What happens when you actually do find “work that doesn’t suck” but then … that work — part-time, full-time, or contract — chews up most or all of your energy and time?

Okay. Maybe, that’s a bit dramatic.

But, it IS how it feels to me sometimes. As much as I love my new ‘job’ as a “Cruise and Vacation Specialist” I’m finding myself  overwhelmed at least once a day,  frequently feeling  ‘behind the 8 ball’, and therefore, beating myself up for not getting everything done.

And, this, ironically or not, is the situation with several of my clients.

What about you?

Do you find that your ‘real job’ (you know that thing that you do to pay the rent)  sucks up so much time and energy that you can’t move ahead on your plans to live your dream?

So, what do you do?

Well,  here are 3 ideas I’m working on …

1. Get Clear on Your Real Priorities

One of my 30-something creative clients recently voiced a lament that went something like this, “I don’t know what to DO … I have so many ideas. What should I do?”

The “problem” with most eclectic, creatives isn’t a scarcity of ideas! It’s a lack of action and accomplishment!

My, and my clients, favourite ‘excuse’ for this is lack of time.

Sorry folks, sorry Lyle, but as the time management gurus are only too happy to point out, “we all have 168 hours a week!” It’s not the time you are given each week:  it’s how you spend it.

So, ask  yourself, as I am asking myself every morning, “What MUST I do today? What do I NEED to do today? What actions will move me closer to my dream?”

I use my answers to these questions to set my priorities for the day. And, 

2. Stay Focused On Your Priorities

Knowing your priorities is critical to your success. Even more critical is actually acting on them!

That means staying focused. Ah, but keeping focused is a very big challenge for creative eclectics.

Why? Because we are often ‘right-brain’ dominant people who live and breath ideas. Ideas stimulate and excite our neurons. And, there are a gajillion ideas coming at us every moment … oh, and people clamoring for attention!

True, other people do interrupt us … and, learning to manage interruptions is a critical skill. But, most often we are our worst enemies. Whether we are Introverts or Extraverts most of belong to online communities, subscribe to blog and news feeds, &/or just go ’surfing the Net’ looking for ideas or distraction.

And, that’s the schizo thing about being an eclectic creative: we need outside stimuli to fuel our creativity but when we get too much, or get lost in that ’stream of data’ then we don’t get a damn thing done!

So, to keep me from ‘wasting TOO much time’ being a Social Media Butterfly, I work hard at only allowing myself ’snippets’ of time on Facebook, Twitter, or in online communities. I pop in and out several times a day, stay for 10 minutes or less per visit, read the most appealing items, post a response or two, and then get back to work.

Well that’s the theory anyway. But, sometimes I get distracted! And, when I do, I try hard not to berate myself for it. And, I focus on doing My Work instead of lamenting my ‘mistakes’.

3. Stay Healthy

Staying healthy is a MUST for me.

And, it needs to be for you too.

Why?

The simple fact, as far too many have learned, is that “if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything!” I’m finding that many of my clients, even those who are 30-something are reporting clear, unmistakable symptoms of stress overload.

So, what can you do to stay healthy?

Once you’ve made it a priority then ACTION is required. And, believe me, a once-a-week trip to the Gym isn’t what I mean.

No. A focus on healthy living means daily, even hour-to-hour attention to nutrition, exercise, and stress reduction. For me that means that first thing in the morning I go for a 5 kilometre walk. And, during the day I take time out to get up and away from my computer and stretch or I  go for a 5 or 10 minute walk in the back yard or down the block. I prepare and cook (yes, I’m the chef in the house)  healthy meals that follow the national food guide. And, I work at removing stress from my life and managing the stressors that appear in my life.

I can’t forget these daily actions … because when I do, I pay an immediate price: PAIN! You on the other hand can ‘forget’ because the price you pay takes a while to show up. But, remember the saying, “Pay me now. Or, pay me later!” And, remember that the delayed payment can be fatal.

Sermon over.

Practice these 3 strategies on a daily basis and you’ll find yourself living a more passionate, authentic life.

In my last newsletter I cautioned against taking just any job. But, is it possible to find work, even a part-time job or contract/freelance work, that doesn’t suck? YES … and today’s article will show you how I did it! And, how you can too!

HOW TO FIND Full-Time or Part-Time WORK THAT DOESN’T SUCK!

When I started up this, my current, company back in December 1997, it was my intention to make a living as a Freelance Writer. I’ve told you the painful story before about why that didn’t happen. It doesn’t bear repeating. BUT, I do want to share some important lessons, I’ve learned along the way, about finding work that doesn’t suck.

First, what do I mean by work that sucks?

I mean full-time or part-time jobs, contract positions, or freelance assignments that a) suck every ounce of physical, intellectual, &/or creative energy out of you; b) get you involved with parasitic, psychotic, or pain-in-the-ass clients; &/or c) pay sh*t wages.

Step 1: Know what you’d Love (or at least like) To Do

If you don’t know what you would love to do for work, then there is no better time than NOW to find out! How?

Do some Career Testing. <= ASK me I can help YOU with this!

