The M.A.P. Maker

What's your multidimensional profit?

Ask most anyone why they work, and their answer is most likely to be some variation of "for the paycheck." 

Money is clearly a huge motivation for those of us who forgot to hit the independently wealthy button on the way out of the womb, but when we see it as the only thing we get from our work, it can lead us down a slippery slope.  

A comment from a client that "there's not a lot of profit in working with non-profits" got me thinking about how we evaluate what we get from our jobs. I countered that that might be true if you take a one-dimensional view of profit, but that the story might be different when looking at it from a multidimensional view.

Is financial remuneration important? Of course it is. But it's not the full story. And taken alone, it is one-dimensional and limiting. 

Assess your multidimensional profit

What if you started looking at your career decisions in terms of multidimensional profit? Rather than seeing salary as the sole driver of your decision, look at a matrix of profit types. For example:

• How energized and engaged you feel by the work. 
• How much you care about the outcome of the work. 
• How inspired you are by the difference you're making.
• How well it enables you to imagine looking back and not regretting how you lived.
• The time it allows you for quality connection with the things that matter. 

That's just a quick, off the top of my head list. No doubt there are more. What would you add? 

Next time you have a career decision to make, challenge yourself to move beyond the one-dimensional financial picture and start asking what kind of multidimensional profit you would make. 

The key is awareness. You can't make an informed decision if you don't ask the questions. 

Try this: Take a look at your current job. Using the questions listed above as well as any you come up with yourself, look at it from a multidimensional profit perspective. How profitable is it? What could you do to increase your non-financial "salary?"

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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst

Life lessons from supercentenarians

In a recent look at studies of supercentenarians (people older than 110), four commonly recurring themes were identified in their lives. A post on Elephant Journal sums it up:

A study on supercentenarians found some qualities they have in common that you might find are very attainable:

1. LIVE “ON PURPOSE”
Supercentenarians share a philosophy of the importance of being actively involved with life in a way that defines their purpose in still being on the planet.

2. LAUGH OFTEN
Supercentenarians share a central core value of the importance that humor and laughter play in their perspective on life.

3. GO WITH THE FLOW
Supercentenarians have a unique ability to flow with life in a way that is outside of the cultural tendency to clock off time in a linear fashion.

4. YOUTH IS A STATE OF MIND
Supercentenarians almost seem to live life in an “ageless perspective” of themselves. This detachment from a linear lifespan orientation may impact the strength and flow of their energy field in a desirable way that influences their longevity.

When I read those themes I thought, those aren't just a recipe for living long. They're a recipe for a recipe for living well!

Take a quick check of your own life. How well are you living those themes? What could you do to make each of them a more integral part of how you show up in the world?

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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst

 

 

Ten years as a Passion Catalyst

Early in 2001, I was blessed to have my career fall apart. Strange to call it a blessing, I know, but that's what it was. 

Up to that point I had been a self-employed marketing consultant, focused on technology companies. I was also deeply unhappy with my career path, and had been for years. When the dot com implosion hit the fan, I was suddenly a self-unemployed marketing consultant with no revenue prospects on the horizon and no safety net. 

I say I was blessed because, while it was a scary and challenging time, it would also change my life in an immensely positive and meaningful way. The freefall I was in ultimately led to the Passion Catalyst work I'm doing now - helping people answer three simple questions:

1. What lights me up?
2. What difference do I feel called to make?
3. How do I weave that into a career (and a life) that lets me thrive?

Ten years ago yesterday, I had my very first Passion Catalyst session with someone who agreed to be my "guinea pig" client. (More about how I discovered my Passion Catalyst work.) 

[Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post for links to "lessons learned as a Passion Catalyst.]

I knew that people frequently came out of conversations with me on fire about new ideas and new possibilities. It was something that happened naturally. What I didn't know was whether or not I could reliably replicate that on demand.  

