This week, I did a photoshoot with the Tanaiste, met an exciting new client, and figured out my first speaking gig in a while. Also, I tried to rest. Clare = exhausted. Now, links…

Articles

Danielle on working with others.

The 7 minute workout looks interesting, particularly for people who spend a lot of time sitting at a desk.

This is why Ireland is home.

Fabulous piece by Olivia O’Leary on joie de vivre.

A profile of Shonda Rhimes, the woman behind one of my current fave shows Scandal.

How to be original

I loved reading about Sarah’s writerly quirks.

I gotta agree with Ann Freidman on the state of modern journalism.

A beautiful love story.

Videos

One of the challenges of self-employment, particularly in the social sector, is focus. Social entrepreneurs are driven by the potential impact of their work, as much as financial reward. It can be challenging to sort the great ideas, from the detours. It can be difficult for multi-passionate entrepreneurs to settle on a single job title, project or idea. Personally, I’ve spent many months tying myself up in knots trying to figure out exactly what I do. Am I a journalist with a passion for social change? Or, a change-maker with an interest in how society tells its collective stories?

Rather than dwelling on these semantics, I’ve settled on instead knowing precisely why I do what I do. I want social entrepreneurs to have access to the same professional development opportunities as corporate executives. I want change-makers to be supported to invest in themselves. And, I want our collective culture to reflect these stories. (Incidentally, I’m just about to start reading Simon Sinek’s seminal work “Start with Why” on this very topic.)

It’s impossible to predict the twists and nuances that will take place during your working life. You can’t know precisely where you’ll end up, and longing for crystal clarity can become both a distraction from your work and a delay tactic to prevent you from starting. (“When I know what I want, I’ll start”)

Rather than picking a job title, pick a career theme. (click to tweet)

Rather than fixating on your precise job title, consider other metrics of your career impact:

• Pick a constituency of people to serve. e.g. women in domestic violence crises, young men at risk of suicide.
• Pick an issue you care about e.g. educational disadvantage, sustainable fashion,
• Align your personal values with a broader organizational mission and work with a social cause that inspires you.

Adopting a career theme allows you to filter the great opportunities, from the distractions. It gives you direction, focus, clarity, and it allows your short-term successes be located within a broader mission. And, it’ll help you sleep better at night.

P.S. This is one of those tasks that it’s very easy to put on the long finger. You could spend months vacillating between the different career theme options, or you may be so intimidated by the idea of narrowing your focus that you don’t want to do it at all.
My advice? Don’t over-think it, your first instinct is right. Put yourself on a deadline. Pick something that feels right (or almost right) and go with it for the moment. You can always change it later. Let it evolve. If you need help, call me.

This week, I re-worked my website: there’s a new homepage & a work with me page. And, it’s finally started to feel like Spring in Dublin.

Articles

Powerful piece from Dave Ursillo on Boston.

Laura breaks down the steps to plotting your next career move.

Simplicity + action = big business growth.

On our individual intricacies.

Sarah is oh so smart. Her advice on keepin’ it real on social media.

Investing in Yourself May be One of Surest Routes to Social Change (I agree)

Negative” emotions like sadness can deepen you. Suffering deepens you.

A comprehensive compilation of blog advice

On burnout (boy have I been there.)

8 things really successful people do

Al Gore: A moral entrepreneur

Are you a girl, a lady or a woman?

I love the disapproval matrix.

Fascinated by the idea of identity-based habits

“Purpose is attracted to momentum“  (I agree)

Some fabulous, honest writing advice.

A fabulous essay on the challenges of balancing money with art.

Fascinating piece on inside the Anthony Weiner scandal.

How to talk about a woman’s looks (hint: don’t!)

Idea to paying customers in 7 weeks – a great case study from Buffer.

How To Schedule Your Day For Peak Creative Performance

“A relationship has got to be special enough to enhance my life, and not detract from it” An interesting perspective on dating from Sarah.

Video

Here’s what I’ve been writing about this month:

Spring Resolutions
Why (& how) I write
In memory of a life well-lived
6 mistakes from 6 months of entrepreneurship
The Reading list #18 & #19

I love to write.

