Maverick
Are you in a life-purpose or "career" funk? A couple of weeks ago I was having lunch with a woman who for the past 2 years has been looking for steady work. She has a developed a great sense of how to ask the right questions, on a DAILY basis, to avoid the "funk" and to better focus on what it is she wants even while having to grind out a living with temporary work. Shame on my "funk". Then I re-read this: "The Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything" by Tony Schwartz, published in the Harvard Business Review last August, 2010. He is the author of The Way We're Working Isn't Working.
Although I shy away from "prescriptions" this resonated with my attraction to fitness and the creative process: it is a daily practice and way of being. Read on and tell us what is your deliberate habit for building capacity and getting out of the "funk" mode.
I choose "maverick" for this blog post because it is time for change but also to reflect. Since I last spoke at Soul at Work in June of 2007, Michelle asked me to write up something about where I am today in my work.
As the New Year approaches, I find myself in a situation that has caused me to once again take my own advice and stop...take time...and reflect. I have had to ask myself some deliberated and soul searching questions suchas:
Have I been in this situation before? What was the past outcome? What am I really afraid of? What emotions are the strongest and what is the root of those feelings...and what resources are available to me based on my past experiences and present contacts?
On Monday, December 15, 2008 I was notified that the foundation which supports the Providence Reentry Initiative's work and my position; is closing its doors for good in January 2009 and that they would no longer be honoring any grants; including our 3 year grant to support this work and my position; due to the Bernard Madoff PONZI scam. Over the last 2 years I have been co-chairing and then consulting with the City of Providence to create a citywide plan for people returning from prison...
