If I had all the answers, I probably wouldn’t be living in an apartment in New York City. I’d be governor or senator or the creator of Google or something. But I don’t. Not many of us do. But one thing I know is how to not find the answers.
What’s the key to success? I believe 37 Signals, a brilliant cloud-based apps designed to assist in collaboration, information sharing and making decision for people and businesses, has that answer.
Useful is forever – Bells and whistles wear off, but usefulness never does. We build useful software that does just what you need and nothing you don’t.
It works for them (and by the way, I am a business and personal user of their Basecamp app), and I believe it works for life too. I have made no secret that I have a lot of passions and sometimes that has gotten the best of me. I like do put my time into a lot of different things. I love sports and politics and education and art and exercise and the study of life. But there is not enough time in the day for me to do all those things. Therefore I have had to pair down what I do.
Sports. I used to watch a lot and know all the pertinent stats. Now, if you ask me, I couldn’t tell you who won the NCAA Men’s Tournament last year. I have changed that value. I still love sports, but I don’t devote my limited resources to as much of the game and facts. This has given me more time for …
Politics. I have always cared and always will about politics and policy. Election years are always fun for me especially as a past candidate but with my recent addition of an iPhone to my life, I am able to read more about current news than ever.
Education. This can be taken one of two ways. I love learning and I love learning about learning. The latter is new to my life so I have had to change my devotion to …
Art. I used to do a fair amount of photography and painting. Since moving to New York City, I have done a bit of photography, but no painting. Whether it is an energy, or a time thing, I just haven’t felt the desire to pick up a brush. But that’s okay because I need that time to …
Exercise. Obviously I am training for a marathon. And if you have never done that, it takes a lot of time to do so. But I’m enjoying that journey. But that still leaves …
Life. I need to live and so do you.
That’s why you need to know what your life is going to be about so you can cut out the things that don’t fit into the core of your app; your life. Once you strip the bells and whistles, you will be able to make more possible in your life.
(photo credit: jayneandd)