I love the physicality of writing. The tip-tap of my fingers on the keyboard, the slow draw of a pen across a page, the feel of a clean piece of paper. I feel most like me when I have a pen in my hand. I love the tired feeling in my fingers after a long day writing. It’s immensely satisfying.

I love the process of translating my thoughts into a series of lines and shapes on a page. I love how a reader can absorb and interpret my words in their own way. It’s an amazingly intimate process, between a writer and a reader. My thoughts and ideas get uploaded into someone else’s world.I love the power and precision of the perfect word in the perfect sentence.

I write to understand the world. I never really know what I think about a topic, until I’ve written about it. Each piece is a collection of ideas. A snapshot of where I am in time today, a souvenir. I write to find my place, to untangle the mass of thoughts in my mind. I love the idea of pouring everything I know about a subject into one spot. Of creating something that helps people. Of capturing how I feel about a particular topic at a particular time.

Writing often feels like I am literally pouring my heart and mind out. Like you pick up my soul, and tip it over slowly like pouring milk from a jug. I write to put order on internal chaos, moulding words into linear patterns creates a sense of calm. It’s about spilling out all that’s in my head and trying to make sense of it. I write for companionship, connection and understanding. I love the lightness that comes with emptying my heart and mind. I feel like a member of the human race when I write.

I write to understand my own story. Sometimes, journaling sends me in circles. I know how I feel, how it all connects and why it matters, so I often don’t bother writing it down. I write letters to people I love. Explaining the situation to someone else forces me to fill in the gaps and pull together my experience into a (somewhat) coherent story. Then, I can step back and see it. I can understand it.

For years, I didn’t write. It was too painful and revelatory. My expectations were too high. It felt daunting and totally overwhelming. Slowly, over years, I grew into it. I began writing more & more. It became a habit, a daily practice based on the power of showing up and doing the work regardless of the outcome. Today, I’d be lost without my journal.

I love reading about other writers’ rituals. I love the journey writing takes from a fleeting abstract thought through a number of iterations before it arrives neatly packaged, tightly worded and ready to be published. Writing is a career that elicits awe in people, which always amuses me. There’s little of reverence in the simple practice of putting your bum in the chair and writing for hours on end. It’s a graft, as well as a craft. It’s about practice and showing up.

This is how I do it:

• I write a lot. I fill a journal every month. I aim to publish a couple of times a week on my blog. I write as part of my work as a journalist and consultant.
• I write in cheap A4 spiral notebooks. Fancy journals make me seize up with the expectation to write something mind-blowing. Loose leaf pages make me feel chaotic. I use cheap ballpoint pens in blue or black, often freebies from hotels and product launches.
• I write everywhere. On the bus, in bed, in the bath. No matter where I am in the world, it’s just me, my thoughts and my pen. It’s tremendously comforting.
• I write on a single blank page. I pour it all out until my mind is free of it. I end up with a  huge amorphous, repetitive blob of words. I aim to get it on the page without wondering how or why or what. In my head, it’s chaotic, contradictory and weird. Once there’s words on the page, I can work with them.
• I hunt for the thread that holds it all together; the lesson I want to teach, the idea I want to share, the reaction I want to elicit.
• I chip away the the chaos, until I feel it come together. I mould it until each idea fits and flows.
• Most of my work starts life as a fleeting thought captured in my journal. I jot things down, connect them, move them around like toy soldiers on a battle field. I doodle. I draw shapes and maps and squiggles.
• Writing is woven into my day, from my morning pages in bed, to a hand-written to do list to hours tip-tapping on my laptop. I do it without realizing.
• Some pieces are written quickly, in one sitting, when a particular thought just needs to come out. Others are slow, laborious efforts moulded and edited over weeks. (This piece falls into the later category.)
• I need white space when I write. My desk is ridiculously simple (pens, papers, candle & water), the walls are bare. I close the internet and try to keep it closed. I focus just on the blank page. Then, I get a little rush of joy but I truly, madly, completely love to write.
• I keep a list of random thoughts as I write. I like to capture all the distractions that bubble up, often there’s good stuff in there. Capturing them allows me to keep my focus on what I want to say now.  I give my ideas homes, so I can go back and visit them later.
• I keep a list of articles to write. There are ideas that have been there for more than 5 years, which I’ll likely never complete. I have piles of unfinished articles, half-thoughts and vague ideas.
• I love & crave long free empty periods of time for writing. I love diving into the big ideas and getting lost, resurfacing for food after hours immersed. I love writing furiously, trying to keep up with my thoughts. I love the sense of peace that comes after the idea is out there, I feel unburdened as if I’ve done my part of the bargain.
• I don’t permit writers block. I simply don’t allow it. If I’m tired, hungry or upset, I can’t write until I feel better. I write when I don’t feel like it as well as when I want to. I see writing as my job and treat it with the professionalism it deserves. If the words aren’t coming, I stop. Rather than torment myself, I take a break. Something physical or repetitive usually gets me going again. Yoga, hoovering, laundry – something that requires my focus so I can’t dwell on the issue. I try not to get lost wandering the internet in procrastination. I’m trying to develop that focus muscle.

