Stop Making Excuses Already!

December 6, 2010 by 7 Comments

Those people who aren’t prepared to take step one, never take step two. Zig Ziglar

So you’ve decided you want to make a change to your life. You’ve decided that after all this time of working for ‘the man’ and being down trodden, you’re going to do this whole ‘creating your perfect life’ thing. You know what you want and you have a vague idea about how you’ll produce the results.

But you don’t do it.

You don’t leave that job. You don’t make that break. You don’t start something new. You just sit there, doing nothing.

To make it worse you’ve now been stuck in this limbo for so long you’re becoming bitter to those around you who are making the jump and you’ve started to make excuses for your lack of momentum. Do yourself a favour, if you don’t have the balls to do this yet, don’t bitch and moan at others who do.

I worked with a guy once, who wanted to be a model. He’d had interest from agencies and stuff and was keen to get going but he was staying stuck. He had lots of opportunities to do it and make the dream actually happen but he took none of them. Why? Well in this case it was fear of failure that was stopping him from doing what he wanted. He didn’t want to fail and that alone was robbing him of his dream.

But he never told anyone that he had “the” fear. What he told was a bunch of stories about why it wasn’t happening. And boy there were some great ones over the week and months!

Are you just making excuses?

It’s easier to stand still than go for a run isn’t it? If that wasn’t true, the gym industry wouldn’t be the success it is. Because we all know it’s harder to move than to stand still, it’s now people’s jobs to motivate us to exercise. But if you’re making excuses you’re standing still and that won’t turn those dreams of yours into reality.

Some excuses you might be giving for standing still…

  • I don’t have the time.
  • My manager doesn’t support me.
  • I can’t do it as well as other people.
  • I don’t know where to start.
  • I don’t have the money.
  • There’s no opportunities for me.

Bullshit! These are just claims from you about not having the resources but actually what makes people successful in this life is resourcefulness. If you really want this badly you’ll find a way. If you really want this to happen you’ll make it happen. The question is how badly do you want it? How much are you prepared to put on the line for all of this to come in a spectacular way? How much does your heart race at the thought of your dreams coming true?

If you’re not moving and just making excuses for why it isn’t happening try this….

Get a pen and a sheet of paper and write down all of the reasons you’ve given for not chasing your dreams yet and for standing still. Think of all the things you’ve said and done to stop yourself from starting. When you’ve done that go back through the list and come up with a solution to over it. For example:

Excuse: I don’t have time.

Solution: I can create more time by not watching mindless TV in the evening.

Excuse: I don’t know where to start.

Solution: I’m going to start in the only way I know how, from the beginning and make sure I find out how others started off.

Now is the time to stop making excuses if you really want this to happen. It’s time to shift your mindset from “poor little me” to “watch out world, here I come.” It’s time to stop bitching and moaning at other’s success and show the world that you have something to contribute too.

It’s not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man actually in the ring. – Theodore Roosevelt

Ben Lumley writes about Success and Personal Achievement at TheBenLumley.com. He is a Personal Achievement Coach and Motivational Speaker. Make sure your grab the RSS feed to keep updated and also subscribe to FREE Weekly Success Tips.

Image: Francesco Marino / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: Guest posts, Thriving @ work Tagged With: ,

How To Make Yours A RARE Business

October 13, 2010 by 11 Comments

I first found out about Adrian Swinscoe‘s book idea some months back when he came to the pilot of my Worklife Makeover workshop in London. We started chatting about it over coffee, waiting for everyone to turn up. By the end of the workshop Adrian knew how he was going to bring it to life, and the folks in the room were massively supporting his efforts in the process.

So, I’m delighted that he’s got it written and published now, and if you want to grab a copy, head across here.

Meantime, I asked him some questions for the folks here.

Hey, Adrian, the title of your book is RARE Business. Give us a synopsis.

Hi Christine. Thanks for having me here. First, the title. If you look up the word “rare” in the Oxford English Dictionary the most common definition is ‘something that is seldom seen’. However, there is another meaning that refers to something of ‘uncommon quality’ or something that is ‘unusually great’. I’m running with this second definition

The book steps readers through a framework which, if implemented, provides comparable, or better, growth results by changing focus from attracting new customers to nurturing and developing your existing customer base.

The tone of the book is conversational and informal, so the strategies and tactics it goes through are straightforward, practical and easy to implement.

The ideas are brought further to life by interviews and insights on customer retention and growth, not from other writers or celebrity entrepreneurs, but from 16 CEOs and MDs of leading and successful mid-sized companies.

What inspired you to write it?

I’ve wanted to write a book for a while now so it’s been a personal ambition to put some thoughts down on paper. However, writing it has also allowed me to articulate what I like and what I think works in building a great business. Also, as I say in the book, it’s a call to action for how we can all create better businesses and better places to work.

