Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

By Guest Blogger, Gina Blitstein

This will be my last entry on True Professions about my career reinvention. The time has come to wrap up my coaching sessions with Ellen and review my progress. The end of the coaching process, however, in no way means that my career makeover has come to an end. This merely signifies the end of this initial phase of my reinvention. This is a comfortable and logical place to step off and forge ahead using the skills I’ve learned working with Ellen these past few months.

I have learned so much in my sessions with Ellen! My career coaching has taken place strictly over phone and email. I’ve never met Ellen in person - in fact we are geographically separated by nearly 1000 miles. But through each of our meetings, Ellen’s encouraging words have come shining across the miles!

Ellen helped me overcome obstacles to my career reinvention by assigning me exercises to combat these issues:

• Identity - Ellen encouraged me to write a pitch, describing my business and what makes it unique.
  
• Shyness - She wouldn’t take “No” for an answer when I explained how uncomfortable I was doing in-person networking!
  
• Self-doubt - Ellen had me make post-it notes describing aspects about my professional qualities.
  
• Isolation - She gave me the assignment to make arrangements to call and speak with three freelance writers in order to begin growing my professional network.
  
  

Each assignment taught me something valuable. To be honest, some were uncomfortable and difficult while others proved easier. But each one helped me discover resources and abilities I never knew I possessed. I have at least tried some new techniques and I will continue to hone my abilities as my career progresses.

Her encouragement and professionalism have served as a steady heartbeat to the sometimes challenging situations I’ve encountered as I’ve stretched myself to grow and develop new skills. That is exactly what I needed to discover the courage and strength within myself to think about things in a new way and willingly put myself in vulnerable situations for the sake of my new career.

You can read back over the past posts to discover exactly what I wanted to gain from career coaching with Ellen - and you’ll see that I did indeed achieve those goals. And you can even read that I have outlined my next set of career goals. But I’ve reached a point at which I want to explore a longer-range vision of myself - the me I want to grow toward, now that I am empowered by my successes. I want to explore the future me because now, thanks to the skills I’ve developed working with Ellen, I’m not afraid to imagine the possibilities and most importantly, I’m not afraid to try.

A long-range goal is something I’ve never even considered until recently. In my former career as a daycare provider, that was it - there was no place to go, no dream to work toward. Now that I have successfully changed gears completely - I find that my new career possibilities are wide-open. What type of writing do I want to focus on? What kind of clients do I want to work with? When do I want to work? Where do I want to work? How far do I want to reach to attain the status in my career that I desire? All these choices are available to me for the first time. I can customize my work life to fit what I am good at and what I am passionate about. What unbelievable freedom I am now blessed with!

It’s just like Ellen says - when your work fits your interests and your personality, you experience maximum satisfaction in both arenas! Simply stated, I know I will live a more fulfilling life because I am doing work that I love.

Thanks to Ellen’s coaching, I know how to assess my level of satisfaction, imagine different possibilities and paths and do the work necessary to make - and keep - my career my passion. It can be - and will be - a lifelong endeavor. I know I’m up to the challenge because I have this recent success as living proof.

Thank you, Ellen, for helping me to find my own sense of comfort, identity and direction in my new career!

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

The thing that speaks the loudest to me in Gina's last post is: confidence. Clearly, Gina has moved from a place of uncertainty and self-doubt to a place with much greater clarity - and with much firmer footing. Gina uses words like "conviction"..."poise"..."confidence"..."satisfying"... and "valuable". To use Gina's descriptor, it is exactly like a metamorphosis: she has evolved from a woman who was forced to shutter her day care business to a woman who decided to follow her life's passion.

And it worked.

Everything Gina shares about meeting her goals, from making the same amount of money as she did with her day care business to finding her voice and marketing her new business with confidence, are all indicators of how much she is enjoying personal and professional success. In addition, she feels much more at ease when discussing her business with others, and talks about being a writer as no longer an aspiration or a dream....but a reality.

What I particularly liked about Gina's self-discoveries is the fact that she seized upon an important point: working on our careers and enjoying optimum career satisfaction is something we are never really done with. This is the fun of working on your career: the paths and opportunities for reinvention are endless, if you learn the methods and apply the tools that make a career journey successful.

Gina also learned that career reinvention is a continuous process of growth. Changing careers is no doubt a tough road. Much uncertainty lies ahead for those who contemplate it, and even more so for those who forge ahead and try it. Will I like my new career? Will I get any clients to buy my product or service? Will I fail? All of these questions come into play and make us question our ability to take a step toward enjoying a more satisfying career, and life.

But I guarantee that if you at least try, you are never a failure, no matter what the outcome. What lies on the other side of taking a risk, taking a chance on YOU, is full of surprises. Some may be good while others fall short, but either way, I promise you will learn so much about yourself and you will feel the greatest sense of accomplishment...just for trying. Just look at Gina!

Want to catch up on Gina's story? Start here! http://trueprofessions.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html)

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

By Guest Blogger Gina Blitstein

There have been changes happening within my “professional self” lately. I see it as a metamorphosis - a coming into my self as a professional freelance writer. These changes are happening almost imperceptibly as I follow the steps Ellen and I have laid out for me as I reinvent my career. Each assignment, whether it was to network in person, create my pitch, call fellow freelance writers or make post-it reminders of important elements about myself, has taught me something important. At the time I was completing each assignment I might not have seen its value, or it may have been scary or frustrating, but it always opened a door for me to walk through to get to the next level of my career development.

When I’ve been on the journey, I have been focused on the steps and how they make me feel, but I didn't always see the progress. When I look at the bigger picture, however, I see it very clearly. Now I am beginning to see how far I have come in my career reinvention. It no longer feels like I’m telling people, “I want to be a ballerina when I grow up!” when I tell them what I do. I now own what I do and I say it with conviction, not as an aspiration, but as a fact.

I recently had the opportunity to network with some folks at a professional dinner. I was invited as a guest so I was not necessarily expected to “pitch” my own business. The subject inevitably came up, of course, and when it did I felt I had valuable and interesting things to say to people about it. In fact, I found it particularly easy to talk about my profession with poise and confidence.

Those two words would never have been used to describe me a few years ago. I was as introverted and socially awkward as they come. How did I grow past that? It took a lot of diligent work on my part to focus on my strengths and remove myself from situations that made me feel inferior. Once I did that, it became clearer every day that I was intelligent, clever, interesting and enjoyable to be around. And once that seed of self-confidence was planted, it thrived in my new supportive environment of loving, caring people. I was comfortable being fully myself and when that was favorably received, well, my self-worth grew by leaps and bounds. The moral of the story is that no one - and no career - can thrive in an environment of negativity and self-doubt.

