SOPA? Nope-a!

After a grass roots protest which included many websites going dark SOPA is dead, at least for now. The legislation will surface in another session of Congress, probably sooner rather than later. Still it's been a good day for freedom of expression, with the understanding that theft of intellectual property remains a vexing problem.

source: morgueFile.com

Inherent in SOPA and other legislation is intent to "allow the creative to be free to create". The premise of protecting the inventor for the sake of invention is misplaced at best. Dancers dance, singers sing, creators create and inventors invent. The concept of profitability wanders along later. Imagine these two conversations from history, reconstituted through the thought process of  US legislators:

• Young Orville and Young Wilbur see a bird flying overhead, look at each other and nod in synch. Orville says "Do you think we can get $50 a suitcase in 2011?"
• Alexander Graham Bell picks up his new invention and speaks with urgency, "Watson, come here. I need you." Watson rushes into the room and Bell continues, "I don't have an unlimited minutes package and since you are in the building, I saw no need to waste my minutes."

source: morgueFile.com

Dancers dance, singers sing, creators create and inventors invent because they are driven. No legislation encourages them. Not only do dancers dance, etc. but also cheaters cheat, thieves thieve and robbers rob. No legislation can completely protect the property of the inventor. Any legislation that grants sweeping powers to suppress in fact inhibits the inventor.

ROL, Ralph Waldo Emerson Trust 30 Challenge: Systematically Facing Fear.

ROL (Return on Life) is a weekly post. ROL is the life style enhancing metric similar to the business measurement ROI (Return on Investment). Just as ROI increases with incremental additional investment generating large gains, ROL is about small life change strategies that can provide significant increases in quality of life. Today's ROL is inspired by a Trust 30 prompt.

This Trust 30 prompt is from Dan Andrews.  I love this prompt because it addresses the need of creatives to eschew logic and create. The prompt then provides a systematic approach for addressing any fear based on not following conventional and systematic thought.  This prompt synergizes left and right brain function using logic to defeat the enemy of the creative. What is the enemy of the creative? Logic.

Other prompt generated posts have pointed out that rational thinking is the enemy of creative energy. Considering the cost of failure obscures the benefits of success. Since the proper sequence remains ready,aim, fire, it's understandable that many great ideas don't get started because of the fear of failure. Luckily, not everyone is bound by this thinking. Richard Nixon's political career was thought to be dead when he lost the California governor's race in 1962, yet a mere 6 years later he became president. Okay, maybe that's a bad example but you get the point. There is tremendous value in forgoing conventional wisdom and achieving something no one thought possible.

It's great being a blind optimist, so long as you don't mind being blind. It's better to grant those fears reality and address those fears one by one.

1. What are the costs of inaction? Consider this: Starting a sentence "If I had only ..."is so sad. "I did this but it didn't work out as I had hoped" trumps "If I had only..." every single time.
2. What kind of person do I want to be? Look to your personal heroes. They are your heroes for a reason. I'll bet they're not your heroes for their ability to sit idly by and watch the world happen.
3. In the event of failure, could I generate an alternative positive outcome? As long as failure doesn't kill you, there should always be an alternative positive outcome. At the very least you learn what seemed like a great idea, lacked. Use knowledge gained in failure to succeed next time. Today's success's are often built on the foundation of yesterday's failures. On the other hand, if there is a high (or even slim chance) that the activity could kill you, perhaps additional consideration about charging ahead is warranted.

Ignoring fear isn't always the answer. Facing fear and defeating fear point by point allows you to properly separate the factual from the irrational. So go ahead, embrace fear. Break it down, then break it in half. Then go out and show the world what you can do.