The whole thing is based on an ethos that the traditional way of growing business – one that is focused, primarily on customer acquisition using traditional marketing methods of advertising and other ‘broadcast/mass media’ forms- is becoming a less and less effective. In the book I use the metaphor of the song “There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza” to talk about how strategies that focus purely on customer acquisition rarely address some of the systemic problems that lead to churn, and how doing so could significantly change their business results.

It also talks about how the advent of modern technology (internet and social media) is causing us both to think differently about how we do business and giving us the tools to fundamentally change our approach. Growth is more and more becoming about building relationships than building numbers and this book really talks to that.

It has quite a funky format – content, examples, cartoons and white space for notes. Tell us why you chose that style.

I read quite a lot of business books and find that many of them are very dense, filled with jargon and new language. I wanted to create something that was both engaging and usable, so came up with the idea of a hybrid book/notebook style, based of the Moleskin concept. My intention was that, through the design, readers engage with the content in a very real way. I’d love it to stimulate and motivate business owners and business leaders to take the ideas in the book, apply them to their businesses and make changes that will help them create a business that is RARE.

Who’s your ideal reader and how would you hope they’d make use of your book?

The book is aimed at owners and leaders of established small and large businesses that want help to think about how they can create better relationships with their customers and their people to drive sustainable growth.

Any spin offs planned? Other products using the RARE process?

Depending on the success of this book, we believe that we have created a format that can be replicated, a bit like the ‘Dummies’ series although at a different level, allowing us to create a series of ‘RARE’ books like RARE Numbers, RARE Marketing, RARE Leadership, RARE Teams etc. We have create a new company RARE Publications to do this and would work with other authors to create this series. We also want to create electronic, audio, DVD versions and complimentary workshops and consulting help to increase the reach of our message and build a RARE network of companies that follow the sort of approach that we are advocating. Ultimately, we would like to build this network so that we can have a RARE Business Awards, where we can recognise the businesses that are ‘RARE’, look after their customers and create great places to work.

Finally, what feedback would you like from readers here?

What I would like from your readers is two things. First, feedback on the book, and stories of how it has affected the way they do business. Secondly, help to spread the word as together we can change the world ;)

I say that with my tongue in my cheek a little but I am also serious. The feedback on the book so far has been very positive and we may be onto an ‘idea of its time’. I hope so.

Finally, if anyone would like to discuss any of the ideas in the book further or would like me to speak at an event that they or their company is organising I would be more than happy to talk to them. Hope that is not too much of a plug :)

Filed Under: Guest posts, Reinventing work Tagged With: , , ,

Escape Mediocrity. Blow Inspiration On Your Smoldering Dream

October 4, 2010 by 7 Comments

I should have known I was a bit weird the day I decided to go to Austria instead of learning to drive. Because that’s what all normal 17 year olds do isn’t it? They can’t wait to get some miles between them and whatever stuff they want to run away from. I still remember the conversations that year, everyone fussing about who was next to turn 17, whose mother had bought them a clapped out old Fiesta and who had failed, again. It was all consuming.

Except, I had something bigger in my sights. Every Saturday morning, while the rest of my house were still dosing, I’d walk down the hill to catch a bus into town and go to work in a shoe shop. For something laughable like £2.40 an hour, I smiled and chatted and sold my way through my Saturday job.

I had a boss with oily hair who us Saturday girls avoided like the plague. Although I was safe (who wants to whisper innuendo to the chubby kid with glasses?) one of my thinner, slightly older colleagues was always in danger of being on the receiving end of his attention. Green as grass, I was just relieved it wasn’t me.

But creepy boss aside, it was worth it. I had my eye on the prize – Austria.

I play the clarinet and tenor sax and back then, I was in the school band. If you’ve seen any of the American Pie movies I imagine you have a mental picture right about now. All I will say is it was great fun. Being in the sixth form, a small group of us were like the cool teens in charge. It was the one place in school where I could just relax and be me. Geeky, glasses and plump don’t lend themselves to being cool when you’re 16 but when I was with the band, I was unstoppable.

And the band were going to Austria. It was to be the first time the school had taken the band abroad in my lifetime and it promised to be amazing.

But there was a problem. My parents weren’t keen for me to go. Outside of the band environment I had a pretty good brain. I was doing science and maths a-levels and all set to follow in my dad’s footsteps and become a doctor. But getting accepted into doctor school is hard work. You need amazing grades and a personal statement full of shiny awesomeness. And this was the problem.

My parents were afraid that if I went to Austria, my school work would suffer and I’d lose out on my chosen vocation. Not one to let a little thing like vocation stand in my way I decided I’d just switch it. I announced that from then on a career in pharmacy awaited me (lower grades needed for pharmacy – I’d checked) and yes please, I still wanted to go to Austria.

