In the beginning, there was blog. And it was good.

Welcome to the Occupational Adventure Blog. This blog will be an ever-unfolding mixed bag of nuts, loosely clustered around the the central theme of Occupational Adventure - that is, a career that really gets you juiced.

Here, you might find my own thoughts and ideas about pursuing your passion, links to career articles, or spotlights of people I think are doing some really marvy things (did I really just say marvy?). I'll probably share some of the joys and pains of my own path as I continue creating my own career (hopefully weighted more heavily toward the joy side of the equation ). Finally, I also reserve the right to throw in a dose of silly randomness if I feel so inspired.

I am a Passion Catalyst (sm). I work with people who have gotten to the point in their careers where they're saying, heyyyyyyyyyy, wait a minute! This isn't the playground I signed up for...what am I doing here? I help them find the right playground.

Or, as I say in my elevator spiel, "I help people identify their passions and create careers that ignite them."

I began my Passion Catalyst work 2 /12 years ago after the dot com implosion gave me the opportunity to be a self-unemployed marketing consultant. Career-wise it was no loss, as I had been a Professional Malcontent for several years, but the money in self-unemployment sucks. Sooo...I thought it might be best to find another option.

The inspiration for my Passion Catalyst work came while schmoozing over coffee, trying to drum up new marketing business (at El Diablo coffee, the funkiest coffee joint in Seattle, and my adoptive second home - try the Cubano, caffeine and sugar, with a minimum of fluid getting in the way of its efficiency). After some uninspiring discussion about the company this person worked for, the conversation drifted away from "work" to a business that he and a friend wanted to start around something he was really passionate about.

By the end of the conversation, he was vibrating with excitement at the new possibilities and perspectives he saw, and I had a contact high myself (I swear it wasn't just the Cubano's).

Later that day, the lightbulb finally came on. "That happens all the time," I thought, looking back over conversation after conversation. Again and again, people came away from talking with me buzzing with excitement over possibilities and ideas they hadn't seen before.

My first thought was, "Hmmmm...that seems valuable - maybe I can make some money doing that." That was followed pretty quickly by, "Hmmmmm...I have no idea how I do that." I didn't have a methodology, it was just who I was.

After a lot of exploring and many conversations, I was able to literally put a framework around what I had been doing naturally and informally for years. When people ask me how long I've been doing this, I always have to give them a dual answer. The one is since early 2001. The other is for as long as I can remember.

Along the way, I developed a passion pursuit/career development model to help people make sense of the whole process. I call it the Occupational Adventure Guide (sm) - hence the name of the blog.

And now, without further ado...(insert drumroll)...LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

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[steven]

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