Outside the Lines
your monthly splash
of creativity and wisdom

read in 16 countries

As unbelievable as this sounds, I'm coming to realise that I may have missed my chance to compete at the Olympics. I had big dreams when I was younger - I even painted my bedroom green and gold, the Australian colours, to inspire me to step up to the challenge. My only dilemma was whether it would be shot-put AND the 400m hurdles AND soccer... or just one of those sports.

These days, I can admit my lack of talent as an athlete just may have got in the way. But as important as talent, I also know that I am missing the degree of commitment it would take to perform at the level we saw in Athens. I've written more below on what it means to step forward into the big challenges of our lives.

Thank you for reading Outside the Lines. As ever, please forward it (in its entirety please, using the link at the end of the newsletter) to anyone else you think might be interested. This community grows with your help. As a thank you, I'll donate 10 cents for every subscriber to The Nature Conservancy Canada. You can check out the great work they do at www.natureconservancy.ca.

Michael Bungay Stanier
Principal, Box of Crayons

Competition winners!
In the last edition of Outside the Lines, I ran a competition for people who help me to spread the news.

- The winner of $75 for sending it to three people is Norma G.
- The winner of $75 for sending it to a person in a country where Outside the Lines is not yet read is Tess D.

Congratulations Norma and Tess, and thank you everyone else who has shared the newsletter with others.

Mount Olympus
I get to wear two national hats - the Australian Akubra (where I was born) and the Canadian toque (where I now live). Being able to shift allegiance at will can be useful, depending on whether I'm boasting about how cold the winter is (now I'm Canadian...) or how big the crocodiles are (... and now I'm Australian). Watching these Olympics, my allegiance was to the green and gold over the maple leaf. Australians win gold medals, whereas the Canadians once got so excited about winning a bronze medal that they made a movie about it!

But truly, my heart isn't really in the "we won more than you did" boast. What was most compelling for me was the sense of the journey each of these athletes had undertaken to be at the Olympics. They'd made a commitment few of us can claim: to live their lives at Olympian standards.

First, the lonely years of dedicated training. There's always the temptation to ease off, lower your standards, take the easier route. And they constantly said no to that temptation.

And then, in their Olympic event, to go absolutely full out. I heard more than one competitor say, "When I get to the end of my event, I want to be totally drained." What a powerful vision - to have had the discipline and wisdom to manage yourself so that, as you cross the finish line, you have exhausted your physical and mental strength. Success measured not by being first, but by being fully committed.

So what does it take to live your life at Olympian standards?

I think it raises three key challenges.

Are you in the right race? Are you doing Great Work - living a life that is the fullest expression of your skills and passion? Do you feel that combination of excitement and terror that tells you that this is the "bigger game" to which you are called? Or are you running someone else's race, striving to achieve someone else's goals, living someone else's life?

Second, are you underestimating what you can do? Know that pretty much everyone - and I include you in this - has a conservative opinion about your potential. How often does the voice in your head say, "but you can't do that"?

Third, have you got the support you need? So many of us carry the burden and belief that we have to do it all ourselves. Is this what you think "being responsible" means? The resilience you need to undertake this journey is fuelled both by inner and outer resources. I was struck by the number of competitors who said, "I am not a one person team. There are many people who have supported me behind the scenes."

And finally - do you have the courage and wisdom to run full out? What will it take for you to be fully committed to the life you want to lead, both in thought and action.

Teleclass on Creativity at Will. Wednesday October 6th
This is a fun and practical teleclass. In the hour we'll cover:
- The Three Too Barriers: The three barriers that stop you being creative - and how to break them wide open.
- The Make It! Creativity Principles™: The three root principles of creativity. Understand these, and you will be able to generate endless ideas.

I've run this session for hundreds of people, and people love it. It's interactive, fun and practical - we'll actually brainstorm some typical entrepreneurial challenges using the principles.

"I completely enjoyed your class and am already putting the principals to work. You made it fun, engaging and very enlightening. Thanks for all your great examples and practical ways to apply the information you shared. You have great energy" SK, Minneapolis

"This was worth getting up for. Well paced and with clear information." IK, Toronto

The price includes a detailed handout that covers all the principles, many creativity techniques, and as a bonus the key elements of organizing a brainstorm.

What you need to know:
- Cost is US$6.49, payable in advance via PayPal. You're also responsible for any long-distance phone charges (it's a California number).
- Wednesday October 6th at 7pm EST (Toronto) time [4pm PST (Vancouver, San Francisco), 12 midnight GMT (London, England), 9am (Thursday) AEST (Sydney, Australia)]
- Spaces are limited, so reserve your space by clicking here. Once you've signed up and paid your fee, I'll send you the phone number and participant code.

If you read just one book this year...
... well, you should read more books. But here's a gem: Schott's Original Miscellany by Ben Schott. It's a collection of the absolutely marvellous and obscure. As a random selection, the book sets out how to wrap a sari, the 1777 Irish duelling code, and the 33 degrees of Freemasonry. It's the sort of book that prompts people reading it to say out aloud every 45 seconds, "Hey, did you know this? ...". You can find out more information about it here, should you ever need to rate your chillies using the Scoville Scale (for the record, a jalapeno pepper is between 2,500 and 5,000 Scoville Units).

Creativity Camp
I'm the opening presenter at the Creativity Camp on October 27th and I've got something exciting planned. We'll be working with some concepts from Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey to set people up for an unforgettable day. Ian Hardy regularly runs this experiential day-long workshop with a range of amazing guests to help unleash participants' creativity. You can find out more at www.creativitycamp.ca. Hold the date!





Brand new
What do you stand for? And who cares? What are the secrets to a great brand for you and your business? Learn about the "Brand Onion" and the three mistakes people make with branding in my recently published article in Choice magazine. You can download it free here.

I'll be presenting a workshop on branding - The Branding Point. The Fusion of Passion (Yours) and Desire (Theirs) - with Rosemary Davies-Janes at the ICF International Conference in Quebec City, November 4 - 6. I'd love to see you there! Information about the ICF Conference is at www.coachfederation.org. Subscribe to Choice at www.choice-online.com

See anything you want to read?
Buying the books mentioned in this newsletter through the Amazon affiliate program helps support Outside the Lines.





Michael Bungay Stanier is a certified coach, consultant, trainer and speaker. He works with people, teams and organizations to have more impact and have more fun. You can find out all about it at www.boxofcrayons.biz or you can just contact him directly at Michael@BoxOfCrayons.biz or +1 (416) 532-1322.

Outside the Lines is distributed on the 2nd Thursday of every month. Subscribe at www.boxofcrayons.biz. Your contact information is never traded, never rented, never sold. All writing (c) Box of Crayons 2004. Box of Crayons is a registered trading name of Maida CC Inc.