Being the oldest of six children, it was then that they played the lack of finances card. I remember feeling that they were just doing it to be difficult (you remember what it’s like when you’re 16?) but with the lovely benefit of hindsight, I know that money was probably tight and they were just trying to do the right thing. And for that I thank them. Because here’s what happened next.

Stubborn ass that I am, I decided that I wouldn’t let a small thing like cash stop me from following my dream. I wanted to go to Austria and I was going to get there, no matter what. And that’s what motivated me to get the Saturday job. Week after week I earned the money to take my merry behind on a bus to Austria.

Except, when you’re being paid just a few quid an hour, it doesn’t stretch very far. I had enough to get me there but no spending money. And that’s where the driving came in. I was on a promise of an extra large birthday present when I turned 17 in the June: £100 for driving lessons. £100 for spending money I decided. So I took the cash, went to Austria, and learned to drive a year later when I got more money on my 18th birthday.

That summer in Austria (it was about 5 days but in my head it lasted forever!) awoke in me a love for performing and, after a few uncomfortable months of soul-searching and course switching, resulted in a total change of career. Because I’d always been good at science, it was sort of assumed that I’d go down that route. Arts subjects were for people who couldn’t do science. Why would a scientist choose to do arts?!

How about because being good at something isn’t enough reason to do it forever if it doesn’t make you smile to the very bottom of your heart?

“Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.” – Danielle La Porte

And El lived happily ever after. The End.

Yeah, right! I’d love to be able to tell you that that summer in Austria set me in the right direction and I went off into the sunset, clarinet tucked under my arm, ready to perform happily until the end of my days.

But life’s not a fairy tale is it? Instead, I fell in love, gave up on the dream of performing in the West End and decided that love and babies were really more my thing. I settled into a life of boring mediocrity, happily bimbling along doing my thing, offending no-one. I was the baby-making equivalent of you, stuck in your corporate environment, whiling away your days, doing what needs to be done.

Except, when you’ve grown up thinking big and chasing dreams, it never really dies. There’s something inside of you waiting to be unleashed on the world. It might be a teeny tiny spark right now. It might even be just smoldering away quietly. But blow a little inspiration on it and it will burst right back into flame.

I don’t believe in one time catalysts that kick you in the right direction. I’m more of a journey kinda girl. That summer in Austria was part of the journey, it got me turned around and facing in the right direction. But it took another 16 years, starting a charity, blogging, Twitter, making lots of new friends and an amazing day with Christine, to get me where I am today.

And today? This is just the very beginning. I am finally doing what I love and thriving but only time will tell what curve ball life chucks at me next.

But what about you? This life is not a fairy tale. There are no magic wands and fairy godmothers to transform you into a Princess. If you’re feeling stuck, quietly festering away in a life of mediocrity, its up to you to find that person, thing or set of circumstances that you can use to get you facing the right direction.

Go on. I dare you.

El Edwards is a freelance writer and muse. She blogs at Heaven And El where this week she’s co-hosting a webinar exploring how she accidentally built her business by being kind. You can also say hello to her on Twitter: @HeavenAndEl

Filed Under: Guest posts, Self Development Tagged With: , , , ,

Getting Ahead By Not Being A Cliché

July 19, 2010 by 7 Comments

Meet Eduard Ezeanu. A regular commentor here on the blog, today he’s giving us some fabulous, tangible advice on how we can be extraordinary.

One thing which I find amusing is how most people expect to get out of the ordinary success and satisfaction in their careers, without doing or being themselves out of the ordinary. They hope that just working hard will be enough.

The world of work is in my perspective filled with people who are walking clichés. They dress like everyone else, they act by the same rules and they say the same things in only slightly different words. When you suggest to them doing, thinking or saying something which is beyond the conventional, they pin you to the wall for being inappropriate or breaking the norms.

3 (sharp?) suits

Differentiation is the key

Being different in the workplace seems to be a misunderstood factor. Being different is not the same as being competent. And competence is also an important factor for a great career. But it is not enough. Differentiation is what allows you to make the best use of competence.

Differentiation is like a bridge which creates the proper context for your work to reach the right target. When instead of being a cliché, you are different, this allows you to stand out. And when you stand out, three essential things happen:

  1. You get noticed;
  2. You get remembered;
  3. People get curious about you.

And from there, all sorts of great things can happen in your career, which the conventional worker or businessman rarely sees happening. I believe that most people need conscious practice and guidance to learn how do differentiate themselves and stand out. So, here are my main points for not being a cliché:

