Lord Carnavon: Can you see anything?

Howard Carter: Yes, wonderful things.

It must have been quite the moment in 1922 when Howard Carter first peered through a small crack into the antechamber of King Tutankhamun’s tomb.

I do love this exchange between Carter and his sponsor, Lord Carnavon. You can almost hear the amazement and astonishment and excitement in Carter’s voice.

Occasionally, just occasionally, I’m smart enough to stop the rush, step away from my own busywork, and take a look around at my world and my life.

And lo and behold, I too see wonderful things.

If there were two things you’d point to as amazing in your life now – what would they be?

“I feel a very unusual sensation. If it is not indigestion, I think it must be gratitude.”
~ Benjamin Disraeli

Gosh what a week it’s been. We’ve been working very hard to have the world notice Do More Great Work and I think we’ve had some small success with it. Hurrah!

And that’s in no small part due to the support we got from friends and colleagues, for which I’m most grateful. Or I have indigestion. But I think it’s gratitude.

With a sudden flash of understanding why they start playing music at the Oscars when thank you speeches go on too long, here’s an incomplete list of people who’ve helped along the way

Six lovely people who wrote origianl pieces for the book and helped promote it too: Seth Godin, Chris Guillebeau, Michael Port, Tim Hurson, Leo Babauta, Penelope Trunk and Dave and Wendy Ulrich.

Pam Slim and Jonathan Fields, who did video interviews with me which were awesome and Dan Schwabel who did an email interview with me.

Suzi Pomerantz, Tom Heck and Leo Babauta who hosted guest blog posts.

Andrea Lee, Jen Louden, Mark Silver, Coco Fossland, Viki Winterton, Michael Neill, Peggy McColl, Laura Berman Fortgang, Jamie Broughton, Sabrina Hasham, Michel Neray, Gail Goodwin, Kim George, Ernest Oriente and Chris Guillebeau who went as far as to put out a special note to their peeps about the book.

Michael Lee Stallard who went DMGW crazy (in a good way) and posted some lovely reviews.

Kind people who blogged, mentioned and reviewed such as Jason, Todd, Matthew, Jeanne, Liz, Laurie, Jeffrey, Patri, Dariane, KP, Denny, Suzi, Paul, @greatworkbooks and even one of my heroes Steven Pressfield.

A band of awesome Twitter-ites: @danielpink, @nancyduarte, @gtdguy, @rogervonoech, @missrogue, @ritahcrowe, @markdowds, @lifecoachmary, @charliegilkey, @marketingprofs, @kckatalyst, @chrisguillebeau, @michaelport, @matthewmay, @mollygordon, @JenLouden, @MarkHeartOfBiz, @unmarketing, @outboundliz, @krishnade, @pamslim, @jonathanfields, @reachbranding, @DrJohnMcGinn, @onboardingcoach, @shaboom, @milanaleshinsky, @sarahrobinson, @toddkashdan, @kevineikenberry, @truthplane, @remarkablogger @tracifenton, @reese, @chrisferdinandi, @inspiremetoday … and heck, I know I’ve forgotten more people than I’ve remembered. (And if you’re a twitter-ite too, DEFINITELY #FF these folk.)

And the many many MANY of you who bought the book.

You can see that getting a book noticed is the work of a crowd, not a single person and not a stroke of good luck. I’m very appreciative of what’s been done to help me and get the word out. Thank you.

“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!”
~ Maya Angelou

One of the great blessings of writing Do More Great Work was inviting some people I admire greatly to contribute to the book. Inviting them, and being accepted.

This coming week I feature Great Work interviews with some of the contributors to Do More Great Work.

Seth Godin, Chris Guillebeau of The Art of Non-Conformity, Michael Port of the Think Big Revolution, Leo Babauta of Zen Habits, Penelope Trunk of Brazen Careerist and HR guru Dave Ulrich are all people who’ve written brilliant pieces for the book and have also sat down to discuss Great Work with me. I’m delighted to acknowledge them here for their brains, their generosity and their support.

So who are you heroes? Tell me one or two or three – let me know in the comments.

And what have you done to reach out and say Hello? Or thank you? Or Hurrah!?

Art is what we we’re doing when we do our best work.
~ Seth Godin

Great Work = best work.

Best work = art.

Great Work = art.

Art = Great Work.

You’re an artist.

What are you creating today?

(The quote is from Seth’s blog this morning.)

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
~ Steve Jobs

How it works.

How things work.

How you work.

Don’t be fooled into thinking design is something that only someone Creative and Artist would worry about.

Design = mindfulness.

Design = choice.

Design = responsibility.

Design = beauty.

What if, in your quest to do more Great Work, you decided what you wanted your life to look like and feel like?

And then you made it work.

(Listen to the Great Work Interviews this week for inspiration, insight and guidance.)