The Occupational Adventure (tm)

Give yourself permission to dream

Barbara Sher sent out an e-mail to her mailing list today. In it, she said something I think needs to be shared.

Take it easy on self-improvement resolutions for the New Year. There's only one resolution I want you to make and it's got nothing to do with self-improvement: Promise you'll give yourself the right to dream. When you assume your dreams are impossible or unrealistic you forget to dream at all. Don't do that. You don't really know what's possible. There are nuts-and-bolts ways to get any dream you want.

As you head into the new year, the permission to dream is one of the biggest gifts you can give yourself. Dreaming is how you expand the horizon of what might be. If every time a dream comes up you play wack-a-mole and thump it on the head, guess what the odds are of any of your dreams ever becoming reality? Practically zero.

I always remind people that it costs nothing, and involves no risk whatsoever, to allow a dream to exist.

Make it a habit to spend some blue-sky time. Dream big. What would you really like to do? Who would you really like to be? Expand your view of what your world could be, and give yourself permission to grow into it.

Curt Rosengren
Passion Catalyst ^SM

Keep a procrastination log

I recently picked up a book called Do It Now! Break the Procrastination Habit. It has some good ideas on why procrastination happens and what to do about it. It seems appropriate for a time of year when our attention turns to making positive change in our lives.

One idea I thought was particularly interesting was creating a "procrastination log." As the book describes it...

The procrastination log is a simple awareness-development strategy to keep track of what is going on when you procrastinate. This log is a useful platform for recognizing procrastination patterns and trends, and it can provide information to help you develop plans and actions for making change.

Organize your journal entries by putting each procrastination situation on a separate page. Following this procedure you are better able to compare similarities and differences among procrastination events. By following five or more procrastination situations, you'll develop concrete data to formulate an action plan.

The book notes that some people prefer a free-wheeling approach, noting situations as they come up and recording thoughts, feelings and observations. Others might prefer a more structured approach....

The procrastination log can follow a highly structured approach where you: (1) list the activity you put off; (2) define whether it falls into maintenance or developmental procrastination or into another procrastination category; (3) record your initial thoughts and feelings about the postponed activity; (4) identify diversionary tactic(s); (5) assess the impact of the procrastination decision (Who does it affect and how?); (6) estimate the short-term and long-term benefits and disadvantages. You can add other categories to a structured journal, including procrastination motivations such as discomfort dodging, self-doubt, or habit.

If the time is right to make positive change in your life, but you keep putting it off, maybe a procrastination log is the small step you need to set the wheels in motion.

Curt Rosengren
Passion Catalyst ^SM

Year-end review and new year preparation

Lori Richardson at Salesprocessdiva offers ten tips from Doris Kovic at Leading Insight for evaluating the past year and preparing for the next. Some of them are a little slanted toward evaluating the year for a business, but you can alter most of them to be relevant for an individual as well.

Great food for thought.

1. What did you accomplish? Take a few moments to think about the major breakthroughs of the year. What has been achieved this year?

What major obstacles were overcome? Which of your goals did you achieve? Make a list of your major accomplishments for this past year.

2. What were your disappointments? Think about the frustrations you have experienced over the same timeframe. What things did not go as you had planned or hoped? What mistakes were made? List your biggest disappointments.

3. Think process. Go back and review your two lists and this time think about the processes or methods that were used to further your goals. For instance maybe you achieved your revenue goals and have noted this as a major accomplishment, but the team took too much time to make decisions and then act on them. Add additional process related disappointments or accomplishments to your lists.

4. What lessons have you learned? Review your list of accomplishments and disappointments and think about the lessons you have learned this year. Write down how you can use these lessons as you move forward into next year.

5. Celebrate your success. Review again your accomplishments and pat yourself on the back for all you have achieved. Taking time to acknowledge your success on a regular basis is a great way to refuel yourself and reduce stress. Often we take our successes for granted and yet this is a key step in building confidence in order to take on bigger challenges.

6. Celebrate with others. Consider how others have contributed to the success of the organization. Plan meaningful ways to recognize their contributions. Celebrating doesn't have to be about parties, even though this is one way to show your appreciation. You can celebrate by personally thanking or rewarding individuals, and teams, that have made significant contributions during the year. Praise is always welcomed and often not given frequently enough.