  1. Understand your uniqueness. Differentiation starts with knowing yourself and especially what makes you unique. It’s much harder to stand out if you don’t have a good idea what are the ways that you specifically can stand out. Take some time to really get to know yourself and to answer questions like:
    • What are my unique strengths?
    • What values that I believe in make me stand out?
    • What is unconventional about the way I live my life?
  2. Dress with attitude. The first impression you create is by the way you look. And this is your first chance to differentiate yourself. Move away from the conventional business uniform and add something unique to it, which makes you stand out visually from the crowd. For example, I will usually wear a business suit, which is conventional, but it will have a light color and I will not wear a tie, which is unconventional and allows me to stand out the moment you see me.
  3. Talk spontaneously. A common pattern for people in the workplace is to think too much before they say anything, and make sure what comes out of their mouth is always safe, is always the right thing. Unfortunately, this is a recipe for never standing out. Give yourself permission to be spontaneous when you talk at least to some extent, and you will express more of those thoughts which make you unique, in your unique way.
  4. Express the divergent opinions. In particular, one thing most people will avoid expressing at work is those opinions which are different from the opinions of other people. They are afraid to upset someone, to take risks. It’s one of those things you will need to push through. Divergent opinions are one of the critical ways to differentiate yourself, and it’s essential to put a lot of them on the table.

Ultimately, in my perspective, differentiation is about understanding that deep inside, you are a unique person who naturally stands out. Your task is to let that uniqueness out in everything: what you say, what you do, how you look, how you live. This is the key to getting ahead by not being a cliché.

Eduard Ezeanu is a communication coach with an attitude-based approach. He helps others to improve people skills they find relevant and get top notch results. He also writes on his blog, People Skills Decoded.

Creative Commons License photo credit: cookipediachef

Filed Under: Guest posts, Inner work, Work and life Tagged With: , ,

Doing Your Real Work

July 12, 2010 by 21 Comments

Farmer at Harvest

Today I’m delighted to welcome the super-talented Tara Sophia Mohr. Her beautiful piece challenges us to consider what our real work is – and how we can do it, irrespective of what job we might currently be doing.

Work Worthy of You

There you are. You. A sacred human being, with your particular form of brilliance. It may be a form of brilliance that school teachers knew how to recognize, and they at school could assess, but probably not. It may be a form of brilliance that your parents saw and spoke to you about, probably not. But don’t be confused, your unique brilliance resides within you, and the world needs it.

Then there is your heart, your desire to create something of value, something that heals or enriches or improves the world. There is your desire to be part of something good, something ethical, something meaningful.

Work can be about all of this. Work can be the experience that uses your gifts and fulfills your desire for contribution. Work can be the ultimate expression of what you came here, to this planet, to do. Work can be worthy of the sacredness of you.

The Mind Baggage

Here comes the mind-baggage, the voice that rushes in to say, “but I could never make a living doing something that I love.” The belief that you could never be more than an easily exchangeable part in the vast economic machine. There are all the fears – of failing if you go your own way, of what other people will think, of the risks of dropping out of the mainstream way. There is the fear of ending up starving on the street.

It is up to each of us to question these fears – are they true? Are they guiding you in a wise way? Do they reflect a realistic assessment of risk? Are they voices of reason, or simply voices of fear?

If you set all those fears aside, place them outside the chamber of your thinking, what do you see now, about what you want? What do you see now about what is possible?

Your Job vs. Your Real Work

In my work with coaching clients, we make a distinction between their jobs and their real work. Their jobs are whatever they are doing to earn income at the moment.

Their real work is what they feel called to do, the work that feels right in the soul. It’s the work that ignites their passion and releases the adrenalin in their veins. It’s the work that makes life feel more alive and colorful, yet more calm and balanced, all at the same time. It’s the work that makes them feel stronger, that makes them feel like themselves.

I stand for this: everyone can do their real work – no matter what their job at the moment. Everyone has the opportunity to begin doing their real work – in some way – no matter what their external circumstances — financial constraints, family responsibilities, lack of time.

If your real work is protecting the environment and your job is trading stocks, you can do your real work through volunteering, political action, and philanthropy. If your real work is teaching music and your job is web design, you can teach music to a person in your community, once a week.

It’s the self-sabotaging voice within us that makes it either-or, black and white. That part of us loves the melodramatic idea that you had to give up your passion long ago, that there is just no way to keep it alive now that you have a mortgage, family, demanding job…you fill in the blank. That part of us sees us as stuck, powerless victims when it comes to creating fulfilling work.

Why? Because doing our real work is scary. It’s real. It’s emotional. It’s vulnerable. It evokes to fear to start claiming our real lives, to start living more authentically, so a part of us tries to keep us safe in the known status-quo.

But you are bigger than that, and smarter than that, so notice the fear, notice the resistance, and start doing your real work, in some manageable, doable way.

You’ll find that the joy and energy you get from doing your real work is so big and rich and powerful that even small amounts of time spent on it will change your life.

Create the Relationship Between Your Job and Your Real Work

As you do your real work more and more, you get to decide: what do you want the relationship between your job and your real work to be? They can be one and the same: you can make your real work also the thing you do for income. Or they can remain separate. Or they can overlap somewhat, but not entirely. You get to decide.

