Lisa Arie’s Now What Moment occurred while walking down a street in New York and coming face to face with an emptiness she felt despite having a successful career. “This can’t be it,” she said to herself. Following an inexplicable pull toward horses, Lisa decided to take a riding lesson right there in Manhattan. As she describes in today’s article and video clip, at first Lisa wasn’t sure whether her interest in horses was just a fluke, yet ultimately she opened Vista Caballo, a self-directed discovery center in Colorado. Reflecting on how she’s come to view listening to your instincts as a skill, Lisa encourages others to keep experimenting with it. “Listen to your instincts and then take a chance and follow them. Start small until you build or rebuild your trust in them.”
Inspiration to Follow Your Blueprint
Stunned But Thankful
“I was stunned – but thankful.” That’s how Carolyn Starks describes her reaction to losing her job. It sums up how a lot of people feel after being laid off if they are honest with themselves. Underneath the shock and alongside the fear, there is a part of you that knows it is time for something different. What can get in the way of initiating a change on your own is attachment to what we refer to in Now What?® as the “package”. As Carolyn puts it, “… I had been toying with the idea of leaving for two years, but kept thinking: you just don’t leave the Chicago Tribune.” It was once she embraced what was happening and asked “What now?” that a creative idea for a business dawned on her.
What You Can Do With Your Brain and Enthusiasm
The birth of a second child. The hospitalization of an elderly parent. Being offered a severance package. Unfulfilling work and a pervasive feeling of boredom. What led up to the decision points for these women varies yet each of them ultimately chose life changing new jobs. In three cases, glimmers of their interests were present in childhood and in the other instance the inspiration came from noticing what she liked to watch on TV.
Read on to learn more about how the job changes these women chose impacted their lives. Patricia Kline, who went from marketing executive to baker, sums it up this way: “… you discover that your identity isn’t made up of material things — it’s about what you can do with your brain and enthusiasm”.
Signs, Seeds, & Rewards
Here Debra Kavalos-Delaney, the owner of MemorableEntertaining.com, reflects on her journey from a 32-year corporate career to starting a business. Debra acknowledges that it took her a long time to “listen” to the signs pointing toward a major career change but that eventually she had a “greater fear of the consequences” of not following her dream. Now looking back at her childhood, Debra can see the seeds that produced her passion for entertaining. Regarding the challenges of being a business owner, Debra counts the process of learning as one of the biggest rewards in itself.
You Have Options
by Ginny Kravitz, Deputy Editor
More Than You Think
“Being wealthy is not about having money. It’s about having options.” That’s what Chris Rock told Oprah Winfrey in a recent interview. Commenting on his foray into live theatre, Chris framed it as part of his overall desire to try new things. “I should take complete advantage of the buffet that life is.” Speaking passionately he explained why it’s important to try new things, because then at least you will know: “You don’t like it because you tried it, not because you dismissed it.”
You might be thinking: Oh sure, Chris can say that because he has money. Maybe being rich does give him more options, yet how often does the average person dismiss ideas without fully considering them? Are we really low on options or just afraid of pursuing the option we want most? Could it be that we’re wealthier than we realize?
Can You See Them?
You typically have more options than you can see at first glance. There are several reasons for this; check to see if any of them are clouding your view of the future or even your current situation:
You think the option is not realistic. — If this is the case, before dismissing it out of hand ask yourself what about that particular option is appealing to you. There may be information in your answer that yields yet another alternative which is feasible or that expands your thinking about what is possible.
You don’t want to make the wrong choice, be embarrassed, or fail. — What’s required here is to place a greater value on “having tried” than on “failing”. Look for role models who embody this philosophy and give yourself permission to be more adventurous than you’ve been in the past. Briefly visit “the worst thing that could happen” and see if you’d be willing to handle it. That’s what worked for Julia, a client who suffered from excessive worry about making the wrong choice. Julia realized that changing her mind down the road would only be judged a failure if she —and only she— interpreted it that way.
You are afraid that what you want will require too much sacrifice. — It’s perfectly legitimate to decide that you do not want to pay the price associated with a certain option. Just be clear on two things first: 1) What might you be sacrificing already? 2) What would make the anticipated sacrifice worth it to you? Also keep in mind that sometimes choices appear to be mutually exclusive and yet are not in actuality; there may be a way to bridge your ideas without having to make an all or nothing decision. (More on this here)
There are too many options and they feel overwhelming. — This can be a good problem and one you can manage by first framing it that way. Then consider a few at a time vs. all the options at once. Write down your thoughts, note your feelings, and enlist someone to help you in sorting through your ideas. Which option piques your curiosity the most? Explore that one first.
What Are You Eyeing On The Buffet?
These questions often populate desk plaques and calendars and deserve consideration despite their familiarity: What would
you attempt if you knew you wouldn’t fail? What would you try if money and time were not an issue?
This Week’s Call to Action:
- Is there something on “the buffet of life” that you’d like to try, perhaps just for fun? Go do it.
- If you’re having a hard time seeing any options regarding a current situation you want to change or problem you need to solve, get someone to help you generate ideas.
- If there is a deeper or specific option that keeps calling you, find the courage and make a plan.
You are wealthier than you know. You have options.
Time to Spring Clean
We love the idea of spring cleaning your career and these suggestions apply whether you’re in active job search mode or just want to be proactive.