technique

Inconvenience Yourself!

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Are you ready to face the challenges for your career?  For your life's dream?  Are you ready to walk through the metaphorical obstacle course of your perfect job (unless it's not metaphorical)?

Are you sure you're ready?

If you want to face down the challenges of following your profan/progeek/protaku dream job, I recommend practicing dealing with inconvenience by inconveniencing yourself.

The more you work to deal with challenges on your own terms, the more you test and push your limits, the more you'll be able to deal with them when your career throws them right in your face.

Next time you're working to organize your den, go all the way and take that extra hour to really deal with that pile of papers.  Face the boredom and you'll develop discipline.

Next time you've got to go talk to an annoying salesperson to get that new piece of furniture, face it down.  It'll help you deal with challenging co-workers and clients.

Next time you've got to finish that piece of fanart, try out that new coloring technique even if it takes longer or risks failure.  It'll get you used to building new skills even in adverse situations.

Go on.  Inconvenience yourself.  It'll prepare you for the challenges you'll face in the future.

– Steven Savage

A Daily Question For Yourself.

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Every day, ask yourself a question: What have you done do advance living your dreams.

It's OK to say nothing.  We have days like that.  We have plenty of days like that.  It happens.

Asking the question is what's important, because of the answers you get.  If your answer is constantly "nothing" then you realize that you have a problem.

Or perhaps you find you answer too erratically, that you're not working towards your goals consistently.

Or perhaps you answer includes period where you burn yourself out reaching for your dreams, and it's not good for you.

The important thing?  It's that you ask it daily to see what kind of answer you give – and then adjust accordingly.

– Steven Savage

Weekly Challenge: Carry Out One Inspiration

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Last week we discussed inspiring someone.  But inspiration can't do much unless you carry it out.

It's easy to get inspired, but too often it fades away in time.  We forget, we get busy, or worse we get lazy.

Following up on inspiration is a habit – and a skill – that has to be developed, maintained, and improved.  You have to make an effort, often a conscious one, to develop the ability to make ideas real.

So your goal this week is to take one piece of inspiration, either one you had recently or one you get this week – and make it real.

Write a column or a blog post.  Do that waiting piece of art.  Research that college you considered going to.  Something, anything, pick one thing this week that you're inspired to do and go and do it.

Come to think of it, maybe you could make a habit of this . . .

– Steven Savage