Spending My Life Growing

Financial Advisor with Northwestern Mutual, adventure lead with Mazamas. Documenting growth through persistence; equal parts how-to and life journal. Follow me on Twitter too (@mackenzietstout).    

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Being an addition for my community

In building my financial services practice, it’s been made known by every established networking organizer I’ve met that I’m a dime a dozen (I’m in a non-unique role). The only question presented, whether explicit or implicit, is how can I add something different? While it’s a challenging question, it’s also a valid question; business is based on the value-added process, so what’s the value I’m adding? I’m answering this question by adding to the community around me with a progressive mindset.

Having recently moved into St. Johns, the easy place to start was with the St. Johns Boosters. Joining other business owners to commit some time and energy to assist my communities’ growth and prosperity through business was a good fit, but I didn’t feel I had created any unique value to this point. If another financial services owner enters then what makes me unique? Joining the Business for a Better Portland was the first step into a holistic strategy that I’m confident is a gainful answer to the question, “What makes you different?”.

The cause of advancing progressive practices in Oregon drives my answer. I’ve laid out a drill-down strategy of engagement with my community. Starting from the top, I’m a member of the Main Street Alliance for Oregon, Business for a Better Portland, and the St. Johns Boosters; I know I have more to add than simple membership and I’m looking for committees where I’m able to contribute most. 

I’m being careful to estimate my time spend, guarding against spreading myself too thin, failing myself and my community. This is the greatest challenge I’ve ever attempted; I may fail in small ways. In putting together an answer to a business question I’ve created a new way of life for myself, and it will take considerable effort to internalize this new lifestyle. I feel strongly about becoming something better so that others can do the same.

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Misplaced trust in the justice system; a sham trial favored the aggressor

Today I found the outcome with the Multnomah County justice system that has been the stuff of news; today other people’s issues I could never relate to from experience became my own. To say my tenant-landlord history has been challenging is a positive perspective; I’ve had consistent issues with landlords attempting to create burdens beyond what’s reasonable. What I encountered today was a sham trial attempting to defend myself against a landlord that has now succeeded in pushing me out of a reliable living situation while stealing my security deposit.

The trial was over my payment of rent. Although I paid at the time, place and method provided, she’s now taking the money for my rent and stealing my security deposit for any remaining amount “owed”. I provided proof of payment in court and identified the landlord perjuring herself in court before being told by the judge that she made a finding against me. 

My trial was initially ended without a ruling. While the judge made a favorable comment about the arguments of my landlord, she provided no ruling before ending the trial. Because of her comments and my lack of legal support (the lawyer referred to me by the Oregon State Bar never contacted me back) I was under the assumption that I was facing an eviction.

No ruling was made at that time; the judge provided no documentation of any ruling (although I felt it was implied that a ruling had been made). I was approached by my landlord’s lawyer with an offering to avoid an eviction by simply moving out at a time of their choosing. Wanting to avoid an eviction I accepted the offer and he quickly gained the audience of the judge to get the ruling made in their favor.

The sham trial is something I won’t forget. No ruling was made before I was persuaded, under the implied threat of eviction, to accept an offer that will affect my well-being for months to come.

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Working for what I believe in

With everything I read and watch right now, it’s surprising that “business as usual” is what’s usual in business. Social unrest and discontent in reaction to economic and social injustice is a plain indicator that change is demanded, whether people currently in power want it or not. This “known unknown” of the pace of social change is worth noting as a risk for organizations looking to sustain their operations in the years to come, similar to the risk of technological change that has resulted in extraordinary changes in organizational prominence and dominance.

In developing a financial services practice, I have an opportunity to engage with change, helping it advance. In pursuit of deep success and the highest challenge, I’m focusing my daily effort to helping the causes of social and environmental justice. What’s left is the work, the daily challenges of connecting with groups and individuals that are often withdrawn and disconnected. All past and present noise aside, I’m confident in my ability to find ways to help people shift their mindset for a common benefit. 

