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© Copyright 2006 Susan Henderson Coaching
360-265-2838
coach@susanhenderson.com
coach@susanhenderson.com
The Successful Dilettante
October 20, 2006 Issue 8
Editor: Susan Henderson, coach@susanhenderson.com
Visit our website at: http://www.susanhenderson.com
The Successful Dilettante, published on the 5th and 20th of each month, is sent only to those who have requested it - or was forwarded to you by someone you know. I value your privacy and never share my mailing list with anyone. If a copy has been forwarded to you by a friend or colleague and you wish to Subscribe, please visit my website and subscribe here.
=============================================================
Greetings!
A very warm and 'hearty' welcome to both old and new subscribers. Thanks for sharing my ezine with your colleagues and friends. Our tribe is growing by leaps and bounds. I would love to start hearing from you and have now made it easier to do so by creating a blog where all Issues of this ezine are available for viewing and comment. Just go to www.thesuccessfuldilettante.com. I also invite you to email me directly and tell me about yourself -- your challenges and successes with becoming a Successful Dilettante. Or share a resource or book you think we might all enjoy. I will never print your name or comments received in a private email directly without your permission.
============================================================
To Blog or Not To Blog?
I have to admit that it took me a long time to "get" what blogging is all about. But that question kept popping up for me. Finally, I bought a highly recommended book by Andy Wibbels titled Blogwild!, skimmed through it, and set it aside for "later". Then early this month, I attended a monthly teleseminar sponsored by www.buildyouridealpractice.com (complimentary to subscribers of their ezine). This one was titled: How to Blog for Fun, Prospects, and Profits. The featured guest was Denise Wakeman of ww.blogsquad.biz. She presented the information in a way that was easy to understand, I got excited, and decided to take the plunge.
I fished out, dusted off, and read Blogwild! and this time when I got to the chapter that takes you step by step through setting up a blog with www.Typepad.com, I just did it. And, in fact, I got so excited I set up three blogs. The first one is mentioned above in the "Greetings!" section. It is a place for me to archive issues of this ezine, but more importantly allows readers to comment on what they have read.
The second blog, Sara Gets a Coach , allows the reader to follow along as I coach my client Sara in making her dream of a rich, multi-textured life as a successful dilettante a reality. "Sara" is a fictionalized compilation of clients I have served, as well as my own alter ego (another story in itself that I will share on the blog). The purpose behind this blog is for you to get a feel and taste of what it is like to be coached. It will follow the process from the initial contact and move on through the weekly sessions.
Then because I have read again and again that it is important to let people get to know the person behind a business better in order to "know, like, and trust you", I decided to set up a blog called Diary of a Dilettante for those who might be curious about the "ramblings, raves, and reflections of a woman in the prime of her life and loving it." This one scares the bejeepers out of me the most and kind of taps into what I thought blogs were about before I became more enlightened about them: narcissistic blather from people compelled to spill their guts to the world. Yikes. Pretty harsh, huh? But now I see it as the way to show that I walk my talk and can share my own processes and challenges of becoming a successful dilettante (it is an ongoing and mostly joyful process). And just maybe it will help someone.
=============================================================
Featured Guest: Rachelle Chase
Do you know how sometimes you meet someone and you are instantly attracted to their joy of living? And you sense they are in the right place at the right time doing what they love to do? Well, that's how I feel about Rachelle and we have only met by phone and email… so far. She has generously opened herself up in sharing her process and zig-zaggy path to how she got to where she is now. She is a smart, funny, deeply caring individual who works very hard, yet has designed her life in a way to include a balance of rest, recreation and fun. In between writing her current book and fantasizing about the next one, she takes the occasional modeling gig, and works as a business consultant in the unromantic, though sometimes comic, corporate world. And when she can squeeze it in, she crams whatever clothing will fit in a backpack and takes off. Her favorite trips include a 3-week, 26-city jaunt through Italy, travel writing in France, and a trip to the Costa Chica region in Mexico to research a recent book project, a romantic comedy titled Running Away. Let's begin.
Q: Rachelle, how did you come to live the life you enjoy so much today?
By being open. I've never said, "I will only do such-and-such." When I start out in one direction and opportunities that excite me - and that will add more skills to my tool belt - come my way, I take them. For example, I was a pre-med major in college, but by the time I graduated, I knew I didn't want to be a doctor. The positions I interviewed for included medical sales rep, entry-level biologist - neither of which excited me. Then, I stumbled upon a listing for a computer programmer trainee. I'd taken a programming class my last year of college and loved it, so I interviewed and was hired.
