Good John Baker

Doing things differently

Sticking to the speed limit isn’t easy

Trying to force yourself to do something different each day can actually be quite tricky. Thinking of things to do can be a challenge, especially when you only start thinking about it late in the day.

Which is exactly what happened to me yesterday. Having spent some time in the morning blogging about how I was going to do something different, I found myself coasting through the day on auto-pilot. So it wasn’t until I was heading back on the tube (after watching Arsenal demolish Porto 5-0) that I realised I’d done everything in exactly the same way as usual.

With opportunities a little scarce at that time of night there was only one thing left to do … stick to the speed limit the entire way home. A 40 minute journey shouldn’t be too difficult I thought! It’s amazing how tricky it is though, in fact without the crusie control to help me out I’m sure I’d have busted it on a number of occassions.

It got me thinking though, that our driving habits are so deeply engrained that consciously trying to alter them is actually very difficult!

Doing things differently

A statement from me to the world …

As of today, March 9th 2010, I will strive to 'do something differently' every single day.
John Baker

Some days will be tough, some will be fun and some probably won’t; but I’ll give it a shot and I’ll keep all the results here for the world to see - well, within reason anyway (there are some things the Internet just isn’t ready for!)

So what’s this all about I hear you cry! Well way back in November 09 I attended an event called Startup Weekend London (see previous post), where a bunch of people came together for a weekend to pitch ideas and attempt to build a web app in 48 hours. To cut a long story short, I ended up pitching my idea to a couple of people on the Saturday morning and by Sunday evening 99nudges.com was live to the world. It was a fantastic experience and I met a bunch of really good people; and in truth my life hasn’t been quite the same since.

In fact, life has been a bit of a whirlwind in recent months. Startup Weekend was the kick in the right direction, that I’d clearly been looking for for so long.

I’m now working with a couple of very good people, Glen Mehn and Jamie Pyper, who are as enthusiastic as me about the 99nudges concept. And that concept is rather simple; that in order to take on the bigger challenges in life or change your biggest (and sometimes worst) habits, you need to start at the beginning, by doing the smaller things differently on a regular basis.

By breaking lots of your smaller habits you become used to change, so when the bigger opportunities present themselves you’re much more likely to grab them with both hands, instead of remaining firmly inside your ‘comfort zone’.

I’m a massive believer in doing things differently, and I can say from personal experience that it’s a fantastic feeling to know that the shackles have been lifted and you’re no longer restricted by your own mind. Doings things differently becomes a habit in itself, but a good one!

I saw for myself last week, just how precious life is and how quickly it can be wiped out. If ever I needed a reminder that we’re not here for very long and that we should make the most of every single day, that was certainly it.

Here’s to doing things differently.

15 minute walk to think about #swlondon

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As part of NDD Day 4 I've just been for a casual 15 minute walk, with the idea being to think about what I want in life. Well in all honesty I couldn't really get past thinking about the weekend, but only because I'm off to Startup Weekend London to (hopefully) help launch a business in 56 hours.

I'm really looking forward to it - it'll be interesting to see how the whole thing works and hopefully I'll meet a few like-minded people along the way. I have a busy morning in store tomorrow though getting everything ready, before setting off in the afternoon.

I've just seen the agenda for the event (I knew it was going to be busy but it's only when you see it written down that you really appreciate it!!) ...

Agenda for Startup Weekend London

Schedule for Friday, Nov 20:
5:30-6pm: Meet and greet, discuss what would be interesting to build.
7:00pm: Speaker
8:00pm: Pitches start — If you have an idea for a product, you pitch it to the group.
9:00pm: Team network and evaluate possible teams to work on.
This is a self-selection process. People form teams around ideas that they think are interesting and would like to work on for the weekend. Ideally, you’d like a group between 5 and 10 people — but groups of 2 or as large as 20 are acceptable.
Teams are not limited to working on web only applications. Generally, these make the most sense given the nature of the weekend and those who register. But if you really feel like working on that new cupcake business, go for it!
10pm: Team vote on top ideas and select the teams they will work with for the weekend. Teams solidify their concept and create an elevator pitch.
10:30pm: Leave for a bar or coffee shop to continue the discussion and create prototypes.

Schedule for Saturday, Nov. 21:
9am: Start development.
10am: By now, teams should have prototype(s) on paper, decided on a working title, and created technical plans. Start getting servers live, buying domains, creating user flows, etc.
12pm: Lunch break.
1pm: Speaker
2pm: More coding, business plan development, and a special guest.
6pm: Special guest drop-ins and pitches from the teams. These guests are generally angel investors, VCs, or sponsoring companies.
9pm: Gut check on the product; basic prototype building; group get-together for drinks and to talk about the products everyone is working on.

