This Concept Blew My Mind

Time to read: This one blew my mind. So, 5 seconds to read. A day or two to recover from your blown mind.

The future creates your present (not your past). You have infinite possible futures. Are you currently aligned with the one you want?

And if you're not, what do you need to change to get aligned?

Love to you,

Christina

From Career Despair to Wild Success

Time to read: 1.25 minutes

Katie's portrait of my essential worker

Photographer, Katie Howie, watched the bottom drop out of her portrait business during the stay-at-home order. As she watched her life's work disappear overnight, she sank into depression and worry. She told me, "I was worried out of my mind for everyone and everything. I cried daily... Things felt bleak."

Katie is a former neighbor and our family's beloved photographer. In March, she texted me to ask if I knew any essential workers. She had started a project called, "By a Thread: Pandemic Portraits" to document essential workers at their homes. Turns out, I did know an essential worker. My 15-year-old son works as a cashier in a grocery store.

Katie said she didn't want to do what other portrait photographers were doing so she waited. She said, "For about a month, I waited for inspiration. And then, it was like lightning. My inspiration came so fast it was crazy."

Since she started By a Thread, Katie has done 60 profiles and unexpectedly and amazingly, her project is featured in Minnesota Monthly's July/August issue. (See the article here.) She's considering public shows and a book. The project (and Katie's career) has taken on a life of its own.

I asked for Katie's permission to share this story with you, because it's a story of how despair led to creativity. How waiting and listening led to inspiration, and how a career took off without a plan.

I heard from some of you that you're having a hard time connecting to the meaning of what you do. Katie is the perfect example of how finding your purpose works.

She sat with her despair. She allowed her personal pain and worry to move her and inspire her to act. She started something with no idea where it would lead. She leaned into her unique gifts and talents. She took the next step and the next and now By a Thread has a huge impact.

The world of work is challenging right now. And, the creative possibilities are endless.

What might become true for you with a little waiting, listening and leaning into your unique gifts and talents?

With love,

Christina

P.S. Would it be fun to find some inspiration of your own this summer? The Rebels at Home Challenge is 8 days of short (3 minutes) video challenges designed to inspire and uplift you so you can relieve stress and create new opportunities in this strange and challenging situation. Sign up here to receive Day 1.

Three Steps to a Powerful 2020 Plan

Time to read: 1 little minute

Happy 2nd week of 2020 Rebels!

It takes a few weeks, maybe even 4-6 weeks to clean out the debris from 2019, wake up from the holidays, build your momentum, and be ready to set goals and intentions.

I’m coaching at a spa in Mexico this week. (I know. Someone’s gotta live this hard life. In a future newsletter, I’ll tell you how to create things like coaching at a spa in Mexico. It’s a great story.)

I had a blast planning 2020 on the flight. If you had asked me to plan 2020 two weeks ago, I would have poked you in the eye and gone back to bed.

Here are three tips for setting your 2020 plans:

1. Wait until you are energetically ready to plan 2020. If it doesn’t feel easy, you are not ready. Don’t force it. Forcing just brings the energy of striving and pushing into your year. Bring the energy of ease and flow instead.
2. Be disciplined about reflecting on 2019 and creating a plan. When the ideas start flowing, set aside time, make space, take notes. Your plan won’t create itself.
3. Be open to surprises. When you do a structured reflection and planning process, the unexpected happens. Two of my goals for 2020 are to follow my urges (quickly moving past the doubt that stops me) and do new things. Before I sat down to process 2019, I didn’t see these goals coming.

Setting clear intentions and goals is a powerful practice. Your year will take off like a rocket before you even have a chance to write it all down. I haven’t finished writing my plan yet and today I handed my card to a fellow business traveler (following an urge) and I’ve taken up cross country skiing (something new).

Set your intentions and fill this year with ease and flow.

If you want my help with reflection and planning, reach out. If you want to tell me what you’re already doing, reach out. I love to hear from you.

With rebel love,

Christina

P.S. Do you have a friend or family member who is transitioning to the new year? Share this newsletter with them. If they choose to receive more, they can join us here.

P.P.S. The New Year is the perfect time for a Corporate Rebel Strategic Plan for Work and Life OR a Corporate Rebel Year End Reflection and Plan. Both offer the chance to reflect on 2019 and plan for 2020. Email me for more info.

3 Surprising Steps to Create Opportunity

Time to read: Less than 2 minutes

This created professional opportunity.

Many moons ago, I moved to a new city. Starting with grit and my husband's 10 friends, I started a networking campaign to find a job in Human Resources. I had no direct qualifications for an HR role, and a job search coach told me plainly that I had a snowball's chance in hell of getting a job in HR.

Six months later, I had two HR job offers in hand. (And I sent that job search coach a nice "thank you"/"I told you so" note.) The process of creating those opportunities was predictable and surprising. I was discouraged and elated during those 6 months.

Many of y'all have reached out recently in order to create opportunities for yourself. Using my story as a backdrop, here are the 3 surprising steps to create opportunity:

1. Get started: Don't subscribe to the false belief that you have to have all your ducks in a row and your story 100% straight in order to start. When I was looking for a job, I met with anyone and everyone. Each conversation gave me a chance to hone the story of what I wanted. The early conversations were awkward. By the time I finally met people with actual jobs, I was crystal clear. Consistent action set me up to be ready for #3.


2. Be patient: Creating opportunity takes time. Don't subscribe to the false belief that if you don't meet some artificial deadline, you're failing. Feeling like a failure is a sure-fire way to stall your efforts. There were times during my job hunt when I didn't want to go to parties. I was tired of feeling like the drag with nothing to talk about but job hunting. The truth is, six months is not a long time when you're creating something new. Keep your eye on the prize and take one step forward at a time.


3. Wait for serendipity: Don't subscribe to the false belief that your effort alone will create opportunity. Ultimately, the dream job that launched my career in Human Resources didn't come from strategically networking my way to the right person. My job came through a new neighbor when we bought our house. Over the proverbial fence, he told me he was a recruiter for an HR department and offered to take in my resume.

The recipe for creating opportunity is one part effort + three parts serendipity. When you put in the work, the stars eventually align for something magic and unexpected to happen. That you can believe.

With rebel love,

Christina

P.S. Know someone who wants to create opportunity for themselves? Forward this email to them. They can join us here.

P.P.S. I'm working on something exciting that will come out later this summer. It's been a while since I've offered anything to all of you and your friends. Stay tuned. The little elves are working on it.