Okay, weeks!

I’ve been working with the marvelous Debora Seidman of Writing The Prayer of Your Life. And, today we had a fun session that I want to share with you.

Essentially, I have two parts of me that are in conflict.

When I told Debora that it was like the clash of The Titans (think Greek myths), she suggested I create a play with these two characters.

So, I made up this play. What was fun is I got to be the Director and the playwright. And, then as the play unfolded I got to be a character in the play.

What was really freeing was when I got stuck Debora kept saying, “it’s a rehersal! You can do anything!”

WOW! That lead to cool events and major ahas.

It was fun Playing with words… and characters. I can’t wait to see what happens in the play!!

There’s a clear, simple
way to think about Your Ideal Creative Career. Here are the Top 3 components of
your Ideal Creative Career:

Your Ideal Career = The Right Work + With The Right
People + With The Right Working Conditions

There are other
factors. And, when I do career coaching with you, you and I will examine them
in depth. Curious about these other factors? Watch this blog, I’ll be writing
about them. For now, I want to take a brief look at the Top 3.

#1 The Right Work

Nothing brings more
satisfaction and happiness than doing
the work you love. That’s why I’ve listed “The Right Work” as the number
one factor in your Ideal Creative Career. How can I help you identify The Right
Work? I primarily use 2 industry standard career instruments: the Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator® (MBTI®) and the Career Direction Inventory (CDI). Sometimes, I
will have clients complete the Career Values Scale. Additionally, I would have
you work through exercises to identify your Vision, Life Purpose, and Gift(s).

#2 The Right People

Doing the right work is
critical to your satisfaction and success. But, if you’re working with toxic
coworkers or clients work won’t work. So, when I work with clients we focus on
identifying the kind of people they want/need to be with.

Here’s an example. I
coached a colleague who is a communications and IT professional, writer, and
aspiring novelist. She needed to return to ‘real’ work and was looking for a
part-time job. I had her complete the CDI to identify her top 3 interest areas.
And, we did some careful work to specify the kind of people she wanted to work
with. These factors focused and shaped her work search and she found just the
job she wanted! She loves the work and the people in her work group – oh, and
hubby loves her having a steady pay cheque.

#3 The Right Working Conditions

You love your work. You
love your coworkers and clients. But, you hate the conditions at work. There
goes happiness out the door. I’ll give you an example. I have a brother-in-law
who loved being a mechanic in the Canadian Navy. But, he’s over 6 feet tall and
work sucked every time he was assigned to submarine duty. Small bunks, low
doors, and tight workspaces did a lot to make his tours of duty less than
satisfying.

Here’s some homework you can do, if you choose.
Spend some time thinking about the 3 factors I’ve outlined and what they are
for your Ideal Creative Career. Then share your Ideal Creative Career here at my
Blog.  

And, as Martha Stewart is oft quoted as saying, "that’s a good thing!"

And, like so many ‘good things’ it has a down side.

Here’s the conundrum.

When people go looking for help they tend to want a specialist.

For example, we bought a new stove for our house and needed a range hood and fan installed. So, I asked the fellow who had installed our dishwasher if he could do the job (cause he did really, really excellent work). He said no but gave me a referral to Marty "The Vent Guy". Marty came and did an absolutely marvelous job. He was easy to deal with, clearly knew what he was doing, consulted with me during the installation to discuss possible problems and solutions, and (my wife loved this) cleaned up after himself!

Being the curious sort I asked him what else he does. His response, "Well. I install bathroom fans." Seriously, all this guy does is install vent fans! And, he’s really, really, really good at it. Talk about specializing.

And, specializing is a good thing Martha.

BUT, it too has its downside.

When it comes to things like vents, you want a specialist.

But, when it comes to more complex challenges, say like "what you want to be when you grow up" or "what do I do about my money problems" you want help from someone with a broad range of experience, talent, and knowledge — in other words a generalist.

Now here’s the problem faced by guys like me and by my seasoned, eclectic clients.

We have to promote ourselves as if we are SPECIALISTS, but our power and the results we can acheive for our clients comes from the fact that we are GENERALISTS.

How do we do that?

By creating a speciality.

For example, it took me years to conceive my specialty was helping creative, eclectic, multi-talented, independent professionals get unstuck! So, I coined a term for what I do.

I’m The Unsticking Coach(TM)!

That label encompasses my eclecticism, my extensive expertise as a generalist, and yet sounds like one speciality!

So, is there a way to make your eclectic abilities seem like a specialty?

Two of my most favourite experts in ONE SPOT!

