Words to Live By: Joseph Campbell

"We must let go of the life we have planned, 

so as to accept the one that is waiting for us."

                                            -Joseph Campbell

Bitten By THE BUG

Ladybird: William Warby

That would be The Presentation Bug.

I'm totally hooked on giving workshops, presentations, seminars, you name it. And I've got one coming up in less than 48 hours!

Your Hidden Potential:
Discover Talents You Never Knew You Had

I am finding that presenting career information is a thrilling experience for me; even better than acting, believe it or not. (In case you are new here, I was a professional actress and singer for over a dozen years.)

One might think that being an actor, in costume, on stage, in front of hundreds of people may sound much more exciting than being a career coach, in business attire, in front of less than 50.  But in actuality, it's not. It's just different. And the rewards are far greater than I'd ever imagined.

For example, at the end of a theatre performance my feedback came in the form of applause, often followed by a backstage visit when someone would pat me on the back and graciously tell me, "Great job out there!" Which, of course, I really appreciated.

However, I get this kind of feedback after my workshops:

"Thank you, Katie, for this insight. I knew I was capable of doing so much more than what I'm doing now. I just needed to figure out why and what I'm missing."

It's truly music to my ears. It makes me wonder, could it be that I just might be making a difference in someone's life?!  Because if that's the case, I can't get a better reward than that.



Okay, But... Thrilling??!!

Via Flickr

The personal rewards still don't account for the excitement factor.  Because how, you may ask, is presenting information about human potential and natural talent as exhilarating as say, an elaborate stage performance in front of a packed house? The answer is this:

It's all about the verbs.

As I describe in my workshop, a person's talent-in the form of verbs- is truly at the heart of every career. And when you think about the similar, transferrable talents going from the theatre world to the career coaching world, you realize that they're quite a few.  The venue is different, and the content is different, but the basic function is the same: I am sharing an experience with an audience. Only in workshops, the shared experience is even more of an interactive, two-way street.

Via Flickr

I like how the spotlight shines less on me and more on the participants. We exchange information, wherein I offer up a new language for why they like or don't like certain activities. They, in turn, share with me interesting and varied examples from their own lives. This real time exchange gives me an adrenaline rush similar to a great performance.


Plus, I really get a kick out of the fact that I'm offering information to people who can use this knowledge immediately, in their everyday lives.  I derive pleasure from giving people a really solid deliverable, such as steps to becoming more energized, more engaged with life, more appreciative of their own resources. Human potential, I've discovered, is something I'm even more passionate about than acting and the theatre.

Yes, I'll admit that being bitten by the acting bug when I was younger was pretty darn exciting, but I'll take The Presentation Bug bite any day.

Live in the Washington, D.C. area?  Free on Tuesday night?  SIGN UP HERE!!

Wearing Her Cone of Shame

"I was chasing a cat and wiped out.
Now have to wear this %$*^@# contraption."


I need to send a picture of Cloey to that dog shaming website. The question is, which naughty picture to choose? This one is a top contender. 

BE AN ENTREPRENEUR (hint: it's easier than ever!)

http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130909022419-6200057-your-starring-role-as-entrepreneur-in-the-creation-economy

BE BOLD. BE BRAVE. BE IN THE MOMENT.

That's my mantra for the week.

But first, allow me to explain its inception:

I've started exercising every other day; sometimes I even do a couple days in a row. (I know: Woooooaaaaa Nellie!) And I must say that I've really found my groove.  It's what my body needs to do: to MOVE MOVE MOVE.

When I exercise regularly my mind works better too, particularly because I have what we in the career world refer to as a "high rate of idea flow."

(Or, what those in the regular world call, a "very busy and active mind.")

What's more, according to my personality type, I prefer iNtuition to Sensing, which means I'm always thinking of new possibilities, ways of doing things and "what if" scenarios. This is compared to Sensing, which is a preference that naturally lives more in the present, in the world of the here and now. Not surprisingly, many of my clients have the iNtuition personality preference as well.  After all, a person who has lots of career ideas and way too little time needs help narrowing down the possibilities.

As I tell my clients, the high idea flow + iNtuition combo can make for great problem solving and a wonderful entrepreneurial spirit; however, as you can imagine, it can have it's personal pitfalls as well. These cognitive tendencies can make the mind swirl with regrets about what the past could have been, worries about what the future could be like and fears of not living up to one's own grandiose expectations.

Which leads me back to my mantra and its creation.

The Hill

We have a really big hill near our house: the mother of all hills. And I have chosen to make this a part of my run, being a glutton for punishment, I suppose.

Not our hill, but it feels like it.

For a long time I ran down and walked up the hill, but recently I decided to BE BOLD and attempt to run up the hill as well.

("Attempt" being the operative word.)

At first I did what I always did and looked way ahead of me, to the top of the hill. But that quickly crushed me. I'd start walking almost immediately because I couldn't fathom all of what lay ahead.  Running all that way to the top was just too much to handle psychologically.

But then one morning I decided to try looking down at my feet as I ran. (Thankfully there's not a lot of pedestrian traffic on this sidewalk.) And I found I went farther. Eventually, however, when the incline got really steep, I started walking.

So the next time I tried looking at the ground and counting, thinking that if I could just count to 50 (slowly) I could stop at 50 and then walk, no matter where I was on the hill.

Well, by God, it worked! I made it all the way without walking. Yes, it was still hard and intense on the old gluteus maximus, but I'd made it! The counting paired with the looking down proved a winning combination.

As with all small victories, it made me feel unexpectedly BRAVE, like I could conquer anything! That same day I used my hill momentum and made a phone call to a potential client that I'd been putting off. Now I have a new speaking engagement. Who knew?

I've been using this simple method for tackling The Hill ever since. I stop thinking about where I'm going and instead think of where I am. Or maybe I'm not really "thinking" at all- I'm just BEING IN THE MOMENT. No complex thought process. No overwhelming emotions about the past or future. I switch off my idea-generating, regretful, future-envisioning turbo engine and count.

But I also absorb, which seems to satisfy my mind and hold my focus. I see the cracks in the sidewalk, listen to the sound of my feet, the songs of the birds and the rhythm of my breath. I notice the laces of my shoes and the curves of my legs and feel the surface of the pavement beneath my feet. I look from side to side and observe the texture of the grass.

In other words, I take a mental vacation from all of those mental gymnastics.

But no matter what your personal inclinations may be, this week I dare you to:

BE BOLD.

 Go for the hill, whatever your hill may be.

BE BRAVE.

 Branch out. Have the courage to try something you don't think you can do.

BE IN THE MOMENT.

No past, no present. Take some time to just focus on what you can do right now.

And before you know it, you'll have reached your destination.

"None of Us is One Thing"

Jeff Haden, Inc. Magazine Columnist/Speaker/Ghostwriter/Wedding Photographer, encourages us to acknowledge, rather than hide, the different roles we play in life... and work.

Enjoy!
-Katie

http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130904104351-20017018-why-we-should-all-be-an-and

New Rules for Career Success

Rule #1: Figure out where you are headed!
Via Flickr

Dan Schawbel, Geny Y author of the newly released book, Promote Yourself: The New Rules for Career Success, offers some sound advice about how to advance your career in today's environment.

Frequent LinkedIn contributor, Dave Kerpen, asked Mr. Schawbel to distill his concepts to into six key "actionable ways to grow" a career, which I'm sharing with you below.

I especially like his first point, which is to "become an entrepreneur at work"; however, I'm offering a prequel to Schawbel's key points:

Figure out what career path is right for you, 

because if you don't do that, 

how will you know what kind of career to grow in the first place?

Makes sense, no?

Read his rules here.