Perspective Without Restrictions | Life Without Pants. By Matt Cheuvront

Job Search 101: Incorporate the Real You

July 29, 2010 · 16 comments

The following is a guest post by the super-awesome, old-school Nickelodeon-loving Jessica Malnik. Jessica is a Gen Y blogger, social media enthusiast, and all around great person to know. For Jessica’s social media, technology and workplace ramblings, swing by her blog here.

It’s amazing how much we learn about ourselves in times of extreme uncertainty.

Looking back, I learned more about myself in the four and half months of my grueling job search than I have in 10 years. There’s something about writing countless cover letters, remaking dozens of resumes and the stream of rejection emails that really got me thinking.

So, after three months of applying to dozens of jobs and getting no solid leads, I started doing some serious soul searching. I realized I needed to change up my strategy in the job hunt.

I was so worried about confirming to the “traditional” job search approach that I was losing what made me UNIQUE.

ARE YOU STANDING OUT IN YOUR JOB SEARCH? CLICK THROUGH FOR MORE…

You Could Be Dead

July 27, 2010 · 34 comments

Yesterday I had the pleasure of (finally) meeting three people who have inspired me as a writer and entrepreneur for some time now – on a typical Monday afternoon in an apartment building hallway, waiting for the janitor to show up and let the cat in (long story), chocolate smoothies in hand, Colin Wright, Andi Norris, Ashley Ambirge, and fellow-Chicagoan Nina Yau, in true ‘lifestyle design blogger’ fashion chatted about life, work, travel, and everything in between.

I’ve never been in a 90 degree hallway filled with half as much inspiration.

As we made our way to the local playground yelling things like “No cock” (that one’s for you, Adam Baker) – disturbing parents and children alike, Colin, in true Colin Wright fashion, said something that stuck with me then, and I’ve continued to think about over the past 24 hours.

If you know Colin at all, read his blog, or watch his videos, you’ve probably noticed an extremely relaxed aura about him – the same could be said for his two amigos Ashley and Andi. I asked Colin, as we sat in a cozy nook of park benches, how he managed to maintain that ‘calmness’ – in the midst of constant transition, moving from place to place, running a business, etc.

His answer? In short, was that he didn’t feel ‘held back’ by risks, he wasn’t afraid to take leaps of faith and try new things (and potentially fail) because he understood and embraced that, at the end of the day, the absolute worst thing that could happen was that he’d die trying.

I KNOW IT SOUNDS MORBID, BUT STICK WITH ME HERE AND CLICK THROUGH FOR MORE…

Passion with a Dose of Realism

July 25, 2010 · 22 comments

Would you jump out of a plane without a parachute? Yeah…didn’t think so. In life, in your career, before you take a leap, it’s important to have a plan, to calculate the risk, and to plan for possible scenarios and outcomes.

Today’s “lesson” in the video below is simple – pursuing your passion isn’t something everyone can do right now, at this very moment. For some, quitting your job, moving to another country and starting your own business tomorrow is impossible. And that’s OK.

I recorded the video below for one simple reason: To remind us all (myself included) that thinking things through, saving money and planning for a better tomorrow does not mean you aren’t making the most of today. Idealism must come with a dose of realism.

Don’t get TOO complacent and convince yourself that you can’t do something (because you can) – but it’s equally important not to beat yourself up if you can’t do it all today.

You’re not settling if you’re being smart…

(Can’t see the video? Click Here)

What passions are you currently pursuing? What are you doing to plan for them? When have you had to take your own personal or professional leaps of faith in the past?

Friday Quick Hits: Marketing Never Smelled So Good

July 16, 2010 · 6 comments

Unless you were completely living under a rock this week – you probably noticed everyone swooning over the Old Spice Social Media/Youtube campaign. Which was, in a word, brilliant.

Old Spice took over the Youtube and Social Media airwaves as ‘the man’ Isiah Mustafa responded to comments from Twitter, Facebook, etc in real-time resulting in over 100 different personalized video responses. The result? Massive global awareness and millions of people viewing, commenting, and sharing around the web.

Other companies *must* take note of what Old Spice accomplished. They, in short, captured the essence of the three key factors of Social Media:

Timeliness

The effectiveness of this campaign starts and ends with the timeliness of their approach. Video responses were added in real time, which got people talking, asking their one questions, revisiting the Youtube account over and over hoping that the OldSpice guy would answer them…this campaign is a perfect example of being in the right place at the right time, listening to your audience and saying “Hey, we hear you”.

Engagement

The core of any marketing plan, especially one that takes place on the web, is engagement. Every business must ask, “Are we engaging our customers?” – It’s up to you to find out who you’re trying to target, and taking a proactive approach that gets people interacting not only with you and your brand, but amongst each other.

Personalization.

Old Spice proved that even a big-name brand can make things personal. They showed, in an extremely entertaining way, that even the little guy, you and I, are an important part of their success. They relied on their customers to spread their message and in short, it worked like a charm. All it takes it showing that you give a damn – maybe creating brand evangelists is easier than you think.

Old Spice wins ‘cool thing’ of the week. Now go catch up on some of these great reads…

5 Awesome (Free) Tools for Every Webpreneur | MattChevy
Life Without Pants: An Interview with Matt Cheuvront | Rowdy Kittens
Future of Web Design Conference in NYC (mostly posting this because I wish I could go)
Twitter Handles: My Name or Nickname? | FADS
12 Lessons Learned From Year One of Jobless Freedom | Far Beyond the Stars
Full length trailer for “The Social Network” (looks frickin’ AWESOME!)

Share some of the wealth. What good things came your way this week?

Friday Quick Hits: Learn Something New Every Day

July 9, 2010 · 7 comments

As I often do around here at Life Without Pants, I’m taking the liberty to somewhat reinvent what Friday Quick Hits is all about . Rather than a simple recap of my favorite posts from around the web, it’s my goal to highlight one awesome, bad-ass, totally rad, tubular (yes, tubular) thing that I’ve found that week. Something that you would be silly not to check out yourself – and something that I’m almost positive you’ll love as much as I did. Without further ado…let the revamped Friday Quick Hits begin…

This Week’s Best of the Best: ‘Learn Something New Every Day‘

Learn Something Every Day is a self initiated daily project by UK based design studio Young. Young is a studio adept in brand identity development, illustration, print and interactive design.

I initially stumbled across Young and their ‘Learn Something New Every Day’ campaign when searching for an image for a blog post here on LWP and, as I often do, I stumbled across some gems worth bookmarking.

With ‘Learn Something New Everyday’ you’ll do just that…learn something new, be it totally ridiculous (usually the case), hilarious, informative, or a combination of all three, every single day.

For example did you know…