Thus, excluding a couple of short forays into other careers, I began my IT career - programmer, instructor, technical lead, technical supervisor - with various companies. When the company I was working for was facing financial problems and trying to avoid layoffs, I volunteered to be laid off (they were offering a fantastic package), but no go. So I begged and pleaded for a 1-month sabbatical. I got it, and planned to work on a non-fiction book idea I'd had on my mind. But, while searching for ethnic clip art for my logo - which I found to be nearly non-existent - I stumbled across a small company that made clip art featuring people of color. I thought, "Wow, if I’m looking for this, others must be." The book went on the backburner and a mail order business, specializing in ethnic software products, was born.
Fast forward five years later, when burnout set in and the struggle to make the business profitable seemed overwhelming. I got out. While trying to figure out what was next, I looked at job openings and saw one for a business consultant. Could I leverage what I’d learned in my tiny business into a job consulting large companies? I interviewed, corporate America seemed to think I could, and my consulting career began.
While I enjoyed consulting, it wasn't enough. I didn’t feel the passion I felt running my own business, or when I was climbing the IT ladder. So in 2000, I sold my house and a few years later, sold my car, thereby reducing my expenses and gaining financial freedom to explore. I'd work for 6-8 months, then take 4-6 months off. During the off periods, I explored what I wanted to do with the next phase of my life. Nursing? I became a certified Nursing Assistant and worked in a hospital. I was on a floor where patients would never be going home, who were hooked up to every machine imaginable to keep them alive. It was the most stressful job I’ve ever had, leaving me depressed and in tears every night. Nursing was out.
Real Estate Appraisal? I studied, passed the class … then decided I did not like it enough to apprentice for a year. Occupational Therapy? I volunteered at a hand clinic but … the passion wasn’t there. Activity Director? I volunteered at a nursing home for the elderly. I loved it but could not make the salary work.
Long story short, I stumbled across an ad on Craigslist.org featuring a casting call for a Birkenstocks shoe model. "That looks like fun," I thought so I auditioned. I didn't get it but it led to a tiny part in a music video, billboards for a bank, national product packaging for a major headset manufacturer, and more. So, my modeling career was launched at 40 years old, while an ad for an online writing class resulted in me enrolling, which led to the discovery that I had some talent, which launched my writing career.
So now, I consult, model, and write simultaneously part of the year, then just model and write the other part. This is what gives me passion during this phase of my life.
One last note: In the past, before I launched my business, I didn't realize I was the happiest with multiple "careers." I thought I just needed change in my life. I'd give my 200% to my job then, when it became boring and/or I was no longer challenged after a year, I'd take a job at a new company or do what it took to get a promotion When I launched my business and found myself doing everything - marketing, order fulfillment, product development, PR, web design, catalog design, etc. - I loved it. The variety energized me.
Q: How do you balance your multiple interests into a meaningful career? Do you make a plan?
Yes. My days are spent consulting; my nights (and some early mornings), and weekends are spent on my writing tasks. The modeling is sporadic, so when my agent calls with an opportunity, I fit it into my schedule.
My writing career has a zillion tasks. In addition to writing, there's promotion, marketing, book signings, web site updates, new book proposals, blogging, newsletter production, etc. So I have to plan what needs to get done each month, then break those big items down to tasks that need to be done each week, then assign those tasks to days. I do the same thing for the consulting, as sometimes I’m working on multiple projects for a single client. I use Microsoft Project to track deadlines. To assist me with the task level planning, I love the planners created by Planner Pads https://plannerpads.com/concept.asp.
Q: Have you had any mentors?
(1) My parents. My mom was instrumental to my emotional development, while my dad was instrumental to my mental. Among many other things, my dad taught me to believe in myself, to take responsibility for my actions, and my mom taught me to take risks, as well as the true meaning of selflessness. They both taught me to always strive to be a good person.
(2) My siblings. My sister has shown me how to have fun, as well as how to be nonjudgmental when I didn't even realize I was being so, while my brother has taught me patience.
There are no better mentors to me than my family. I would not be who I am today without them.
Q: What tips or advice can you share with my readers?
