2011 was the year of Jacob’s Ladder. It resulted in me being fitter than ever before. That felt great but leaves the question of what’s next for 2012.

I recently spotted a post on LinkedIn by MariSmith (@marismith) in which she asked the question “What’s the one word that will define your 2012.” It resonated with me and ever since I’ve been thinking what word would define my 2012.

At first I thought Speed. That would give me a reason to improve my reaction times (for boxing), my leg speed (for running) and the speed at which I do business. All have merit. I could set individual challenges for each and all would improve parts of my life.

For example, speed at work might mean reducing the time it takes for us to respond to new instructions to act. That speed would translate into more customer satisfaction.

Speed alone though is an empty promise. Sure we could serve people quickly but would that, on it’s own, improve customer satisfaction? The answer is, of course, no. Yet mixed with values such as respect, trust and generosity it becomes a kind of guiding mantra. In other words our work is guided by our values and done at speed.

I later thought I could use Strength. Although I like the idea of being strong physically it doesn’t work for me at work or at home. I don’t see myself as a ‘strong’ leader but rather one who leads through consistency of values and purpose.

I then came up with Giving. In fact I tweeted that this was *the* word for the year.

Peter Fletcher – @peterfletcher
Inspired by @MariSmith the word that’s going to shape my 2012 is Giving.

My thinking that Giving would guide me to serve others and be generous with my time and resources; and it would. Yet as much it would do that Giving misses something that’s important: my life as an athlete. I thrive on being an athlete and I love the feeling of existing on the limit of what I believe is physically possible.

So I’m sticking with Speed.

Here are a few goals that could come out of Speed.

1. 10 laps of Jacob’s Ladder in 25 minutes. That’s really hard!
2. Acknowledge new Instructions to Act within 5 minutes. Not within 24 hours, not the same day, within 5 minutes. In other words, instantly!
3. Do a 2k time trial in 6 minutes. Is that fast? I’m not sure.
4. Notify clients within 3 minutes of settlement taking place. Referring agents within 5. It’s all about instant!

I don’t need to go on anymore. Speed is the new word.

2012 is going to be the year of Speed!

Michel Foucault

2011 was the year of Jacob’s Ladder. At the start of the year I set a goal of climbing Jacob’s Ladder 5000 times. That goal was completed in early November. It defined me and set a very clear mandate for every day, every week and every month.

I also set a goal of a daily blog post. I was on pace for about 2 months and then fell away. One of the issues I struggle with is what I’m going to write. I get started and then can’t figure out what I want to achieve, what I want to say and then it all falls apart.

One post in particular brought me undone. It was a long and well thought out post about the future of real estate data. Unfortunately it took me days to research and even longer to put what I wanted to say into words. Instead of publishing I thought and worked on getting it right. In the end it was a post that achieved some kudos from some key players from the industry but it cost me about two weeks of posts.

During my recent uni studies my blog was used as a research tool. It was where I kept all my research notes so you’ll find articles about the hupomnemata, technologies of the self and the death of god. I loved it but once I finished my studies I started thinking that I needed to blog for Google juice and write what my audience wanted.

The problem with doing that is that often I don’t want to write for other people, I want to write for myself. I did that during my studies and it changed the direction of my honours thesis. It introduced me Jeremy Crampton (@jeremycrampton), who, through a pingback on a post about Foucault’s theories on power relationships, alerted me to his book and created in me a drive to analyse the dismissal of Heather Armstrong using Foucault’s theories as a tool kit. So without this blog I would have written a very different honours thesis and wouldn’t have experienced the joy of months of immersion in French philosophy.

What’s been valuable about this blog – and blogging generally – is that it’s been a place for me to get my thoughts in order. As Crampton put it so well,

Now the content of the post is unremarkable and not especially exciting, but the author remarks that this is a post designed to help him think through some issues. It’s not the content, it’s the process (emphasis mine).

So this blog is going to (continue to) be a public hupomnemata, a public place for me to record what I’ve learned and a way for me to take actively take care of the (my) self. It’s a place for me to record what I’ve learned from my daily experiences. Although some of what I learn will be about social media and digital strategy it will also include what I learn from personal experience, such as what I learned from leaning into the pain.

This strategy will have its costs. For a start it will be difficult for Google to work out what my website is about. Is it about social media, digital strategy or Michel Foucault? Google will find it hard, almost impossible to work out.  It’s going to cost me traffic.

Then there’s the readers or subscribers. Those who subscribe to my blog wanting posts about digital strategy will be disappointed when they’re presented with articles (like this one) about Michel Foucault and the hupomnemata. If you could name the top blogging sins what I’m doing would be close to the top of the list.

But I’ve decided that having a space to remember and reflect is far more important than worrying about readers and traffic. If this blog becomes a window into my mind then so be it. If it helps me become a better thinker, even better.