That’s what Ellen has helped me overcome - that initial stage of self-doubt that is part and parcel of any major life change. Those questions of, “Am I good enough?” “Can I do this?” are completely natural. Natural or not, however, I am glad to be moving past them. The great news is that I have succeeded at my first three goals for my career reinvention. To review, they were to:

1. Make a living at writing

2. Become comfortable marketing myself & my business

3. Realize my career makeover as a personal reinvention, complete with new skills and goals

AND I have accomplished those things. Here’s how:

1. I am actually earning as much at this point as I was as a daycare provider. That was an initial goal but as a next step I plan to establish some earning goals for myself.

2. As mentioned above, I am gaining confidence with marketing myself and my business. It came down to the same elements as in my personal metamorphosis - gaining confidence and experience in a supportive environment.

3. As a writer, there’s a lot of me in my work. I knew my career reinvention was going to take a lot of personal growth to get to where I wanted to be. How have I grown? I have developed confidence in myself and my abilities. Once those were in place, it was surprisingly easy to demonstrate that to others.

So from here it’s onward and upward! I have made two new goals for my business and they are:

1. To gain more control over the work I take on and the clients for whom I work. I feel that now that I know I can get clients - and keep them by providing quality work - I can take the opportunity to be a bit more selective as to the what and who. This is not to say that I’m inundated with work, but I do have choices and it is empowering to be able to say, “No, this is not right for me.”

2. To create my ideal writing gig for myself. This is based on the “If you build it they will come” theory. I have topics about which I am passionate and I am not going to let the fact that I haven’t been hired to write about them yet keep me from writing about them. I intend to write about that which I am passionate, in the belief that when I do, it will be appreciated and respected for what it is. It will provide the ultimate portfolio of the work that is nearest to my heart. While it won’t provide immediate income, it will be an investment in my future and provide satisfaction to me today.

I’m proud of my new goals. They show me that I need never be “done” with my career reinvention - that it is a continuous process of growth. It is an amazingly satisfying feeling to look back and see the progress I’ve made, and to look ahead knowing that there are more goals waiting for me to achieve.

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

Love it. Love it. LOVE it!

Gina is starting to talk to other people in her profession (helloooo, networking) and is enjoying a positive response, not to mention building a supportive community that will pay dividends as she continues to fine tune her business. Also huge is the fact that Gina put down, on paper, where she can see it, a list of what she is good at. If you haven’t tried it, this truly is an amazing exercise, especially when stuck at a crossroads in your career, in life, or in Gina’s case, starting a new business.

Worries? Low confidence? Doubts? Thoughts of “Am I really cut out to do this?” All of these thoughts are totally, TOTALLY normal during times of change. However, the trick is to not dwell on what you might NOT accomplish, what bad things MIGHT happen, and what failures COULD lie ahead.

Instead, the trick is to change your thinking.

A great way to start is with the post-it note exercise: putting down on paper what you are good at, why you are valuable, what makes you unique, what you CAN do, etc. etc. Keeping this in front of you on a daily basis is even more powerful, for as your brain absorbs those words day after day….lo and behold you start changing how you act- and changing what travels through your brain.

Now that Gina has sampled different types of client projects (and different types of clients) and has gathered more information from professionals who have built careers in her desired field, Gina and I have begun preliminary conversations about the type of work she wants to focus on in order to fulfill an even greater goal when it comes to her new business: following her passion and writing about the subject matter she cares about most.

As an example, Gina was recently nominated as a Role Model and Virtual Mentor for Women and Girls from the Hot Mommas Project (www.hotmammasproject.org). Interestingly, Gina’s research on a client project led her to interviewing the "Chief Hot Momma" of this project, Kathy Korman Frey, at which point Kathy began following Gina on Twitter. When Kathy read about Gina’s career reinvention on www.trueprofessions.blogspot.com, she nominated Gina!

What was Gina’s response? Well, let’s use her exact words “Let me tell you, Ellen, when you ask what I want my career to look like, this is exactly it - to inspire others through the things I have learned and am doing. It is thrilling to me that I get the chance to do this!”

Wow- what can be better than that?

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

By Guest Blogger Gina Blitstein

Well, from reading Ellen’s last blog entry about me, I guess I have made more progress than I thought I had when it comes to networking. Ellen encouraged me to reach out to other writers to find a network in which I could gain knowledge and support in my new endeavor. It was actually rather fun thinking about who I have already come across in my travels in cyberspace who would be interesting to talk to about professional writing. For some reason, I didn’t feel nervous about this kind of networking. It was actually kind of empowering to go at this from the standpoint that, although I am new at the game, I am also nonetheless a writer.

I did phone a writer who I identified as having the type of career I visualize for myself. She was remarkable to talk to! She proved to be everything I hoped she’d be: honest, forthcoming and an incredible source of information and guidance! That was definitely the type of experience I had hoped for - and I sure got it! The result of that interaction for me is that I know there’s help out there should I need it. I don’t have to work in a vacuum. When I need some advice, I can get it without feeling like I am asking for the “secrets of the universe” from people - it’s just what my writers’ community does for one another. I like that sense of “community.” Support is a powerful thing.

Talking with an experienced writer also set me to thinking about my career in “bigger” terms. I’ve been thinking about what I have already accomplished, what I am on my way to accomplishing and what I someday dream of accomplishing. My new writer friend is living her dreams, so why can’t I, right?

Ellen gave me another assignment which was to write myself self-affirming and inspirational “post-it” notes for myself to use as a means to remember my strengths and aspirations. This exercise really took me by surprise! Once I sat down to write them, they just came pouring out of my fingers - 19 in all! Here they are:

1. I do great work
2. I am organized and professional
3. People are pleased with the fruits of my labor
4. I am intelligent
5. I am a talented writer
6. My work has value to others
7. I am hard-working
8. I am easy to talk to and a good listener
9. I can help people achieve their goals
10. People enjoy reading what I write
11. Writing is my life's work
12. I can earn a great income by writing
13. I will work on my own terms
14. I will write biographies of inspirational people
15. Shy is not me
16. I have interesting things to say
17. The real me is not only good enough - she's great!
18. I am proud to be a writer
19. I have valuable insights

I told Ellen that writing these has helped me to clarify and condense my thoughts about being a writer - and about being the writer I want to someday be. Collectively they are my “mission statement.”

What a great week on the career reinvention front - I found both a supportive community and a mission statement! I feel so empowered!

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

Ok. Let’s start with this statement in Gina’s last post: “I am not particularly comfortable with the prospect of in-person networking - or any networking at all. Because of that fact, I have naturally gravitated toward online marketing. It seemed a logical fit for me, since I am more an introverted writer-type than a hand-shaking networker. Ellen assures me that face-to-face networking is a vital skill for me to develop and I know that she is correct.”

Ahhhh…networking. Most people dislike networking. In my experience, people who heavily dislike networking do so because they have a determined view that they “are not good at it.” What does this mean? In my experience, this attitude is accompanied by certain behaviors: avoidance, procrastination, stalling...all leading to “analysis paralysis.” In other words, if you really dislike networking, you tend to do nothing.

