Do What You Love… Creating Your Future

We are all familiar with the concept of “do what you love and the money will follow.”  But I’d like to expand that to “do what you love and everything good will follow.”  What do I mean by that?  Simply, that if you follow your heart and intuition regarding career choices, not only will that area blossom but you will notice magical things happening in every aspect of your life.

And how do you make the right choices, from the heart, if you’re not used to exercising your intuition?  By starting here:

Follow my 7-10 rule- When considering options, quickly (without thinking too much about it) ask yourself, “on a scale of 1-10, how do I feel about this in my heart?”  Anything lower than a 7 (10 being the high end of the satisfaction scale) is not worth your time.

Don’t let your compass stray too far- Everyone has an internal compass- their internal “true north”- which easily lets you know what choices are right for you. Follow your compass. Don’t spend too much time and energy on things that pull you away from that “true north.”

Merge the personal and professional- Our culture is geared towards people having a “professional life” and a “personal life” and “never the twain shall meet.”  But, by combining those two areas of your life, or, at the minimum, incorporating some everyday things you love to do as part of your work, you will be happier.  You lessen the disconnect between the parts of your life and create greater balance.  Do you love Sudoku (problem solving?), travel (adventure and discovering new things?), scrap booking (utilizing creativity?)…use those related interests as touchstones when you are job seeking.  Make sure that some aspect of these things you enjoy are included in the positions.

Hand in hand with the above tips, consider engaging the Creator archetype on this journey to discover your true (especially occupational) happiness.  The role of the Creator archetype is to support you in creating something new, especially fostering the gifts of creativity, imagination, and vision.  Spend some time contemplating how your Creator archetype has or has not been engaged in your professional life.  Is there something inside of you that longs for expression?

When I was preparing to write this article, some past posts by my fellow Sanctuary members again reminded me what fantastic resources are available if you need help and guidance on this journey to discovering what will really make you happy.  Once discovered, you will truly be on the road to fulfillment and success!

By Cathy Posner, Career and Transition Coach, Transition Consulting and Coaching

www.transitionconsultingandcoaching.com

Let the YOU Shine Through

Ideally, your resume reflects the person you are and the work you want to do.  Everything you do and present during a job search- cover letter, resume, online presence, interview- should support that intention.  Sounds pretty straightforward, right?  But so often I see clients who come to me with a resume that reflects the person that they think they should be to fit a certain job description or position.  Trying to fit someone else’s ideal- or what we think is someone else’s ideal- will rarely bring us happiness.

The concept of creating a cohesive, authentic “brand” for you allows me to present two more of my guiding principles- my “isms”- here.  They are:

Risk is rewarded.  I see it happen over and over again.  If you make a commitment to honor who you are and seek something that supports that, you will likely be rewarded by the Universe.  And one of the most difficult things you can do is put yourself out there in a way you think is contrary to what other want to see.  Be brave and bold; be true to yourself.  Magical things will happen. Try it; you’ll be surprised.

Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you should do it.  We all have certain skills at which we excel.  Some we enjoy; some, not so much. Repeatedly, I work with clients who think they need to include on their resume every task they’ve ever done at each job, some of which they never want to do again.  Here is your permission to leave those off and focus on best representing the tasks from your work history that you most enjoyed doing and want to be part of your new career. 

So, follow your heart… your gut… your instincts, whatever you want to call it.  Listen and you will hear and understand what will bring you the greatest happiness, day in and day out, in your professional life.  And make sure those tasks, skills, and interests are represented in your job search.  Follow this guideline and great things will come your way! 

By Cathy Posner
Transition Consulting and Coaching, Crossroads Coaching, and Sanctuary at the Crossroads
www.transitionconsultingndcoaching.com
Let me help you see the possibilities!

Being Prepared for a Career Transition

Being Prepared for A Career Transition

by Cathy Posner, Career and Business Coach

http://www.crossroadscoachingonline.com

Nothing can be quite as overwhelming (or exciting) as when you are looking for a new job. If you are under a time constraint, that pressure can be monumental. And trying to create or update your resume when you are in a time pinch rarely results in something that will highlight your skills to your best advantage. One way to decrease some of that pressure- and to really shine for a potential employer- is to always have a current resume. You can do that by:

1) Adding current information- contact information, new responsibilities at your current job, and involvement in new professional or community organizations etc.- every six to eight months.

2) Adding information about your volunteer work or community involvement. Many people think it’s not important to include this information but it often showcases some of your best and unique abilities.

3) Revisiting descriptions about your past positions or employment. Do they still reflect what you want them to reflect? Can some of the responsibilities be deleted or modified to best suit your current career goals?

4) Creating several versions of your resume to address jobs in different industries or fields. For this, you will focus your skills and employment history to a specific kind of job.

If you do not have an extensive work history, make a list of the various roles in your life (mother, caretaker of elderly parents, church volunteer, etc.) and the associated skills and responsibilities (maintaining schedule of five family members, liaison between nursing home staff and insurance companies, instructor or coordinator of religious education classes, etc.) You can then create a resume that is centered around your skills rather than your employment history.

For more information, contact Cathy Posner or consider attending her two-part class on Career Transition: Do the Work You Love through the Highland Schools Community Education classes. Call Cathy at 216-337-2106 for more information or to register.