Micro-Moment Motivation – 7 Startups Share How They Simplify Life Daily
Simplify life don’t over complicate. Wise words, but easier said than done. Right!
The beginning of greatness is in the simplicity of micro-moments to motivate you in each day. How to simplify life starts with you. What I mean is as humans we naturally tend to over complicate life. We fill our life with complexity and distraction.
“Simplify life to amplify opportunity” is my motto.
Whatever it is for you is perfect, provided it is positive motivation to simplify and enhance your experience in the year ahead.
Holidays are over, and it’s back to business, however, if you’re a Startup you were beavering away while everyone else was on holidays.
Just briefly if you’re not sure what a startup is; a startup is highly scalable global business by design. If it does not have the potential to go global or highly scalable, then it’s a normal business.
As a Startup, it is a constant conscious effort to keep the momentum. And to have coworking spaces to engage in is priceless and brilliant for learning new skills and collaboration on your journey.
Which brings me to share our adventures for the beginning of 2017.
The year has been a fantastic one where opportunity is abundant and overflowing with fun in Qld. With my partner in crime & puppy dog co-founder, spent December 2016 and January 2107 in Toowoomba QLD with Canvas Co-working as Entrepreneurs in Residence.
As digital nomads, we love the opportunity to explore and discover another co-working community’s as we have done for the past 16 months on the road full time.
It was a pleasure to be welcomed into Canvas Co-working after which we then we headed off down the road to Ipswich to Firestation 101 where we were invited to mentor another fabulous bunch of motivated startups wanting to make the world a better place.
While at Firestation 101 co-working space, I took the time to ask some of the startups and some of the co-working businesses how they are thinking on a daily basis. I asked them each a key question:
“What is the one thing you do that simplifies your life each day”?
Each micro-moment of positive thought can enhance how you experience your day. Using mico-moments of motivation can have a huge impact on your life and those you serve.
The more you simplify, the more you can amplify opportunities that make the difference toward an overall successful journey as an entrepreneur.
Allow me to introduce you to some awesome minds. These fabulous individuals who are part of startup co-working Ipswich Qld Australia.
Introducing Startup #1 Meet Anne-Marie Walton CEO & Founder of Express2fun and also the coordinator of Firestation 101. Annemarie works like a crazy woman possessed, she never stops and is a very valuable part of organizing events at the station. Her energy is brilliant and a great support to each and every coworker in the space. With her very own app Want2 being a great success she is a model leader for Firestation 101.
Anne-Marie went on to say “I walk. It takes me away from my current environment. I get exercise, Vitamin D and gather my thoughts & clear my head”.
That’s a great micro-moment motivation. Staying healthy through the adventure of your startup takes mindful effort, and you need to give yourself some time to defrag.
Anne-Marie favourite motto is simply “Embrace change”.
Now meet Start-up #2 David Uebergang, Co-founder Reach Video Advertising.
David hides away in the engine room doing his post video editing, and occasionally his towering figure will appear to play Fussball or lunch and have a chat.
When I asked what was the one thing that he uses to simplify his day, without hesitation he said “I began to implement Trello (the app for organising projects) “Using Trello gives me the ability to prioritise stuff it helps with overwhelm.”
Chad Renaldo, the Director of Firestation 101, introduced me to Trello at one of his workshops and I would have to agree it is a fabulous tool for project planning. It enables you to stay in touch with your teammates and organise your path forward.
Next, I want to introduce you to Start-up #3 Anthony Caldwell, Founder VitalVectors
Anthony, he is a machine! He was escaping from the space for the day as I fire hosed him with this question. Anthony is like the bearded Albert Einstein Brainiac of the space and one of the most astounding & interesting minds around.
Anthony’s response to my question made me tilt my head trying to understand the complexity of his answer. However, it was a simple and very straightforward metaphor that is very customer focused, and if you are from the bush, you will relate to it well.
He went on to say “Always start with the bush fires. It’s the same as in the bush, yes the fires will eventually burn themselves out, but whether you are at home with the wife and kids, family or your customers. It’s important to see the customer’s perspective. What they believe is important to them, so it is important to see it from their viewpoint”.
That is a very valid point and one that is so often overlooked and is important when it comes to your customers, or even those who are close to you.
The next entrepreneurial startup is also a startup mentor is Mark Phillips. He is a big traveller and adventurer and passionate about helping startups grow.
Meet Start-up #4 Mark Phillips, Business in Bare Feet.
Mark says simply “I read my news on RSS Reader first thing in the morning. It simplifies my life because it allows me to read the latest news quickly and keeps me up to date.”
Keeping up to date is a good habit to get into when you are a startup. However, it can feel like there is so much to keep up with. Mark is talking about startup.
Startup #5 Dean Tolhurst, Founder of Informant Technology.
Dean is another one of those brilliant minds who studied philosophy in with a very interesting background and successful entrepreneur, and he has a very grounded view business.
When I asked him what does he do each day to simplify his day he responded simply, “It’s all about breath, I come back to my breath when I feel anxiety or overwhelm in business. It is a basic skill that we forget which is so powerful. There is always a solution even if the solution is to stop. Breath, or even pivot”.
As a Startup the importance of breath is going back to our basic survive skill, stopping and taking a moment to breath and feed the body with oxygen can do wonders, sometimes it really is just the simple things that can change the way you experience your world at the moment.
Startup #6 Coder-extraordinaire Rob Welan of DevDemand and Code Switch creator shared his little piece of simplicity.
“The more you know, the easier my job is, the more skilled I become, the more beautiful my job is. It’s an ongoing learning and continuous improvement. For me, the learning is the most important thing. When I asked, what was his daily mantra and he replied “What am I doing and Why am I doing it” It keeps me mindful of what my priorities are.
Coworking space business owner #7 Troy Schoenfisch of Troy’s Bookkeeping.com.au
Troy says “a massive focus of my business is using the technology available to simplify and streamline how you do business.”
Troy has another meetup event on doing business Right at Firestation 101 at the end of February.
Troy’s favourite daily share is to “Find a way to share your awesomeness with the world each day” – #bookkeeperwithpersonality.
Finally Mel Wren Art (Melanie Byrne) Artist in Residence
“Simplify tasks rather than being concerned about the being perfect. Just try to achieve the basic task, as Regina Specktor the Singer says, ‘good is better than perfect’.
To put it all together, these are the extraordinary people doing extraordinary things to finding an existing problem and solving it with their startup.
It really is about how we manage the micro-moments in our day and how we discipline ourselves throughout the journey to keep out minds positive and toward the best possible outcomes.
Please share below in comments your one thing you do each day to simplify and enhance your day. We would love to hear what one thing you so to simplify your day.
Happy new horizons and most excellent adventures for 2017