Category: Expectations
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Be mindful of what you look for, because you might find it
During the first few weeks Terry Crews was on set for The Expendables, he felt miserable. While the actors were in the major action scenes, his character was playing a minor role. He was brought in as a replacement for Wesley Snipes, and chosen for the role because of his muscles. He sat around in…
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Realistic vs. dream jobs
When you’re choosing to commit to a client or employer, your realistic option may actually be a worse fit for you than your dream option. There are all sorts of reasons for this. For example, if you’re looking for a new client, maybe you have more in common with your dream client—shared references, experiences, values,…
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A letter from the past
8 years ago, I wrote a letter to my 35-year-old self. I expected to find it embarrassing (some of it is!), so I was surprised to find that there was some good stuff in there. I really emphasized, “Your opinion of you is really the only [thing] that matters.” In a way, I told myself…
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Old friends
Old friends know the past versions of you very well. However, those experiences and images make it difficult for them to see new versions of you. If they are opposed to change, and don’t want to lose you as a friend, your desire to grow in a different direction will feel painful to them. They…
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Ambition demands sacrifice
In How to Get Rich, Felix Dennis makes the case that unless your demons are driving you to get rich, you should probably not try it. He writes, “Whether the sacrifices involved – not only your own, but those you will ask of your family, present or future – are worth the tyranny that such…
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“Return on Investment”
One key to surviving in business is to make sure the money you put into it is producing (or going to produce) a larger amount of money. There are a lot of ways to measure this—one simple one is known as “Return on Investment” (ROI for short). The calculation is simple: “Net Return” divided by…
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Record, rewrite, rehearse
The next time you prepare for a job interview (or sales call, important meeting, etc.), take a few minutes to recall previous job interviews and note the common questions. Anticipate some new upcoming questions and write them down. Record yourself answering each question out loud. Listen to your answers. How does each answer sound? What…
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A well-rounded creative practice
When you get better at what you do, you’re also becoming more critical of it. You analyze what’s not working, or what doesn’t feel right, and you improve it. It’s a happy working arrangement until the critical aspect of you gets too much influence. It knows it’s important because its taste is keeping you in…
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Optional prerequisites
On your first few trips to the gym, you’re trying to figure how much weight you can actually lift. (Or how fast you can run, how fast you can swim, how deep you can stretch, etc.) One good principle to adhere to is to lift what you can lift. You start light, and see what…
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A regular amount of effort
One of the most helpful, and hopefully the earliest, pieces of advice every writer comes across is to aim for a shitty first draft. That’s because sometimes, when you wait too long to do something—or when you only have one opening per week to do it—you feel like it becomes more precious. Your expectations of…