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The people you surround yourself with can have an enormous effect on what you believe and what you can achieve. Their collective perspective can create a paradigm that raises the bar, or smothers the fire.
Jump on over to my post on the U.S. News & World Report blog for more thoughts on the power of the people in your life.
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Need to re-energize your career?
Get started with 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work!
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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
In response to my post on what to do when a career change seems impossible, M.A.P. Maker reader Pat calls attention to an important point:
It all happens one step at a time.
He shares his own story as a 58 year-old going to school in pursuit of a his dream while working full time and being the sole caregiver of a frail older adult. He admits it can feel a little overwhelming at times.
But I only need to take one step at a time - one assignment, one discussion, one paper, one course. It all adds up and will get me closer to where I want to be. It will take a while, but I will get there. You just have to work at it a bit every day.
Having the big picture can be a vital part of pursuing your dream "This is where I'm going, and this is how I'm going to get there." But sometimes the key to keeping it going is to focus your attention on the micro-level. "Where does my attention need to be today?"
What step do you need to be focusing on, right here, right now?
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Time for a career change? Launch it with...
The Occupational Adventure Guide:
A Travel Guide to the Career of Your Dreams
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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
This morning Anita Bruzzese posted about a game her family played in the car recently, instigated by her young son, called, "Which would you rather?" The basic idea is that two alternate scenarios are posed and you choose between the two.
Some of the questions were predictably silly, but others were more serious and forced her to pause and ponder before answering. Looking at the experience, she was surprised at how much she learned about herself over the course of the game.
That got me thinking what a great self-exploration tool this could be. Simply pick two things from opposite sides of any spectrum, and ask yourself which you would rather have.
For example...
It's not done there, though. When you pick one, follow it up with one of the most powerful questions I know..."Why?" What is it about that that is preferable? How does that make things more interesting, more energizing, easier, etc.? Why does that fit with who you are? Asking why lets you dig below the surface to really understand the preference.
The beauty of this is how simple it is to. No muss, no fuss. No soulful navel gazing. Just brainstorm a list of opposites relating to just about any aspect of work (or life in general, for that matter). Pick the one in each pair that resonates most with you and hey presto! You have a bite-sized, focused, and personally relevant piece of information about yourself that you can dig into. And once you have that focus, it's easier to go deeper.
To get an even broader, more diverse range of pairs to evaluate, try getting a small group of people together and have each of them come up with ten. And if you want to turn the self-exploration into a getting-to-know-you experiment, have everyone e-mail their answers to the others.
Have some suggestions for "which would you rather" ideas to consider? Post them in a comment. I'd love to hear them.
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Need to re-energize your career?
Get started with 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work!
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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
Here are my five favorite posts for this week...
The First Law Of Action: A Refined Outcome Is Easier To Achieve
Rock Your Day
Think
Socyberty
Dream to Reality: How I Quite My Day Job
Think Simple Now
5 Easy Ways to Start a Productive Day
Freelance Folder
Michael Phelps' Top 5 Fundamentals for Pulling Off the Impossible
The Positivity Blog
Have a great weekend!
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Time for a career change? Launch it with...
The Occupational Adventure Guide:
A Travel Guide to the Career of Your Dreams
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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
In response to an earlier post here, M.A.P. Maker reader Jeff noted that pursuing his passion seems out of reach. As he explains:
I know my passion is to start and run a business of my own. But I am supporting 2 small children and my wife cannot earn what I currently earn. In order for my children to eat and wear clean clothes, I cannot give up my salary and benefits and go back to school to learn an altogether new career path.
It brings up such a good question that I decided it needed its own post.
How do you make a change when your reality makes that change feel impossible?
I wish I had a magic wand I could wave that would make it easy. But I sat on it and the dang thing broke, so it looks like we'll have to settle for the hard way.
Here are five questions to ask as you consider a change (note that these are directed at a general audience, not specifically at Jeff).
Could I find what I want without a full-on change?
If there's a way to get what you're looking for without going through the turmoil of a full-scale change, then it makes sense to do it. So to begin with, try this...
Make sure you know why you want to change
First, take a look at why you want to change. Is it because something essential is missing, or is it because your boss is a complete jerk? Is it because you have a burning desire to ________ (fill in the blank), or is it because you've been doing what you do for so long that you're bored with it?
The more you know about the source of your discontent, the better equipped you are to address it. For example, you might discover that you're actually happy with the work, but there are issues at play that drain your energy. In that case, addressing those issues would result in a net energy gain (see my thoughts on The Gain to Drain Ratio), possibly eliminating your desire to make a change altogether.