And I’ll end this post without a clear conclusion. That’s because I wasn’t sure what it was that I wanted to do with it in the first place.

Photo credit: The Magnet Magazine

In 2002 Uncle Willis passed away. He was a good man, a fine man, a man who helped raise three equally fine children.

He fought in a world war but never became bitter. He was raised in depression but lacked for nothing. He was brought up tough but loved his children fiercely.

I last saw him just months before his passing. He knew he was dying. No-one escapes the cruel claws of Motor Neurone disease. Death usually comes quickly, a relentless eventuality from a relentless, unforgiving disease.

But even facing death Uncle Will smiled.

He smiled at my eager, misguided efforts to help a cow that could no longer stand. He smiled at tales from my younger years. And he smiled at the laughter that rippled through the family around the kitchen table at night.

His smile came despite what loomed ominously ahead. It came despite his inability to work. And it came despite the inability of his lips to form words.

Instead he wrote. With what little strength remained he wrote, a scrawling shorthand in a tiny spiral-bound notebook that was as hard to read as his words were to comprehend.

And still he smiled. Despite the frustration of being unable to talk and laugh as he had just a few months before.

Motor Neurone disease strips away dignity. It traps perfect minds inside bodies that no longer work, inside bodies that ignore the mind’s will.

Where once the mind thought and tongue and lips responded with words and sounds, now, nothing. Where once food was enjoyed with pleasant conversation, now just dribbling and spitting. It’s a disease no-one wants and no-one escapes.

But through all of his body’s failings Uncle Will never lost his dignity. Despite the wasting muscles and the unformed words he kept smiling. There would be no feeling sorry or regretting, and no sulking. Instead he smiled and smiled, and smiled some more.

And when I’m down and suffering I think of Uncle Will. I think of that immense act of will that manifested as a smile. And I thank him for his leadership and his courage. I thank him for his dignity.

But most of all I thank him for his smile.

There are worse things than having no arms and legs.

Most of our challenges aren’t physical, most are mental and emotional.

Principals work no matter the circumstance.

The biggest disability is fear. Men relate our value to what we do. Whether we achieve our goal or not doesn’t change the value of you.

We get scared from discouragement. Often our worst critic is ourselves. To do something new often creates fear. If we have a purpose to our goal then we have the courage to face our fears.

Principal # 1 The purpose, meaning and value of my goal will inspire courage.

I don’t know what I can achieve until I try. Let your passion drive your purpose. If its not meant to be let your dream go. But don’t let that stop you dreaming.

How long do you try? Let your heart decide the answer.

Principal # 2 When I fail I will try again

Keep trying, try different ways.

Principal # 3 Failure = education

Principal # 4 Obstacles = opportunity

You don’t know what’s around the corner until you go there.

Stop complaining about what didn’t go right. Learn from it and move on.

What’s my biggest obstacle, the one that’s hindering me from achieving my goals?

Can your obstacles possibly change? Almost every obstacle can be changed. Some obstacles don’t change but hearts do.

Learn from the best to become the best.

Once we understand that our value as a human doesn’t come from what we do then we can attack whatever we want to do without risk, without fear.

Your credibility determines if you’ll get the listing.

Know the value of the property. Ask: did the other agents tell you what they truly thought today?

Be accessible, be available. Phone people back quickly.

Form relationships with people based on honest and open communication. Build long term relationships. Don’t be scared to admit you don’t know, that you’re out of your depth.

Treat real estate the same as a restaurant. Build word of mouth. Protect your reputation. Your desk makes you a proprietor of your own business. Don’t leave it up to your principal or broker.

Have a weekly sit down meeting with your sellers. The nineties are gone. Not all properties belong in the auction room.

Think before you put your mouth in gear.

Accessibility
Credibility
Product knowledge
Honesty

The six most important principals of leadership.

Have goals. How much do you want to achieve? Have a vision, a battle plan. In the US vision has been lost. Ronald Regan said that communism was bankrupt. His goal was to beat communism. We win, they lose. He helped bring communist governments down and changed the domestic political debate. That’s what big vision can do.

America is involved in Libya to protect the people of Libya. They’re not involved to remove Gaddafi. But these goals are in conflict.

Biggest weakness of modern leaders is to not have a clear vision.

Get vision by thinking and talking. People work better if they contribute to creating the vision.

To be a leader be an optimist

People follow hope and someone that offers a solution. If you have a problem identify the solution.

Fourth principal of leadership: relentless preparation.

Risk is fear. Use fear to prepare more effectively. Practice. Think of the questions you’ll be asked. Anticipate the unexpected.

Fifth principal of leadership : teamwork

Recruit people to compliment your strengths and overcome weaknesses.

Sixth principal of leadership: communication

A leader is a teacher and a motivator. Focus on helping others succeed. Be there when things go wrong.

I don’t agree with many of Rudy’s political ideals but that’s life.

