Advice

Stereotype-Fu – Draw Them In

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As I have noted ad nauseum (and as we've seen ad nauseum), stereotypes often raise their heads in the business/career world.  We, being fanboys, fangirls, geeks, otaku, metalheads, what have you, can face some pretty annoying stereotypes in our professional lives.  Dealing with it intelligently is a way to both keep our sanity – and we can always turn it around to our advantage.

One of the oddest cases of being stereotypes in the work world, from an interview to a client discussion, is when the people stereotyping us FIT the very stereotype they're inflicting on us.  The person that jokes about you being a game geek themselves can repeat dialogue from Final Fantasy 7 verbatim (with voices).  The person that jokes about your body piercings has enough metal in their body to make a toolkit.  The person who snubs your taste in emo music listens to songs so depressing they're banned in several countries.

This is annoying.  This is hypocritical.

THIS is a chance to engage in some stereotype-fu and turn the stereotyping to your advantage – by connecting with the person in a way that changes their views and relations to you.

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Discomfort Is a Sign of Growth

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Ever feel like you're both achieving something and incredibly uncomfortable at the same time?

I think we all know what that's like – you're facing your demons, building something new,writing that great story – and right as you're feeling great, you're also feeling a bit nervous, uncomfortable.

When this happens it's because you're stretching yourself, pushing yourself, and that's always a bit uncomfortable.  But it's also a good sign – because it means you're going beyond your boundaries and limits.  Like a good stretch you're limbering yourself up.

Discomfort, in short, is often a good sign that you're growing as a person (or a writer, or artist, etc.)

When you look for it, you'll see these moments of "pleasant discomfort" as you break your boundaries and limits.  Keep aware of these moments as you can start catching when you're growing (which may happen at surprising times) and can take advantage of them.

One reason it's important to do what you like in your life and career is that it improves your tolerance for these moments of "stretching discomfort" so you don't back down.  When you're driven, motivated, in touch, then when the discomfort comes its easier to power through.

Next time you feel you're walking on the edge?  It's probably a good thing.

– Steven Savage

The Grind

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"Any idiot can face a crisis – it's day to day living that wears you out." – Anton Checkov.

The above quote sums up one of the secrets of success – and one of the reasons for failure – in people's lives.

First, just because you can deal with a crisis does not mean you can deal with non-crisis issues.  You can rally your energies in the face of a crisis that's great – then again so can many of us, as adrenaline is a wonderful motivator.  In fact I find a surprising amount of people do well in a crisis (often better than they think).

However, dealing with crises is only part of life, and (hopefully) a small part of it.  Dealing with crises is important to survival, but crisis management rarely builds anything.

That's why the day to day living, the daily grind, is the thing you really have to cope with.

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