I found this image on Pinterest. I immediately hung it up at my desk to read out loud any time I get scared as I begin this new adventure to merge my career with my personal values. It makes me feel strong. I hope it helps you, too.
Category: career
Leap: Thinking of Dustin Hoffman as I Head To SXSW 2012
“And just how long have we got the magic?” ~ Dustin Hoffman to his cinematographer regarding the last hour of daylight for filming
Today I’m off to SXSW 2012. I’m excited to be teaching and speaking about the benefits of yoga and meditation for the start-up / tech community. This will be my second year attending as a presenter, and I’m so honored to be a part of the celebration. While many people are sent on behalf of their companies, I’ll be there independently and ready to be inspired by anything and anyone who crosses my path. I feel so much excitement and anticipation of good, good things to come from this experience.
And all the while I’ll be thinking about Dustin Hoffman.
The New York Times featured this mammoth film figure last weekend as he hit the beginner button again. At 74, he is making his directorial debut with Quartet. Termed “a joyful movie about old age”, it explores how four once-famous opera singers have one last opening night by putting together a concert at their retirement home. Is Hoffman scared about starting over, taking this kind of turn in his career at 74?
“I do believe in luck myself,” he says, “but also in fate — it’s a duality. They had been working on ‘The Graduate’ for two years or something. They had a script and were casting, and I was at the end of the list. They had been through the Redfords and all those people. So in a sense, it has all been an accident.”
So if it’s all an accident any way, then what is there to lose? It’s like every win is just gravy and every loss is just another way to learn. And this is a wonderful reminder as I head for Austin and SXSW, a gathering of people who are taking on the role of beginner every day, exploring, experimenting, and with every action trying to make the world a little bit better than it was yesterday. This is the Tao of Hoffman in action – the magic is only going to be around for just so long and it’s our responsibility to make the best of it while we have it.
Leap: Go Against the Tide of Bland
“Why not go out on a limb? Isn’t that where the fruit is?” ~ Mark Twain
Brian has been counseling me now for several years about my confusion around people who phone it in, people who just take what life gives them, shrug their shoulders, and deal with it. Life happens to these people. I meet them, talk to them, and try to understand how they can get through life without ever really figuring out what this life is meant to be for them. Bland is a flavor that’s just fine for them. I think they’re missing out, and that we’re missing out on the benefit of their special gift. They think I try to hard, care too much, and set myself up for constant disappointment with my high standards.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
When I get to the end of my days, I want to look back and enjoy all of the interests I got to explore all over again. I want to appreciate the value that I brought to the world and feel the warm glow of knowing that many lives were made better because I was able to help them. That’s a tall order, and it’s not something that happens through low expectations. It happens for people who are willing to go out on a limb, push toward the edge, and do the work that lights them up with a sense of passion and purpose.
Life hands us a lot of garbage, a lot of opportunities to do things that just don’t matter. Put those aside. That’s not your work to do. Demand excellence. With a bit of creativity and a lot of courage to follow our convictions, there is so much good work to do in this world. And we have the ability to do get it done. Don’t settle.
Leap: Stop Digging Trenches
“The only explicit lesson I got from my father was when I was not doing very well in school, and he had a little chat with me and said, “You know, there are people who work for me who dig trenches, and there are people who are professionals, and if you keep going the way you’re going, you’re going to be digging trenches for the rest of your life.” So that shook me up.” ~ Harry West, C.E.O. of Continuum, an innovation design consulting firm
Harry West was featured in the New York Times on Sunday in their corner office section, a weekly features that attempts to get inside the mind of a top executive. Harry’s statement above hit me like a punch in the gut. My education is what saved me, what lifted me up out of the situation I grew up in, and made my studies, travel, and the life experiences I treasure possible. Though I the hard lessons from very lean times are always with me, on occasion I need to remind myself that I am now on much more solid ground. At one point, I had to dig trenches because I had to start somewhere and there were few options for me. That’s not the case anymore. I’ve done my fair share of trench digging and it’s time to put down the shovel.
I don’t mean this to say that I’m done working hard. I hope I’m never done working hard, and if it ever looks as if I’m letting up on my relentless pursuit to go further, I hope you’ll force me to snap out of it. At some point, we need to pick our heads up, take a look outside, and find the thing that lights us up. Life is so incredibly short. We’re here for just a handful of years and we can’t spend it all in the trench.
The point of digging trenches it not to perfect that craft – it’s to lay the ground work for something that homage to the light within you. Learn what it feels like to dig one, and dig one well, and then figure out why on Earth that trench was so important in the first place. There must be something you want to build that makes good use of it, that wraps up your experiences and makes meaning of them. No one else can do that work – only you. Get after it.
Leap: Shelter from the Storm Found at a Voice Over Class at Simple Studios
Wait a minute! Did I go to bed and wake up in September 2008?
This is the question I found myself thinking while at work yesterday. September 2008, 5 weeks after I joined my company, Lehman Brothers failed and the market went to hell. Several months later I was the only filled desk in an island of empty cubes. It was horrendous. I got through it, but it was no picnic and I’ve still got a few scars to prove I was there. You can’t see them, but pull up a chair any time and I’ll gladly tell you the story. (Not now, of course. But eventually.)
