Just finished the book, Do Cool Shit, by Miki Agrawal. There were many things I took from this book that I am applying in my daily life now. The book engages you with questions that help dig deep down to discover certain things in your life that need to be addressed. In the final chapter, the author asks five questions of, many well-known authors, actors, entrepreneurs, etc. to discover any similarity in answers.
The five questions are:
- What does “doing cool shit” mean to you?
- What cool shit are you up to? And what cool shit are you planning in the future?
- What was the most important lesson you’ve learned about doing cool shit in business?
- What is the best life advice you can give to help someone else do cool shit?
- What was the moment in your life that made you realize that you could stray from the norm and do cool shit?
I want everyone reading this to answer these questions and share with us. Also, go to www.docoolshit.org and share with Miki. Here are my answers to these questions:
What does “doing cool shit” mean to you?
“Doing cool shit” means doing something that is making an impact on people’s lives and the community that surround them or yourself. You know when you are doing this because when you tell others they will respond, “That is amazing,” “that’s some cool shit,” “awesome,” or anything to this degree. “Doing cool shit” doesn’t have to be a big monumental affair. It could be building a garden in your backyard to grow veggies. This little task makes an impact in your life, the people that surround you and you are working on an awesome weekend project.
What cool shit are you up to? And what cool shit are you planning in the future?
This blog! Ha. There are a few things I have going on currently. At work I am focused on creating an environment that empowers people to grow and take pride in their work. While the company I work for is large, our store is smaller in size, but we are making a huge impact in our community and the people we work with each day. Second, I am the Marketing and Design Manager for a lifestyle apparel brand a buddy and I started. This is giving me great experience in business, social media, marketing, etc. Finally, RAWR is the coolest shit I am doing these days. This organization challenges me daily to be the best me. I am reading and writing more. I am applying everything we teach on a daily basis. Some cool shit I have planned for the future is starting a consulting company that works with action sport athletes. During grad school my thesis and focus was on action sport athletes and I would like to continue to help with their performance. Also, there is a few books on the way!
What was the most important lesson you’ve learned about doing cool shit in business?
Be true to yourself. Don’t let others influence the way you want to lead. All you can do is hope that what you are doing is contagious and others follow and strive to be the best that they can be. Focus only on what you can control and roll with the punches. Shit happens. Learn and move on. Tomorrow will come and today will be fine. Be honest with yourself. Surround yourself with a team that has many strengths. If someone else is better at something, like accounting or organization, then let go of your ego and let that person shine. Two things will come from this, you are allowing that person to grow and teach you something new, and second your organization will be better for it. It is okay to make mistakes. Mistakes allow us to grow. If we were perfect all the time we would never learn. Never let a day go without learning something new.
What is the best life advices you can give to help someone else do cool shit?
If you are so passionate about something that in ten years you have more passion than now about it, do it! The years in life are short but the minutes are long. Saver each moment. Create lasting memories and develop deep relationships.
What was the moment in your life that made you realize that you could stray from the norm and do cool shit?
When I made people smile.
These questions were a lot of fun to answer and I would love to answer them every few years to see what things are similar, what differ, what cool shit I am doing at the time or have planned for the future. Again, answer these five questions and please share!
– Sean C.
rawrlearning.com 