Things to Think About And Do This Year

Posted by Chris Flanagan on December 16, 2009

Perfect for ringing in the new year, thought instilling author and blogger Seth Godin has compiled an inspirational eBook called What Matters Now, a compendium of short essays, drawings and encouraging words of wisdom from some of today’s popular authors, businessfolk, social do-gooders and bloggers. Featuring several members of the BIF community, each person reflects on a single word, offering their personal hints of what to think about and do in 2010.

The book is available for free download. Here's a sampling from a few of our BIF members:

• On Dignity from Acumen Fund Founder Jacqueline Novogratz: "It’s easy to take dignity away from someone but diffcult to give it to them. Creating ways for people to solve their own problems isn’t just an opportunity in 2010. It is an obligation."
• On Re-Capitalism from Monitor Networks CEO Chris Meyer: "Just as industrial technology shaped the society of the United States in the 20th Century, information technology will be the basis of the emerging "digital native" economies in the 21st."
• On Most from author Bill Taylor: It’s not good enough anymore to be “pretty good” at everything. You have to be the most of something: the most elegant, the most colorful, the most responsive, the most accessible."
• On Unsustainability from author Alan Webber: "Everyone is pursuing sustainability. But if change happens when the cost of the status quo is greater than the risk of change, we really need to focus on raising the costs of the unsustainable systems that represent the unsustainable status quo."
• On Poker from Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh: "BUSINESS IS A GAME. Everything I know about business I learned from poker: financials, strategy, education, and culture."
• On Dumb from BzzAgent CEO Dave Balter: "Here’s what’s easy: to recognize a really smart new business concept as just that.  What’s hard is recognizing that the idea you think is just plain dumb is really tomorrow’s huge breakthrough."
• On Independent Diplomacy from ex-Diplomat Carne Ross: "I was once a British diplomat.  I believed that governments understood – and controlled -  everything, and that diplomacy could deal with our new challenges."
• On Change from Made To Stick author Dan Heath: "You’re probably trying to change things at home or at work. Stop agonizing about what’s not working.  Instead, ask yourself, “What’s working well, right now, and how can I do more of it?”
• On I'm Sorry from 37Signals founder Jason Fried: "There’s never really a great way to apologize, but there are plenty of terrible ways."

My personal favorite is Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert who reflects on the topic of Ease and encourages all of us to just "Pump the brakes. Take a step back. Take two steps back. ... and surrender over all your aspirations and do absolutely nothing for a spell."

Download the eBook and pass it along!