Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’

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Doing What You Love To Do

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

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We often talk of the importance of ‘loving’ what you do.  If you really think about it, isn’t this stating the obvious? I mean no one is going to tell you to be sure you do something that you dislike terribly.

It is always a pleasure to ‘Talk Story’ with my ‘conference husband’, Jeff Fisher at LogoMotives in Portland. Jeff is one of those people that approaches life with no apologies and looks to find the joy in all he does, professionally and personally. For some reason this seems to be a challenge for many. I think we try and I think we want to, but I also think we get mixed up as the world around us squelches the fire.

It seems to start with the pursuit of a livelihood at the ripe old age of 18. Most of us are influenced by parents and school counselors to look for a career in which we show aptitude. What the hell is ‘aptitude’ anyways? I have a high aptitude for mechanics and math, so I should be an engineer? I’d be miserable. Oh, but it’s a good living and you can make good money. That is a formula for misery!

If you are a parent and looking to have your kids be happy in their successes (notice I said ‘their successes’) then do this. By the time they are 14 or 15 years old, ask them what it is they want to learn more about, what interests them, what they could see themselves really getting into and studying. Don’t ask them what they want to be when they grow up. I don’t even know at 43 what I want to be when I grow up! I asked my now 18-year-old senior these very questions. She answered me, saying  “You know, mom. I love archaeology and rocks and ancient Egypt and the Celts.” So that was it. From that moment on we formed her secondary education around the desire to study archaeology. She got a waiver for languages at her school and took on-line Latin. She volunteered at the Museum of History and Industry. She joined the Darfur Project at her school. When it came time to look at colleges, we had a direction. Will she become an archaeologist Indiana Jones style? I doubt it. But she will study what she loves and find her way from there.

So what do you do if you got off to a bad start? Well, I’d say switch it up. I’m not saying you need to quit your job, go back to school, start all over and foreclose on your house as a result. That’s ridiculous. Instead take a clue from Jeff, myself and others like us. Find the joy in what you are doing now and begin altering your pathway to lead down the road that truly brings you joy. Try these steps:

  • What did you always love when you were a kid and what have you done in the past that made you truly happy? Chances are you knew then more about your passions then than you do now.
  • What do you enjoy most about what you do now? Look past the obvious, possibly to the mundane.
  • What do you wish you could do more of? Think of your favorite hobby or something you’ve never tried and always wanted to.
  • Write each of these on a separate piece of paper, free form with doodles or words or whatever. Now lay these three pieces of paper in front of you, grab a highlighter and circle key words that jump out at you. Do you see a pattern?

The pattern you see is your unique roadmap to giving your existing career path a push in the right direction. Maybe even the direction you should have taken all along or maybe it just a new way to pursue an old dream. For me, it is touching lives through communicating and teaching. For Jeff, it was taking a broad-based career in design and narrowing down to creating identities for the types of organizations he loves and pushing his fears aside, tapping into his happy nature and graduating from clown school. Thanks ‘Toots Caboose’ for spreading just a little more joy and showing us that there is a clown deep down inside of each of us!

Click here for a full hour of “Talk Story with Jeni” and Jeff at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jeniherberger or directly from my site at http://jeniherberger.com

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What Do You Do For a Living?

Monday, January 18th, 2010

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Last week I had the opportunity to Talk Story with my dear friend, Steve Gordon. Our conversation ran the gamut but one thought stood out for me. Can you count the number of times you’ve attended a gathering, been introduced to someone new and asked the question, “what do you do for a living”? The question, in and of it’s self, is not offensive but the expectation of the answer could be. Think about it. A living. What do you DO for a living? Normally a verb (meaning the act of being alive), the word ‘living’ has been transformed to be about what we do for work. Our automatic response is to regurgitate our chosen profession or current job title. Don’t misunderstand me, what we do for work is an important part of who we are but we can’t forget we are so much more.

Living is about taking every moment and being present in what it has to offer. All of your experiences can make you a better designer, parent, significant other; flat out a better person. Because when you pull from who you are and what you love to do, everything about you is better and more authentic. This is especially true as a member of the creative community. We know that our work is personal and we allow ourselves to take it personally when someone doesn’t like the design solution we have provided. But so often we do not bring ourselves to our work. Putting our experiences as well as our training and design know-how into our daily workday and our projects literally transforms the end result and our effectiveness as professionals.

It’s this immersion in doing what you love that transforms how you go about your work and removes the line that our society draws between work and life. It’s a line that doesn’t need to be drawn if you have truly found work that you enjoy doing and you keep yourself engaged. I’m not saying not to make some differentiations between working and not working. It really comes down to BEING PRESENT. If you are talking with your kids, put your iphone down. If you are working with a client, give them the best of what you have to offer looking past your feelings and looking to your abilities to provide business solutions.

Next time someone asks you “what you do for a living”, give an answer that embodies ALL that you are and move past defining yourself by what it says on your business card. You belong to YOU. The company you work for, the clients you design for, and the family you provide for all benefit from YOU. Steve said it so well during our Talk Story time, “I live for a living and that’s what I hope people see.” Those of you who know Steve understand that this philosophy is deeply infused into his work and his persona. Whether riding BMX, breaking records on the track or creating an identity for a client, we should be living for a living.

Click here for a full hour of “Talk Story with Jeni” and Steve at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jeniherberger or directly from my site at http://jeniherberger.com

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Always Ask What If, Then Apply Progress

Monday, December 21st, 2009

ricardo_blogHave you ever been asked to describe yourself in just 7 words? Me neither. But if you were to do so, what would you say? My dear friend, riCardo crespo, is the one who put this idea in my head. He told me he always looks to describe himself in just 7 words. For those of you who know him, these 7 words will be no surprise, ‘always ask what if, then apply progress.’ For those of you who don’t know him, I think you should.

