Tim Bursch

Life is good. Life is hard.

Remember the happy place? It helps me to have some practices to get centered and get rid of stress.

Here are some of my favorite places to get centered:

• Writing at a coffee shop. Coffee, pen and paper.

• Grabbing a beer with a friend

• Cranking the iPod and cleaning (yup sometimes it works for me)

When life is stressful or the crap hits the fan, what do you do? Where do you go?

Image credit: brightsea

Tags: center.

I’ve been watching some of the Winter Olympics with my family. It’s inspiring and moving.

One thing that amazes me is that some of these athletes just win. For example Apolo Ohno has won in his sport, then tried Dancing with the Stars and won. Winner.

That kind of story makes me want to go further. And play bigger. What inspires you?

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Have you ever been sailing? It’s awesome. I’ve been to the Apostle Islands twice. Amazing.

One thing that I learned was you have to be attentive to the wind. You watch the water and the sky for where the wind is going. You listen for what angle you’re going into the wind. That whole sailing-directly-into-the-wind-thing still puzzles me. But it makes complete sense too. It seems like we went faster sailing at a slight edge into the wind.

What about resistance in life and work? It’s hard to move towards and yet it might be the best path.

In his new book, Linchpin, Seth Godin says to use resistance as a weather vane:

“When you feel the resistance, the stall, the fear, the pull, you know you’re onto something. Whichever way the wind of resistance is coming from, that’s the way to head–directly into the resistance.” (131)

Are you being attentive to the wind? Is it something to head towards?

Tags: linchpin, resistance.

I took my kids (son and daughter) sledding the other day. We are getting slammed with snow here in Minnesota. We were at a popular hill, and it was busy.

Here’s what I noticed: My kids make friends. They invited other kids to join them. Pretty soon they had a whole group sledding together, cheering each other on. I know it’s so simple, but I think this translates to social media (and business).

Rules for social media from my kids:
Be social. Ask people questions. Be friendly.
Be helpful. It’s not all about us.
Be inclusive. Invite others (yes even strangers) into your circle.
Be an idea person. Share your ideas. Collaborate.

Think back to the playground, or watch your kids, what would you add?

Image by: Clearly Ambiguous

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We live in a beautiful world. - Coldplay
Sometimes it seems ugly though. And really hard.

Please help here or here.

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I can’t wait to read the new book Drive by Daniel Pink. I watched this 2 minute trailer for the book and was captivated. It talks about having a sentence for your life. One sentence to summarize who you are and what you are about.

I get psyched about living a life that is integrated with a mission. People that love their work, their friends and family, and are motivated by a bigger purpose inspire me everyday.

What if you made a personal impact statement? Who and What do you want to impact in this world? How? What will you utilize to do it? One day down the road, what will people say about the impact you made?

My hope: Tim was a voice for overlooked people to business. He helped business see social justice.

What would yours be? Share it here or go write about it.

Image by: Helico

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Monday. A new year. Back to work.

Remember when mom used to say eat your vegetables first? Or do the hard work first? What if I did some easy tasks first today instead of tackling that gigantic in-box?
How about we start with a few small tasks that we can knock out quickly. Get some momentum going. Maybe give a new look to our reality this Monday.

How’s your Monday looking? What helps you get momentum?

Image credit: kamshots

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In honor of the upcoming US holiday and #tweetsgiving (an awesome cause put on by Epic Change), I want to take some space to say a few things I’m thankful for:

Family. Friends. Opportunity. Connection. Community. Health. Resources. Food. Shelter. Clean Air. Beauty. Life. Generosity. Passion. Laughter. Struggle. Coffee (especially espresso). Books. Smiles. Play. Collaboration. Ideas. Conversation. Challenge. Freedom. Being Heard. Hope.

And for you. Thank you for reading.

What are you grateful for?

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