Absolute Passion

Last month I pre-ordered my first book ever.  I was super excited when I hit the purchase button, and then sad when I realized it would not come to me for a while!  So what book caused me to break my mold and pre-order??  It's a book by Sean Aiken called "One Week Job Project" where Sean describes his journey doing 52 jobs in 52 weeks.  Now, if your expecting a book review right now, it's not going to happen right now (maybe later), but seriously, once you pick up this book you will not be able to put it down!  I know it sounds cliche, but my wife was literally yelling at me, "your reading again???"  I wouldn't stop, until it was finished.

I'm not going to talk about the book specifically but just one of its over-arching themes.  Passion.  I've talked about it in a previous post before called "Get Some Passion" that featured a video by Gary Vaynerchuck, and passion is something that is always on the curb of my mind.  Why do we go to work everyday?  Are you really happy with what you are doing?  If the answer is not, "I'm passionate about the work that I do," then stop doing it!  Sean talks a lot in his book and on his One-Week Job website about being passionate about what you do.

While I was reading this book over the past couple of days, it struck me...it's time to get off my ass!  Yep, I think I threw some expletives in there, but you get the point.  Over the past few months, I have been waiting around to start my mediation career.  I have been more scared then waiting, if I was to be truthful.  But then I started thinking, what am I worried about?  I have always been the type of person that when I am passionate about something I throw myself into it head first!  Now, don't get me wrong, I have held this passion for mediation for a while now, and I can't seem to get rid of it!  So I am going for it!

I'm currently getting my website up, and realizing how difficult it is to put my passion into words, so it's currently under construction (but what website isn't!) but if you got some time, check out my website Absolution Mediation, it takes a bit to load it right now, but I'm working on it!

Cheers

I should have said....

So here I am, in the little tri-city area, which I thought was pretty big, but in mediation terms is quite small.  I have had many conversations with mediators in the past 6 months, and read many different forums/conversations on Linkedin  and have been told how difficult it is to sustain a career in mediation.  I have been well informed that those who teach mediation classes are not fully telling their students how difficult it is to make a living and that there are few who are able to make a killing off of it but the rest struggle.  Not surprisingly, this doesn't really phase me.  I feel well informed at the risks, I feel well informed that it will be a difficult path, I feel well informed that I'm going to have to work my ass off to get anywhere in this world of mediation.  But guess what...it would be the same with any business that I decide to go for!

One thing that I have come to realize is the lack of awareness that there is about mediation in the area I reside.  There is a lack of awareness of the benefits of the mediation process, the financial benefits of mediation, and a general lack of knowledge of restorative justice/mending relationships.  So what do I do?  I have read everything out there...there are some amazing people that take a lot of time out of their days to help others...Tammy Lenski, Diane Levin , Amanda Bucklow, Jeff Thompson, Cinnie Noble (Just to name a few) who have helped me really sit down and think about the ins and outs of mediation and what it means to be a not just a good mediator, but a great mediator.  I can honestly say I owe them a quite a bit for the wisdom that comes through their fingers and voices

Anyways, all this to say...I have a ton of work to do in my area!  I'm going to have to get out and talk to groups, write articles, shout mediation from the rooftops to get anywhere in this field...it is extremely overwhelming and extremely exciting and I look forward to the challenges ahead!  Stay tuned for more!

mediation awareness