This week, I found myself in that same beat up situation. Fire drills from every direction. Some colleagues who have somehow forgotten that the first five letters of the phrase “humane treatment” are “human”, as in don’t pretend we have to chin up because that’s just how it goes. Some “leaders” telling us that we are the ones responsible for making this reorg work and not them. (Not my leader, mind you, who has been incredibly awesome in this whole ordeal!) It’s enough to make anyone go running after her sanity right out the front door.
And then last night I started my first voice over class. I left the office and thought to myself, “Really – now I need to go to class? I just want to go home and crawl under my bed.” I didn’t want to talk to anyone, see anyone, or smile at anyone. So, I got moving. I hopped out of the subway at 14th street and walked 15 blocks to Simple Studios, the class location.
As I approached I remembered that I had some of my yoga teacher training classes on the same floor of this building in 2010. When I began that training, I was also at a crossroads. I was also a bit blue and lost and confused. It turned out alright then. I channeled my energy into the training and Compass was born 5 months later. Maybe this history, just like my earlier feelings about September 2008, repeats itself, too.
The class was incredible. Sponsored by the PIT (People’s Improv Theater) and taught by the entertaining, honest, and incredibly smart Ed Lewis was a joy. The moment I walked into the building and headed for the elevator I felt a release, like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I left feeling lighter, happier, and more capable. I also think voice over work is going to be a blast!
My very dear pal, Jeff, is taking the adventure in voice right along with me. So here we go, folks! Another new adventure begins as I believe the curtain may come down on an adventure that’s gone on a tad too long. I’m not one to believe that when one door closes, a window opens. I believe that when a door closes, we have the ability, the choice, and the responsibility to rise up and carve our own way toward a brighter tomorrow.
I’m ready. As George Michael said, “I gotta have faith…”
Leap: Making a Big Career Choice Earlier Than I Expected
I’ve got some career choices to make in a shorter time frame than I planned.
The company I work for is going through some reorganization. Minimal reduction in headcount lots of reshuffling. This comes as no surprise; what surprised me was that I would have options. There are several different places that I could land in the organization. It may also be possible for me to opt-out, wish them well, and be on my way into the unknown. I’ll spend the next few weeks gathering information, assessing possibilities, and asking for a lot of advice from the smartest, most creative people I know.
In many ways, I wanted someone else to make the first move – to place me in a role and then have me decide if I wanted to stay or go. That’s how I had it mapped out in my head – node of decision tree and then just two branches depicting my choices. We should never underestimate life’s ability to surprise the hell out of us. I must be the first mover in this case.
Brian, my coach, and I talk a lot about the hero’s journey in which the hero chooses between different roads without any of them obviously being the better choice. It’s about choosing the road that is the best for us, at this moment, with the imperfect information we have. It comes down to trust. Trust in us.
I’m going over to my meditation cushion now, closing my eyes, breathing in, and breathing out. The answer will rise up if only I am ready to hear it. When it appears, you’ll be the first to know.
Leap: Heat Up the Iron and Carve Your Own Path (in Life and Book Publishing)
“Do not wait to strike until the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” ~ William B. Sprague via Alison Lewis
Over the past few months I’ve been sending out query letters and full book proposals to potential agents for a book I’m writing about yoga and personal finance. I love the project and have faith in the methods it uses because I used them to transform my finances. These are ideas born from experience, not theory.
While many agents have been encouraging of the project, they have all said it’s so different that they don’t have a proxy to point to that assures its success. In the often cut-throat world of modern publishing, they need to know every book they advocate for is a winner. Their reputation is on the line and risk-taking is rare these day in the hallowed halls of books.
I have yet to feel badly about any of these rejections; I feel badly for agents and traditional publishers. They’re part of an industry of tied hands, locked hearts, and icy cold eyes fixed on P&L statements. It’s sad and they’re missing a lot of boats. I’m sure they know this, and feel powerless to do anything about it.
So now I’m at a cross-roads trying to decide if it’s worth it to continue down the traditional book publishing path for my project or carve one of my own through self-publishing and platform building. There’s the prestige of having a traditional book publisher, but also the loss of control. The publisher also makes the lion’s share of the profit from the book, even though the author is doing just as much work, if not more, to market the book.Teh list of pros and cons is endless; even though I’m an avid list maker, I’m getting tired of this analysis.
A recent note from a high-powered agent began to tip the scales toward self-publishing. It began:
“A book is like an iceberg: Writing is 10%; marketing is 90%. ~ Chicken Soup coauthor Jack Canfield
Christa,
Many thanks for writing about your excellent idea for a book. Out of necessity, our goal is to sell books to New York houses, and they want writers with a platform and a strong promotion plan. So the challenge is to maximize the value of your book before you sell it. Publishers aren’t buying promise, they’re buying proof. So before we can help you with the 10%, we need to know how much you can help your publisher with the 90%. Because we can usually tell from a platform and a plan if we can help a writer, that’s where we like to start.”