From Andy’s blog:

"Conventional wisdom tells us that success is all
about perseverance. Never giving up. Sticking to it when the “going
gets rough.” After all, quitters never win and winners never quit.
Right?

Nothing could be further from the truth. Find out
why New York Times Bestselling author, Seth Godin, recommends that you
quit. And, quit right now. On Thursday, June 21st at 2pm ET,
you will learn why quitting may be the best thing you can do for the
growth of your business, your relationships, your career and your
happiness. This the strategy that Jack Welch, Olympic athletes, Apple
Computer and other greats use to become the “best in the world.”

Join us for this live call with Seth and Andy on Thursday, June 21st at 2pm Eastern Time.  On the call, you will discover:

• Why quitting may the best thing you can do for your business (and your life)
• How to become the “best in the world” at what you do
• When to quit a project, relationship or idea and when to stick it out
• Why the best in the world quit all the time – and why you should too!

Register now for this call."

Yep! My brand, spanking-new, interview series STARTS November 8, 2006.

BUT, I think the name of the series SUCKS!

So, I’m running a little contest.

The series will feature in-depth interviews with creative, eclectic, &/or multitalented, independent professionals who are "Slightly Famous" — to borrow the title of Steven Van Yoder’s wonderful book Get Slightly Famous

Currently the title of the series is "The Slightly Famous Touring Road Show".

But, I think it could be better!

Here’s the prize: I’m cleaning out my library. So, here’s what I’m going to do.

1st Place – 5 of my used-to-be favourite books  (all in excellent condition), e.g. "The 30th Edition of What Color Is Your Parachute".

2nd Place – 3 of my used-to-be favourite books, e.g. Radical Joy by Todd Allen Pressman.

3rd Place – 1 of my used-to-be favourite books — e.g. Working With Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman.

Prizes will be awarded based on quantity and quality.

Send your suggestions here or simply comment on this post.

What’s a BizSlap?

A voice-mail from the trenches of small business and the brain child of "The Original Blogging Evangelist!" Andy Wibbels.

Take a listen and see if your point of view changes.

I especially liked the one on the dangers of multitasking here.

Now, I have some great terms to describe those horrible feelings when done in by multitasking. My favourites:

1. Frazzing – Frantic, ineffective multitasking, typically with the delusion you are getting a lot done
2. Pizzled — How you feel when someone you’re with pulls out a cell phone or BlackBerry and uses it without an explanation or apology.
3. Screen sucking — Wasting time online long after you have finished what you signed on to do.

I’d tell you more except I’m brain dead from screen sucking.

You’ll find my commentary on the two sides of Perception. Please, do check it out.

Let me know what you think.

Oh, and please join Biz Slap  It’s ramping up in the new year. 

What’s the first step?

You start by DREAMing.

Let’s go back to the Tale of X to illustrate this principle.

X wants to make a dramatic career shift, moving from his dull, non-soul rewarding job to an energizing, meaningful career.

His first project is to become clearer about his DREAMS. The good news is X is good at dreaming and like many Artistic-type professionals is good at imagining the future.

And, while imaging what you want to be and do IS important. Your DREAMing also needs to include some analysis, understanding, and specifics.

So, when I work with my clients in this phase of their Career F.O.C.U.S. I help them concretize and become specific about thier envisioned future.

Here’s some things to DREAM about: What work do you want to really, really do? What calls you? What calls you and frightens the hell out of you? Who do you want to work with? What relationships do you want to have? And, what do you want them to be like? What are you passionate about? What do you need to learn? What role do you want spirituality to play in your life and work? What contribution do you want to make to society?

Ponder these questions.

Write down your answers.

Chew on them.

When you do you will have a clearer picture of your DREAMS… and then you can move on to the PLAN phase.

While going from A to Z may not be as easy as going from A to A Prime, it IS
possible to do so. It’s just a matter of applying the same principles of
Unleashing Creative Careers.

Let’s look at an example based on a real case.

For years, when it comes to what he really wants to do, X has talked of two
things: Writing and Travel. X has chosen to stay in a 9 to 5 job that is well
beneath his intelligence — and capabilities. I’m not sure why but I’d guess it
offers ‘enough’ income and security (emotional and physical).

But, is X happy. No! If you listen carefully and watch you hear the fairly
frequent complaints and watch the periodic attempts to get a different job.

Recently X asked me (in essence) "how does a person move to a job that’s
totally different from what you are doing to one that appeals but for which I
have no skills?"

A very good question.

I’ll answer it over the course of the next several posts.