7. Understand your values. Values are the standards and principles that are important to you. Innovation, truth, order, beauty and desire to learn, are all examples of values. Your core beliefs and values as a leader are the foundation on which you build your business. Shared values are the glue that holds organizations together. What are your top five values? Are you working in a way that is consistent with these values? If not what changes do you need to make? Understanding your values will add fuel to your sense of purpose and vision.

8. Review your vision and goals for your organization. Are you still on track? Is your vision consistent with your values? Does your vision still pull you and the organization forward? Does it need to be changed or expanded or even rewritten? Write down your thoughts on what is missing that if changed would produce a breakthrough.

Develop a prioritized list of strategic imperatives that you want to address in the coming year.

9. Develop your plan. Arrange a time to bring together your management team to develop your goals and action plan for next year. We recommend that you dedicate at least a full day to develop the plan, and that you do the work in a place where the team can stay focused and free from distractions. Begin by reviewing the questions above with your team. Just as you benefited from this review, your team will also benefit. To maximize results consider using a consultant to facilitate the planning process and build commitment and alignment to an actionable plan.

10. Commit your plan to paper. "A plan in your head isn't worth the paper it's written on." Make sure your plan is committed to writing. Then place your goals in a visible place somewhere where you will regularly see them. Develop a review process to monitor progress, celebrate success and if required make mid-course corrections.

Curt Rosengren
Passion Catalyst ^SM

The Boomerang - new links

Muchisimas gracias to the good folks who linked to The Occupational Adventure in the last week...

Dr. Bamsters Blog

kimberly at squoogy.com

Mike's Collection of Information

Damien Katz

Nimmy at Thinking Inside the Blog!

Ned Batchelder

Best of Blogs

Robyn at The Secret Garden

Rodney Olsen at The Journey

heroinegirl

scrapbooking

"Good vibes" request

As I read through A Day Without Rain, tears in my eyes (someone forgot to supply me with the stoic gene when they were putting me together), I felt compelled to post a request to this blog.

My dad has been in remission from lymphoma for a little over a year. While he was undergoing chemo, I put together a weekly e-mail called Good Vibes to about 100 people requesting their prayers/healing energy/meditation/plain ol' good thoughts for his complete healing. With studies showing the effectiveness of that kind of thing, I wanted to do whatever I could to help him in his fight.

Until this morning, I had never seen Sandee's blog, but her story compelled me to make that same request on her behalf. You can read more about her on her blog, but in a nutshell Sandee is a young mother of three who has been fighting a recurring battle with cancer since 1998. Her blog is about her journey.

Please send your prayers/healing energy/meditation on/plain ol' good thoughts for Sandee's healing. If it feels appropriate, post the request on your blog as well, and encourage others to do the same.

Peace.

Curt Rosengren
Passion Catalyst ^SM

Best of Blogs "Most Inspirational" finalist

Hey! It looks like this blog made the finalist list for the Best of Blogs "Most Inspirational" category (thanks for the nomination Jo!).

I'm in some great company. Check out the other blogs who made the most inspirational list...

1. A Day Without Rain

2. A Little Joy for Today

3. Always Victoria

4. California Hammonds

5. Heroine Girl

6. Purple Goddess in Frog PJ's

7. The Journey

8. The Occupational Adventure

9. The Secret Garden

10. Whiskey River

I checked all of them out and, while it's hard to pick just one, my vote would have to go to A Day Without Rain (I know, I know...not very competitive of me, is it). That said, I think they're all worth a visit.

Enjoy!

Curt Rosengren
Passion Catalyst ^SM

One year to live (try this for 2005)

The end of this week marks the start of a new year, for many a time for reflection and planning.

In response to my post on "what would you do with a free year," Avi Solomon suggests  the book A Year to Live by Stephen Levine. I love the idea behind it. Rather than living each day as though it were your last (inherently impossible - I wouldn't be doing laundry on my last day, but it has to get done sometime), Levine suggests taking a broader perspective.