Dream big. Don’t set limitations. Just do it, even when you're scared. Taking that first step is the hardest. But when you take it and succeed, then take another and succeed, it builds your self-confidence, empowering and motivating you to take even bigger steps. It also helps you to accept "failure." Because as your self-confidence builds, when setbacks or perceived "failure" occurs, the hardships you faced in attaining your successes convince you that you will successfully get through your "failures," too. And, when you look back at all the "failures," you realize they were not failures at all - that they were catalysts that launched you in a new direction. Which gives you the courage to take another risk, risk another "failure." It's an endless, exciting loop.
One of my big "failures" that comes to my mind is the small mail order business I mentioned previously. When I gave up the struggle to make it profitable, I perceived that as a double-failure. One, that I had "given up" and two, that I had failed to make it successful. In actuality, the experience I gained while running my small business launched my career as a business analyst to Fortune 500 companies, which has allowed me to take 4-6 months off annually.
So, execute your plan, go after your dreams - and don't let fear stop you. I’m always scared, because each dream is always bigger or a step into new territory. But I’m also always excited when I'm pursuing something I'm passionate about. And that feeling - the sense of purpose, accomplishment, the feeling of being ALIVE, and turning fantasy into reality - makes the risk worth it.
Rachelle Chase lives, laughs, plays, and writes erotic romance novels in beautiful San Francisco. Her first published erotic romance novella, Out of Control, appeared in Secrets Volume 13 in July 2005. Next year, The Sex Lounge (May 2007), and The Sin Club (December 2007), will be released by Kensington in the Aphrodisia line. For more information about the author and her current projects, please visit her at: http://www.rachellechase.com or email: rachelle@rachellechase.com
=============================================================
If you would like to learn more about if and how Susan Henderson Coaching might be able to help you achieve your desired results, please contact me to set up a time to talk. We will start with a complimentary phone conversation where I can learn more about your current situation and goals. I will also answer any questions you may have about me, how I work with clients, and the coaching process. If we both feel the coaching relationship is a good fit, we will move on from there.
Click here for contact information
==============================================================
© 2006 Susan Henderson, All rights reserved.
You may copy, forward or distribute The Successful Dilettante if this copyright notice and full information for contacting Susan Henderson are included. Contact her at:
http://www.susanhenderson.com or email to: coach@susanhenderson.com
Please fill free to share this ezine with your colleagues, friends, or family.
October 20, 2006 Issue 8
Editor: Susan Henderson, coach@susanhenderson.com
Visit our website at: http://www.susanhenderson.com
The Successful Dilettante, published on the 5th and 20th of each month, is sent only to those who have requested it - or was forwarded to you by someone you know. I value your privacy and never share my mailing list with anyone. If a copy has been forwarded to you by a friend or colleague and you wish to Subscribe, please visit my website and subscribe here.
=============================================================
Greetings!
A very warm and 'hearty' welcome to both old and new subscribers. Thanks for sharing my ezine with your colleagues and friends. Our tribe is growing by leaps and bounds. I would love to start hearing from you and have now made it easier to do so by creating a blog where all Issues of this ezine are available for viewing and comment. Just go to www.thesuccessfuldilettante.com. I also invite you to email me directly and tell me about yourself -- your challenges and successes with becoming a Successful Dilettante. Or share a resource or book you think we might all enjoy. I will never print your name or comments received in a private email directly without your permission.
============================================================
To Blog or Not To Blog?
I have to admit that it took me a long time to "get" what blogging is all about. But that question kept popping up for me. Finally, I bought a highly recommended book by Andy Wibbels titled Blogwild!, skimmed through it, and set it aside for "later". Then early this month, I attended a monthly teleseminar sponsored by www.buildyouridealpractice.com (complimentary to subscribers of their ezine). This one was titled: How to Blog for Fun, Prospects, and Profits. The featured guest was Denise Wakeman of ww.blogsquad.biz. She presented the information in a way that was easy to understand, I got excited, and decided to take the plunge.
I fished out, dusted off, and read Blogwild! and this time when I got to the chapter that takes you step by step through setting up a blog with www.Typepad.com, I just did it. And, in fact, I got so excited I set up three blogs. The first one is mentioned above in the "Greetings!" section. It is a place for me to archive issues of this ezine, but more importantly allows readers to comment on what they have read.
