how to make a decision, the creative process

Here is the quick and dirty version.

First, prioritize relevant information about yourself – what skills you like to use, what fields of knowledge or experience do you like to explore, what kind of work environment do you thrive in, what kind of people do you like to work with, and where in the world you want to live.

Second, put it all on one piece of paper with a visual element and contemplate the big picture. Do not limit yourself. Imagine your dream job.

Third, if you don’t know what dream job this picture paints, then start showing it to (compassionate) friends and family or asking people what job they think would be a good one for you.

Fourth, once you’ve identified your dream job, interview people who have the job already. Find out how they got the job and how people they know got the job. Ask them to refer you to others. If it seems like the job is out of reach- 1)talk to more people, 2)identify which skills you lack and start building them, or 3)maybe this isn’t your dream job.

Fifth, visit, in person, the places that may have your dream job, whether they are hiring or not. Do research. Dress sharp. Practice asking and answering questions briefly. Prepare a handful of stories about times you were successful at using your signature skills. Ask anyone and everyone if they can put you in touch with someone who has the power to hire you. SEND THANK YOU CARDS. In interviews, talk half the time and listen the other half. Don’t talk for more than 2 minutes. Be prepared for “No’s.” Work the job-hunt like a job. Sleep well, eat well, drink lots of water.

Sixth, keep dreaming. Imagine yourself as a beekeeper, a machinist, a sociologist, a wine-taster.

Dream Job Workshop, how to make a decision

4 Dreams in 6-12 Months

Good Advice, Bad Jargon from the Author of The 4-hour Workweek

Timothy Ferriss - making up words, making people jealous.

I don’t like some words. They feel embarrassing when you say them out loud – dietary supplement, self-help, interfacing, mingle. I can’t say or even write these words without cringing. Dreamlining is one of them.

It shouldn’t be legal to take any two words and slam them together…

Dreamlining, which I will henceforth refer to as DL, is a concept in Timothy Ferriss’s The 4-hour Workweek. DL has gotten a lot of tread on the internets and it is not because of the cool name.

Obviously, as you can infer from the two original words which were so rudely stuck together, DL is about putting a timeline to your dreams. Carpe diem plays a big part here, the recommendation being either a six-month or one-year timeline.

DL is also about putting a dollar sign on your dreams.

By doing a little math, you can bring that dream out of fantasy land, chop it up into little chunks, and start working on it today. Read more…

Big Questions: What is my purpose?, creating habits, how to make a decision, meeting goals dream right

How can life’s difficulties be so confusing when they can be summed up so easily?

There are are only two problems in life, (1) you know what you want, and you don’t know how to get it; and/or (2) you don’t know what you want.

- Steven Snyder, quoted by David Allen, p.251 of the incredible Getting Things Done.

I love this quote because if you begin to think about it, you begin to think about the Big Picture. Yet it is so simple. David Allen, the author of the famous Getting Things Done, goes a little farther, asserting that the solution to life’s two problems is simply:

1. Make it up.
2. Make it happen.

This makes me cringe a little, because making things up and making things happen can be incredibly complicated.

I’d rather not issue an imperative. Instead, I like to look at the questions that Mr. Snyder’s wonderful quote evokes:

1. What do you want?
2. What are you doing to get it?

Read more…

Big Questions: What is my purpose?, communing with the universe, how to make a decision, meeting goals dream right

Note: this post, and any other post in the “30 day nephalist” category, has been moved from from an earlier blog that documented an important experiment – not drinking for 30 days.

My 30 day experiment is quite over – What do I do now?

In this post I’ll answer one small part of that question: What do I do about my drinking now?

Here are my options:

• Lay down an ultimatum – I will never drink again.

Pros: Being the decider.
Cons: Being like “the decider” – a man who’s lack of doubt led him to be the worst president ever. Read more…

30 day nephalist, creating habits, how to make a decision, overcoming addictions