Category: choices

choices, writing

Inspired: Writing teaches us to live a meaningful life

Christa Avampato
The Wizard of Oz

To write a compelling story, the characters must want something that matters to them in every scene. If that line isn’t art reflecting life, I don’t know what is. Why are any of us doing anything if we don’t know why we’re doing it? We wouldn’t follow (nor write) a story if the characters weren’t clear on their deepest desire, so why would we live our lives that way? Dorothy didn’t go to Oz because she thought it might be a nice walk. Alice didn’t traipse through Wonderland because she was bored. Characters go in search of something that’s meaningful. And so should we.

choices, decision-making, time

Inspired: Pay attention to your direction, not your speed

Christa Avampato
I control my direction; the speed is none of my business
I control my direction; the speed is none of my business

Part of the reason I left New York was to have the freedom to say “no”. “No” to things I don’t want to do. “No” to following paths that I know aren’t right for me. “No” to anything that doesn’t make me jump up and down saying, “Hell yes!” I can control my direction; the speed at which I travel is a matter of timing and that timing is none of my business. I’m just grateful to be able to give my dreams the chance to unfold.

child, children, choices, learning, story, technology

Inspired: Proof – stories and technology are better than cookies

Christa Avampato
from reallykidfriendly.com
from reallykidfriendly.com

My niece, Lorelei, had a choice for her after dinner treat: a cookie or playing on my iPad with an app that helps her write stories. She chose to write stories. “Stories are good for me and sugar is bad for me so I’m choosing stories.” A girl after my own heart (not that I have anything against cookies!) Some people may bemoan technology and kids’ obsession with it. I celebrate it. For my nieces, it opens up whole worlds for them and enables them, at a very young age, to tell their own stories. Kid, if you have a story you need to tell, you can use my iPad anytime you want.

career, choices, commitment, determination, dreams, work

Inspired: They only work we have to do

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

Yesterday I was offered the largest consulting contract of my career. I turned it down because it’s not the work I want to do anymore. Was that the right choice? Definitely. Did it hurt to let it go? Absolutely. I was referred by a former client to organize the annual meeting of a private equity firm. I could have played that role and done the work with no problem, but I’m committed to writing full-time and that gig would take me away from my dream. This is the tough work of commitment, the work no one tells us about. Focus and commitment are not a one and done deal. They requirement constant vigilance; temptation to veer off-course is everywhere. The opportunities you don’t take will be scooped up by other people who want and need them. Do your work. Walk your road.

choices, courage, creative process, decision-making

Inspired: Just go for it

Christa Avampato

My beautiful and intensely wise yogi friend, Sara Kleinsmith, sent this to me as I was telling her about my decision to write full-time and to make whatever life adjustments I need to make the writing life a reality. In response, she sent me this quote. And I just love it. And her. And all the people who don’t give a damn about the odds but instead care deeply about happiness and the courage to create. Just go for it with everything you’ve got. We make our own odds. (And if you find yourself in Austin, Texas, then you must go to Sara’s yoga classes. She’s magical.)

art, choices, creativity, decision-making, home, writer, writing

Inspired: Cities—other than New York—that are good for writers

Christa Avampato

My friends are leaving New York City by the truckload. Some by choice and some because financially they had no choice. And I get it. This city can chew you up, spit you out, and then look at you like you’re the crazy one for wanting to be treated better. New York City is a crotchety old man.

Though like so many crotchety old men, it is an incredible teacher and good lord has it taught me. I grew up in the dirt of rural America (to this day there is a tractor crossing sign across from my childhood home) but I came of age in New York City. This great gorgeous place changed me and changed my life for the better. I showed me what matters. On these streets I figured out what matters to me and why. It gave me passion and heart and confidence. It gave me and put me through fire (literally and figuratively) but I emerged from the other side polished and transformed in ways I never imagined. New York City showed me what was possible by showing me my potential and daring me to take it.

Like so many of my friends, I am beginning to hear the exit music, or at least the exit music to this New York chapter of my life. And let’s be clear, I want to stay in New York. I fiercely love this city and its people and myself among them. There’s a part of me that will always be Christa in New York. Always. But, as life has shown me so many times before, what I want and what I need are often two very different things. And what I need now, in this moment, may be a change of scene. At least for a little while. At least for right now. Even Joan Didion, a towering figure in the literary world who famously penned her essay “Goodbye to All That” when she left New York for LA, eventually found her way back to Gotham. But she did need to take that journey. She needed to go away to come home again.

There’s a lot of New York in New York, and it may be time for more of us to spread our New York-ness to other places that need inspiration and courage to follow a less traveled, less conventional path. This world can’t stay on its current path of self-destruction and quiet desperation. We have to carve a better way forward.

New York doesn’t need another writer like me, but plenty of other places do. Friends, there’s a lot of blank canvas out there, a lot of stories that need telling, and they’re not coming to us. We have to go to them. We have to get out on the road, discover them, and then get it all down as faithfully and as honestly as we can.

If you’re a writer, or someone who likes to hang around with writers and other creatives, then New York City isn’t your only option to call home. Heck, it’s not even your best option. I recently found two lists (backed up by plenty of data) of cities in the U.S. that are great for writers and New York City isn’t anywhere on them:

This one lists: St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Orlando, Minneapolis, Buffalo, Denver, Seattle, and San Francisco.

