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Starred Items: Show up, if it’s all you can do

My energy level has tanked.

But a big part of getting somewhere in life is showing up, right?

So I’m showing up.

I’m dragging, but I’m here.

But I was full of it (energy,that is) last week… and I did something: an ebook called “Five things to do before you kick your day job’s ass to the curb.”

It’s about taking small actions, things that will stir up your inner ninja and preparing yourself for your major leap into a new career or even self-boss-hood.

I have one chapter available – all pretified and stuff – if you sign up for my Thrive Creative Coaching mailing list.

When I actually launch the eBook, people who are on my list will get a special discount code. SO…. want a preview? The free chapter is on Vision. What it is & how to get it & why you need it.

I have a handy sign-up form right there (pretend I’m pointing you to the top of the column on the right).

Enough self-promotion for now. On to the links!

10 Steps to Escaping the Job World and Creating the Life You Really Want. Valerie Young gets to the heart of what it takes.

The Silence of Becoming A Linchpin: Jen’s talking about Seth Godin’s new book, Linchpin – and what it means to actually ship (i.e. get stuff out there).

I have a problem with too many tools… so what do you do to get rid of what you don’t need and streamline your toolbox? Ken Robert’s guest post on Productive Flourishing may help.

An occasional romp into the worst-case scenario may be good for you. Screw positive thinking! Creativity, Motivation, And The Dark Side Of The Future

And for some inspiration… The Change Maker’s Creed:

am changing the world. Lead, follow, help, or get the hell out of the way.

If that doesn’t make you want to unleash your inner ninja… I don’t know what will.

Photo by Barbie Pido

Starred Items – The Ugly Hairy Beetle Edition

Boo! (Or, evolution is awesome)This week I stepped waay back from my strategic plan and tried to figure out a way to make this really work without throwing me headlong into overwhelm.

Which is a relatively easy thing to do…

I haven’t exactly made up with my plan, but we’ve agreed on a truce.

Plan lives on my computer where it’s easily changed.

Plan only gives me the next three months of things to do so I don’t rebel against it like a hormonal teenager.

Laminated Plan is removed from planner. This one was a major sticking point. Plan didn’t quite want to be sent to the shredder so I relegated it to the book shelf tucked inside one of the multitude of journals I have lined up.

Don’t ask me which one because I’ve already forgotten. Read the rest of this entry »

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Starred Items: The Monsters in My Head Edition

nyaaah.I created a lovely plan that would have helped me accomplish a lot this year and now I don’t even want to look at it.

It’s printed out in fancy type but I have the urge to rip it out of my planner… But I *love* my new planner. It’s pretty. So at least that makes me happy. That spreadsheet at the end, however, may have to go.

I know it’s one of the Monsters in my head saying stuff like:

“Well, now that everything’s planned out, you can’t deviate from the plan because you KNOW what happens when you deviate from the plan… Besides, you have it on paper AND on your computer so it’s set in stone. And you know how you get when things don’t go the way you expect so you better buckle down and do all this stuff now. No room for slacking off and daydreaming.”

Read the rest of this entry »

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Starred Items: Lemming-ish Year End Roundup

What we did this morning :)It’s the second-to-last day of 2009 and the interwebs have been flooded with year-end blatherings since two weeks ago. So, being the lemming I am…

Here’s a roundup of some posts that have been essential to my year-end review and have given me a few good tools to get moving on my general outline/plan/something that’ll get me to where I want to go sometime in the next year or so.

Lisa Sonora Beam’s Strategic Planner – Goal Setting for Creatives: I’ve read her book, The Creative Entrepreneur*. I’ve taken both classes she offered this year – one on Visual Journaling and another on the Strategic Planner. I’m finally putting some of this stuff to work! The post I linked to is first in a series of 4. By the time this is published, she should have all 4 on her blog.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Starred Items: the Just Before Christmas Crazies Edition

Rubber Ducky Ornament 12-21-09 Dec212009_1265jpgThis year I’m hosting the in-laws for Christmas.

At last count there are going to be 20 of us.

Do you think a 21-lb turkey and a 5 pound ham will be enough?

My house is still a wreck.

And I haven’t finished my baking.

And Christmas Eve is TOMORROW.

I most definitely have a case of the Christmas Crazies.

Gotta chill & get the hubster as involved as possible. It IS his family…

So, on to the links…

That is, if you have the time to sit for a few and read in the midst of the Holiday crazy-making.

Fight for Your Ideas. Ideas are like children. I don’t have any just yet but I know that I will fight for them as my parents fought for me. So If you won’t fight for your baby ideas, who will? The author’s story proves this point.

