Gabriel Hummel » Career

Trapped Comic

Gabriel Hummel — Mon, 09 May 2011 20:34:06 +0000

Sometimes cartoonists just fucking nail it

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Live to Work or Work to Live?

Gabriel Hummel — Wed, 04 May 2011 18:08:18 +0000

My whole life I have struggled with the concept of finding work that I love. A career that would never feel like I had to get up in the morning for, but rather something that I ponder,

“How the hell am I getting paid to do this?”

I had fleeting glimpses into this dream lifestyle; I met people like Anthony Bourdain, whom has my dream job in a nice little package from the Travel Channel, and I started to wonder how I too could get paid to ransack with locals and get into international escapades on someone else’s dime.

And a job just like that is still the wet dream of my adulthood, every step I take is one step closer to being an international jet setter living out of a suitcase with an eye full of adventure.

But, in the meantime, I realized that I couldn’t quite survive on my dashing internet presence and devastating good looks, I had to either become a gigolo or separate my job from my identity, hence my freelance business (www.gabrielworks.com), my random part time jobs that pay me to talk to people, and my monetized websites that are scattered across the four corners of the internet.

What I do isn’t exactly what I love, but it at least creates a separation of church and state that allows me to be ample in the most valuable commodity of all, time.

Essentially it boils down to the following,

a) I want my job to be an important part of my Identity. I want to enjoy the prestige, lifestyle, money and trappings of my job and want to talk to other people about what I do. I ask other people what they do and I evaluate them (even just a little) based on their answers. It would be great to be the boss or be an Important Person in my industry. If I lost my job I might feel ashamed and would try to get back into it with improved focus!

b) I do not care if my job is a part of my Identity. I have many interests and am always doing something new in my spare time. I would like to keep a boundary between my life outside work and my time spent at work. I want my job to provide me with enough money so that I can do the things I love to do when I’m not working. I enjoy time over money. The things I most enjoy in life are not easily commodifiable or are not associated with lucrative incomes.

So I propose to you a question, your job is your life, or life is your job? There is no wrong answer, but own up to what you want to do and just fucking do it.

I am a commodity.

Gabriel

The Marketing of Self Loathing

Gabriel Hummel — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 17:14:00 +0000

Selling a product as a marketer can be as simple as pushing a unsatisfying self image upon an unsuspecting victim watching television.

From hair products to clothing and even hamburgers, its nearly effortless for a marketer to play to the weaknesses of a demographic. An ad littered with photo shopped 20 somethings having the time of their life is a sure fire way to cause the 40 year old stay at home mom to reassess her self image.

What they don’t teach you in marketing school is that it can be painstakingly simple to avoid all the blur and speed of modern day advertising.

This is accomplished by having a fundamental love for one’s self.

Self love is one of the most underrated aspects in modern society, from a perceived necessity to volunteer your love to others and even making your life goals in alignment with the expectations with others, love for one self is seemingly hard to come by.

I challenge you to look in the mirror and tell your naked self how much you love yourself.

Go ahead, do it.

The mere act of coming face to face with one’s self in a mirror is daunting to many people, and could cause untold levels of emotional unrest.

But do it anyway.

Cultivating that love for who you are will have so many positive implications, I don’t even know where to begin. Your life will go on steroids.

Best of all, you will find that the glamour of Hollywood, advertisements, and magazines, will fade to a point of a burning out candle.

Fuck everyone else before you learn to love yourself.

Gabriel

Metafilter Magic: Finding Your Passion

Gabriel Hummel — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:08:24 +0000

Finding a passion in life is one of the most stressful endeavours a person can embark upon.

I know for myself, it has been a never ending battle that has never shown anything but glimmers at to what my future might hold.

With a background in personal development, and half a lifetime of reading, watching, and learning from people who have mastered some aspect of their life and turned it into a long lasting career that they are passionate about, I always felt like something was missing, why couldn’t I find something that I loved more than anything and drove myself to do each day?

I have read countless books, blog posts, essays, and articles on this subject matter and have only grown tired of the rehashed responses telling you to keep trying different things until something sticks and then go full tilt once its glued to your soul.

I recently stumbled across a post on metafilter that raised some interesting notions about the endless struggle to find a passion, and instead advocated that one would be wasting their time, or even doing themselves a disservice if they spend an inordinate amount of time trying to find their passion, or even pursue it once they discover it.

I am curious to see your insights on this topic and welcome any pending commentary either directly on this post or via email.

Is there a difference between “discover your passion” and “discover what you want to do”?

