My first guest will be the very lovely Shannon Cherry of Be Heard Solutions. Shannon is a PR Guru, Mompreneur, Blogger, and the mother to a set of loverly twins! She will be sharing her wisdom on the following topics:
Why Solopreneurs need to master the ‘black art’ of PR,
The inside secrets to becoming a successful PR consultant (if anyone is crazy enuf to pursue PR work as a career), and
How she manages a very busy PR business and still finds lots of time to enjoy and parent her precocious 2-year olds!
DATE: Wednesday, January 22nd
To obtain call-in details and register for this informative and fun program, send a blank email to gb-interest@aweber.com
Paul Edwards, the Peace Lovin’ Cowboy, is a transplanted Aussie now living in San Diego. And, only an Aussie would go snow boarding in his G-String. Take a look! (Rated PG-13
When it comes to your work, have you lost “that lovin’ feeling”?
Remember when you leapt out of bed in the mornings. Remember when you couldn’t wait to get to work on your work. Remember when you were filled with ideas, energy, and joy.
Has your work lost its zing? Are you confused about why you got into business in the first place? Do you want to just pack it in?
What if you could reconnect with your Purpose? What if you could find new meaning in what you do? And, what if you could Rediscover Your Passion?
I was pleased to find that David is a true Genre Buster(TM)… not only is he a film maker but his passion for what he calls “the doing” includes, painting, sculpting, photography, music, and a passion for BIG ideas and “diving within”.
“1 a. the indispensable quality or element identifying a thing or determining its character; b. the intrinsic nature or quality of something.”l
For me, it is our essence that makes us truly unique.
Some years ago, I read the wonderful book The Nibble Theory and The Kernel of Power by the late Kaleel Jamison. That book helped me rediscover my Kernel of Power.
Essentially (pardon the pun) the message of Jamison’s book is two-fold.
The first half explores The Nibble Theory — the notion that our essential selves are gnawed away or nibbled by society, so we lose out on our personal growth.
The second half provides a series of exercises to help us rediscover our Kernel of Power. The Kernel of Power is that unique thing, that unique part, that unique ESSENCE that makes us US.
It is powerful to know this part of ourselves. And, hard to uncover.
But, worth it.
You can start identifying your Essence by asking, “What are the strengths (talents) I was born with?”
Then ask, “What is my primary talent (gift)?”
Then keep boring down to your CORE to get at the KERNEL, the ESSENCE of your uniqueness.
For me that ESSENCE consists of the PRIMARY GIFT combined with a clear sense of HOW you are meant to EXPRESS it.
For example, my primary gift is WORDS. What I mean by that is that I was born with a gift for speaking/expressing/articulating thoughts.
That gift was brought to my conscious awareness by a participant in a Creativity workshop I was teaching. I had been talking about the notion of the Gift(s) God give. After the class session he came up to me and said, “I know what your Gift is. It’s words!”
Instantly I knew what he meant.
That was in 1986. It’s taken 21 years for me to get the 2nd part totally clear. That is, the form of expression.
In 1986 I knew that my work roles revolved around my Gift of words. I was a trainer, a consultant, and sometime public speaker.
But, only recently have I come to understand that ESSENTIALLY at my CORE I am “A Mentor”.
My Essence then is about using my Primary Gift of Words to Teach.
What is your Essence?
I’d love for you to chime in… add your comments to the conversation.
Hollywood is a town awash in hyphenates. TV is loaded with writer-producers. The movie biz is full of writer-directors. There’s even a legion of actor-filmmakers like Clint Eastwood and George Clooney. But as the writers strike enters its third week, I think the future belongs to a tantalizing new hyphenate: the writer-entrepreneur.
Creative professionals of all kinds, from architects to writers, don’t do JOBS.
Well, not if they’re smart.
Creatives aren’t cut out to work for companies. As a client said today, and I loosely quote, "companies suck the life out of you!"
Companies are about rules, policies, procedures, mass production. Very few corporations with the notable exception of Google, Apple, and others provide the RIGHT ENVIRONMENT for creatives.
Artistic types, need to be able to, in fact MUST express their creative urges, in and through their work. For creatives their is no boundary between them and work.
They ARE their work.
And, they need environments that NURTURE, GUIDE, that expression NOT stifle it.
So, if you are a creative professional, don’t language it as a "Job Search". It’s NOT!
It’s a search for a way, a place, where you can DO YOUR WORK.
Thanks to all who attended for your participation and provocative questions.
I want to focus on an "block" that was raised by one of the attendees because I believe it exemplifies a common struggle for writers and other creatives.
Here’s the situation. This attendee wanted to write a book but was stalled (blocked) by naysayers.
The same thing has likely happened to you. You were inspired to write an article or book chapter or a poem or a play or pen a piece of music or craft a sculpture or paint a picture or snap some photos.
So, what is the first thing you’re tempted to do after engaging in your creative act? Or, sometimes even before we create something we’re tempted to say something like, "I’m thinking of writing a book about [fill in the blank]".
Our first temptation is to show it someone else — and ask for their feedback.
And, that could be a BIG mistake.
First, why are we tempted to show our work to others. Well naturally we’re proud of ‘our baby’. And, like a new parent we want to show off our creation to others. It’s a very human thing to do.
But, the flip side of that ‘pride’ of creation is really the need for the approval of others. We have this need, in part, because except for procreation, creation is a solitary act. We put our soul and heart into crafting our work but we secretly wonder "is this any good?" So we ask others.
But, for writers and other creatives there’s a real risk in asking for feedback.
When we ask for feedback there are three possible responses: people could like (love) our work; people could dislike (hate) our work; or people could be neutral.
And, the problem for us as humans is that we have a very strong tendency to pay more attention to negative or neutral responses than to positive accolades.
And, by focusing on the negative we get stuck, stalled, blocked.
We don’t publish our work — we don’t put it out into the world.
There’s another risk in asking for feedback. By asking for another’s feedback we are intrinsically giving them the power to say what’s good or what’s bad about our work. In effect, we are saying "I don’t know the value of my work so YOU tell me!"
Another important thing to remember about feedback is that is merely someone else’s opinion! It is what they feel and think. Nothing more.
So, next time you’re tempted to ask for feedback remember the old maxim, "Be careful what you ask for, you might get it!"
