Beth Lapides

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Location Location Location!

You know how in real estate they say
Location location location.
I learned the hard way
That they are right dammit!
Then I learned again.
Ow!
Point taken.

It’s true in creativity too.
Not exactly in the same way.
In real estate some locations are just essentially more valuable.
But in creative work
That might be kind of true
What’s hugely valuable
Is in knowing where you are.
Because if you don’t know where you are
There is no way
You can know how to get
Where you hope to be going.

When you map a trip
The app asks for your current location.
Not just your destination.
If you donlt know where you are
There is no way to get to you rdestation.

But miraculously
Sometimes the app knows where you are
Even when you don’t.
That’s what so many creatives need.

You know you have a dream.
Amazing.
How do you reach it
If you don’t know where you are reaching it from.

I had a call with a new client this week.
We were strategizing about his action plan.
He gave me his - very challenging non-creative- schedule in full detail.
Family obligations.
Work.
I helped him see
Where and how
He could be carving out time.
And what to do with that time.
And why.
Lots of breakthroughs for him in a short session.
But then I gave him the most important piece of information.
You’re in a re-entry period.
Oh, he said. Super helpful.

Even though I’d given him all sorts of other helpful things
He hadn’t know exactly where he was.
He might have if he had asked himself
Where am I?
But it’s not always easy to see.
I frequently am telling clients where they are.
In their careers, development as artists, projects.
I wouldn’t have guessed when I started
By helping people find their comedic voices and stories
That this would end up being one of my most sought after super powers.

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If you are lost
You can’t find home
Before you figure out where you are.

I mean I’m not a great driver.
Understatement.
So sometimes if I haven’t mapped a drive
I’ll end up pointed backwards with a freeway looming
So I end up calling and asking
Where am I?
I hear the panic in my own voice.
Usually Mitch can help me.
Often by asking me questions.
Little by little we discover
Where I am.
And then how to get where I’m going.

And sometimes in creative work
The destination
The goal
Isn’t even determined.
There’s just a vague dream.
Famous actor.
A book.
A life of music.

If you know where you are
You can reach a goal.
If you can reach enough goals
You can make a dream come true.
If you can’t reach the goals for that dream
You can revisit the dream
And figure out if it’s really your dream
Or is it someone else’s dream?
Or a fantasy.
But you have to know where you are first.

Location location location.

A conversation can help.
I know it helps me.
Talking to managers, coaches, therapists, sponsors, friends, collaborators.
These are the conversations that help me GPS my work.
And life.

I have special skills in location conversations.
Book a discovery call if you’d like to begin exploring.

Here’s to hereness.

Infinitely Yours
xx
Beth