Charting a freelance career, lessons from Seth Godin

I completed Seth Godins brilliant Freelancer Udemy Course. Really made me reflect on what I’m doing with my freelance career, who I want to work with and what I want to be known for.

Check it out :).

SOME NUGGETS

Development

Moment– a moment in time, where is the moment

Management– who is your boss? you are, manage your career

Department- biz to biz, find the right department

Movement- can you create one?

Agreement- you are more likely to make a difference they are happy to see

Environment- you get to pick

Persistent- showing up and staying, being respectful

Consistent- Find a tool and use it and use it even after it bores you

Potent- thing that really matters

Statement- what is your point of view, what do you stand for?

Investment- what are you investing in your work? What lifetime value?

Argument- objections are your friend, listen!

Equipment- better be good enough, doesn’t matter what equipment you use, how does it make us feel?

Element- are you in your element, or floundering

Comment- what do they say when they talk about you

Document- write down what you do

Excrement- every once in a while your gonna step in it, what are you going to do? That’s how we’ll judge you

Assessment- when you look at a problem assess it

Improvement- opportunity not a threat

Achievement- what do yours look like? what stories do you tell and what do you ship?

Instrument- we’ve all been given one, commit and persist

 

Time & connection, Seth Godin

The Art of Noticing then Creating podcast

Fantastic interview with Seth Godin on the On being podcast by Krista Tippet.

I listened to this a while ago when I first heard about Seth Godin and the insights were just mind opening.

Here’s a snippet:

“The view not based on scarcity but abundance. The thing we don’t have enough of is connection, we’re lonely, and we don’t have enough time. If people can offer us connection and meaning in a place where we can be our best selves we will seek that out.

No, it doesn’t help you build a big profitable company but, yes it helps you make a better difference to the community you’ve chosen to live in.”

Even months later I’m still thinking about time and connection as the highest value commodities today. We just don’t seem to have enough of either in the West.

Weeks learnings/ discoveries 29.04.15

I love this collection of photographs of famous artists and their studios. It’s fascinating to see how the spaces they work in.

I signed up for Seth Godin’s course for Freelancer Course on Udemy. I’m looking forward to learning pearls of wisdom from him.

Seth Godin’s post on overcoming irrational fears. ‘Habits are more powerful than fears.’

Great interview with Mark Zuckerberg at the Y Combinator 2012.

https://youtu.be/5bJi7k-y1Lo

I recently discovered the Jungalow, the beautiful blog by Justina Blakeney. It’s an inspirational design blog with some great tips like how to style shelves with personality.

Some lovely style options for natural haircuts on Huffington Post.

Yes! 7 posts, 7 days!

Day 7: What are you taking with you from this Challenge?

By Grace M

activesocioplastics

I’m so happy I did the Your Turn challenge. It was brilliant for so many reasons. Seeing all the posts, feeling like I was part of something bigger. Part of a community. It was such a pleasure to see what people wrote, I learned a lot and smiled a lot, and felt a lot. People were so honest in their posts. So what will I take away?

1. I’ve learned not to be afraid of revealing myself. I’ve been so worried with my blog about just how much of myself I want to show but in this challenge helped me break that fear. I revealed parts of myself I usually keep quiet and I showed some of my designs. 

2. I identified something about myself that’s unique. The teach us something you’re good at day, was the hardest for me. I couldn’t think of anything. Then round 11pm, it suddenly struck me I’m good at being happy. People always comment on it but I’ve never really thought about it. No matter how upset or stressed out I am can find a laugh and I can find hope. 

3. I learned that I can be consistent and I can make the time. Even when I was swamped with work and tired I still managed to pull the motivation to write a post. Now I just have to take these principles and apply it to everything else I’ve been procrastinating on.

4. I learned to ship. Having the deadline everyday, motivated me to create something new everyday and ship everyday.

Thanks Winnie, Seth and the rest of the Your Turn Challenge team!

Because I can

By Grace M
activesocioplastics

Day 6: Tell us about a time when you surprised yourself

Today. I surprised myself today by writting this post. I’ve had the longest day, I was running a workshop all day, then had a shift at my service job. And I’m knackered and aching. I didnt think i’ll be able to write today. I’d usually give up at this point, with one excuse or another. I have no time. It won’t be perfect. But i’m determined to complete the Your Turn challenge.

Why?
Because I can

P.s i almost forgot to actually ship

The shower principle

Day 4

by Grace M

activesocioplastics

I’m determined not to miss a day of the Your Turn Challenge, no matter how busy or swamped I feel.

The three things I’ve noticed help me get unstuck

1. The Shower principle (as the brilliant 30 rock episode calls it). It is moments of inspiration that occur when you are distracted from the problem at hand. For me I definitely get my “best” ideas in the shower. My mind can wander and explore different solutions for the problem.  For some people the shower principle is taking a familiar walk, or dive. I remember listening to a Nerdist podcast where the Farrelly Brothers writing their movies whilst taking long road trips. It’s because your mind is in a relaxed state you’re doing something you’ve done before.

2. 90 minutes brainstorming time, preferably in the morning. I usually go to a cafe, with just a sketchbook and pen. Set a timer and force myself to focus on the problem for that time. I learned about this from the brilliant talk on creativity by John Cleese.

http://vimeo.com/89936101

3. Explaining the idea to someone else. As they say two minds are better than one. At university, the studio was perfect for this, just being able to talk through a problem and see it from a different perspective.

Laugh at everything

Day 4: Teach us something that you do well
http://yourturnchallenge.tumblr.com

I found this question the hardest. I know I can do things like making models, or graphics well but they don’t seem like special skills. It’s taken me ages to work it out but it just hit me. Something i do well is laugh. I smile at everything. It’s got to the point now where I smile at people without realising it.

I am notorious for my loud, tinkling laugh. At university people would tell me they could hear me laughing from the other side. Or I would turn a corner and they would tell me they’d heard me laughing before they’d seen me. I don’t know why I laugh or smile so much. My grandmother was the same and my mother and siblings are the same.

I don’t know how to teach laughter. The only thing I can say is laugh at everything. Most things in life are funny. Try it even for one day, it’ll change you and the people around you.