Real estate still the best investment because you can see where your money is.

If you want to succeed you have to have your feet flat to the boards. There are no shortcuts, no royal road to success.

Always try to improve. Make the next scene of the movie better than the last.

Rod Laver was banned from Wimbledon in the late sixties. Got beaten in the quarter finals. In the wake of disappointment don’t let it get you down, keep pressing on.

1972 Nadia Kominich (doubt I got the spelling right) first person to get straight 10′s. How did you achieve this success? My mind is full of getting it exactly right. That takes hard work and effort.

Melbourne Cup is a handicap race. It’s a bit like our national attitude. The Melbourne Cup syndrome.

Gucci brand. I’ll take the best material and the best design and tell people that long after other products have worn out they’ll still be wearing Gucci. Quality is essential.

If you want quality you’ve got to pay the price by working hard.

Great storyteller.

School. Why is it you’re happy to say that we love surfing but won’t say that we love achieving?

I watched them tearing the buildings down…at 15 a boy had learned the difference between being a builder and a knocker.

What was the most important component to success?

Doris McCoy said:

Successful people enjoy their work.
They work with a total involvement.
They have a positive attitude and plenty of confidence.
They never doubt that they will achieve.
They use negative experiences to discover their strengths.
They’re decisive and committed goal setters.
They have integrity and help others succeed.
They take risks. To win without risk is to triumph without glory.
They’re healthy and take time reenergize.
They believe in a higher power.

Negativism is corrosive.

Be democratic, get others on your team to help.

The other price we pay for success is disappointment.

Don’t neglect opportunity.

People need someone who will listen to them.

Success is neither elusive nor illusory.

In summary a fantastic presentation.

Click to see full size image

The redesign is needed to address two main issues. First, the existing site doesn’t sell well. Initially I wasn’t at all sure what I had to sell but that’s changed. The new design reflects the products I have to offer. The product images will link to sales pages for each.

The original brief was to create something that looked like my existing homepage – I like its clean lines – but the design presented here is quite a departure from that. Still it has merit.

• It’s a bit funky and fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
• The image of me along with the adjacent text will rotate through 5 different “offers”.
• Not sure about Technology Coach. I’m thinking more along the lines of…?
• I like that the background is a subtle colour that allows the product elements to stand out.
• “Facebook profile setup” will be replaced with “Facebook page setup”.
• Remove “services” from WordPress Hosting Services”.
• The grey in the WordPress logo and the blue in the Twitter logo to use the colours of the respective company logos, which are more vibrant.
• Add a recycle style arrow element to the Social Media Management image to give demonstrate the way all elements feed to and from one another.
• Add the copyright details into the footer.
• Replace “friends” with Recent Posts.
• Replace Archives with Most Popular.

[tweetmeme]What’s your first reaction to the site? Do you think it reflects my brand? Would it make you more confident to use my services? I’m keen to hear any feedback, both negative and positive.

Even the bamboo on Jacob’s Ladder is dying. So are the yuccas. And the grass? Gone. It’s fast turning into a barren wilderness.

But rain will change all that.

Once again the yuccas will flower. The weeds and grass will grow and the bamboo will flourish.

And only nature will decide when that will be.

When I say I provide social media marketing services for real estate agents I’m often met with a blank stare followed by “Oh right, that sounds interesting”.

What I do for a living is especially hard to describe to people who don’t use Facebook and Twitter. Often these people just blink twice before changing subject.

There are plenty of times I just say “I get paid to play on Facebook all day”. It’s often easier.

But for the sake of those who really want to know, here’s one of my typical days.

4:30am Sleep rudely interrupted by alarm. Have a glass of water. Check Facebook red notifications and Twitter @replies while pulling on the running shorts. Quickly scan emails for anything urgent.

5:15am Climb stairs

7:15am Coffee. Catch up with the latest social media news using Flipboard and Zite apps on my iPad. Tweet out interesting articles.

8:00am Breakfast and get ready for “work”.

9:00am Update clients’ Facebook business pages. Respond to questions, delete spam comments.

9:30am Send tweets and @replies

10:00am Blog customisation including posting new content, theme customisation

11:00am Respond to Facebook comments, more @replies

12:30pm Lunch, usually at 868 Gourmet, in East Victoria Park. That’s where I’m writing this.

1:30pm Reading and research. Tweet interesting articles.

3:00pm Blog writing including image search and editing

5:00 Check back on Facebook pages. Respond to comments.

There are some things that get done throughout the course of the day.

• Responding to @replies on Twitter
• Responding to Facebook comments
• Using Facebook as a Page to Like and comment on other Pages
• Liaise with my VA
• Work on new projects
• Try new social media software
• Experiment with new WordPress plugins

[tweetmeme]And for those who still don’t understand what I do, here’s a pretty picture that does the job of explaining pretty well. Click on the image to see a larger version.