Levine conducted an experiment where he made his decisions for a year as though it really were his last. Here's a blurb from Amazon:

For one year Stephen Levine consciously chose activities, relationships, and spiritual practices that reflected life's urgency rather than life's complacency. From his experience comes this year-long program of strategies and guided meditations to help us feel satiated when our numbers come up.

Via a Google search, I found this page with an idea for starting the one year exploration. It suggests:

- What would you do if you had but one year to live? Write as fast as you can whatever comes into your mind, without censoring anything. Write until you have completely exhausted all ideas.

- Then look over your list and edit it in any way you need to, adding, deleting, or changing any items that you feel need to be adjusted.

- Prioritize these items in terms of what's really most important to you.

- Ask yourself, "Which of the high priority items am I willing to take the time to incorporate into my life, and how much time am I really willing to commit?"

- Set a schedule for yourself to accomplish each item that you have committed to.

- Make the commitment public (share it with someone) and let that person know that you have (or have not) completed the task when the "due date" arrives.

If you live 2005 as though it were your last year - if you make your decisions so you can look back on December 31st and say, "I lived the year I wanted to live" - I would wager that 2005 will be a pretty incredible year for you.

Curt Rosengren
Passion Catalyst ^SM

E-book pricing question for y'all

A little informal marketing research here. I have a price in mind for The Occupational Adventure Guide - the career passion "how-to" e-book based on my Occupational Adventure Guide model coming out January 3rd - but I want to get some feedback from all of you first. I would like to get an objective feel for where the price for an e-book like this shifts from, "I could buy this e-book without much thought" to "Is it really worth forking out the money?" Assume that you get to look at a couple free chapters and you like what you see.

$12.97

$14.97

$19.97

$24.97

$29.97

[Update: Forgot to mention the length - I don't know exactly what the length will be yet, but I think it will be between 100 and 120 pages.] If you could e-mail me  with your reaction, I would appreciate it immensely. And no, e-mailing me with a response doesn't commit you to actually buying it. ;-)

Thanks!

Curt Rosengren
Passion Catalyst ^SM

What would you do with a free year?

Ed Hawco at blork blog asks a great thought provoking question:

What would you do if you had a free year, all to yourself, to dedicate to whatever you wanted? Assume money was not a problem -- you've just received a $60,000 Monkey Grant.

Would you spend your year travelling? Reinventing yourself? Would you go back to school to reorient your career? Would you try to see every movie you ever wanted to see? Forget about crazy things like flying to the moon or whatever -- think about what you would really do, if you could spend a year doing something you really want to do.

It's a great question if you are currently wondering where to go next. I love limiting it to a year, because it makes it more focused and gives it a degree of urgency. What would be important enough for you to pack into that year? Where are your priorities?

I just got back from a great brainstorming session with Lisa Haneberg and Kathleen Ream where we each spent some time talking about where we want to take things in the coming year and offering each other ideas and suggestions.

I read Ed's post with that conversation fresh in my mind. I ran it through my brain a few times, and ultimately realized that I'm doing exactly what I would be doing if I had a free year. I would probably take a month or so off to travel in Southeast Asia, but other than that the content of my plan wouldn't change.

There's something validating and empowering about knowing that I'm exactly where I need (and want) to be.

Curt Rosengren
<>

Passion Catalyst ^SM

Creativity inhibiting beliefs

We have any number of ways to get in our own way when it comes to tapping into our creativity. This article outlines eight major creativity inhibiting beliefs as described in the book Creative Problem Solving.

...one of the main problems with personal impediments is inhibiting beliefs. Basically these are different types of mindsets that people have about solving a problem. These mindsets restrict people's abilities to truly come up with creative solutions. The eight key inhibiting beliefs are as follows:

1. The Dictator. - Believe that 'I know better.'
2. The Blamer. - Nothing is ever their fault.
3. The Absurdist. - Embrace the irrational.
4. The Victim. - Believe that all problems happen to them.
5. The Perfectionist. - The solution must be prefect.
6. The Jelly Fish. - They take no risk by waiting.
7. The Chameleon. - They are people pleasers.
8. The Resister. - They hate change.

Do you recognize yourself in there anywhere?

Curt Rosengren
Passion Catalyst ^SM