If you feel it is taking forever to find true work that resonates down deep in your soul, then this article is for you.
Years ago I called myself a business coach before most people even knew what a business coach was.
Sure, I felt like I was an innovative-ahead-of-the-curve guy back then, but the last place I needed to be as a one-person shop was innovative and ahead-of-the-curve. No one knew me, and even fewer people could understand what I did.
A nearly certain recipe for failure.
Then I tried my hand at being a financial advisor thinking that this was a good way to make ends meet while I got back on my feet. After a successful start in the business, in a very ironic twist, I ended up as a full-time business coach inside this Fortune 500 company.
Later my role morphed again to one where I essentially traveled most of the time as a software trainer. My dreams of self-employment were on the shelf, and quite frankly I had no idea where I was headed. I was lost.
Then the whole thing ended.
My trainer role, which was a contract position was extended and then extended again. I had hoped on getting another full-time position, but missed it after several tries. The last contract extension ended, and I was out.
At the end of a decade of trying and trying to make something happen for myself both as an entrepreneur and as a corporate employee, I felt like I had totally missed the mark.
I felt like a failure.
After some soul searching I realized that there were only two things that I could really call absolutes in my professional life.
- I really like presenting, teaching, researching, and writing.
- I love the freedom that comes with being self-employed.
Intentional Exploration Works
Immediately after my Fortune 500 job ended, I started working on a 1099 basis for a rather successful man who has had his own training company for years. I figured this would be a great way to learn the business side of training.
Now here I am two plus years later with my own business, building my own brand, and delivering my own sessions. I love it.
In many ways I think I have found home — work that I could easily throw myself into for a long time to come.
What I want you to pay close attention to is this: Don’t mistake this for some story about a person who bumbled around haphazardly.
It is Called Effectuation
A short time ago while writing my dissertation I came across an article that radically changed my perspective on how long it took me to find true work.
I want to introduce you to a geek term called effectuation.
To explain effectuation, I will start with its evil twin, causation.
Causation says, “This is the product I want to build. This is the market I will target. I have planned my work, and I will work my plan.”
This is good as far as it goes, but things rarely ever go according to plan. What researcher Sarasvathy has done is to move the how-businesses-really-start-when-things-do-not-go-according-to-plan discussion out into the open light.
It turns out that a great number of companies, names you might recognize, did not end up looking anything like their initial plan!
At some point in building the business, the spreadsheets and the market analysis and the demand curves and all that other stuff the leaders learned in business school went out the window.
Instead, the “execute on the plan” mentality turned into something more like “let’s explore the space were in.”
Effectuation says, “Here is what I know. Here are the resources I have. Now, what kind of business can I build?”
Effectuation is an intentional exploration.
And — most importantly — it is a completely legitimate way to build a business.
As I was reading Sarasvathy’s papers on effectuation I had this tremendous sense of relief. In some way, all my years of searching weren’t wasted. Instead, they pointed me to work that was truly mine. Work where I could accomplish things and make a difference.
Searching is Not Failure
I want you to know your time has not been wasted.
If you are currently looking and searching and bumping into walls and trying to follow a voice out of the maze, please hear me…
You are not a failure.
You are not some two-bit hack bumbling your way through life.
If you are reading this article chances are that you have a good head on your shoulders, and you have great intentions to bring something of great importance to the world.
Look at my path.
- I followed my dream of owning my own business.
- My first attempt didn’t amount to much.
- Then I took a job to make ends meet.
- Then I had another taste of coaching.
- Then I had a great experience as a traveling consultant/presenter.
- Then I took work to learn the traveling trainer/consultant business.
- Now I’m doing work I love, and I feel I’m making a true difference in people’s lives.
There is no spreadsheet in the world that could have told me any of this would happen.
This path isn’t predictive; This is an exploratoration.
If you have ever
- Felt you have lost all chances of living up to your potential
- Grown tired of searching for work that moves you
- Felt that you are just going in circles
Then keep exploring!
All of your lost days and wasted time are not lost and wasted after all.
Then keep exploring!
All of your lost days and wasted time are not lost and wasted after all.