The second blog, Sara Gets a Coach , allows the reader to follow along as I coach my client Sara in making her dream of a rich, multi-textured life as a successful dilettante a reality. "Sara" is a fictionalized compilation of clients I have served, as well as my own alter ego (another story in itself that I will share on the blog). The purpose behind this blog is for you to get a feel and taste of what it is like to be coached. It will follow the process from the initial contact and move on through the weekly sessions.
Then because I have read again and again that it is important to let people get to know the person behind a business better in order to "know, like, and trust you", I decided to set up a blog called Diary of a Dilettante for those who might be curious about the "ramblings, raves, and reflections of a woman in the prime of her life and loving it." This one scares the bejeepers out of me the most and kind of taps into what I thought blogs were about before I became more enlightened about them: narcissistic blather from people compelled to spill their guts to the world. Yikes. Pretty harsh, huh? But now I see it as the way to show that I walk my talk and can share my own processes and challenges of becoming a successful dilettante (it is an ongoing and mostly joyful process). And just maybe it will help someone.
=============================================================
Featured Guest: Rachelle Chase
Do you know how sometimes you meet someone and you are instantly attracted to their joy of living? And you sense they are in the right place at the right time doing what they love to do? Well, that's how I feel about Rachelle and we have only met by phone and email… so far. She has generously opened herself up in sharing her process and zig-zaggy path to how she got to where she is now. She is a smart, funny, deeply caring individual who works very hard, yet has designed her life in a way to include a balance of rest, recreation and fun. In between writing her current book and fantasizing about the next one, she takes the occasional modeling gig, and works as a business consultant in the unromantic, though sometimes comic, corporate world. And when she can squeeze it in, she crams whatever clothing will fit in a backpack and takes off. Her favorite trips include a 3-week, 26-city jaunt through Italy, travel writing in France, and a trip to the Costa Chica region in Mexico to research a recent book project, a romantic comedy titled Running Away. Let's begin.
Q: Rachelle, how did you come to live the life you enjoy so much today?
By being open. I've never said, "I will only do such-and-such." When I start out in one direction and opportunities that excite me - and that will add more skills to my tool belt - come my way, I take them. For example, I was a pre-med major in college, but by the time I graduated, I knew I didn't want to be a doctor. The positions I interviewed for included medical sales rep, entry-level biologist - neither of which excited me. Then, I stumbled upon a listing for a computer programmer trainee. I'd taken a programming class my last year of college and loved it, so I interviewed and was hired.
Thus, excluding a couple of short forays into other careers, I began my IT career - programmer, instructor, technical lead, technical supervisor - with various companies. When the company I was working for was facing financial problems and trying to avoid layoffs, I volunteered to be laid off (they were offering a fantastic package), but no go. So I begged and pleaded for a 1-month sabbatical. I got it, and planned to work on a non-fiction book idea I'd had on my mind. But, while searching for ethnic clip art for my logo - which I found to be nearly non-existent - I stumbled across a small company that made clip art featuring people of color. I thought, "Wow, if I’m looking for this, others must be." The book went on the backburner and a mail order business, specializing in ethnic software products, was born.
Fast forward five years later, when burnout set in and the struggle to make the business profitable seemed overwhelming. I got out. While trying to figure out what was next, I looked at job openings and saw one for a business consultant. Could I leverage what I’d learned in my tiny business into a job consulting large companies? I interviewed, corporate America seemed to think I could, and my consulting career began.
While I enjoyed consulting, it wasn't enough. I didn’t feel the passion I felt running my own business, or when I was climbing the IT ladder. So in 2000, I sold my house and a few years later, sold my car, thereby reducing my expenses and gaining financial freedom to explore. I'd work for 6-8 months, then take 4-6 months off. During the off periods, I explored what I wanted to do with the next phase of my life. Nursing? I became a certified Nursing Assistant and worked in a hospital. I was on a floor where patients would never be going home, who were hooked up to every machine imaginable to keep them alive. It was the most stressful job I’ve ever had, leaving me depressed and in tears every night. Nursing was out.
Real Estate Appraisal? I studied, passed the class … then decided I did not like it enough to apprentice for a year. Occupational Therapy? I volunteered at a hand clinic but … the passion wasn’t there. Activity Director? I volunteered at a nursing home for the elderly. I loved it but could not make the salary work.
Long story short, I stumbled across an ad on Craigslist.org featuring a casting call for a Birkenstocks shoe model. "That looks like fun," I thought so I auditioned. I didn't get it but it led to a tiny part in a music video, billboards for a bank, national product packaging for a major headset manufacturer, and more. So, my modeling career was launched at 40 years old, while an ad for an online writing class resulted in me enrolling, which led to the discovery that I had some talent, which launched my writing career.