I have a friend who often asks me for job hunting advice so he can not only escape a job he has outgrown, but also leave an industry he is tiring of, and perhaps enter a new career altogether. Our conversations go something like this:

“How can I get out of my job quickly?” asks friend.
“Networking” I respond.
“I think I have finally figured it out: I want to leverage my skills and enter a new career altogether that I find exciting and rewarding – how do I go about doing that?” asks friend.
“Networking” I say.

Did I mention my friend dreads networking? Dreads the thought of reaching out to people to ask for help…dreads bothering people who haven’t heard from him in months or even years….dreads not knowing what to say and fearing he will owe them something in return for their trouble.

So, why do people dread networking, in particular the friend I am describing? Because it is unfamiliar territory, a behavior that is not practiced, and asking for help feels extremely awkward when you feel like that is all you are doing, since you don’t fully grasp that networking is a give and take situation.

Back to Gina. Interestingly, Gina IS a good in-person networker, no matter what she claims. Perhaps not as comfortable as she is with the online method she gravitates to so easily and naturally as a way of building her business, however, her day care business of 20 years demanded she interact with people on a daily basis who were either using her services, or interested in buying them. Gina had to speak with people face to face from the very inception of her business since without people entrusting their children to her care, she would have had no clients, no pipeline of clients, no referrals, and well, no 20 year business.

The fact that Gina has discovered a whole new world where she can meet hundreds, if not thousands, of people with a mere click of a button who might be potential clients or serve as resources to building her business is great. However, as her coach, I am still challenging her to mix the old with the new.

Hence, the latest “action item” assigned by me involved challenging Gina to reach out to 3 professionals within her field and schedule phone calls (these people are perfect strangers but she has identified them via the Internet). Instead of just “chatting” with them virtually, I wanted to “raise the bar” in terms of her networking behaviors and challenge her to have a voice to voice exchange to see what she might learn.

Gina has already completed one meeting, and what made the meeting so successful were the networking behaviors she employed. Gina successfully:

1. Identified individuals on the web who might share their learning experiences as professional writers and perhaps even have some work to pass along to her.
2. Acted as a resource for this individual, sharing her growing wealth of knowledge and expertise in the social media arena, helping this person become more familiar with Twitter in particular.
3. Gained vital information from someone in her field who has been making a living as a writer for years, thus gathering information that will help Gina make her own business more successful.

Networking, while it may never be wholly comfortable for someone like Gina (and it certainly might be something my friend forever avoids) is so critical to your career that if you don’t have a network you better get one, because you’re gonna need it.

In fact, networking can actually be fun, whether you enjoy the enormity of working your way around the world wide web or you feel more at ease establishing valuable, face-to-face relationships.

Check back for more tips on networking and if you want to learn more about the value of networking online and how it can help you meet your career goals, check out Gina’s latest article on Twitter: http://womeninbiz.sbresources.com/blog/blogpost.cfm?threadid=91&catid=12

And get to WORK! :)

Career Toolkit: The Resume

Step 1: Send resume to employer.
Step 2: Hear back from employer.
Step 3: Get interview.
Step 4: Get job offer.

If only it were this simple! While the resume is the universal calling card to finding a job, when it comes to job hunting (and I say this over and over again to my clients!) it is just ONE tool you utilize to get a job or change careers. What are the most important things a resume should have? In one word: results.

Capturing the results of your good work demonstrates that you have contributed not only to your own professional development, but you have contributed to making your employers successful. This is what potential employers want to see on paper, and hear from you during interviews. In other words, they want to hear what you can do for them.

If you shrink from your resume, wonder what it says about you, or have a suspicion that your resume could do a much better job of representing you, you are not alone. I encourage you to take the first step and shake the dust off your resume and take a good hard look. Need help?

We have special pricing for a one time coaching session through August 31st where you can get professional guidance on your resume! Contact us at info@traversesolutions.com for more details!

Taking Care of Yourself

What an honor it was to be part of the annual NALP conference (www.nalp.org) in sunny Puerto Rico! I was very impressed with the myriad of topics ranging from leadership to diversity, and I was even more impressed with the audience who actively participated in our workshop: "Leading in Challenging Times: Recharge, Refocus, and Renew."

What struck me most while at the conference was how much more stretched people seemed this year, in large part due to the rapid and unexpected economic changes. Leaders are faced with fewer resources while still being held accountable for strategic organizational initiatives and performing in fast-paced, demanding environments. This is why it is more important than ever to make sure you take good care of yourself so that you can better lead, manage your time, and feel good about yourself and your accomplishments at the end of the day.

Incorporating stress relievers - from taking a walk to meditation - can do amazing things for your health. These self-nurturing behaviors can increase your energy level and help you make better decisions about your career - and your life. Interested in bringing our workshop to your organization? Contact us! http://traversesolutions.com/contact.php

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

By Guest Blogger Gina Blitstein

From our very first coaching session, Ellen has posed this question: "How do I plan to promote my business and keep my pipeline consistently full of work?" And from that first coaching session, my answer has always been that I am not particularly comfortable with the prospect of in-person networking - or any networking at all. Because of that fact, I have naturally gravitated toward online marketing. It seemed a logical fit for me, since I am more an introverted writer-type than a hand-shaking networker. Ellen assures me that face-to-face networking is a vital skill for me to develop and I know that she is correct. My current assignment from her is to contact other writers to forge relationships with other professionals in my field, which will benefit my business when it comes to understanding what others in my field are charging, challenges they have experienced along the way - and perhaps they might even have some work for me! She also continues to encourage me to attend local networking events and follow up on prospects with whom I've already had contact.

In addition to the new challenges Ellen has given me, I continue the online marketing strategy that I have already implemented on my own. I thought it would be interesting to discuss the marketing I did in my previous career in contrast to what is necessary to promote my new career. This week I would like to discuss the differences between working with people in person and working with people I've only meet on the Internet. There are certainly some similarities - and some distinct differences.

My child care business was, by necessity, a face-to-face kind of job. Parents would want to meet me, interview me and really get to know me before entrusting their children to me. Background checks and reality checks - that is as it should be when choosing a person to care for your precious little ones. My business was me and I was my business. If I had emitted a vibe that was anything less than competent and trustworthy, I would never have gotten any business. The personal relationships I built in my business insured satisfied clients and many referrals throughout the years.

In many ways, my new venture as a freelance writer demands the same things of me. I need to project an air of confidence in my talent and demonstrate that I can be trusted to meet deadlines and expectations. There are, however, some marked differences. As a freelancer, I can actually market my business and forge new relationships with potential clients without ever actually meeting them in person. I can use tools available on the Internet to meet and network with others in my field and potential clients alike.

