Your particular form elation does not in any way have to be as whimsical as this gentleman’s seen here.
Image via Freepik
Conquering Procrastination: The Path to Productivity and Success
Guest Writer: Chad Marcus Smith
Procrastination —the timeless foe of productivity, the silent killer of deadlines, and the arch-nemesis of progress. It lurks in the shadows of our intentions, delaying tasks and goals while whispering promises of tomorrow. Overcoming procrastination is a universal pursuit, an endeavor to reclaim control and unleash one’s full potential.
Procrastination, often misunderstood as mere laziness, is a complex interplay of psychological, emotional, and behavioral factors. It stems from various sources such as fear of failure, perfectionism, lack of motivation, or an overwhelming workload. Recognizing its roots is the first step toward conquering it.
1. Break it Down
Tackle tasks by breaking them into smaller, manageable chunks. This diminishes the sense of overwhelm and makes starting easier.
2. Set Clear Goals and Deadlines
Establishing specific, achievable objectives coupled with realistic deadlines can provide a roadmap for progress, serving as a powerful antidote to procrastination.
3. Prioritizing and Time Management
Identify high-priority tasks and allocate dedicated time slots to work on them. Tools like the Eisenhower Matrix can aid in determining urgency and importance.
4. Combat Perfectionism
Perfectionism often leads to procrastination. Embrace the concept of “good enough” and understand that completion is sometimes more important than perfection.
5. Create a Supportive Environment
Surround yourself with an environment conducive to productivity. Minimize distractions, organize your workspace, and find accountability partners or mentors to keep you on track.
6. Utilize the Two-Minute Rule
If a task takes less than two minutes to complete, do it immediately. This simple rule eliminates the habit of postponing quick, simple tasks.
7. Practice Self-Compassion and Forgiveness
Be kind to yourself when facing setbacks. Forgiving yourself for procrastinating allows you to move forward without the burden of guilt.
Shifting one’s mindset is fundamental in the battle against procrastination. Embrace a growth mindset, acknowledging that failure is a part of the learning process. Cultivate a positive outlook by focusing on the rewards of completing tasks rather than the discomfort of initiating them.
Overcoming procrastination is not a one-time victory but an ongoing journey. It requires commitment, self-reflection, and a willingness to adapt. Celebrate small victories along the way and understand that setbacks are natural. Each moment presents an opportunity to choose progress over delay.
The path to overcoming procrastination is paved with self-awareness, effective strategies, and a resilient mindset. By implementing these tools and fostering a proactive approach, individuals can reclaim their time, boost productivity, and ultimately pave the way to achieving their goals. Remember, the key lies not in perfection but in consistent effort and forward momentum.
Embrace the Quirky: Exploring the Joy of Random Creative Bursts
Photo art by davisuko @davisuko
Guest Writer: Chad Marcus Smith
In the vast landscape of our minds lies an intricate web of thoughts, ideas, and whimsical musings waiting to be explored. Often, it’s the unexpected, the random, and the unconventional ideas that pave the way for our most creative endeavors. And through it all, such as they are, these ribbons of randomness pulsing through our brains can be the intellectual lightning storm,of innovation new ideas or leading us down imaginative paths we never knew existed.
Photo by Steph Wilson @stephwill
Our minds are fascinating realms where chaos and creativity collide. Sometimes, in the midst of our daily routines, a random thought emerges - an idea that seems to come out of nowhere. It could be an unusual combination of words, a peculiar image, or a quirky scenario playing out in our heads. These seemingly inconsequential thoughts are the raw materials of creativity.
Embracing Playfulness
Embracing these random thoughts often requires a dash of playfulness. It’s about letting go of the constraints of practicality and allowing ourselves to revel in the joy of imagination. Engaging in creative play, such as doodling aimlessly, engaging in word associations, or daydreaming, can provide fertile ground for these spontaneous bursts of creativity.
Cultivating Creativity
To nurture these random creative thoughts, creating an environment that encourages exploration is key. Surrounding oneself with diverse experiences, exposing oneself to new art forms, literature, music, or even engaging in unconventional activities, can stimulate the mind and encourage unconventional thinking.