At different stages of our lives, and based on our different personalities and needs, different solutions work. For example, Carol’s real work is helping struggling youth, and she thinks one day, maybe after her kids have left the nest, she’d like her job to be in that field. For now, she really appreciates a less demanding, moderately fulfilling job that allows her flexibility and lots of time with her family. For the time being, she works with youth organizations as a volunteer and board member, and she loves it. Mark, another client, recently decided that it just wasn’t fulfilling enough for him to keep his job and his real work separate. He made a major career change and started a finance business run in a socially responsible way, pursuing his real work calling.

You get to decide what you want the relationship between your job and your real work to be, but there is no excuse for turning your back on your real work.

Your real work will reduce stress and resentment and pessimism in you, and it will bring more humor, lightness of spirit, and emotional balance into your life. It will bring more meaning and vitality into your daily existence. And it will give the world what the world is so thirsty for – human beings showing up in their full vitality to contribute for the good.

Tara Sophia Mohr is a writer, coach, and personal growth teacher. She writes the blog Wise Living. You can receive her free Goals Guide, “Turning Your Goals Upside Down and Inside Out (To Get What You Really Want)” by clicking here.

phCreative Commons Licenseoto credit: h.koppdelaney

Filed Under: Guest posts, Inner work, Self Development Tagged With: , , , ,

“I’ve Landed My Dream Job–Now What???”

June 7, 2010 by 3 Comments

Today I’m delighted to welcome Scot Herrick to the blog to tell us a little about himself, and in particular his new book, “I’ve Landed My Dream Job–Now What???”

Scot, tell us a bit about you.

Christine, thanks for this opportunity! In the business world, I’m the Principal of CubeRules.com and the author of “I’ve Landed My Dream Job—Now What???” I have a long history of management and individual contributor positions in Fortune 100 sized companies. Outside of the business world, I’m happily married to Kate and father to my stepson.

What inspired you to create your blog, Cube Rules?

Most of the business blogs out there focus on management or leadership or processes or some methodology (Lean, Six Sigma). Few focus on the professional individual, toiling away in the corporate cubicle, who wants to do a great job, enjoy doing the work and knowing how to best manage their work.

There are few tools to help them. Plus much of the advice out there (“10 ways to prevent a layoff!” “Use your resume to get the job!”) is simply not accurate from my managerial experience. Cube Rules was meant to fill this huge gap.

Who should be reading Cube Rules and why?

One of the great things you talk about here at A Different Kind of Work is the corporate experience you want to have as an individual. Your work focuses on an individual’s needs to match the work to the person. Cube Rules, on the other hand, focuses on the tactical ways to implement that great corporate experience on the job.

Cube Rules is about what it takes to land the job, be successful on the job, and have a satisfying career. So the articles and products provide the “nuts and bolts” ways of going about doing just that.

I’ve managed hundreds of individuals and very few know – and do – what is needed for success on the job beyond their job skills. Cube Rules can give a person the knowledge and tools to navigate the workplace.

How did your book come about?

It came about because of the same lack of focus on the individual when starting a new job. Most books talk about starting a new job from the “leadership” level – what to do the first 100 days in running a company, how to evaluate a board of directors and all that sort of stuff.

If you look for what it takes a professional individual working in a corporate cubicle to do when starting a job, you don’t find much. Except, of course, “you MUST be successful in the first 30 days on the job. Or else!” So what does “successful” mean? The book tells you how to go about getting to success.

What makes you believe that the first 30 days of a new job need such focus?

I’ll give you a great, true example. A company interviews candidates for a job and then ranks the candidates from one through whatever. They offer the first ranked candidate the job. The candidate makes one mistake – or is perceived as not getting how to do the work – and the company fires the candidate days into the job and offers it to the next ranked candidate on the list. When they find the perfect candidate, they stop the firing. The killer is that the person losing the job has to fight for unemployment because they were terminated “with cause…”

Now, while true, that’s extreme. But companies believe they need success from their new hires right out of the gate. You, starting a new job, need to get into the work and quickly integrate into the corporate culture. Otherwise, you risk losing the job or getting labeled as an “average” employee and having to break those perceptions. Once those perceptions are set, they are very hard to break.

If there was one piece of advice you’d highlight in particular from the book, what would it be and why?

I’ll provide two. One tactical piece of advice: Before you start the job, I ask that you determine how long your new job will last. Which is counterintuitive because you haven’t even started the job yet. But, no job lasts forever. Based on what you know before you start, will the job last two years before you are bored or three years before you are ready for a promotion, or eighteen months before the ending of the project…whatever. How long will the job last and why?

At the end of the 30-days, and armed with all the information you have found from your work, I ask that you re-evaluate how long the position will last. It will be a consistently moving target, of course, but when the time frame for finding a new job matches up with how long you think your current job will last, you need to start looking for a new gig.

