Jim Mitchell

No matter how well-intentioned we are, sometimes we allow things to sneak into our lives under the guise of it being something important.

We ask “Who else can do this?” Or maybe we tell ourselves “No one else is qualified enough, so I’m the one who has to do it.”

When we start thinking like this, it’s our ego calling the shots. Maybe we want to be the hero, or we worry those who needed us in the past no longer will and that we won’t be their go-to person anymore.

Our ego persuades us take on more and more, forcing us to say yes when our heart is telling us we should be saying no. Before we know it, the commitments have piled up on us again.

We wake up one day and realize we’ve allowed so many things back into our lives that we dread getting out of bed and facing them. We’re over-committed again and can no longer see the forest for the trees in our lives.

When this happens to me, I make a day of solitude away from distractions and reflect on how I got to this point again. Then I figure out what I need to do to get life back on track.

I accept I won’t always be able to say no when I should. The only thing I can do is learn from caving in to my ego and grow from it.

When I’m stretched thin, these are some of the things I do to start cutting out the commitments that I should have said no to from the beginning.

Who’s Affected?

I ask myself who’s affected most?

Naturally, the person I’ll be letting down will be disappointed, but I ask myself who else has been neglected because I have so much on my plate?

Usually it’s my family that suffers most when I allow distractions. It’s easy to forget these are the important relationships to nurture. They’re the ones that are always the closest, so it’s easy to put them on the back burner. I learn more and more when I overcommit that I should be guarding these relationships fiercely.

Not only does my family suffer, but so does my health. I end up having so much going on that I don’t get proper sleep, exercise and I don’t eat well enough.

In the end, I wind up feeling burnt-out on life as a whole and get cranky with everyone around me. The most important relationships have wound up paying the price because I said yes when I should have said no.

Can Someone Else Do It?

I have to let go of my ego and turn the work over to someone else who can do the job just as well as I would have, if not better.

I remind myself I’m not the only person in the world who has the talents to tackle a particular project. In fact, there may even be someone else who’s much more qualified than I ever was. This helps to remind me it’s okay to step aside.

It might even be good to let someone who isn’t as capable handle it. Allowing people to be challenged is usually when they grow the most.

Is it Important?

Sometimes the thing someone asked from me really isn’t as important to them as I think it is. I have to ask them how important it is that I be the one to do it for them.

Maybe they don’t even care about it anymore, or know of someone else who can do it in my place. I’ll never know unless I ask.

Hold Your Ground

Of course, backing out of a commitment is akin to lighting a match that’ll burn a bridge. I have to be open to being the target for disappointment and hurt feelings.

But I also have be ready to share how the commitment is affecting important areas of my life. Maybe it’s even hurting the relationship between me and this person. I share this so the friendship doesn’t take a turn for the worst.

Most people will understand and be sympathetic to a plight if you’re stretched too thin, though some may not. Which ever the case, hold your ground. If you know you need to step down to protect yourself, do it with a clear conscience.

In the end, it’s important to guard our relationships and health closely. Once we’ve lightened the load, we need to start working on ways to say no when our ego tells us to say yes.

Yay! It’s your first Dreamforce!

You’re pumped to finally be part of the magic. I bet you’ve already looked at a lot of other blogs to learn how to be ready before you landed here.

These are a few of my recommendations to make it a more memorable experience.

Comfortable Shoes

You want to wear comfortable shoes your feet are already used to, so don’t buy what you plan to wear a couple of days in advance. Take your old, ratty sneakers if you have to. I even recommend bringing two pair of super-comfy shoes if you can. Trust me, your feet will thank you for it. Having two pair of shoes helps reduce foot fatigue and keeps you feeling refreshed all around.

You’ll do a lot of walking over the four or five days of Dreamforce (I logged over 40 miles last year), and your dogs are going to be really tired by the end of the first day. Keeping foot-fresh should be one of your top priorities.

Bring extra socks and change them during the day too. It’ll help, I promise.

