AnywhereMan

I’ve been reading Seth Godin‘s “Linchpin” at a surprisingly slow pace. It’s not because it’s a bad book, it’s just because each little section in it is just so good and I’d be missing out on so much by reading it too quickly. I’ve got this book earmarked all over the place!

In the book, Godin discusses the idea of the resistance. This includes habits, emotions, and other barriers that keep us from truly becoming more than just a cog in the corporate machine. Today I talk about one of those barriers: fear.

So, what are you afraid of?

A big thank-you to @MichaelHyatt for the book!

You career is going to have seasons of ups and downs, and the downs become much more enjoyable if we know that the ups are destined to return.

Back in the Bell canoe for 2010 summer paddling season!

Don’t take that title the wrong way. I love what I do and where I do it. The Anywhere Lifestyle wins hands-down over the cubicle lifestyle 99 out of 100 times in my book.

But sometimes there are minor things I miss about my days working in an office environment…sort of. This is my tribute to those days and those people.

1 – Talking about football on Monday mornings

Wherever I’ve worked, most of the people there have been Vikings fans. Monday morning conversations have either helped soothe the wound of a wicked loss or sweeten the taste of a hard-fought victory for the purple. Now that I’m on my own, I’ve suppressed my emotions after the 31-28 loss to the Saints in the NFC championship game this past season. You know I’m headed for a complete breakdown at some point.

2 – Having people to laugh at YouTube videos with me

I can do a perfect imitation of the look on my wife’s face when I tell her to come and watch something funny on YouTube. She knows two things: 1) It’s going to be stupid, and 2) I’m going to laugh way harder than she is. This was not the case with my co-workers back in the office days. It was all funny, all the time.

3 – The intercom system

My years spent working for Vencio in St. Paul had all of the main staff working in one big front office area. We each had a cubicle but could talk to each other without leaving our desks. Yet, when we got a new phone system and it included intercom functionality, you just had to use it even if you were mere feet away from each other. Intercom systems are awesome.

4 – Inside jokes

Uhhhhh, intercom systems are awesome. Yeah. Fart machine.

5 – The camaraderie of sharing experiences that don’t make sense

Things happen that you’d never believe unless you had co-workers there to experience them with you.  Once, a gentleman walked in and asked if we made websites, which we did. He then proceeded to tell us what he needed. Sounded good. Then he told us it was for a particular “adult” website. Sorry, sir, out of luck here.

Seriously, why would you go to a web development company in person to ask about something like that??? Phone and email are just fine, buddy.

6 – Games

This actually gave me the idea for this post. My wife and I watched the Season 3 episode of The Office when Jim was working at the Stamford branch. He and his co-workers would spend time playing against each other in a first-person shoot-em-up computer game. I’ve done that a few times. We had a basketball hoop behind the building at one point too. It was fun when we all would realize at the same time how pathetic we were.

7 – Friday afternoons

There’s something enjoyable about getting ready to leave for the weekend that puts everyone in a good mood. I had a co-worker that always cranked up the same song every Friday at around 4 PM. We always knew it was coming. We pretended to be annoyed, but it was a celebration of about-to-get-out-of-here-ness. We usually accompanied it with a good bit of fart machine as well.

8 – Co-workers that make you go huh

At every company I’ve ever worked for, there’s always been at least one employee that makes everyone else just go “huh.” Just think about your time in an office. There’s always someone who is just a little on the whacky side and you feel kind of lucky to have experienced their views on life and nicotine-addicted deer.

Is there anything you miss about your days in the cubicle? Or do you get all of the above situations at home already?

I have no idea how to accurately title this post. Last night I was going through some of the amazing videos on Vimeo’s Documentary channel and came across this one. Just watch it (it’s about 5 minutes long) and comment back with any words you can think of to describe it.

Whatever you’d call this, it inspires me to ignore temporary or even permanent setbacks in pursuit of an end goal. Kudos to Sean Mullens for a well-done mini-documentary.

“It’s not a pink slip. It’s a blank page”

Last night I finally sat down and watched “Lemonade,” a documentary about several different advertising professionals who were laid off by their respective agencies and used the opportunity to focus on turning their passions into careers. The 35-minute film itself was produced by one of the professionals in the film.

