I am rereading Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones for maybe the 7th or 9th time; I lose count. It’s always good, whether you read it from start to finish as written, or just dip in for a chapter a day, skimming those titles to see what calls to you.
One morning this past week, I found myself thinking about her title. Natalie Goldberg doesn’t say too much about it in her book’s Introduction, just that, “When I teach a writing class, I want the students to be ‘writing down the bones,’ the essential, awake speech of their minds.” Since reading this interview with her, I know Goldberg is a fan of practice and structure, two things I revere as well. Geeky productivity nerd that I can often be, I have come to hold these things in high regard:
- values for basic goodness, for belief in morality, for predictability
- structure in keeping oneself logical, organized, ordered, aligned most of all
- batching for focused attention, and for concentration
- habits for rhythm over routine, for energizing momentum
- language of intention
- rule-breaking for creativity, and as a receptacle for new learning… there’s beauty in the work
- sensible business plans, where values weave in to strengthen them
I have always liked the word practitioners for describing ourselves as the Alaka‘i Managers we aspire to be.
The list above was quickly written in a stream of consciousness impulsiveness, when I realized something: taken altogether, they reminded me of our 9 Key Concepts, wherein we had also talked about bone structure and muscle mass. Do you remember what our bones are as Managing with Aloha practitioners? Do you remember what our muscle was?
So I did a fresh edit of that page, a kind of repeat session of “writing down the bones” too — ours. Read it again here, and ask yourself, as I am currently: If you took a bone density test, which us older folk get urged to be familiar with as we age, how healthy would the 9 Key Concepts within your business plan appear to be?
Bonus points: Here’s another MWA Check-up for you ~
I have this particular posting categorized with Key 2— Worthwhile Work, Key 3— Value Alignment, and Key 6— The ‘Ohana in Business Model.
Why those? What are the connections?
What are your connections? Decide on what your next action will be for each one, schedule it and get it done— you will be an intentioned practitioner, working smart.
Next-stepping and other Verbs
