Boundless #20: Beanie Babies, Writing Tools & Bullshit Jobs (do you have one?)
Thank you to Tricia, new Patron on Patreon - you are incredible!
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Doing things that don't make sense
I attended the World Domination Summit in June, which was a pretty incredible experience. It was an effective way to meet a bunch of people who are carving different paths in the world and making it up as they go.
I attended a writing workshop there where we hard to write something answering the prompt, "when was a time you think of when you hear the word greed?" Of course, my first reaction was to think about beanie babies and how crazed I got for about a year in the late 1990's. That got me thinking about all the silly things we do in our childhood that might not make sense and how we try to abandon that as we get older.
I close with a thought:
"Taking the leap to self-employment and exploring my creative side over the past few years, I have unlocked that silly side of myself I didn’t realize was locked away. Creating things that don’t seem to make sense. Writing to see what comes out (like this piece). Creating things on the internet without any intent to “scale.” Helping people without any expectation of payback."
If you still have your own beanie baby collection, you should read the full essay and let me know what you think.
Reads - Two Things That Challenged My Thinking Worth Reading
#1 Bullshit Jobs: I just finished “Bullshit Jobs” by David Graeber and it is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I may be biased because of the topic, but his holistic look at how we ended up in such a weird state of affairs in our economy and working world is a delight. Funny, insightful, sad and deep. (also see his original long-form post from 2013). Graeber defines a bullshit job as follows:
“A bullshit job is a form of employment that is so completely pointless, unnecessary, or pernicious that even the employee cannot justify its existence even though the employee feels obliged to pretend that this is not the case.”
About 40% of people that he has surveyed across the world volunteer that they are in such predicaments. As I reflect on some of my jobs in consulting, I am faced with the unavoidable reality that some of my roles would certainly qualify. This has made me assess who is doing the meaningful work and I come to have more appreciation for teachers, social workers, and service workers who do the human-to-human emotional labor that keeps things moving in the world (and Graeber agrees are not BS jobs).
#2 Anticareerists: Andrew Taggart makes the compelling case for being an “anti-careerist” which complements Graeber’s work. I’ve written about how pervasive the tendency to ask kids what they want to be and I love this suggestion for an alternative:
“We should stop asking our children what they want to be when they grow up. It’s a pernicious question. And we should want to live in a world where the pin-you-down question, “What do you do?” is seen as so terribly vulgar that it’s not worthy of serious consideration. We should kill that question as well.”
BoundlessPod - Summer Updates
Paul provides a summer update:
Shifting the podcast from making sense of the future of work => "The Human Side Of The Future Of Work" (if you want to help make the artwork (for $$), e-mail me!
Early lessons from the digital course experiment, Solopreneur Shift
I'm moving to Asia....”
Itunes • Stitcher • Spotify • Google Play • Overcast • Player FM
FREE TOOL - Have a hard time getting started writing?
I discovered a new tool in the past week called "The Most Dangerous Writing App" which forces you to keep writing for a period of time which you set, otherwise it deletes everything you write.
I encourage anyone who feels "stuck" to try this just to dump thoughts out there on the page. I used this a couple times and was able to pull together this piece on writing in public without looking like a fool in less than 30 minutes.
Link => The Most Dangerous Writing App
(If you use it, let me know and I'll share your writing here!)
Support Boundless Through Micro-Donations
Since going out on my own, I have been averse to the idea of "building a business" and "monetizing" my work. I am driven by helping others and try to devote my energy to being generous and creative - wherever that takes me. When I create tools like the Freelance Target Income Calculator, I want to get it into as many hands as possible.
I have embraced Patreon as an experiment for people to support me in continuing to do this work. Think about it as Kickstarter for creators, but focused on supporting one's life.
If you want to offer a gift of $1 a month, I will blast your name at the top of the next e-mail!
Become A Patron / One-Time Donation
#ICYMI - Below The Fold
Writing
Podcast Episodes:
Tony Triumph on growing up entrepreneurial and moving to NYC with $300
Rohan Rajiv on 3500+ daily blog posts
Luke Kanies on his journey from commune to CEO and why people hate working for big companies
Candace Moore on building a global yoga brand
Stephen Warley on self employment & the future of work
Nita Baum on how to be "free" and self-employed (Episode 18)
Damien Peters, financial blogger, on building a remote business from Spain (Episode 16)
Connor Gillivan on entrepreneurship, selling on Amazon and working with freelancers (Episode 15)
Jen Morilla on breaking plates and traveling the world with purpose (Episode 14)
Romy Rost on leadership, freelancing & coaching as a skill (Episode 13)
Tanya Alvarez on resilience, entrepreneurship & community (Episode 12)
Pauri Pandian – Tennis as a career, coaching & healthy masculinity (Episode 11)
Free Tools:
Career Transition Playbook: A 50+ page workbook that will help you take action on a massive change in your career and your direction