Have you ever wondered what the difference is between people who achieve great success and everyone else? This week’s podcast is with veteran accountant and management consultant Lyman MacInnis, who wrote the book How to Succeed in Anything by Really Trying. This is one of my favourite book titles. As MacInnis told me of the word play, “It’s a phrase I’d always heard through the years. It almost became derogatory description of what people were doing.” His book looks at why some people breakthrough to become successful, while others struggle (hint: it isn’t about the economy).

The “really trying” part of Lyman’s stuck with me. As I thought about times when I’ve been successful personally or professionally, I realized that my success was because ofs the difference between trying and really trying. As a career coach, many people will say, “I tried.” The simple difference, of course, is really trying. MacInnis puts it this way: “Good enough is the enemy of the best. Too many people will stop at good enough. To me, that’s not really trying.” He gave the example of hockey player Alan MacInnis (no relation), who many people said had the hardest shot in the NHL. Even during summer, when hockey was on hiatus, Alan MacInnis would keep practicing, taking perhaps thousands of shots. (MacInnis is now VP of hockey operations for the St. Louis Blues.)

Practice is one way to be the best. Lyman MacInnis’ also suggests constantly trying new things (and trying old things in new ways). “Every time doing otherwise routine tasks, whether it’s writing report, interviewing a new client, giving a speech…I ask myself, is there a different way I can do this? It might not necessarily better – though quite often it turns out to be better.”

What kinds of T-shirts do you have in your closet? I have a few favourites, one of them is a picture of an igloo with the caption “The Canadian White House.”

We usually wear T-shirts either because we identify with a cause, a brand or an idea and we want to share it. An entrepreneur named Jeff Woodrow has tapped into this idea with his Joy Apparel. I first heard about Woodrow’s story on a CBC radio program and on The Hour.

I spoke with him for this week’s CareerJoy podcast. He told me how he was staring out the window of his office one day when he realized, “I worked really hard to get here, only to discover that I am using my creativity and energy for a project I didn’t believe in. I found myself asking what do I want to do with my time here?”

Woodrow’s idea was to create T-shirts that tell the stories of ordinary people and create a sense of community through clothing. You choose a photo of a regular person and customize your shirt. Once you’re done, you can upload your own image and someone elsewhere can wear your image on their T-shirt. (Joy Apparel’s motto: Wear the world on your heart.) You can see some of his work at his site and meet him this summer on his Joy Apparel Canadian Tour (next stop: the Mariposa Folk Fest).

Macabe Wearing Dawson

...and Dawson wears Gareth

The idea for Joy Apparel helped Woodrow answer his own career question. The project has gone viral and Jeff quit that uninspiring office job. Such an ambitious move may sound unrealistic, but when you have the courage to start asking the right questions, you’d be surprised how this can clarify what to do next with your career. So, I’d like to put that question to you: What do you want to do with your time here?

This is the first CareerJoy post for Unlimited and, to celebrate, we’re doing a draw for three Joy T-shirts. To enter, send me an email about what you’re passionate about.

Check back July 2 for Alan Kearns on a crowd-sourcing T-shirt company that is part of a new alternative commerce business model