So now, I consult, model, and write simultaneously part of the year, then just model and write the other part. This is what gives me passion during this phase of my life.
One last note: In the past, before I launched my business, I didn't realize I was the happiest with multiple "careers." I thought I just needed change in my life. I'd give my 200% to my job then, when it became boring and/or I was no longer challenged after a year, I'd take a job at a new company or do what it took to get a promotion When I launched my business and found myself doing everything - marketing, order fulfillment, product development, PR, web design, catalog design, etc. - I loved it. The variety energized me.
Q: How do you balance your multiple interests into a meaningful career? Do you make a plan?
Yes. My days are spent consulting; my nights (and some early mornings), and weekends are spent on my writing tasks. The modeling is sporadic, so when my agent calls with an opportunity, I fit it into my schedule.
My writing career has a zillion tasks. In addition to writing, there's promotion, marketing, book signings, web site updates, new book proposals, blogging, newsletter production, etc. So I have to plan what needs to get done each month, then break those big items down to tasks that need to be done each week, then assign those tasks to days. I do the same thing for the consulting, as sometimes I’m working on multiple projects for a single client. I use Microsoft Project to track deadlines. To assist me with the task level planning, I love the planners created by Planner Pads https://plannerpads.com/concept.asp.
Q: Have you had any mentors?
(1) My parents. My mom was instrumental to my emotional development, while my dad was instrumental to my mental. Among many other things, my dad taught me to believe in myself, to take responsibility for my actions, and my mom taught me to take risks, as well as the true meaning of selflessness. They both taught me to always strive to be a good person.
(2) My siblings. My sister has shown me how to have fun, as well as how to be nonjudgmental when I didn't even realize I was being so, while my brother has taught me patience.
There are no better mentors to me than my family. I would not be who I am today without them.
Q: What tips or advice can you share with my readers?
Dream big. Don’t set limitations. Just do it, even when you're scared. Taking that first step is the hardest. But when you take it and succeed, then take another and succeed, it builds your self-confidence, empowering and motivating you to take even bigger steps. It also helps you to accept "failure." Because as your self-confidence builds, when setbacks or perceived "failure" occurs, the hardships you faced in attaining your successes convince you that you will successfully get through your "failures," too. And, when you look back at all the "failures," you realize they were not failures at all - that they were catalysts that launched you in a new direction. Which gives you the courage to take another risk, risk another "failure." It's an endless, exciting loop.
One of my big "failures" that comes to my mind is the small mail order business I mentioned previously. When I gave up the struggle to make it profitable, I perceived that as a double-failure. One, that I had "given up" and two, that I had failed to make it successful. In actuality, the experience I gained while running my small business launched my career as a business analyst to Fortune 500 companies, which has allowed me to take 4-6 months off annually.
So, execute your plan, go after your dreams - and don't let fear stop you. I’m always scared, because each dream is always bigger or a step into new territory. But I’m also always excited when I'm pursuing something I'm passionate about. And that feeling - the sense of purpose, accomplishment, the feeling of being ALIVE, and turning fantasy into reality - makes the risk worth it.
Rachelle Chase lives, laughs, plays, and writes erotic romance novels in beautiful San Francisco. Her first published erotic romance novella, Out of Control, appeared in Secrets Volume 13 in July 2005. Next year, The Sex Lounge (May 2007), and The Sin Club (December 2007), will be released by Kensington in the Aphrodisia line. For more information about the author and her current projects, please visit her at: http://www.rachellechase.com or email: rachelle@rachellechase.com
=============================================================
If you would like to learn more about if and how Susan Henderson Coaching might be able to help you achieve your desired results, please contact me to set up a time to talk. We will start with a complimentary phone conversation where I can learn more about your current situation and goals. I will also answer any questions you may have about me, how I work with clients, and the coaching process. If we both feel the coaching relationship is a good fit, we will move on from there.
Click here for contact information
==============================================================
© 2006 Susan Henderson, All rights reserved.
You may copy, forward or distribute The Successful Dilettante if this copyright notice and full information for contacting Susan Henderson are included. Contact her at:
http://www.susanhenderson.com or email to: coach@susanhenderson.com
Please fill free to share this ezine with your colleagues, friends, or family.
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