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Filters For Focus

Here’s a productivity practice I created and have never found anywhere else. You may be familiar with time blocks (using large blocks of time to plan your day, and then using your task list as normal) or timeboxing (creating calendar events to replace your task list, also called living in your calendar) but I created a task management system that’s the best of both worlds.

Start with time blocks in your calendar, naming them appropriately. Use labels in Todoist to place all your tasks into their respective time blocks. Add filters, and favorite them, in Todoist to have quick access to today’s time blocks (like I showed in the photo). Throughout the day, move from one timeblock to the next with Todoist, adjusting your timeblocks as you need on your calendar.

Timeboxing is a reaction to the cognitive load of a day’s task list. “Living in your calendar” breaks down steps in your day, providing the effect of a work breakdown structure for each day. You’re now able to go one step at a time, reducing the cognitive load (but adding the additional work of moving a pile of calendar events if anything changes during the day). My “time filtering” provides the same effect with additional flexibility.

Focus is crucial for efficient use of your time. Changing between tasks takes effort for the brain, leading to lag when changing tasks. Multi-tasking, except when necessary, is simply less productive for that reason. When you focus on one type of task at a time you’ll simply get more done and potentially learn more with intentional repetition.

Let me know what you think about my “time filtering” system. I’m using it and noting benefits including increasing productivity and eliminating the dread of seeing an overlarge task list. I get to take my day one step at a time without spending additional time keeping my calendar in pristine condition.

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How I’m Starting New Growth

Making the decision to grow, to do something different, is the important first step. I made that decision already and am taking the next step. Now I’m using everything I know to perpetually grow. I’m seeing a difference every day.

I want to share the most important pieces of how I’m achieving new growth. I’m hopeful this post will help you find your own way to grow.

Be prepared (organize)

Being organized is the foundation of everything I accomplish. The better prepared I am before a situation, the better the outcome from a situation. I use task management software, project management software, and note-taking software as the start for every goal. I’m accomplishing more in life because of the (selective) way I organize my life.

Organizing your life goes beyond keeping files in order before tax season (although I recommend doing that too). You can organize how you approach each aspect of your life, with the greatest benefit coming on your schedule. Use effective methods for scheduling, and if you don’t know them, you can learn them. You’ll find you have more time for what you really want to accomplish with your life.

Actively engage (network)

I’m engaging with groups that have similar interests and similar goals more and more. I know that my connections define my life and live with that in mind. I help myself by spending time with people that close the gap between my vision and my reality. I’m finding myself closer to my goals simply by spending enough time with people interested in my success.

Staying engaged is bigger than spending time with old friends. It’s about finding where you can express what’s deeper in life. Philosophy and politics aren’t fun (superficial) topics, they are deep topics that provide deep satisfaction. The more you spend time engaging with groups that share your interests and beliefs, while expanding your horizon of knowledge and wisdom, the more you’ll grow (in many ways).

Get creative (journal)

I’m a fan of journaling and maybe it’s because I simply enjoy being creative. I have journaling practices for both personal and professional development. They help me express my thoughts and emotions, gaining an objective perspective of my situation. I’ve found greater peace with the situations that arise in life recently and I attribute much of that to creative expressions like journaling.

Whether you’re recording your growth in life or growing by recording your life, it’s going to benefit you. Journaling and other forms of creative expression have well-documented benefits. Using this in your daily routine for personal or professional development gives you the opportunity to understand yourself better. Adding metacognition (most easily understood as a conscious awareness of your thoughts) to your life can benefit your decision-making and your social interactions.

All of what I’ve written above are simply some basics of how I’m accomplishing what’s important to me. I’m excited to continue providing more of what I’m doing to achieve my goals soon. I’ll be adding more specifics, giving you my insight after years of finding and developing effective practices. I’m putting this together as much for myself as for you, teaching is one of the best ways to learn a difficult subject (and I’m spending more time being creative too).

Thanks for reading my entry today.