Turning Quirkiness into Innovation
Many groundbreaking ideas have originated from seemingly bizarre or unrelated thoughts. Take, for instance, the story of the Post-it note, born out of a failed attempt at developing a super-strong adhesive. Embracing the randomness of creative thoughts can lead to unexpected breakthroughs and innovative solutions.
Photo by Ian Schneider @goian
Embracing the Journey
Exploring the realm of random creative thoughts is not just about the destination—it’s about enjoying the journey. It’s about relishing the process of discovery, embracing the unpredictability, and finding joy in the surprises our minds offer.
Conclusion
In a world that often values structured thinking and linear progress, the beauty of random creative thoughts lies in their spontaneity and unpredictability. They remind us to embrace the unconventional, explore the uncharted territories of our minds, and find joy in the simple act of letting our imaginations roam freely. So, the next time a peculiar idea pops into your head, embrace it, play with it, and see where it takes you—you might just stumble upon something truly extraordinary.
How to Integrate AI Into Your Creative Practice
Guest Writer: Shauna Friedman
FreelanceMikey offers an irreplaceable human touch for your business and creative endeavors with services like idea brainstorming, coaching, and editing.
How to Integrate AI Into Your Creative Practice
Whether you’re a writer, designer, composer, or other creative, it’s time to sit up and take notice of AI, if you aren’t already. As you likely know, AI is increasingly being incorporated into work processes because it saves so much time and effort, and offers several AI-specific benefits (like big data analysis). This includes creative processes – everything from digital design and content development to music-making and film.
The HBR sums it up nicely: AI won’t replace humans – but humans with AI will replace humans without AI. Incorporating AI into your creative practice can help you offer a better quality of service and reduce your workload.
Below, FreelanceMikey Creative Consulting offers a mini-guide on how to integrate AI into your existing creative endeavors.
Understanding the collaborative role of AI
AI works by analyzing vast data sets, identifying patterns, and then outputting results. AI can’t replace human creativity, imagination, and emotions – but it can inspire, augment, and enhance all three. It can give you a boilerplate to build from, refine, and add to, and it can collaborate with you to make your work easier.
Building a collaborative workflow
To make full use of an AI tool in your creative practice, you can build a collaborative workflow that integrates an AI app or tool. Creatives can find specific AI apps for their niche (such as image generation software if they’re a designer). Or you can use a general-purpose AI tool like ChatGPT.
Here’s a working example of how to integrate an AI app into your workflow:
Initial human manual prompt: First, you provide the AI with a clear set of guidelines, parameters, or examples of works related to your desired output. If you’re designing a webpage, you can input a theme (type of website), some style guidelines, and script interactivity.
Human screening of AI output: The AI will generate some output for you, which you should screen for quality and accuracy. You can ask the AI to make changes to the output or use the output as a new prompt to generate a different (related) output.
Manual human refinement: If you like the output, you can make changes to it manually, based on your unique experience, skills, and talents.
Final human-AI combined result: Once you iterate your work enough, you have the final result, which is a mix of AI and human-generated work. Ideally, you want an output that optimally leverages human and AI strengths (and covers each others’ weaknesses).
The quality of the results you receive will depend on your initial prompt and the AI tool in question. Many AI tools also learn as they go (machine learning), offering better results the more you work with them.
Which creatives can use AI?
Almost all creatives that work with computers or use computer-related apps and tools for their work can use AI. This includes writers, designers, poets, game developers, architects, photographers, music composers, and more. You can check AI trends for your unique niche if you’re curious.
Can you fully automate creative processes?
The answer is yes, although with some caveats. The work produced isn’t always high-quality or original – AI doesn’t have a human identity, emotions, perspectives, and experiences. These things can only be simulated to a degree. It’s not real enough, essentially, and a trained eye can spot the difference.
AI does excel at automating recurring processes, however – if you have to do the same thing over and over again, an AI tool can do it perfectly every time. This has more applications in the business world, which involves a lot of recurring processes like accounting, as opposed to the creative world, which has much more nuance and originality.
You have to add a human quality to creative AI work
Ai can’t generate high-quality creative work by itself – it needs your creative training and input. You need to know what quality work looks like to be able to produce original quality work yourself (with AI assistance). If you’re in the content development niche (marketing, writing, or similar), you can learn about quality content through online resources.
