“Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results.” James Allen
Blog
The Unfolding of a Career Path
While a young girl, Tasia Malakasis was introduced to the “vast mystery of food” by her grandmother. Yet as she notes, it took virtually a lifetime for this passion to “resurrect itself as a career”. It would be years later and in the midst of a successful career outside the food industry that Tasia would decide to take a break and enroll in a culinary institute. Still, it took seven more years and a “giving up” of some things before being able to say: I am the best parts of me now.
Today’s Quote: Success
“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be” George Sheehan
STRETCH TO REACH YOUR DREAMS
by Now What?® Coaching Founder, Laura Berman Fortgang
It’s that time of year, resolutions and new goals being set to make a leap into a new annum. A time of reflection and renewed
hope. Nothing new to the person in career transition . Renewing hope is a daily, if not weekly occurrence in that case.
As Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, once said, “Change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy”. That statement encapsulates why most people give up on their resolutions and why career transitions can grow hopeless and come to a standstill. Hoping is not enough. Hope and faith are important elements but they have to be backed up with action. A LOT of action!
This economic climate can make you want to give up but that does not serve anyone. In fact, now is the time to get outrageous and become so intense in your desire for what you want to achieve that you are willing to do whatever it takes. Calling people you don’t know. Sending out more resumes than you thought possible. Putting yourself in opportunity’s way by creating your own way of doing things. Trying something entirely new because you can and because it just may work out better than more traditional venues for success. These times are calling for a big stretch.
Here comes the other potential pitfall. Earlier it was not taking enough action, and now as your willingness to do so is hopefully growing, you have to watch for the deflating possibility of not seeing results. At least not right away. If something is not moving in your world despite all your efforts, you need to understand that there is much you cannot see or fathom. How many drops of water does it take to turn a dry riverbed back into a rushing force of liquid and momentum? How much digging does it take before you hit gold? You may quit too early and never know if you stop believing.
It’s appropriate to take a break and see what the wind whispers as a new strategy. It’s OK to change direction or to let your dream change form, but . Stretching to reach your dreams means taking the bigger action and continuing to take them battling any notion that nothing is happening even if the evidence is not immediate.
Energy moves and so keep moving your world by taking smart action. You are sending a ripple out and you will cause change. Think of where you’d like to be in December of 2011. Work your way backward to today envision each milestone you had to hit to be where you want to be at this time next year. NOW, plan your first step of 2011. It will be bigger than you’d logically would have come up with.
Be renewed, be refreshed and keep on reaching for your career dreams.
Based on Chapter 12 of “Now What? 90 Days to a New Life Direction”, “Following Your Life Blueprint®”.
Today’s Quote: Do What You Love
“Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.” David Frost
The Effect You Have
by Ginny Kravitz, Deputy Editor
Today’s profile demonstrates that while sometimes big changes are needed to fulfill your life’s passion, it’s not always necessary to carve out an entirely new career path. For some people, passion is directly related to the fields they choose. For others, passion exists alongside the career, each supporting the other.
Mindy’s Story
In 2006, Mindy participated in a Now What?® Group Coaching Program to explore possible new paths to take her career. Interestingly, what emerged as a powerful theme was her love of music and her desire to pick up the violin again. This clue
informed her as she sought to articulate her purpose — who she is at her core. Mindy expresses this as: to bring lightness of spirit to other people. She began to give her niece violin lessons and eventually joined a community orchestra.
Today Mindy attends weekly rehearsals and performs at concerts once a month. Mindy has had the honor of playing second chair First Violin and in order to hold her place she must practice consistently and compete with her fellow players on quality. Playing the violin is an activity Mindy enjoys alongside her full time job as a Support Availability Manager with an IT Management Software and Solutions Company.
What Mindy said upon completion of the coaching program in 2006:
“I liked the way we were to let go of our previously conceived “can’t” list and work from a place in the past when we were invited to dream more on our future… and that to do this process we had to remain open and not pigeon-hole ourselves.”
“The most meaningful discovery I made… is that regardless of where I work, I create my reality by my choices.”
What Mindy says today:
“Each week at concerts, I’m aware that by stepping out of my work reality into this other aspect of my life, I am completely taken over by it. When I am through, I notice a change in my sense of self. It challenges me in a way I am not utilizing for work, and I am giving something that seems very tangible to people who get a new experience at every concert we play. It is a bit Zen-like because when I am through, my senses are reawakened, I even breathe differently, and I am at peace — I don’t get that any place else. I almost can’t drive my car correctly after rehearsals!”
What Affects You?
What accompanied Mindy’s clarity of purpose was not a drastic career change but rather a desire to pick up the violin again after many years. Just as she wanted to “bring lightness of spirit” to others, Mindy experiences lightness of spirit when she abandons herself to the music. And so it goes with living your purpose. The effect you have on others is directly related to what affects you deeply.
This Week, consider:
Like playing the violin for Mindy, what affects you deeply? What kinds of things are you drawn to? When you are engaged in them, what is the effect you have on others?
What brings you lightness of spirit? Whatever it is, make some room for it this holiday season and share it with those around you.