My friend Mike Schall suggested I connect with Lisa Grimm, who led the social media and interactive digital teams at Whole Foods for the last few years. Lisa has an incredible marketing background. Today she is on a new life journey traveling and exploring what’s next. Through the Whole Foods Foundation, Lisa was able to travel to India to meet with one of their suppliers. Her travel-inspired a desire for further exploration. She and I chatted about an exercise I find helpful called the intersection of three circles and I thought it might help others to share this idea.
Lisa’s passion is not unlike many people I know, who are striving for work flavored with meaning and significance. I’m so appreciative that Mike introduced us and I look forward to learning about Lisa’s next chapter.
How can you marry meaning, kindness, love, and season it with your work? Searcing for meaning is a journey I too find myself traveling to every day to live/work at the intersection of my circles too.
The Three Circles
I shared with Lisa this simple exercise that I encouraged my daughters to follow when they were young. Many people find the three-circle exercise to be a powerful way to find the intersection of joy, happiness, and fulfillment. The exercise is intended to be helpful and to share this idea if you think it could be a useful guide for others on a journey for meaning in their work-life.
Draw Three Circles
Draw three circles that overlap in the middle. In each circle, write one word that describes a passion or important interest to you; reduce it down to one word or a short phrase. It should represent something so vital to your being that you can’t imagine living without it.
Whether it takes a second to find your keywords or several months, take time to think about it. Sitting quietly is a great way to do this homework assignment since it forces you to go deep within and to listen to what matters.
My Three Words
My three words would be creativity, mentoring, and communications.
I need to be creative, and in my life, it takes many forms from cooking, photography, writing, and many other outlets. Being creative is like oxygen to my body. I need it to live.
I love to mentor or provide guidance to others like a teacher or counselor since it feels like I am productive if I can steer people in the right direction, helping them get where they want to go…sort of a human GPS.
In doing this, I am paying back to the universe some of the wonderful guidance I received from my wife, my parents, siblings, grandparents, and so many friends and colleagues who have been my career compass.
I am fascinated by communications that have a commercial aspect as well as a personal or spiritual dimension. Whether it is selling products, ideas or services or sharing of stories and experiences, communications provide a strong intellectual challenge that involves understanding human behavior, looking for unseen patterns and imagining the future.
My marketing career sits at this intersection of creativity, mentoring and communications.
Living at the intersection
I get an emotional charge out of people who are the great marketing masters but am equally transfixed by learning about spiritual leaders like Lao Tzu (Tao de Ching).
When I ask people to do this simple task of picking their three circles, it forces them to think carefully about what they love and what might make them happy. The intersection of the circles is like a place on a map that they should head towards. The center of the circle can feel a bit unclear but over time, it will come into focus.
For me, I want to use my creativity to support an organization’s communications activities and where I have opportunities for mentoring others. The simplest way to say this is that the center of my circles helps my head toward my true north.
Fanny
My youngest daughter Fanny’s three circles are acting, food, and writing. Her journey led her to Hollywood and then to Wilmington, NC, where she found a place to explore her passions. I have told her story many times about winning The Rachael Ray Great American Cookbook competition and getting her cookbook published (Orange, Lavender & Figs).
She appears on Cooking Channel and Food Network and is an occasional guest on Rachael’s show and The Kitchen. She even had a Food Network show for a limited time (Kitchen Sink). Today she is a recipe developer for websites, makes TV appearance, and his greatest joy is cooking in her pajamas as she explores new flavors, ingredients, and recipes. Learn about Fanny here. She lives, works and plays at the intersection of her circles.
Sarah
Our older daughter Sarah’s three circles, are children, mentoring, and outdoors. For a decade, she was a teacher at Punahou on Oahu (Hawaii) the K-12 school that President Obama attended when he was a child living in Hawaii. She got to teach students advanced psychology, takes them on outdoor adventures and is a counselor and advisor to these kids from over a dozen different cultures.
In the last few years, she has been co-creating programs to help young girls with self-esteem challenges. The school provided her with a platform to work within her circles. Today she is in private practice counseling children and is the proud mommy of our grandson, Bodhi Kai. Sarah lives in Hawaii with her husband Adam, swimming in the intersection of her circles.
What are your three words – and do you live and work at the intersection?
Does your business need a marketing coach, guide, or sherpa? Are you generating enough leads? Is your marketing underperforming? I can help.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Our initial conversation is free. You talk, I listen. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com or call me. 919 720 0995. Visit my website at www.themarketingsage.com Let’s explore working together today.
Credits:
I believe that this idea of the circles comes from a book called What Color is My Parachute by Richard Bolles. I read it a long time ago and recall that It is a wonderful guide for job hunters.
http://www.amazon.com/What-Color-Your-Parachute-2010/dp/1580089879
