Category — Go For It!

Getting Your Great New Job is a five part series based on my experience coaching and helping my clients through their job searches and get great jobs.  Jobs that they are excited about and feel great about, better jobs than they’d been trying for, jobs that are a big step forward on a path toward their chosen future… yes, even in this economy.  You can have YOUR great job too!  This is Part 1 – Your Inspiration.   [See Article Introduction -  Don’t Just Get a Job, Get a Great Job…YOUR Job.]

Your Inspiration – What Is A Great Job… YOUR Job!

What’s a “Great Job”?  Well that depends on who you are.  For each of us there is a job that we will really enjoy, a job that will bring out the best in us.  I love what I do and there are a lot of people who really wouldn’t like it.  So a great job is YOUR job.  

It’s a job that uses your skills, abilities and talents.  It also includes your values, interests and desires.  It values and appreciates who and how you are, personally and professionally. 

We all have different skills, talents and experiences.  There are people we like to hang out with and fit in with, and people we don’t.  We all have different things we like to do and things we don’t like to do.  I believe we also want to make a difference.  We want work that matters to us and that gives our life meaning and a sense of purpose.

Think about the job you want.  What qualities does it have?  What kind of people do you want to work with?  What kinds of experiences would you like to have at work?  Really dig in and think about it.  The more clear and the more you know what you want the better.

Getting clear about what you want does two things.  When we know what we want it’s easier to find it…think about going to the grocery store for a specific item versus going for something because you’re hungry.  The first, you go in, get what you want and go.  The second, especially if you’re really hungry, can feel frustrating, it can take a long time, and even when you get something you may not feel satisfied. 

The other plus from thinking about what you want in your next job is that it gets you feeling positive about having a job, and maybe even excited to get it.  If you really dig in and think about your possible new job, the new people you’re going to meet, the opportunities to learn and grow, maybe even the possibility of making a difference in the world through your work, that may get you excited about that new job and wanting it…not just needing it.  Your motivation will go up and so will your energy for finding that new job. 

Here’s some questions to get you thinking:

• What did you like most about your last job(s)?
• Which of your skills and talents do you really like to use?
• How could you benefit an organization or a team?
• What do people appreciate you for at work, or in life that you could use at work?
• What impresses you about different companies and why?
• What skills, talents and experiences do you have – from past work and  beyond?  What interests?  What volunteer or hobby experience do you have?  What do you have a passion for because it’s close to your heart and matters to you?  This is much more than what you’ve done in past jobs…this is bringing all of you to your next job.
• What does it feel like at work when what you do and who you are is really valued?  What have people said to you and about you that felt great?

To get your self more upbeat when looking for a job think about some of these.  Make a list or lists.  What we usually do is focus on our need of a job, which puts so much pressure on us.  Yes, you do need a job and you will find it faster if your looking for something you really want.  Don’t limit your future by only going for what you had in the past.  Go for what you want… it may take work, you may have to stretch and take some risks but it will be so worth it.

• One thing to remember… you only need one job.   You’re not looking for 20 jobs, just one.

If you went for the job you really wanted, not just what you had in the past, but what you really want… what would it be or what would it include?  You deserve to have work that you love, work that builds your spirit.  That can be anything for you.  

We all have dreams.  Usually those dreams have to do with doing something original (art, music, writing, leading a new way, etc.) or making a difference in the world socially, environmentally, or spiritually.  What about you?  What are your dreams?  What do you really want to do?  

Often times we think we have to settle or go way out on a limb.  What I’ve found is there are stepping stones or ways to bring the pieces together.  If you have project management experience and love boats, in what kind of jobs could you have both?  What if you’re an executive but burned out because it was all about making money and you want more from your work… you could use your experience, power, and connections in an area of business/industry that you’re passionate about and gives your life meaning.  If you’re an administrative professional or have sales experience, or whatever skills where could you use those skills that would excite you, what kind of company or industry?  And that is also how you make a transition that bridges your skills to your passions.   And besides, if you go for what you’re passionate about, you are much more apt to get the job.

Don’t sell out or settle.  Don’t go for something that isn’t you.  Value who you you’re your personal and professional skills and talents.  For the right job, you are the perfect person, just as you are.   Go for a job that values who you are, a job that you’ll enjoy.  Go for YOUR job.  You’ll find it faster and easier. 

Then, when you get “your job” versus “a job” you’ll naturally enjoy it more, do better at work, rise faster, and enjoy the process.  You’ll want to give your best because it’s something that matters to you.  You’ll also be a vital part of the team because it’s not just another job to you.  It’s your job.  It will expect your best from you and you’ll want to give it.  It won’t just be a paycheck.  Think of the difference that would make in your life.

Are you feeling inspired?  Are you starting to want that new job yet?  Do the lists!  What do you have to give to your next employer and what do you want? 

When my clients get excited about getting their next job, good things start happening because they really go for it.   Now it’s your turn…

You may have noticed I haven’t blogged in a while… I was on a role and stopped. If you’ve been to one of my recent workshops you may know why. I am so done with adversity, and “the adversity doctor” is no longer fitting me…I am so over it! I’m in the process of coming up with something wonderful and new and much more true to me… and I wanted to share what’s up for me during this transition. Hopefully it will empower you too.

