The Life Uncommon – Nacie Carson — Launching Your Uncommon Life

A Livable Debt Management Strategy

February 27, 2011

Whether it is credit cards, student loans, mortgages, or car payments, it seems like just about everyone has some kind of debt to repay. In fact, in The Life Uncommon poll we ran on this site from January 1 – February 15, 49.9% of voters checked off “getting out of debt, man,” as their big goal for 2011. Debt is a scary thing that has in some ways become more palatable over the last decade (at least here in America). It is no longer shocking to hear of someone who is working to dig themselves out of tens of thousands of dollars owed to Visa or Mastercard – a situation that, twenty years ago, was considered a mark of shame. And ever since the housing crisis/market crash of 2008, it has become hard to find someone – from your Aunt Edna to your grocer – who isn’t in the red somewhere. If you’ve managed to steer clear of being beholden’ to others in this way, bravo…and if you haven’t then you are in good an extensive company. I got my first credit card when I was 19 to take with me as an alternative to cash on the Great European Spring Break Adventure of Junior Year. I was scared to death of it and was insanely cautious with how I used it…yet somehow in the…

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Strategies to Manage Life's Complications

February 23, 2011

You know, sometimes life can just start to feel…complicated. A host of moving parts and greater demands on time and personal resources (money, attention, energy, creativity) can, at various points of life, collide into a simultaneous perfect storm that makes things feel complicated. Not necessarily hard, or wrong, or unfortunate. Then again, not necessarily good, great, or “in the right direction.” Just complicated. This morning I woke up with just such a feeling. Life, it seems, has gone from zero to complicated in 10 seconds or less. Sure, I can acknowledge that all those demands on my resources are mostly good and working toward my goals. But how to handle them all simultaneously just seems a bit more complex today now that I am present and in the middle of them. Today isn’t the first day I’ve felt this way over the course of my Life Uncommon – in fact, I think it is just the nature of the quest in some ways. As we strive toward fulfillment, passion, and meaning, we have phases of calm and phases of frenzy. When I stop to look over the last few years, I see the landscape as hills and valleys of working on all cylinders and experiencing deep periods of rest and rejuvenation. But it struck me this morning, and I lay staring up at the ceiling…

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Defining a Focus For Your Uncommon Vocation

February 20, 2011

If I asked you what was key to being able to live with passion and by design – the two key pillars of a Life Uncommon- I am willing to bet you’d put “being able to earn a good living do work you love” at the top of list. Stands to reason, doesn’t it? After all, most of us spend between 40 and 60 hours every week working (about 50-60% of our waking hours), and if you ask me that is too much time just to clock-in and clock-out for a paycheck. So while we can agree that a big part of Living Uncommonly is pursuing a career you find fulfilling, interesting, and financially successful, what I’ve discovered is that many Uncommoners don’t know exactly what that career is. Just yesterday I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine (and budding Uncommoner) when I heard that line again: “Nacie, I just don’t know what kind of work I want to do.” As she said it, it struck me that it was about the fourth time in a week I’d heard someone say that. Seems we’ve got a little Uncommon Vocation pandemic on our hands! I believe that finding your Uncommon Vocation – that work that contributes and enhances your Uncommon Life – is a journey that is unique to us all. For…

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Adopt an Attitude of Gratitude

February 10, 2011

Ok, Ok – I know you’ve heard this phrase before – “Attitude of Gratitude.” But I repeat it to you today because it is worth repeating: you are going to get farther in your Uncommon Life and be happier getting there when you adopt a grateful attitude. I’m not perfect, and I get down on myself and others for things that aren’t perfect or up to snuff. I could have tried harder, I should have done this not that, if only they had down x instead of y…ick. That is not a mental place that is radiating positivity, as you can imagine. And while I don’t like to admit that fad thought processes are ever spot on, I have to give credit to The Law of Attraction for the principle that you get more of everything – more happiness, more opportunities, more “luck,” more success – when you’ve got a positive attitude. My mother, the wonderful Dr. Shelley Carson, always reminds me that gratitude is the best way to stop negative self-talk and ramp up your positive energy and spirit. Here is a little exercise she has taught me to use that I would love to pass on to you, so you can boost your happiness and bring more great things into your life through an attitude of gratitude: Step One – Tomorrow morning, take…

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Survival of the Uncommonest

February 8, 2011

I am fascinated by Darwin – not just because his principles and theories were revolutionary, but because he spent a good deal of his working life sailing around on a boat to fantastic places exploring and discovering new and interesting things…how’s that for an Uncommon Life? But as our global economy shifts and changes thanks to a host of tangental elements (outsourcing, technology, new regulations, globalization), I find Darwin and his theories even more intriguing. Why? Because survival of the fittest isn’t just for plants and animals anymore… We are entering an age in our global work force where just being good enough isn’t going to get you where you want to go, and in fact, there is a good chance you’ll get punted to the bottom of the food chain if you don’t stand out. With technology doing more and emerging economies not only receiving outsourced orders but also coming into their own as thought leaders, there is more competition for the same amount of jobs, benefits, clients, customers, readers, and everything else in the vocational realm you could want. Sure, you could sit back and think, “Heck, this stinks!” But really, my dear Uncommoners, all these challenges – which will only get more, well, challenging over the next few decades – are serious blessings in disguise. Why? Because when survival of the fittest…

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