It wasn't long into that first session when I thought, "I don't need a guinea pig. This is what I do. This is who I am." Clearly this was a glove tailor-made for my hand. It felt free, and natural, and <gasp> energizing! It was such a change from my days as a "professional malcontent," trying to shove myself into the marketing suit that just didn't fit. 

The best of times

Much of the journey so far has been fantastic, for sure. Sometimes I have been amazed at the opportunities that have manifested for me. I've had many fabulous experiences and met many stellar people who inspire me to no end. I wrote for a national magazine for several years. I have had the opportunity to interview many people I consider heroes and role models. And I have had the opportunity to wake up in the morning and say, "Wow! I get paid for this!"

Beyond the things I get to do - and possibly even more important and more inspiring for me - is the positive impact I get to have on the people I work with. Whether that is seeing a client start to feel more energized about life or simply hearing from somebody who attended a talk or a workshop who tells me that something I said really made a difference, that's where the big juice comes from for me. 

The worst of times

I would love to say that it has all been smooth sailing since I discovered this path. I would love to sit here and tell you that finding my passion was all it took, and that the rest came as though by magic. But that would be a lie. 

In addition to the good times I described above, there have been times when I felt so bruised and bloodied from banging my head against the wall of trying to create a non-cookie-cutter path that I have literally given up and decided to throw in the towel. 

That happened to me three times over the last ten years. Thankfully it has never lasted more than a couple of days (two of those times it was less than a day).

The last time it happened I reached out to my friend Cyn Liggett and told her I had hit bottom. I was throwing in the towel. She said, "Curt, you can't stop being you." Wise words. Shortly after that, business started to turn around. And I'm still here.

Inspiration and meaning

If my work were only about doing something I really enjoy, I would have left it behind long, long ago. I would have hit the wall of those challenging times and said, "Forget it. The fun isn't worth this pain." But the deeper driving force of my work is the difference I have the potential to make.

When the financial crash hit in 2008 and my business evaporated, I found myself at one of those three points where I tried to throw in the towel. 

It was a morning in December. None of my efforts were yielding any fruit. I can only assume that people were too worried about survival to think about self-actualization. I was broke and saw no hint of things getting better. I threw my arms up and said, "I give up." 

That lasted till mid-afternoon. Then along came the Universe, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, and said, "Sorry pal. This is too important to give up on. This is too needed for you to stop because you're uncomfortable." I thought, "Crap! Now what?" 

Ultimately it did turn around several months later. But the point of the story is that, had it only been for the fun of it, had there not been a deeper component focused on making the world a better place, I wouldn't be here doing this today. 

I have had glorious times and wretched times, and all points in between. But the one thing I know is that I continue to feel so inspired by the difference I have the potential to make with this work that I can't stop. It's where I'm supposed to be. 

Thank you! 

I am incredibly grateful for the support I have gotten over the years, without which there is no way I would have made it this far. 

So thank you to all of you who have supported me along the way. Thank you to my fabulous clients who have trusted me as they work to find a path that lets them flow in their groove. Thank you to friends and family who have supported me both emotionally and financially when things have gotten rocky. And thank you to all of you who have come along for the ride, reading my blog and sharing my thoughts and ideas. 

Lessons learned as a Passion Catalyst

Finally, here is a series of posts I wrote last year offering some lessons I've learned along the way. 

Most people's concept of passion is limiting

Authenticity creates confidence

Meaning is a powerful motivator

You are your own best expert

Success is not a solo sport

Tinybox thinking limits your potential

Start with yes

Love yourself

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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst

 

How can you "be the change" in the new year?

Be the change you want to see in the world.

~ Mohandas K. Gandhi

Here's a question for the new year. What does this quote actually mean to you? Not in general terms, but in very specific terms, as it relates to your life. If you were to be the change you want to see in the world, what would that actually look like?

