Dancing Geek

Most self-help books come across as a little too ‘American’ for British tastes, and I admit that I do find myself having to filter out some text to find the core that I can relate to without feeling too ‘happy-clappy’.

There is one book that I have found which I think is absolutely excellent. It isn’t your standard self-help book (though it is still written by an American) but it is a wonderful collection of the stories of real people who have asked themselves the question “What should I do with my life?“. Nobody has a 3-step plan, just their experiences, shared alongside others’. The author (Po Bronson) manages to find some common threads, some points for consideration but this book has no answers, only questions. It is uncertain. These are the things that ring of true wisdom to me.

If you ever find yourself pondering this question, and who doesn’t, then get a copy of this fantabulous book.

Since my last post I have left my job, been invited back to work freelance (for more money) and then been offered other work by friends.

Obviously this is really fortunate, and I am totally pleased at the compliment of being offered work without seeking it out, however I recently realised that it has meant I was getting complacent, and not moving my plans forwards. So a quick re-visit to some favourite blogs and I’m feeling like I need to make a note of some of the best bits of advice for me. It’s list time again…

• Get some milestones together – even if I’m just gonna make something up. (This is a lot nicer sounding than ‘write a business plan’)
• Believe that even if I am not a god at something, I do have skills that other people will pay for (in areas that I want to break into, rather than areas I’m already established in).
• Do something (I’m prone to thinking stuff through for hours, but never actually following through).

Not a very long list, but it seems to capture what I need to focus on, and not focussing on too much at once seems kinda sensible to me.

My mantra for this week:

Doing something is better than doing nothing.
Just thinking is doing nothing.