The Occupational Adventure (tm)

Interview with Pursue the Passion

One of my favorite things to do is interviewing people who are on fire about what they're doing. So when I look at what 22 year-old Brett Farmiloe is doing, I find myself turning just a tiny shade of green (as in, with envy).

Brett and three friends are traveling around the country in an RV interviewing people who love what they're doing. They call their project Pursue the Passion. Yesterday, I had the good fortune to have the tables turned and wound up on the receiving end of one of his interviews.

As luck would have it, Cecilia Goodnow, a journalist from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, was interested in sitting in on our interview, and this morning there was an article about Pursue the Passion that quoted liberally from our conversation (plus there was a picture including me with a very goofy look on my face).

In the early days, interviewing a series of people who had sucessfully pursued their passions played a significant role in my transformation from marketing guy to Passion Catalyst. While the work itself (i.e., facilitating exploration and discovery) was natural for me, the fact remained that my background was in marketing, not careers.

Not only did the cumulative information I gleaned from the interviews help me create a frame of reference for my work, it also played a big role in keeping me inspired and energized as I worked through the immensely difficult first year of recreating myself.

Take a look at your own career. What do you want to know about? Who could you interview to find that information? You just might be surprised what comes out of it.

An interesting side note, one of the people I interviewed that first year was Richard Tait, co-founder of the game company Cranium. I e-mailed him out of the blue, and he was gracious enough to take the time to meet with me. Five years later, that random connection turned into the cover story of the most recent issue of Motto magazine.

You just never know where things will lead you.

Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

The Power of Curiosity

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If you aren't subscribed to my twice-monthly Wild About Work (tm) e-mail newsletter, here's a taste of an audiosnack from the issue I sent out last week (if you'd like to receive the newsletter, you can subscribe here).

Title: The Power of Curiosity

Length: 2 minutes 24 seconds
File size: 2.2 MB

Just in case the speed of your connection leaves something to be desired, here's the written transcript...

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Were you ever a kid? If you were, then you have probably experienced one of the key ingredients in living a stimulating, interesting, fascinating life. What's that, you ask? Curiosity!

Next time you're around small children, watch how they engage the world around them. It's inspiring. It really is. There's a new discovery around every corner, and everything is wondrous and new.

Here's a question for you. On a scale of one to ten, how curious are you? How often do you take a look around you and say, "Hmmm. I wonder...?" I wonder how. I wonder why. I wonder when. If you're like many adults, you've probably lost a lot of that sense of curiosity and wonder along the way.

And that's a shame, because curiosity keeps life fresh. And not only does it keep life fresh, it keeps it rich with potential and possibility.

I think there are a couple things that get in the way of the reinvigorating potential of curiosity. The first is the dreaded rut. We drive the same road to the same job and work on the same things with the same people. We watch the same TV, and have the same conversations. One day of life blends into another, and it all starts to look a bit monochromatic. It dulls the senses and we forget that the world offers a rainbow of colors to experience.

Another obstacle to tapping into the richness of curiosity is the fact that, as we grow older, we start to build more rigid perceptions of "the way things are." We've been there done that, and we start to believe that we know what's what. With a perspective like that, what's the point of curiosity? We already know it!

That's dangerous territory, because it inherently closes doors. There's a Zen Buddhist concept called Beginner's Mind. One of the quotes in today's newsletter sums it up beautifully. "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few."

Take a look around you. Where is there potential for curiosity? What do you want to know more about? What assumptions are you making that you can explore with fresh eyes? How might someone else see your world?

The more curiosity you can bring to your life, the more energy you'll feel, and the more possibilities you'll discover.

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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

Sling that paint! (...or, no more paint-by-numbers)

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I think quotes have the potential to be fabulous catalysts for insights and understanding if we spend a little time with them. Take this quote I found over on Passion Meets Purpose, for example:

"Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can."

~ Danny Kaye

My first thought was, "Yeah!" (Yes, I know, call me Mr. Deep Thought.) It got better though. I paused and thought, "Well, why do I like that quote? What does it mean to me?"

I like it because it paints a picture (no pun intended) of life as a big, joyous, messy process. It didn't say, "meticulously apply" all the paint you can. It said throw it on there. Don't worry about getting it perfect, because that's going to hold you back from the full experience.

So many of us only live a fraction of the life that's possible for us. We're so afraid that we might get a little paint on the floor or not get the picture we're painting exactly right that we choose instead to live a paint-by-numbers life.

Take a look at your life. Where are the possibilities to start slingin' paint with joyous, giggly zeal? Where are the opportunities to let go a little (or a lot!) and start experiencing more of what life has to offer you?

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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

Audio article - Wild-Eyed Pragmatist

mapmaker.curtrosengren.com

Yesteday I bought a new headset/microphone for my computer. Of course since I had a new toy, I had to play with it (I mean, I needed to test the new equipment), so I decided to make an audio version of my most recent article in Motto magazine. Titled Wild-Eyed Pragmatist, it's about the power of combining a positive Pollyana perspective with nuts and bolts pragmatism. You can listen to it here.

Title: Wild-Eyed Pragmatist
Size: 6.43 MB
Length: 7 minutes 1 second
File type: MP3

Enjoy!

