Rodent Regatta

Let me try again. Carrying this negative energy around is like carrying a twenty-pound watermelon – you can’t give a good hug when you’ve got a watermelon in your arms. It blocks your connections to others…

So here’s what I wanted to know: Does a solo career in bodywork put you on a downward slide to loosey-goosey-land? That’d be my fear. In fact, I might as well admit that’s why I’m telling this story: to confront my own watermelon…

Well, I think we have to cop to that fear, and recognize that finding our calling might get a little internal, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to wig out.

from What Should I Do With My Life
by Po Bronson

• * There’s an Update * *

Heres the scenario: a woman made a conscious decision to leave the fast-lane life of an international sales and marketing person in a high tech company to earn a massage certificate and start a business. Po Bronson is obviously incredulous:

”That’s it. I cannot see one more modem,” she vowed. But do what? She knew what she wanted: She missed human contact.

Did you ever feel that way? Email can’t convey what you mean. The virtual instant messenger can never connect with you like someone sitting across from you over coffee.

He goes on:

”Do you ever feel isolated?” I asked. ”Working alone? I mean, you used to travel the world.”

”I get a far more powerful and genuine connection to people now. That’s what I always wanted – to connect with unusual and interesting people.”

”I guess what I really meant was, you kind of dropped out of the traditional status framework. Most people need the context of a company and an industry and a title and a salary level and regular performance reviews to provide a measure of self-worth. How does one forgo that, and dare to go alone… where do you get your sense of importance?

again from What Should I Do With My Life?

Bing! That’s where we miss it. It’s not the money, it’s not the power, it’s not the prestige. Those are all false gods. Until you connect – I mean really connect – with the people nearest you, frustration lies at the end of the trail. Success is not jetting here and there, great clothes, packed itinerary and all of life’s common problems. That route takes you to a life of loneliness in a crowded room. There’s another path.

people who are searching. Today’s newsletter, which is free every Monday, is full of sage advice. Proof:

WHAT ARE YOU GONNA BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

When you get to heaven God is not going to ask you why you weren’t more like Mother Teresa. He’s likely to ask you why you weren’t more like you. Your responsibility and source of real freedom and success is to discover who you are. Lead with your own unique talents and personality. Be authentically you and let God use you.

More proof:

WORKERS READY TO JUMP
Herman Trend Alert: December 18, 2002

Millions of workers are unhappy with their present employment. At least 30 percent, and perhaps as many as 40 percent, have already ”checked out,” according to at least two recent studies. They show up for work every day, but their focus is on where their next job will be. These workers have lost the passion for their work; they are just going through their daily routine.

Monster.com, the electronic job board, reports that 72 percent of the respondents to their survey are unhappy with their employment circumstances. They are ready to move to a new opportunity as soon as someone makes them an offer. The same research showed that only 22 percent are committed to staying with their current employer.

Why are workers so unhappy? Why are they ready to leave their jobs as soon as they can find a suitable alternative?

One reason workers are unhappy is that a significant portion of the workforce became accustomed to moving from one job to another every 2-4 years. With the economic slowdown, opportunities to move have been limited. Many workers feel trapped and just want to escape. Another reason for employee dissatisfaction is the way they are treated by management. Strong leadership can send positive messages about caring about their employees. Unfortunately, too many employers lack strong leaders, so employees don’t feel valued.

A significant number of large companies have taken employees for granted, working them long hours without sincere appreciation. When this happens, people feel used and abused, rather than feeling respected. Practices we might describe as ”inhumane” have been all too common. For insight into examples of what’s turned off thousands of employees, we encourage you to read ”White Collar Sweatshop” by Jill Andresky Fraser. [$12.76 at www.1800ceoread.com/details.asp?productid=039332320X]

The movement has already begun. The employment market will become much more turbulent over the next few years as workers seek positions that are more congruent with their values, provide opportunities for meaningful work, and respond to desires for life-work balance. They’re looking for leaders who are enlightened enough to provide visionary leadership, assertive communication, and inspiration to make a difference.

Copyright 2002 by The Herman Group—reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From ”Herman Trend Alert,” by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or www.hermangroup.com.

Some are returning to work for the first time in 2003. They’ve dreamed the holidays away and now they face the grim reality of work they no longer enjoy with others in the same boat.

Clearly, these people are ”better off” than those who have been searching for work for months. However, life is much too short to spend so many hours of it without the internal rewards that come from doing something you love.

Resources abound for helping you alter your situation. I’ll repeat a few of them:

• What Color Is Your Parachute
• 48 Days to the Work You Love
• The Bible
• What Should I Do With My Life?

These are only a few of the best tools for seeking and starting a new direction. There are many more. You can match your personality type to a career path. You can take aptitude tests to discover what you’re best at. You can think back to what you enjoyed most in first grade and somehow find a joyful occupation.

Whatever the tool. Whatever the method. Launch a process of discovery. Discover what God is asking of you. Discover his plan, place and purpose for your life. It’s January 6, 2003. There’s no better time to start!

Jessica Grossman was twenty-eight. We arranged to meet the first time at a Starbucks, which became awkward quickly, because she needed to pause often while she wiped tears from her eyes. Twice she sobbed and curled up into a ball in her chair. I’m sure it looked like I was breaking up with her – the kind of tenderness between us, yet the necessary professional distance, would be easily misread. I was exceedingly grateful for her emotion, for her openness, because I was really just a stranger. I found her when scouting for doctors who had left medicine.

from Chapter 3 of What Should I Do With My Life

I’ve already mentioned Po Bronson’s new book and provided a few teasers from it. I notice that Bronson’s article for Fast Company magazine still sits at #3 on Daypop’s Top 40 this morning.

If you remain in the group who thinks somehow ”things” are going to return to the prosperity, opportunity and excess of the late 90’s, it’s time to read this book. The ”down days” of the last 24 months are not the aberration. The overblown days of the late 90’s were the aberration.

It’s time to find something from which you draw meaning, significance and joy. For some that will be a new or different job. For others it will be in relationships and their faith. For still others, complete career changes may be necessary.

I always run three to five years behind in seeing movies. This morning’s rental was A Beautiful Mind. I’m in awe.

Immediately after watching the movie, I came to the office to do some weblog work. The first place I visit is Scripting News, where I find Dave Winer pointing to something Halley Suitt has suggested. It’s a terrific idea and much easier to do than you might realize.

You’re not agreeing to undertake a comprehensive job search for five other people. You’re simply committing to being a friend as others search. Be a sounding board. Be a person who fosters some thoughtful reflection about the avenues your friend(s) might pursue.

• * * UPDATE * * * Dave’s looking to teach. We’re all searching for that place of significance that doesn’t stake our own worth and image to the next quarter’s numbers.