Why your boring job is perfect for you

Psst: I’ve moved. Visit me here http://streetsideconvos.com. Maybe the new blog will be for you. Maybe not.

There are so many interesting things going on in our time in terms of how much more of a space there is for contributing creatively to the world versus back in the day when everything was about mass producing. In that sense I feel like there is room for us to all give our unique contribution to the world.

However truth be told, on the way to that there are so many loops and turns, and I am sure that at some point you can find yourself in a situation that seems so far from where you plan to be, and you just wonder, what am I going to do with all my ideas? Am I even any step closer to my dreams? I’ve been there many times.

I was reading about the example I gave in number 3 below that sparked this post and I thought I should share.  So here are my thoughts on my tongue in cheek title 🙂

First of all, a boring job is a great way to know what you do NOT want to do with your life.

Most of us seem to be comfortable but not excited, possibly living a decent life but not our best lives. At least YOU feel something even if it is tedium or frustration. Sometimes we need that extra push and this can be just what you need to finally overcome your fears and take the risk of giving your dreams a shot.

Secondly, your boring job just might be freeing up your mental energy for your passion.

While waiting for something more fulfilling, this is the perfect time to redirect your mental energy into creative expression. Since your emotional energy is not being fully tapped by your job, you have more than enough of it to focus on the things you are truly passionate about.

Albert Einstein did the exact same thing. When he graduated in 1900 at the bottom of his class, he could not get a job as a teacher for obvious reasons. However his father offered him an engineering job, and he also had the opportunity of getting a lucrative job in insurance but he turned both down because he didn’t want that to drain his mental energy (isn’t that interesting?).

Instead he took a boring job in a patent office where he would just be analyzing applications. Doing this sharpened his reasoning skills; also because it was so mundane he was able to do it quickly and then focus on his own ideas while at work. It was while working this boring job that he did most of the work that would be his theory of relativity.

Maybe there could be an opportunity for your own personal learning goals while working a boring job? Something to think about.

Thirdly, a boring job might be an opportunity for fresh insight. 

Remember the boring article I was reading? It was about the history of public health. I don’t like history BUT, I read about an interesting story from the 1700s. Back then scientists were still arguing about what causes food to go bad. A scientist called Lazzaro Spallanzani discovered that you could prevent things from spoiling by keeping them in air tight conditions and applying heat. While scientists were still debating this (then they didn’t believe microbes were in the air), a distiller and confectioner in Paris took this idea and applied it to his business in the food industry to preserve food and wine. While the scientific world was catching up to reality a Parisian businessman was using this discovery in the food industry.

Sometimes staying stuck in one field keeps you narrow-minded. Getting out of it even if it is due to a mundane job can give you fresh inspiration. Think about it; sometimes the most creative ideas come from people completely out of the field.

So there you go. Even though you might feel stuck and stifled in your creativity or personal fulfilment, maybe there is some value in the mundane if you look closely enough. Your boring job might just be watering those seeds of greatness in you. Maybe the question is not about your circumstances but about whether you will still go to work in pursuing those things dear to you that the world just might be waiting for.

Do you have any more reasons to add? How did you get something generative out of a mundane circumstance?

How to be passionate about things you don’t like

Hi everyone,

I am going to bring you a very interesting video soon. I am just waiting for it to upload.

However I wanted to share something that has been on my mind a lot and that is the topic of human emotions.

Passion, zest, drive, will, whatever you want to call it. That oomph that (once you catch it) makes you unstoppable.

Passion is a wonderful thing because it just keeps you going beyond your imagined limits and it makes the difference.

Once you connect on a primal level to your dreams and goals you get the energy and creativity to get there. Since passion is important for consistency, creativity, and success, how do you find a passion for things you hate? What happens when you are stuck doing something that is not fun, but you know you need to get it done for whatever reason?

That is my question.

I know the very popular cliche of doing what you love but my question for you today is; how do you get a passion for what you don’t love? What if you don’t have the money or time to do what you love right now? What if on the way to doing what you love you need to imbibe some disciplines you don’t love? How do you get there?

How do you get passionate about your daily disciplines which may be good for you even if they don’t feel like it? How do you get passionate about a job you don’t like but is good for the experience and to pay the bills?

I want to know from you- what do you do to be passionate about things you don’t like?

Leave me a comment below.

7 lessons from talking to strangers

Hello everyone,

So I have good and bad news today.

Bad news is that I don’t have a video for today:(

I talked to a couple of people and they said no and I had to go and get work done. I thought I would be able to come out again but I was tied up and couldn’t unfortunately. I really tried my best to see if I could set up something virtual but it didn’t work this time. Let’s hope tomorrow’s will be fun and totally make up for today.