Second, an attitude: the job has to be right for the way you work. The advice I give for the first 30 days is not only about you being successful in the new job for the company, but also determining if the job is right for you. The sooner you know the answer to the job being right for you, the sooner you can make adjustments in your approach to match the job to your needs.

The book is aimed at individuals. Shouldn’t businesses be paying attention to it to?

Yes, but most focus on simple “onboarding” where they ensure you have access to company systems and corporate benefits. They don’t look at all if the job is right for you and rarely focus on what management needs to do to incorporate your skills to help the company.

In fact, the whole onboarding process is something to evaluate about how the company treats employees. It is the first “company process” you encounter and how well that process is executed is your first hint about the management culture. I once started at a company where it took five weeks to get a computer so I could do my work. What does that tell you about management focus and execution?

I take the approach that if you are searching for the right job to match up with the right corporate experience you want to have, you’ll need to make the effort to ensure you learn about the work, culture, and management, plus determine if the job is also right for helping you do your best work.

What’s next on your agenda?

One of the actions I suggest in the book to do is a structured weekly review about the new job and what you should learn during the week (even if it takes more than a week!). I’m building some forms that help provide that structure. Plus, I’m working on a project that will hopefully help more people be successful in their job, not just when starting a new job.

What feedback would you like from readers here?

I’d love to hear what worked for you during the first 30 days of starting a new job, what didn’t work for you and how you solved what didn’t work for you. And, hey, I’ll answer questions about landing a job, starting a new job, or how to deal with the workplace as well.

And thanks again, Christine, for the opportunity. The work you are doing with the New Work Pioneer and building the right corporate experience for each person is really critical right now. Your advice in this area is a welcome addition to help people survive – and thrive – in the workplace.

If you’d like to follow Scot, you can do so on Twitter @scotherrick.

Filed Under: Guest posts, Reinventing work, Thriving @ work Tagged With: , ,

Change Your Career While Keeping Your Job

May 31, 2010 by 16 Comments

Today I’m delighted to introduce you to Marc Winitz, who’s a Vice President of Sales and Business Development for a US based information technology company. His thinking about work, which he captures in this fascinating article, turns some of the accepted wisdom about finding meaning at work on its head. Read and enjoy!

Although economic times have been uncertain over the past few years, there is still a lot of conversation going on around “doing what you love” or “pursuing your passion”. To be sure, I am not against the philosophy, per se, but I do find it a little misguided. We all go through peaks and valleys in life, and for a lot of people, that includes their career and work. It is fair to ask yourself “Do I love what I am doing?” or “Does what I do matter?” But I don’t think you have to have to correlate a specific passion for the work you do. There are a lot of ways to innovate and find meaning for yourself and I don’t believe that has to correspond to the way you make a living.

The Echo Chamber of “Passion”

It seems that an echo chamber has emerged and that you can’t read anything these days about a successful business or career without some reference to “pursuing your passion”. Entering that phrase as a Google search term provides over 1 million hits. There are legs to this and with good reason. We are going through historic change in the world in regards to global issues ranging from the interconnected financial system to the environment to our evolving views of race and religion. The world has gotten a lot smaller. And all this change makes people question their lives, and their livelihood. And that is very healthy in my opinion. But I think you can find innovation and meaning in what you do, without having to pursue a specific passion as your way of supporting yourself.

Career Ruts Are Normal

I work as a Vice President for US based information technology company helping large government and private sector agencies solve complex business process problems through the use of technology. I like what I do. It makes a difference in people’s lives. However, even that isn’t enough for me to be fully satisfied with my work environment. For most of us, myself included, it is easy to get in a rut regarding our day to day routine and I think that generally holds true no matter what type of work you do.

Career Fulfillment Can Come From Many Places

I’ve read many stories and know several people that felt they were stuck in their career and decided to make a radical change in their life. In some cases it has worked, but in others it hasn’t. Just by writing this I know there will be strong statements (I hope) in the comments section about a specific person making a radical change, quitting their job to pursue something they loved, and that it turned out to be the best thing they ever did for their career. I respect that. But it represents a small group of people from a success perspective. I am not saying that if you are in a bad work situation you should stay in it. Nor am I suggesting you shouldn’t try something completely different from a career perspective. However, if your work is tolerable, or good, or even great you can still have a fulfilling career – regardless of the ruts you hit or a lack of passion you feel for what you do. You just have to look for the opportunities to invest in yourself to keep your “passion” alive and channel them into your work life.

Extend Personal Interests

So the concept of “career” to me has become something much wider than my day job, or my passions, or anything else for that matter. I look at ways to improve myself and my skillset outside of my career by investing in myself. But I try to do it in way that provides me ways to integrate those interests back into my day job. About 5 months ago I started a personal development blog called Black Belt Guide. I have trained in Karate and also taught it for over 25 years. I always wanted to share the principles of martial arts but in a way that could be useful to anyone. I also enjoy writing. So the blog has provided a creative outlet for me which is something I was seeking.

