Mar 1st

Staying in Bed, Guilt & Linchpins

out sickI don’t get sick much, but this morning it hit me like a semi-truck doing 70 mph.

While meeting some smart folks at Skyline of Ohio for a final planning session, to get ready for a sold out Exhibitor Exchange event on Thursday morning, my stomach suddenly flipped.

Jacob had been sick over the weekend.  Poor little guy.  His mom, and my partner in crime, Sarah, woke up this morning with that age-old look on her face.  She was infected.  I suppose it was only a matter of time before it got me, too.

After the meeting, I came home to get ready to leave for the first session in a series of trainings at Incept Corp.  Right before leaving for Canton, the bug laid siege on me and I was down for the count.

Guilty
Like some of you, I’ve been reading Chris Brogan’s recent posts on the concept of Anywhen.  Chris is a robot with extended battery life, and yet people demand so much that sometimes, even with all of his efficiencies and twilight hours, even he can’t handle the demands.

I stayed in bed all day today.  And now, I feel guilty.  I feel guilty that I’m off schedule with Incept.  I feel guilty that I have an inbox full of important messages from you, eagerly waiting for my response.  I feel guilty that my entire week now needs adjusted.  That alone is one more task I must begrudgingly add to my plate.

(Please bare with me, I will get back to you!)

I’m guilty that I still feel like roadkill and all I want to do is lay on the couch, staring aimlessly at box set episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. (Really entertaining series from 2006, if you’ve not watched it.)

In the back of my mind, I keep thinking to myself: “This is stupid!  You are being ridiculous.  People are allowed to get sick and take time to get better.”

And yet, I still feel guilty.

(P.S.  I’ll be back tomorrow.)

Chasing Linchpin
I’m two-thirds of the way through what I believe is one of Seth Godin’s best books, Linchpin.

In the book, Seth lays a framework for how we got…well…here.  By here, I mean smack in middle of a Henry Ford-style corporate machine that has brainwashed people into thinking they are not special enough to have good ideas.  Seth comments on how we’ve been trained by the education system to fit in to the mold and report to our 9-to5 jobs as cogs in a giant machine.  We humans have been bred to be expendable.

And then there are the Linchpins – those who break that mold and do things differently and better.  The Linchpins are so passionate about their art, they they stop at nothing to beat the odds and make a living doing what they love, everyday.

I’m trying to be a Linchpin, just like Chris and Lewis and Gary V.  There’s a long road ahead but I’ve decided to travel it willingly, and never look back.

What Sucks
I think one negative of choosing to be a Linchpin is the guilt you feel when you have to admit that you are still only human.  Humans get sick.  Humans have bad days where they just don’t feel like pushing.  Humans get stressed and buried and annoyed.  In Chris’s case, humans sometimes need more than 24 hours to reply to your question or request.

Enter the guilt.

Are you trying to be a Linchpin too?  What causes you to feel guilty?  Why is that?

Photo credit: Icanhascheezburger

nateriggs

I advise mid-sized & large organizations on how to adopt and use social media to market through organizational culture and better serve their clients. I'm also a blended family dad who enjoys music, photography and distance racing. When I'm not writing here, you can find me writing over at the Content Marketing Institute. Like what you've read so far? Then why not subscribe HERE?

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Comments (14)
  • Robin Gerhart

    I have guilt every day working full time (50) + hours as an accountant self employed, no work, no pay. Trying to start a new direction with a business idea I have had for over two years. I am a wife, Mom, Grandma, Aunt needing to spend time and care for family and friends. Trying to get my website up, take care of my house, laundry, cook, bills to pay, taxes need done. Never enough time in a day, sleep? So take a deep breath, do all I can do and know I am only one person working like others who have a desire to be a linchpin, not giving up but knowing that sometimes we are knocked down for one reason or another, tomorrow is another day. The world won’t end if we have to take a break to go forward.

  • Robin Gerhart

    I have guilt every day working full time (50) + hours as an accountant self employed, no work, no pay. Trying to start a new direction with a business idea I have had for over two years. I am a wife, Mom, Grandma, Aunt needing to spend time and care for family and friends. Trying to get my website up, take care of my house, laundry, cook, bills to pay, taxes need done. Never enough time in a day, sleep? So take a deep breath, do all I can do and know I am only one person working like others who have a desire to be a linchpin, not giving up but knowing that sometimes we are knocked down for one reason or another, tomorrow is another day. The world won’t end if we have to take a break to go forward.

  • http://www.genyjourney.com/ Tyler Durbin

    @Nate Are you back into commission today?

    I, too, was hit hard by sickness on Monday and am still struggling with it. While I still was able to get through a mostly unproductive day at work, the work I’m passionate about that I do after 5 p.m. suffered greatly. It’s tough to deal with when you’ve worked so hard to commit to something and you’ve let nothing hold you back; now some cold or flu has you out of commission.

    The key is how you rebound. Is it going to stress you out and make you feel too much of a burden to continue the same level of commitment or will you regain the momentum you had before.

