Work & Optimum Mental Health

I just realized that yesterday was World Mental Health Day 2013. If you can, just check out the hashtag #WMHD2013 or Google something appropriate and you’ll find some good stories or articles to read if you have a few minutes for them and learn something today you didn’t know before. These last weeks have been good for me. From a health perspective I’ve lost weight (still have more to lose) and the way I eat, my diet (not a diet) has given me quite a bit more energy. While I never fully stopped, I’ve taken a swan dive back into the professional helping world with my sales and marketing work and it’s shown. I’ve had one proposal approved for a project that starts next week. I’m very near closing another for a project I am really, really excited about. A project I’m doing with a friend for his company will start next week. I’ve got yet another proposal being studied now and another great lead just got qualified yesterday.

Of course the hard truth is that nothing’s really done yet. There’s still weight to lose and better shape to get into. In theory, and I’ll talk more about this, you should only celebrate a deal when it’s signed and a project when it’s completed and you get paid.

But what the hell. It’s been at least a good month for personal growth and yesterday was a good day to share it. We’ll pretend that it’s yesterday.

I’ll only quickly mention the diet and exercise part. I’d rather just skip it but in the past few weeks others have shared their stories about theirs or their loved ones struggles with depression and I found that they were still a bit ignorant about how much what you eat, what you drink and how much physical activity you do affects you and your fight with mental illness. So there’s been very, very, very little sugar and alcohol in my system these days. I try to make sure that whatever I eat has real nutrition in it, something that will get to my body and brian. I’ve been running, but really I think my walking has been more important. Even in upper middle class suburbia I’ll walk anywhere if it’s decent weather (and the weather’s been amazing) and my destination is a mile or less a away. It all helps. I’m lacking in the meditation part; I’ve done little to none of it so there’s still a lot of work to go.

I will add that working with your mental health prorfessional(s) for any necessary medication or other treatments is important. Recently my providers diagnosed me with ADD and I started medication for that. It’s only been a few months, but I’ve seen a difference. And since the composition of that medication is pretty much the same as meth (amphetamines), I get to crack a few meth jokes.

Apart from all the diet, exercise and other physical or biological aspects (vital) I’ve had the tremendous opportunity to re-organize the way I approach work, what I do and how I do it. At least for these past few weeks it’s made things easier, more enjoyable and has, hopefully, led to better results. On a sales and marketing side, I will most likely talk more about a few more points at a different time. This is about yesterday and my health.

I Share It All

I share everything from the first conversation/interview. I have been phrasing it this way: I’ve stopped playing poker with my customers and potential partners. If we’re talking, I’m giving you my thoughts, ideas and experience right away and I’m not trying to hide anything. So often in sales, especially in service sales or consulting, you’re supposed to “not give it all away for free.” I’m done with that. My initial conversations have become completely about sharing. I get to listen to people’s interesting and incredible stories. I get to share everything I have with them. I get to see, hear or feel (however you wish to put this, most of these conversations are conferences) their appreciation about what I’m sharing.

Does it mean they get something for free? Could they then just take that and leave, meaning I don’t get the project? Sure. But I potentially helped someone. That still beats just doing a sales pitch or negotiating. If they got what they needed in an hour or two then they didn’t really need to hire me. And if they did need more but wanted to take what they could from me do I really want to work with someone like that?

Our relationships at work affect our mental health. I know this personally and I’m sure we could find some good statistical data to back this up. The times I have been involved in several deep-layered, poker-playing situations going on at once took a toll on me. Other people’s interactions with me have affected me and toxic situations have done incredible damage.

So I’m done with it all. I have been sharing from the beginning. And it’s made the entire work and sales process so much more enjoyable for me. I get to enjoy it all. Of course I need to close and make sure I get paid. Of course there are times when I might have to say that we need to move to some next steps before we talk again so that I can close and get paid. But for now I’m taking that enjoyment and running with it while I can.

And the fact that in less than a month I’ve created a very nice pipeline, all with deals that will be won or lost in just a week or two, means that I might be able to make a living doing it this way too.

I Have a System

I have a system that (so far) has really worked for me. For me the biggest challenge is tasks and getting them done. Actually sometimes it can even be starting them. So apart from all the important other factors, physical or pharmacological, I’ve also tried to work on incorporating that difficulty for me into what I do.

I can remember times that I’ve had the world and what I need to do weighing down on me and at least one person giving me the advice to break it down or chunk it up. It’s good advice in general and it has sometimes worked for me. But really, with my ruminative thinking, it hasn’t consistently helped. So often I’ve still seen the big list in my head and it still carried the weight of the world with it. Sure I could tell myself that just doing two or three things today is more than enough. And, again, that did work at times. But so often I thought about tomorrow and the next day and the next day and I went down the unhappy path.

