Attend the University of YOU.

So you want to do something different?

But you don't have a degree for that professional job?

Well, you'd be surprised at what you can do and how far you can go WITHOUT that degree.

You see, I want you to start using your gifts right now, to do something today not wait until tomorrow. Even people who have a degree are often working in fields that have nothing to do with their schooling. These days it is easier than ever to learn to do something different.

Stop dreaming and start doing.

Google it.

Start with google. Find what you can on the subject of interest. Then use Amazon and find books on that topic and get them from your library. Even if your library doesn't have the book they can probably get it through an interlibrary loan. Use your library to find out more by searching academic journals and other research tools and databases.

Apply your learning.

Let's say you want to try landscaping. Try with your own home. Ask if you can do free projects for a friend or perhaps a non-profit organization. Build a portfolio of projects.

This can work in many fields: Web design, career coaching, social media, theater, writing, use your own imagination.

Use your gifts. Do something different!

What have they done to my TV?

Digital TV transmission is here. Analog is over.

Change has come.

This is what change is like. Love digital TV or hate it, that is the new reality.

The process was much like change within an organization.

I know that today there are those who will tell you that no one ever told them about the change to digital TV. They will tell you this despite the almost incessant public service announcements that aired for months before the change.

There are those who will tell you this change is good for everybody and point to increased programming on multiple channels and to the use of the now freed up bandwidth for other uses. Change is good! (And we've been telling you for months, years even. Pay attention! It's been postponed a gazillion times. Oy!)

No wonder people get frustrated by change. Both changers and -um- changees.

Why do we think everything will be, indeed must be, smooth. Some people will understand, receive the message of change, get on board, and thrive. Others will not. More often then not change widens gaps rather than closing them. Some gain, others lose or, at least, don't gain.

You wonder why there is resistance to change? Well,one reason is that some people lose out when change hits. Even something like digital TV. No amount of communication can erase that fact.

But communication and taking steps to reduce the pain for those who will not gain will help.

This even plays out for personal change. There are aspects of yourself that lose when you change...even if it is a good change...a change you want to happen.

When we moved to our "new" house nine years ago we were happy. We still are. I can't imagine moving back, but...

I have a video taken of our old home after everything had been removed. I went from room to room silently documenting the place. Every time I see it I am choked with emotion. Why?

These are the bedrooms we decorated for the kids. This is the stairway the kids would roll their slinkys down. This is the dining room were we had great meals, fought, made up, laughed, discussed our move to the new house. Every nook and cranny of that place was filled with memories...and we left it to embrace something new.

Change is great. But it always comes with a price. If you want to change or want your organization to change, you must understand and pay that price.

People don't want to be changed but they love to change.

Jeffery Gitomer says, "People don't want to be sold but they love to buy."

I say, "People don't want to be changed but they love to change." Variety is the spice of life.

But, I hear many people say that people HATE change.

But they don't hate change.

They don't.

I don't.

You don't.

Never change?

It would be like waiting for a light that never turns green.

I love that I changed to an iPod and don't have to buy CD's with songs I don't want. (And before that I was happy to change from vinyl records that popped and hissed and had to play songs in certain order.) Even better, I get to carry most of my music collection with me when I'm out for a walk. Try THAT with vinyl!

Of course maybe you still prefer records. Some do. But there are other changes you do like.

The problem with change comes when you feel forced. Strangely even when you are the one doing the forcing sometimes. But if you understand the reasons, you get a say in the process, you get to try it on for size, well then, usually change is OK. Maybe it's even great.

You Are Self-employed!

Yes you are!

Even if you have one of those things called "a job" you are self-employed. This was the central insight that turned my work life around in the 1990s. As Pam Slim said in her Declaration of Independence, "I am self employed regardless of who pays me." (See her slideshow here.)

What happens when you see yourself as self-employed is, you begin to see the work world as a market...including your employer. Look, no one is using all of your many talents and abilities. I'm guessing your job only uses a narrow sliver of what you are capable of doing. So find other markets and pitch your services to them. Yes, outside and INSIDE your employer's enterprise.

Hey check out Pam Slim's new book Escape from Cubicle Nation too. (And her blog.)

You should read these 5+ books!

Here are 5 resources that will help you make sense about change management.

The Diffusion of Innovations by Everett M. Rogers.
This is the granddaddy of change resources and one of the best business books of all time. Don't take just my word for it, that's what Inc magazine said too. This book is the bible of the field covering the innovation-decision process, adopter categories, opinion leadership, the change agent, the consequences of change, the list goes on. A must have for change managers.
Jump out idea: Too many to count!

Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want by Barbara Sher with Annie Gottlieb.
Still the best resource for people who want to make changes in their life but either don't know what they want or don't know how to proceed. This has great suggestions on how to discover your desires that you may be hiding from your self, how to deal with your own resistance, and a wonderful section on project management that is free of project management jargon. Sher doesn't even use the label project management.
Jump out idea: You don't have to have steely determination or grinning positive attitude to achieve success and get what you really want. You can have any old attitude you happen to have and any coping mechanisms you can use.