I do all this work with one goal in mind.  “The happiest man alive would look in the mirror and see himself exactly as he is,” so says Dumbledore to Harry Potter in The Sorcerer’s Stone. (I’ve never actually read Harry Potter; I heard it in J.K. Rowling’s interview with Oprah.) I want my writing to feel like me, to sound like me, to mirror me. That’s my goal

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Extras for Experts:
Zadie Smith‘s 10 rules for writing are a perfect blend of the philosophical and the practical.
How Roxanne writes

This week, I finally felt better after a monster flu, slammed my deadlines and roasted a life-changing chicken.

Articles

Do you observe your thoughts, or judge them?

“Happiness is like rising bubbles — delightful and inevitably fleeting. Joy is the oxygen — ever present.”

Jenny’s launched an amazing May Mastermind for solopreneurs. If I weren’t already over-stretched, I’d be signing up pronto.

Melissa’s been self-employed for one year. I loved (& related to) many of the lessons she’s learned.

There’s something majestic about this trapeze lesson.

The undervalued advantages of being a small start-up

“Running for president is like sex. No one ever did it once and forgot about it.”

I’m adding this to my “to read” pile. And this.

Sarah on refining your quirks.

I answered every single one of Alex’s questions for self discovery.

Justine unpicks the “write epic shit” idea.

Videos

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It’s been six months since I struck out as a full-time entrepreneur. (Although I’ve been a part-time entrepreneur for the past 8 years.) It’s been wonderful; endlessly challenging and rewarding. In the past six months, clients have gotten funding, re-launched programs, re-worked their web presence and self-identified as social entrepreneurs. I love the freedom to set my own priorities, to forge my own path, to make my own decisions. I love the thrill of cashing my own cheques, seeing my income grow in line with the value that I offer.

The past six months haven’t all been easy. There have been slow money months, big worries and challenging clients. There have been days that I’ve done absolutely no productive work, and nights that I’ve stayed up writing ‘til dawn just because I wanted to. Entrepreneurship is about evolution & I’ve tried to evolve gracefully.  I’ve tried to fail quickly and learn from it. Sometimes I have, sometimes I haven’t.

Today, I want to share the 6 big mistakes I’ve made (& learned from). By sharing my experience, I hope to prevent the next brood of entrepreneurs from repeating my failings.

Mistake #1: I wish I’d hired experts sooner.

I’m a DIY kind of girl. My business has been bootstrapped. I work from home, limit my expenses and focus on learning new skills, rather than outsourcing them. But, there are (many) things that I’m simply not good at. Over the past quarter, I’ve begun to hire specific experts and it has revolutionized my work. I love collaborating with smart people. It costs money to make money, and a few smart investments in a particular expert have already paid dividends. Plus, it’s been fun (& business is supposed to be fun).

Mistake #2: I underestimated the importance of my physical and mental health.

In the early days, my lifestyle remained the same. I was working crazy hours. My focus was split over a hundred directions. I was so determined to make this “entrepreneurship thing” work that my fervour clouded my judgement. I stopped making smart healthy decisions. Entrepreneurs don’t have the luxury of taking a pay-check for showing up. If my work isn’t of a high standard, I don’t get paid. My best work happens  when I’m well-rested, having fun, getting some exercise and eating well. My productivity and creativity are tied to my health and happiness. Now if I’m hitting brick walls, I focus on my health. I double my yoga commitment, I start making big salads and I make time for big belly laughs. This does not look like a traditional business solution, but it works for me.

