May 3, 2017 Seven Things to Think About When It Comes to . . . Being Stressed and Knowing Something’s Gotta Give.

We’ve all been there - stressed and stretched in every direction and daunted by the thought of adding one more thing to our already overflowing plate. Although you may not be sure exactly what needs to be done differently (or how to do it) – you are certain that something has got to change. Here are seven things to help you beat stress by shifting your perspective and time to support the priorities that really matter.

1. Develop a calming start to each day: Before your morning workout, take 10 minutes to sit in silence, meditate or read something inspirational.

If you start your day stressed, rushed, and filled with anxiety, the rest of your day will most likely be the same. So why not start things on an upbeat note to increase the likelihood that your day will be both productive and positive.

2. Delegate life and work to-dos: Whether it’s telling your roommate, spouse or partner to clean the apt (for a change) or asking the intern to help with something you’d normally do, ask or require others to step up and take on added responsibility.

3. Replace boring with interesting: It’s hard to feel stressed out when you are intrigued by something compelling to read, think about, and discuss with others. Taking a few minutes each week to participate in an engaging activity will reduce feelings of monotony and give you more mental and physical energy to accomplish your responsibilities and goals.

4. Face your weaknesses straight on: Create a plan to address and overcome things that are not your strong suit. Specifically, focus on one thing (we all have one) that always takes you off track or causes you to lose focus. Simply having a plan of action to help you stay motivated, when you might otherwise stray off course, can help reduce procrastination, writers block or “paralysis by analysis” and thereby make you much more productive.

5. Find hope: When you feel overwhelmed you are less likely to see the good in anything. Simply finding one thing everyday to be optimistic about can not only change your outlook but actually make the things you do seem even better. Never forget that optimism is a major key to success in life, career, and almost any endeavor.

6. Get out of town: Taking a short train or bus ride to new surroundings can give you a much needed boost to re-charge and re-boot your batteries and energy. A change of scenery doesn’t have to cost a lot of time or money but can do wonders when it comes to relieving stress and gaining clarity about what really matters and how to better prioritize the time you do have.

7. Create a financial action plan: Money problems are one of the leading causes of stress and they often take time to get resolved. However, taking one or two steps towards turning a positive financial page can make you feel less stressed and more in control. Start by re-reading last week’s Living on Purpose Project post on reducing your expenses and commit to putting just one thing into practice.

Sometimes we need to de-stress and discover new energy to do the things we both want and have to do. Life will never be stress-free, but the more you can embrace healthy ways to eliminate feelings of boredom, anxiety, and uncertainty, the better you will feel. And, the better you feel the more you’re likely to put yourself out there, embrace new challenges and uncover new opportunities.

December 7, 2016 Seven Things to Think About When It Comes to . . . Inspirational Quotes to Get You Off Your _ _ _ _ and Create Some Real Changes Before the End of The Year!

Think of this as a wise, trusted friend passing you a “note” in 8th grade that you’ll want to read, digest, share and discuss with others. Here are seven non-traditional quotes that can literally change your life.

1. Life is not a dress rehearsal: We don’t control how long we have. But we each have 24 hours each day to make the most of whatever experiences and abilities that we do have.

2. Experiences prepare us to live more fully and make informed choices: Living with different people, places, customs and traditions creates confidence. The more diverse experiences we have the more we experience the “more” that life has to offer.

3. Advice is what you ask when you already know the answer but WISH it were different: Instincts are our mental muscles that we must stretch and continually use to guide us to make our own decisions and not react in fear or out of insecurity.

4. Life is a series of choices. You make a choice, and if things don’t work out, you simply make another choice: Living this way means you can never really fail. Make your own choices and live your own dreams!

5. Everyone struggles with something: Face whatever it is square in the face and turn your misery into meaning. Use your “something” to empower yourself and others.

6. Walk. Breathe. Repeat.: I recently heard Robyn Roberts say these three simple words that she used to say to herself as she battled cancer, not once, but twice. Crappy stuff happens to us all - so when it does find something that will encourage you to pick yourself up and keep moving.

7. Live. Love. Do. Don’t think it needs explanation, but live, loving what you do and doing what you love.

The holidays are around the corner and with them comes stress and issues (our own and others). During this last month of 2016, embrace one new way of thinking and you will certainly change your experiences, your circumstances, and your career.

