Are you having FUN?
The night before I started my job at a big creative ad agency in London I could barely sleep I was so excited.
I'd been collecting Absolut Vodka print ads since I was 10 years old and talking about working in advertising since I was in college.
I spent five very happy years at that agency, having a lot of fun.
The week before I became a full time entrepreneur I told everyone I met.
I was so excited to get to focus on my business full time and get to finally do the projects I'd had to…
Does work have to feel like work?
Last week was officially my first week as a full time entrepreneur.
I'm CEO of my entire life. It's awesome.
But let me let you in on a little secret: it's still work.
There are problems I don't yet know how to solve. Some parts are less fun than others. There's always room for improvement.
Work will always be work.
The question to focus on is rather, do you like the process of doing the work? Are you motivated by improving? Are you committed to the impact you're making?
No matter where you are or …
How to keep your standards high
"Don't ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn't." Michelle Obama
When you're building your career in a new direction, you're going to create a sketch, a compass for where you want to go. With my clients this is called your North Star and it's based on your strengths, interests, and lifestyle priorities.
But you're not going to know all the steps to get there. You're not going to know exactl…
How to create your own luck
It’s easy to get discouraged when people tell you “I just got really lucky” in the context of starting a business or finding a unique job opportunity.
While there are certainly cases of genuine, out of the blue, luck - winning the lottery, for example - for the most part, it is possible to create your own luck.
You do this by creating the space and the conditions for luck to appear.
Here’s an example.
When I was doing my MBA I became fascinated by ’smart cities’ and the ‘internet…
Stop trying to be The Best
Have you ever quit something because you weren't The Best? I have.
I've thought:
There’s people who are better than me at advertising.
I’ll never win any awards as a marketer.
So… what’s a better fit for me?
These are the wrong thoughts to focus on.
While, developing excellence in something is important. Your ability to be successful is not determined simply by being the best amongst your peers…
In fact, the most successful people get that way not through an innately born tale…
Don't attach identity to institutions
One of the reasons I found it so hard to transition out of advertising is because I’d attached my identity to the agency I worked at and the London ad industry in general.
And when the industry became a place I no longer saw my future, I didn’t know what came next.
As I moved to new roles and new cities, I found myself living in the past, constantly comparing my current situation to my former and finding it lacking.
Not a great place to live from.
The thing is, we aren’t defined by…
The price of certainty
Are you waiting to make a career move until you’re certain?
Are you waiting to see all the steps laid out in front of you like a set of instructions?
Are you waiting for that bolt of lightening, that hand of god, that head-over-heels in love feeling that you’ve met THE ONE true and perfect calling in life?
Too often passion is described as something you innately know about yourself. “From a young age, Sonya loved music”
It implies there was a certainty.
And when you’re lookin…
The Perils of Flying Solo
I used to think that 'successful' people were ‘smart enough’ to figure things out for themselves. So I spent years doing hard things mostly on my own, like:
Negotiating a promotion.
Navigating a career change.
Deciding to end a relationship.
Maybe I’d ask a friend or peer for their opinion along the way, but for the most part, I was single-handedly forging my path through life.
The thing is, when you try and do everything yourself you're limited to your skills, your frame of refere…
The best kept secret: Portfolio Careers
Those people with slashes in their title always used to annoy me. (Think: Model/Entrepreneur)
But then I became one. (Marketer/Life Coach)
And in doing so I realized, a “portfolio career” (one where you have multiple revenue streams and thus, a slash) is actually one of the best kept secrets to career success and happiness.
It allows you to express the richness of you.
Because you are more than you current job. You have other strengths and interests and priorities.
And we’re se…
When I realized what I was doing was not a good long-term fit, I would spiral into deep negativity and frustration - about the work and the people. This would cloud my mind and make every day at work painful.
And in this pain, I'd be looking for a way to get out ASAP.
Which would then land me in yet another environment that was not a great fit.
A vicious cycle.