Conclusion
Keep in mind that AI is still a work in progress and has several limitations, especially when it comes to creative work. While it can make your creative practice easier and automate some recurring tasks, it doesn’t always produce quality work, and you’ll still need a trained human eye to get the most out of it.
Image via Unsplash
Hi, everyone!
Hi All,
Checking back in after a long hiatus from the website blog to give you an update on the goings-on at freelancemikey.com and beyond.
Life has been moving a little more adventurously lately, as I’ve moved into a new home since my last post. With that said, I’ve still been working on several personal projects including a film that I should be finished writing within a few months. I’ve also ventured out into new sources of income and expanded my financial future through them. I will continue to work in consulting, marketing, copywriting, and music production and I hope that you’ll join me in my journey.
In the coming months, I’ll be writing interviews in blog form with various artists of all genres and walks of life, and having some fun, and maybe even making some new friends along the way.
Keep rollin’,
Mikey
October 2022!
Photo: Jeremy Thomas
Hey all,
I just wanted to drop by and say thank you to everyone who has been supporting me through my transition to Fiverr.com on a regular basis.
As many of you know, i’ve been spending the past couple of years focusing on music editing and mashups as well as some editing for screenwriting—and of course, spending time with friends and family and enjoying my life.
As of now, I haven’t really decided what to do with this blog, but I do want to keep things current. I think there are some exciting things on the horizon both professionally and personally. Stay tuned.
Thank you again to everybody who has contributed to the business and thereby made my life really enjoyable!
Book a session with me at Fiverr.com/mikeywrites0010.
Just dropping a line before launching some interviews and new posts!
Photo by Adam Solomon
Hi Everyone,
It’s been a while since I’ve posted, so I’m just dropping by to keep you abreast of what’s going on in the life of Michael LaPenna.
We’ve been moving things around at work and at home and I have a new health regimen that I’ve started to ensure better health, at the advice of my doctor. Things are really moving! There might be times where I don’t have as much time to devote to this blog as I would like, so my focus will always be quality over quantity. In the coming weeks, I will be scheduling some art-related and creativity-related blog posts in the form of interviews with creatives and artists. I hope you like the outcome.
We’re coming up on the Christmas and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa season in 2020 and what a terrible 2020 it’s been! I ask that you please stay safe, stay home, and wear your mask when you go out or have to be in a group of people.
Until then, this is Mikey saying take care of yourself and others and keep believing!
Seeking Artists and Creative Business Professionals for Interviews
Image by russn_fckr
Hey there, all! Some exciting news!
If you are an artist or creative business professional who would like to be profiled on the FreelanceMikey Blog, please contact me here or at my preferred email at mike.lapenna@gmall.com.
I’m also taking some time to aggregate some content on here to create a more expansive experience. I’m excited about where things can go in the next few months.
I’ll be revamping and re-populating some of the comments sections soon as well. Stay tuned!
Yours,
Michael LaPenna
A Short Journal Entry on Quarantine, Creativity, and Being Human When the World Seems Inhumane
by Michael LaPenna
Like many of you, I’ve spent the past several contemplating my next move… I’m going through the roller coaster of emotional consequences caused by COVID-19. I spent the first week contemplating my own mortality: if I died, if either or both of my parents died, if my wife died. Couple that with the prospect of dying alone and you get a cocktail for crying myself to sleep and telling myself to seek immediate talk therapy. I took myself up on the offer and therapy put everything in perspective: the relative unlikelihood of death, the realization of what I had instead of what I didn’t. I spent a lot of time thinking about what getting the most out of life means for me while coming face-to-face with this insipid invisible air monster that can kill me, make me sick, or give me no symptoms all that, as of this writing, has no cure and no universally defined treatment. I thought about unfinished creative projects that I would be sad about not being able to do or complete before I died—and so, I thought I could do all that during the quarantine, but the natural depression of the news (COVID-19, economic recession, civil unrest, and the coming election here in the US) and the simple lack of the usual events that consume my life on a regular basis. (Even with my wife being an introvert by nature, we do a lot of going out and spending time with others). We couldn’t go to farmers’ markets, to our friends parties, their weddings, their baby showers—nor could we go out to eat to support our favorite local restaurants or find and explore new ones. Still, weirdest of all, with the sports world on hold for an indefinite amount of nebulous time until earlier this summer, the only sports available for moths were South Korean baseball and the Twilight Zone that is professional wrestling with no audience. (For those that don’t know, I grew up loving the mixture of sports, soap opera, circus, and magic show that is professional wrestling. There’s no other genre like it in the world, and like most things, when it’s bad it’s the worst bad movie no Razzie can encapsulate, but when it’s good and when the crowd is invested, it’s like watching your favorite action movie with a live audience of 20,000 people witnessing live theater of the absurd joys and tragedies of life—but I digress.
