Happy New Year – I wish you all the best for 2010!

“One Day” – Matisyahu

One Day
sometimes I lay
under the moon
and thank God I’m breathing
then I pray don’t take me soon
I am here for a reason
sometimes in my tears I drown
but I never let it get me down
so when negativity surrounds
I know some day it’ll all turn around
cause all my life I’ve been waiting for
I’ve been praying for
for the people to say
that we don’t wanna fight no more
they’ll be no more war
and our children will play
one day

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It’s our choice whether we stay “lost”. There is hope.

Josh Shipp is a motivational speaker, teen expert, all around cool guy who is up to some pretty awesome stuff. He has a DVD out today that helps teens deal with being labeled and finding their identity. It goes on sale today. Check out the trailer here.

If you live in the Greater Toronto Area and are interested in finding out more about a career in the trades industry, check out this free skilled trades fair:

Apprenticeship Career Connections
International Centre, 6900 Airport Road, Mississauga
Oct. 28th, 10:00am – 7:30pm

Grant Lingel recently sent me a copy of his new book, Imagine: A Vagabond Story. Here is an excerpt:

“We all felt the walls and barriers of our lives crushing us and knew change was necessary. Not out of fear of the ‘real world’ but out of curiosity for a new world. I never thought about my trip as an escape, just a passage through new doorways that I had never crossed in the past.”

Imagine: A Vagabond Story is a first hand account of Grant’s travel adventure throughout Mexico and Central America. The book reads like a travel journal, as Grant honestly describes his thoughts on the places he visits, the people he encounters, and the personal lessons he gleaned during his journey.

Grant’s story continually reminded me that amazing events can unfold when you open yourself up to new experiences.

When I was on the road during One-Week Job, typically I had no idea where I was working only days before my next job began. I’d receive an email, phone call, or meet a stranger on the street and it would completely alter my path.

Likewise, Grant’s incredible experience wouldn’t have been possible if he wasn’t willing to leave his comfort zone, embrace uncertainty, try new things, meet different people, and take risks. A conscious decision to make it happen. Reflecting back on it, he’s glad that he did:

“{The trip} taught me how small the world really is, how similar we all really are and how it is the people you meet along the way that shape who you are and who you become.”

To read the first few chapter’s of Grant’s adventure and order a copy, visit his website.

I just posted something from Seth Godin a couple days ago, but he’s just that good. This was his latest post. Have a read and see why you matter.

During my week as a Yoga Instructor in Week 7, I met Henri. I remember he said to me:

“When my students come into the class, it is my opportunity to impact the outer world through my inner studio. If I can change their mindsets, so that when they leave here, they are feeling calm and relaxed, that will alter how they experience the rest of their day and the other people they encounter. In doing so, I am creating a ripple effect far beyond I know the implications of.”

Every day we have the power to impact those around us – a kind word, a genuine smile, an inspiring blog post – whether that impact is positive or negative is up to us to decide. The important thing to remember is that either way, our ripples will be felt.

If you don’t know who Seth Godin is, get to know him. In every blog post, he provides value.

Just graduated, and can’t find a job? Read this recent post by Seth, Graduate school for unemployed college students.

Reading Seth’s post reminded of a conversation I had when I was a Radio DJ in Week 22. One afternoon, a Radio DJ I was working with said to me, “The most important message I take away from what you’re doing is to be pro-active about figuring out what you want to do. If you don’t know what to do, well don’t just sit around and wonder what to do. Do something.”

When I first graduated, I wasted a lot of time and energy worrying that I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Of course, it didn’t help my situation. I was so concerned with making the right choice that it prevented me from making any choice at all. Thankfully, I eventually recognized this.

What is your “something” going to be?

I’ve been asked to speak at The Health & Wealth Annex in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on May 8th, 2009. There are still spaces available – register on the website if you wish to attend. The event last three full days and costs $149.

From the website, here some benefits that past attendees said they took away:

See you there!

-Sean

I imagine many graduates are wondering what they’re going to do this summer – whether any companies will be hiring for new positions in this economic downturn.

If you’re having difficulty finding a full time position, an internship can be a great way to get some experience in the meantime and make you more marketable to future employers. Here’s one for this summer that was passed on to me.

Sosauce (a travel website based in New York City) is offering an eight week Summer 2009 marketing internship followed by a two week socially conscious travel experience.

From the website:
“For anyone who has ever dreamed of changing the world, this is your chance! You will gain incredible experience with a young company at a very exciting stage and have the opportunity to travel abroad, chronicle a socio-environmental issue, and have fun – all at the same time.”

