My friend Sam wrote another book. I think he may write a lot more of them.  We worked on one together for nonprofits called Stories That Need Telling.

Using a method that helped him find his life’s passion – and then create his life’s work – Sam offers a way for the reader to ask himself or herself the hard questions needed to focus on finding and living one’s passion. 50 Things Your Life Doesn’t Need will help you get rid of what doesn’t matter so you can focus on what does.

When Sam asked if he could visit this blog to talk about One Thing Nancy VanReece Doesn’t Need I was not sure what he’d come up.  I can think of a lot of things I don’t need, but what would he think of? Read more of his guest blog posts tour

One Thing Nancy VanReece Doesn’t Need: Weeds

I’m no gardener, but Nancy is. This is something that’s mentioned in her online bio, but it’s easy to miss it, especially since she does so much with social media for so many great causes.

I’ve seen Nancy’s garden. She invited me over for brunch once. Joan cooked. It was delicious. I was in awe of her small plot of land and her dedication to keeping it looking great and growing well. Nancy is sure to tend to it regularly (when not painting, speaking, or tweeting). Doing so keeps it on track, healthy, and improving.

She weeds it when needed, I imagine.

There’s a lesson for those of us here who are looking to find and live our passion. Once we find it, we’ve got to take care of it in order for it to continue to grow well.

I firmly believe the world needs more passionate people. This is one of the main reasons I wrote 50 Things Your Life Doesn’t Need. Using the occasion of getting rid of what doesn’t matter so we can find that which does, I use the book to highlight a process that worked for me in finding my passion. The trick, of course, is to keep tending to it once you’ve found it. Help it grow and thrive so others can enjoy it.

That’s the best thing about a passion. It will bring a lot of joy to you. But when you take care of it well, it will enrich the lives of others.

Kind of like a garden.

Other things (actually in the book) that Nancy VanReece doesn’t need:
#2: Small dreams
#12: Pictures that don’t mean anything
#29: Regret

Sam Davidson is a writer, entrepreneur, and dreamer who believes that the world needs more passionate people. To help people find and live their passion, he has written 50 Things Your Life Doesn’t Need. He is the co-founder of Cool People Care and Proof Branding, and lives in Nashville with his wife and daughter.

One of the most delightful things about this book is the positive way it helps identify negative items and flips them into opportunities. One of my favorites is #12 Pictures that don’t mean anything. Part of living an artful life includes recognizing that your home is your gallery. Each object should carry a story of how it was curated, this personal provenance of objects is so much more meaningful than something produced from mass duplication. If you keep this book for your library shelf, be sure you have a story to tell about where it came from.

Nancy VanReece
Online marketing strategist, artist, writer, speaker

Sometimes I run across a blog post that rings so true to the Cool People Care and Carpe Diem Management social media philosophy I just have to share it with you.  This time, it comes from a source close to home.  Please take the time to read the new Proof Branding blog post from Matt Cheuvront and chime in on the discussion …I’ll join you!

Social Media:

Changing Things or Making Change?

Sustainability Matters

I have a guest post on Cool People Care’s MORE TIME ON YOUR HANDS Column today.

Read about how a subway performer is saving the world.

and pick up a cool T-shirt while you are there:

you need a good team ....

I found this fascinating quote today:

What are you hoping to gain from participating in social media, or at least paying attention to it? What are you projecting will happen, based on your research or strategizing? What worries you and what are the potential risks? How do these goals trickle down to the people in your organization? Do they agree with you or not, and why? What’s the plan for execution?altitudebranding.com, Rules and Education Aren’t the Same, Jan 2010

You should read the whole article.

This is a guest post from Matt Cheuvront and is part of the Guest Blog Grand Tour over at Life Without Pants. Want to learn more about Matt Cheuvront & see how far the rabbit hole goes? Subscribe to the Life Without Pants RSS feed & follow him on Twitter to keep in touch!

I am a true believer that inspiration can come in many different forms – in fact, it really hold no limits – anything and everything around you can provide you with a spark. A good song, a photograph, a line from a movie – I do everything I can to surround myself with these things – making an effort to live a more “artful” life that provides me with those “Aha!” moment of inspiration.

Since writers block is, well, a writers worst enemy – I thought I would present a few things that I do to find inspiration – things that get those creative juices flowing when all hope seems lost – the things I do RIGHT before I close the laptop and put away my Moleskine and call it a day – those moments of resurgence and creative clarity that can be found in the simplest of things. Here are three ways to live a more artful life and find inspiration in the world around you.

Get out of the house

Seriously, working from home can be extremely stifling to your creativity. There’s something about the Seinfeld reruns and comfy couch that inspires me to do nothing more than curl up with my dog and take a nap. This is all fine and well, don’t get me wrong, but when I’m trying to actually – you know – get things done, sitting around the house is the death of me…So get out, head to your local coffee shop, put yourself in an environment with limited distractions. There’s something about the atmosphere of a cozy coffee shop or comfy library chair that just works – there’s like a creative aura floating around that you can’t help but tune into. Changing up your environment can do wonders for inspiring new thoughts and ideas.

Browse Flickr

If you frequent my blog – you know that I am big on visualization – I couple simple and clean design with white space and bold images. Honestly, and this probably isn’t such a good thing from an efficiency standpoint, I probably spend more time looking for the “perfect” photo to go with at blog post than writing the post itself. But I find SO much inspiration in photography – even in the simplest things – I’m a very visual person and I understand that most blog readers connect with a “visual aid” to drive their attention through the rest of the post. Anytime I struggle with my writing, I browse around FlickR or other art websites (Wordboner is another great one) and find all the answers I’m looking for (and more).

Make killer playlists

Music is inspirational…but you already knew that. Every month I take a couple hours and I make a “playlist for the month” – The playlist usually reflects the season, my mood, new artists I’ve discovered, etc. And I use this playlist as the soundtrack for my life. Music is, hands down, the biggest source of inspiration for me. And there’s something to be said for that “perfect playlist”. You’ll find yourself struggling to find the right words and then that epic Arcade Fire song will kick in and all the sudden you’re ready to rock and roll. Devote a little time to putting together some monthly playlists of your own – and opt for the IPod over the TV in the background when you sit down to write.

This is only the tip of the iceberg – but hopefully will give you a little inspiration to get out there and find your own source of inspiration (have you been counting the number of times I’ve said “inspiration” in this post? Yeah, me neither). Think outside the box and never be afraid to use other mediums to inspire your own creativity.

Where do you find inspiration? Do you have a “routine” when you sit down to write?