As we look upon or collective human condition in this moment, I cannot help but realize that this experience is forcing us to stop and be still in world usually so comfortable to be busy, hustling, distracted, and disquieted. It is wresting us down to think of what’s important and at best has and likely will necessitate that we innovate new ways of being human beings in our level of patience, kindness, and learning what to when people and and situations aren’t either of those ( in times of tension or protest). For creatives that could mean so many things, but most of all, it might give us more time to think and to be in solitude with what our art is. After all, drawing, painting, writing, or sculpting can be done in solitude and much of it can be done in quarantine. (Most of us are not Shakespeare or Galileo calculating and crafting our respective calculuses or King Lears in the self-reflective solitary confinement of quarantine). We do know; however, that we don’t like to be too stagnant for too long. As the late Bruce Lee might remind us, humans at our creative best like to flow like water down a teaming stream filled with life and vitality. Lee famously implored us to, “Be water, my friend.” I endorse the flow.
For months now around the world, we homebound humans have been being asked to stay in with friends, with family—or by ourselves with suddenly enough time to stop, breathe; read the books we’ve been meaning to read, watch all the movies we’ve been meaning to watch, initiate all the exercise we’ve been meaning to take new levels of fitness, or make all the art we’ve neglected to prioritize as soul food (including my own creative writing).
So as you come out of your funk, your depression, your fears, consider that though the world may be in one of its darkest hours in the past hundred years—being forced apart by quarantine or by unfortunate departure from this planet—the living and moving majority of us have a call to be ourselves in the best ways we know possible and to show the world what is possible through tragedy and tears while on the way to possibility and triumph..
Black Lives and LGBTQ+ Lives Are Our Neighbors and Their Houses Are on Fire
Image by Maria Oswalt
by Michael LaPenna
I’ve been thinking through and living with so many emotions lately, and I just wanted to post something of love and support from the perspective of a guy that is both the majority and minority (as a white man and a person with cerebral palsy who grew up in multicultural neighborhoods and racially integrated lunch tables all the while still feeling like the most different one in the room) who believes that black lives matter and LGBTQ+ lives matter as well as any life who feels unheard and unseen.
Suspicion of a counterfeit $20 bill is not in any way a cogent and practical reason for George Floyd to have died. Being shot in her bed by police because they had the wrong house shouldn’t have killed Breonna Taylor. Jogging in a predominently white neighborhood shouldn’t be a reason why an otherwise healthy Ahmaud Arbery died. Someone else’s discomfort with a person’s gender identity or sexuality shouldn’t be a reason why 18 trans people have been murdered in 2020 alone. Rather, let’s treat people—not only better—but the very best we can treat them. Even if we disagree on issues, and even if we aren’t the very best of friends with every person we encounter. I believe we too often act like Samaritans minding our own business. Let’s instead leave a wider space inside our hearts for the common dignity we would give to strangers, loved ones—and all people endowed with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and be good to one another because, in no uncertain terms, we cannot love one another and our neighbors as ourselves only when it’s convenient. Loving one another as ourselves, for me, means seeing our common humanity in each face and personality we encounter on a daily basis for better and for worse to heal our wounds and lift up our joys for the good of us all. Yes, all lives do matter, but when your neighbor’s house is on fire, you don’t scream, “What about my house?” and throw stones, you get help to put that fire out. It’s time to put the fire out in America with liberty and justice for all.
I'm writing about the current situation and will post once I'm done....
