This is for those folks who feel they are here to do something very unique and helpful in this world (and have a more sane daily lifestyle for themselves), but for all their trying - figuring out what their âthingâ actually is has remained elusive.
Trouble is, they have soooo many interests and talents they canât choose which ONE is their thing đŹ.
My work is for those who canât choose - and probably shouldnât. đ
Hear me out in the Tale of Two Barbers, and the đ„JOIN page in the top menu.
~Alex Baisley
An impromptu wander in my favourite woods, and an invitation to check out my Big Dream Program. If the topic of life purpose, life direction, finding your calling, or âwhat the sweet holy f**k am I doing next with my lifeâ is a big question for you these days, this program is about that.
There are 90+ of us doing this together in my Big Dream Program beta group currently. Want to join?
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Read about the ProgramYou can read my new little book: Tamara and the Taverna Keeper. You can read it no charge, no opt-in right here!
--> Read Tamara & the Taverna Keeper here!You can get my entire foundation work here. A complete course on the 5JRs I talked about in the video, a highly unique bucket list kit, energy-meditation tips, and a pile more.
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They are very renaissance - or multi-potentialite as they say now - these folks have more interests and passions than you can shake a stick at - which has run them up against the problem of âchoosingâ. They are asking âwtf am I doing with my life (next)?â but then assume that the only way to answer that question is to PICK ONE THING AND RUN WITH IT. And so they try this, multiple times, and it doesnât go well. For some people out there, this is a good strategy. For my folks - nope. Itâs exactly the wrong strategy.
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Some dead-ends or fizzle-outs have led them to frustration & hand-wringing, then deep disappointment and worrying on the pillow at night that maybe thereâs something wrong with them. And all the while, they sense theyâre here to do SOMETHING gawdammit, and time is ticking. Theyâre not getting any younger. I had a new client from Australia tell me this week that her greatest fear is ânever figuring out the 'WTF am I doing with my life' questionâ. Our chat may have helped a good deal with that.
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This confusing conundrum is exactly the thing that leads most people into my work. - where they learn that for someone like them - they donât HAVE to choose - and probably SHOULDNâT - thatâs precisely why things have been tough. For the benefit of not just them, but the world they wish to contribute to, they can - and should - combine several of their ideas into the ONE THING. I offer them a template to fill in which tends to make all that work.
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The essential paradigm shift is that most of them - no, all of them - are Experience Designers not specialists - which is why the âchoosingâ model was exactly what they shouldnât do and why they got tripped up for years / decades. Imagine the person creating a new coffee shop that everyone in town will soon call their favourite - and theyâre talking to the bank manager about a loan. âNow, are you selling coffee? Or tea? - you gotta pick one to make this business work.â For experience designers, they are not âpickersâ, they are creators - and will fill that coffee shop with fantastic experiences of a varied nature - and THATâs why it works - not because they chose coffee over tea.
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They are, for sure, very unique and different from each other - perhaps moreso than your average sample-set, but⊠a few things are the same for all of themâŠ
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They are ferociously independent, I find. They blaze their own trail in life, and it DEFINITELY doesnât look like the average around them. They are wierd - in a good way. And f***ing determined - they KNOW theyâre here to do something, no matter what anyone says about how they should just âsettleâ. They are hell bent to figure it out, and by holy god when they DO figure it out, you canât get them stopped. Youâve never seen such intrinsically motivated people.
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That, and mainstream formulas donât work well at all for this bunch - because they are here to innovate and change things - but a solid structure with lots of freedom in it, and questions to help them figure out their own unique path, does.
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Oh, and though they look all peaceful and some even kinda spiritual at first blush, woe betide the hapless chump who accidentally waxes dictatorial to one of these folks. Youâd best step back. They will take your f***ing head off. Maverick to an individual. Theyâre very open to suggestions, and allergic to un-earned or un-merited authority.
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Basically - itâs like herding cats in here - and I like it a lot.
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I find it great fun.
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And I also generally feel like the least amazing person in the room. Iâve surrounded myself with cool giants. And thatâs not me being self-deprecating. Itâs by design. Itâs what I wanted for my own life - to be able to spend my working days with people like this. This is what lights me up. The minute I start preferring sycophants to visionaries who impress me ⊠well⊠as they say⊠âtake me out back.â
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But there is one more thing that every. single. one of them has in common - a thing that stands out beyond anything else. Itâs a thing I canât ever find the words for, but I know it when itâs there⊠Itâs some kind of energy - or⊠presence, I guess. A glint to their eye. Itâs like some combination of: aliveness meets mischief meets badass.
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Impossible as it is to put into words, I have no trouble feeling it. I can âsenseâ it in the first email they ever send me - before I even meet them. I often know in a micro-second if weâre going to be a good fit to work together. Itâs some kind of twinkle⊠something that winks out from between their words, like irrepressible sunshine poking out from between clouds.
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When that âfeelâ is there, it brings me a kind of familiarity feeling, like Iâve known them all my life. I feel comfort, curiosity about them, and some kind of belonging that can only be discerned by âfeelâ and not words.
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Itâs the thing that will never fit neatly into a business plan, but the #1 energy that the entire Big Dream Program runs on. And the #1 reason I like it.
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When you're figuring out your work in this world - and your brain is tired from weighing the options - it can be an idea to think of the kinds of people that make you feel this way, and then start changing everything this week - to work more with them. You will find your way.
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Cheers, and thanks for listening to my ramble.
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And thank you for supporting my work.
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