I re-iterate though, this method is good and can really, really help people. It just didn’t always work for me.

I have found that for me I work best when I incorporate other smaller steps into the entire process that will either simplify or eliminate other ones down the road. A good example would be when I was a student in high school and college. I went to just about every lecture, class and discussion no matter what (and there can be a lof of those whats in college). Why? Because with how my memory works I retained everything there at a very high rate. I took good simple notes that activated that memory when I studied. I understood what the teacher or the professor liked or disliked and wanted to see from his/her students. Going to class and taking good, simple notes eliminated an incredible amount of effort down the road and probably overall. I spent at least half the time studying for exams as most of my peers and I got good grades.

After years of having either no system or one that had varying results, I have tried to create that type of system for me now. I’m also incredibly fortunate that now more than ever today’s tools and technology make it so much easier than ever before.

Paper affects me. My brain doesn’t care if it’s organized or systematized or alphabetized. If I have to deal with a lot of paper it affects me. Today’s technology eliminates paper for me. In fact today’s technology has allowed me to really eliminate even more stuff and that has created an even stronger sense of freedom. My bills come paperless. My books and graphic novels (which while true, is also my attempt at euphemism for comic books) are all digital. I don’t like even having a computer or hard-drive anymore. It’s all tucked away on someone else’s servers. I got a chromebook just a few days ago and it’s been perfect for me.

I use Google for my e-mail and my documents (I just got 100gb of Google Drive space with the chromebook too). I have been using Evernote for years. I have accounts with both Box and Dropbox. I use NImble for CRM and do my proposals in Quoteroller. I’ve been doing my project management in Teambox. My time tracking is done with Harvest. I've been looking at Xero, Wave and a couple others for my accounting and I’m configuring Zapier so that they can all be tied up together.

What does this all do? For me it creates one single system that allows me to eliminate a large number of steps down the road, especially once I’ve configured the entire unification. I don’t think NImble is perfect for everyone or every business, but it’s been great for me. Most CRMs are intuitive but Nimble’s intuitive parts work very well with how my brain works. The fact that it’s not very linear at all, reducing steps I would need in other CRMs (steps that are important for others) has been great for me. I take notes in Evernote or Google Docs and I’m done. It all goes into my CRM and I don’t need to worry about it. I set up my next steps in either my calendar, Nimble or Teambox once and I don’t have to worry any more. When a project starts I set it up and map it out and assign the tasks once, it’s linked to whatever it needs to be linked to and we’re off to the races. The same will hold true with my proposals in Quoteroller and my timesheets in Harvest. I don’t have to manage the flow and the steps. And for me and my brain that’s huge.

One quick note: I’m not recommending any one tool or system for you or your company. There are so many wonderful options and it’s about what works best for you. These tools have worked best for me both professionally and personally.

I Have a Role

I have completely stepped into a role that is almost entirely based on managing, leading, teaching and coaching. One reason for this is that I think I’m good at it and that it’s the role that maximizes my value. But I’m also very, very fortunate that I get to define a role that works best for me and my brain. So many others don’t have this opportunity and it would be a shame for me and an insult to them if I don’t take full advantage of it.

I help organizations set up entire systems for their sales and marketing growth. The individual tasks however are mostly assigned to other team members. I don’t set up their CRM systems, I work with them on the criteria they need and lead them through that entire process. I work with them to understand content marketing and how to create simple messages of value and to broadcast it. We set up a complete strategy and real schedule for their newsletters, their site and their social engagement. However, I don’t write the copy.

I have been challenged about this. About what my value is then if I don’t do the tasks and if they’re not getting done. I’m a coach. In hockey the coach is going to set up the system and strategy for the entire team. He’s going to teach them the techniques and skills they need, like playing better defense, how to back check or how to improve their skating and passing. He’s then going to move them along so that it all comes together for game time. But the players have to play (though I believe a good coach also gets his players to play, motivation or otherwise, and I’m working at improving that aspect as much as I can).

In the short period I’ve embraced this role it’s worked great. Working with others in a team and in a collaborative atmosphere has always helped me do better, feel better and get more done. It also happens to align with my personal business philosophy, that every organization has almost all the internal assets its needs for sales and marketing growth. To put that into action has been exciting and hopefully more and more rewarding.

Of course there are still tasks that I have to get done, one’s that rely entirely on me. Of course there are still times when I still have to just fight through blocks and get things done, my first proposals for example (which, thanks to the tool I’m using, get converted into pieces of templates or templates themselves). But so far I’ve been able to set up a system that has limited and/or eliminated those blocks and allows me to deliver much more to my partners and clients.

And, honestly, it’s unified so many goals for me. I want to help people with the work I do. I want to be productive and give them results. I want to be healthy in every way.

Hopefully this system can be the way. I guess we’ll see where I am next year when I forget about World Mental Health day 2014.