#racism #blacklivesstillmatter
How to Get What You Want As Told by the Wisdom of the Late Dr. Wayne Dyer
How to get what you want may be a nebulous and elusive quest for most of us—even for me—but here a few classic tidbits from the late behavioral therapist turned new thought guru Dr. Wayne W. Dyer on manifesting what you want by letting go and getting into the flow of you creativity that is natural to you. it has kind of a spiritual immediacy for both believers and non religious alike that make me excited about my own work in a really blissed out, impassioned and powerful way.
Read moreFind Your Creative Voice and Vision
Do you have an amazing business or business idea that you think needs that extra something?
Do you make art that you want to share with the world in fresh and dynamic ways?
Do you have a wonderful TV show, film, or stage show or production that you'd like to take to new heights?
Do you have music waiting to be heard by the world—music that requires unique messaging, marketing—something more focused to your specific vision?
Do you have a unique design or design concept that you'd like to get out there that you feel needs a new angle, an approach that hasn't been done before?
You might be saying to yourself, "Oh, my God! That's me!" If so, you're exactly who we would like to work with us!
Read moreMy Creative Entrepreneurship Journey and a New Blog Interview Series
The journey continues….
Since embarking on the creative entrepreneurship journey that is FreelanceMikey, I’ve been inspired on a daily basis by starting out doing relatively small jobs with big impacts. Where so many other people live for the weekend, I’ve learned to treat my weekdays ast days to be lived. Now, I spend my days helping ambitious people fulfill their need to get their creative ideas out into the world and I’m thankful for it every day. From creative writing and editing assisting clients with plays, screenplays, memoirs and novels, to the more specific personal one-on-one consulting to help propel personal and professional confidence in my clients, each job and each client gives me a variant on a practiced and consistent sense of purpose in what I do—not just as a creative and entrepreneur but as a air-breathing human being who likes to help people. To this point, my music and audio mixing work has been one of the most rewarding parts of my creative work: making music mixes and mashups for personal use for everything from wedding songs to dance recitals—and even a routine for America’s Got Talent got wrangled in there somewhere. In all cases and get the great privilege to help my clients dream just a bit bigger and express a deep love for what they’re doing. It’s a rich reward I will never ever take for granted in the least.
Read moreCreate With Us!
Business is expanding more quickly than I could’ve imagined, and for the better. The blog posts may continue to be a bit more curated or sporadic in the near term. Of course, if you would like to blog with us, more specifically, with me Mikey, Fill out your information at the “Work with us!” section at the contact page here and I’ll get back to you usually within 48 hours.
Keep creating,
Michael LaPenna
Set Off on the Path of Freelance Success
by Courtney Rosenfeld, gigspark.biz
Though once considered the fringe of employment, 16.5 million people work in the gig economy in the United States, a figure that’s set to grow as more and more companies outsource projects and professionals discover the freedom and flexibility of being their own boss, setting their own hours and often working from home.
This could be a golden opportunity for you, whether you’re tired of trudging to the office every day or looking for an extra source of income in retirement. Opportunity abounds in a number of specialties, from writing to designing to pet care to housecleaning. However, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the responsibility of running your own show and finding enough contracts to pay the bills, so here are some tips to keep things on track.
Set Goals
You need goals to stay motivated, move forward and be successful, says an entrepreneur writing for the Balance Small Business, who provides a list of resources that help you set realistic targets for your enterprise, whether they’re financial or related to finding new clients. Remember to divide them up into long-term and short-term goals so you have something to aim for every day when you start work. There’s no point in just saying, “I want to be a millionaire.” If that’s the dream, you have to make a plan for it.
Create a Cozy Home Office
You’ll be spending a lot of time in your office, so make sure you’re well equipped in a space that’s dedicated to work and nothing else. It will serve you well if you have a spare room you can devote to your enterprise, but setting aside a quiet corner in the basement or attic would also suffice. A natural source of light does wonders to keep up your spirits, especially when the sun is shining, while an ergonomic chair provides the comfort you need for long hours at the computer. If your home is lacking space, you could convert part of your garage into an office. If you don’t have a garage on your property, consider building a prefab steel garage and using it as office space. Steel structures are inexpensive and easy to maintain.
Stay Organized
According to a startup expert with Forbes, successful entrepreneurs all “batch” their tasks. This refers to grouping everything you need to do into categories, then doing one of those all at once. For example, set aside one morning for writing emails and the afternoon for developing a business plan, but keeping in mind priorities that need to get done that day, of course. This technique helps you avoid floundering in a jumble of random activities.