November 9, 2016 Seven Things to Think About When It Comes to . . . Things That Suck but That We Can’t Change (At the Moment)

Sometimes despite our best efforts things simply don’t work out, or happen or move as fast as we’d like. We all have to deal with difficult career-related things of which we have no control. Here are some suggestions to deal with some common challenges.

1. Getting passed over for a promotion: It doesn’t matter whether you’re a CEO or an entry-level worker, having to continue working for the same company after being turned down for a promotion doesn’t make anyone feel good. It sucks! However, don’t let this situation define you. If you believe you were qualified for the position, use this opportunity to “read the writing on the wall” and see why the decision makers may not be in your corner. Let this be the much needed motivation to dust off your resume and get moving on finding another job.

2. Needing to forego your dreams to deal with a personal or family situation: We all have responsibilities to other people. At times we need to put our dreams on hold to help those closest to us. If you are in a holding pattern, remind yourself that all dreams deferred don’t “dry up like a raisin in the sun” and die. Some can actually gain momentum and even gain greater intensity after time has passed. Use your waiting time to refocus on your own dreams and your career goals. Sometimes no, isn’t no forever, just “no” for right now.

3. You’re in over your head at work: Many times you may need to “act as if” in order to get a job or be considered for an opportunity. However, once you’ve gotten it, you may soon find that you aren’t able to do key aspects of the job or handle the pressure of the environment. Ask someone, preferably outside the organization, for help. I have helped many people navigate the first few months of a new job by ‘ghost-writing” key reports and presentations on their behalf. If you can’t find people or resources to provide you the needed support, consider creating a Plan B or, if needed, to bow out gracefully. Ideally, you should be the first to say that things aren’t working perfectly and to propose a “back up” plan. Identify someone (internally or externally) to assist you with the project or your job overall. Keep in mind that doing this runs the risk of losing your job. However, it’s far better to admit that you are unable to do something (well in advance of a deadline) or a few weeks or months in, than to drag out the inevitable and possibly destroy a professional bridge and your reputation in the process.

4. You can’t get out of a work rut: You try to pursue different positions at your current job or even work on new projects, but you simply can’t get out of your career rut. Find a way to break away and recharge your batteries. Visit a friend or family member in another city, take a “mental health day” off from work or, simply do little and low cost things to change your routine like get a Mani/Pedi or buy/download a new book. The best way to break a rut is to change the way you think, which in turn will affect your actions and the reactions they create.

5. Dealing with being unemployed: Do your best to keep yourself busy and your thoughts positive. As long as you are doing something every single day to change your employment status, be patient and creative with your time – things will happen. You might not be able to control when the job offers come but you certainly can take hold of how you creatively manage your time. Create a blog sharing your ups and downs of unemployment or showcasing your interest or hobby. Remember, in order to have something that you’ve never had, you often have to do things that you’ve never done.

6. They are planning to outsource or phase out your position: If you are currently working in an industry or department that you know in time will soon be downsized or eliminated entirely, start creating a plan for the future today. You may not be able to stop the axe from chopping your job but you should and can start exploring new opportunities for when, and not if, that occurs. I know many people who work in journalism and publishing who have successfully evolved and grown along with the industry – enabling them to not only stay employed but remain in demand.

7. You are still waiting for the temporary (or part-time) job that you were told would become permanent: Many opportunities start as short-term or temporary assignments but in time can become full-time jobs. If you are currently in this situation, and even if the date that you should have gotten your permanent title has long passed, keep giving 110%. You don’t want to lose steam and have someone make the decision to not to hire you when you lost your passion because things were taking longer than you would have liked.

Just because things have not happened, doesn’t mean they never will. The key is to have and exhibit the 3 Ps – patience, persistence and perseverance. Life and career are not always perfect and at times we all have phases or positions that are really tough – so hold on. This week remind yourself that you might not be able to change things today, but you can change your perspective and put things in place to be prepared when change happens.

October 1, 2016 The Living on Purpose Career Readiness Challenge . . . 30 Days of Activities, 4 Surprising Posts, 1 Great Sidebar Post on Creating (and not waiting) for Opportunities and 1 Compelling Conversation.

