“Optimism is earned from a track record of overcoming obstacles. I’m a problem solver, not a problem evader. I’ve been resourceful over and over again in such a way that I know I can handle what life throws me. Whenever I have a tough challenge, I say to myself, ‘When I get through this, it will be a great story.’”
–Dr. Terry Paulson, quoted by Erika Liodice at Beyond the Gray
I’m appearing in Beyond the Gray this week, a motivational blog by fellow advertising exec Erika Liodice.
Most people dream about their ideal job. Erika Liodice is creating hers, one word at a time.
Erika is a coworker at swb&r, a marketing agency in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. By day she works in account services. The rest of the time she’s either getting up at 5 a.m. to work on her novel, traveling and writing about her adventures or interviewing inspiring people and writing about them. You can see the pattern.
Many of us feel that writing in the age of social media needs to go beyond posting notes about cool sites and recycling other people’s material. We attract readers by adding value, and that means generating original content and ideas. Erika goes beyond that mandate by providing positive stories of achievement from people who are living their dreams. Kind of like what she’s doing with her posts.
Here’s how she describes her blog, Beyond the Gray: “Over the years, I’ve met many smart, capable people who are unhappy because they hate their jobs but are too afraid to go after what they really want in life. I can relate to these people because I’ve been one of them. That’s why I decided to launch Beyond the Gray, to inspire and motivate people to go after the things they really want in life.”
You can also catch up with Erika’s travels at her other blog, Journeys.
– Jeff Widmer