It has been a very eventful month for sure. Do you know we are already halfway into January? In the absence of a video I wanted to share with you 7 lessons I have learnt so far from a few weeks of street-side convos. That is the good news by the way 😉

Lesson 1:

Suck it up. On Sunday I really didn’t feel like going out and I called my friend Pelumi to see if she would help me find a good reason not to. (Un)fortunately she just told me- well you said you were going to talk to strangers everyday so just suck it up and go. Tough love right? I was expecting some more feminine validation 😛

That’s the truth though. If you want to get something done, then regardless of how you feel, suck it up and go do it. Enough said.

Lesson 2: 

Be consistent. Most people must think I am very bold to have talked to so many strangers so far. The truth is, sometimes I get nervous and I don’t feel like doing it but when I take it one day at a time, before I know it, a week will be over and I think, wow, look at all the people I talked to! So its all about just putting a little bit of effort everyday.

In the popular book ‘The Slight Edge’ Jeff Olson puts it this way;

‘The right choices and wrong choices you make at the moment will have little or no noticeable impact on how your day goes for you. Nor tomorrow, nor the next day. No applause, no cheers, no screams, no life-or-death results played out in Technicolor. But it is precisely this very same, undramatic, seemingly insignificant actions that, when compounded over time, will dramatically affect how your life turns out’

What huge goal do you have? Start today. Little by little.  Be consistent even though you are yet to see results. Have faith in the process. The secret is in those little undramatic things we consistently do.

Lesson 3: 

Proactive planning is everything. I got a huge package today, a belated christmas gift from my lovely sister and because it was so huge, I wanted to go and drop it off, do some work, then come out and meet people. If I had decided instead to pick up the package later in the day after I had met people, then I might have met someone today for the video but because the package was gigantic I couldn’t carry it around and had to go and drop it, then from there I had to work. A little more proactive thinking would have helped me meet my goal before it was too late.

Lesson learnt: Whenever you have a goal, you have to plan in advance how you will take control of your time to create those results. What situations do you need to be in to achieve your goals? How are you going to meet the right people? How will you use your time to make sure you meet a certain goal ?etc. When you spend a few minutes planning to hit your goal and charting the course of action it can dramatically improve your outcomes.

Lesson 4: 

Don’t prejudge people. To be honest I like to evaluate people I am planning to talk to. Does he look friendly? Does she look busy? Is he going to be rude to me? Is she going to think I want to steal something from her? etc

Most times some people I expect to be mean end up being so much fun and people I expect to be fun end up very unadventurous. So now I just shoot.

No need to over think things, you might as well save time by taking your chances and seeing what happens.

Its a lesson for life in general. Its always good to give people a chance. You might be surprised at what comes out of it and to find the resources you need in the most unlikely people.

Lesson 5: 

Have fun. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we have to do that we forget that we should try to enjoy whatever we are doing in life since its taking up -well-our lives! When I make up my mind to have fun, it doesn’t matter how anybody reacts to me, I am having fun in my world and if you say no, its your loss. When I have fun, I also get to connect better with the people I interview and in exchange they are more fun and open. When you have fun at whatever you do, people connect with your enthusiasm, you become believable and its easier for people to want to follow you in achieving a certain aim.

Lesson 6: 

Don’t take rejection personally. My first day was my day of the most rejections coincidentally. You should have seen how sad I was. I thought- wow I had this great idea and now they’ve crushed it:( And I thought- who do I think I am trying to be all curious and creative? Maybe it is not actually a good idea.

Guess what I have learnt? It is not always about me. People may be busy, they may be having a bad day, they may be shy about being on camera, they may be a bit insecure, they may be private, they may be afraid to be randomly approached, and if they are a lady they may be too self-conscious if they don’t have makeup on. There are so many reasons why. Now when I get a no I just mentally say ‘next’. No offence taken. I love that I have been able to come to this place.

When people tell you no, it doesn’t mean its the end of your goal, it simply means they are not the right candidate to achieve it with!

Lesson 7: 

Its always worth the extra time to get to know a stranger. 

People are actually exciting with their dreams, hopes, wisdom, place in their life journey, etc. Talking to strangers really opens your mind to other people’s worlds instead of being stuck in your little world. It also helps you connect more to place because you get to learn about the different people sharing the same space with you and how they create their own life and joys and passions out of the same place. I love it.

“Life is a transaction between you and others.

People are indispensable. For most goals you need in life you need people- to love you, to lead you, to follow you.You are always exchanging goods- material ones like food, services etc and immaterial ones – like love, wisdom, friendship, time etc.While you are at it, you might well as make sure that both parties make the most from the transaction” – Me 😛

There we go. I am sure by now you would have realized that these lessons can be transferred to anything else- life, friendships, ambitions. Try applying them and I am sure you will get more out of your goals in life.