Heed Your Calling like Dr. Seuss

Positive Leadership
Written By Katharine Smith

A few weeks ago I wrote about the importance of paying attention to what’s calling you - the profound need or problem makes you feel something…and maybe even gasp a little! If you tuned in to your thoughts and discovered that your calling made you a little uncomfortable, that is a good sign!

Perhaps your calling was the same idea that’s been renting space in the back of your mind for years. Perhaps your calling showed up in a moment of pure serendipity that you could not, and cannot, shake off. Well, there is something else to know about your calling…

Your calling doesn’t give a damn about time.

If that sounds a bit harsh, here is what I mean. Your calling doesn’t care if it’s a “good” time for you. Your calling doesn’t care if you have the time to pursue it.

Your calling will wait for you…because it’s yours for a reason, and it’s got nowhere else to be!

I recently stumbled across a quirky little history about how Dr. Seuss came to write The Lorax in 1971. As it turns out, he was called to compose the now-famous environmentalists’ tale long before he actually sat down to write it. It was an idea stuck in his head, even while other books were published.

It wasn’t until he took a trip to Kenya with his wife that he stopped putting it off and paid attention to it. While out on safari, observing some elephants in their natural habitat…

Dr. Seuss let his calling ‘take the wheel’ and he wrote the entire story of The Lorax on the back of a laundry list in just ninety minutes.

Of course, callings are never predictable! (They don’t give a damn about time, remember?) So, what are we to do when we hear them?

Take one, real step to bring it into the light of day.


Say it out loud to someone who matters.

Get it out of your head and into someone else’s, someone who will root for you and for it.

Write or draw a concept related to it.

Artistic skills be damned, just mock up something you can look at, admire, and revisit.

Take one bold action to shorten the distance between you and it.

Imagine you’re already ‘that kind of person’ and do one thing they’d do.

Acknowledging your calling brings you closer to it, but acting on it moves you into meaningful, uncharted territory! So, I challenge you to take one more step!

If you are called to run a marathon someday, run around the block right now. If you are called to write a book someday, write one page of your story right now. If you are called to start your own company, pick up the phone and call your best buddy and make sure they know what’s calling you and why.

Do something right now.

What happens next just might surprise you!

Featured
How Presence Drives Performance
How Presence Drives Performance

Most mid-career professionals I coach are surprisingly bad at assessing their own success in real time. They tend to focus negatively on what they haven’t been able to do, what hasn’t gone well enough, and what still needs to be accomplished. It’s as though they believe staying vigilant and critical in the short term ensures success in the long term…but this is an outdated belief.

The Fallacy of the Quick Fix
The Fallacy of the Quick Fix

Just about every week, a client, friend, or acquaintance shares something with me that’s rather painful…and not like, “gee, that sucks” painful. I’m talking like, “I don’t share this with many people…” painful.

To be clear, it is a privilege to be entrusted with these personal and painful stories, as they are usually rich with insights. However, I can also tell you that there are two words that always come up that I wish we would all stop using: FIX IT.

How to Survive Extraordinary Transitions
How to Survive Extraordinary Transitions

Watching someone you love navigate change is hard, and initiating it yourself is even harder - so whether you are preparing for a disruptive career move, or planning to shake things up at the highest level of your organization - I can tell you that good change is absolutely achievable when you dedicate yourself to three powerful priorities.

…and this may shock you, but none of them are about nailing the time, budget, or plan just perfectly!

How to Lead With Relaxed Authority
How to Lead With Relaxed Authority

At an early age, Sarah* was trained to follow instructions and win.

She became a stand-out student, athlete, and musician. She attended great schools, landed competitive internships, and was on track to surpass her own career expectations, but in the last few year's relationship with work started slipping.

Her deep-seated drive to avoid missteps, impress her stakeholders, and expedite decisions consumed all her time and energy, and she was finding it impossible to…

The Power of a Clear and Coherent Vision
The Power of a Clear and Coherent Vision

Several weeks ago, my husband and I met with an architect to articulate a vision for our family’s future home.

“A take on Nordic modern, with a warmer palette and loads of windows to maximize natural light…” we blathered with unqualified confidence.

The architect graciously replied, “Can you share some pictures with me?”

Of course, we had a few ready because we’d been geeking out on the idea of building a home for years, but it wasn’t until we were asked to share them that I realized just how undefined and incoherent our ‘good' ideas still were.

How to Sustain High Performance
How to Sustain High Performance

Way back in 2015, I had the privilege of consulting on strategic work inside a world-famous corporation. It was, and still is, known all around the world for its bold brand positioning and its high performance culture…so you can probably guess which one I’m talking about.

If not, I’ll give you a hint: its name rhymes with “Mikey.”

During my tenure, I got to work with some truly brilliant professionals: category leaders, functional leaders, innovators, and creators, and I was charged with leading workplace transformation inside various departments.

Don't Let Your Beliefs Undermine Your Performance
Don't Let Your Beliefs Undermine Your Performance

Since 2023, I have invested a lot more time and energy into understanding the science of behavior change and the art of subconscious programming (aka mindset work), all to transform my clients’ career performance.

I have dug deeper than smart decision-making frameworks and collaborative leadership models and I’ve examined the invisible levers that drive performance: your perceptions and beliefs.

How To Survive Seemingly Endless Change
How To Survive Seemingly Endless Change

About ten days ago, my family and I completed our “Relocation Roadtrip” from Bend, Oregon to Flagstaff, Arizona - by way of Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and a handful of national parks!

But as I continue to unpack boxes, set up our rental home, and facilitate new norms for the people I love, I can’t help but bristle at that word ‘completed.’

…because if you’ve ever initiated a big career move, been tasked with a re-org, or spearheaded a turnaround, you know that big change never really feels ‘complete.'

So this month, let’s get real about living in seemingly endless change and how you (and I!) can lead through it.

The Fallacy of Hard Work
The Fallacy of Hard Work

Last month, my husband and I embarked on the trip of a lifetime. We dropped into the Grand Canyon to raft 220 miles of the Colorado River.

For 14 days, we loaded, floated, braced, paddled, splashed, and crashed through more than 80 whitewater rapids under the tutelage of five remarkable guides and their two assistants - most of whom were as strong in body as they were in character.

Processing Complex Career Transitions
Processing Complex Career Transitions

For ambitious, mid-career professionals, career transitions are complex, and over time, they can become quite disorienting and destabilizing. While we may do our best to make the optimal choice, our minds are often littered with questions and unknowns. We vacillate justifications around money, time, family, well-being, security, autonomy, etc. This messy mental state is related to what psychologists ‘cognitive dissonance’ - when your mind tries to reconcile two or more thoughts (or behaviors) that are inconsistent with your beliefs or values. So why does your smart brain launch into these mental gymnastics? And how can you outsmart it to minimize exhaustion?

Katharine Smith https://www.mountainvalleyco.com/
Previous

A New View of Leadership
Next

What’s calling you?