Here is the link to find out more information and apply for the spot.

Good luck!

Photo by Stephen Poff

I received this question from a reader and thought it would be interesting to give my answer, but also share with other readers.

Q: Can everyone really pursue their true passion in life? If this were the case, you’d have an influx of people pursuing the same careers (rock star, athlete, pilot, actor, author, etc). Who would do the run-of-the-mill jobs that we need to keep our society running?

A: Great question. When I was a Radio DJ, I asked the morning host how he got into radio.

He said that many radio DJ’s are actually “failed musicians” – meaning they originally tried to support themselves by being rockstars, but for a variety of reasons, couldn’t quite make it. But, he said that being a radio DJ allows him to be involved in the same industry, interact with the same people, and cultivate his passion for music.

It made me think that we don’t all have to be rockstars, because we might be equally as happy being the guy who hands the rockstar their guitar.

In theory, could everyone pursue their true passion in life? I don’t know.

Might take some juggling to make it work. Though I’ve realized that there are many ways to pursue our passions, whether being involed in the industry in some way like this radio DJ, or looking to satisfy your passion outside of work.

Got a question for Sean? Send it to oneweekjob@gmail.com

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Photo by code poet

The folks over at Brazen Careerist have kicked off a contest highlighting the impact that blogging has had on our lives. A ticket to SXSW Interactive (huge media summit) is up for grabs valued at $425.

To enter, you must write a post on your blog about how blogging has impacted your life before December 12, 2008.

Read all the details here at Brazen Careerist.

I remember not more than five years ago when Ian, Karen (Ian’s wife), and I started a travel blogging website – blogs seemed so foreign to most people.

When I explained the concept of having a travel blog to others, my first question would be, “Well, do you know what a ‘blog’ is?” Most people would say “No” and so I’d then have to explain the concept of blogs. Web + Log = Web Log = Blog.

Now they seem so commonplace that asking such a question may insult the other person, “Of course I know what a blog is!”

Blogging has hugely impacted my life over the past year with the start of the One Week Job project. There’s no way I would have been able to contact so many people, set up the different jobs, and then share my experience with countless others had it not been for the introduction of blogs.

How has it impacted you? Share your story and maybe win some free stuff – we all love free stuff!

Since the end of the One Week Job journey, I’ve spent countless hours writing the book. I’ve also received a lot of questions about the book writing process and so I’m going to explain how it works according to my experience.

First Step – Write a book proposal

A book proposal is an excerpt from the book you’d like to write. Typically it includes the first few proposed chapters and is around 80 pages in length (I was very lucky. Because of the media attention One Week Job received, there was a lot of early interest from publishers and so my book proposal was about 5 pages).

Second Step – Find a literary agent

A literary agent helps navigate the publishing scene. They will work with you on the book proposal, editing, fine-tuning, making it ready for prospective publishers to take a look at.

A literary agent takes a 15% commission. They do not get paid until you get paid and so it’s in there best interest to work hard for you. This is also why literary agent’s are very selective of the clients and book proposals they choose to take on.

As you can imagine, a major publisher receives many book proposals from aspiring authors each week. A book proposal delivered to a publisher by means of a literary agent will get more consideration and credibility.

A literary agent also helps a publisher ‘weed out’ weaker submissions. The publisher is aware that for the agent to take on a project means that some due diligence has already been done.

Third Step – Choose Where To Submit

The literary agent will determine what publishing houses would be interested in your work (usually based on their previous titles), then approach an editor at the publishing house with the book proposal.

If an editor likes the book proposal, wants to work on such a book, and determines that there’s a place for it with their other titles, then negotiations will start.

Fourth Step – Show Me The Money

The editor will determine what money is available to purchase the rights to publish the book. This is called an advance against royalties.

An advance is paid in installments to the author. Often three equal payments – one on the signing of the contract, the second on delivery of the manuscript (first draft), and the final installment on publication of the book.

This is an advance against royalties – meaning that the author doesn’t get a pay check until the publishing house has earned back this initial advance. If the publishing house never recoups this advance, the author is not required to pay back the difference.

Other things that are discussed in the contract stage are territory rights (in which countries they can sell the book), the royalty the author will receive on the sale of each book (typically between 7–10%), among many others.

If there’s interest from a few publishing houses for the same book, then they might compete against each other by increasing the amount of the advance offered.

Fifth Step – Write the book

I will discuss my experience with this step in an upcoming post.

Any more questions? Discuss in the comments!

My 52 weeks have come to an end – What an adventure!

I think back to January 2007 when One Week Job was simply an idea and I wasn’t entirely sure whether or not I could go through with it.