Manage Your Finances
One of the cardinal rules of running your own business is separating your business from your personal life, and the easiest way is by setting up separate bank accounts. Once that’s done, create a budget for expenses based on an average of what you make from month to month, as that varies. Remember that you are one of those expenses, so pay yourself on a regular basis by transferring money to your personal account. Be sure you have enough to keep up with loan payments, and use a home cost calculator to determine how much you can spend on property if you’re on the market.
Keep Marketing
The nature of freelance work means bouncing from contract to contract or project to project, so you can never cease promoting your services, or your revenue streams may dry up. With little cash to spend on advertising, choose a few inexpensive means of getting the word out, and batch them into your schedule. Social media channels are on your side, so make daily or weekly posts that include a link to your blog or website, and don’t be timid in asking for referrals from past and current customers.
Watch Your Health
When striking out on your own with a new business, you need to be at your best mentally and physically, so this is not the time to neglect your diet and fitness routine no matter how much you want to tap away at your laptop. Turn it off, put on your sneakers and head out for a jog, cycle or power walk. When it’s time to eat, load up on vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains while keeping sugar and fat intake at a minimum.
Starting up your own business may be a bit nerve-wracking at first, but once the revenue starts flowing in, you’ll begin to appreciate the freedom of being your own boss. It’s truly liberating, so enjoy it.
Image via Pexels.
Courtney Rosenfield started her career in the gig economy after several years of enviously watching others do the same thing. She started Gigspark to be a resource and a first step for people who are looking to join the gig economy, either to supplement their income or as a way to fulfill their dreams of becoming an entrepreneur.
Four of the Most Important Freelance Jobs to Hire Out for Your Small Business
by Courtney Rosenfeld, gigspark.biz
There are many advantages to hiring out freelance work for your business. If you run a small business, for instance, you may have realized that you don’t need a full-time staff. Or, perhaps you would like a full-time staff but can’t afford it. Either way, hiring freelancers can free up time and money for you to spend on growing your business in a way that would be much more difficult than if you were paying a full-time staff.
Yes, it still costs money. But it can cost less money than paying a staff over time, and the growth and reduced stress you experience will likely make it more than worthwhile. Determine what kind of projects you need done, set your budget, ask around for referrals, and review job boards. Once you have a candidate in mind, send them a test project. If they return a completed project to you on time that meets your standards, you may have a keeper. If not, keep looking until you find a freelancer in that specialty who provides the product you’re envisioning.
Finding the best freelancer you can at a price point you can work with will help you focus on the tasks you need to, and it will ultimately help your business flourish. While there are many different types of freelance work, these four are some of the most essential ones to consider.
Virtual Assistants
Any successful business owner will tell you that delegating tasks is vital to effectively running a company. When you delegate tasks that don’t come naturally to you and that will waste your time, you can spend time on things that grow your business. There are many tasks that can be taken care of by a virtual assistant, and looking on the right job board can direct you to qualified, reliable candidates. Essentially, a virtual assistant can do anything from administrative support and scheduling to customer service and data entry.
Web Designers
It’s no secret that an awesome website is necessary for any small business. There are many platforms available today that allow someone with minimal design knowledge to build a website; however, these websites are often easily spotted, and the limited features of these platforms can make it difficult for your site to stand out among the crowd. Bringing in a web designer can give you a unique, high-quality site with responsive design technology. Also, a professionally designed site will be more reliable, run more efficiently, and increase your company’s search engine optimization (SEO).
Content Writers
Providing audiences with written content has become increasingly important for small businesses of all kinds. Having a blog on your website that discusses industry-related subject matter and offers expert advice highlights your company’s credibility. Qualified content writers can write about topics your audience cares about in a readable way. Furthermore, they can clearly translate ideas that you don’t know how to put into words, and they can provide an unbiased view of your products and services.
Social Media Managers
Finally, hiring a social media manager can prove invaluable to your business. Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter offer affordable (and sometimes free) marketing tools, and bringing in a professional who knows how to utilize and manage those tools can free you up to work on the things you’re best at. A social media manager can lay out a strategic plan for your social presence, consistently post meaningful content, promote your brand and products/services, expand your customer reach, and ultimately boost your sales.
