Cool Things My Friends Do - Living More Like A Professional Than An Amateur

Each Friday on this blog I enjoy highlighting some of the cool things my friends do in their work and personal lives.  

I cannot name the friend who I am profiling this week.  What he is doing is very personal.  It is cool (thus it makes the "Cool Things My Friends Do" post), but not a public effort.  He is taking on some personal change, and change can be scary.  What he is attempting is not the stuff that others on the outside will understand.  He will have people who will try to stop him from his efforts.  His boss will lose a good employee, too, as with change will come a new career (but another boss will find a better employee).

I am talking about re-invention.

This friend is a good person with a great heart.   He has been caught up in a life whirlwind that has not produced the results he desires.  A bumpy career, a divorce, and other "stuff" has left him wondering if there is more to this crazy human experience.  He tries hard, but has feels he is only treading water.


He recently read a book called "Turing Pro" by Steven Pressfield.  He was not far into the book when reading the words on the page were similar to looking in mirror.  Pressfield makes the case that there is a difference between living your life as an amateur or a professional.  The choices made by amateurs are very different than the actions taken by professionals.  My friend called me (I recommended the book) and was perplexed as he knew that once he completed the reading assignment nothing could be the same.  Or if it was the same he could not defer the results to anything beyond himself.

Daily there is a question ringing in his mind: "How would a professional act in this situation vs. what would an amateur do?"  He is taking the steps to be a pro (or at a minimum he sees the difference).  But this might mean leaving some habits, lovers, friends and vices on the side of the road.  I can hear the conviction in his voice... but there is still trepidation with each step.  He knows that to make this change means a different life on the other side.  He clearly likes parts of his existing world (cuz there is a lot of fun with amateur choices), but at the same time he has a new suit of ambition covering his soul.  

It is cool to see a person embrace changes that are for the better.  I believe in him, but know first hand that it is easy to be inspired by a book (or a seminar) and then fall back into comfortable patterns.  Maybe once he completes the journey I can write about him by name and link back to this post to say "we knew him when...."


I will keep you posted.

Have A Great Day.

thom singer