This has the potential to be an incredibly powerful quote, both in your life and for the world around you. But most people miss its potential, not because they don't agree with it, but because they leave it at a broad, generic level. They don't translate it from concept into implementation. 

To truly be the change in the coming year, ask these questions:

1. What change do I want to see?
2. How does my current life contribute to that change?
3. How does my current life inhibit that change?
4. How could I be the change?

To go deeper into each of these questions, read on...

What change do I want to see?

If you want to be the change, you have to know what change you're trying to embody. Explore what change you want to see.

Don't just leave it at the broad level (e.g., I want to see more peace). Challenge yourself to look at what that means in detail.

Using peace as an example, you would ask, what contributes to more peace? What inhibits peace? What are the different components? Think of it as creating a map of the change you want to see. 

Off the top of my head, here are several things that build toward peace. 

• Compassion
• Openness
• Non-judgment
• A desire to understand
• Groundedness
• Abundance / prosperity

On the flip side, the lack of any of those things inhibit peace. 

Any of these things can be experienced on multiple levels, including:

• Personal
• Community
• National
• Global

Ask, for example, what contributes to developing compassion on a personal level, both for yourself and for others. Then you can ask the same question for the other levels. 

How does my current life contribute to that change?

Now that you have built a map of the change you want to see, you can plug your own life into it. The first step is taking stock of your current situation. What choices are you making that contribute to any of the components you identified above? What actions are you taking? 

Look at it from both an internal and an external perspective.

Internal

What is going on between your ears can have a profound impact on how you show up to be the change. Take a look at how your internal perspectives contribute to the change you want to see. 

• What beliefs do I have about myself that contribute to the change I want to see? What stories do I tell about myself? (e.g., "I can make an impact," or, "My ideas are worth listening to.")
• What beliefs do I have about others that contribute to the change I want to see? What stories do I tell about others? (e.g., "People are basically good," or, "Most people will work to make the world a better place, given a chance.")
• What beliefs do I have about the world in general that contribute to the change I want to see? What stories do I tell about the world? (e.g., "The world is full of opportunity," or "Things frequently change for the better.") 

External

Once you have taken stock of your internal contribution, take a look at how you are directly impacting the change you want to see. 

• How have the choices I have made in the last year contributed to the change I want to see? (e.g. "I have chosen to engage people who disagree with me with curiosity and questions instead of a sledge hammer," or "I have started choosing locally grown, organic produce.")
• What action I have take in the last year contributed to the change I want to see? (e.g., "I have invested in helping people thrive by making loans on Kiva.org," or, "I have offered a friend who was going through a challenging time an impartial, compassionate ear." )

How does my current life inhibit that change? 

Odds are good that there are choices you're making and actions you're taking that inhibit the change you want to see in the world as well. By identifying these, you have the opportunity to be the change by subtracting those choices and actions from the picture. Addition by subtraction.

The questions to ask are the flip side of the questions about how you contribute to the change you want to see. 

• What beliefs do I have about myself that inhibit the change I want to see? What stories do I tell about myself? (e.g., "I can't make an impact," or, "There's no point in trying, because I'll just screw it up.")
• What beliefs do I have about others that inhibit the change I want to see? What stories do I tell about others? (e.g., "People can't be trusted," or, "People are inherently selfish.")
• What beliefs do I have about the world in general that inhibit the change I want to see? What stories do I tell about the world? (e.g., "The world is a dangerous place," or "Things always go wrong.") 

External

The next step is taking a look at how you are directly inhibiting that change. 

• How have the choices I have made in the last year inhibited the change I want to see? (e.g. "I have habitually argued heatedly with people I don't agree with," or "I have consistently chosen to buy products I know are harmful to the environment.")
• What actions have I taken in the last year that inhibit the change I want to see? (e.g., "I have posted inflammatory comments on online articles slamming 'those people' I don't agree with," or, "I avoided someone I knew needed my help." 

What could I do to be the change?

