The Pursuit of No-Fear Networking

Several years ago, I watched The Pursuit of Happyness – Will Smith, remember that one? The character Smith plays is offered an internship with Dean Witter that he has been wanting, vehemently pursuing – that is, until he discovers that the internship is unpaid. But this opportunity was the doorway to the future, a better future – a future with a life, with security, with a change and with happiness. He takes it and the dividends pay off, but not before much heartache and sleepless nights of worry.

Life sometimes presents itself with a chance for a difference, a chance to make life better for you and those about you. Will you be prepared for the choice when this occurs? It will occur, mind you, it always does. I made such a choice a couple years ago. I worried then and for a while afterward but that choice brought rewards I had no way of knowing or even dreaming of.

Do you remember the summer of “gas price hell”? It wasn’t too long ago, just two short years – many have tried to block it out… I was driving a horrific commute from LA County to So. Orange County and gas was costing me about $85 a week. I was newly single and living as lean as possible with three children still under my roof. The gas expense, stress of the drive and the distance from my family became too much for me to bear, so I left the firm where I worked and decided to try consulting from my home. I thought the worst was behind me but I was wrong because in the throes of gas price hell brewed the worst of the recession. Time was on my side, one would say. Not being one to sit idly by, I readied myself for a future not even I could predict.

I studied new media, I learned it, I used it. And I wrote. I wrote every single day, I re-wrote every single day and with that study and exercise, my skills improved and quite unexpectedly, the benefits of those activities, slowly began to bloom about me. I started writing Bonus Track, my clientele increased and I fell into gigs right and left. But still missing was the security I craved. And straight of the blue came that security, my current opportunity – the result of endless work, endless writing, and a no-fear attitude toward networking.

Pretending to have no-fear made it so. My pursuit of happiness is ongoing. The pathway is way smoother than it was - still a bit bumpy, but the shock absorbers I have developed over the years have aided me along my way and will continue to do so. Put on your no-fear face, arm yourself for the ride isn’t over yet. And would you really want it to be? I’m not quite ready for that final bow; a return engagement is more my speed.

by rayannethorn

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Permalink Reply by C. B. Stalling!! on September 13, 2010 at 8:36am

Alot of time bad time make us do things we should have been doing already.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Silverman on September 13, 2010 at 11:59am

Rayanne"

Thanks for you daily dose of helium to pump us up. It not what happened it's how you react to things. You do an amazing job of creating fresh content every day and have a wonderful way of opening up so we can see the real you and in many cases I'll bet that different people see a little bit of themselves in the things you say as well. Keep it coming kiddo you are doing great work.

Craig

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Permalink Reply by David Perry on September 13, 2010 at 12:10pm

Brilliant post Rayanne. Fear can be a very positive life force.

Having recently traveled back through no-mans-land with a rucksack full of lead, I learned - this time - that the best way out is to compress the negative energy and point yourself at an impossible target that you NEED. Then launch...

The military teaches soldiers that fear is
F - false
E - evidence
A - appearing
R - real

Fear always looks better in the rear-view mirror.

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Permalink Reply by David Perry on September 13, 2010 at 3:12pm

Speaking of kids here's a real life example of what I'm refereing to.

My 2nd oldest daughter wants to go away to Montreal for college - then to McGill for International Affairs.

But her education fund will only sustain 3 years of university so she needs $10K for the first 2 years of college in Montreal. That's the bad news. The good news is that she has a set of pipes on her that rival Celine. The bad news if her FEAR of performing in public. Good news -- she really wants to go.

So we bought her a book on song writing and laid out a plan. Now she's recording her first album and she'll likely put her first single up on I-Tunes shortly. A good example of FEAR - compressed - aimed in the right direction and let lose.

Remember the name: Mandy

Rayanne said:

Hey guys...
Thanks so much. I think those that read Bonus Track certainly know more about me than even my closest friends. The revelations are real and symptomatic of an ongoing life in progress. I figure that I am not so different than the next guy and that is probably why it's easy to see yourself in my own crazy stories. I am a firm believer in the "reason for everything" theory. Even if those reasons aren't revealed right away, and maybe the reason is created as the everything is happening.

I love the FEAR acronym, Dave..., I will use it often - a great thing to teach children, eh?