Crowds, Chaos and Pandemonium

Rumor has it Salesforce reduced the number of attendees this year compared to last. Even if this is true, be ready for plenty of chaos and pandemonium. The entire Dreamforce campus will be really crowded, with most people looking at their mobile device to figure out where they’re going next, so pack your patience along with those shoes.

Some people will be friendly and some won’t. It’s just how it is. Deciding to be one of the friendly people now will go a long way to enjoying the whole experience.

Remember to smile at other people and maybe even strike up a conversation with a stranger or two while standing in a line. You never know who you might meet by chance.

Don’t Overload Your Schedule

My first year, I filled my schedule to the brim with all the great sessions I wanted to attend, and barely made half of them. Give yourself plenty of time to get to your next session. Remember; crowds, chaos and pandemonium, not just on the street, but in the hotels where sessions are held too.

Twenty minutes to get from one place to another is not nearly enough time unless those sessions are in the same hotel. Give yourself the time to get there and find a prime seat.

You should also have some empty time to just wander an area you’re interested in. The Admin, Developer or Expo halls have a lot to see. Having free time to stroll through them might open up some unexpected opportunities to learn something, or meet someone new.

Stay Hydrated and Well Fed

It’s going to be easy to skip a meal or forget to drink water. Bring high-protein or complex carb, non-sugary snacks to keep the hangries at bay. It’ll go a long way to helping you retain the patience you’ll need.

Staying hydrated will help reduce headaches and fatigue too. There will be water stations all over the place… Use them!

Don’t Carry a Laptop

Unless you absolutely have to have it with you, leave your laptop at the hotel. I carried mine with me the first year I attended and only pulled it out of my bag once. It was more of a ball and chain than it was the tool I thought it would be.

Instead, carry an analog journal to take notes, or have a good note-taking app on your phone.

Our team will be using Quip to share session notes with each other this year. The app is so good it’s earned a permanent place on my phone’s home screen.

Don’t Be Afraid of Your Heroes

If you cross paths with someone from the community who inspires you, take the opportunity to introduce yourself to them. Naturally, be polite when doing it and respect any conversations your hero may already be involved in, but by introducing yourself, you could be opening the door to a friendship or opportunity further down the line.

The community heroes are heroes for a reason – because they enjoy helping others learn and grow.

I crossed paths with Mike Gerholdt very much by chance my first Dreamforce and was totally star-struck. I wish I’d taken a few more minutes to chat with him than I did. Don’t have the same regret I do.

Say hello, thank them for inspiring you and ask them a few questions you’d like to know about them. Wrap it up by asking if you can connect with them on social media.

Keep Yourself Safe

There are many areas of San Francisco I’d call questionable when it comes to your safety, especially after dark. Don’t walk if you don’t have to. There will be plenty of Uber and Lyft in the city. Getting yourself into a questionable circumstance could be scary at best and harmful at worst.

Know your surroundings at all times and keep your head on a swivel.

Take Lots of Pictures

Finally, take lots of pictures and share them with your friends and family, and on social media, using the #DF19 hashtag. Your pictures will remind you of the magic you experienced and keep you pumped through the year until you get to go to your next Dreamforce.

Feel free to connect with me through social media in the menu above and let me know you’ll be at Dreamforce. I may not be a hero, but I do love connecting with other people who have a passion for Salesforce like I do. I might even know someone who can help you out. You never know…

Hope to see you there!

One of my earliest childhood memories is traumatic. At least it would seem traumatic to a three-and-a-half-year-old little boy. Though it didn’t turn out to be the end of the world, it seemed like hell when it happened. I still carry the memory with me more than a half-century later, so it damaged me on some level.

My family – mother, wicked step-father, newborn baby sister and me – were living in an old two-story house in Lancaster, California, which in the late 1960s was still mostly desert scrub and Joshua trees. We were located far enough away from everything else that it could be called the middle of nowhere. Today, a strip mall stands where the house once did.

We were so remote that my mother didn’t really pay attention to what I was getting into. She trusted I would not stray too far and everything would just work itself out. She had a newborn baby to worry about and didn’t give me the attention I probably should have gotten. With nothing to do and no watchful eye, I would wander the acre-sized property, trying to keep myself entertained. This ended up being a theme in my childhood.