  • http://www.genyjourney.com Tyler Durbin

    @Nate Are you back into commission today?

    I, too, was hit hard by sickness on Monday and am still struggling with it. While I still was able to get through a mostly unproductive day at work, the work I’m passionate about that I do after 5 p.m. suffered greatly. It’s tough to deal with when you’ve worked so hard to commit to something and you’ve let nothing hold you back; now some cold or flu has you out of commission.

    The key is how you rebound. Is it going to stress you out and make you feel too much of a burden to continue the same level of commitment or will you regain the momentum you had before.

  • http://nateriggs.com/ Nate Riggs

    @tyler – yeah, things are back in business today, but still not 100%. Guess it will always be a struggle when unplanned things happen. If we could only command the universe… :)

  • http://nateriggs.com Nate Riggs

    @tyler – yeah, things are back in business today, but still not 100%. Guess it will always be a struggle when unplanned things happen. If we could only command the universe… :)

  • http://nateriggs.com/ Nate Riggs

    @robin Thanks for the comment. Sometimes it’s just good to know that others feel the same way you do. Here’s to the good fight! :)

  • http://nateriggs.com Nate Riggs

    @robin Thanks for the comment. Sometimes it’s just good to know that others feel the same way you do. Here’s to the good fight! :)

  • http://www.inceptresults.com/ Sam Falletta

    Nate,

    I’ve been enjoying the blog for some time without posting, but seeing your comment today finally got me to contribute.

    First, my rule is that you don’t get to feel guilty about anything that the client themselves is not bothered by. You got sick, we adjusted, the project is going to be fine. Don’t worry about it….. because we aren’t!

    Second, I also loves Seth’s discussion of linchpins and have taken it to mean much more than just challenging the norms of the workplace. To me, it also means challenging the previous assumptions that “work” and “life” are two different things and can’t work well together. Or the idea that you have to sacrifice one to accomplish your goals in the other. I have struggled to back out of this mindset and the guilt that would come along with not being 100% on a given day at work.

    It is hard, but it is working. I am slowly starting to account for personal and professional goals evenly, so I feel just as guilty if I don’t spend time with my family as I would about something less than my best at a work-related assignment.

    Sometimes getting sick can be a reminder that giving 100% to work IS enough and that it is okay to slow down. There are a ton of clients like us that WANT you to have a good balance and will gladly adjust our schedules to help you accomplish it.

  • http://www.inceptresults.com Sam Falletta

    Nate,

    I’ve been enjoying the blog for some time without posting, but seeing your comment today finally got me to contribute.

    First, my rule is that you don’t get to feel guilty about anything that the client themselves is not bothered by. You got sick, we adjusted, the project is going to be fine. Don’t worry about it….. because we aren’t!

    Second, I also loves Seth’s discussion of linchpins and have taken it to mean much more than just challenging the norms of the workplace. To me, it also means challenging the previous assumptions that “work” and “life” are two different things and can’t work well together. Or the idea that you have to sacrifice one to accomplish your goals in the other. I have struggled to back out of this mindset and the guilt that would come along with not being 100% on a given day at work.

    It is hard, but it is working. I am slowly starting to account for personal and professional goals evenly, so I feel just as guilty if I don’t spend time with my family as I would about something less than my best at a work-related assignment.

    Sometimes getting sick can be a reminder that giving 100% to work IS enough and that it is okay to slow down. There are a ton of clients like us that WANT you to have a good balance and will gladly adjust our schedules to help you accomplish it.

  • http://nateriggs.com/ Nate Riggs

    @sam – thanks for the comment and your understanding. I think yesterday went well. The team was soaking stuff up and I could see the light bulbs start to go off!

    Your comment just made a whole lot of sense to me:

    “To me, it also means challenging the previous assumptions that “work” and “life” are two different things and can’t work well together.”

    That’s worth some pondering… Thanks for posting this!

  • http://nateriggs.com Nate Riggs

    @sam – thanks for the comment and your understanding. I think yesterday went well. The team was soaking stuff up and I could see the light bulbs start to go off!

    Your comment just made a whole lot of sense to me:

    “To me, it also means challenging the previous assumptions that “work” and “life” are two different things and can’t work well together.”

    That’s worth some pondering… Thanks for posting this!

  • http://www.InceptResults.com/ Sam Falletta

    Nate,

    I’ve gotten great feedback from the other day also. It has certainly created a lot of energy and the team is excited about the additional discussions next week. Thanks again!

    No problem on the comments. We’re really trying to make it a central focus of the way all of us evaluate our time, so any feedback/insight/thoughts/discussion is definitely welcome. See you soon.

  • http://www.InceptResults.com Sam Falletta

    Nate,

    I’ve gotten great feedback from the other day also. It has certainly created a lot of energy and the team is excited about the additional discussions next week. Thanks again!

    No problem on the comments. We’re really trying to make it a central focus of the way all of us evaluate our time, so any feedback/insight/thoughts/discussion is definitely welcome. See you soon.