Lead Us Somewhere New by Learning Something New. Just like the first few years of playing piano is all about the beat, the first few years in anything you do is going to be baby giraffe-ish. But pushing “past the beat” into flow is where the fun begins. Read this.

It’s Not the Recession, You Just Suck. This is one from April of 2009, but it’s still appropriate. Are you still whining about the economy? Why do you insist on giving others control over your ability to earn an income?

Does Goal-Setting Make You too Future-Focused? More perspectives on how traditional goal-setting is broken. With the rise of the creative (see: Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind* & Richard Florida’s Rise of the Creative Class*), traditional, linear goal-setting isn’t working. This post has a few perspectives from different bloggers about this.

And just because I like skulls and there will be no snow in Georgia at Christmastime: Snow Skull.

Hope everyone who’s celebrating has a wonderful Christmas!! :)

*These are Amazon Associate links. I get a miniscule bit of cash when you buy through these links. If you prefer not to use these, by all means, search the titles yourself on Amazon. I’m not gonna come after you with a hacksaw… Promise.

Creative Commons License photo credit: stevendepolo

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Starred Items: Clear as Mud Edition

Victor-VictoriaThat’s it.

I’m no longer going to be a slave to Google Reader.

Today I cleared out all 231 feeds, and I will slowly add 50 of them back.

Once I reach 50 the only way to add another is to delete one.

Gotta clear out the digital clutter! The stuff used to think as merely interesting and informative has slowly taken over my life.

So I’m going to rely on Twitter for links in addition to the small number of blogs I’ll be following.

If you find something you think deserves attention, leave a comment or contact me.

On to the Starred Items!

This poem sums up my reasoning for getting rid of my Google Reader feeds: Too Much Information.

Why you’re undervaluing yourself and how to stop: I don’t know if men have as much of a problem with undervaluing themselves – but I somehow got it into my head growing up that I’m not all that important (which actually pisses me off to no end), that what I have to offer can’t be all that good, and no one could possibly want what I have.

Lately, however I’m getting over it..

I know everyone & their sister at this time of year is writing goal-oriented and year-in-review posts. So I’m going to be a lemming today and follow suit with two I liked this week.

AONC’s Annual Review: a glimpse into Chris Guillebeau’s annual review process.

Strategic Planning for Creatives: I like Lisa Sonora Beam’s approach to planning. A lot of what she’s discussing here is covered in her book The Creative Entrepreneur, and she has an online class teaching you just how to use and make your own Strategic Planner.

And…

If you’ve been living under a rock, James Chartrand of Men with Pens wears women’s underpants. It’s horrible that in today’s world she had to do this, but as a single mom, she did what was best for her family.

And here’s hoping her/his story will make those who hire freelancers think twice about underpaying ‘em.

Creative Commons License photo credit: Tulane Public Relations

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Starred Items: The I’m Missing My Other Half Edition

normalThis week Starred Items comes to you from Sunny New Jersey… where I’m sitting on my parents’ couch wrapped in blankets and sweater.

And my other half is home, finishing up some recording and being generally bachelor-ish. He says he misses me but secretly I think he’s enjoying not having to shave…

I’m up here for two reasons. First, I’m not going to see my family for Christmas. We alternate holidays since our families live in different states.

Second, I went to Times Square to see Suzanne Evans & crew for the NYC stop of the Help More People Tour which was 9 hours of intense teaching & blitz networking.

I’m most definitely NOT a super-networking-gal, so I met a few people and got to know them a bit better. However, there was lots of great info passed on to everyone. My favorite quote of the day was

“Stop bitching and start a revolution.”

And I have an announcement to make. You know the thing that I’ve been hinting at?

It has a name and a site. Whee!

So go see my new thing at Thrive Creative Coaching, where I help creatives kick the snot out of their soul-sucking day jobs and create business that makes ‘em money doing what they love.

So, on to the linky goodness!

The Big Secret to Success? Run With What You Have: I’m a big fan of Dave Navarro (no, not the musician, but he’s not half bad…), so you’ll probably see lots of his stuff here.I’m a big fan of just getting stuff out there, even if it’s not 100% perfect. If you wait ’till the right moment or until everything’s absolutely perfect, you’ll never do anything.

So get your arse in gear and put yourself out there.

Kissing ass, quantum leaps, and the power of being unqualified: Danielle LaPorte is unqualified. But she doesn’t let that stop her.

Why do you?

Who do you think you aren’t? A bit more on doing it anyway. Acknowledge your limitations. Evaluate if they really are limiting you.

And do it anyway.