It’s incredible to see how far it has come since then.

Though it was a lot of work and wasn’t always easy, I am extremely glad that I decided to take the leap. It will no doubt be an experience I will remember for the rest of my life.

Now that it is over, I am excited to take some time and reflect on my experience. It was difficult to do so while on the road as I was constantly on the move: organizing what would be the next job, how we would get there, and where to stay once there.

As one week finished, I was grateful it happened, then it was quickly time to move on to the next. It will be nice to stay in one place for a bit and not have to continually make new plans.

Some people ask, “Sean did you ever foresee this growing to such an extent as it has?” Early on I realized it was something that resonated with many people and I soon felt that I was a part of something much bigger than myself. What has been remarkable is to envision these plans in your mind, and then to see them come to fruition as you imagined.

One thing I could not have foreseen was the kindness and willingness of others to get involved. I was so lucky to meet some amazing people over the past year and it would not have been possible without them.

Complete strangers on Monday morning became close friends by the end of the week. Wherever I do end up, I’ll be sure to have a nice guest room because I expect to have many visitors!

I have learned that if you are able to articulate what it is you are trying to achieve, the majority of people will do what they can to help you take that one step closer.

Thank you so much to all of my past employers, people who let me stay at their house, those who picked me up when I was standing with my thumb at the side of the road, and to everyone who sent emails or left comments on the site with positive messages of encouragement. You are what made this experience memorable – I am so grateful to all of you!

I also owe a big thank you to NiceJob.ca who believed in the project from the early stages and were willing to come on board as a sponsor to help with travel expenses.

I don’t think I have officially announced it on the website, though I will be writing a book about my past year that will be published Spring 2009 by Penguin Books in Canada and Random House in the USA (if you live outside North America, I’ll keep you posted).

It will be the story of my experience; from graduating college with no clue what I wanted to do and scared of all the responsibilities that lay ahead, to starting One Week Job with all my adventures throughout the year and what I learned a long the way.

We are also looking to create a documentary with all of the footage that Ian shot.

Targeted for High School and Post Secondary Students, the documentary will use my unique experience to provide an entertaining, yet educational and inspiring exploration into the question, “What should I do with my life?”

We are currently seeking sponsors who would be willing to sponsor the documentary, so if you or anyone you know would be interested, please contact us.

If you would like to receive email updates about One Week Job, what I am up to, and progress on the book/documentary, there is a sign up on the homepage.

I am often asked if I would recommend that others in the same situation as myself try 52 jobs in 52 weeks?

I believe the more we know and understand about ourselves, the better idea of what type of career situation we need to have in order to be happy. How you go about doing that is your choice.

The important thing is that it be a situation in which you are challenged to learn something new and forced to step outside of your comfort zone. When you do, I promise you will be amazed what can happen and what you are capable of.

In the past whenever I heard people say things like, “You can do anything you set your mind to,” or “Believe in yourself and anything is possible,” I was always quick to dismiss them. Over time, they tend to lose meaning; they become cliché.

One thing I have come to realize is that cliches become cliché for a reason – it’s because they’re true. Everyday people realize their dreams. And their journey then shared with others.

I hope you enjoyed my journey and in the process found inspiration to set out on your own!

-Sean

My week as Mayor of Port Moody has come to an end. Although I wasn’t able to pass a bylaw requiring every Port Moody resident to simultaneously try out a completely unrelated profession for one week each year, I still enjoyed the experience.

I have such a love for the city, that I found it really interesting to be involved in discussions that will impact its future growth and direction. I felt as if I was “in the know.”

I think a common misconception is the extent of the Mayor’s authority on decision making. I previously thought that it was the Mayor who made final decisions based on recommendations from City Council. I was surprised to learn that the Mayor simply has one vote. Though, if things happen to go wrong, he is generally the one that gets the blame in the newspapers.

It’s a difficult position to be in. On one hand, you want to keep everyone happy and make choices you feel will benefit the city. Though on the other, tough decisions have to be made and your opinion will undoubtedly differ from those of some in the community.

As Mayor Trasolini told me, “you must have a sense of humour in this profession.”

As we place ourselves in a position that is more accessible to a wider audience, you open yourself up to criticism. I experienced this over the past year and received some advice just over half-way through:

In anything that we do, there will always be critics – a third of people are going to love what you do, a third will hate it, and another third won’t care.

(In an elected position, I guess you only hope that a third will be enough to give you the majority vote!)

I could definitely see myself (at some point down the road) running for Mayor or City Council. Then again, after this past year I have realized I could see myself doing many things!

-Sean