On my newly created series, ‘Talk Story with Jeni’, I had the opportunity to share with my listeners the story and thoughts of this rare and talented individual. There is, of course, the fact sheet. For the past 9 years, riCardo has been the Executive Group Creative Director for Mattel Inc overseeing brands such as Hot Wheels and effectively earning the creative team at Mattel a place at the table amongst the decision makers. More interesting is the backstory of how riCardo got to the place he is and what those experiences have done to shape how he takes on the world.

What truly impresses me most about people like riCardo is the manner in which they question the protocol around them and then find whys to make things work. This is particularly important in the field of design whether graphic, interior, industrial or product. Designers don’t learn to be creative. As creatures of God, every one of us is creative. Artists express that creativity in forms that touch the senses; sight, smell, hearing, tasting, and touching. Designers use these creative expressions to add form and function to the world around us. The difference between an artist and a designer is obvious. The difference between a designer and a design thinker is subtle but HUGE!

Design thinkers take the elements of creative expression and use them to solve problems, entice growth and ignite change. Thinkers don’t design for the sake of art but use art for the sake of design. Design is purposeful with a starting point and an ending point. Those who can think this way, looking beyond the limits of the tools within their reach, are those who literally have the power to change the world.

I asked riCardo offline to tell me where he saw design going in the future and how it was that he thought we as an industry could prepare for it. He told me, ‘We, as designers, will continue to be a huge factor in how brand becomes a choice in people’s lives. With this being the case, design will continue to prove its merits as a valued business component towards delivering against a brand’s promise.’ riCardo also believes, as do I, that we will see more and more collaboration between the experts in the fields of deign, utilizing specialty disciplines and minimizing the ‘jack of all trades’ methodology we have seen over the past decade.

Long and short of it, great design thinkers like riCardo crespo bring a philosophy to design, work and life that we can all learn from. The idea that there is always something out there to invent, to strive for; and greatness comes through pursuit and perseverance. One is simply useless without the other.

Here the full hour of “Talk Story with Jeni’ and riCardo at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jeniherberger or directly from my site at http://jeniherberger.com

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Eddie Would Go

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

eddie01The local saying, “Eddie Would Go,” refers to his stoke to take on big waves that other surfers would shy away from and his courage to make a rescue in impossible situations. Eddie Aikau, legendary big wave surfer and lifeguard at Oahu’s Waimea Bay, embodied courage and aloha.

My hubby and I made a quick stop on Oahu on our way home to Big Island. We spent a few days on Waikiki surfing, shopping and sunning. At my urging, we headed up north to see the giant waves rolling onto the 7 miles of surf simply referred to as the North Shore. It was said to be the biggest surf Hawaii has seen in decades. The local surf shops in Honolulu and in North Shore boosted posters and t-shirts saying ‘Eddie Would Go’. Rumors began to spread that the annual Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau would indeed take place.

Let me back up. Eddie was the first lifeguard at Waimea Bay (the beach just south of the Banzai Pipeline). His life was lost in 1978 in a rescue attempt as he paddled to shore for help during the commemorative 2500 mile journey from Hawaii to Tahiti when the Hokule’a cap-sized. Although the crew was saved, Eddie was lost at sea never having made it to shore. Each year for the past 25 years between December 1 and February 28, the invitation only event is in a standby state waiting for the surf to exceed 20 feet and the conditions to be worthy of surfing the big waves as Eddie would. In 25 years, the event has only happened 7 times with the last being in 2004. The big question: would in happen this year?

We hit the bay early Monday morning. The beaches are all closed due to the high surf but the local boys (and girls) had hit the 30-40 foot surf at Waimea in the spirit of Eddie. We watch holding our breath as surfer after surfer plunges down the face of monstrous waves pushing out of the wash to ride the churning surf all the way into shore. Excitement at the chance of the event running within the week is mounting.

Tuesday morning at 7am, the weather buoys are checked and the status moved from ‘standby’ to ‘ON’. The Eddie will take place and the top 28 big wave surfers in the world are ready to take to the waves on the North Shore. We have front row seats on the beach as 50,000 spectators line the beach as well as the streets and cliffs above the bay. We watch Kelly Slater ride a 25-30 footer perfectly into the shore taking first place in Round 1. Other highlights; McNamara breaks 2 boards and 60 year old Clyde Aikau brings in a few awesome waves. Round 2 looks to be giving the win to Kelly Slater until the very last moment when Greg Long of my hometown, San Clemente, rides a 40+ wave and is awarded a perfect score of 100. He takes the first place spot winning the competition his first time ever surfing Waimea Bay.

A huge fan of surfing both as an observer and a rider, I was in awe of rare the competition I had the opportunity to see. I love that the event is in memory of someone who showed great courage, pride and stamina in the face of danger. My new philosophy – ‘Eddie Would Go’, now so will I.

Read more about The Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau, 25th Anniversary at http://live.quiksilver.com/2009/eddie/

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The HOW Conference inspired me, now what do I do?

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

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My friend Melissa, www.operationnice.com, recently attended the HOW Deisign Conference in Austin along with myself and thousands of enthusiast design professionals! It was AWESOME and INSPIRING! She posed the questions: What do I do now? How do I make a difference? This made me think about how many times I’ve been re-charged by a meeting or event and then stumped by what to do with the information. So, I wanna ask you! Thousands of you attended the conference and asked the very same question. Many of you found a viable answer. Please comment below on what inspired you (whether creatively, professionally, personally or socially) and how you took that inspiration, made it tangible and turned it into action!

I’ll compile all your thoughts and publish an article to share with others on what to do next!

You in? Go for it! And thanks, as always, for sharing!

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