A Turkish work-in-progress

Dear Reader,    You are in for a treat with this blog by my guest, Tara Agacayak. Tara is cofounder and COO of GlobalNiche.net, an educational media company working to empower the global you with Web 3.0 and Life 3.0 strategies, web chats and global community. I met Tara in 2006. It’s my pleasure to introduce you to her.  Short informative videos are sprinkled throughout. Enjoy!

Talk about being a work in progress! In 2002, I followed my husband to Turkey with no idea what was in store for me. Having left my life-long home in California and an eight-year career as a data specialist with the Department of Defense, I was lost in the tiny town we first moved to. I lost my identity, my home, my purpose, and my sense of direction. Without the social and cultural anchors I’d grown up with, I was challenged with finding my way.

Ten years on, I’ve tried many different jobs in order to find myself, things like English teacher, test writer, editor, and translator. I’ve also put my training in psychology and experience in IT to work in various e-commerce businesses and social responsibility projects. In 2006, I attended the Women Leaders for the World program where Camille was a coach. She taught me the difference between saying “I’m trying to” accomplish something and “I’m committed to” accomplishing something.

To try is to attempt, but to be committed is to work until you reach your goal; innovating solutions to challenges to ensure you get there. And I think this is what being a work in progress is all about – being committed to the work of being yourself.

At GlobalNiche.net, this is one of the things we are dedicated to – the work of creating your unique place in the world where you operate to your fullest potential.

Guess what – that’s an ever-evolving job and one that you have control over.

In this talk I gave a talk to the Turkish Women’s International Network on the EntrepreneurshipoftheSelf: Howtocreateyourownplaceintheworld, I celebrated ten years of living abroad by sharing ten lessons I learned about evolving outside of your comfort zone. Lesson #6 is to create a web platform.

What is a web platform? Here’s our explanation.

Here are three (of many) reasons why a web platform is part of creating your global niche; your unique place in the world; your work in progress:

1. Self-discovery – The first thing you are asked to do when creating a profile for anything on the web is to give yourself a name and tell the world about yourself. Right off the bat you are confronted with the task of describing who you are. This involves diving in to your past, present and future to paint a picture of what you want the world to know about you.
2. Evolution – You are dynamic. Despite the picture you paint for the world to see, you may find that with time and experience you prefer different colors for that picture you painted. The web platform you create is malleable and lets you change it as you change. You are not a fixed point. You are in motion. You are a work in progress.
3. Connection – The power of the social web is the ability to connect with your “psychic peers” wherever they are. The people you feel most aligned with may not be near you geographically, but they are out there and the social web gives you the opportunity to find them. Connecting with them is about knowing what you’re looking for and using the web to find it. It is in relationship to others, the conversations you have with them, and the things you share that you discover more about who you are and the world around you. That’s empowering the “globalyou”!

Want to learn more? Check out our self-study video program, 10 ToolsforBuildingyourWebPlatform where we review 10+ tools and talk about overcoming feelingvulnerableontheweb, how thewebisanexperiment (i.e., you don’t have to be perfect, remember you’re evolving!), and why Web 3.0 isaboutLife 3.0.