These are the opening words to the theme from the movie Mahogany: Do you know where you’re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going to? Do you know? Do you get what you’re hoping for? When you look behind you There’s no open door What are you hoping for? Do you know? Diana Ross (M. Masser/G. Goffin) Consider this tale of two coaching clients: One is hung up on seeing herself as a victim – depressed, financially challenged (an understatement) and despite having wonderful gifts, skills and abilities, un-WILL-ing to commit
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Archives for Career Transition
Plan Your Career Transition
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” ~ Abraham Lincoln Many resources say that between 50% and 70% of Americans wish they could make a career transition giving them the freedom to work for themselves. Are you one of them? If you are, part of your strategy from now on must be to plan your career transition. The unfortunate thing is that whether or not you are aware of it, you ultimately do work for yourself. You may be employed by a company or organization, but ultimately, you
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How Do You Begin Making a Career Transition?
The readiness is all. – William Shakespeare Successfully navigating your career transition as a Baby Boomer isn’t easy. I’ve been there and I had to learn a few things the hard way. Saying I was scared when I got laid off would be an understatement. I had never been “out of a job” before. Fear admonished me to hurry up and get on with finding my next job. So off I scurried to find resources to help me figure out how in the heck I was going to find “new cheese”. I was filled with dread and anxiety. I had
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Successful Career Transitions Require Passion, Purpose, a Paycheck®…and a Parachute!
“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.” ~ Louise E. Boone A comment posted by a friend on a Facebook photo of my skydiving experience made me chuckle. He posted “Passion, Purpose, a Paycheck…and a Parachute!” That made me think! It’s a no-brainer that most successful career transtions require Passion, Purpose, and a Paycheck®. In addition, wouldn’t you just LOVE to have a parachute? Just like skydiving, making a big career change feels risky. It would be INSANE to throw yourself out of a perfectly good airplane without a parachute. It would also be
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Want a Sexy Second Act Career? Try Putting Your HEART into It!
“I don’t like work–no man does–but I like what is in the work–the chance to find yourself. Your own reality–for yourself not for others–what no other man can ever know. They can only see the mere show, and never can tell what it really means.” ~ Joseph Conrad I’ve been reading articles about how to survive unemployment, how to reinvent your career, how to present yourself during a job interview to keep from appearing “too old” and on and on. They are the same, tired, old articles I read ten years ago when I was laid off my job. I
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Finishing Average vs. Finishing Memorable
Ordinary people think merely of spending time. Great people think of using it. ~ Unknown I pinned a cartoon to one of my Pinterest Boards that got me thinking. If you are a Baby Boomer, your career is going to end in one of three ways: You are going to retire You are going to be laid off or quit Your job will become obsolete and you’ll need to find something else to do. Have you asked yourself…what then? If you retire at 65 and you have 20 or 30 (or more) years of good health, what are you going
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Lazy Baby Boomers? Beware the Rush to Judgment
Even God doesn’t plan to judge a man until the end of his days, why should you and I? ~ Unknown I’m seriously annoyed. That may be an understatement. During a recent business brainstorming conference call a colleague said that when it came to coaching Baby Boomers, he didn’t want to do it. His experience is that Baby Boomers are lazy and won’t leverage themselves or commit to anything. I think he’s wrong. Dead wrong. Are Baby Boomers tired? Yeah Are they discouraged about their futures? Like NO KIDDING Do they feel misunderstood? Totally! But lazy? I don’t think so! Yes, Baby
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Is Your Career Transition to a Sexy Second Act Just a Silly Millimeter Away?
When it seems impossible, when it seems like nothing is going to work, you are usually just a few millimeters away from making it happen. ~ Tony Robbins I talk to Baby Boomers all the time who say it’s too hard to make a mid-life career transition They believe they’d better “guts it out” until retirement. But then they get laid off or they lose their savings and can’t retire. They end up feeling resentful, cheated, and defeated. But what if…just what if…the difference between living a defeated life and creating a stimulating, passionate, exciting Sexy Second Act career transition is one
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Why Celebrate Your Breakdowns?
Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis. ~ Martha Beck How would you think about your life and world events differently if you saw breakdowns as worthy of celebration rather than something to be feared, distrusted or avoided? Okay, it’s true. It’s hard to celebrate something that doesn’t FEEL good. If they did they wouldn’t be called “breakdowns”. And when you’re in the middle of one it’s hard to see beyond it to the gift it has in store for you.
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The Long and Winding Road
There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way. ~ Christopher Morley When I was unexpectedly laid off my corporate job, the route to my future was FAR from planned out. I had to start where I was with what I had… A LOT of uncertainty A passion for coaching An idea that I wanted to make a living helping people like me who were going through an unanticipated career transition. Beyond that, I didn’t have a clue how to get started. It’s been a long and winding road. I’ve come to appreciate
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