Advice for the Aspiring

So here I have three advice blog posts:

• How To Find Meaningful Work – By Penelope Trunk, of the Brazen Careerist
• How To Be Creative – By Hugh MacLeod, of Gaping Void, and
• Advice for Aspiring Call Girls – By Debauchette, of the eponymous blog.

Each offers advice on how to effectively sell one’s services without selling one’s soul – and they all say the same thing.  You have to look out for #1.

Trunk writes (in bold!):  Take care of yourself—have the basics covered.

I think she has it right; no matter what happens in life, you have watch out for yourself, because nobody [else] cares. Do it for yourself. (MacLeod).

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Making sure you’re physically and emotionally healthy/safe (says Debauchette) is the only way to be sure you’re making good choices.

…Protect your body. Be healthy, exercise, get tested, and be sexually safe…

… Protect your emotional well-being.

Trunk agrees, regaling us with a hospital/anemia story, result of her non-attention to personal health.

You have to know and protect your limits; says MacLeod,

The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.

Debauchette agrees:

Don’t hesitate to walk out if a client treats you badly. Don’t assume that because he’s paying, you’re obliged to do something against your will. Always have a plan for a worst case scenario. Know your boundaries and protect the **** out of them.

You must remain financially independent:

MacLeod says: Remain frugal.

Debauchette devotes three separate points to the issue:

- Save your money. There’s a lot that goes into upkeep, but if there’s money left over (and there should be), don’t blow it. Save it and put it toward a goal.

- Never allow yourself to become financially dependent on the clients. You absolutely, positively must be able to walk away at any time, for any reason…

– Pay your taxes. This is important.

Trunk says,

Giving back to the world requires a sense of personal well-being and stability that only people who have a roof over their head can manage. … So before you worry about meaningful work, you need to be able to support yourself. Your first job in life is to figure out how to do that.

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I could go on but the point isn’t that there’s good advice in these three disparate blogs (there is); it’s that there’s exactly the same advice in three such disparate blogs; a careerist, an artist, and a call girl all agree – if you want to be fulfilled, content, and able to control your life and bring everything you can to your job, your calling, and others, then you must – absolutely must – look out for yourself first.

Making someone or something else your #1 invites nothing but disaster and burnout – and it’s nearly impossible to help others, or even to enjoy life – once we reach that state.

On the flip side, this is exactly the justification we’ve all been looking for! Go have a cookie. Call your mother. Read a book. Go swimming, sailing, or scuba diving. Go to the gym. Heck, go into your room, lock the door, turn off the light, and lay down with a pillow over your eyes.

Seriously.

I’ll see you on the other side!