Schedule for Sunday, Nov. 22:
9am: Breakfast.
10am: By now, you should have a live splash page up with an email capture and a simple blog.
12pm: Projects are being developed, and more special guests drop in.
6pm: Sink or swim time for those looking for a weekend launch.
9pm: Presentations from each company. Talk about what worked, what didn’t, what could go better. Wrap up and move out.

Busy busy busy ... pre Startup Weekend & NDD update

Been very busy over the last few days, what with Isobel's birthday celebrations (I can't quite believe she's 4!) and prepping for the Startup Weekend I'm attending in London tomorrow.

The mini-cards I ordered to give out this weekend arrived on Tuesday and I'm very happy with them. I have 100 cards consisting of 10 different designs (well the design is actually the same, it's just the creative quotes that are different). Hopefully I'll give out a fair few over the next few days.

NDD update: I've had 3.5 days of no television. I think I'm about to fall off the wagon though!

Yesterday's task was to avoid my favourite drink ... which is pretty easy seeing as I don't have one. And today's task is to go for a 15 minute walk and think about life and what I want from it. Maybe I'll do that now to avoid watching the box!

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NDD Day 2: A pen and paper

Well Day 1 was a success as I managed to avoid watching TV for an entire day. Although truth be told it was pretty easy given that I went out to watch a film anyway. So seeing as I'm busy pretty much every evening from now until next Monday I'm making a pledge to avoid television for an entire week! One whole week! Should be an interesting experiment.

So onto Day 2, and as well as not watching TV I'll be writing something for 15 minutes. I'm not entirely sure what yet, I just know it won't be an email or a piece of code! The book makes a few suggestions:

Make sure this is something you wouldn't normally write (no shopping lists allowed). A story perhaps, or a poem, or maybe the start of your own life story. Would today be a good day to start keeping a diary? Writing is a great way of focusing your mind. Over time it helps clarify the way you want to live. You might feel that you don't have a book inside you, but there will certainly be many ideas that you'd like to get down on paper. Why not describe the person you want to be in a year's time?

Some good ideas ... I quite like the idea of kicking off my life story. Now that has got me thinking .........

The No Diet Diet

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As proposed yesterday, today is the first day of my No Diet Diet. I thought I'd give a little bit of background info before I dive in.

A few months back (or maybe last year - I really can't remember) I started out on the No Diet Diet, and the results were actually pretty impressive. The weight loss was one thing, but I saw the biggest changes in other areas of my life. My confidence was much higher than ever; I felt free to do things I really wanted to do without being restricted by my own insecurities.

On Page 1 of the NDD book there's a summary:

"The secret of the No Diet Diet lies in breaking the old habits that keep you fat. Our scientific research has discovered that overweight people have certain habits in common - and surprising as it seems, it's not overeating. If you break these habits you will lose weight. In fact, we've found that it's almost impossible not to lose weight. What we've discovered is so powerful - and so profound - that is goes way beyond a mere 'diet'. Diets encourage a 'two months on, ten months off' attitude to weight loss that leads only to poor health, disillusionment and depression. The No Diet Diet leads to permanent, heatlhy changes in your life and, more importantly, permanent weight loss." 

So the basic idea is that in order to break deeply engrained eating habits you must first get used to breaking your habits in general. This is done by starting with the smaller ones and working your way up until you're no longer restricted by your own habitweb (as the book calls it!)

Thinking back to the last time I did this, there were a number of things I took on for the first time that previous to reading the book I just wouldn't have contemplated:

- We ditched the TV every Monday (at least for a few weeks)
- I started walking to work occasionally
- I took part in a 10km charity walk with very few men and thousands of women all wearing bras (in Bristol no less)
- I started boxing lessons (by far the hardest thing I've ever done)

All of these things just seemed much much easier than they would have done before. The last two especially would have been incredibly daunting for the 'old me' ... and perhaps even for the 'new old me' if that makes sense.

Only time will tell what life holds in store for the 'new new me' ...


I intend to ... do something different

I'll post it here so it's all official ... I start my 'No Diet Diet' tomorrow and I'll be posting updates as I go!

I did start this some time ago and it worked really well; weight loss was just one of the positive things that came out of it ... but for some (typically me) reason I didn't see it through.

2009 has been a mixed year for me but I'm determined to make 2010 a really positive one.

Wish me luck!