Read and work through the exercises in What Color Is Your Parachute? The 2009 edition of this classic by Richard Nelson Bolles is aptly subtitled “JOB-HUNTING IN HARD TIMES”. I’ve used this book to guide my own career since 1984.

Let me give you a recent example from my own life of how to figure out what kind of work would make you happy.

Even though I’ve been working and reworking and re-reworking my career plans since 1984, there are some clear themes in my career dreams. And, that’s what you want to look for in your career planning: the common themes.

But, where do you get the data and information to tease out those themes? You get it by examining 5 key elements: Your Interests, Your Skills, Your Experiences, Your Personality, and Your Values.

When I work with clients who want to re-examine their careers and figure out what they want to be when they grow up, the first thing I do is to get them to complete several Career “Tests”. These assessments include: Career Directions Inventory (Interests), MBTI® (Personality), and the Career Values Scale (Values). Then, I use paper and pencil exercises to help you identify your Skills and Experiences.

I KNOW all the gory details of all 5 key Career factors. I’ve used them to help me find contracts and clients. And, even though I’ve had superb clients and extremely interesting work: something was missing. This year, when I did my annual Life & Career Goal Setting I became very aware of my NEED (more like burning desire, lust) to TRAVEL. So, when thinking about finding part-time work to supplement my coaching income, I decided to focus on my Travel theme. I began to think about how I might find work in the Travel industry. AND, I GOT IT!

YES, last week I signed on board Expedia® CruiseShipCenters as a contract Cruise & Vacation Consultant. And, you can benefit.

Next issue I will tell you HOW I found and secured this great ‘job’. And, how on earth being a Travel Consultant fits with the rest of my career aspirations.

NEXT ISSUE: Step 2: Use Your Theme(s) to Find the Work You Love

I love to hear from you. So, let me know what you think. Send me an e-mail or add your comment here at the blog!

One forum mate remarked “Also, I don’t know what a ‘creative career’ is, but I have this idea that a ‘career’ is something you have as an employee, so that’s not me.”

Thanks for asking.

When you do something for a living it’s easy to get caught up in your own language. Heck! I KNOW what a career is. In fact I sometimes tell people that one of my services is Career Coaching.

But, do INDEPENDENT creative professionals have careers?

You betcha. The problem is that our careers don’t look like those careers … you know like the one I had when I was an employee (ugh! Very scary word

First let’s haul out my handy dandy Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Here are the two most relevant definitions:

1. One’s advancement through life, esp. in a profession,

2. a profession or occupation, esp. as offering advancement

Essentially a career is simply what you DO for a living. But, herein lies the dilemma for those who are creative cats.

When my dad was in the work force most people had ONE career, one occupation. My dad was a miner when I was born but shortly thereafter trained as a carpenter and that’s what he did for the rest of his life. (Scary)

When I started in the professional workforce that one-occupation-for-a-lifetime model was still the case. Nonetheless, I was never happy to just 1 thing. So, during the 15 years I had a real job I was a laboratory technologist, programmer, programmer analyst, project manager, computer technology training coordinator,  and end user support coordinator.

Things began to shift in the late 70’s. People, many of them like me, didn’t want to do 1 thing for all their lives. Fast forward to now. Now the model is that a person can do and be many things through out the course of their life.

Now look at the fact that over the last 2 decades more and more people have chosen to be their own boss: small business owner, entrepreneur, freelancer, solo professional, or independent professional. Now let’s complicate it even more by noting that many of us creative types need to do our things ALL at the same time.

Yes, we are ECLECTIC.

We are not just square pegs in round holes … we are star shaped pegs in round holes. Where each point on the star is a talent we want to express in and to the world.

So, YES creative types DO have careers … they’re just different (better than those in corporations.

“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.

Her tools for creativity have helped me immensely and I often teach them to my clients. BUT, if you really want to DO THE WORK of learning and applying Julia’s methods then I recommend you get your bum in gear and head over to my friend — and creativity muse — Susan Fuller’s website TODAY!

Susan’s Artist’s Way Group begins in January. AND, her reduced price EXPIRES TOMORROW.

SO, if you want to truly learn how to use Julia’s powerful tools, head on over!

I am gob smacked at the notion of SIXTY MILLION people travelling for Thanksgiving. Lordy, that’s more the population of Canada!

Anyway, whether you are American or not… this is a good time to take a minute or six to think about who and what we are grateful for. Especially the WHO!

I am grateful for:

- my children, who loved me even when I embarrassed them,

- my wife, who has held the house together while I have been sick,

- my clients, past and present, who put their faith in me,

- my friends, who listen, laugh, and challenge me, and

- my healers, who have walked with me through my pain!

From the LA Times:

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.

Via: Mediabistro

I took a 20-second look and KNEW my client was in deep doo doo if he were to follow this advice.

According to Clarence Thomson, Enneagram Coach, most Time Managment books are written by Enneagram 3s — often compulsive acheivers

And, what works for 3s doesn’t work for other types — e.g. my client who is a 5 and very eclectic.

Those of us who aren’t 3s can’t keep up.

We don’t need to achieve more — harder or faster!

We need to work WITH our own style.

So, next time one of those Time Management Gurus comes your way — run like hell!