I was visiting Jason Seiden's website recently, and he had written something that has become one of my favorite new sayings: Dare To Fail Spectacularly.I think that line stuck with me so much, because I don't believe you can truly be successful right now by working for the establishment. I don't think it'll be like this forever. But right now it is.
William A. Draves and Julie Coates write in their ground-breaking book Nine Shift that what's happening now parallels what happened 100 years ago. Back then we were transitioning from the Agrarian Age into the Industrial Age - and now we are transitioning from the Industrial Age into the Information Age. And in the years 2008-2012 is when the turning point happens.
Therefore, if the establishment is in a transition, it's dysfunctional.
I've seen this up close and personal lately. My husband Jeff Kart - a nationally recognized environmental journalist - has had to make a choice recently. He had a "day job" at a newspaper (quite retro, I know) and he is writing for national news outlets like the Discovery networks' Planet Green and Treehugger sites (you can see his work here). But the demand for his work got so great that he had to choose where he wanted to work. So he chose Discovery networks.
It's a little scary to give up the "day job," because even though we're Gen Xers, we still grew up with a bit of the "company man" philosophy. But it's so clear that the future of news is not in paper, but online. However, most newspaper editors seem to forget that they're in the news business and not the paper business.
So Seiden's philosophy really hit home for me. I personally took the dare a few years ago - and now my life partner is on the same path. And I've never been happier.
What do you think? Have you ever taken the dare? What did it mean for you?
4 comments:
Yep, and so far, so good. But I didn't really mean to do it. I told myself I was quitting an unfulfilling job to spend more time with my baby...and oh yeah, pursue this writing gig, which sounded a lot less scary than "Quit my day job to become a published author" although that's eventually what happened.
Huge congrats to Jeff! and you!
@Kris - Thanks so much for the kind words.
I have this theory that when you find your path, everything just kind of works out. That's what happened for you, me, and now Jeff. I'll email you later, but you'll be amazed at how great things are unfolding for him.
What happens after the transition?
@Jen - Peace. Happiness. Strength. Gratitude. At least for me.
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