Let’s learn from George Clooney
Watching Up in the Air, I knew the overall concept of the movie and was interested in watching it, but didn’t think it would touch me personally per se. The basic premise of the movie is that George Clooney is hired by companies to fire employees for them. While George was talking to his young technology savvy recently hired protégé, he processed with her the reason this service needs to be provided face to face. As she accompanied him to his next assignment, she began to see the special touch that could be provided in person as opposed to doing this over the internet as she proposed to the owner of the company for whom George Clooney worked. Although, isolated and disconnected from his own family, George appeared to have a special touch for those going through this crisis and was able to help one of his soon to be unemployed victims see how he sold out years prior and never actually pursued his dreams. The conversation went something like this:
The gentleman began to discuss all the negative affects from this job loss including not being able to pay for his daughter’s medication, not having the respect of his children etc.
George inquired: “So your children’s admiration is important to you?”
Bob states back: “yeah, it was”
George replies: “I doubt they ever admired you bob”
Bob: “Hey Asshole, aren’t you supposed to be consoling me”
George: “I’m not a shrink Bob, I’m a wake up call, You know why kids love athletes?”
Bob: “Because they screw lingerie models”
George: “No, that’s why WE love athletes, kids love athletes because they follow their dreams.”
Bob: “Well I can’t dunk”
George: “No but you can cook, your resume says you minored in French culinary arts.
How much did they first pay you to give up on your dreams?
Bob states some nominal amount like $25,000
George: When were you gonna stop and do what makes you happy”
Bob: “Good question”
George discussed with Bob seeing man after man working for companies with no ounce of happiness. Encouraging the man to see the lay off as a positive and stated “If you’re not going to make a change for you, do it for your kids.”
I found this so very powerful. Don’t we all need a little bit of a wake up call? We all hope it won’t come in the form of being fired, but for many that’s the reality. The question is, are you doing what you love? Are you giving back to the world in the way you want to? If the answers are no, then start figuring out how to make that happen. Unfortunately, our current economic crisis is a significant social problem and is far from over. We’ve grown to realize that corporate America isn’t making the commitment to protect people anymore. If you’re lucky enough to have job security now, that may not always be the case.
Think outside your box. Have a plan B. Make a commitment to ask questions about vocations/ hobbies that interest you. Start doing something small and see what happens. Consider other ways to make money and to contribute to things bigger than you. Google what it is you’re interested in and people who are doing just that are sure to pop up. Contact them and ask questions. People will be delighted you’re interested in what they do. You are your own best advocate. Get out there and tell me what you find out!
What matters to you?
So often people have that gnawing feeling they want more, but they don’t know what to do or where to start in order to get it. A couple years back, I went to an Oprah Live Event and had the opportunity to hear one of the featured speakers Martha Beck. She was normalizing with the audience that desire to have an impact on the world, or to have a better more fulfilling life, but not having a clue how to do it. I’ve used this strategy I’m about ready to mention with some that I’ve worked with to help shift the focus when finding your “life purpose” seems like an overwhelming daunting task. We’re all in the same boat there, where I personally don’t believe any of us should be seeking our “life purpose” as that is constantly evolving and changing and quite frankly may not be for us to know. However, each one of us can live on purpose and do something about things that matter to us.
As Martha continued her talk, she suggested to the audience to google various ideas and concepts together as a way to brainstorm. For example, she said google something you like to do or that you’re good at with something you want to change in the world and see what comes up. Now, in all honesty, I did this exercise and it didn’t yield me a ton of results, however, it may be different for you with your various passions talents and abilities, and how long you’re willing to google I suppose. But what it did do for me was inspire me to think more about how to incorporate my talents with what I’m passionate about and as a way to participate in the change I want to see in the world. Simply stated, it helped me take the focus off of me and onto what I care about. Big paradigm shift for me when struggling with not feeling worthy, good enough, or smart enough to create a business. Whoever might be struggling with those same thoughts and feelings would probably be more able to embrace their desire to participate in social change through business. It takes the scariness of business down a notch or two for most people.
This could go in many different directions and as you can imagine the options are limitless. So rather than getting stumped and stopping immediately when you’re considering what you’re good at and how in the world you could make money doing it, consider first, what you care about in the world and how can you use what God gave you to contribute to making that situation or issue better. Now selecting a cause or project of social change may be difficult as we know there are so many non profits out there vying for our money and time so which one do we choose? Well, the answer isn’t so simple for everyone and it may be where you want to spend a significant portion of your time doing some research.
Whether you’ve already got an established business or you are new in business you can learn from this paragraph, because as stated above we want our passion, mission vision to match up as much as possible, so if you’re a writer you may emphasize that you’re passionate about literacy. Or if you’re a fitness trainer you may be passionate about helping to make an impact on the childhood obesity epidemic. Not that a personal trainer can’t care about wildlife, but doesn’t it make her business platform so much stronger and compel you to want to hire her as a personal trainer because she is also helping to combat child obesity. Already you feel like you too are part of something bigger and more important than just buying that product or service for yourself. Start thinking big because you too can contribute to social change no matter where you’re at on your journey.
What comes naturally??
Okay Okay I know, my last post was a video as well. Well… I suppose that’s because that’s just how my brain thinks because music “comes naturally” to me. This will make more sense the more you read. Tonight while driving home from my mother’s day celebration I cranked up the tunes on the way home to keep me awake and I found myself dancing and singing to a song that really got my juices flowing. I used to get uncomfortable when I was doing this around other cars, but I found when I held back it usually ruined the song for me, cuz it never fails, people are always around when I really want to belt something out or throw my hands in the air. So I decided a while back even if I was in the middle of a groove or a note I just kept going no matter who was around. I invite you to do the same. We only get so many moments in life. Let’s not let anyone spoil anything for us!
So nevertheless, I heard this song on the way home and it got me thinking… initially when I heard the lyrics I thought it was going to be a cheesy love song, but I quickly learned it was much deeper than that. Yes, she’s referring to what comes naturally between them as young lovebirds, yet on a deeper level what really resonated with me was the reminder that we all intuitively deep down know what comes naturally to us and how attractive it is when someone hits that sweet spot in life knowing who they are and can express it as well.
I simply invite you to take a moment today to listen to this song and
#1 get your groove on if you’re feeling the tune
#2 think about what things come naturally to you.
A lyric in this song says “You know who you are and to me that’s exciting”. YES YES YES…. that is what’s exciting to all of us. Think about someone that you know that knows who they are, that’s comfortable in their own skin that oozes authenticity. Isn’t that exciting?? It is to me. Even if a person doesn’t know exactly, you can sense that excitement in those that are searching, and that’s just as exciting if not even more cuz the energy is so high. So if you don’t know what you want and can’t even begin to imagine how you’re going to get there, take a moment to consider first what comes naturally to you and how you may be able to use that in building the life of your dreams. Even if it’s the smallest thing, start with creating a list of things that come naturally to you and see what you come up with.
SELENA GOMEZ: Naturally video: Embedded disabled, go check it out on YOUTUBE and get back here !! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_YR4dKArgo
Share with us below what comes naturally to you!