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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

New year = new career? Try The Occupational Adventure Guide

mapmaker.curtrosengren.com

If the new year also means it's time for a new career, I know that can feel easier said than done. If it's time for that transition and you haven't checked out my e-book, The Occupational Adventure Guide, there's no time like the present. It's a great, manageable way to get the ball rolling.

The Occupational Adventure Guide outlines the step by step process I developed to help people find clarity, take action, and get traction (yeah, I know, that sounds suspiciously like marketingspeak - but it's true!).

It's not foo-foo inspirational mumbo-jumbo. It's a nuts and bolts approach to identifying a path that lights you up and then making it happen. The concepts are simple and straightforward.

To give you a better feel for what it's all about, here is the introduction chapter.

If it's time to take a step towards a career that makes you feel energized and engaged, buy The Occupational Adventure Guide. It's a perfect way to get the ball rolling.

I've seen the ideas you'll find outlined in The Occupational Adventure Guide work again and again. I believe in it so much that I offer a money back guarantee, no questions asked.

So what are you waiting for? You have literally nothing to lose, and an amazing life to gain.

Enjoy!

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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

The Anti-9-to-5 Guide

mapmaker.curtrosengren.com

Here's a new read for those of you of the XX chromosome persuasion. My friend Michelle Goodman's new book, The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical career advice for women who think outside the cube, is available now, just in time for the new year. Check it out!

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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

Learn something new to stay fresh and grow

mapmaker.curtrosengren.com

Learning and achieving new things is an inherent part of creating (and continuing) a career that lights you up. Whether it's to keep things from growing stale, or to continue feeding your future with opportunity, incorporating the new is a vital piece of the puzzle.

I recently came across a series of web pages focused on motivating yourself to learn. It is intended for students, but since incorporating new things is such an important part of keeping your career vibrant and fresh for the long-term, the ideas are applicable for anyone.

Look at your own career. What do you want to learn? What new things do you want to accomplish? Pick something new you want to learn or achieve (the site recomends keeping it on a small scale - two months or less), then go through the different sections. You may just find some valuable insights along the way.

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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

Exploration through action

mapmaker.curtrosengren.com

I seem to be on a run of photography-based posts so, what the heck, here's another one...

When I take pictures, I generally take a lot of pictures. The pictures I deem worth sharing with the general public are a tiny fraction of the total amount I take (I'm guessing 1 in 40 or 50).

So what people see when they look at my pictures isn't really representative of my photography as a whole - it's just the cream of the crop.

If I were to look at the sum total of my photography, I would probably decide that I wasn't very good. But because I'm not tied to every shot being amazing, I have the room to explore. And it's that exploration that opens up the door to shots I love. Not only do I have more opportunities to get it right, but I get to learn from what I did wrong.

You can probably see what's coming here...it's exactly the same with our lives. If you want to create an amazing life, one that really lights you up and makes you feel alive, you have to open yourself up to exploration. You have to open yourself up to taking action as a mode of discovery, rather than white-knuckling perfection in every step you take.

How many pictures would you be willing to take to create a life you love?

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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

Work or play?

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Last week I facilitated a couple workshops in Milwaukee at Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin. I spent the time on the plane on the way out revising and refining what I was going to be talking about.

I must have seemed like I was enjoying the process because at one point, as I was scribbling down notes on a printed out outline, the man in the seat next to me asked, "Is that for work or play?"

It was one of those times that really drives home how amazing it is to get to do something for a living that comes from the core of who I am. I looked at him blankly as my brain dealt with the dilemma of figuring out which it was.

Finally, I laughed at my reaction and said, "I guess it's both."

Sure, it was work, but it really felt like play. It felt even more like play when I actually engaged with the people in the workshops. It always amazes me how alive that makes me feel.

So here's a question for you. What would a career look like for you that would make it hard to decide whether it was actually work or play?

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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

Energy catalysts

mapmaker.curtrosengren.com

On the 4th of July (Independence Day here in the US), I went to a party with a barbecue, a keg, a view of the fireworks over Lake Union in Seattle, and a drum circle. As luck would have it, Arthur Hull was in town and at the party. Arthur - a well-known figure in the drumming world - is known as "the father of the modern day community drum circle movement." He's also a pretty amazing drummer.

When he grabbed his drum and jumped into the jam, the energy jumped up a notch...no, make that three notches. It was the same group of people who had been jamming just moments before, but the whole thing suddenly took on a new life.

With just his participation, Arthur provided the spark to take it to the next level. The energy he brought to the circle and the playing impacted everyone, and the collective energy behind the jam shot through the roof.

It occurred to me that something similar happens when we're around people who are passionate about what they're doing, regardless of what that is. People who feel vibrant and alive because they're doing what they're meant to be doing are inherently energizing to be around.

On the flipside, people who are dissatisfied with where their lives are taking them can be a drain, sucking the energy out of their surroundings.

Look at the people around you. Are they energy catalysts, or energy sappers? Part of creating a life that lights you up is energy management. The more energy you have to put towards creating what you want, the better your chances of success. Being around others who are on fire about their lives is one place to fill up on that energy. 

By the same token, when you find that juicy, passionate place for yourself, you become an energy catalyst for the people around you. And when you're surrounded by other energy catalysts, it creates a perpetual motion machine of sorts as the energy and inspiration flows back and forth.

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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM