Fearless Fabulous Project

When I read “Composing a Life” about 15 years ago, I was in the midst of some massive life changes. I was taken with Bateson’s?idea that life, like art, is improvisational.

The book compares the lives of Bateson–the daughter of?anthropologists Margaret Mead and George Bateson–and four of?her female friends, all accomplished professional women.

These women may have had some advantages not available to?everyone, but it doesn’t diminish the enjoyment of learning?about their multiple roles and varied life experiences and?recognizing opportunities in one’s own life.

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Composing A Life, Mary Catherine Bateson, life as improvisational art, life changes

I want me one of those!

Seriously, Tim Ferris’ book, The 4-Hour Workweek, is based on the premise that our larger lives shouldn’t or needn’t be subservient to our work… or more specifically our jobs.

The book is divided into four sections: Definition (determining the dreams of having, being and doing, and calculating the resulting Target Monthly Income and timelines for accomplishment), Elimination (getting rid of all the extraneous and unimportant), Automation (subtracting you from the need to do everything), and Liberation (how to spend all of your freed up time).

You could read this simply as a hypothetical game plan for work avoidance. However, Ferris is more serious than wanting a bestseller with a catchy name. He really believes that our lives have so much more possibility for fulfillment and adventure, and that learning and experiencing new things is necessary expression of what makes us tick.??So, if the idea of outsourcing big chunks of your routine life, enjoying mini-retirements (instead of waiting for the end), and escaping paralysis appeals to you, get The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich.

If nothing else, this book will give you specific steps to reclaim pockets of time. With it as a guide, you can think about why you are holding back from living the life that you want.

I’m going to try the ideas in the book this summer, and I’ll report out after Labor Day.

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freedom from schedules, independence, outsourcing work, automating tasks, defining your ideal life, Tim Ferris, Target Monthly Income

As I think about our Memorial Day holiday weekend and what we’ve got planned, it occurred to me that it’s a pretty good mix. It’s also a metaphor or model for moving effectively forward in life. It works whether you’re aiming for a good time or just trying to get things done. I’ll use the screen of this weekend and an upcoming vacation to show what I mean.

Clean Out Clutter

The need to do this is so obvious with the yard sale preparations. We are clearing out the old stuff, so that we can breathe! The belongings we’ve got stashed down the hill in the garage represent past lives and earlier preferences, and provide plenty of evidence of long-abandoned projects. In order for us to get clear to embrace our ”now” and future plans, we’ve got to ditch the dead weight.

It’s equally valid when planning for a vacation. You select the very few things you’ll need to provide comfort and to suit your immediate, short-term needs. You don’t pack things you won’t have time for or that have to do with the very things you left behind in order to relax and explore new territory.

Just thinking about all the stuff takes up space in our minds, and makes it difficult to have new ides and the freedom to be creative and expansive.

Is your current life an extended vacation, or have you moved on to a new phase. Do you really need the albatross of the past dogging your new plans and intentions? Think about how you could lighten your load before you begin your next adventure.

Build Future Memories

On Sunday, we’re going to plant seeds and seedlings in our vegetable gardens and place annuals in the whiskey barrels out by the wood shed. If I can get away with it, I may sneak in a flowering bush or two.

We’re doing this with faith in and anticipation for what we are building: a steady stream of salad and stew parts, pie ingredients, and herbs to flavor our home-cooked meals and to scent our living space.

As we plan our Dominican Republic vacation for mid-June, we’re similarly collecting the good reads, sunny clothes, and warm weather toys (snorkeling, yeah!) to create an experience that matches our vision for relaxation and fun.

I’m a strong believer in always having something dangling out in the future as reward for good work and behavior. That’s why I like tasks like gardening and planning vacations; they are shared and about full-throttle enjoyment.

Learn from the Previous Show

On Monday, we’re spending the “holiday” day learning from what we’ve been doing lately, so that we can improve our productivity and satisfaction from work. We’ve actively been pursuing a lifestyle where we get to work half-time at our passions and half-time in our shared work in marketing and small business development.

Doing and doing with no time for reflection, pretty much assures that we’’ll charge ahead with so-so results and fulfillment from our efforts. We’ll get things done, but may miss the opportunity to fine-tune to do better work and have more fun.

Photographs and other souvenirs collected from trips are useful tools in a similar process. They serve as reminders and evidence of what worked and what falls into the “let’s never do that again!” category.

By considering the full value of past experience, we can plan for more successful projects and trips in the future. We can clear out what failed to work, build in what we think has a better chance the next time around, and then we can carefully observe what happens the next time.

Clean, Build, Learn… and repeat. Works for me.

Think about what it would be like to start a project or plan with this framework in mind. Do you think you’d have a better outcome? Does it sound like more work? How do you go about your work and life?

Let me know what you think or share a story from your experience.

Recently, I forced my husband to sit through the three versions of “The Avengers” TV series from the 1960s. Patrick McNee played John Steed, an uppity-snuppity British spy ; in every episode he was outfitted in tweed and bowler with an umbrella in hand (often wielded as weapon). Through the years of the series, he always had a female foil with whom he bantered as together they solved a series of ridiculous crimes. [The 1998 movie adaption was dreadful; the 80’s TV series “Remington Steele“ was on the same track.]

Early episodes paired Steed with Mrs. Cathy Gale, portrayed by Honor Blackman. In the middle and best years, Diana Rigg was the cool and clever Mrs. Emma Peel. The series wrapped in 1969 with Linda Thorson playing young, beautiful Tara King.

At ages 7-9, it was Emma Peel that struck my fancy. She was glamorous and strong, clever and smart, and ever ready for the next adventure or risk. She had a witty remark for every situation. I wanted to be ready for anything like her. I actually wanted to be her.

It was probably one episode in particular — not found during the recent marathon viewing by the way — that featured Steed and Peel fencing, complete with spandex outfits (he in black, she in white), masks, foils, and a more than a bit of wicked humor. At least I remember it that way. I always intended to take up fencing based on that very strong impression; I wanted those agile, flexible, dramatic moves for my own arsenal.

Now that I am at the mid-point of my life, I laugh a bit at my early infatuation. I’m struck by how long and fiercely I clung to my “Emma Peel Ideal.” But now — and especially after realizing how dated the conversations, styles, and story lines from the TV series — I’m satisfied with my own style and progress toward my very contemporary ambitions and ideals. I’m a business owner with a clear vision of what I want to accomplish. I have numerous friends, opportunities for self-development and travel, time to explore my interests and passions, and a balanced life.

This past winter I conducted a pilot 12-week group coaching program focused on female boomers. In the past few months I’ve swallowed and digested an enormous amount of new technology; I’ve developed a web site, blogs, and now I’ve launched an ezine (sign up at the top of this page to receive a weekly issue via email). I’ve learned how to set up my online shopping cart, arranged for a merchant account, written autoresponders, and created an online forum. I’ve created coaching packages and taken on clients. I am focused on bolstering my marketing efforts in order to fill my group program scheduled for July.

Emma, eat your heart out.

Think about your early influences. Is there a role model from your childhood or earlier adulthood? What is the temperament, “look,” or “MO” that inspired you? Does the image still do it for you?

Is there a contemporary model out there that embodies the ideal for you now? What is your definition of a Fearless, Fabulous Female? Share your memories and experiences. Post a comment. Let’s collect a bunch of these impressive female profiles, and then I’ll figure out a way to share them with all readers of this ezine.

To write a book is the fantasy of so many! To write the Great American Novel or to simply appreciate the heft of the “finished product,” dreamed of for so long.

Andy Wibbels, of “Blog Wild: A Guide for Small Business Blogging” and general small business development fame, is hosting an eight-week class that will meet “virtually” four times to get the dang thing done.
Write a Book in 45 Days Book-Writing Workgroup

Write a Book in 45 Days Book-Writing Workgroup

I’m using the opportunity to write the book I thought I might write in a few years to support my recently piloted—and in July to be launched—12-week Fearless, Fabulous Project coaching program. Before the end of June I need to flesh out the content from my extensive outline form, and thought the first “real”round would provide that opportunity. But then I slapped myself upside the head, and realized, “Gee, I can chase down the final outcome now, and then have more than what I need to run the groups!”

What’s even better, is I’ll be able to pull out the prose in chunks to offer up on this blog, in my ezine and in autoresponders. It will all be at my fingertips, if I kick it in the workgroup.

There are some heavy hitters of the coaching and Internet Marketing worlds have signed up: Molly Gordon and Lorrie Morgan-Ferraro to name just two. I know and have benefited from their work, and they are both gifted writers. So, I know I will be kept to the straight and narrow on fulfilling my commitments. Don’t tell anybody… but I think I’m gonna benefit from their expertise.

?I’ll need to fully develop two chapters each week to keep my schedule and reach the goal: a finished book by mid-June. It’s more than a little scary to put myself on the line this way. What if I freak out? What if I overcome my fear and fulfill this long-imagined goal?

?Can she do it? I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.