Client Spotlight: Raman Shah, Ph.D., is a data craftsman who consults on performance measurement and operational improvement. Engaging Local Government Leaders named him a 2024 top influencer in local government. A graduate of Pathway to Publication, he wrote “Starting Simple in Performance Measurement” for the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).

Well, hello, !

Here in southern Connecticut, we're in the throes of spring. The leaves are settling down after their celebratory neon-green phase, and the hummingbirds and orioles have returned for the summer.

My weekends are filled with visits to botanical gardens, arboretums, and nurseries. I am looking for inspiration (though some claim I am procrastinating).

For the first time in my life, I have 1500 square feet of yard to do with as I please. It's exciting — and daunting. I don't want to muck it up, so I plan.

And plan.

And plan.

I've been planning my garden since I moved here. In December. 2020.

Yeah, I know.

Planning will only get you so far. Eventually, you have to do the thing.

Last year, I took my first tentative step and started a vegetable garden. I grew tomatillos, tomatoes (the bossypants of the vegetable world, even though they are fruits), sweet peppers, greens, and one perfect watermelon.

I learned a lot about what to grow and where, when to harvest, and how to use what I grew. All the research I did in advance didn't teach me nearly as much as I learned from sticking some seedlings in the ground and seeing what happened.

And, even though I put the vegetable garden in the exact wrong location, and it will be a pain in the ass to move it, I learned a lot. Starting next weekend, I will repeat the experiment when I purchase seedlings at Fresh New London.

This year, I am determined to do something with my sliver of a front yard.

This determination was not born of virtue. It was born of circumstance: The city will be ripping up my front yard to replace the water pipes. I plan to use that disruption to tackle the next small piece of my garden.

The more I get into gardening, the more I realize how similar it is to writing. I've started to approach gardening the same way I approach writing.

Writing is a practice (as is gardening). You can talk about it and think about it and dream about it for your entire life, but you only make progress if you do it. And it is the practice that matters. We can influence the outcome, but we cannot control it.

Writers write. That's the only requirement to be a writer. It's not about publishing or winning an award or being told how good (or bad) you are. It's about writing.

Similarly, gardeners garden. It's not about your beautiful hydrangeas or your delicious tomatoes or the fact that the birds and bugs decimated your berries. It's about gardening.

The only way to become a writer (or a gardener) is to start.

Even if it isn't perfect.

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"Gardening is full of mistakes, almost all of them pleasant and some of them actually instructive."

~ Henry Mitchell, One Man's Garden

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Join the Conversation

Holy shitnuggets, Batman!

In this LinkedIn post, I share what I learned as I prepared to facilitate a conversation about business development, got completely overwhelmed, and discovered a simple solution. And yes, I am still delighted by the fact that I wrote "shitnuggets" on LinkedIn. Join the conversation.

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Recommended Resource

Intellectual Property (IP) Inventory

There are two reasons to inventory your IP. First, you cannot use your IP as an asset if you've forgotten about it. Second, your IP is your body of work; your body of work embodies your BIG idea, and your BIG idea is at the heart of your business and reputation. An inventory allows you to see and evaluate every piece of IP you've created to make sure it is aligned with the business and reputation you want to build. Get your copy.

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Featured Appearance

Podcast: Disrupt & Innovate

I joined Lisa Levy to explore how we can cut through the noise by sharing our expertise through content that adds to the conversation. I shared my insights on serving your audience, anchoring your work in value, and focusing on quantity over quality. Take a listen!

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Upcoming Events

Pitched to Published™

Interested in learning how to pitch, write, and publish articles for industry trade journals and high-visibility publications? Join me on Wednesday, June 12, at 11:55 AM Eastern for a free mini-training on how to pitch your article or column, followed by a Q+A. Register here.

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That's all for now!

I am taking a mini-sabbatical the last week of May. I won't send a newsletter that week. Instead, I'll spend the week researching, writing, and focusing on a few projects that require my undivided attention.

(These mini-sabbaticals make a world of difference!)

If you're thinking about writing articles for high-visibility publications or you have a community who might be thinking about it, please book a call. I'd love to learn more about your writing goals or how I might be able to serve your community.

I'll see you in June!

Take good care,