Inspiration for creative types
Several blog posts ago, I mentioned how music can help energize you and totally change your mood. I would add that it can also inspire you to create something that did not exist before. I was recently lucky enough to see Hamilton, the new hiphop musical that’s all the rage on Broadway. One person, Lin-Manuel...
It’s okay to be obsessed
On Quora.com, a reader wanted to know what goes into the making of a great entrepreneur like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, or Richard Branson. Justine Musk shed light on what it takes. As a former wife of one of the “extreme entrepreneurs” mentioned, she should know. “Be obsessed,” she wrote three times. “If...
Finding your place
Decades ago, I first realized that getting a job felt like becoming a contortionist. It was all about fitting into a pre-cut slot. Mushing yourself in. Compressing yourself to fit a company’s needs. The only way I fit into the world was by changing myself to fit holes in the work world. It wasn’t at...
Listening to nudges leads to new path
Andrea Kay has always been a visual artist. But it was never her main work. By day, she is a career consultant, writer of a syndicated career column, and author of 6 career-related books, including Life’s a Bitch and Then You Change Careers. She is also a radio host and appears on TV. About 10...
The case against playing it safe
Avoiding risk in your work life could be harmful to your health. We’re so focused externally on what’s going to sell, what’s hot, what will move, and what somebody else wants that we don’t listen to ourselves. We lose touch with who we really are and what we can give, said career coach Tama Kieves....
The evolution of an innovator
Innovators don’t accept things as they are. For them, there’s always a better way of doing something. They’re not afraid to reject traditional approaches to work. When they know something isn’t a good fit, they may reinvent themselves a few times, as they home in on what they really want to be doing. Take Letitia...
Linear success vs. inspired success
The times. . . they are a changin’. So many invested in corporate America. They figured if they just put in a good 30 years, they would be safe, solid, and vested. They would have all they needed. But then the layoffs struck. And broken promises fluttered to the ground. People realized that there is...
On the power of books
You can never overestimate the power of books to help you find your calling. Books helped Walter “Skoog” Fordham find the work he loves. Diversity is his passion. His niche is an unusual one. He facilitates diversity training, team building, groups, and employee relations interventions for nonprofits. Some highlights of his work in diversity training...
How to reboot
People are increasingly questioning their life choices. Workers wonder whether they’re killing themselves doing work they don’t really want. Shouldn’t they be doing something more meaningful? Priya Parker, founder and researcher at Thrive Labs, a company that helps millennials identify their real purpose in life, has noticed that many of her clients let fear guide...
Mom on a mission
A mother puts her own spin on fitness. Lisa Druxman was a new mom when she had one of those aha! moments. All moms are looking to get back into shape after having a baby, she realized. And they were also looking to connect with other new moms. “I decided to blend my passion for...
How a dog and some sheep led Patricia Elliott to the world of cheesemaking
An obituary in The Washington Post caught my attention today. When Patricia Elliott was in her late 60s, she began milking her sheep to make cheese. As she developed Everona Dairy, her artisanal cheese company, she became one of the leaders in the farmhouse cheese movement, according to a New York Times food writer. How...
Annie Lennox on beginnings and endings
Annie Lennox’s musical journey began at age 3, when she began to pick out tunes on a small plastic toy piano. She loved to sing all the time. Luckily her parents realized she had a musical ear. By the time she was 6 or 7, she sang in a local choir every Saturday morning. She...