I am a big fan of Twitter for the purpose of communicating about my business via the Internet. Twitter is a social networking site where you can send 140-character messages out to those users who follow you and read and reply to their messages. Twitter affords me the opportunity to meet other writers, folks who may be interested in my writing services and others who simply find me interesting. Every Twitter interaction is a potential networking opportunity because I frequently "Tweet" (which is the word used for the act of sending a message) about my work and the challenges and successes I'm experiencing in my career reinvention. The key to enjoying successful networking on Twitter is to make yourself a resource for others - not to "sell your services." Of course I don't only talk about business - I also mix in some Tweets about "life" in order to keep my Twitter persona likable and real. Twitter gives me the opportunity to showcase my talent and personality - which is a real godsend for this lady who still finds it a bit uncomfortable to network in person.

I have recently been hired by a couple people I "met" on Twitter who needed my writing services and I've been in contact with several others. One of the most effective things about Twitter for networking is that no one "has" to listen, so my audience is already predisposed to being interested or they wouldn't be following me in the first place. Twitter has already proven to be an effective source of business for me. A link to my business website is right in my profile so it's easy to refer interested parties there. For a business that doesn't have a brick and mortar location, the Internet is a great way for me to meet potential clients from all over the country, too.

Networking in my new field is the same yet different than in my previous one. In person meetings are no longer the only way to make business connections because the Internet affords me so many other ways to let people know about my work. What remains the same is the need to convey my qualifications and passion for my career - and I remain more comfortable at that online than I am in person. Twitter is easy and convenient to use, provides me with an interested audience for whom I can be a resource and expands my potential client base throughout the country. I can Tweet whenever and wherever I want and I don't need to dress to impress. Sounds like a networking relationship made in heaven!

That being said, I do want very much to hone my in-person networking skills. Ellen has encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and reach out to both other writers and locals who could benefit from my writing services. She has equipped me well to do so: I now have a pitch with which I am comfortable which explains exactly how I can be of service to others. Online networking can only take me so far. I fully believe that the bravery it will take me to "spread my wings" will serve me well throughout my new career. I am eager to see where reaching out to other writing professionals will take me in terms of confidence, networking skills and professionalism.

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

After a 2 week hiatus, Gina and I are back on track and tackling Gina's goals as she takes each step toward establishing herself as a professional writer and enjoying a fulfilling new career!

One of the first things that struck me about Gina's last post was how she described this time in her life as "the most creative and productive." She mentions that "the freedom has a lot to do with it." While Gina is most certainly referring to how she spends and schedules her new work hours, I thought of a different reference for the word "freedom".

Gina certainly has the ultimate freedom to name her own hours, control her own schedule, and work from Bermuda if she wants to! However, what struck me was not the definition of the word freedom, but rather the feeling it elicits. It’s that sensation of being able to pursue what it is you want to do for a living, because it is what you were meant to do. It’s realizing that there is no longer resistance when you find and follow your path and do what feels most natural, knowing with certainty and without restraints that this is the right direction to take. Freedom is exactly what happens when you discover what you were meant to do. Gina’s got freedom, but she’s got so much more. She’s got the glow. In fact, she's on fire.

Gina had a huge revelation when she discovered the ease of putting her pitch together that came in a self-described "ah-ha" moment when making an appointment with a new eye doctor. As Gina puts it "Now I get it - my pitch is simply the words I will use to tell people what I do - not sell them on my services!".

What I love about this breakthrough moment is that Gina was able to release herself from her writer's block (so to speak) and put her pitch together with simplicity, and without pressure. She felt able to naturally and confidently tell her new doctor: "I create written content for the web"and then expand it to include "I've discovered that even those people who are fantastic at what they do often have difficulty putting it into words. That's where I come in - to put words to your passion and express it on your website, newsletter and in social media."

Voila! Gina's pitch has the 3 key ingredients I talked about:

1. She made it memorable
2. She feels really good about it
3. She is practicing!!

Great job, Gina!

As for her continued efforts in filling her pipeline with projects, Gina and I are continuing to concentrate on identifying her biggest sources of revenue thus far, assessing the types of projects she most enjoys working on, leveraging the Internet and its resources even further, and getting more involved with local networking groups so that she has a stronger presence in her community.

Check back next week as Gina updates us on her successes and learning experiences, as well as her networking action items!

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

By Guest Blogger Gina Blitstein

Here I am - living my new career. I am faced with lots of new challenges that I am tackling on a daily basis and others that I know are waiting to be tackled in the near future. It's proving to be quite the learning experience.

I am loving being a writer and arranging my time to suit my projects and inspiration level rather than around the schedule of others as was necessary in my "old" career as a daycare provider. Honestly, however, I have some days when I feel tremendously productive and others when I feel like I haven't accomplished nearly enough. Perhaps somedays I over-schedule myself or simply try to bite off too much. Ultimately I think it will prove to be a matter of trial and error.

I feel as if I am in the most creative and productive time of my life. I think the freedom has a lot to do with it. Yet within all this freedom, I know that I need to keep moving forward, keeping my "pipeline" full of new projects. After all, without projects, I would have no career at all. So the most pressing of my challenges is to find the time - and wherewithal - to do the necessary networking in order to drum up some future business. My current projects will soon be completed - and then what?

As the first step in my networking education, Ellen has tasked me with developing my "pitch." Of course it made perfect sense to have a way to easily express what I do for a living. How else am I going to gain new clients? But no matter how many times I tried, what I came up with sounded artificial and forced. Maybe clever, but never natural sounding. So I put my pitch on a back burner, hoping with time the right words would come to me. And they did - but in an unexpected way!

I made an appointment at a new eye doctor. It occurred to me that in the course of my visit, the subject of my employment may arise - and there it was! That was exactly the scenario I needed to imagine in order for my brain to put the words together without sounding like I was trying to sell my services. Now I get it - my pitch is simply the words I will use to tell people what I do - not sell them on my services! At last, the pressure was off and I could imagine myself, very naturally, telling the eye doctor that, "I Create written content for the web." That was it - from there I can expound and refine it but I have the foundation. I just love a good "a-ha moment!"

So here's my pitch, for the first time ever in print: "I Create written content for the web. I've discovered that even those people who are fantastic at what they do often have difficulty putting it into words. That's where I come in - to put words to your passion and express it on your website, newsletter and in social media."

So I can check "pitch" off my to-do list - whew!

Next up on my assignments from Ellen was to identify the strategies I was using to obtain the business I've won from the Internet. I would have to say that I've gotten that business from my website and from maintaining a reputable and consistent presence among small business owners in online communities and chats. I think it's very much the same as face-to-face networking in that I make myself known to those who may be in need of my services. In many cases, I believe that the Internet provides a more targeted audience for my message because the people can actually search for my particular skill set, rather than a more hit-and-miss approach at a luncheon, for example. Of course I'm not discounting the importance of face-to-face networking - only that I haven't found any that feel as natural to me as what I've been able to accomplish via the Internet. I will continue to look for those opportunities among local businesspeople.

So I'm continuing my career reinvention - one step at a time. I learn something new about myself on a regular basis. That's sure to keep things interesting!