Build Professional Skillsets Through Outside Activities

But I didn’t just start the blog for that reason alone. I wanted to learn about web 2.0 technology and the social web. Even though I work in technology neither of those areas are part of my day to day job: but they are going to be. So rather than trying to just “read about it” I used the blog as a way to learn simply by participating and working with technology like WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, etc…

Create Options for Yourself

In addition, I wanted to create a “brand” for myself. It was obvious that I could create such a brand in my day job, or that it would be memorable. But by tying the blog back to something that was both a little unusual and important to me, I have started to realize a return on that investment in a very personal way. This now gives me options. The involvement in blogging has served multiple needs personally and professionally. And I can leverage this experience, which I very much enjoy, directly into my work life through multiple areas.

Personal Investments Pay Professional Dividends

I was recently on a business trip and had a meeting with a potential customer. When I arrived my host said “Your blog is terrific, I feel like I already know you. I trained in martial arts as a kid.” I was a bit stunned, my blog is hardly popular (he later told me it is his policy to “google” all his vendors). The meeting went well as the “rapport” already existed even though I had never met this person face to face. We talked for 30 minutes about martial arts, blogging and personal development before we got to the business at hand. It’s not very common in a sales and business development situation where the buyer wants to talk about you as an authority figure.

Find Different Kinds of Work Outside of Work

I hope my approach offers some clues as to how you can innovate in yourself, grow professionally and find career meaning regardless of the work you do. Here are some thoughts to help you start view work and growth a little differently.

  1. Don’t view your work as the sole definition of how your life is defined or how you are perceived.
  2. Your career is more than just your day job. Find ways to expand outside your comfort zone to learn and grow.
  3. Passion is important so find outlets for it. Just don’t misplace its importance for having a fulfilling career.
  4. Look for opportunities to inject the things that interest you into your current work situation, even if they don’t apply right away or are obvious to you.

In addition to his challenging business schedule, Marc is a 4th degree black belt in Japanese karate, and blogs about personal development at www.blackbeltguide.com. You can follow Marc on Twitter @marcwinitz, or subscribe to his RSS Feed.

Filed Under: Guest posts, Inner work, Self Development Tagged With: , , ,

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life – What Monty Python Can Teach Us About Life And Business

May 17, 2010 by 12 Comments

Today I’m delighted to welcome Adrian Swinscoe. A couple of weeks ago, he shared some thoughts about optimism in a comment to my  Why New Work Pioneers REALLY Bother post. I invited him along to tell us more. Enjoy!

Many of us will have heard of Emotional Intelligence over the course of the last few years. It was popularized after the publication of Daniel Goleman‘s best seller Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ in 1996.

Daniel Goleman’s research into Emotional Intelligence (EQ), where EQ designates emotional intelligence and IQ represents academic, intellectual or technological knowledge, quantified the importance of developing EQ. He found that EQ was between 2 and 5 times a better predictor of success (see chart below).

It doesn’t matter which field you’re in whether it’s medicine, law, engineering, journalism, the arts, one of the trades or any other career as the most successful individuals in each area are not necessarily the ones who are the smartest people or those who are the most technically gifted. Instead, the top stars in each field are the ones with the highest EQ or best ‘people skills’.

More recent work on EQ and its relationship to success in leadership roles by Martyn Newman and described in his book Emotional Capitalists described 10 different traits of high-performers. Their highest scores were on:

  1. Self-reliance – the ability to take responsibility and back one’s own decisions when things get tough;
  2. Self-confidence – the ability to maintain self-respect and personal confidence;
  3. Relationship skills – the ability to develop relationships with a wide variety of people;
  4. Empathy – the ability to understand the view point of all parties and develop resonant connections with others;
  5. Self-awareness – awareness of how feelings and emotions impact on personal opinions, attitudes and judgments;
  6. Self-actualisation – the ability to effectively manage their work/life balance;
  7. Assertiveness – how to express feelings, thoughts and beliefs openly in a straightforward way, while respecting the fact that others may hold a different opinion or expectation;
  8. Flexibility – adaptable and open to new ideas in the face of change;
  9. Self-control – the ability to stay calm in stressful situations and maintain productivity without losing control. And, finally;
  10. Optimism – the ability to look on the brighter side of life and sense opportunities in all situations.

Now, some people find the final trait (Optimism) quite challenging as they would say that you are either an optimist or a pessimist or a realist or whatever and that’s they way you are. It’s an age-old debate but research has shown that optimistic people are happier, more effective and more successful than pessimists. And, Martin Seligman in his book Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life argues that optimism can be learned as a skill and that we can train ourselves to become more optimistic. Check out Dr Seligman and his definition of optimism here:

Why Learning to be More Optimistic is Important

Think about it this way: If something bad or negative happens, optimists tend to view it as temporary whereas pessimists tend to do the opposite. Obviously, its not as black and white as this and people will be more optimistic or pessimistic in different areas of their lives depending on their experiences. However, developing a sense of optimism in all areas of ones life will not guarantee but will contribute positively to better outcomes.

