I want to work with Seth Godin

Stop, you're on a roll

If your career was on a roll, would you take a 3 month career break? Would you even take a break?

Some of the most successful business people in the blogosphere have gone years without taking a holiday. That's fine, but is it right for you?

If you want to be the King of Business then holidays might be out the window. If you want to work for 3 years then sail around the world for a year, you won't be a big-time CEO.

Success is distracting. If your career (one element of your strategy) gets going you become tempted to apply for a management job, move into the city to cut the commute and skip a holiday to get the deal done.

Is that what you really want?

Frog Soup

The news is a repetitive mix of wars, oil, scandals and celebrity gossip. Yet every story affects the rest of your life. The trick is figuring out which stories are more important than others.

News is cumulative, 100 little story might add to the downfall of your career. You need to figure out which do and to what extent.

Once a month pick up a copy of the Economist and spend an hour or two reflecting on the world. How is the news affecting the industry you’re in? How is your company responding to the oil crisis and food price rises? Are they responding at all? Will that put your career at risk?

Don’t blame management if your get laid off, blame yourself. If you knew the state of the world you should’ve quit making SUV’s years ago and taken a job at a hybrid production plant. Now you’re in a massive group of similarly skilled people chasing the same jobs. Oh dear.

Do you know how to make frog soup? You put a frog in a saucepan of cold water and heat it slowly until it boils. Don’t be a frog. If the water starts to feel a bit hot, it’s time to jump out.

What to do about the graduate money delusion

The conversation yesterday went like this:

Lara – “It was a good job, I loved the people but no, I just want more than £16k”
Me – “How much do you want?”
Lara – “If it was in Cheltenham £20k, if I had to move, then £24k”
Me – “Why £24k?”
Lara – “because I’ll have to move”
Me – “but why £24k?”
Lara – “I’d rather stay here”

£24k was a number she had plucked from thin air simply because it felt right to her.

She had no idea about the cost of living in other towns/cities, or whether she needed a car or how much extra she would need to support her chosen lifestyle if she moved. Her ‘asking price’ reflects what her friends are asking for plus her own ego-premium.

This money delusion is a graduate epidemic. Salary is a terrible way to determine how you will spend 40 hours a week for the forseeable future.

Instead, write down a list of five most important to you when looking for a job; e.g. salary, location, type of work, career prospects and colleagues. On the great job hunt give each a mark out of 5. Add them up and accept the job with the highest score.

Show up like Woody Allen

Woody Allen attributes 80% of success to showing up. He’s right, but showing up is misleading.

Showing up can mean turning up for the audition. It really means practicing your lines, hitting the gym months in advance and making sure you’re everything the director could want. This takes effort, this is showing up.

Ten people might turn up for the interview, but only two will show up. Only two who have really prepared for the interview, studied the website and researched the industry. Only two know the names and jobs of those most likely to interview them. They know if the interviewer went to the same University as them. They have polished their shoes, checked for dandruff. These are the two who have shown up.

Most people, given the choice, won’t make that sales call. Those that do are instantly in the rare few who are showing up. Even better, those who have narrowed their pinpoint focus, practiced their pitch and maybe even taken a coaching course on sales, they are showing up.

No matter how badly you perform in the audition, the job interview, or on the sales call, you’re still showing up to be a top candidate. In short, if you show up, you’re putting yourself in with a fair chance of success.

Are you worried about your high school reunion?

Someone will have a better job than you.

Someone will have a more attractive spouse than you.

Someone will have a better home than you.

Someone will be more famous than you.

So what?

Measuring yourself against others is dumb. It creates tension, rivalry and you might end up chasing someone else’s goals just to beat him.

The only thing you should measure yourself against are your own objectives. Are you where you want to be in life? Are you as far along in your strategy as you should be?

The moment you begin comparing yourself against others, you have missed the point of having a dream.

My Philosophy

There have been plenty of newcomers to this blog over the last month, so this is a re-welcome post to everyone. I’m going to explain my thesis a little.

I believe in objectives and strategy

I believe in having a dream, and a strategy to achieve it. Twenty years from now I would love to be writing full-time and giving talks. I especially want to do that on the topic of business. So I want to learn from the best. The best at the moment is probably Seth Godin. So I Want To Work With Seth Godin.

But, I’m not the only one. Hundreds of others do as well. He’s a widely respected marketing author. We’re the lucky ones, this summer we can work with him in a loose fashion. But I want more than that.

This blog isn’t really about Seth Godin. It’s a title that grew on me and now lives it’s purpose. This blog is about having a career objective, and a strategy to achieve it. This blog is here to document my own progress, my own strategy to work with Seth Godin (on the way to my dream career) and my reflections on having a career strategy.

I’m glad you can join me.

Location, Location, Collaboration, Collaboration

You’re going to live anywhere right? Work from the beach balcony or coffee house? Your company doesn't need an office. Your employees will be scattered around the globe, working together on online projects.

I’ve learnt something important today. Living in UK is damned useful for online collaboration. You can work with people in Hawaii, Australia, Europe and the USA as the day passes. You are the focal point that people pass their work on to when they go to sleep, and you can work with the other half of the globe wakes up.

Where you live really does affect how much you can contribute.

Think about that.

The money -vs- job trade off

Dave does sales in Hong Kong, he earns about £60,000 ($120,000) per year. He graduated last summer. Dave hates his soul-crushing job and finance-orientated lifestyle. But the money is great.

Vicky works on a country farm in West Sussex. She earns about £10,500 ($21,000) per year. She graduated last summer too. Vicky loves her job, she gets to ride horses most days. But the money is terrible.

How much money would it take for you to do the worst possible job?

How little money would you accept to do the job of your dreams?

If you base your career on a scale like this, I suggest you stop.

When do you drop out?

When do you stop trying to be better?

When do you stop trying to earn more money, get another promotion, live in a bigger house?

When do you decide to settle for what you have?

Never!

You can always have a more peaceful life,

You can always be a better parent, brother, granddad.

You can always learn and teach more.

You can always be healthier.

Having goals is important, it gives you energy. When you begin getting close to your goals, you need to adapt them. You need to raise the bar, or find a different track.

The cost of your part-time job

Every second you spend working behind a bar, stacking shelves or handing out flyers are seconds you’re never going to get back. Spend them wisely. You need the money, sure, but do you know the true cost?

Six hours spent behind a bar, are six hours you can’t spend working on your designs and posting them on your blog.

They are six hours you can’t spend inviting an employee at a company you admire to coffee.

They are six hours you could have spent improving your career opportunities, and getting out of part-time work.