Image courtesy of The 99 Percent

Are you ambitious? Or do you think ambition is a dirty word?

Is it possible to have big ambitions without turning into an egomaniac?

Are you hiding your light under a bushel? If so – what difference would it make to your career if you gave yourself permission to pursue your ambitions?

These are the questions I address in my latest article for The 99 Percent: Are You Ambitious Enough?

If you have anything to say in response, I hope you’ll pop over to The 99 Percent and leave a comment.

Image by Stephen Boisvert

Brainstorming is the best technique for generating great ideas.

Brainstorming is the worst technique for generating great ideas.

Both sentences can be accurate depending on the methods used to conduct a brainstorming session. However, there’s one technique (perhaps mindset is the better word) that can improve your results. It’s something that Tim Hurson of thinkx calls the ‘third third’.

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Image by wsilver

We entrepreneurs are a pragmatic bunch. Meaning, we love to solve problems. Entrepreneurs almost always have a deep, unconscious need to find elegant, easy and fast solutions. Not just for their own issues, but for other people’s too.

As an entrepreneur, you feel the itch. When something isn’t right, you’re the first one to notice and feel the insatiable need to scratch it. ‘Scratching itches’ got you where you are today and that is pretty damn cool. You suffer from the obsessive compulsive problem solving disorder of all successful business owners.

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What’s the most important big task on your schedule today?

And the most urgent?

Are they the same thing?

If so, then you’ll have no problem deciding what to do first. But if not, then you’re faced with a dilemma:

Should you do the more-important-but-less-urgent task first, at the risk of missing your deadline?

Or should you do the urgent thing first, at the risk of sidelining your most important work?

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I’m pleased to announce the launch of a major new Lateral Action course: The Creative Pathfinder – Your Guide to Success as a Creative Professional.

And this one is completely free.

It’s designed to equip you with the creative and professional skills you need to succeed in your chosen career path – whether you’re an employee, freelancer or creative entrepreneur.

The course is a distillation of what I’ve learned from 14 years of coaching professional artists, creatives and other creative people, plus my own experience of earning a living as a creative freelancer and entrepreneur. So it’s based on tried-and-tested solutions to the unique challenges you face when you set out on a creative career.

It offers you a ‘foundation course’ in the essential knowledge and skills you need to thrive in the creative economy. So as well as lessons on creativity that are specially tailored to your needs as a creative pro, it covers things like productivity, career paths, marketing, sales, collaboration, managing money and intellectual property.

That’s a lot of ground to cover, and I don’t like to do things by halves – so you’re looking at 20-25 weekly lessons, delivered over a period of 6 months. As well as actionable advice and concrete examples, the lessons include practical worksheets and links to additional resources.

Enrolment is now open – there’s no fee for the course, so you can have access to the entire 6-month program for free. More details on the Creative Pathfinder page.

Enjoy!

Mark