Why is this? Because, like Henry Ford once said:

“Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you’re right”

So, optimism or pessimism tend to be self-fulfilling prophecies. It’s as simple as that.

If you want to have less negative stuff happen to you and want to generate more positive outcomes then learn to be more optimistic and you will be taking a more active role in defining your future and happiness. Monty Python captured the essence of all of this in their song: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.

I hope that made you hum and smile :)

Finally, now that we’ve established that optimism is important to your future success and happiness. What things do you do to stay optimistic in the face of challenges?

Adrian Swinscoe is a consultant and coach from the UK who writes about customer-focused business growth at Ideas for Business Growth. He has a strong belief that optimism is an essential part of any culture, whether business or personal, and that if more people were more optimistic that the world would be a better place. Why not connect with him on Twitter @adrianswinscoe, LinkedIn or if you liked this article then why not subscribe to his RSS Feed?

Filed Under: Guest posts, Thriving @ work Tagged With: , , ,

A Conversation With Nick Williams

May 5, 2010 by 16 Comments

Not long after I quit my corporate job, a book sitting on a shelf in Waterstones Piccadilly, grabbed my attention. Its title, The Work We Were Born To Do; its author, Nick Williams. I was so captured by the content that I emailed Nick and thus began a connection that over the years has morphed from coach and guide to friend and colleague.

10 years later I got the chance last week to talk to him about his own journey from uninspired IT guy to inspired entrepreneur. We captured the conversation on video so you could eavesdrop!

You can follow Nick Williams on Twitter and download his free nine part Discover the Work You Were Born To Do and Become an Inspired Entrepreneur at www.inspired-entrepreneur.com.

What do you think, guys? Isn’t Nick a real inspiration?

Filed Under: Guest posts, Work and life Tagged With: , , ,

The Challenges Of Doing What You Love And How To Overcome Them

April 19, 2010 by 39 Comments

Day 3: Genesis 37.19
Creative Commons License photo credit: thekmochs

Today I’m delighted to share this guest post by Ben Lumley. Ben is a Motivational Speaker and Trainer from the UK who writes about personal development at 6aliens.com. Why not connect with him on Twitter @6aliens or if you liked this article then why not subscribe to his RSS Feed?

It’s not easy doing what you love. In the beginning there are challenges that you don’t always expect and some can really knock you off your feet. But these are things you have to face because by dealing with them you’ll move closer to making your dream become reality.

The challenges below are all ones that I face today as work to create a future full of what I love to do.

Family and friends

One of the biggest and sometimes hardest challenges comes from your family and friends. Sometimes we expect those around us to fully support our dreams and ambitions but this isn’t always the case. Those close to us can in fact disagree with our choices and are happy to make that clear.

This can come from many things. Sometimes it can be because they fear that they will lose you while you’re out changing your future. Other times it can be through jealously because they don’t have the confidence to chase their dreams or have failed in the past and never gotten back on the horse.

I don’t think there are right or wrong ways to overcome this challenge. The solutions will be unique to each of us. All I can do is share the philosophy that I have. It’s simple really. I just keep pushing on towards my goals and keep trying to make my vision for the future come alive. True friends will stick out the ride whether they agree with you now or not. Family ultimately want what they perceive is best for you. When they can see that you’re doing what you love and it makes you happy, then they will come around.

Time

Another big challenge in doing what you love is the time it takes. Unless we chase our dreams from an early age, we usually have to manage work and life at the same time as trying to make a change. This can not only take a lot of time but also requires us to use the time we have to better effect.

If you’re coming home from work and then putting some time into what you love that’s time you could be spending with loved ones. I could quite easily spend every evening with my wife but then I wouldn’t have time to work on my goals for the future. It’s really about finding a balance while also helping those who are missing out on your time to see the potential benefits and opportunities your success will bring.

Sometimes when we’re doing what we love we have to make sacrifices in other areas of our lives in order to provide time to make the challenge. This is what we need to manage well to get the best of every opportunity.

Making the Jump

A common challenge faced by people who do what they love is making that jump from their old life to begin that new one. Taking the leap of faith that allows you to completely change your life can be a challenge in itself. It’s a massive step outside your comfort zone that many of us are terrified to make.

But this is the kicker. If you want to chase your dreams in life you need to bite the bullet and go for it. You need to stand up and be counted if you want them to come true. There is sadly no getting around it. You just need to be brave and go for it.

Sometimes the things we love to do bring their own challenges. They are challenges we all have to face however and do in fact make us stronger, just as all situations in life ultimately do.

Filed Under: Guest posts, Reinventing work, Thriving @ work Tagged With: ,
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