I ask because I hear people talk about their Passion (with a capital P), as if everyone has one whether they know it or not. As it it’s a special glowing ball inside each of us. Yet I see no evidence that this ball necessarily exists.

To me, it’s more likely that we have things we like and things we dislike. A like becomes a passion when it repeats with regularity. For instance, I like peaches, but I don’t constantly crave them. So I wouldn’t call peaches a passion. On the other hand, whenever I see a book, I want to read it. I like reading… I like reading… I like reading… So I’d call reading a passion.

Is there anything like this for you, even if it’s something “stupid” (e.g. watching TV or eating poptarts)? If so, that a passion for you. If it repeats with great rapidity (and if the urge is very strong), then it’s an obsession. (I can’t keep my hands off my iPod. I think about it all the time. If I lose it, I panic.)

You don’t get to chose your passions. Since passions are just intense likings, choosing a passion would be like choosing to like eating eggplant. You either like eating eggplant or you don’t. Perhaps, if you don’t like it, you can learn to like it. But RIGHT NOW, you either like it or you don’t.

I’ve met some people who don’t seem to have any strong passions. Some admit to this. They certainly have likes and dislikes, but nothing specific crops up over and over. In fact, some people dislike anything that repeats too often (you could say such people have a passion for novelty). Other people DO have passions (defined as I’ve done so, above), but they don’t think of them as such. For many people, their passion is other people: passion for their kids, passion for their families, passion for helping others in need, etc….

Many people THINK they’ve discovered a passion when if fact they’ve only found a surface activity that lays atop their real passion. For instance, I love working in the theatre. At the risk of sounding holier-than-thou, I believe my passion is pretty “pure.” In other words, my passion for theatre doesn’t hide a deeper passion. I love theatre because I’m fascinated by the specific mechanics of telling stories on stage. When I’m not rehearsing a play, I will choose to read a book about theatre mechanics just for fun (for another dose of my obsession).

I’ve met others like me, but I meet far more theatre people who seem to be USING theatre to feed some deeper passion. (Please note that I’m NOT saying that there’s anything wrong with this or that I’m better than these people. I believe neither of those things. And there are plenty of other activities — just not theatre — that I use as tools to feed deeper passions.) Such people may be into theatre because they love attention and praise; they may love belonging to an open-minded group (many “misfits” find their way into theatre in high school and stay because they love belonging to such an accepting culture); they may even be operating on autopilot, doing theatre because for whatever reason, they got into it when they were younger and it never occurs to them to quit. (They probably enjoy having mastered something.)

I think it’s useful to delve into your psychology and ask yourself WHY you like what you like. Sometimes (as with me and theatre), the answer might be “because I simply love the activity.” (How do you know if this is true? Try mentally removing orbiting aspects of the activity: would I still want to direct plays if no one saw them? would I still want to direct plays if I could only work with bad actors? Would I still want to direct plays if I hated the results? Would I still want to direct plays if I always got bad reviews? etc. For me, though I wouldn’t enjoy the activity as much in these cases, I’d still want to do it.)

This is useful because if you learn what your TRUE passion is (the underlying one, if there is one), you may be able to change your life for the better. You may be able to say, “Wow! It’s not theatre I like, it’s collaboration! Maybe I instead of continuing in theatre, I should look into all sorts of collaborative activities and get into the one that’s the MOST collaborative.”

Such psychological delving may also help you deal with a crisis: “Oh no! I’ve lost my voice. I can’t act anymore. Wait a minute: it’s not specifically theatre that I like, it’s storytelling! I could write a novel.”

There’s also nothing wrong (and a lot right) with realizing, “I love attention and praise, so theatre is a great activity for me.” In all of these cases, you’ll have learned something about yourself.

Once you know your passion, you will be tempted to ask — as you did — “How can I turn this into a career?” I think that’s the wrong question. I don’t think it’s totally wrong. I just think it’s too specific. Instead, I recommend you ask yourself this: “How can I best arrange my life so that I can spend the most time engaging in my passion IN ITS PUREST POSSIBLE FORM and derive the least amount of pain doing non-passion activities?”

I am a director, but I’m not a working (as in paid) director. To pay my rent, I have a “day job.” I COULD work as a director, but I’d have to direct plays that I don’t want to direct. For some people, that would be fine. For me, it’s not a good trade off. I’ll be more happy with the day job and the ability to direct whatever I want — forgoing pay. It took me a while to come up with that “formula,” and it’s a personal one. Mine won’t necessarily work for you.