Now that you have a deeper picture of how you are currently being the change (or not), it's time to ask, "How could I be the change?" Given the components of that change you identified, what actions can you take and what choices can you make?

A great place to start thinking about this is my recent newsletter article about 7 ways to change the world. 

Remember this is a long-term deal. Being the change is a lifetime effort, not a one-year flash in the pan. 

Your choices and actions are the paints on your palette that will paint a picture that is either closer to or further away from the world you want to see. The question you have in front of you is, "Which colors will I use?"

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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 

 

Passion Catalyst lesson #3 - Meaning is a powerful motivator

This is a series of lessons learned in my nine years as a Passion Catalyst.

During the financial meltdown of 2008, I went through several months when my business disappeared. I was literally self-unemployed. Not only did I have no revenue coming in, the horizon looked devoid of income as well. 

The stress built and built as I continued to bang my head against the wall, trying to make something happen. 

BANG! 

nothing

BANG! BANG! BANG!

more nothing

Finally, one morning in December I threw up my hands and said, "I give up! I can't do this. I can't make this happen. I don't have what it takes."

That lasted till mid-afternoon. 

Despite my best intentions, I just couldn't bring myself to quit. What I felt (and feel) called to do and the difference I felt called to make was just too powerful. It was like the universe came along, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, picked me up and said, "Sorry pal. You don't get to quit." And so I didn't. 

I would love to be able to say that the story has one of those magical endings where as soon as I decided not to quit everything aligned in my favor and the floodgates of prosperity opened. In reality I struggled for several more months. But despite the lack of a Hollywood ending, the important thing was that I opted to stick with it. 

In retrospect, that experience felt like a watershed for me. I can guarantee you that, if it had only been a case of, "I want to do this work because it's so much fun," there's no way I would have stuck it out. No way in hell. But because I felt such a powerful call to the difference I have the potential to make with this work, I almost felt like I had no choice but to figure out a way to stay with it. 

I'm not suggesting that everyone will go through the kind of challenging time I did, or even that they need to be as obstinate as I was in refusing to yield to the smackdown I was getting (in fact, I really wouldn't recommend it). But at some point, you're going to hit bumps and you're going to get bruises. And if you are working towards something that really matters to you, it will be infinitely easier to maintain your momentum in the face of those challenges.

Meaning is a powerful motivator.

--

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

Are you contributing joy to the world?

Four years ago, film critic Roger Ebert lost his lower jaw to cancer, and with it his ability to speak and eat. While his TV career is over, he is still a prolific writer, and living his life to the fullest. 

Yesterday, Chief Happiness Officer Alexander Kjerulf posted a link to an article about Ebert in Esquire, including what I think is the most valuable gem, buried on the last page of the article. The article quotes Ebert describing his philosophy of life:

I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.

It's easy to read that, nod your head in agreement, and let it drop into the vague memory banks of something you once read. But I encourage you to stop right now and give yourself five minutes to really consider what that means. 

What would your life look like if this were the central organizing principle of everything you do? To bring joy and to experience joy. Would you be making the same decisions you're making right now? Would you be focusing on the same things as you're focusing on?

Try this: For the next week, do a joy experiment. Every day, ask yourself, "How can I contribute joy to the world?" Look for ways to help people. Look for opportunities to make people smile, or feel special, or loved. Complement that by asking a second question, "How can I experience more joy?" 

Ask those two questions every day when you wake up. Put them on a card in your wallet. Put a recurring time in your calendar to pause and ponder them. The more you ask yourself those two questions, the more opportunity you will see to answer them.

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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

Change your world: Join the Listen & Learn Revolution

Want a deceptively simple, yet powerful way to change your world? Join the Listen & Learn Revolution. When you do, you'll be taking your own personal step towards dissolving a culture of divisiveness and conflict.