Mistake #3: I had no clear idea of what success looks like.

In the beginning, I was so determined to make my business work that I never quite defined what that meant for me. For me, this entrepreneurial adventure has never been about the money. It’s been about giving myself the opportunity to learn what it takes to run a business. It was about making a leap into something I love, in the hope of stumbling onto a deeper purpose. It’s about the opportunity serve my clients and make a difference. Making money enables me to do it. It’s a means to an end, not my final objective.

This isn’t a traditional business. I’m neither a consultant nor a strategist nor a journalist nor a writer, but a hybrid of all 4. Having a clearer vision of what success looks like would have made it easier to sort the priorities from the distractions. Honestly, I think I would have relaxed and enjoyed the journey more too, knowing that I was reaching my goals of learning lots and expanding my client base.

Mistake #4: I thought that my business needed to look like a normal 9-5 job.

In the early days, I tormented myself worrying about what my business looked like rather than what it did. I struggled to fit it neatly into the ‘normal‘ box. I’ve written about my work hours, and honestly, I don’t maintain them. I work when and how I need to.

There is no perfectly structured day. There are strategy days, and ‘to do’ days. On strategy days, I have the brainpower to really think, dream, plan and plot. I feel inspired and alive, ready to work. I get lots of great writing done, fill notebooks with ideas and start growing in new directions. On ‘to do’ days, I’m usually tired and over-stretched. I write a long list of tasks and work through them, one at a time. I stop to play on facebook, to read the internet, to bake bread, to stand on my head. By the end of the day, I’ve accomplished a lot though the day has felt easier.

When I’m busy, I’m also inspired. I rise to the occasion. If I need it, I take random days off and lie on the couch all day.  I take one full day off per week, even if I don’t want to. Why? Because invariably I’m full up on inspiration and ideas by the end of that day.

Mistake #5: Say no more.

I’m still learning this one. From pro-bono opportunities to random requests, I’ve learned to guard my time so that I can focus on the work that’s most important to me and my paid clients. I learned that working with a particular client  wasn’t good for my soul. It was excellent for my bank balance, but it stressed me out so that relationship ended. It’s important to say “no”, often.

Mistake #6: Lastly, and most importantly, my biggest challenge has been courage.

Starting & running a business requires gumption. Over the past 6 months, I’ve grown more comfortable with risk and failure. I’ve learned that fear and self-doubt don’t abate, but you must act regardless. For every potential opportunity, if you wait until you’re entirely comfortable, you’ll never do it. You need to do it today, and learn to live with the discomfort.

There are always be nay-sayers and critics, but self-doubt is my biggest demon. I’ve learned that simply doing the work erodes my doubt. By flexing  your “willing to fail ” muscle, you develop courage.

This has also been my greatest lesson.

The words of Theodore Roosevelt ring true:

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

Onwards & upwards,

Last week, an acquaintance I admired from afar died.

She was young and died very suddenly. I didn’t know her well. From a distance, she seemed a remarkable woman, who inspired me. She was a human rights advocate, using her considerable skills to work towards peace in the Middle East. She was warm and fun, ambitious and successful.  We met at a party in Washington DC. Over Sauvignon Blanc and fresh crab, we talked about the challenges of being in a relationship while working internationally.

Her sudden death stopped me in my tracks. She was so young, so full of potential, with a whole life of world-changing ahead.

Since her death, tributes have flooded in. My Facebook feed is full of  those who knew her, shocked and devastated. Her friends have been gathering in Brussels, in Washington DC, in Dublin, in Belfast, in London and in her hometown to remember her. Condolences are flying in from all over the world. Her funeral was streamed online.

Each tribute ends with a call that we live better in her honour. This one struck me as particularly poignant:

“I mourn for her family and close friends but also for all those people she never met whose lives would surely have been better if she had been given more years to pursue her dreams. Perhaps, in her honor, we can all try to work a little harder and a little more passionately on things that truly matter. That’s a legacy I know she would be proud of.”