(If you realize you’re like me, find the least painful day job you can, getting yourself training if you have to. I actually like my day job. And I continually work to make it better and more interesting. The cliche of waiting tables to support your passion isn’t a necessity. If you commit to the idea of having a day job — I’ll likely have one for the rest of my life — it behooves you to make it a good one. Or at least the least painful one you can find.)

I see a lot of people working REALLY hard to make their passion into a job, and — tragically — when they finally make it happen, they don’t enjoy the passion any more. (E.g. a lot of working actors, who got into the business to play Shakespeare or Chekhov, spend most of their time acting in commercials.) If this happens, it’s really worthwhile to do some soul searching. Would I be happier with a day job? Am I happy doing a compromised version of my passion? If I AM happy doing a compromised version of my passion, does that (perhaps) mean that what I thought was my passion wasn’t really my passion? (“Hmm. I thought I wanted to act, but in order to do theatre for a living, I’ve had to become a producer. And — hey — I like it. Maybe acting isn’t my real passion. Maybe my real passion is being a key part of a big project.”)

I am NOT saying there’s anything wrong with figuring out a way to do your passion for pay. Often, that’s a great way to spend most of your time doing your passion. Just make sure that if you’re doing your passion as a job, it’s really your passion that you’re doing and not a perverted version of it that will fail to make you happy.

So, go through this thought process:

1. I’ve identified my passion as X. I am now going to define X as fully as possible. For X to be X, it MUST include A and B. C is optional. It can’t include D.

2. I’ve realized that I won’t be happy unless I’m doing X for a living.

3. Are there any jobs that will allow me to do X as I’ve defined it? (Or that will let me gradually work towards a pure version of X?)

4. If not, then I need to either brainstorm other ways I could be happy (compromised X? doing X as a hobby?) or resign myself to unhappiness.

5. If so, then I need to make sure that I can live with non-X aspects of the job. (Wow! I can do full time, paid theatre, but I’d have to work with the dreaded Mr. Y!)

Finally: I’ve noticed that people (myself included) have a strong urge to classify themselves. People REALLY want to be able to say, “I’m a director!” “I’m an engineer!” “My passion is gourmet cooking!”

There’s nothing wrong with that drive, but putting yourself in a category is not the same thing as actually being in that category. In fact, categorizing yourself — since it’s so final — is a good way to thwart any attempt to discover your actual passions. Once you say, “I’m a director,” it’s hard to think, “Wait a minute: is it actually directing that I like or some other activity that directing helps me achieve?” Which is why, at the start of this long post, I suggested you de-romanticize the whole thing and, instead, think about what you like and dislike, rather than trying to pin down your Passion.

Maybe you don’t have a Passion. Maybe you have many likes — you like playing in the sun; you like watching movies; you like hanging out with friends… If so, you’ll be much happier if you arrange your life to maximize your chances to do these activities than if you expend a ton of energy categorizing yourself.

Cheers

Gabriel

What Top Chefs Can Teach You About Being A Better Professional

Gabriel Hummel — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:11:58 +0000

I had a strong revelation recently, it started when I was reading Kitchen Confidential and culminated during a conversation I had with a head chef at a notorious restaurant down here in big hair country.

It was mentioned that,

You can teach someone to do anything, but you can’t teach character.

My head practically splintered open when I read that comment, as it set off a chain reaction of mini epiphanies in my mind that helped me understand why certain situations in my life, and in others, worked out in the obscure way they did.

Just like how you feel about that guy in your office who bitches that he doesn’t make enough money,

Building one’s character is infinitely more important than learning new skills.

Everyone always tries to get on the forefront of the new technology that is in the market, from eight track players to social media, there is always something new and exciting to learn that ultimately becomes as important as table manners to a regular KFC patron.

But as I have seen time and time again, character is something that is not only more important than skills, it is something that cannot be learned

If you have a bartender who free pours for regular customers just so he can procure extra tips, you won’t be able to save him.

A graphic designer who panics during all pending deadlines and ultimately makes excuses for his lack of timeliness while touts his win percentage in Starcraft 2, he is screwed.

A Harvard graduate who has more extracurriculars than the valedictorian from every high school in America combined won’t be able to do jack shit for a company if he can’t even give a proper handshake.

Character is something that some people have, and others don’t

You develop it over time (or you don’t) and you can’t pick it up like a how to guide on making your own wine.

People who strive to build their character, who not only read books on that sales technique that all the cool kids are using, but more often than not, seek to help build up the lives of those around them and are not afraid to fail, those are the types of people who succeed in life.