That 10% / 90% ratio sticks in my craw a bit. However, this agent went on to give me a lot of wonderful advice and some ideas of how to develop a solid book plan and platform. I did find it humorous that he quoted Jack Canfield, an author whose initial book was rejected by publishers 123 times and began a series that now boasts 200 titles and 112 million copies in print in over 40 languages. Jack is also an advocate for the advantages of self-publishing and the value of small presses. (Learn more about Jack’s writing journey and publishing philosophy here. To read tales of 50 rejected writers who went on to write treasured works, click here.)
When making decisions like this, I examine my past experiences. I’m most proud of the roads I built myself. They’re exhausting, though they’ve always been worth it. During the times that I took a path prescribed by others, I found a bit more sleep, a lot less joy, and a lack of inspiration. I’m a person meant to carve my own canyon through the mountain, to fire up the iron myself rather than waiting for someone else to do it – that’s just how I roll.
Leap: Sometimes Your Future Chooses You
Next week is going to prove to be an interesting week around the office. There are rumors flying about changes in staff, strategy, and priorities. I’ve heard so many at this point that they’ve all cancelled one another out. Only one thing is for certain – the way it is now is not the way it will be going forward. But isn’t that always true? Change is part of life, every piece of it.
Not even a year into this work toward my new year’s resolution, and it may come to be bear without me doing much of anything. We don’t always get to choose what happens to us, but we always have the opportunity to choose what we do about it. Sometimes we leap on our own, and sometimes we’re pushed into taking the leap. We don’t always see the push coming, and many times there’s little we can do to stop it. The question is will be commit to this new trajectory being laid out for us or will we try to cling to the ledge of a cliff we don’t really want but feels familiar?
My answer in one word: Geronimo!
Leap: Finding Meaning in Experiences That Are Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
“And if that’s all you learned from 9/11, if that’s all you remembered, that: My God, you could extinguish life so suddenly, so unexpectedly, and it could happen to me, and therefore I should think harder about the way I spend my life instead of just wasting it. Now, it’s not going to teach you what to do with your life, but it will teach you to do with your life, and to do it more and quicker and better. And that can be extremely valuable.” ~ Mario Cuomo
Mario Cuomo made this statement in the PBS documentary about the history of New York City. It rang powerfully in my ears when I recently went to see the movie Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. The movie centers on a family that is forever changed by the events of 9/11. And before you go thinking, “Oh great, another 9/11 movie” like I did, watch the trailer. The performances are mesmerizing. You will want to look away and you won’t be able to. You’ll want to go back home to your life as usual, and you won’t be able to shake the feeling that you need to live the life you want. Today and every day after.
I recently had drinks with a friend of mine who recently got a new job. I asked her how it was going and she replied, “It’s called ‘work’ for a reason.” That gave me pause and then made me feel very, very sad. Was I asking too much of my career? Could a job ever be something we jump out of bed for or was that the stuff of Hollywood and daydreams? This thought nagged at me. Was I a fool to believe in a better way to work? This question refused to go away for days, and then I saw Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, and then I had my answer. I stopped feeling sad for myself. Instead, I felt sad for my friend.
Work has to be more than work as we know it. Mario Cuomo is so damn brilliant and wise – YES, we have to do with our life. Anything less than that is just a waste. It must be meaningful, and not just in bits and pieces and once-in-a-whiles, but always. Every, single, day.
And this is just more fuel for the fire in my belly to work on Compass Yoga full-time. Here’s to people who want to jump up out of bed thankful for one more day, sink their teeth into life, and refuse to accept anything less. You are the rainmakers that this world needs and wants!
Leap: You’ll Find Opportunity Everywhere. Now, Plan.
Since formally announcing my New Year’s Resolution to go my own way in my career this year, I’ve been spotting new opportunities everywhere. It’s as if I’m manufacturing rocks to turn over just to have some place to stash all of the possibilities. The board members of Compass Yoga tease me sometimes about my unending enthusiasm and my belief that yes, I can heal the world, and so can everyone else. Our future really is T.B.D. and it really is up to us.
Last week, I met with a few of the board members and we determined that with the legal set-up work behind us, we now need to get cracking on a solid strategic plan. I fight structure a bit, but I know how necessary it is to make the best use of creative energy. Being the President of a board is a brand new role for me, as is making the shift to work for myself. In the process, I’m seeking out lots of advice and doing a lot of research, which I love.
Here are 2 resources from my research that I thought you would find helpful if you’re doing some planning of your own:
1.) I came across a 10-step guide from the World Bank that details the strategic planning process for a nonprofit from beginning to end. (If you click the link, it will automatically download the PDF to your computer.) Even if you’re not starting a strategic planning process for a nonprofit, this document is filled with lots of wonderful advice about the act of planning in general.
2.) Also, over the holidays I read Steve Newcomb’s latest essay, The Art of War: A Warrior’s Guide to Raising Money in the Battlefield of the Silicon Valley. I’m not raising money in Silicon Valley (yet!) but this guide really helped me understand the value of a plan of attack and a few approaches that will be very valuable as the board and I undertake this planning process.
Happy planning, plotting, and acting!
Christa Avampato 