Communicating Change by TJ and Sandar Larkin
Turns many ideas about managing change in organizations on their heads. The authors advise communicating through supervisors (which makes sense...that's one reason there are supervisors). They also say to concentrate on local work areas and eschew all rah-rah and hyperbolic slogans. A readable, down-to-earth book.
Jump out idea: Keep communication simple and emphasize performance of local work areas.

Making a Living Without a Job by Barbara J. Winter
For those specifically looking to, as Pam Slim says, escape cubicle nation. Practical and inspirational ideas for striking out on your own without a job.
Jump out idea: The $100 idea. Make your idea make some money...$100.00. That will tell you more than most of your planning and introspection.

Moneyball by Michael Lewis
Ok, this one may be coming out of left field. (Please excuse the lame joke.) But really this book about the Oakland A's and Billy Beane demonstrates how change was managed by one baseball team. These changes then spread to other teams in major league baseball (MLB). Basically the world changed (salaries grew astronomically) and MLB ignored that fundamental shift for many years. Then Oakland started winning without overspending on talent. Shows how an outside force leads to change within organizations and industries. Oh, and it's a fun book.
Jump out idea: Even an organization with deeply held traditions and culture can change...but it ain't easy.

The +: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Everything you wanted to know about your resistance to personal development but were terrified to ask.
Jump out idea: It's War!

Do the obvious!

A recent news report on a diet study made a blinding flash of the obvious. If you want to lose weight - get this - eat less and move more.

NO WAY! GET OUT!

The report stated it didn't matter which diet you used. Just consume fewer calories. Do even better by getting more exercise. Oh, and to sustain your efforts, have a support system with other people.

We also know, to get better at something - anything - we need to practice. Not just practice, but practice those aspects of what we wish to improve that are difficult, if not impossible for us. It is important in those improvement efforts to have some expert guidance and the support of others.

Hey, that sounds like the dieting study.

But few people actually DO the obvious. Most people look for shortcuts. Most people do what's comfortable. Most people do the same thing over and over and expect different results. It has been pointed out that this is a form of insanity.

So because most people don't DO the obvious, few people get really, really good at anything. Most people ignore the obvious and do what's comfortable but ineffective.

Do something different! Do the obvious!

Deliberate Practice, Expert Coaching, and Enthusiastic Support

Have you ever met a STAR?

I have. Of course he wasn’t exactly a STAR when I met him.

Oh, he was well enough known at the time to young rock fans in Michigan, but not the biggest STAR even in that little niche.

The STAR was Bob Seger. This was the late 1960’s, long before the Silver Bullet Band. Long before his massive hits in soundtracks of movies like Beverly Hills Cop. Long before Risky Business when Tom Cruise took one of Seger’s old records off the shelf and danced in his tighty-whities.

I was in charge of securing acts for our dances and concerts. I was also the guy who paid those bands.

Before one of those concerts I was talking to Bob. I mentioned to him how we had to cancel a dance in the Union a week earlier when a local band canceled. Bob said, “You should have called me.”

Even then the Bob Seger System (that was his band’s name at that time) cost way more than we would make at a “sock-hop”. So I said, “Bob, you would have cost too much.”

At that Bob Seger wrote down his home phone number on a flyer and told me, “If that happens again call me at home. DO NOT CALL MY BOOKING AGENT! If I have the date open I’ll play the gig if you give me enough to pay my band and my gas to get here.” He then quoted me a price that was about the same as a local band and WAY less then his usual fee.

Stupidly, I then asked him why. “Bob, why would you do that?”

I'll never forget his answer. He said, “Look, I love to work. Doing gigs like that let’s me try out new stuff. I'd play my music for people all day and all night everyday if I could.”

Remember he only asked for enough to pay his band and for gas for his van. Bob Seger was willing to play for FREE just for the opportunity to play for an audience.

No wonder I had seen The Seger System at concert after concert and dance after dance. Bob Seger played (not just practiced) every night he could get himself in front of an audience.

In a couple of years after that Seger moved out to California and in about 5 or 6 years –BOOM - he became an overnight success.

Bob Seger knew the key to getting better, the key to success. Deliberate practice.

Practice with a goal of getting better in specific ways each time you practice.

Some other keys to success include expert coaching, to help you design and evaluate your practices. Enthusiastic support, and motivation, what Bob Seger might call the fire down below.

To find out more check out the book Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin. Also, Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers.




Also search for the work of Dr. Anders Ericsson online, especially The Making of an Expert and The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance. These are outstanding articles.

Remember, use deliberate practice, seek expert coaching, find people who will give you enthusiastic support, and get motivated.