Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

Thinking about Agatha Christie and how complex her plots became as she went further in her career. How did she keep track of all the twists and turns and false flags? Coming back to the idea that if we're feeling stuck in our careers or businesses, we may be making it far more complicated than it needs to be, and maybe the solution we're looking for is so obvious we've overlooked it. Maybe that ideal client avatar worksheet you've been toiling away at for months is actually distracting you from the people who have been in your sphere all along and who need what you offer. Maybe starting with the simplest possible description could get you on the right track. I can't count the times I've gotten myself backed into a corner with a problem, trying to understand every nuance and detail, only to find I've had the answer all along but didn't think it could really be that simple.  When you're stuck, try starting with the most straightforward idea first and s...

I just cleared snow off our sidewalk and driveway and to my surprise found a metaphor I needed relating to a project I need to finish with some urgency. I love shoveling snow but as I've gotten older, it takes longer and I need more breaks. Today, I finished the walks pretty easily but I still had the driveway left to do, which takes a lot more energy. The only way to finish jobs like this is to keep moving one shovelful at a time until the job is done. This is relevant for a talk I'm finishing for Thursday afternoon's appearance at Soulful Entrepreneur Summit. It's been an upgrade of a talk I did a couple of years ago, but what remained to be done was more like a driveway than a sidewalk. It's taken several weeks to get to this point but even a few days ago I wondered if I would ever finish. One shovelful at a time. If you're in the middle of a project and you can't see the end yet, the best you can do is keep chipping away at it. We can only take one step ...

Some friends I know who are recovering from addiction talk a lot about the bottom, the depth of depravity and desperation that they had to reach before they were willing to admit the problem at hand and seek help. I wonder sometimes if for many creators that an equally terrifying place is The Middle. When I first get an idea that I'm excited about, I can't wait to make it happen. The hyper energized state is fun, and the initial productivity that comes through keeps my focus and consumes time in gluttonous bites. Momentum is effortless, and I'm driven to distraction in any activity that isn't related. It's all I can think about. This beginning lasts until the inevitable Middle shows up. The Middle is usually heralded by a complication, an interruption, on an unanticipated obstacle. If you've ever encountered barre chords in a guitar lesson, you've met The Middle. Playing a barre chord requires greater hand strength than the open chords that were...