s been quite a busy fall – and this week is no exception. I’m packing and moving into a new apartment, it’s Halloween (happy Halloween everyone!) and my birthday was Saturday (Happy twenty-seven to me! How did I get so darn old already? – more on that in another post).

Moving is a great time for reflection, for cleaning out the closet, for looking at what you own, what you need, and what is holding you back or weighing you down. In addition, my birthday – the time of year when I get gifts and my people ask me what I want to celebrate getting older – feels kind of funny this year.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking somewhat aimlessly about things that I might want for my birthday, but each time I draft a new list, I can’t really pick out one thing that I want, or a reason why I should really be buying any MORE stuff. In fact, I’m getting more and more depressed by this exercise of listing all of these things that I want – as though I didn’t have enough stuff already. I was dreaming of a new iphone, some new running shoes, gadgets for my car … the list goes on. But we can always use more stuff – there will be new gadgets, tools, books, bikes, and things to play with and buy. And, each thing that you buy will beget the need for more stuff – in an endless cycle of awesome consumerism. When does it stop?

Moving is compounding the fact that I just have a lot of stuff. I have boxes and boxes of STUFF.

And so, enough. I have enough stuff. I’m putting down the wish lists and the dreams of things that I don’t have – there will always be things that I don’t have. If I were to own all of the possessions in the world, I would end up buried in a pile of stuff.

I have enough stuff. I have more than enough. I have so much stuff, that I ought to give most of it away and look back on the things I own and cherish them.

This birthday, my presents are going to be simple – and while I might benefit from them, I hope that my presents aren’t all about me. Sometimes, birthdays feel kind of selfish. But in the spirit of making birthday lists, this is my wish list this year:

I’d like to (1) find a way to use the stuff I already own, (2) Find ways to celebrate without spending any money, (3) Donate Stuff I don’t need to people and places that can use it, and (4) Support an entrepreneur in a venture to change the world.

Dear Birthday-Santa, I’d only like 4 things, please:

Part 1. Find a way to use the Stuff I already 0wn. One of the blessings of moving – and moving often, as I’ve recently done – is that I can look around at what I own and how much space I take up in the world. In looking at the boxes and boxes of things I have, I’ve decided that my birthday list will include finding useful things to do with the stuff I already own. Sometimes it’s as simple as looking around us and appreciating the things we already own. Here are five things that I love – and I already have them:

My running shoes. I own running shoes. Running is free. I don’t need to be a member of a club or go to track practice or do anything other than put my shoes on, and run. I can run every day of my life, and I never have to pay anyone to do it. If my running shoes get old, I can run barefoot on the grass. Anyone who tells you that you need “stuff” to go running is wrong. People can hike or walk in sandals, in socks, barefoot on the beach, or with old, crappy shoes. Sure, a nice pair of shoes once a year is a big boost, but the important thing is going for the run – not buying the shoes. And the thing that makes you feel good is going for the run – certainly not the shoes. So, for my birthday, I’m going on a run.
A bike. Biking isn’t quite free, but it comes close. I feel exceptionally lucky to have an awesome, awesome bike, some rad shoes, and a helmet. I already have it. What I don’t do is actually ride it. My birthday present to myself is going to be a fun ride one weekend morning in November. An even better present is going to be getting up early and going for a long ride before work.
Yoga. I have a yoga mat. Actually, I have 2 – I really don’t need them both, if anyone wants one. I just learned several new sequences and poses (LOVE them), and I’m going to be practicing these new sequences a lot over the next few weeks. In a word: YAY.
Swim cap, goggles, and the San Francisco Bay. Now, I actually just lost my last towel. So perhaps I may borrow a beach towel if anyone has any extras to spare. But regardless. Nothing but a mile walk stands between me and Aquatic Park. Time for some cold swims. :)
An apartment in San Francisco. I’m so excited to be moving back, I can’t stand it. (For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been living temporarily close to work for a while, so it’s exciting to be moving back into an apartment again – especially in one of my favorite cities). I’m glad that I’ll have my own room again. And, while I’m donating a bunch of excess Stuff I don’t need – I’ll also be happy to see some of my Stuff again (kitchen appliances! and my own bookshelves!! and dressers! and a bed that, well, fits me! yay!!!!). That is probably the best birthday present to myself – better than something else new to fill my time.

Part 2. Celebrate without spending excessive amounts of money. I’d like to ask only for things that don’t cost any money. Time is the most precious resource, and if you would spend your time with me, that is the best gift of all. Sometimes we forget all the great things we can do without money and stuff. Here are some great things to do for a birthday: Go on a bike ride. Make coffee at home and sit in a sunny window. Chat with your friends. Read old magazines. Explore new parks (in San Francisco, there are lots of great parks). Go for a hike. Visit a free museum. Find a new library. Explore the waterfront.