In “Success Built to Last” a book by Porras, Emery & Thompson there is a great quote “It’s an amazing thing to think that ours is the first generation that really can end extreme poverty…[but] we let our own pathetic excuses about how it’s ‘difficult’ to [make social change really happen] to justify our own inaction…” Those are Bono’s words and they are so true.

If you look at Adversity Doctor.com it’s really about being beyond adversity. What it really talks about is knowing we have a choice and using our personal power to create/build the life and experience we want. To not shrink in the face of a challenge but to stretch and grow to meet that challenge. Facing whatever comes up, head on and using those experiences to grow ourselves and become more than we were. Whether that challenge is our own personal challenge or a challenge in the world.

I’m in the midst of that – personally and professionally. It’s very uncomfortable, and I like the shift that has already started coming. I, and the universe, seem to want me to play bigger… and I’ve been resisting. Why? It’s what we do, isn’t it?

We all have so many excuses, reasons, stories about how we’re not good enough to do what we really want to do… but those are just stories, excuses, reasons… and not the truth of us and not the truth of what’s possible for us.

So… are you ready? Are you ready to face your own adversity, whatever it is that gets in your way of being all you long to be? To be “Over It!” Are you ready… and more than that, are you willing to know how great you are and do what you are here to do?

I’m not saying it’s easy… but (I say with a laugh) it really has got to be easier than living believing that we are small and not good enough. It’s time we quit lying to our selves, to stop telling our selves* that we can’t, that we aren’t good enough or capable… WE ARE!

YOU and I ARE MAGNIFICENT… you know it. Deep within you, you know it. It hurts our ‘selves’ to believe our selves so small.

It’s time to know our greatness, our beauty, our magnificence… and to build a life and a world that we love living in. Let’s do it.

My new job is not to get you beyond adversity but to support, inspire and empower you to so much more… to be all you can be. Keep posted… more is coming.

It’s time…

In awe and gratitude,
Lisa

I live at the beach and have started walking every morning in the sun… I do a walking meditation of sorts before I start my work day. This morning while I was walking it was windy and I watched the seaguls finding these sweet spots in the wind and just float. They’d travel way down the beach without moving their wings just using the current of the air to carry them.

It reminded me that sometimes in my life and business I can get into that flow… where everythings seems to work and come easy. Not that I don’t work, the work just seems to naturally flow. I’m really bold and go for it, like that bird riding the current. I’m working in a place of belief in the positive… faith that things will work out and that I can handle that next thing in front of me so I just go for it. Like Stephen Covey’s “start with the end in mind” or Anthony Robbins calls it “your magnificient obsession” or it can be Spiritual Faith. Just that vision forward that tells you it can, will and is working. Having that belief that is so strong it eases your way. It’s thrilling, bold… and at the same time an easy rhythm.

It’s like stepping into the current of a river and swimming with it. Everything you do becomes quickened. It’s when we let everything work together for our good versus trying to make it happen. I watch my clients get into that flow and am amazed by what happens in their lives and businesses when they do. Everything just seems to work and amazing things happen.

What works to get into that flow? The biggest thing is having that vision of what you want, knowing that you have everything within you to make it happen (or will when the time comes), and trusting that. Simple…and not easy… but we’re talking ease here, right.

So, what gets us stuck is getting caught in past thoughts of how things didn’t work, then we get scared and resistant, thinking things won’t work the next time either, thinking we don’t get to have what we really want or we’re not good enough to get it. Unless we change our minds, that becomes a self fulfilling prophesy because we hold back. Back to the seagul… we don’t fly up, find that sweet spot, trust the current and that we will be supported.

So, it’s simple and it takes the work and discipline of thinking and holding those positive thoughts and doing what’s best for you and what works for you… again, simple and it seems like it should be easy yet we all have our “stuff” so it’s a practice.

What tools help you get into that positive belief so that you’re in the flow?

For me there are two pieces – first its getting my mind in a positive spot. Some of the things that work for me are:
– Reading a really inspiring book (one is Jack Canfield’s “The Success Principles” read page 40),
– Thinking about good moments in my life (it’s so easy to think about the bad and what didn’t work or what wasn’t good. This is a conscious choice to think about kindness and fun and success and love and friendship… those moments that make you feel good.)
– Doing something kind.
– Making a list of things I’m grateful for.
– Of course there is prayer, meditation, or listening to good music.

Then, when my mind is positive and focused on good. When I’m believing I can and that people in the world are good so will receive me well, I create my vision. What do I really want? And what’s the next thing to do? When I think of those two things, in that current state, I get excited and want to move foward. I want everything to work. Versus, when I’m thinking I can’t, feeling insecure or thinking about the bad that could happen sometimes I hold back because I’m afraid of what might happen. Does that sound familiar?

Now it’s your turn. Get into that space, that positive belief, set your intention, your vision and go for the life you desire.

Check out my article for more tips Is It the Recession or Are You Limiting Your Possibiliites?

And… as always, if you’d like coaching support in going for your dreams, living big and boldly and making your difference in the world… sign up for a Free Personal Strategy with me, Lisa, the Adversity Doctor. Go to www.AdversityDoctor.com