The Listen & Learn Revolution is about jettisoning the need to be right when you encounter someone whose opinion or point of view differs from yours. Instead of clubbing them over the head with your opinion, take some time to engage them with a sense of curiosity. Explore why they believe what they do, not from a, "How the hell can you think that??" perspective, but from a desire to genuinely understand.

How can something so simple change the world? Because it's a step away from the toxic effect of our cultural addiction to divisiveness and conflict and toward unity, compassion, and understanding.

Here are some general principles underlying the Listen & Learn Revolution:

You won't change anyone's mind with a club

It might feel good to let that righteous indignation fly and try to prove just how stupid and wrong-headed their opinion is, but you'll rarely win any converts to your opinion that way. To the contrary, you're likely to cause them to dig their heels in even more. You're just building walls between you.

Instead of looking at every opinion that differs from yours as the starting point for an argument to prove you're right, try looking at it as a starting point for exploration. Accept the fact that you're unlikely to change their mind in a heated debate.

Differing opinions are not a threat

Too often we seem to see a differing opinion as a direct threat to our own beliefs. We succumb to a "best defense is a good offense" mentality and start to attack those differing beliefs.

Here's the reality. Someone else's beliefs have nothing to do with the validity, rightness, or justness of your beliefs. Zero. Zip. Nada. Not a damn thing. So there's nothing to defend against. There's no need to put up a wall or go on the attack. And that leaves you open to simply explore.

You don't have to agree to understand

So often people are reluctant to open themselves to understanding another point of view because they mistake understanding for agreement. But the two are really apples and oranges. You can understand someone's perspective even while vehemently disagreeing.

Part of understanding comes from discovering why they think what they think. You and I (and anyone else) likely have different lenses through which we see the world. Those lenses have been created by our experiences, the beliefs and values we have been taught, etc.

When you have a picture of what someone else's lens looks like, their opinions start to make more sense in that context. You may still not agree with them, but it becomes easier to see how they can view the world that way.

Listening breeds listening

If you ever want to guarantee that someone won't listen to your point of view, attack theirs. Nothing will put up the walls to communication faster. On the other hand, if you start asking questions - curious ones, not judgmental - often the conversation starts to come around to your point of view.

I recently had coffee with someone I went to high school with in Montana that I hadn't seen in years. He is avidly pro-gun, and I am most decidedly not. When he first mentioned something about it, I asked him more about it. We talked about his perspective on the gun issue for several minutes until he stopped and asked what I thought.

The gun question can be one of those terminally divisive issues, and we definitely came down on squarely opposite sides of it. But because we both approached it with curiosity about the other's perspective, we ended up having a really interesting, enjoyable conversation.

When you won't listen, you limit yourself

It's easy to get trapped in an ideological ghetto, surrounded by people who ditto your every thought and opinion. But just like in nature, a thriving mind ecology needs diversity. Opening yourself up to listening and understanding gives your mind more to work with. It gives you a fuller picture. It makes your valid opinions and beliefs stronger and weeds out the ones that aren't actually that solid.

They just might have a point

This one is related to limiting yourself by not listening. The fact is, people you don't agree with just might have a point. That point might be the entirety of their opinion, or it might be a point of view springing from a piece of information you didn't have. Listening and learning opens the door to strengthening the breadth and depth of your knowledge.

Questions spotlight unsupported opinions

Let's face it, not everybody with a strong opinion actually has a good supporting argument to back it up. Sometimes a strong opinion is little more than a hollow echo of a soundbite they heard somewhere else. Asking interested, curious questions about why they think what they think will

The world isn't black and white

This point isn't always comfortable, but it's usually true. There are countless gradations of color between black and white. When you listen and learn, you open yourself to a subtlety of understanding that is impossible when clinging to a rigid black and white view.

Take the Listen & Learn Revolution challenge: Find someone you don't agree with on some topic. It might be a family member, or a friend, or an acquaintance. Engage them in a conversation about the disputed topic and challenge yourself to simply listen and learn. Resist the urge to set them straight. Resist the inclination to counter their reasoning. Just ask questions and absorb it.