Part 3. Unburden myself of the stuff I don’t need: Donate half of my closet. In a Big Closet Clean-Out, I’m going to be donating half of my clothing and shoes to charity for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Over the next few weeks I’m going to get rid of half of it, using the 2-closet trick. I’m putting all of my clothes into the hall closet. As I use it, I’ll move it into my bedroom closet. What I don’t use, I’ll donate.

Sometimes we get overburdened with stuff, and if you have piles of laundry in front of your closet, with loads of clothes pouring off of your shelves, we should wonder: do we really need all of this stuff? How much stuff should we have in our closets, anyways? What do we really need?

Getting rid of the stuff I don’t need – or that I have too much of – will be nice. Some of the great places that take your clothes are Salvation Army, Good Will, or even consignment shops, if you’re interested in making a small amount of money from your nicer items. (Although see #4 for what to do with that money!)

Part 4. Fund an Entrepreneur. I think that Entrepreneurs – like Chris Guillebeau (a solo-preneur), Ramit Sethi, Jenny Blake, Leo Babauta, or Jonah Lehrer (these are a few of my favorite bloggers) – are the key to creating new jobs and challenging us to think about truly making ourselves and the world a better place. But throughout the world, many people can’t afford the simple luxuries that we have access to – (and I’m really thankful to be able to live in a beautiful city, have access to the internet and cable television, to have a great education, and so many wonderful friends and family) – and so it’s important to me to help fund equally brilliant people who lack the means to put their ideas into action. KIVA is a great resource for this, and this year, I’ll be donating a small percentage of my salary towards the ambitions of five entrepreneurs.

I feel such a weight off of my shoulders from this great Fall Clean-Out. This move is especially poignant for me, becuase I feel like I’m finally Sarah again. I’m back in my favorite city in the world (San Francisco!), I’m back doing the things I love doing, and I’m excited to have an apartment to call my own again. What a beautiful present.

I’m happy to say that for my birthday, I’m giving away more things than I’m receiving – finally. Enough with the Stuff. I have more than I could ever possibly need – and I feel so lucky that my life is so blessed in so many ways.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

—

Also, you can find me on twitter.

Book Notes (Double Feature!): The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath, by Robert Samuelson

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Sarah K Peck

What the heck is inflation? And why is it important? Does it matter for my daily life – getting a job, finding good schools, or figuring out what roads to fix?

In the second part of this two-part review, I look at two books that detail the historical development of money and federal policy and why they are relevant for understanding today’s economic climate. In a time when many people are having in finding or keeping work – the 99’ers, as 60 minutes described them last week – understanding where money comes from and how economies work is critical not just for policymakers – but for everyone.

In book two, “The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath” (by Robert Samuelson), Samuelson looks at federal policies in relation to the Great Inflation of the 1970s. Ferguson and Samuelson both offer relatively conservative approaches for understanding federal policy and provide a framework for understanding how local economic decisions fit into the larger political picture.

Book 2: The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath: The Past and Future of American Affluence

The Great Inflation describes more recent U.S. economic history — the rise and fall of double-digit inflation in the second half of the 20th century — demonstrating that economic growth is fundamental to quality of life and that government intervention can often have complex, unintended results.

Samuelson tells the story of the “new economics” of the post-World War II era in the form of the Phillips Curve, which was the idea that higher inflation could be traded for lower unemployment, or vice versa. Under this doctrine, the Kennedy administration attempted to exchange higher inflation for lower unemployment. By striving towards “perfect employment” (the idea that only 4% of the working world would be out of a job at any given moment — considered perfect because it accounts for people changing jobs or between jobs but who aren’t permanently unemployed) – Samuelson details the consequences of striving to have too much of a good thing: rapidly increasing prices, also known as inflation.

Over time, however, the Johnson, Nixon, and Carter administrations experienced stagnated growth and ballooning inflation; keeping unemployment below four percent was unattainable because the cost was ever-increasing inflation. Inflation – the rapid rise in the cost of goods and services in a relatively short time – is considered an economic evil because it erodes your consumer purchasing power. Over time, your dollars buy less – and your confidence in the marketplace is weakened. Thus, the view that good economic policy promoted “full employment” led to spiraling inflation and eroding prices, consumer confidence, and morale.