One day, I thought I could make friends with the ants who had built a nest out in the open area far behind the house. I was fascinated by how they scurried back and forth, some appearing from the mound while others disappeared into it.

To make friends with them, it seemed I should get close and be down at their level. This meant I had to sit next to the mound. So I planted myself there on the ground, wearing my tan shorts, striped t-shirt and little red sneakers. When the first few ants crawled on me, I thought they were welcoming my invitation to be friends.

These were not your garden variety ants, mind you. They were those red and black kind that are nearly a quarter of an inch long with strong mandibles. These ants were big, fast, and as it turns out, very aggressive.

Before I knew it, I was covered with dozens of ants that saw me as a threat to their home. The hive sounded the alarm and went on the attack. First, I felt one bite, then a few more and several more soon after that. Before I knew it, my skin was on fire as the big red and black ants bit me over and over. They were all over me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get them all off my body. This was pain unlike any other in my short time on earth.

I got up from the ground in a panic and began stripping off my clothes as I ran toward the house screaming like a banshee. By the time I got to the back door, I was down to my underwear and little red sneakers, covered with big red welts. I ran upstairs where I found my mother nursing my half-sister. I’m sure the sight of her little boy bursting into the room practically naked with tears streaming down his face alarmed her.

She was able to calm me enough to get the story from me. She squished the few remaining ants she found in my hair, then broke out ointment to soothe the swollen bites. Her motherly attention dissolved my anxiety and I calmed down.

My mother and I reminisced about this many times over the years. We even talked about it the last time I saw her before she passed away. She always thought it was hilarious. I, however, remember it differently.

To this day, ants give me the heebie-jeebies – even the tiny black ones you see after leaving greasy or sugary food out. If I find even one ant crawling on me after sitting in the grass, I’ll start doing a very unmanly arm-flailing dance to get the critter off me as fast as I can.

I learned a big lesson that day… Don’t sit on an ant mound without knowing the consequences, because you might get eaten alive. It was the last and only time I did.

Eventually you use up every excuse in your book for not doing the thing you keep saying you’re going to do. You’ve procrastinated yourself into a corner and realize it’s either time to just do it, or finally forget about it and move on.

That’s me, sometimes…

I’ve had this blog for nearly 14 years. In all that time, I only have 11 posts to show for it. That’s less than one post per year, with the newest one being more than a year old. At one point, I had written dozens of posts. But like any good artist is prone to doing, I trashed most of them because I felt like they were fodder. I regret making that choice.

I’ve seriously slacked in my writing since, which is sad, because I’ve always enjoyed the process. To me, putting words down, then moving them around to communicate an idea is fun. When I get into a flow, the words come out and land on the page. I don’t have to struggle with what I’m trying to say. They’re just there all of a sudden. When I tell a story through my writing, I feel like I’ve created this thing that lives and breathes on its own.

To be truthful, I made a fatal mistake a few years back. Struggling to find my own voice, I began modeling my work after what other people were doing. However, since it wasn’t my voice, I began to believe what I had to say didn’t make a difference, so why should I even bother? This grew into the worst case of writer’s block there ever was in the history of man.

Well, probably not. I’m sure there have been worse cases by far better writers, but I became so utterly uninspired to write during the last five years that it literally hurt to even think about putting words down. The three posts I made in 2018 were not easy.

To make up for my lack of creativity, I found a great way to procrastinate – tweaking my WordPress theme about a hundred-gazillion times. It became all-consuming to get things just pixel perfect and then start over from scratch again. I’ve written and tweaked more CSS code than I’m willing to admit, though I have gotten pretty good at it. My site theme is practically everything I’ve ever imagined in my head at this point. I can’t improve on it much more, if at all.

So what do I do now?

Just write.

Now is the time to stop procrastinating and make something. It doesn’t require perfection. My work will get better with practice. It doesn’t need to have meaning or impart some deep zen-like wisdom to the reader. I just need to start getting the stuff in my head out into written word.

Here and now is the best place for it, so this is where I’ve decided to begin again.

What have you been putting off? Is now the time for you to start again too?