Spending time alone is one of my absolute pleasures. I’m sure I’m not alone. You may also like to do that as well. A few years ago I shared that I had some planning to do and decided on a whim to jump into my car and drive to the beach. A few hours later, I had mapped out plans for my top goals for the rest of the year! yea! I left feeling totally satisfied to get things done! What seemed like an drilling exercise turned out to be quite productive, in a serene atmosphere.
Self-Care
Jo Chunyan shared a list of things do alone. I decided to pull my top 15 to share.
Journal. Write up a list of things you would love to do. Declare your dreams and intentions or simply empty out all your thoughts into your notebook.
What happens when your career becomes your identity? This Happens to so many of us? Here are 3 of the Questions HBR’s contributor Janna Koretz suggest asking yourself.
1. How do you think about your job outside the office?
2. How do you describe yourself? How much of this description is tied to your job, title, or company?
3.How would you feel if you could no longer continue in your profession?
Great questions. Read the article for the full analysis.
You may also listen to tips as I chat with Patricia Reid-Waugh or get a copy of my book ‘Your Career’ Ditch It? Switch it?’ Both provide a deeper dive into how you can ditch it and gain the identity that brings lasting satisfaction.
I write because there’s something in me that needs to come out. I am at peace when I write. Writers write for many different reasons. Some personal, experiential, or environmental. Christine Caldalzo created a pictogram of 10 reasons writers write. Here I share 10:
10 Reasons Writers Write
They love to write
To express their thoughts
To communicate
To share experiences
To tell about events
To share their feelings
To persuade
To teach
To Ask Questions
They want something
Does any of the above resonate with your reason(s) to write? Any missing that you would like to add? Do share. We would love to hear.
If you could give advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Life changes. We evolve, make decisions, choose careers, relationships, and enlarge our own space to embrace and create our own circle of influence including nuclear families. Recently I came across the common question about life and pondering the changes you would have made if you had the chance to advise your younger self. In deep thought I decided to ask professionals what their thoughts were. Most reflected. Here are excerpts of those who quickly chimed in:
Stop and smell the roses. Life passes by in a flash. Children grow up. Relationships mature, evolve, change. Enjoy life. Appreciate the little things.
Take more adventures. Let go of traditions.
Enjoy life more along my journey. To be fearless and take more risks.
Slow down, travel, start a business, invest, read more.
Writing is a joy. Being a first time publisher is exhilarating! But what’s difficult is some parts of the writing journey. In a Public forum authors were asked what was the hardest part of writing. Many eagerly chimed in with top issues such as marketing and editing. Here I share the top 25:
The Hardest Part Of Writing
Marketing
Building and attracting an audience
A blank page
Convincing people to read your book
Being confident that you write for yourself first, then the secondary audience – the public
The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are
J.P. Morgan
My youngest turned and asked if we could go on a road trip. Absolutely yessss! Until she said she wanted to go immediately. It was Christmas Day. Brunch with the family was divine. An experience we relived year after year. Thought the little one would be satisfied. But she wanted more. Time with her mom right after the family gathering. Mid afternoon. Christmas Day.
So I sat next to her. Shared how much I loved her. Then explained what a Road trip meant. Planning. Knowing where we’re going. The path we would need to take. She was disappointed. But I used it as a teaching moment. I told her to search ski resorts (yep, she wanted to go skiing) and come up with the top 3 places she would like to visit. That turned into a yearlong project.
In Search Of Snow
There were many places to choose from but we wanted early snow just before peak season. She had never skied before so that meant even more research. We chose Breckinridge Ski Resort in Colorado. Early December. Just as the season was about to begin. We found A beautiful cabin near the peak. We invited her older sister and her two boys.
Being from Florida we had to get the right gear. Rented the ski attire but bought everything else. It was an experience that lasted a life time and kick started our many holiday rendezvous.
Strategies To Find The New
But can the same strategy be applied to other things? Indeed it can.