It’s October 1, summer’s over and it’s back to your daily grind. You have exactly 93 days to either start off 2017 with a new job that you love or head into the New Year doing the same old thing. What will you choose? We hope that you are ready, willing and able to make a change and will join us on October 5 when we’ll launch the first Living On Purpose Project 30-Day Career Readiness Challenge. Whether you are looking to change industries, move up in your current career/position; or are planning to switch things up in the near future - this monthly event will help you break the cycle and take concrete steps towards your dream job.

Each week will focus on non-traditional ways to advance your level of career readiness, as well as daily activities that you can do (most in 7 minutes or less) to help practice and master a core key skill. Here’s a sneak peek of what we have planned:

October 5: Seven Surprising Ways to Get LinkedIn to Work for You
Two people join LinkedIn every second. Here are seven surprising ways that people are using LinkedIn as an interactive tool to find job leads, get the attention of recruiters and hiring managers and effectively promote themselves professionally.

October 12: Compelling Conversation with Rachel Piatczyc
Who says that you have to pick just one job or career that you love? This month we’re talking to Rachel Piatczyc who shares her secrets to creating a multi-faceted career. We’re also offering a sidebar post on October 16 about three ways to create and not wait for opportunities.

October 19: Seven Things You Never Imagined Could Help Get You Hired in a Hurry
Tired of sending your resume out with no response? Are you finding that all the traditional ways to find a new job are not working? We’re spilling the tea on seven surprising things that can help you land a job quickly.

October 26: Seven Ways Mind/Body Balance Can Help You Succeed (And Why It’s Not B.S!)
You’re young and healthy and might never believe that stress can be slowing you down and blocking you from the job of your dreams. Mind/Body Balance isn’t hippie, new age stuff, but a proven method to help you make a successful professional transition and sustain an effective long-term life and career.

September 28, 2016 Seven Things to Think About When It Comes to . . . Finding Success Because of Your Mindset and Not Just Your Abilities

World-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck has spent decades studying why it’s not just our abilities and talents that bring us success but whether we approach things with a “fixed” or “growth” mindset. Here are some key takeaways from her amazing book, Mindset, and seven questions to determine which mindset you currently have and ways to make changes to accomplish true career success.

1. What is your mindset on life?: Dweck says how you answer the following four true or false statements will tell you whether you have a growth or fixed mindset: (1) You are a certain kind of person, and there is not much that can be done to really change that; (2) No matter what kind of person you are, you can always change substantially; (3) You can do things differently, but the important parts of who you are can’t really be changed; and (4) You can always change basic things about the kind of person you are. Answering “true” to statements 1 and 3 are the fixed-mindset questions and questions 2 and 4 reflect a growth mindset.

2. Are you more concerned with how you’ll be judged or are you concerned with improving? The above questions relate to your personality mindset and reveal qualities dependability, cooperativeness, caring or social skills. Your goal in life should be about learning (a growth personality mindset) and not about caring how others assess your ability or trying to get everything “right” on the first or tenth try (a fixed personality mindset).

3. Do you want to change your mindset?: As a child, someone may have praised your intelligence, looks or ability. However, words alone don’t foster our self-esteem and enable us to accomplish things. In fact, being praised solely for your outcome can jeopardize your success. Redefine success to include the effort and process, and not just the end result. Remember you can be smart and talented but you need a growth mindset to cultivate the coping skills required for life.

4. Do you have the CEO disease? Dweck gives a great example in her book of the downside of a fixed mindset when it comes to business and your professional life. She talks about former Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca who, after a period of initial success, kept bringing out the same car models again and again with only minor tweaks. Meanwhile Japanese companies were redefining how cars should look and run – and eventually led the market. Where in your professional life are refusing to welcome a challenge and finding new ways to approach things? Learn ways to embrace your shortcomings and thrive, not cower, after setbacks and “failure.”

5. Do you only like doing things that you know you’ll do well? If you are living your life thinking I have mastered “X” and therefore don’t need to continue learning more about it – STOP THAT TODAY.
The bigger the challenge the more we learn to “stretch” ourselves, something many great athletes have shown us from their example. Many sports greats often trained with people who were older, bigger, better and even more talented. It was challenging themselves in this way that helped them become a phenom.