As a small business owner, virtual assistance, web design, content writing, and social media management are all jobs you should consider hiring out to freelancers. Remember to find the best candidate you can within your budget, and test them out before committing to multiple projects. Hiring qualified freelancers can free up your time to focus on the projects you do best so that your company can grow and thrive as much as possible.
Photo Credit: Burst
Courtney Rosenfield started her career in the gig economy after several years of enviously watching others do the same thing. She started Gigspark to be a resource and a first step for people who are looking to join the gig economy, either to supplement their income or as a way to fulfill their dreams of becoming an entrepreneur.
Coming This Fall to FreelanceMikey.com!
I’m back with a quick update about this blog. Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary patrons and readers!
Life is getting busy as I get ready to ebmark on several new endeavors, and with all this, I’m going to be transforming this blog into an information and interview portal into the hearts and minds of creative professionals from every walk of life from America to Indonesia and any and all points in between. (I’d go into space if I could). My goal is to take you on as many fun journeys into the worlds of creative business art and the art of creative business In ways that are at once focused and fun, comprehensive yet conversational.
Interviews and features will include any of the following:
Entrepreneurs
Educators
Business leaders
Visual artists
Musicians
Actors
Comedians
Novelists
Screenwriters
Playwrights
Graphic designers
Home stagers
Multimedia artists
Psychologists
Sociologists
Biographers/historians
Join me this fall as we take a journey into all this and more!
Don’t Call It a Comeback: The FreelanceMikey Blog Gears Up for That ‘New New’
A formal occasion (not my wedding)
Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and nonbinary digital natives! After a long hiatus, I’m back to update you on all the goings-on of late with FreelanceMikey Creative Consultation and what has been the cause of this long but much-needed sabbatical. The FreelanceMikey blog has been dormant lately due to shifting dynamics in the business and in my own life of late. I’ve been focusing on my editing, music mixing, and keeping up my physical health working with a physical therapist (due to my cerebral palsy).
In this vein, I want to take time to appreciate your visit to the website and the FreelanceMikey brand and blog, and I absolutely thank you for your patience. (I’m also planning my wedding these days, so my life rolls on hard—both in and out of my wheelchair ♿️).
New projects, new locations, new interviews, and new horizons are in motion for all of the creative campaigns that my friends, colleagues, and I aim to bring to the fore in 2019.
Currently, there are a few projects very key projects underway including general project consulting and specialized projects. Formats and pricing and listed in the home menu. Go to our services page for more.
Most absolutely, I want you to know that going forward as always, I definitely want to further my mission in helping you be yourself fully in whatever medium you choose to explore.
May you move boldly and follow your bliss,
Michael LaPenna
#MondayMotivation: The Domino Effect and the Inspirational Story of Thaddeus Bullard
This is the inspirational story of Thaddeus Bullard…
More on Thaddeus Bullard at thaddeusbullard.com
Thaddeus Bullard was born to a preteen mother under horrible circumstances but was never given up on despite it all. This is that story.
So many times in life, we are given a choice to treat people a particular way. From our loved ones to our bosses, to the random person who asks for our help, we all have choices to make. This is the story of what happens when we choose kindness over indifference and the particular domino effect that can follow.
The following TEDx Talk by philanthropist, entrepreneur, and performer Thaddeus Bullard (who performs and wrestles as WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil) tells the tale himself in the TEDxUCLA video below.
Key points:
- Watch what happens when one man shows kindness to someone who is racist against him.
- Hear the inspirational story of the homeless couple Mr. Bullard invited to a restaurant for a meal and the “domino effect” and powerful catalyst it inspired.
Thaddeus (as Titus O’Neil) wears the WWE Tag Team championship with teammate Darren Young. (WWE.com)
TED Talks (short for Technology, Education, and Design Talks) have been known to inspire millions of people and to move arts, culture, and technology forward by new and interesting means, but this TED Talk is bit of an outlier just meant to inspire simple kindness, I suppose.
Just a little dose of Monday Motivation to make you smile a little brighter!
Every day, things we do knowingly or unknowingly, affect others. Sometimes it's a small effect, and sometimes it's profound and causes a chain reaction. If you're going to have an effect, why not make it a good one.