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

While Gina catches up on her workload - and her action items! - after handling a recent family emergency, I thought I would give some general pointers on goal setting.

Set SMART goals. Most of us know this acronym. Goals must be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Timely

If we don't set goals we can achieve in a reasonable time frame and enjoy not only the feeling of success that comes with meeting a goal but also the process of getting there, we are doomed to fail. Starting a business? Looking for a job? Longing to change careers? All three require careful thought and planning. Without a compass, we can't start our journey let alone reach our destination.

The surest way to meeting your established goal is...consistency. Let's take weight loss. If you've ever been on a diet, you know you have good days and bad days. Consistently following a reduced calorie menu, tracking your weight loss, and making adjustments when you reach plateaus are all part of the process in reaching your goal. It's the same thing with any goal you set for yourself: consistency is key. So in Gina's case, getting back into the swing of things after her family emergency and sharing the realizations that came from her time away from work are important ingredients to her continued success.

Revisit your goals and make adjustments. While starting out with SMART goals is a must, you also have to be flexible - and kind to yourself - along the way. Sometimes opportunities come our way that we didn't expect, or, life interrupts our plans. Perhaps you want to try out something new with your business that you hadn't thought of initially, or, an unexpected job opportunity comes knocking on your door that you hadn't considered. Making adjustments and course corrections when required are important.

While we wait to hear from Gina next week about her success with completing her action items along with the the dual challenge of catching up on client work, take some time to visit YOUR goals. Do you have clear goals? Do you have trouble sticking to your goals? What is holding you back from reaching your goals?

If you need help with goal setting, or, you would like more information on our training programs around goal setting, contact us at trueprofessions@gmail.com. We'd love to help!

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

After handling a family emergency, Gina talks about how life forced her to put work on hold. Here she shares an unexpected learning experience - but a valuable one - as she continues to build her new business as a professional writer.

By Guest Blogger Gina Blitstein

I have been busy, busy, busy writing for my first significant client who found me via the Internet. This is a HUGE project comprised of six 5000-word articles and four 2500-word articles. It really has been a challenge to have one all-encompassing project while continuing to keep up with my other writing assignments that are due on a weekly basis. I am learning a lot about my working style - that when confronted with a large project, I prefer to attend to the smaller responsibilities first so that I can delve into the big project without the gnawing distractions of the other jobs on my mind. This strategy worked remarkably well for me until there was a family emergency...

When I was a daycare provider, I always dreaded the thought of needing to take time off for such things as a personal emergency. Of course my clients would have understood me taking time off but I could never justify charging my them if I wasn't able to watch their children. As a result, when I didn't work, I didn't get paid. As a freelance writer, I assumed that I would have more control over my time. The same "no work, no pay" would apply, of course, but I thought I would have more flexibility in my schedule so that if I should need time off, it wouldn't prove such an all-or-nothing scenario. I assumed that even though I would not be home, that I could still keep up with my work. After all, have computer, can write, right?

Not true, I discovered. When I heard of the family emergency, I needed to make plans to go out of state for an undetermined amount of time. Of course I thought I could take my work with me and keep up with the writing there. It was empowering to think that I could work from a remote location and not feel tied to my home when I was needed elsewhere. What I hadn't taken into account was that while by body and computer were there, my head and heart were with my family. It soon became evident that little if any work was going to get done until I combined those two organs again.

So I have discovered that just because I can physically get away from home if I need to does not guarantee that I can work. Even though I can take time off without jeopardizing my career, the emotional factor trumps my location. Thankfully all my clients were so very accommodating when I asked for their patience as I dealt with the situation. I was so worried that some would deem me unprofessional but I received unanimous understanding and an attitude of "family first" from each and every one. I am extremely blessed to work with such caring people!

Now that I am back to "normal" working conditions here at home, I am finishing up those projects that were put on hold for several weeks. I especially want to get those huge articles completed and submitted as soon as possible. I want to keep that relationship solid because, first, they have been pleased with my previous work and secondly, they put a lot of trust in me when they hired me for this larger project. They are my ideal client and I would love to work with them again and have them refer me to others.

On top of this and my other existing clients, I have a very full to-do list of things to focus on when I have time. Those things include honing my pitch so I can clearly and concisely describe what I do for a living now. There are also aspects of networking I would like to explore but for now it is all about catching up. I would like to discuss with Ellen how to work on getting business when you are already busy doing your business...That is an aspect of time management I can't get a handle on.

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

Well…...Gina is on a roll! Who knew she would be busy so quickly with an influx of writing projects? Even she is surprised - way to go Gina!

While Gina is certainly thrilled with the fact that she is getting more and more projects, she continues to work on aspects of her makeover that we have identified as challenges. One of her challenges is self-marketing, which includes fine-tuning her ability to describe to potential clients what she offers, as well as continuing to network to win new business and realize her goal of making a living at writing.

In our next coaching session, Gina talked about how much of her work was coming from existing clients and from the Internet, which is going to “keep her busy for weeks”. While we had previously discussed face-to-face networking strategies to secure new business on a local level, Gina’s excitement on the amount of work she was getting through the Internet was palpable.

I challenged Gina to do to two things:

1. Identify how she was getting this steady stream of clients (i.e. what strategies was she applying) and what was it about the medium of the Internet that made it easier for her to get clients, aside from the statements she shared in her last post when she described herself as being more comfortable interacting with others via this method (i.e. being more of an "introvert").
   


2. Continue with face-to-face strategies (i.e. meeting with the local Realtor) to ensure she was addressing her desire to get clients on the local level. This included following-up with the women she met at the event she attended and schedule a lunch or coffee to talk about each other’s businesses and/or to pitch one of the interested parties on her services.
   
   Now on to the dreaded pitch. Why is creating a “pitch” important? Being able to describe yourself and what you want is critical.
   
   I’ll never forget when I was job hunting 10 years ago and my sister connected me with a friend of hers at Discovery. When we talked on the phone the first question he had was “what do you want to do”? Uhhhh….I couldn’t put it together! While I was looking for an opportunity that combined HR with my consulting skills, I could not articulate what I wanted into words…and I lost the opportunity to have someone inside a great company identify opportunities for me and pass my resume along.
   
   It’s the same thing in business: if you don’t know what you want when you are talking to someone, or, you don’t know how to describe your business in such a way that people want to continue listening or want to hire you, then you are wasting your time and more importantly – OTHER people’s time.

Here are a few pointers I shared with Gina in creating a pitch:

1. Make it memorable. While the point of an elevator speech is to be concise, it has to achieve the goals of letting people know what you do, how they can benefit, and why you are unique. Still stuck? Write down all of the above and extract from your brainstorm the nuggets that you can use for your pitch. It is also helpful to write down examples of work you have already performed for clients and the benefits they have received by hiring you.
   


2. Feel good about it. If you are passionate about what you are telling others about yourself and your business, it's a sure bet that others will get hooked on your energy.
   