I’ve dealt with loss in the past. I know the earthquakes of grief from sudden unexplainable death. I know the years of loneliness that follow the loss of someone you love. If I’m honest, I still live with loss. There’s a gap in your life that is never filled, a wound so profound that it never heals. Death refocuses us on what’s important. By pursuing what we really want today, we honour those who have gone before us. We acknowledge their lives by living our best lives. I’d love to have known her better, but sadly it will never be.

Nevertheless, from a distance, her life has inspired mine.

(image source)

This week, I worked, I partied and I worked some more. This is a bumper edition of the Reading List; grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy some great reading & watching.

Articles

A very thoughtful piece from Abby Kerr on Twitter & social media burn out.

A great re-cap of the Amanda Knox story.

Sarah’s fascinating visit to an abbatoir

Justine Musk is a creative genius: “reading is the inhale, writing is the exhale” 18 principles for highly creative living. Transformative blogging.

Some fantastic insightful questions from Kylie: Plumb the depths

I can so relate to Sarah’s evolving path.

I’ve been meaning to read Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly. In the mean time, here are the key lessons.

This is how I spend my money.

The learn earn balance.

Paul Jarvis is a wise man: “Social media promotion is the new television ad”

Loving the intellectual rigor of the Longform podcast, start with Emily Nussbaum and Molly Young.

“I think something wonderful about cinema is it automatically blurs that boundary we imagine exists between reality and illusion. Because it’s all an illusion but you believe it.” Danny Boyle (via Kathleen)

“My Amazon bestseller made me nothing”

If I watch too much Sex and the City, I tend to start my sentences with “I couldn’t help but wonder”. Here’s a handy list of everything Carrie’s ever wondered.

I like deliverables. So those President Obama.

I’ve been there. Burning out at work.

The Rumpus interview with Zadie Smith is full of fantastic insights.

I want to write a book one day. Maybe even one day soon. This insider’s view of book writing is both helpful and honest.

Opportunities:

Project 333 is a minimalist fashion challenge that invites you to dress with 33 items or less for 3 months. I’ve just signed up.

Fantastic opportunity for social entrepreneurs aged 18-34 (& you could win a year’s worth of ice-cream)

Video:

I met Niamh at an event a few weeks ago. She’s got an amazing story:

Niamh Gunn from The Trailblazery on Vimeo.

(via Conor)

Dear Clare,

This spring, I promise to:

• Commit to a single priorities. After months of juggling clients, writing, journalism and graduate studies, my multi-tasking muscle is aching. This season is about single focusing and the art of completion. I have very precise targets, fire in my belly and the determination to FINISH.
• Build movement into my day.  I’m a binge exerciser. I love the rush of a long run or an hour on my yoga mat. But, the simple science of scheduling means that it’s not always possible. I’ve started weaving movement into my day; a few sun salutations in the morning, a mid-afternoon dance party for one and evening walk to the shops.
• Let my dreams be big. Creating vision books (because a board is too small), asking meandering questions and making the decisions based on what I want, rather than what’s sensible. “Because I want to” is my new mantra; when did that stop being a justifiable reason to do things? (Maybe coz I’m a good girl).
• More writing, always. Ommwriter has changed my life, friends. Let inspiration strike. Rigidity is constricting my ideas. I want to embrace my own rules, rather than listening to the “experts”.
• Giggles
• Sundays are for “doing whatever the hell I feel like when I get up”.
• Stop feeling bad for not finding time for things I think I’m supposed to want (but don’t really). Like bubble baths, and meeting new people and being a “normal” 20-something.
• New recipes. Falafals, kale chips & coconut noodle soup to start.
• Simplifying. I’m doing Project 333, staying off Facebook and letting the non-urgent things go.
• Enjoying the process. I’m at a very unique stage in life; on the cusp of graduation, plotting my next move across the world and finessing my professional direction. It’s time to love this time, rather than longingly gazing to the days of bigger bank balances, higher demands and early morning flights. Now is great.

Spring is about simplifying, single focusing and smiling more. (Click to tweet)

Love,

This piece was inspired by the always provocative Alexandra Franzen.

(Image source)