Take stock of what you're missing
Another spin on that is asking the question, "What am I missing?" What would the new career path give me that my current work doesn't? This needs to be specific, not a vague generalization like, "I'd enjoy my work more."
Let's say, like Jeff, you're interested in starting and running a business of your own. In asking what is currently missing that starting your own business would fulfill, you might - for example - realize that it's about taking an idea from concept to completion. You might see that it's not so much about being in business for yourself as it is having the opportunity to build something out of nothing, to take an idea, build it, own it, and see it succeed.
With that insight, you can start looking around your current path and asking, "Where are the opportunities to incorporate that into the picture?" It might be on a small scale, like lobbying to take on projects that would let you do that. Or it might be large scale, like a move to a path within the company that is more in line with that.
Ask what, then why
Make a list of things - work or play - that have lit you up over the course of your life. For each of those, ask, "Why? What is it about that that makes it so fun, so appealing?" Think of it as reverse engineering to find the underlying characteristics.
For example, when I reverse engineer my Passion Catalyst work, I find that some of the underlying factors in why I love it are a 1) sense of exploration and discovery, 2) helping people, 3) being a catalyst, and 4) being the expert.
When you understand why you love what you love, you can look for opportunities to incorporate more of them into your current path. For example, how can I build more exploration and discovery into what I'm doing? How can I make changes that bring more of that into the picture? What paths could I grow into that have more of that?
(If you'd like more guidance on this, there is an entire chapter devoted to it in my e-book The Occupational Adventure Guide.)
How could I?
Get ten people together in a room who want to make a career change to something they love, and nine of them will come up with what feel like very good reasons why they can't. "I don't have enough money. I have too many financial obligations. I've invested too much time into my current path. I'm too inexperienced. I'm too old."
The truth is, we all have reasons why we can't. Instead of shutting the door with "I can't because," focus on a question that has door-opening potential..."How could I?" As the saying goes, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Some ways to explore how you could include...
Any big goal is a compilation of smaller components. Even if the big goal seems presently out of reach, you can still start working on the smaller components.
When could I?
Most of the time I hear someone say, "I can't make a change," what they really mean is, "I can't right now." And that may very well be true. But if you limit yourself only to the things you can accomplish with the flip of a switch...well, you're going to have a pretty sorry life.
If you want to make a change, but meet yourself with, "I can't" (and it might be a very solid reason why you can't), ask yourself, "When could I?"
Again, back to the example of wanting to start a business, you might say, "Well, I would love to do that right now, but I can't." On looking at it closer (this is where the "how could I" exploration above comes in handy), you might realize that you can't right now, but if you started taking consistent, persistent steps right now to prepare, it might be a realistic option in five years' time.
Ideal? No. But neither is just sighing and saying, "I guess I'm stuck here forever."
Am I addicted to staying stuck?
Occasionally, part of my role in my work with individual clients is calling them on their shit (for the record, I have people who regularly call me on mine as well, so it's definitely not a holier-than-thou thing).
And for some people, that shit amounts to an addiction to being stuck. For them, "I can't" becomes an immutable reality. If this is you, no amount of exploration for ways to make it happen will make a difference, because at the heart of it, you're committed to not moving.
Of course, this wouldn't apply to any of the enlightened people who read this blog, but it might apply to a friend of a friend, so I thought I should include it. ;-)
How badly do I really want it?
As much as I hate to say it, there's no guarantee that you'll find an easy way to reach your dream. Sometimes it's a matter of gritting your teeth and doing the hard work to get it done.
Ask yourself, "How much do I really want it?" The more you want it, the more willing you will be to do the hard work. I heard one of my favorite examples of this in an interview I did a few years back with J.A. Jance, a mystery novel writer with numerous best-selling books to her credit.
Jance wrote her first two novels as a single mom with two kids and no child support. This was her advice...
Don’t just talk about it, do it – and don’t make excuses. I wrote my first three books between 4 and 7 a.m. before getting my children up to go to school and getting me dressed to go sell life insurance.
Everybody has obstacles. Some big, some small. The key is to simply recognize those obstacles as part of the landscape, and then set out to find your way around them.
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Need to re-energize your career?
Get started with 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work!
--
by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
When it comes to the energy I get from my work, one of the biggest sources is seeing the resulting positive change in clients' lives. I love seeing them tap into their own energy source as they move into a career that lights them up and inspires them.
If you'd like to take a peek at an example of my process and the results, I recently interviewed a former client about her experience. You can read about it here.
Enjoy!
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Time for a career change? Launch it with...