3. Practice! Try it out on your friends, family, whoever feels most comfortable. At first it can be awkward, but others can help you gain greater ease so you can deliver it when it counts.
   

Lastly, Gina and I focused on the adjustments that she was experiencing in getting used to her new life in the 24/7 lane as a professional writer. She mentioned the transition not only of not watching children all day, but using and managing her time much differently. Now that Gina is super busy, it will be interesting to hear how she is managing her time and getting her work done, and how she is feeling about how she is spending her time.

In fact, it raises an interesting point: the challenges of transitioning into something new. We have all experienced it: we start a new job, we are out of work for a period of time and our job becomes looking for a job and filling our day with those actitivites, or, in Gina’s case, starting a new business. I asked her to observe how she feels about how she fills her days and how satisfied she is with how she spends her time and the end result.

If you have strategies for Gina on how you adjusted to a new situation and made it successful, we’d love to hear from you! Email us at trueprofessions@gmail.com.

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

Last time we heard about Gina and Ellen's first meeting. Here Gina shares what life is like in the world of making your own hours and getting away from what a daycare center is all about: structure. Gina also reveals how things went with her "action items" and shares the challenges of creating her "pitch" and how she is feeling about her makeover!

By Guest Blogger Gina Blitstein

After all those years developing work habits and skills that suited my role as a daycare provider, I am tremendously excited yet feeling ill-equipped to take on a new career direction. There are going to be a lot of significant changes...Things like how I spend and schedule my working hours have completely changed.

For over twenty years I worked from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Monday through Friday. Even though I was self-employed, I didn't have a lot of freedom in the way I spent my time. I was always at home for the drop-offs and pickups that happened throughout the day. For the sake of the children's sense of security, many routines were established: Meal times were set, play time, activity time, nap time, clean up time...days were predictably scheduled. Now, I can work when I want - any time of the day, any day I choose.

While I do try to maintain a fairly "normal" Monday through Friday schedule and normal business hours, the beauty is that I don't have to. I can work late into the night if the mood strikes without worrying about the early morning that awaits. I can run errands during the week without needing to close early or save it all for the weekend. I can get sick and simply do my work when I feel better. This is all new to me.

Adjusting to this is more difficult: For the first time in my working life I have to go out in the world to find clients. My daycare clients came to me by word-of-mouth. Now I must gain the skills to market myself as a writer. The writing comes naturally - the self-promotion does not.

I told Ellen how unprepared I felt for the marketing aspect of my new writing career. The few writing clients I already had came to me through word-of-mouth over the Internet but I knew this was not the normal way that writers and clients get together. Too bad, I thought, because I sort of enjoy the "safety" of connecting with people in business online - it wasn't as uncomfortable for me as face-to-face interactions.

I am not a particularly extroverted person, so that behavior is not intrinsic to my personality. While I have come A LONG WAY from the introverted child I was, I am not known as the chatty type in most situations. Let's suffice it to say that I can hold my own in a conversation if I feel people are interested in what I have to say.

Ellen made some suggestions to help me make strides into the marketing arena. She suggested some possible places I could find potential clients, then she helped me prepare myself for the task by assigning me some homework.

The first assignment seemed like it should be simple - to write my "elevator pitch" - in other words, describe my business clearly but in as few words as I could express during the course of an elevator ride. By preparing this mini speech in advance, I would feel more confident when talking to people about my new career. I would use my elevator pitch to give people a more fully-formed idea of what I do, rather than merely saying I'm, "a writer." But I am a writer, after all, so I'll just put it into words...easy, I thought! It turns out that it was not so easy!

Oh, I wrote some catchy and descriptive things that sounded great - on paper. When it came to saying them out loud they were absolutely l-a-m-e! Needless to say, my elevator pitch is still a work in progress. It is still clumsy sounding when spoken, so I'm continuing my search for that magical combination of descriptive and sincere along with the more elusive, "rolls off the tongue effortlessly."

Second up was the opportunity to attend a businesswomen's networking event. Ellen gave me the assignment of simply meeting three people and talking with them about my business. I did succeed at this assignment! After only a few minutes of feeling like that shy kid of yesteryear, I pulled myself together and started up conversations with several of the ladies.

What made me feel confident with one of the ladies was that she was embarking on a career reinvention of her own, so we had lots of notes to compare. With the two other the ladies, I focused on the topic of how I could help them to express their message in their advertising and on their web sites. The event was a success for me because, although I haven't realized any business from it, it served as a fantastic learning experience. I would go to another of these events in a heartbeat without feeling uncomfortable at all.

The third assignment has not been completed yet - and here's why...I got busy! Ellen encouraged me to make an appointment to meet with a retired local Realtor in order to "pick his brain" about business contacts I could make in the community. After all, we surmised, all my business can't come from the Internet! Well, so far that is proving to be not entirely true.

One of my existing clients from the Internet hired me for a HUGE writing project that has kept me consistently busy for weeks! That is why I simply haven't had the time to do any marketing...I've been too busy working! I guess there are worse problems than that... eventually i will make that appointment with the Realtor - and those connections will help my business grow.

Ellen's guidance through the rough spots has been indispensable. Without her encouragement to consider how to express myself to others and then to go out and actually talk about my business, I would still be hiding behind my keyboard. I am truly amazed at how my business is progressing - and even more amazed at how I'm progressing into a person with a completely new way working - and living.

"I'm...Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee"

If you are a Mom you have probably heard this song. Until I became a Mom, I did not know this catchy little darkish tune that children seem to love. I stumbled on it when playing a new CD from a friend and low and behold, my son could not get enough. He made me play it...and play it...and play it..."Mama, BEEEEEEE!"

While the dancing that accompanied replay after replay was the best ever, I found that I could not get this song out of my head. Once it even intruded upon my thoughts when I was trying to get to sleep...isn't repetition a powerful thing?

A lot of Moms I have met over the years tell themselves all kinds of things. In fact, they repeat them:

• "My brain has turned to mush all these years as a stay-at-home Mom interacting with babies and toddlers all day"
• "I've just been a stay-at-home Mom for 3 years and my husband has been the one with the career"
• "I don't have anything to show for the past 5 years I have stayed at home and I have no idea how to find a job or even if I am qualified for one"
• "I haven't kept up with my skills or developed any new ones"

These are just a sample of the dozens of disqualifying statements I have heard come from the mouths of Moms who have contacted me for help with re-entering the workforce. Most think they have nothing to show for "off-ramping" and are at a loss when it comes to their resumes and how to strategically job search.

Many women who have made the biggest commitment - to stay at home with their children - think that having a career just, well, stops. And that going back to old jobs or finding new careers in a changing workplace will be daunting at best but perhaps near impossible with lots and lots and lots of compromises.

If you have that tune or something close to it stuck in your head, it's time for a new one. Repeating negative thoughts about your chances at a successful career post-children will seriously limit you, to say the least. How we think and more importantly, what we say to ourselves, is critical during the transition of re-entering the workforce.