The Reagan administration effectively curbed inflation, Samuelson argues, when the Federal Reserve suddenly increased interest rates, sending the economy into a deep recession that lasted through 1984. While ultimately ending the consequences of inflation, the Reagan administration was blamed for inducing a painful recession. Which is worse – inflation or a recession? Samuelson suggests that the social cost of inflation was likely greater than the effects of the recession.

Samuelson further argues that too much meddling — i.e., “efforts to remedy obvious economic shortcomings” or “the curse of good intentions” — can actually make matters worse. Sweeping reform or change is difficult to pull off successfully. The only certainty of capitalism and democratic governments, says Samuelson, is uncertainty, and the misinformed policies of several administrations led to greater and greater inflation. After “the Great Inflation” ended, the U.S. entered an age of unprecedented affluence, followed by massive economic expansion and income growth.

Quite interestingly, Samuelson concludes by predicting that the U.S. economy will soon enter a period of “affluent deprivation,” defined as a “period of slower economic growth that doesn’t satisfy what people regard as reasonable private wants and public needs.” Published in 2008, Samuelson’s predictions about the state of the economy are perhaps visible today.

Conclusions?

Both books iterate that the complex cog of capitalism has historically functioned rather well despite the cyclical recessions inherent in the system. The authors suggest that too much governmental interference often has unintended consequences, regardless of how virtuous the intentions.

The good (and bad) news is that the future is uncertain; we don’t know the complex outcomes of our economic, social, and political developments. “So many factors (technology, management, competition, workers’ skills) influence productivity (so that) the future is always uncertain,” writes Samuelson. He suggests that “skepticism ought to qualify and restrain our reformist impulses,” and our planning approaches and methodologies should likewise be cautious and pragmatic. Policymakers hoping to promote or “fix” economic conditions must consider an important question: What are the unanticipated consequences?

Samuelson’s The Great Inflation highlights a topic relatively ignored in both economics as well as policy. Yet The Great Inflation suffers from an overly narrow approach to history, and the story of inflation fails to include the influence of Alan Greenspan in the 1990s and the technology/finance bubbles and bursts at the turn of the century. Inflation is still relevant and pervasive, affecting home prices, businesses, and finance today. In all of these areas, Samuelson’s message — be cautious of too much governmental influence — is still an important one.

The two books in this review are highly relevant in that they provide a historical context for understanding federal legislation and the current economic crisis, although perhaps neither book offers quite enough detail to set the stage for concrete policy or decision-making in today’s world. Read Samuelson’s book for an interesting perspective on a relatively ignored topic in recent history – inflation and the influence of changing inflation on economic policy in the 1950s through 1990s.

___

These articles are adapted from a longer review written in 2009 for The New Planner, a publication by the American Planning Association.

The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath: The Past and Future of American Affluence, by Robert J. Samuelson. Random House, 2008

Book Notes (Double Feature!): The Ascent of Money, by Niall Ferguson

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Sarah K Peck

Two recent books take a look at the historical development of money and federal policy in the United States. “The Ascent of Money” (by Niall Ferguson) traces the history of currency as it relates to the history of civilization, while “The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath” (by Robert Samuelson) looks at federal policies in relation to the Great Inflation of the 1970s. (THAT’s a mouthful.) In this two-part review, I look at both books as they attempt to explain how money works and how we got to where we are today.

Book 1: The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

What is money, and where did it come from? This is the basic question Ferguson tries to answer in The Ascent of Money. In a broad historical overview of the development of money – and the subsequent creation of loans, cash, and power – Ferguson traces the history of money until the near-present day.

(His historical analysis does not fully include some of the more recent changes in the way we all regularly use money, such as instantaneous banking and money transfers. Paypal, as a prominent example, changed money tremendously by allowing people to transfer money nearly instantly at a fraction of the cost as “regular” banks. To watch the 4 hour documentary with Ferguson, check out this PBS broadcast.)

The Ascent of Money traces the history of money in parallel to the development of civilization, showing how cash is inherently linked to the creation of countries, to the advent and success of wars, to the rise and fall of societies, and to the modern development of banking, finance, and markets.

Ferguson makes the case that countries that have embraced the historic inventions of borrowing and lending, bond and stock markets, insurance, home ownership, and modern financial instruments have done better than countries that have not. Further, he reiterates that capitalism — despite its uncertainties and fluctuations — is the foundation for economic innovation, growth, and stability. Many of the inventions related to money have generated new businesses, growth, and opportunities — much like the modern-day inventions of PayPal and applications related to money transferring.