Investigate. Research. Study. Whatever your goal its important to find information. New knowledge opens minds. Personally I find new things amazing! Are you curious about a different career path? Job search (yes there’s a difference), a research project, a new house, new car? Whatever your prowess, the new is exciting even when it’s dreaded. Here are tips for the novice.
7 Tips for the Novice Researcher
If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. And who knows where you’ll end up.
Unknown
Know what your needs are. What do you want? Think about it
Start with a general Search to see what’s out there. What exists
Do a quick scan of key resources found on your topic or area of interest
Compile the most useful pieces found
Do a deep dive. Read through and highlight things that are important to what you’re searching for (YouTube videos, articles, discussions) whatever works
Organize the flow. What’s important. What’s nice to know. Discard the rest
Then Act. Gathering data is nice but putting it into action is what’s important to any project or task
Hope these tips will help to kickstart your next project. Any missing that you would like to add? Do share. We would love to hear.
Is Your Organization Selling what employees want to buy? The question Gallup posed most certainly creates a pause for both the employer who is searching for top talent and the job hunter who comes with his or her own fair share of what they will or will not accept.
9 Reasons Employees Accept Job Offers
Here are a few things that top talent seek in their next career move:
Great Pay and Benefits (duh)
Environments that are respectful, diverse and inclusive
Great Cultural fit to bolster a sense of belonging
Work in a location that is safe, easily accessible, and aesthetically pleasing
The desire for flexibility –remote or hybrid work
Work/ Life balance. Fast disappearing are those days of long working hours that when they get home they are no use to family or themselves
Financial Stability. People want to work where they don’t have to worry about the business viability as well as their own ability to cover expenses and save for their future
To work with great people (stress-free) and build key relationship with others in the industry
The ability to learn and grow that fosters self-actualization
If you are providing these things as an organization, you are well on your way to attracting and retaining top talent. Seeing gaps? Lets connect to get you you started on the road to improvement.
Likewise, as you reflect on the 9 reasons, what stands out to you? Is there anything you would like to add? Do share. We would love to hear.
Get an education. Become a lawyer, doctor, get a cool career! Marry Prince/Princess Charming. Buy that nice big house. Have the perfect kids. These are some of the wishes that moms and dads often want for their children to Jolt them to success or to Restart. But I have always stressed that you should not let anyone define what success means to you. It’s entirely your decision.
Brian Tracy asked the question “What Does Success Mean to You?” Responses came in Opaque forms including:
Doing what I want when I want and helping others so that they can to help themselves
The highest level of success is happiness
Do the right thing and be a great person or human being
Not caring if it is Monday or Friday. Loving every day of the week the same. Having a good relationship with people. Making a difference. Continuously learning and…
The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.
J.P. Morgan
The Regret Minimization Framework is a simple mental model to minimize the number of regrets in the long run. Jeff Bezos after a conversation with his boss asked himself what he would regret more when he was 80 years old: Trying to build something he had strong conviction in and failing, or failing to give it a try? He realized that not trying would haunt him every day (Utkarsh Amitabh HBR).
Walking away from a great job is not an easy decision. I know that because I did it. I walked away from a great career in the pharmaceutical industry. Naturally, this decision came with it’s fair share of ups and downs but when you decide to make a decision based on purpose, all you need to do is weigh the consequences. Like Bezos did, he considered himself at age 80 and thought about it in the context of regret. If you know Amazon, then the rest is history.
As a Certified Professional Coach who specializes in career transitions and people management, I have help many leaders become clear on the next step in their career journey. It may not mean that you want to venture out into entrepreneurship. It might very well be that you want to shift into a new career in the same company or another. I reflect on a client who left his career in the financial industry to venture into a new career in social work. Hmmm, pretty drastic change, right? But the change proved satisfying.
So what’s your plan? What’s your purpose? What’s your passion? Can’t figure it out? Let’s connect.
Have a success story? Do share, we would love to hear.
Photo by Craig Dennis on 
