100 miles without dying. That was the goal. Simple enough, right?

When I saw the opportunity to participate in a century ride (that’s 100 miles for those unfamiliar) to support World Bicycle Relief and Cubs Charities, I instantly had the desire to sign up.

I know you’re asking yourself, “What could have possibly driven this asthmatic, unathletic artist-type to possibly do such a thing?!” Well see, last summer I decided to “get into” cycling. I picked out a nice, tame bicycle and began my biking journey. I biked and biked. And biked. But I needed a goal – something to keep me from giving up on it come winter. 100 miles seemed like a good idea. Read the rest of the entry >

There are many ways to make your work “grass” as green as anywhere else. One of the best ways we have found for either a business owner or an employee is to come up with something that is big to do, and I mean Big with a capital B. Not just the next big idea – of course, that’s always a good thing – but I think of “big” as an idea that your group can rally around. An idea worth pushing yourselves and striving to achieve.

BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST – Some Big Ideas for Your Company

• - Develop a goal to serve somewhere in the world as a group
• - Designate a segment of your firm’s work, or a percentage of it, to fund a cause or some underserved need
• - Raise money or awareness for a community project through a free campaign that utilizes more than just design
• - Start a mentoring program
• - Become dedicated to a major footprint reduction – carpooling, biking, etc.
• - Train as a group to do some beneficial activity
• - Learn something new every two months for a year
• - Coordinate and run a blood drive

Some of these may seem really big, and some may hit you as not big enough. Add your own brainstorms to the comment section or jot them down on that “idea list” of yours.

The bigger the goal the better! I wrote about “Serving Up Change” in Parse, which focused only on the serving aspect of this initiative, but I want to expand that idea more here because it is something we all should pay attention to. We all get those urges to do something massively huge or impactful, and I believe there is no better way to accomplish this than by positively impact someone’s life through your work and energy.

THE BENEFITS OF BIG – A Few Plusses to Rallying Around a Big Idea

• - Taking time to do something you never dreamed of, or didn’t take time to explore
• - Team building
• - The simple joy of learning something new
• - Enjoying your workplace more
• - Learning about a community or world need
• - The satisfaction that comes from serving others
• - And, although it sounds dirty saying it, it’s great PR!

You don’t have to be the kingpin at your workplace to make change happen. Sometimes all it takes is sharing your vision or suggesting an audacious goal. It all starts with a conversation and questions like, “Do you want to be a part of a team that does something bigger than just you?”

I guarantee you that if your workplace values a challenge like that and you get to see it through, your work life will be more satisfying.

#69 Have you done a personal inventory lately? Have you asked if there is something you want to do, change or learn? What is stopping you?

We think the hardest thing to do is the strive for balance: balance of your time, desires, dreams, work, friends, family, and the list goes on. In the day-to-day onslaught of life, it can be hard to even think clearly enough to see where you can improve. The sheer fact of the matter is that nothing will improve, though, unless you take some personal time to look at your life make a list of things that you would like to learn, change, or add.

Set aside some time this week to make your list. We recommend writing it down so you can visually see what you feel you’re missing. Then you can take a realistic look at those items and see how hard they would be to integrate into your life. Some may be be easier than you think to incorporate, while for others you may need to make some tough decisions. For those, you’ll definitely need to work out a plan for change, but in the end it will be worth it.

We tweeted recently ” The future you see is the future you get.” – Robert G Allen. So this may seem trivial, but make your list and start planning where you can work on changing or growing.