The wary person may initially view capitalism as potentially destructive, and Ferguson agrees: finance and business are tools of both creation and destruction. In good times in a modern economy, around one in 10 U.S. companies fails every year.

Capitalism, much like biological evolution, uses regeneration as a method for creating better businesses and eliminating weaker institutions in the market. Ferguson’s best point is that finance is evolutionary — that many, many firms fail, and that “creative destruction” and “survival” are hallmarks of any healthy economic system. Failure, in its evolutionary sense, is the elimination of businesses that aren’t stable and won’t survive.

Throughout The Ascent of Money, Ferguson demonstrates that even small government changes in the United States (in interest rates, incentives, and monetary and fiscal policy) have had far-reaching implications across the country. For example, federal policies encouraging home ownership equality for low-income families in the 1990s were one factor in the recent explosion of foreclosures and housing decline. These policies, Ferguson argues, were designed as an incentive to promote accessibility to the “American Dream,” yet failed to account for the inappropriate riskiness of the new loans.

Ferguson’s final argument is against government “meddling,” in which he suggests that the natural business cycle should be allowed to control market forces and influence economic growth. Rather than “rush to stabilize the financial system,” governments should allow recessions and busts to occur, as they are the self-correcting mechanisms of good capitalist economies. Financial history shows again and again that economies and financial models are inherently self-regulating. The recent economic recession should be taken as proof that the system is working.

The positive results of economic growth include job availability; reduced poverty; increased spending on education, art, and the environment; better health care; greater social mobility; and greater tolerance of diversity. Unfortunately, the costs of self-correcting economies are predominantly social: job losses, labor changes, company failures, and relocations, all of which affect the quality of life for the individual. Yet the alternative — excessive regulation and interference — could be more damaging by limiting growth and reducing economic stability. Economic growth — and financial markets — are tools for long-term prosperity, despite cyclical setbacks and uncertainties in the system.

Understanding the importance of promoting economic growth — and reviewing historic policy changes (such as home-ownership loans, insurance regulation, development incentives, and the rules and regulations of banking) — sets the stage for planners to understand the trade-offs inherent in public policy. Ferguson’s conservative arguments may be debatable (as they are some of the core values that differentiate Republicans from Democrats) but his history is fascinating and the case he makes for reduced intervention is solid.

Conclusions?

While Ferguson stutters to a start in his long-winded history, The Ascent of Money is worth a read if you skim the first chapters and focus on the later writing. His prescience for understanding the implications of the housing, credit, and financial crises should be applauded; his cautionary lessons in financial policy should be heeded. Skim the rest if you have any time for interesting history.

For part two of this book series, check out the second post – Book Notes (Double Feature!): The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath.

___

These articles are adapted from a longer review written in 2009 for The New Planner, a publication by the American Planning Association.

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, by Niall Ferguson. Penguin, 2008.

If, by Rudyard Kipling

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Sarah K Peck

“If,” by Rudyard Kipling, is a poem that speaks to keeping your head during the difficult times, in staying true to your work efforts when sh*t hits the fan, and about maintaining integrity even when the world starts getting dicey. It’s about persevering through the tough times. For some reason, it really hit home this month. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I ran across this poem through a friend’s link to an article about Chrissie Wellington, an English triathlete (and personal hero of mine) who describes some of her key strategies for preparing and training for some of her biggest races. The top ten tips, published in Shape magazine and Active.com, are applicable to both race preparation as well as life. I was inspired – not just by her dedication to the sport and her passion for doing what she does – but also by the poem that she writes on her water bottle when she races. It’s not during mile 1 or mile 5 that you need motivation. It’s during mile 30, when your blisters are oozing, your mind is wondering why you’re even doing what you’re doing, you’re not seeing clearly, and you’re outside, alone. For anyone in the trenches of hard work – here’s a poem for perseverance.

You are / whatever you say / you are.

Posted on October 14, 2010September 26, 2013 by Sarah K Peck

Perhaps Eminen had it right when he said, “I am / whatever you say / I am.” We are what we say we are. YOU are what you say you are. (Or maybe he’s completely wrong, because he’s suggesting that his identity is whatever other people say he is – so why argue with others, and just accept your identity as defined by others?) For the purposes of this post, I can’t get this idea out of my head: that I am whatever I say I am. And what we say about ourselves matters.

Sometimes our cognitive frameworks (put simply: our minds), get in the way of who we really are.

I’ll use running as a short example. For a long time, I said to myself “I want to be a runner” — I jogged and I huffed and I puffed, and I iced my knees and went back to swimming and looked longingly at the smooth runners pounding the pavement throughout San Francisco and gliding easily up and down the hills through the Presidio. I dabbled in running, I took long breaks, and I never got past the “jogging” phase. For a while.