Bottom line: pay attention to your thoughts. In fact, write down what is going on in your brain as you ponder or act upon reigniting your career. While it might be a more difficult exercise than repeating lyrics about a bumblebee being squashed and revived and mommy being so proud, you might find that the tune in your head is just that repetitive - and just as disturbing as this little song :)

For help with your transition back to work, contact Ellen at trueprofessions@gmail.com for a free consultation.

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

Welcome back to the first of our career makeover series! Now that you’ve learned a little bit about Gina, let’s talk about how her makeover is coming so far. A lot has happened since Gina’s first post!

By Ellen Dunagan

One of the things that struck me as I questioned Gina during our first meeting was how thrilled she was about changing careers. While the opportunity to pursue a career as a writer had come her way after being forced to shutter the day care center she had built and managed for 20 years, she couldn’t have sounded more delighted with her situation.

I immediately recalled the numerous times I had conducted exit interviews with employees and thought: some of these individuals will discover that being let go from this employer is the best thing that could happen to them. We have all heard the stories of people who have been laid off or fired, only to go on to find better jobs and more fulfilling career paths. While these individuals feel the devastation of being let go initially, many later say they felt a sense of relief that their employer or the economy made the decision for them, thus freeing them to find greater career fulfillment.

This was certainly true of Gina. I didn’t hear disappointment, a sense of loss or foreboding, or even a trace of bitterness as she described the loss of her successful day care business. Instead, I heard sheer excitement in her voice as she described her new career aspiration: becoming a professional writer.

Right away we focused on goal-setting, and I had Gina identify 3 goals that would define a successful career as a writer. While she wrote: “Wow...not an easy assignment for some reason” she came up with 3 goals below:

1. Make a living at writing
2. Become comfortable marketing myself & my business
3. Realize my career makeover as a personal reinvention, complete with new skills and goals

She added: “Honestly, if I can accomplish one of those things I will be proud me!”

So we started with goal number one: Make a living at writing. So far, Gina already had several clients: she was a regular guest blogger for several blogs whose topics ranged from women in the workplace to technology. She was busy using social media on behalf of several clients to get information and news out to followers and she was also conducting research and writing web content.

We focused first off on where and how she was getting her clients. Gina is one of those savvy internet users (probably due in part to her husband who has his own IT business) so using technology and the World Wide Web is where she felt comfortable getting new business. However, Gina talked about wanting to get business on a local level in her town and surrounding area. One of my suggestions to her was getting old-school about it and getting face-to-face with people in her community who she could get to know and market her services to.

During our discussion, Gina mentioned two things that stood out to me: a women’s networking event that was on her calendar and a real estate agent who was well known in the community, had just retired, AND who had sold several houses to members of her extended family. Hello networking opportunities!

As we closed our discussion, I challenged Gina to go out on a limb and change her online behaviors to face-to-face encounters. Together we came up with some action items to help her practice talking about her business and test new and different behaviors that would lead her to securing business and also help her start working toward goal # 2: “Become comfortable marketing myself & my business.” So, action items to be completed by our next session included:

1. Come up with a pitch. Describe your business and what you do in the length of time it takes you to ride an elevator. In other words, make it short, but make it powerful. She’s a writer after all, so I thought this would be a great exercise for her but also might come more easily to her.

2. Meet at least 3 new people at the professional networking event coming up. Since Gina did not have a lot of networking experience, I did not task her with the challenge of pitching her business, but rather asked her to meet three new people and get their business cards.

3. Set up an appointment with the real estate agent who retired. Why? It might seem awkward to some while a no brainer to others. Simply put: people are wonderful resources who will help you get from point A to point B faster than you can do it yourself. Gina’s real estate agent is a pro who was in business for decades (sans the internet!) and who knows the locals, from businesses to business owners, like the back of his hand. One meeting with someone like him can yield a world of wealth, from contacts who might need Gina’s services to helpful business advice from someone who enjoyed great success.

After our meeting, Gina left armed with lots of homework, but lots of new ideas and things to think about. Check back next Wednesday to hear how Gina fared at her networking event…and with completing her action items!!

Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

Welcome to the first in our series of True Professions Career Makeovers! For the rest of this year we will makeover careers…resumes…attitudes and images. Our first makeover focuses on Gina, a woman whose career recently fell victim to these challenging economic times. Here she shares what factors prompted her to seek a new direction for her career and how she and Ellen will work together to turn a lifelong passion into a new and fulfilling career path.

By Guest Blogger Gina Blitstein

I have been a licensed home child care provider for over twenty years. This means since the day I began my career at the age of 21, I have been self-employed. Along with self-employed comes a few other terms, such as self-motivated, self-sufficient and self-restrained. Yes, I am and always have been all of the above.

I have helped raise dozens and dozens of children through the years. I feel I always gave every day my best effort, through the dirty diapers and temper tantrums; the parental hardships and frustrations. I was able to do that because behind every temper tantrum is a smile and through every hardship comes strength. It is satisfying to be able to look back and feel that I did important and satisfying work for a very long time.

So why do I want to make a change? After all, you may say, most people don't ever feel that connection with the work they do or derive that much satisfaction from it. Well, in a nutshell, I got restless.

For the past few years, I've begun thinking that I want to do more - or at least different - things in my life. Child care was a great and rewarding experience, but frankly I am at a point in my life where I need to exercise some different mental muscles. I have always known I am good with words - writing has always come naturally to me. As far as making a living at it, however, that has always seemed like a pipe dream.

In high school I changed my college major from my first choice - English - to Human Development. At the time, it seemed an English degree could only lead to two careers: Journalism or English Teacher - neither of which appealed to me. That's how I embarked on my career as a Child Care Provider.

Recently there has been a sea change in my life. After all those years of a fairly consistent enrollment in my day care, my client base dried up. The little ones went off to preschool and beyond; and for the first time ever, no replacements came to fill their spaces. I found myself with a dwindling enrollment. The most likely reason is the economy - fewer people need daycare when fewer people are going to work. Here was my critical moment. I had an opportunity to make that change and widen my horizons.

Without the responsibility of the daycare business, there really was no reason not to think about the next stage of my career - Career II. So I've decided to start a freelance writing business. What's changed? Why do I feel I can make a living a writing now when it didn't seem a possibility before? Two words: The Internet. There seems to be a whole new world of opportunity for those with facility for the written word. I really do think I have a strong concept for a writing business but I also know I can't do it alone. I'm going to need some guidance and some shoring-up.

That's where Ellen comes in.

Check back next Wednesday to hear about Ellen and Gina's first meeting!

Get Ready for Career Makeovers!

While we won't be cutting hair and reworking wardrobes, we will be making over careers, resumes, attitudes and images....and blogging about some amazing transformations this year.

