THIS IS IT. Now is the time. You are the one.

This guest post I wrote for 5 BY 5 Design's Inspiration page ran today:

I'm a freelance publicist and producer for creatives and entrepreneurs. I work with some of the most talented and innovative people in the world. I get to travel for work! When I'm not traveling, I mostly work in a hoodie and yoga pants. I work whenever I want, wherever I want. I am, quite literally, living my dream.

You know how I got this job? I made it up. I patchworked together my favorite things to do, what I know I'm good at, and called it a thing. I filed for LLC, made a website, and started. I had lots of people tell me I couldn't do that. But I didn't listen. Why? Because the people who were cheering for me were louder.

How did I get to this place? I realized a few years ago after staying at home with my boys for the five years prior that I just had this one time around. Maybe it was witnessing their daily joy, maybe it was coming out of the fog of the early stages of parenting, maybe it was the sleep deprivation. Probably a combination of those factors and others. There it was, clear as a bell: THIS IS IT. Now is the time. You are the one.

In this time I also realized that I was part of a dysfunctional marriage that was broken beyond repair. I could no longer show the boys how to be married to their dad well. I could, however, show them how to be solely happy; how to be happy alone. Which, if you think about it, may be the most important skill we ever learn. I could show them how to work hard, be honest, and build something from the ground up. I could show them that women are leaders. This will be my legacy. And I can't think of anything better.

THIS IS IT. Now is the time. You are the one.

When they asked me to do this guest post, I wasn't quite sure if they wanted me to do a PR tips list, or what, so I went to their website to see what others had written and found that the space where they put these articles is called "Inspiration". I've told this exact story at least 1000 times in person but had never written it down. Decided it was time, and here's the result. This is far better than any PR tips list in the inspiration category. We just get this one time around and every move we make; word we say counts. I hope you can find a way to get unstuck if you are. Tell the truth, especially to yourself. I wish you heaps of courage.

If you liked this article, you might also want to check out this list I made about knowing yourself better.

On Living Modern Life Well

This week in my METRO Magazine column, I write about drawing lines in the social sand or "How To Deflect a Friend Request From Your Prying Coworker." In addition to being an exercise to reflect on how I come to my decisons of who to add where, it became an audit system. In the spirit of being a good model of my advice, I unfollowed nearly 500 people on Twitter whose posts had no value to me and have been subtracting people from Facebook that I added before my "personal friends" only rule went into effect (so far, around 25 people). It's refreshing. Less to skip over, and I'm seeing more posts I want to. I give you permission to do the same!

BONUS QUESTIONS!

Reader Lucie Amundsen asked me last week how I deal with the people who post those '99% of you won't repost this' chain-mail type messages on Facebook. Usually, I scroll right by. It's the strangest phenomenon, I think. If you're passionate about a subject, just post a personal message about it. Try to avoid ever duplicating a post, if possible. It's like paging through the paper to find they've inserted the same article five times. At least Facebook groups duplicate posts now and lists the names of friends who posted it, which is helpful. If you have someone who posts these types of things frequently, I say unsubscribe. It's a very good tool to keep your news feed full of only what you wish to read. People who post these things: STOP. Please? We want to read your words.

On adding coworkers: A reader, who chooses to remain anonymous, told me about her system for new coworkers: if they make her laugh five times after having lunch with them and enjoying their company, she'll consider adding them. I like it! Why not? Another noted that adding coworkers on social networks sure makes it hard to gripe anonymously about them. While I don't have coworkers in the traditional sense, I can bet the pressure to add could be tricky. It should be noted that griping online is rarely, maybe never, encouraged. Answer the questions I lay out in the column to help you determine who to add, and when.

Is there a way that you do it or you've heard of that works particularly well? Please share it with us below.

Ask Clever Kate more questions on her Facebook page.

New Mini Appointments Available

I get somewhere between 6 and 10 requests every week to have lunch or coffee, to pick my brain. Now, I am a civic-minded person who believes strongly in mentoring and being a helpful part of my community, but there's no possible way I can satisfy that many requests as it could add up to twenty hours or more a month. Six months ago, I decided to take 1-2 meetings of this type per month, to keep connected and be a support system for my community. One to two meetings, I can handle, time-wise. I've had so many thoughtful mentors and I want to pay that forward. Then, recently, I had a woman starting a new blog ask if she could pay me for a couple of hours of my time, knowing she couldn't afford my monthly retainer, but dead set that I was the person she needed to talk to. In a move that startled me, I agreed. We met, she paid for lunch, and I used my Square card reader to charge her at the end of the meeting. She was satisfied, and so was I. I love helping people, I'm good at what I do, and it gives me so much energy. But: This is not a hobby. And I don't have endless hours. I have a mortgage. And children. Could I do this as part of my business?

With this I am announcing that I am now available for these appointments. The appointments are affordable and you'll leave with a newly formed, clearer path of where you're headed and a ton of information about how to do what you're doing well, or better. Are you stuck? Have a project that you need some help getting off the ground? Do you have a website but no content? Want me to focus some attention on your show/app/new site? Want to figure out what the next step is in your career? Need a bio? Do you have an idea that you don't know whether or not it has potential? See the list I made of how I can help you here.

I will start by offering two appointments per week, two hours each. If you feel like one isn't enough, book two.

If you'd like to talk more about how much they cost and when we can get started, please email me directly and I'll get back to you ASAP: kate@clever-kate.com, or see here.

If you liked this post, you might also like this one about Why My Life Doesn't Suck.

Featured image: EyeSpy Photography