Then, somehow, I started running more and I would find myself making time for 6 and 8 mile runs and actually liking them. By all standards, I was a “runner.” And yet when people would ask me if I was a runner, I would brush the thought aside, quickly dismissing it by saying: “I’m not a runner … I’m training to be, but I’m not a runner.” In some regards, adopting new personal identities takes as much effort and training in the mind as it does physical training.

It takes a lot of time before we acknowledge within ourselves that we are what we do.

How long do we have to train before we become ourselves?

In July, I finished my first half marathon, and yet for some reason I still I didn’t picture myself as a runner. Despite having run 13.1 miles through the hills of San Francisco, I still declined to acknowledge my status as a “runner.” Somehow in my brain, I couldn’t put “me” and “”runner” together in the same schema.

My Dad, once a great runner, finally had to correct me:

He said, “you know Sarah, you ran a half marathon.”

“I think you can call yourself a runner now.”

Our minds can be slow to accept the changes that happen so readily at our fingertips. Sometimes I still feel like the nervous, awkward girl from my teens and I wonder if I’m really capable of the vast amounts of responsibility and increasing autonomy in front of me. I won’t lie: sometimes I’m scared shitless by what there is ahead of me. I feel like my dreams are still “out there,” — and it takes time to switch my brain over to the idea that somehow already I’ve attained some of my dreams, and that life — and my goals — are expanding out in front of me. And that, through careful, repeated, steady progress, I can, and will, become better than I am today.

To what extent do we limit what we’re capable of simply by not believing in our own abilities? On several occasions, I’ve surprised myself in doing better than I thought I was capable of. I didn’t believe I could finish six miles at the end of a triathlon – and then I did it. I didn’t think I could run 13 miles — and then I did it.

The question, then, is: what are we capable of? More importantly, what are we capable of beyond what we imagine we can do? What sorts of things can we do, if we actually allow ourselves the possibilities to dream? It wasn’t that I couldn’t do it — it was that I thought I couldn’t do it. There’s a distinct difference – and to sell yourself short of your abilities by not believing in yourself is a terrible waste.

What are you not doing simply because you think you can’t do it?

Excellence rarely exceeds expectations, my coach always taught me. By the time you’ve attained a goal, your mind will be seeking new ventures and tasks to tackle. You won’t realize how quickly you’re growing until you’ve already surpassed some of your earlier expectations. Despite proving to myself that I was now capable of running further and further distances, I kept pushing the boundaries of a “runner identity” further from my reach, not reconciling this state of being with who I was becoming. I was limiting myself by dreaming too small.

Three months later, I have another confession to make: Much like I never considered myself a runner, I’ve also never considered myself a writer. I didn’t realize that I wanted to be a writer even after I left school and (somewhat sheepishly, I must admit) — I found that I missed writing papers. I wrote ridiculously long emails to friends and drafted papers about topics that had no audiences. I wrote aimlessly in notebooks and spiral bounds and in the margins of books. Post-it note littered the pages of my magazines with ideas about how I would respond to the authors. I had anonymous conversations with myself, in my head, and imagined ideas for possible stories and fiction books. On long drives, runs, swims, and bus rides, I found myself crafting stories and books in my head.

I dreamed about writing books and short stories, but was too busy with my “work” and “career” to actually focus on writing. Somehow, I started a blog (it starts with) in order to let myself keep writing. My friends in the design world (and I love design, by the way) think I’m crazy for wanting to write so much. It was a bit aimless, I’ll admit, but the pull and tug to keep writing was there. Somehow, I was marching along a path that I knew I had to do. A year or two after graduate school, I found myself in a long conversation with a good friend and mentor, and I said: you know, I think I finally know what I want to be when I grow up:

I want to be a writer.

She looked at me with a funny look on her face:

You ARE a writer, she said. And again, I found myself subject to the same “closed-mind” problem as before.

How much of who we are is limited by the way we think about ourselves? Are we much more capable that we admit, or even dare to dream? How long does it take – and how many examples does it take – to become convinced that we are, in fact, what we do?

Who are you? Who do you want to be? And who is it that you say you are? This is important. Are you what others say you are? Or are you what you say you are? More importantly — do you dream big and admit your capabilities to yourself?

Today, it is with pride that I stand up and admit – to me (and to you): I don’t want to be a writer someday. I AM a writer. And I freaking love it.

___

What’s your biggest, scariest dream? How would you describe yourself , if no one were really paying attention? Leave your answer in the comments below.