Categories: Articles

Finding Your Start

This week has been about starting.

The past few blog posts have been about finding the nerve to start or about thinking and acting like a startup (whether you’re just getting started or if you’re a lumbering giant in your industry). In the blog comments, on Twitter, on Facebook and even in some casual conversations that I had in Silicon Valley this week, the most common question is "how?" How do you get started. I jokingly told a writer friend that the easiest way to start writing is to simply, shut up and write. It sounds simple enough, but you would be surprised.

Shut up and start.

OK, let’s assume it’s easier said than done and that you need a little inspiration. No one has influenced my ability to just sit down and get started more than Mark Levy. Who is Mark Levy? I had heard his name is some of my online social networking circles, and while reviewing his site I was amazed to see testimonials like: "Mark Levy is a positioning guru extraordinaire and is my guru in residence" from David Meerman Scott author of The New Rules Of Marketing And PR and many other bestselling business books. Simon Sinek, the bestselling author of Start With Why claims that Levy helped him find his "why," and corporate Blogging expert, Debbie Weil, then said that Levy is a "horse whisperer for writers and business thinkers." Beyond that high praise, Levy is also the author of Accidental Genius – Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight and Content. Since having Mark on my podcast back in September of 2010 (you can take a listen to it here: SPOS #221 – Unlocking Creativity And Your Accidental Genius With Mark Levy), I’ve had Mark speak at some events and I’ve had the pleasure of becoming friends with him. Just today, I noticed that he’s giving away a free e-book titled, List-Making as a Tool of Thought Leadership. I don’t know why Mark is giving this content away for free, but here it is and it will simply and easily answers one important question in your life:

How do I get started?

This free e-book should take you no longer than an hour to review, and I promise you that you will never be stuck again, you will never find yourself asking, "how do I get started?" and you’ll even re-think everything you know about brainstorming and putting your ideas on paper. Big claim? You bet. And this isn’t marketing hyperbole, but the real truth. Find a challenge that you have in your life and follow Mark’s list-making technique and tell me if you don’t have new and inspiring resolutions in under ten minutes.

So, what are you waiting for…

Get started: List-Making as a Tool of Thought Leadership.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.