Recognize the character of yourself and the people in your lives, are they the type of people who are ready to kick ass and chew bubblegum? Or are they the type who do the bare minimum to get by?

Bubble gum or mellow yellow?

Gabriel

I’m Accrediting for Accreditation

Gabriel Hummel — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:41:29 +0000

Everyone has credentials

HS, BA, MBA, PHD, MD, BS

What about everything else you have done?

Do you have a resume full of strong life credentials

A life credential is defined as

Anything and everything in which you take a step into the exotic and unkown

How qualified are you?

Drop your BS and get some true accredidation

Gabriel

Screw Networking

Gabriel Hummel — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 18:44:00 +0000

Luckily this article is not about how to setup a router or how you should always carry a huge stack of business cards

What this article is about is creating a case for why you should always be on top of making solid friendships with everyone you meet in order to better enhance your ability to not only network but to better connect with everyone in general

Have you ever been to a forced company function?

Traversed a job fair?

Had an awkward conversation with a girl at a bar?

Made painful small talk in an elevator?

Networking is a word that I hate

Every time I read it, hear about it, and especially when I see someone doing it, I want to calmly tell them that they look like a fool (or some other explicative less pg)

Why?

Networking has become synonymous with short and impersonal human activities such as social media, job fairs, meetings, bar crawls, meet up groups, nearly all areas of life seem to have been compromised by networking

Networking in the sense that you have a forced conversation with an associate in order to obtain the illustrious business card

Networking in the sense that you talk about the weather with the girl at the bar because you believe you have to say something

Networking in the sense that you ask/respond to every coworker, “How was your weekend?” “it was good”

All of this reeks of being impersonal, non authentic, and really lame

Networking is not the key to success, it’s the key to being fake

Instead of networking try doing something a bit more outrageous and unique

I recommend seeking out friendships with people that you meet

Setting tones for friendships open the doors to limitless possibilities with every type of person you interact with

The stunning girl at the bar suddenly becomes your best friend (toss some physical contact in that mix and you can create a interesting situation)

The partner at the law firm you want to work for goes from someone you are sniping out for a 30 second interview pitch/business card gun show to your friend who invites you to go fishing over the weekend

That cashier at Macys transforms from a mere exchanger of goods to a night time DJ who invites you to a club opening party that night

I can trace back many of the best opportunities I have had in life to the simple act of seeking friendships with everyone you come into contact with

Mixing business with pleasure is my creed, and it’s a creed that serves me well

Don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself

Head to your next office function and really find out who it is you work with, you might end up with a new best friend

Treat the hotel show shiner with a new level of interest and respect and discover that your next shoe shine is on the house

This isn’t about getting gains for yourself, that’s just a side effect, its about being a better person, seeking out amazing people, and killing a term that plagues everyone’s life

It might hurt the first time, but I promise it will feel just right over time

@%&^ networking

Gabriel

Proper Edumacation

Gabriel Hummel — Tue, 04 May 2010 22:59:34 +0000

Recently I was chatting with a friend of mine about the current job market back in Michigan (shit would be an understatement) and he expressed to me how lucky I was to have a college education backing all of my ridiculous adventures

“You will always have the ability to get a job because you went to college” he says

This statement got me wondering a lot about education and the various twists in turns in the present day education system

Many people see the following pattern the minute anyone starts talking about a proper “edumacation”

1. Preschool

2. Kindergarten

3. Elementary school

4. Middle School

5. High School

6. College (Bachelors)

7. Master’s Degree

8. Doctorate

Across the world some of these are mashed together, and some of the categories don’t exist, but the pattern still remains the same

What blows my mind is that many people believe that you must follow this path in order to have success in life

You need to enroll your kid in preschool so they don’t fall behind in kindergarten

You need to go to college to get a good job and make good money

You need a master’s degree in order to really be competitive in the job market

I am sure you have heard all of this before, and it all sounds like the same old bullshit to me

Now here is a radical idea, what if someone was brought up on a completely different education system?

What if you didn’t spend 8 hours a day sitting in a classroom learning about a lot of crap that will only serve a purpose when you finally get that spot on jeopardy

What if the path to “happiness” wasn’t so damn boring?