The Occupational Adventure Guide:
A Travel Guide to the Career of Your Dreams
--
by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
For the last few weeks, I've been making a conscious effort to really focus on the positive in my life. Not just the knock-yer-socks-off, I'm-so-damned-lucky parts, but the subtler, simpler elements as well (like really noticing how much I like the walnut tree outside my window).
I have a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh hanging on my refrigerator that I cut out of Conscious Choice magazine. For some reason, it jumped out at me today as I was heading towards my morning cup of coffee and said, "Blog me!" So here it is...
The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now. There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.
Reading this quote again, I started thinking of my attention on the subtler positive elements in my life, and how - unless I'm really paying attention - I just zoom right past them without noticing. In a quest for Big M (as in Miracle) experiences, I miss the mundane miracles that fill my life.
And when I miss the mundane miracles, I miss out on a source of energy and enjoyment that can make my life richer, fuller, and plain ol' more fun.
Where are the mundane miracles in your life?
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Need to re-energize your career?
Get started with 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work!
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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
Do you ever read about a self-development idea and think, "Yeah! That's a great idea/technique/approach. I'll definitely make that a part of my life...ummmm...maybe tomorrow."
I know I do. Despite my best intentions, I just can't overcome inertia and bridge the gap between the nonexistent and the consistent.
To counter that, I have started creating 30-day containers in which I experiment with a new idea. Rather than steadfastly incorporating something new into my life for all eternity, I turn it into an experiment with a finite time-frame.
Instead of going into it with a rigid expectation that it will have a massively positive impact, I go into it with a sense of curiosity. "What will happen if I do this for thirty days? What results will I get? How will this affect me?" I leave the door open to a positive result. I also leave the door open to being surprised and discovering something I hadn't expected.
If there's something valuable there, I can continue incorporating some or all of it into my life. If there's not, I can leave it by the side of the road.
The 30-day container does two things. First, it makes it short enough to feel doable, and second, it creates a sense of focus and commitment. "I'm going to do this every day for 30 days" is a lot more likely to yield consistent action than, "I'm going to do this from now on."
What 30-day experiment could you start today?
--
Time for a career change? Launch it with...
The Occupational Adventure Guide:
A Travel Guide to the Career of Your Dreams
--
by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
I have resisted signing up for Twitter for months now, but this morning I finally surrendered. I am now officially a Twitterer.
I've heard so many people talk about how much they love it, and how it has been a good tool for their business, that I finally decided to set aside my knee-jerk reaction to it (i.e., that it seems pretty pointless) and explore it first-hand.
I figure it's worth experimenting with. I'll try it for 30 days. If it feels worth continuing, I'll keep at it. If not...well, at least I know.
If you'd like to follow along, my user name is curtrosengren (clever, eh?).My main page is twitter.com/curtrosengren.
In the meantime, I'm curious...do you Twitter? If you do, why?
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Need to re-energize your career?
Get started with 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work!
--
by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
When I look around at the world, one of the things that gives me great hope is the fact that more and more people are waking up to the fact that business, the markets, capitalism, etc. has the potential to be a force for tremendous good. Social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, socially responsible investing, etc., all have the potential to make a significant positive impact.
So it was interesting to find an article in Time magazine by Bill Gates, talking about that very thing. His phrase for it is "creative capitalism." He notes that, while capitalism has had a substantial positive effect on the lives of many, far too many others have been passed by completely. One billion people live on less than a dollar a day, lacking nutritious food, clean water, and electricity.
As Gates sees it, for real change to occur, creative capitalism needs to be part of a whole system that includes government and non-profits.
...the world will make lasting progress on the big inequities that remain — problems like AIDS, poverty and education — only if governments and nonprofits do their part by giving more aid and more effective aid. But the improvements will happen faster and last longer if we can channel market forces, including innovation that's tailored to the needs of the poorest, to complement what governments and nonprofits do. We need a system that draws in innovators and businesses in a far better way than we do today.
Speaking of things that give me hope, Gates has this to say about the new generation of people in the work force...
There's another crucial benefit that accrues to businesses that do good work. They will find it easier to recruit and retain great employees. Young people today — all over the world — want to work for organizations that they can feel good about. Show them that a company is applying its expertise to help the poorest, and they will repay that commitment with their own dedication.
The piece that appeals to me most about all of this is, as Gates points out, the fact that positive change has the potential to "happen faster and last longer" when paired with the power of the markets.
Doing well by doing good fuels its own positive progress.
[hat tip to The Huffington Post's James Boyce for the link]
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Time for a career change? Launch it with...
The Occupational Adventure Guide:
A Travel Guide to the Career of Your Dreams
--
by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
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