This week, I started a new journey as the Director of Client Services for a digital advertising agency here in New York. It’s a huge accomplishment and ordeal for two reasons: 1) For the first time in my life, I feel like I actually have a career; and 2) This new position affords me the life I’ve wanted to live since I first moved to New York City.

Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of being two things: a business man/entrepreneur, and an entertainer. This new venture allows me to be both- not necessarily in the way I imagined growing up, but in even better, grander ways. That’s just how God works, ain’t it? And lemme tell you…he showed up and showed out on this one! The business man in me gets to learn how to be an executive- managing projects and running the day-to-day life of the agency; and the entrepreneur & entertainer in me gets to…well, I can’t tell you about that just yet.

As exciting as this new gig is, it’s also a bit daunting and overwhelming. There’s SO MUCH to learn and do; and, while I’m no longer a slave to the man 9am to 5pm, I’m now a slave to my career 24 hours a day. The work doesn’t worry me too much because, again, this is the career and life I’ve dreamed of having for quite some time now. I’m a very smart cookie and a quick-learner, so I know I’ll be good there. My main concern is time management & procrastination. When you work in corporate, time isn’t really an issue. You’re there from 8:30 in the morning until 5 or 6pm, and during that time you get as much work done as you can. Now, my work is project based, doesn’t require me to go to an office, and can be spread throughout my entire day. Without discipline around managing my time and procrastination, this dream job can turn into a nightmare.

Thankfully, my new boss is a whiz at time management, and is just as eager to share his entrepreneur skill set with me as I am to adopt it. The next few weeks will be a mind-fuck of new information, greater responsibility, and lifestyle change, but I KNOW it’ll all be worth it come the summer once I’m fully ramped up. My life has really ascended to a new level and I couldn’t be more excited and grateful. I’m rollin’ with the big dawgs, and am truly learning from the best in the biz. It’s on!

2011 is going to be a TREMENDOUS year! Let’s get it!

I know I’ve said this a bazillion times, but it’s time for me to get myself together and start acting like the successful, intelligent, ambitions and driven entrepreneur that I am. I’m not working nearly as hard as I should–meeting God half-way so that he may bless and ascend me to newer, more successful heights–and it is time for me to start participating in my own career. I need to start making things happen for myself. So, I’ve come up with a little challenge.

I want to get back into my writing- especially on this blog, and I want to start making some career and confidence-building moves in my life. There’s a part of  me that feels like a new blog design will help me to write and work more; but I have not yet worked for, nor do I deserve at this point, a new sleek and sexy design. Enter the Get Yo’ Shit Together, Will blog challenge. My next paycheck (my first as an official, non-temporary employee) comes on August 31st. If, by that date, I write and post 6 or more new blog entries, I will reward myself, and you, reader (if anyone still reads this thing anymore), with a new blog design. Sounds like a cool deal to me.

Can I do it? Will I rise to the challenge to create a better me and a sleeker Evolution Of A Man website? We’ll see…but I’m thinkin’, “YES! HELL YES!”

After years of stable and steady corporate employment, I am now looking to build a career for myself as an entertainment entrepreneur. What’s problematic about this new venture is that I don’t have a clear picture of what I really want to do with myself in this industry; and as a result, I’ve had trouble getting started. I know whatever I end up doing, I’ll be building this career from the ground up, without a template to base my ideas on. That frightens me. I believe in my heart that I am destined to do brilliant and amazing things- specifically within and for the gay and African American communities to which I belong- but, unlike the path that has led to my previous successes, there is no blueprint, that I’ve discovered, for building an empire of my own. It’s not that I expect things to be handed to me (I’ve never simply been given anything), but I do wish I had some firm ground to stand on and give me a boost. The subtle ease with which things have manifested for me in the past has admittedly made me a bit spoiled. I thought that I could do the same amount of work, be recognized for it, and subsequently catapulted into career-advancing stardom. I was wrong. “Hustle” and “Grind” are words- verbs, really- that have held very little meaning for me since the urban communities in entertainment, social networking, and on the street adopted them to describe the relentless pursuit of dreams fulfilled. As I ponder their usage and meaning in relation to my own pursuit, I see the hilarity of my thinking that I could build my own career so easily. I’m not putting in half of the work and time that hustlers and grinders the world over are giving to their projects; yet I sit here wondering why things haven’t jumped off for me already. Hard work and determination have been re-defined, and I’m behind the curve now, instead of in front of it. It’s time to get to work.

Though the big picture of my career may still be uncertain, what I do have- that I didn’t recognize or give myself credit for in the past- is this here blog and my trusty little video camera. Turns out I do have a template, I just haven’t been applying it…at least not enough to keep up with the other runners on the track. There is nothing overwhelming about writing a blog post or making a video. Look at what B. Scott has created in a matter of just 2 years. That’s “grindin’” right there for ya. What I need to do is adopt the grind for myself and trust that what I need will be revealed to me as I go along. “Trust the process,” as my friend, Jashiro would say. I feel like the clouds are clearing out of my mind right now, leaving nothing but bright blue sky in their wake; and I’m taking hold of this new-found clarity and running like a bat out of hell. Try not to choke on the dust I leave behind. Don’t bother me… I’m on my hustle!

Allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Will McNair, and this is the Evolution Of A Man!

it all boils down to this: i want my life to have meaning! i don’t want to leave this world as someone who accomplished and excelled, but never gave back. i want to positively impact the lives of millions of people all around the world, and it is my desire and intention to do so in the following ways:

1. i want to help people. helping people makes me happy! the question i need to answer at the end of every day is, “what did i do today to make someone’s life better?” these things can be as simple as opening the door for someone whose hands are full, or as complicated as starting a scholarship program so that tomorrow’s youth can attend college. regardless of the task, it is my intention to spend every day of my life helping others in any way i can.

2. i want to entertain people. i am an entertainer. always have been and always will be. the happiest and most exciting moments of my life thus far have been spent entertaining others, and i miss that feeling. i am not quite sure in what form my entertaining the world will take, but it is my intention to spread insane amounts of joy, laughter and happiness around the globe many times over.

3. i want to motivate and inspire people. i believe the ultimate joie de vivre comes from the ability to share your experiences with others and be yourself in the face of everything and everyone. although i still struggle with the latter, i’m becoming more and more comfortable in my own skin as each day goes by. i am happiest when i am myself, and it is my intention to empower others (especially members of the LGBT community) with that sentiment, and motivate them to follow suit and live their best lives.

there ya have it! that’s the impact i want my life to have on others, and really, on the world. again, i’m sooo not sure of how all of this will manifest as far as my career is concerned, but i am put at ease with the sense of purpose that i have found and created for myself. i have faith that a career of purpose will present itself when the time is right. in the meantime, though, i will continue to search for a “job” and keep my eyes peeled for purposeful opportunities.

so, what impact will you have on the world?