6. Do you feel “smart” when you are “flawless” or when you are “learning?” I love the feeling of having that “aha” moment when I realize why that “thing” that I did wasn’t working – because now I know how to “fix it.” Do you feel the same way? Start embracing the power of the process of things and not just the energy of doing things “perfectly.” Perfection doesn’t invite progress and effortless success doesn’t teach us anything. Remember, change and progress is essential to success in our work and careers.

7. What are you trying to prove and who are you trying to prove it to? People with a fixed mindset opt for success over growth. Doing so begs the question, what are they really trying to prove? If you are living with a fixed mindset stop trying to prove that you are intelligent, unique or special – you are. Imperfections are not shameful it’s what makes us great.

“Failure is an action NOT an identity.” Everything you try will work out. Your inability to do something perfectly or instantly does not define who you are but rather opens the potential of who you can become. Things are not “either or” – you can have great ability but still need to embrace putting forth effort. Even if you are a genius be willing, as Dweck says, to “upgrade your genius.” This week think about whether you have a fixed or growth mindset. If it’s fixed, ask yourself – “At the end of your career do you want to look back and see that you only did those things in life that you knew you could succeed in – or do you want to say that you explored, tried to improve and enjoyed the journey and not just the destination?”

Breaking into a new field when you lack “experience”

One of the many things I love (and do well) is using branding and marketing strategies and tactics to help people in life and career.  As a quick reminder, strategies are what we want to do (i.e., create, advance in, or even break into a new field/career/industry).  Tactics are how we actually go about doing it (i.e., work as a consultant doing freelance projects while keeping your full time gig, taking a part-time job to pay the bills or creating some ‘hustle’ on the side).

Regardless of industry, you need to first identify and then communicate a consistent and distinct professional brand.  Often, all you need is just a simple phrase or even a couple of words that can effectively communicate who you are and what you do (i.e., your brand).  Let’s say you’ve worked for a few years in internal communications and you are making a segway into TV production – your brand may be a “master storyteller.” Or perhaps you work in IT or Project Management helping organize processes or correct other people’s problems, so your brand is an “organizer of chaos” or the “fixer.”

Once you have clearly defined the essence of your brand and its core attributes, now you have to find (or most likely create) untraditional ways to promote yourself.  Your first step is to draft (or hire someone) to develop a professional biography.  

A bio is one of the best marketing tools for anyone involved in career exploration or seeking to advance to the next level of career readiness.  It allows you to transcend the confines of titles, and put the focus on what really matters (the experience itself) and not when it occurred. For example, you may have worked in sales 10 years ago for five years. That information sticks out like a “you really don’t have experience in this field” type of resume. But the bio lets you tell your whole “story,” and enables you to pick the characters, roles and scenes that relate to what you want to do now and moving forward.

A resume is a linear, chronological history of your professional life.  And, people are just as linear as the resume. Often, we only see what’s presented right in front of us.  You show someone a resume of a person who hasn’t worked at the “required” level (for more than a decade or even at all), then that’s how they will see you.  But if you give them your customized resume (a requirement for almost every job) and also provide a great bio that tells your complete professional story in a way that demonstrates your brand value, you might be given a shot to prove yourself.

Your bio effectively unites your professional brand, “unrelated” experience and work history, and prepares you to tell a believable story.  A believable story is one that convinces others you are the perfect person for the job, despite what your resume may or may not ‘say.’  Your story is not something you “wing” on the interview but rather what you create and fine-tune well before any opportunity presents itself.

With your bio, brand and believable story in hand, you are armed to explore and create unconventional ways to get to your end goal.  Volunteer or work for free to get more hands-on experience in an area where you want to work.
Reach out to a larger competitor who doesn’t have the time (or desire) to support clients that are “too small for them” but just right for your start-up business.  Take a class or teach one to network with both instructors and peers who are currently doing the very thing you dream about.  

Almost every great “empire” started as a side hustle, so today do one small thing to jumpstart yours.  In doing something unconventional, I promise you that not only will it pay off but it will get you several steps closer to life and career that enables you to do what you love.