First up: Gina from Chicago. Gina was the successful owner of a thriving daycare center until the economy did the unthinkable and stole all her clients. Gina thought, "People will always be having babies so I won't be affected by this downturn, especially after 20 years in business." Lo and behold the babies continued to be born....but they stayed with mom and dad or other caregivers who had lost their jobs. After absorbing the shock of it all, Gina turned the loss of her business into an opportunity and decided to pursue a dream she had had for years: making a living as a professional writer.

Every Wednesday for the next 3 months we will be tracking Gina's progress, from winning new business to leaving the world of children behind and managing adults instead. Best of all, we'll watch her pursue her dream and "do what she loves", for the first time in her life.

So mark your calendars and check back tomorrow for our first look at Gina!

Putting Yourself Out There

I always say that looking for a job is similar to looking for a spouse. I just received this great email the other day that confirmed it.

A good friend of mine circulated a very detailed, very engaging email about her friend who just moved to DC and is looking for a serious boyfriend. She notes that her friend has tried online dating, and that sending this email to people in her DC network couldn't hurt. The email is full of descriptors surrounding her friend, from likes to dislikes, values, and even political leanings. So this led me to thinking about the similarities between marketing yourself for a spouse and marketing yourself for a job:

• Using Your Network. Did you know that most people who get the job they WANT find it by using their network? In other words, when you have people looking for you (doing the work) you discover hidden opportunities. Opportunities will also be sent your way since your network of friends, family and colleagues will be seeking out opportunities for you and sending them your way.
• Don't Forget the Details. Being clear about what you are looking for, whether in a spouse or a job, is extremely important, especially if you are asking your network to help you. If I want a job "that lets me use my skills and talents, has good benefits and a great work environment" what am I saying? Not much! BUT, if I say I am looking for a job "where I can contribute my 10+ years of experience in human resources, apply my leadership and team building skills, and utilize my innovative thinking and entrepreneurial spirit" then that brings much more clarity and detail to the picture, thus allowing someone to get a better sense of who I am and where I might fit.
• Asking for Help! If you don't ask, people can't help. If you don't ask, some people WILL help, but it might not be the kind of help you are looking for. Since I am talking about comparing job-hunting to spouse-hunting, I have to include an interesting anecdote here. I remember being on the fence about registering for gifts when I got married, or I should say, registering for so many detailed gifts. My friend said, "if you don't register for what you want, people will give you what they think you want, or worse, give you what THEY want". It proved to be SO TRUE!!! So sharing what you want and the details of what you want should be included when asking others to get the word out for you.

Putting yourself out there is not easy for most of us. It's awkward both in terms of finding a great spouse AND finding a great job. Asking people to help, asking them to listen to what you want and seek it out on your behalf can be tough, but using your network is by far the best way to do this, since you are likely to get the BEST results possible.

As for my friend's friend....well, I haven't heard anything yet as to a potential match but I am awaiting the results. As for you....I encourage you to open your mind to the possibilities and potential that comes from putting yourself out there. Without people to help us, really...where would we be?

Positive Psychology and Your Career

A week ago I started watching "This Emotional Life" on PBS. http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/. It included footage with celebrities discussing what makes them happy, studies with Buddhist monks to help further science by learning what happens to the brain during meditation and how we can retrain our brains (fascinating!!) to improve our health, and it also included an interesting segment on a man who had recently lost his job.

This part was interesting to me for many reasons: Bill took care of his infant son during the day while combing the internet and making calls. He was noticeably deterred and unhappy about the course his life had suddenly taken in terms of his job loss, and he was receiving assistance from a Positive Psychology Coach who had graduated from The University of Pennsylvania's Positive Psychology Program http://www.sas.upenn.edu/lps/graduate/mapp.

While he clearly enjoyed being with his son, Bill spoke negatively about his situation, and seemed stressed and stuck much of the time they captured him on film. The coach's role was to not find work for him, review his resume, or teach him how to network more effectively, but rather she seemed to provide him with a different framework for how to live his life. A more positive one.

Bill's coach had him participate in an exercise that I thought I would share since it is one I often pass along to clients and friends and have used myself:

• Write down three things each day that went well, and list the reasons why they went well. You can also think of this as a gratitude list: jotting down three reasons each day why you are grateful. I suggest reviewing the things that went well at the end of every day as well as the beginning of each day, especially as they accumulate. And watch what happens.

Want to skip the waiting part? Here is an example from my past: I have participated in this exercise during both a career transition that took me several years to figure out, and during a very frustrating job search. It seemed each day was filled with uncertainty about where I would end up, from waiting by the phone for a recruiter to call me back to not knowing how in the world to get out of a career I did not find fulfilling. Throughout these two life experiences I learned to focus on the daily things that went WELL, since things like waiting and wanting someone to call me back were out of my control.

Bottom line: once I started to concentrate and reflect on the good things that happened during my day, I slowly noticed a shift in what I focused on and my days and my life - my livelihood even- became less overwhelming and the unknown became less anxiety-provoking, and a little more comfortable.

So go ahead- decide to be positive. I promise it will change how you think! Want more information on your personal strengths and happiness levels? Go to http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/questionnaires.aspx and get interesting and FREE information about YOU!

It's That Time Of Year

Out with the old...in with the new. Sounds familiar to me. I definitely try to rid myself of bad habits and practice new, healthier behaviors each January - from exercising more to staying more organized. Of course, some things are easier said than done!

However, every December I look forward to a new year that brings an opportunity to improve my life in some way and well...to feel better. Which is what resolution making is all about.

When it comes to your career...how do you feel? There is no doubt that so many people - way too many - are in a tough spot as we head into 2010. The economy is a huge contributor. Some want out of their jobs or careers entirely but are fearful that no opportunity lies on the other side while others can't find employment no matter how hard they try.

There are two very important things to remember here:

1. Things don't stay the same and change is constant, from economies to tough decisions employers have to make. Economies have and will always fluctuate. Businesses will decide when and if to change course and will shed employees if it is in the best interest of the organization.
2. You may not believe it, but you have a very big role in your career and determining where it is headed, no matter what the economic climate, no matter what an organization may or may not decide about you.

So if you want to make some changes this year to your career, here are some thoughts in going about making those resolutions- and sticking to them:

• Do one thing to propel you forward. A great way to get started is with your resume. Hate updating it or at a loss for what it says about you? Hire someone to do it, or, ask someone whose professional opinion you trust to offer you some straightforward feedback.
• Design a career strategy. Start by making a simple "pros and cons" list about the job you have now: What do I like about my job? What do I dislike? Keep going and ask yourself: What do I want from my career? From my life? What do I want to keep doing? Stop doing?
• Decide that you are in control of your career. Write down 3 things that you can control in the midst of all that is happening around you, such as picking up the phone and scheduling lunch or coffee with someone in your network who would be helpful in helping you find employment or another career opportunity.

We want to help you stick to your 2010 resolutions and help you discover greater satisfaction with your career! Email us at trueprofessions@gmail.com .