Wanderlust and Words

It is all too easy for me to focus on the contracts I didn’t get or the skills I don’t have. Seth Godin’s blog post , challenging his readers to identify and celebrate what they had shipped in the past year, was refreshing. And an eye-opener. I have accomplished a great deal in the past year. Here are my top five achievements for 2010. What are yours? 1. Content analysis and substantive editing of a book : The Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit (SPHERU) hired me to edit 15 cases studies that they plan to include in a KT [knowledge translation] Casebook. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the writers to identify gaps in the content and structure of their case studies, to focus attention on KT, and to ensure consistency. As someone who loves books and has tremendous admiration for the people who write and publish them, it was fantastic to be part of the publishing process. 2. An accreditation module (handbook and workshop) on communications for senior educ...

I used to take a lot of pride in my job title. It was effective shorthand for demonstrating to myself and other people what I had accomplished. Going out on my own and establishing a freelance business involved taking a risk. Expanding my business is even more frightening. But it always revolves around the same question: How brave am I? Am I prepared to risk failure? And, perhaps even more important, what will other people think? I am filled with admiration for people who are so driven by passion that they stop at nothing to achieve results. Charlie Hamilton James has been photographing kingfishers for over 20 years. He skipped school to photograph them. He’s prepared to spend motionless days in a hide or a pit in the ground in order to try and obtain the perfect shot. And his obsession has paid off. The photographs in his book, Kingfisher – Tales from the Halcyon River , are absolutely fantastic. Wildlife photographer Greg du Toit was determined to capture the perfect photograph...

I will be posting flavourful, bite-sized pieces of information about communications on Twitter. You can follow me at http://twitter.com/PennyMcKinlay . Photo courtesy of www.madrid-guide-spain.com .

I am feeling really pumped today because I’ve received four new contracts in the past week. And some of them are really exciting ones that will not only take advantage of current skills but also push me to develop new knowledge and expertise. Freelancing is forcing me to believe in myself and to put myself forward. There are no fallback positions. If I don’t get out there and promote myself, I won’t make any money. It’s a multi-faceted process. I have to clearly identify my skills and interests in my own mind. Then I have to work out ways to tell people about my skills and emphasize ways in which I can help them to succeed. And once I get a contract, I have to sit down and actually do the work – even if it takes me outside my comfort zone. I have to be prepared to invest in myself by buying books or taking courses. I can’t rely on other people’s judgment of my abilities. I have to be persistently optimistic, always reaching for the stars. There is no steady pay cheque, no statutory ...

Ron Ashkenas wrote an interesting article for the Harvard Business Review. He recommends firing yourself from your job, re-evaluating the job requirements and deciding what you would do if you were coming into the job fresh. “First, take a deep breath and fire yourself. That's right — take yourself out of your job so that you'll get some distance from it. Second, consider what you would do to reapply for your job. What are your qualifications? What would you say in an interview about the changes you would make and the improvements you would engineer? What unique "stamp" would you put on this new job? How do you feel about the business strategy and the quality of the leadership team? What would you change?” The holidays have given me the opportunity to sit back and assess not only how I am building my freelance business but also how I am choosing to live my life, and I’m going to try and refocus my energy in the new year. Flexibility I’ve realized that althoug...

I have been pouring a great deal of energy and emotion this past year into establishing myself as a freelance consultant. Paul Graham’s blog posting on What Startups Are Really Like was very reassuring as it demonstrated that I am not alone and that the challenges I am facing are faced by every entrepreneur. Graham says that startups take over your life and are an emotional rollercoaster. He also emphasizes that you have to be persistent and think long term. You have to view your startup idea as a hypothesis and be flexible as it may need to be changed. Luck is a big factor: success depends on skill, determination – and luck. Graham says that people are often surprised by their freelance/startup experience because it’s not like a job. “Everyone's model of work is a job. It's completely pervasive. Even if you've never had a job, your parents probably did, along with practically every other adult you've met. Unconsciously, everyone expects a startup to be like a job,...