Useful Inspiration June 20, 2008
Posted by selfworks in Career and Work, Confidence, Happiness and Success, Money and Prosperity.Tags: Inspiration, work, work_life_balance
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If you’re not sure whether you’re in the kind of work or lifestyle that would inspire you the most, there’s a great free resource that could help.
Nick Williams (author of , “The Work You Were Born to Do”) has a great e-course on his site that runs through many of the key obstacles people face when finding their way into truly fulfilling work/lifestyles.
You’ll need to sign up for it, but it’s well worth it (particularly as the course gives you written, ausio and video content for free, and each section can be read consecutively, rather than your needing to wait for the next email.
You can find the course here:
http://www.inspired-entrepreneur.com/
N.B. I don’t necessarily agree with the idea, given nearer the end of the course, that entrepreneurship works for quite so many people as is suggested near the end of the course, but the initial stages in particular have some very useful content.
Hope this helps
Clare
Want a Promotion? Try this! March 31, 2008
Posted by selfworks in Career and Work, Money and Prosperity.Tags: hate your job, promotion, work
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That mysterious title really cloaks the last part of this little run of posts about what to do if you hate/dislike/are bored by your job.
In this post, I’m going to explain a truly weird phonmenon that seems, much of the time, to help people who decide to stay in their job, get the promotion or job conditions they want. I can’t make any promises for your specific situaiton, but have noticed that the following idea works far better than it should, from a logical perspective.
(And no, it doesn’t involve taking on work that’s equivalent to the role you want to reach, dressing for the role etc-though both of those ideas can work well in the right context).
In fact, what I’m about to suggest might seem counter-intuitive, but it really seems to work.
In a nutshell, the idea is this. Construct a second, part-time income in addition to your ordinary job.
Now, if you’re reading this because you’re already exhausted from your job and/or attempting to make enough from one income, this may sound almost insulting. And obviously, that’s the last thing on my mind. But please hear me out before you make up your mind.
I’m not of course, talking about a second main job, or anything which would require you to break any promises in a contract with your employer. But if you have had thoughts about investigating things like Ebay, selling crafts you (or a family member) may make in your spare time, selling downloads or starting up any other kind of “low-key” business (with appropriate professional advice!) , it may not always pay to wait until after any promotion is gained.
And if you’re coming at this idea from an “I hate my job,” perspective, here are some reasons why this peculiar dynamic sometimes exists:
1. If you know you have other fish to fry after work, you’ll actually be more efficient in your main job, thereby helping your employer.
2. If you’ve never run any kind of business before, doing so (even in a tiny, tiny, “get-your-feet-wet” kind of way) will give you a different perspective on why your company may organise certain aspects of its business and procedures the way it does. Which again, ironically, helps you to help them more effectively.
3. If you know deep down that all your economic eggs are not in one basket with your employer, you’re likely to feel and project confidence, rather than desperation. Which is very useful when you’re being considered for promotion.
Obviously, this solution may not be for everyone. But if you can see the sense in it for you, and can implement it in a way that still keeps the rest of your situation balanced, keep it in mind building a second income as a viable, if novel, idea.
Hope this helps.
More soon-and on a different topic.
Clare
Moving Towards Loving Your Job March 28, 2008
Posted by selfworks in Career and Work.Tags: hate your job, work
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Here are two more questions on hating your job (or, more accurately, getting yourself into a position, where you love what you do) as promised.
Last time, I asked you (and remember, all this can be for someone you know, rather than you personally) to think about the simplest option for getitng to the major outcome you want at work. The reason? All too often people overlook simple solutions that are easy to implement, in favour of radical changes that may unbalance the situation more than is necessary to achieve the result you want.
However, you also have to feel happy with any decision you make. So, today, let’s modify the question into,
“What is the simplest change that you can make and still feel, deep down, that it is the right one for you?” (This might take a few days or weeks, to emerge…no need to rush).
Note that feeling happy with a decision may not be the same thing as feeling comfortable with it. You may need to make a change that takes you outside your normal “comfort zone”, which may, by definition, be uncomfortable.
If no decision gives you this feeling after a week or so, you may be suffering from a lack of informaiton about one or more of the available choices. This would be a great time to seek the advice of qualified sources of information, others who’ve been in a similar position, books, or the internet. Once you have the informaiton, ask yourself again which is the simplest action you can take that still feels right, or most right, to you.
Finally, even when you think you’ve made a decision, live with it for a few days (if possible) before acting upon it, just to make sure it’s the “best fit” for you at this time.
Remember that leaving your job isn’t always the answer. In the last part of this discussion next time, I’ll say a bit about the most unlikely route to success at work that seems to do the trick for many people.
For now, this is all quite long enough, and you’ll have your weekend to get to shortly.
Have a great one.
More soon
Clare
What to *Do* if You Hate Your Job March 27, 2008
Posted by selfworks in Career and Work.Tags: decisions, hate your job, work
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As promise, this is the next post in the coaching series on what to do if you hate your job.
So far, I’ve talked about isolating precisely what it is that makes you hate your job at the moment. Which all sounds pretty negative, I admit it, from a coaching point of view.
However, once you’ve isolated the issue, the trick (rather than dwelling exclusively upon it, and thereby enlarging it in/with your mind) is to set your mind to the condition with which you’d like to replace it.
“Oh, that’s fit and fine for you to say!” I hear you cry. “You don’t have to sit next to my bossy co-worker all day”.
True, but nonetheless, please humour (humor) me, and keep concentrating exclusively on what you want. (This isn’t just a positive mental practice, it’ll also help you to feel as good as possible, and allow as many different solutions as possible to make their way into your brain.
Allow all those solutions into your brain, or better yet, onto a piece of paper. Then ask yourself:
“What is the simplest thing I can do to get to the state of affairs I actually want?” (There’s nothing like job stress for making people convince themselves htat, say, they’ve always dreamed of chicken-farming in Ecuador, when really, as in the example above, something like a simple desk (or mindset!) change, might be all that’s needed).
The simplest answer though, might not indicate your very best decision. There are two more qiuestions, coming in the next post, which should help with plumping for a decision that really feels right.
Hope this helps, and more soon, as promised.
Clare