If you have any entrepreneurial spirit whatsoever (which I think many of you do), you need to see this film. Whether or not you have a job with an employer, the spirit and passion that these people used to turn a seemingly negative situation into motivation to succeed at their own venture is incredibly inspirational.

It’s a quick film (35 minutes), but it packs a lot of punch. It’s almost like watching a film version of Gary Vaynerchuk‘s “Crush It,” which is a short book but really pumps you up to chase your passions. I think there are so many different stories in the film that you’re bound to relate to at least one of the featured individuals. The guy who created the film itself started a blog/job board for laid-off advertising pros called Please Feed the Animals, and I found myself really relating to him. Now, I haven’t been laid off before, but I am passionate about blogging and video.

My Response

One thing my wife and I discussed after viewing this: People with a marketing background definitely have a leg-up when it comes to starting their own venture and making it known to the world. Many of them are web-savy and know how people respond to various approaches of advertising. Many times the business ideas are the easy part. It’s getting the ideas/products out to the general public that takes the most creative muscle.

With that in mind, one of the things I’ve recently started doing in my spare time is starting “mini-businesses.” These are basically products/services for which I can create an entire web presence in a day or less. I’m also looking at offering this type of service to clients (especially startups like the folks in this film, but not necessarily advertising pros) through yet another mini-business.

I’ve been doing some video documentation on this process, so be sure to come back soon for details on how I’ve been starting these mini-businesses in a rapid deployment manner. I’m a big proponent of throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks. This is my attempt at forcing myself to do it on a regular basis.

Two Thumbs Up

I definitely recommend seeing this short film. In fact, you can watch in right now, right here! Here’s an embed of the full-film from Hulu:

Take the time to watch this film, be inspired, and then report back with your thoughts. If you’ve seen it already, what did you think?

SPOILER ALERT: One featured individual used his layoff as an opportunity to turn himself into a woman, but I’m guessing most of you won’t go down that path.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Lemonade: a short film about creative unemployment (core77.com)

I recently came across this video on a YouTube channel for EmployAid.  Some good content on how to talk with your boss about a possible telecommute arrangement, but even better acting. Enjoy!

Apologies for the lack of posts here on AnywhereMan this week. Projects, Christmas preparations, and family have been consuming my time. I hope that your holiday plans are going well, everyone!

I love that I get to live where I do.

Winter isn’t my favorite time of the year, but on days like the one when I filmed this, it sure is beautiful. I also like being able to adjust my work schedule to work on building new skills, such as filming and editing.

I’m a freelancer. I’m also a husband and a father.  My wife stays at home with our kids and she’s a great mom. Sometimes she needs to get out of the house to get groceries, take pictures, or go for a run. It’s been nice for her that I’m usually at home to keep an eye on the kids so she doesn’t need to load them up and bring them with. 

I know that many of you are parents, and if your kids are pre-school age, this is yet another advantage of the Work Anywhere lifestyle.  While working from home definitely has its negative aspects, being available as a part-time daycare provider has been a good thing.

Obviously my kids agree. I’m like a human jungle gym.

NOTE: Sorry about the crappy audio on this one again. The level meter says I’m okay, but something is distorting the signal. Might be time for a clip on mic.

I posted this quote by Epictetus on my Twitter account today just as a reminder of how so much of life is how we react and adapt to the situations thrown at us.  The more I think about it, the more I see this can really be applied to our lives as Anywhere People as well. 

In these days of crappy economies, bailouts, and layoffs (in the USA at least), many people are being thrown into situations where they are out of a job and are forced to do what they can to pay their bills and earn a living.  I agree with what the folks at Outright call it on one of their blogs: “Unintentional Entrepreneur”.  That about sums it up perfectly!

Many people out there are without jobs right now. As a freelancer, I often feel as if I have to find a new “job” every month in the form of a new project or new client.  But getting discouraged NEVER does any good. Sure, millions of people are totally getting the short end of the stick right now, and we should voice our displeasure with these things. However, look forward: You STILL have abilities, skills, talents, aptitudes, creativity, etc. 

I honestly believe that the best kind of innovation comes in the form of grass-roots entrepreneurial movements.  Focus! Innovate! Create! Do what you do best, do it some more, and you’ll figure out how to make money doing it.

I echo Gary Vaynerchuk’s sentiments exactly: Wipe the tears away, get out there, and Crush It!

Let’s make the move from corporate-driven back to entrepreneur-driven economies.