Mark McClure Today

My blog’s titled “Mark McClure Today” - since I am he, and today’s all any of us ever really have.

OK, I confess.
I actually added ‘today’ because my dot com name was already taken.

Anyway, ignore the oversight on my part and cast your eyes over the subtitle:

“Successful Career Change using Goals, Coaching and Mentoring.”

Since taking the calculated risk of cutting my employee “I’m-billing-you” cord and leaving the corporate womb, I really do feel like some entrepreneurial medic is holding me upside down and slapping my bare business bottom.

“Stop it, you fool. I’m alive! I’m alive!”

Somehow I feel like I’ve been here before.
Yes, this ’success’ thing’s starting to make much more sense now.

“Success equals goals and all else is commentary”.

Thanks, Brian Tracy, for that one.
Your ‘Psychology of Achievement’ program lit a fire under my assumptions about a lot of things.

And thank you, Mr Bob Dylan, for words that leave open the door to all manner of satisfying possibilities:

“A man’s a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.”

(Assume he/she, man/woman and TG apply equally here.)

I guess the “in between” bit is probably what interests most of my readers!
And me too.

If you’re fortunate enough to have a career (or job, call it what you will) where you pretty much do what you want to do then…

C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N-S !!

You probably won’t be sticking around here.
No need to.

I’ve met some people like that and you know, most have been business owners.
A small number have been in vocational professions such as teaching or medicine. (For a time I felt that way about teaching.)

And a tiny remainder have been employees getting paid for what was effectively a hobby or passionate interest - about 75% of my IT career was a labor of this kind of love.

What about everyone else?

Let’s edit Mr Dylan’s words a wee bit…

“A man’s miserable if he has to get up in the morning and go to bed at night, and in between do what he’s told to do.”

Ring any bells for you?

So, what’s the solution?

Well, I reckon a good part of it is to do with using goals, coaching and mentoring. But then I’m biased, aren’t I!

Instead, how about reframing success as more like a course correction mechanism that learns from experience.
From feedback.

I liked Dr. Martin Russell’s take on success.
So much so that I left him a comment here:

http://www.drmartinrussell.com/?p=73

What’s your definition of “success” in the career context?

– Mark McClure