1. Take Stock In What You Have

… not what you don’t have.  Quit focusing on the things and details that don’t matter.  What can you bring to the table?  Remind yourself of your own self-worth, because at the end of the day, it is not our shortcomings that define us.

2. Embrace That You’re A Pea In A Pod

You are not the only one facing challenges!  You still have plenty to offer to others, and its often tempering to shift focus from our own issues to helping others with theirs.

3. Get Out Every Day

Not only does this mean physically leaving your house, but connecting with others.  Remember that there are plenty of resources around you, no matter where you live, such as Chambers of Commerce, transition assistant programs, and free networking events that cater to your interests.  Talking with others is truly priceless, and you never know who can give you great insight or leads to opportunities in places you’d least expect.

4. RELAX!

Take time for yourself, and curl up with a good book or watch a great show.  Not taking the time for yourself will undoubtedly put additional stress on!

“You may be jobless, but you are never, never useless or worthless. And don’t you forget it!”

Inspiration – http://www.careerealism.com/4-de-stressing-tips-for-your-job-search/ by Teena Rose.

“I think all of us, at any part of our life, are at a crossroads. We don’t put as much thought as we should into time (our own time, and time in general) … because time goes by so fast. I look back at my life, and wonder where it’s gone. I’ve been married 37 years, and it’s been like a blink. Time just flies by. We don’t put enough stock into just how short a life really is and how fast it goes by.

“In Max Lucado’s book, “A Cure for the Common Life” (a must read) does a great job of putting us through a very meaningful exercise where he has us recollect our memories and the definitive times of our various stages of childhood, teen, and adult life defining moments. He then has us circle the verbs and put squares around the nouns and put that information into a new story. In reading your new story, it really helps point out things about yourself that maybe you never took the time see; to finally look inside and distinguish what was important to you during those life segments. What that does is allow you to see who you are, and what is really important to you.

“If you truly listen, you will be forced to take an audit of everything you’ve done and pull out all of your strengths and weaknesses – things you like and things you don’t like – and put them in an orderly fashion. You then can use this same template and monitor any ten year time-frame of your life and see if you failed or succeeded in ares that mean the most to you. It really helped me to realize where I failed between 40 and 50, and redesign my 50 to 60 so I could take full advantage of the successes and mistakes of my past.

“I’ll be 61 in February. If the average age of a man is 78, it might mean I have 17 years left to live. I want to believe I will live to be 100, and still be playing hockey until I physically can’t anymore. But I always plan for the best and am prepared for the worst. I’ve given myself 9 years to be in this business. I’ve put a concrete number on it and thus have forced myself to take my 9 remaining years apart in maybe, three year segments, and set goals I want to accomplish. I write myself a letter every year to internalize and embed what I want to accomplish and what I want my legacy to be. It would be the saddest day, the last day of my life if I felt for any reason I fell short of a life I would be proud of.  I live by a motto: “Live every day like it is your last” because one day you will wake up and be correct!”

Presented by SparkHire

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
-Steve Jobs

Today we have reached a point in time when changes happen at warp speed. In order to remain a step ahead in today’s changing market, you must think how you can keep a competitive advantage. One sure way is to understand how Social Media knowledge plays a role in your job.

Newsweek has been discontinued and other paper media that give us the news are diminishing; it is a clear clue that a change is afoot. Those that can speak to these rapid changes in an interview will surely keep a definitive edge over their competition. Think about how this technical revolution has affected your job then get busy understanding how it works.

Reflecting on oneself is not easy. There are many questions to ask.  I recommend a book that helped me when I went through my time of assessment; “The Cure for the Common Life” by Max Lucado is a good place to begin.  The book has you list all the defining moments in your life.

Where do you want to be?

I recollected one of my memories about playing baseball as a child. I was a very good ballplayer. And as a matter of fact, I played all the way through college.  But even though I, myself, was good at playing, I was much more interested in organizing teams with my best friend for all the children in the neighborhood. Naturally, we would be the automatic umpires and pitchers for our teams, and we would play the entire day until the sun went down.  I noticed one young boy sitting on a concrete car stump, watching. He was only 6 or 7 years old and I had told him to come play, and he said no because he wasn’t any good. I told him “Too bad! Now get in here, and play on my team!” The kid got on base a number of times, and we had a blast that day.

20 years later, that same young boy, all grown up, recognized me and greeted me at a function we had both attended. He was now 6 foot 4, 250 pounds, and picked me off my feet as he hugged me. He asked, “You don’t know who I am?” I said, “No, I don’t recognize you.” He went on to inform me that he was the little boy whom I encouraged to play baseball.  He continued to explain that he became a fireman, and every time he gets scared to go into a burning building he remembers that one day, and it gives him the courage to go in. He revealed that he has saved a number of children throughout his life.

The way I see it, God called me to use my talent to organize children, and this, in turn, was used to ignite other people to find their own calling.  I am sure there have been times like these that have happened to you, and they are locked away in your mind. You need to evoke these and list them, as suggested by Max Lucado’s book.  They hold the key to who you are… and the first step of finding out if you’re in the right job is knowing who you are. Do you know who you are? Read the next article and I’ll help you tackle the next step……

Are you utilizing your strengths?

Is there a difference between your strengths and likes? It is a proven premise that if you are in a job that takes advantage of your strengths which utilizes what you like to do, you will be 100% more productive.

How about an example:  Let’s say that I have a great gift of gab and I like basketball. We can ascertain to a certain amount of exactness that being a short male suggests that the probability of me becoming a NBA star is remote. But utilizing my strength of having a strong voice may allude to a better probability of becoming an announcer for a basketball team.  So if we could do an honest evaluation of our talents and apply them to a role that will complement our likes, we can be assured of greater results.

Many times people find themselves in jobs they are not happy with or have become bored.  As we age, our priorities change.  My advice:  life is too short. Do not spend one day in a job you are not happy with.  Even a trip to China:  a very long trip cannot start without taking the first step. The same is true in finding your dream job!

Artful Reflection

How many times a day do you say to yourself that you would like to do something else, but aren’t sure what that would be? Have you done a recent analysis of yourself?  Why not?

Just as you change oil or buy new tires for your car, you must make appropriate adjustments to keep it operating at its peak level. You are no different. As you get older, you change, and what was once meaningful now doesn’t have the same flavor. The same is true about work. The attractive challenges your job used to excite you may now seem passé. It might be time to take stock and do some needed reflection.  Let’s face it!  Life is short, and your work life is even shorter, so if you are not on the right path you may find it very difficult to make change. The need for a certain salary level seems to outweigh the need to be happy (so we think), and the world will only pay you accordingly for your subject matter expertise, leading you to believe that you may not be able to afford a change.

But the truth is you can’t afford not to make a change. It is your life we are talking about… what is the value of that? A wise man once told me, “I can’t afford to buy cheap; I’m too poor.” Investing in yourself is the best investment you will ever make. Don’t wait… life is too short.  I will answer how to take the first step in your new life in my next blog…..