What other coaches & bloggers are saying about goal-setting: Cath Duncan’s continuation of exploring goal setting that makes sense. Good thoughts from others. My favorite is Ken Robert’s:

“Focus on Small Daily Action”

The Key to Consistent Creativity and Productivity: This is a long post. I have to read it again since I tend to skim (as most web-readers do), but I recommend you read it a couple times through to get the full benefit.

I particularly like the explanation of the task switching cost. It’s the time that you lose from disengaging from one task to engage in a different one.

So, what have you been reading lately that’s impacted you?

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Starred Items: The Non-Linear Edition

Trying a different format today. I ditched the unordered lists & bullets.

So my thing is shaping up. I finally named it, bought a domain, won a free site design, bought some cards from Moo.com and have my first client. Yeah, things are moving. And scary. And moving.

It has to do with artists & business. But not in a stuffy traditional way. Cuz really – the artists I know are so over traditional.

And in true-to-me form, I forgot to add a post about my studio sale. Oops. Well, here are the details:

15% off everything in my shop until it’s all gone (already marked down).
Free Shipping until December 15th to US & Canada for orders over $50.

Go here to shop.

So here’s what I’ve contemplating since last time:

In praise of women: magnificent, spacious, fiery witnesses: I need to meet this woman someday. And I need more girl-friends.

Why you owe it to the world to be your true awesome self: Anyone who secretly knows they’re awesome but refuses to show anyone just how awesome they are better read this. Stat.

Is Traditional Goal-Setting Broken?: Just when I was getting a grasp on how to actually set goals that make sense, Cath Duncan goes and messes it up for me.

Ok, not completely.

She makes some good points: mainly that the traditional “SMART” (simple, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-based) goal setting method is narrow, hyper-focused, too future-happiness oriented and so very left-brained. She doesn’t really offer a solution as she’s still mucking around with it herself, but I’m anxious to see what she has to say.

I am, however, inclined to agree that goal-setting tends to be very myopic and doesn’t allow for happiness now, the loads of new opportunities that pop up and it completely ignores the creative psyche (as in the shiny object syndrome… which sometimes leads to new and exciting possibilities).

How to make a living doing what you love: the enigmatic Keri Smith breaks it all down. “You have nothing to lose… The universe is waiting…”

Introduction to the Middle Way Method: a system somewhere between GTD’s “bottom-up” and Franklin Covey’s “top-down” system. Still way too much complexity for me (my eyes glazed over).

Organizational systems are sort of a mystery to my mostly-creative brain. I only got through school because I was told what was due when and given a calendar in most cases. I was such a genius then.

Now that I’m on my own and forced to organize myself (hah!) I’m a bit at a loss. I live by lists, but I always end up looking a little flaky (hello, double-booking…) I just stuck up a huge yearly dry-erase calendar up on my wall so we’ll see how that works.

I swear once I make enough money I’m going to hire minions (insert evil giggle here). But until then I have to figure out a system (eew…) that works.

So… any creatives out there want to explain how to merge time-management, organizational systems and goal-setting in a way that allows for the free-wheeling, right-brained, non-linear mind?

Creative Commons License photo credit: .susanne

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Starred Items: The not well edition

No273 13 Oct 2009 SneezeToday my body decided it was going to get sick, and right before Thanksgiving.

I’ve been downing boatloads of hot tea & soup but I still feel like I’ve been hit by a herd of elephants.

So this is going to be short & sweet… Hope everyone has a fantastic turkey day. If anyone knows a good recipe for turkey soup, I might need it.

And I’ve named my new biz and I’ll be unveiling a website after Thanksgiving.

Also, I’m clearing out my studio & want to get rid of old stock (i.e. journals). Stay tuned for a Black Friday-CyberMondayish post with a big sale, if I can get my arse well enough to sit and edit photos for a few hours…

So… go gorge yourself. Just don’t explode. That would be messy.

Creative Commons License photo credit: mcfarlandmo

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Starred Items: Skull Cats & More Goal Stuff

Matthew the skull lolipop evil angel catI’m all recovered from last week and back into my sorta-half-arsed routine.

There are two major things brewing for me these days. One is a book I’m starting to formulate, thanks to Barbara Sher’s Write/Speak Seminar I took a few weeks ago.

The other is a new business. I don’t have a name for it quite yet, but I’m helping artists and other creative types stuck in soul-sucking day jobs. I want to help them sort through their overwhelming mess of ideas and make money doing what they love.

I’m thinking of calling myself a Thriving Artist Coach.

If you’re a creative and need help, I’m looking for a few good artsy-types for a free session. Contact me and we’ll get something scheduled.

And now for the linky-love:

*Links for the moleskines are my Amazon Associate links.

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