If you want to take it a step further, set a goal to have at least one listen & learn conversation every week with someone you don't agree with. The more you do it, the more naturally it starts to come. And the more naturally it starts to come, the more you naturally do it.

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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

Social entrepreneurship: Video inspiration from Skoll Foundation

One of the things that I'm over-the-moon inspired about is the cumulative potential for positive change that comes as more of us start asking the question, "What kind of difference do I feel called to make?" and incorporating the resulting insights into our career choices. (See What is meaning? for more on how I see that playing out)

From a making-a-difference perspective, it has been uber-exciting to watch the social entrepreneurship movement that has been building over the last few years. Here is a good short video (9 minutes) from Skoll Foundation that takes a look at the social entrepreneurship trend and its potential to make the world a better place.

If that sparks your interest, spend some time watching the other videos that Skoll Foundation offers. They're short and compelling. You might even want to make a habit of watching one first thing in the morning to set the right tone for your day.

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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

How to energize your work by making a difference

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I see making a positive impact with your work not just as a do-gooder thing, but as a potential source of energy in your career (and if you are new to the blog, here's a nutshell description of what I'm talking about).

In my most recent post on the US News & World Report blog, I take a look at ways to build on that idea in a post titled How to Energize Your Work by Making a Difference. Zip on over and check it out. I would love to hear your thoughts.

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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

Create your legacy one ripple at a time

100 years from now, will it matter that you were here? If your definition of "mattering" is that you set things in motion that people still attach your name to (think Susan B. Anthony, the Wright brothers, Einstein), then no, it probably won't.

But if you get beyond that ego-driven idea and focus on whether or not your presence here matters, people's memory of you is irrelevant. The reality is that the legacy we leave is has nothing to do with whether or not people know about us.

Your ripples are your legacy

Every day, for better or worse, you are creating your legacy. That legacy is the cumulative result of the ripples that spread out from your choices, decisions, and actions - big and small.

And while some of those ripples die out or get lost in choppy seas, others will keep creating more ripples. Take Bill Strickland's story, for example. Growing up in a rough neighborhood with bleak economic prospects, Strickland's life was turned around by a high school art teacher who said, in essence, "Hold on, you don't have to let your situation define your future. You have potential."

The seed of hope and belief in himself that the teacher planted ultimately grew into Manchester Bidwell Corpation, an organization whose ripples have affected the lives of hundreds of inner city youth and adults, opening the door to the same sense of potential that he experienced. (Listen to my podcast with Bill Strickland.)

Long after you are gone and forgotten, the echo of the ripples you create will still be heard.

Ripples are unpredictable

Don't get caught up in the ego-notion that the ripples you create have to be grand and splashy. It's fun when they are, but in truth we are often not even aware which of our actions create the biggest ripples.

I've been reading a book by Caroline Myss, Invisible Acts of Power. In the book, she draws from 1200 stories people had sent her about either how people had made a difference in their lives or opportunities that they had had to make a difference in someone else's.

One of the things Myss discovered was that the impact on the recipient was often out of proportion to the perceived "size" of the effort. People who reached out to help in a way that seemed simple and easy found that it was just the right thing at just the right time. Perhaps it rekindled someone's hope just when it was going out, or inspired them to take a self-empowering step that would help them get unstuck and start to fly.

I'm willing to bet that you have no idea of the size of the legacy you have already created. I'm also willing to bet that you underestimate the potential you have for making a long-lasting positive impact without ever making it into the history books.

Try this: Starting today, ask yourself, "What ripples am I creating?" Sit down and make a list of ways that you have been the source of positive ripples in your life. Keep adding to it over time as instances occur to you.

Then ask yourself, "What ripples do I want to create?" Keep your eyes open for ways to start those ripples, large or small. Weave ripple-generation into the fabric of how you approach your daily life.

--

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