Imagine for a moment the following education system

1. Taught by parents or guardians the basic skills needed in order to be affluent in today’s society (math, general science, alphabet)

2. Travel the world and learn about different cultures, ideas, and expose a child to a plethora of new ideas and concepts

3. Obtain teaching and training on a variety of subjects and trades from art teachers in America to diving instructors in Australia

4. Have a greater understanding of who you are, what you like, dislike, and strive to be in life because you have so many points of reference from the vast variety of experiences you have encountered (even by as early as the age of 15)

5. Did apprenticeships and internships with a variety of different leaders in a diverse range of fields (until they found a few that stuck)

How do you think that child would fare against the Harvard graduate with a doctorate in English literature?

Many people would cite that the Harvard grad would have way more book smarts and have a far superior understanding of a variety of topics, and likely would have the benefit of a great career

This is likely true

But trying to compare the two is like comparing Apples to Oranges in many ways

Not everyone is going to be a Harvard grad with a doctorate; in fact most will have a high school degree or bachelors from a general university

But still comparing to the Harvard grad, the worldly student without the formal education will be just as well equipped to make it in the “real world” as the Harvard grad, and could be just as successful and happy as they are (maybe even more)

Don’t believe me?

Do a quick Google search for traveling families or home school education vs. institution based

Should everyone pull their kid out of school and travel to Cambodia then?

Of course not

The idea is that you should challenge what is really means to be educated, and understand that whether you value book smarts, street smarts, a traditional or crazy ass educational system, the path to learning the most in life must have an open mind

You know that the smartest, happiness, and most successful people in the world did not get that way form diligently reading the same textbooks for a decade

As long as you spend the time to learn from as many sources as possible and continue to learn until the day you die, you will have success in life

No home schooling or Harvard PhD will change that

Live and learn

Gabriel

The Corporate Outlook

Gabriel Hummel — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:01:02 +0000

Now I know that not all corporations are like this, but I am sure I am not the only one who will laugh their ass off when they take a look at this comic. Maybe you should reassess what your current job or career is if this is comic isn’t to far from the truth in displaying your viewpoints about the glory that is your cubicle work

The Need To “Work”

Gabriel Hummel — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:46:33 +0000

One of the first questions people asked me when I was moving to Texas was what I was going to be doing for work. They would ask questions like, “who is your employer?” “Who do you want to work for?” “Do you have a job lined up?” While these questions didn’t bother me much at first, they soon became slight scratches against the chalkboard of my mind after hearing them repeated about 100 times.

Why is it that everyone attaches a new experience like moving out of state to a job? Is it because we are getting involved in more careers that are benefiting society and help the common man? Or is it because everyone wants to know if you have something lined up because if you don’t you will likely fall on your face?

While in a perfect world I would believe that everyone has a genuine interest in people following a career pathway that will lead to great personal satisfaction, I know that many people pick up jobs that they detest just so they can meet the status quo of having a job. On paper it makes a lot of sense to have a job lined up when you move out of state, I mean your bills are going to increase, your stress will likely skyrocket, and your financial responsibility will be taken for a ride on the world’s tallest roller coaster. It makes logical sense to take any job you can get your hands on (even before you move and see the job for yourself) in order to secure your place in the corporate workhorse.

If you have a passion for crunching numbers or working for major corporation on a daily basis, then by all means grab that job with Dell computers in accounting and come join me in Texas. Hell, I know that I would jump at the chance to work with major companies such as Whole Foods, Bioware, Dell’s marketing team, and others just because it appears be a extremely fun and interesting job that I would love to be a part of. The question remains however, what if you can’t find a job right away, not in your home town or even in an exotic location you dream to live in? Should you stay at home and pout and keep pounding away on monster.com until your eyes bleed? Should you reformat your resume for the 100^th time in an effort to attract the attention of some new employer with the introduction of a light blue resume background instead of baby blue?

Let’s cut the shit and get serious for a moment. You and I both know that you don’t need anything but the will to make it work to do anything you want in life, and that undoubtedly includes moving out of your hometown and deciding whether or not you should take that crappy 9-5 job you know you are going to hate. You simply need to man up and make the decision that you don’t need to be tied to your job or work. After all, if all you are doing is “working a job” then you really don’t care about what you do to begin with. People who are passionate about what they do in life do not refer to their place of business as their “job” “work” or, “9-5”, they view it as their career or their passion in life.

What is the jist of this huge rant I have written? I wish I could smack you upside the head if you haven’t figured it out . Simply put, you need to make sure that you aren’t attached to your “job” or “work” and that you change your focus to what you are passionate and motivated about. Don’t fall into the trap that I see so many people living in, where their life and who they are is dictated by their job. Make living life to the highest kick ass degree possible your full time job, and in the meantime, seek out a career that will make you excited to get out of bed in the morning.

Cheers

Gabriel