Another lists: Chicago, Charleston, Austin, Bellingham, Asheville, Washington, D.C., St. Paul, Seattle, Great Barrington, New Orleans, Miami, both Portlands, Ann Arbor, Savannah, Pittsburgh, Jersey City, Iowa City, Portsmouth, and Cambridge.

I have no idea (yet) if any of these cities are right for me. Maybe you don’t either. What they do reveal is that we have options. We always have options. Now, it’s about choices.

action, adventure, career, choices, decision-making, determination, future, time, work

Inspired: Bet on yourself

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

Sometimes the universe tests your commitment before it decides to back you. It’ll bet on you only after you bet on yourself.

I had just finished a call with my friend, Sheldon, about my decision to carve my own career path when an email popped into my inbox. The startup that offered me a job that I declined emailed me with a new offer that is exactly the role I asked for during the interview process. After I turned down the previous offer, I made the decision to build my own dreams rather build someone else’s. This offer tested my resolve. Without batting an eye, I thanked the startup and told them about my choice to double down on my own ideas and projects. The gut always knows and for the first time, I listened to it unequivocally.

Clarity about our own abilities and the value of our time radically simplifies our decision process. I know the road ahead of me will be rocky. There will be bumps, bangs, and bruises, and I will learn from every single one of them. I’ll be stronger, braver, and more capable for taking this path. I know that my future is safest in my own two hands. Yours is, too. Believe it. Your time is finite; your potential isn’t. Bet on you.

action, change, choices

Inspired: A new direction requires a new routine

Christa Avampato

Just do itI head back to New York City soon to begin a new chapter of my career. A new direction requires a new routine. Here are the steps I’m taking:
– More focus on my personal projects as I transition away from consulting
– Much earlier to bed and much earlier to rise: target wake up time is 5am
– In general, I plan to keep myself in a much more structured routine of working hours with very specific goals and milestones that must be hit each day. And I have to schedule my downtime to make sure I take it for my creativity’s sake. Otherwise, I’m likely to work until I drop without batting an eye!
– More cardio exercise and strength training: hello, running shoes and free weights
– Healthier eating and cooking: whole, organic, and seasonal. I’ll share the photos and recipes out of my kitchen.

Are you starting a new routine? I’d love to hear your plans and support you along the way!

career, choices, dreams, work

Inspired: Listen closely. You already know the answer.

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

I wrote the draft of the blog post below over a week before I received an offer from the company I reference. My intuition knew the answer to the offer before I even got it. And I listened. Lesson learned – the gut knows. And so do our dreams.

“I have an amazing career opportunity in front of me: a dream job at a well-funded tech startup with a lot of great people in a city I enjoy that focuses on pet health. Rather, it could look amazing if I really dress it up, see it as a stepping stone only, and believe that within the mess there is opportunity. I’ve taken this action and perspective before, and I found that within the mess lies more mess.

Some people at this startup call it “nimble” and put down larger companies (like the ones I’ve worked for and with) for being “rigid” because the startup is disorganized, lacks charismatic leadership, and doesn’t have an inspiring vision. There’s a lot of finger-pointing between the tech and business teams, and their response to key questions on pricing and go-to-market strategy is “I don’t know. That decision was made before I got here.” In other words, they don’t understand what they’re selling, how it’s priced, or how / why people are going to buy it.

In a senior position, I could drive change and bring order to the chaos. I’ll likely be offered a mid-tier role charged with cleaning up a mess that is growing exponentially. With two months before launch, they still don’t agree on requirements, have no marketing plan, and no customer experience or servicing set-up. Their thought process is that the pet industry is huge (and at $50 billion annually, they’re right) and that if they build it, people will buy it. The problem is no one there has any idea what “it” actually is.

I had been tossing around all this info in my mind, trying to keep a positive frame of mind, and wrestling through ways I could make this work. Then I had a dream that my main contact there quit, moved to San Francisco because all of her friends lived there, and we ended the conversation with “goodbye and let’s stay in touch.” I already know my answer to the offer; this isn’t a dream job. It’s a nightmare dressed up like a dream. So I will politely and professionally decline the role. The paycheck would have been nice, but the headache would have been exhausting from beginning to end. I already have my dream job. I work for me on projects I love and care about. Now I have to get to work on turning those dreams into a healthy paycheck so I can invest in more dreams. That’s the job I want, and have.”

career, choices, dreams, time

Inspired: Don’t Waste Your Time

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

A young man wasn’t sure what the next step in his career should be. He went to his mentor to get advice and the mentor said only this, “If you only have a year left of your life to work, what work would you choose to do?” The young man quit his job the next day, moved, and started a new career doing exactly what he wanted to do. Not what others thought he should do, not what he thought he should do. He did what he wanted, what spoke to the very deepest part of his heart. If what you’re doing right now doesn’t make the fibers of your being sing, if you aren’t at least steadily working toward that place, you’re wasting your time. And that’s not something you can afford. Make a change. Take this man’s mentor as your own. Do the work you were meant to do.