Now What?® Coaching
from Laura Berman Fortgang
In 2005, two Louisiana friends put their heads together to brainstorm possible business ventures that would help their community regain its spirit. Their level of success took them by surprise. Here are some things they’ve learned and why they believe that you can start a business later in life.
Karina Gentinetta says her career reinvention was a soul-saving move. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed her home in 2005, she continued to work as an attorney and began restoring antiques as a therapeutic hobby. Four years later in 2009, Karina gave up her law-firm partnership and turned that hobby into a business. Having lost everything in the hurricane and having endured financial and family strains, Karina was no longer afraid of change. Commenting on where she is now, Karina says: “I’m seizing moments more than I ever have – I jumped off the cliff, and everything started falling into place.”
Contemplating a soul-saving move of your own? If so, taking up a therapeutic hobby may be just the thing that brings possibility into view.
“Second Acts: Designing a New Life.”
Not sure we’d call these job search “rules” but there are some good points to consider. We still believe in the value of a well-crafted resume, however agree that networking to create opportunities is an essential strategy. Creative approaches such as putting together a job proposal could be the differentiator, though you’ll probably still need to have that resume in your pocket, since employers expect it. Take a look for some smart tips on becoming someone who “knows the future” and positioning yourself as the “informed new guy”.
“How the Job Search Rules Are Different for Career Changers.”
by Kirsten Meneghello, Now What® Facilitator
One of the bravest things a person can do is make a dramatic career change while seemingly in the prime of their life. Although the person might be outwardly successful in what he or she is doing, earning good money and enjoying the respect of colleagues, they know deep inside that it is time for a change. But throwing it all away and starting over again? This daunting task is never easy but is often incredibly rewarding. I recently had the chance to talk to a good friend of mine who made such a leap, and his story is inspirational and a lesson in courage.
Career Confusion? Yes, that back drop of unhappiness with no clear path to a better future. That nagging feeling that if you only liked your job better everything would be OK or even worse, the
Herculean panic of being paralyzed in the gap between unemployment and a paying position that will crush your soul!
Career Confusion makes you feel powerless, stupid, lazy and crazy. Other people start thinking you are too as you flail about trying to look like you have it all together. Oddly enough, all the reasons you think you are in this state may not be the cause at all.
I had the privilege of putting a whole new crew of people through some of the Now What?® paces recently, and it drummed home, more clearly than ever, that we do not have the information about ourselves that we really need to find a career path that will be truly satisfying. It’s not just about what we like, what we are good at and what we have credentials for. We are people with a psychology formed by experiences and decisions and one of the biggest decisions you ever made may be EXACTLY what’s in the way of a satisfying career path being made available to you right now.
For most of us, somewhere in our formative years, we made a vow, a promise, a declaration about what we would or would not do, want, have or be. And that vow, is what may very well be in your way today.
For example, Christopher was in his second disappointing career and very down on himself. He had trained heavily for both and felt cheated by life to think he found himself needing to find yet another path. He could not see any possibilities for himself, even with a rich history of things he loved or had experience with, until he got an ah-ha about a deep-seated need he VOWED would be the life force behind his career decisions.
Christopher remembered the vow he made as a young person born from a lack in his upbringing. His vow—his NEED was to have stability. Sounds fair enough, right? But he saw that both his past career choices were made solely with that criteria and it had led him down two very disappointing paths.
In the Now What?® program we call this a Driving Motivator but what is important here is that the key to clarity came upon discovering this hidden VOW. Some of us are still operating on a vow that is working for us. Great, keep it. But if life’s not working, look back for a possible vow. Once you are aware of that vow that has informed your decisions, you get to decide if it still serves you. Believe me, it did. That’s why you formed it and that’s what helped you survive and thrive until now. So love it, thank it, let it go and choose one that can SERVE you better now.
Another example is that of Deidre who came to America as a teen with her immigrant family. Her parents wanted a better life for their children and Deidre internalized that and installed a vow to become the model for why her parents risked everything to move her to the US. She super-achieved through school, Ivy League University and a top-notch career. Now, she feels lazy and crazy, wanting less for herself than her elite status could get her. She wants a more holistic lifestyle and a health-centered career. However, she could not move forward or even dream of allowing herself what she truly wanted until she found the freedom that comes with discovering the VOW that was causing all the confusion.
It’s like changing the operating system for your life. You had one, it worked. It’s no longer working but you lack the diagnostic tool to identify and move through the glitch. Once you do, and you uncover the Vow, The Driver, the NEED, you will be able to live your life from the new operating system of satisfaction and clarity.
Not sure what your VOW is? Join us.
Our next FREE call is WED, May 9th 2012.
Like necessity, boredom is often the mother of invention. Such was the case for James Shields who, rather than remaining “bored to tears” was “bored to design”. Initially just doodles on work papers, his designs took on more importance when he started paying attention to them. This fueled his desire to be in an environment where creativity was valued and to do what he enjoyed. After being laid off from his corporate job, Shields made the decision to live off his art, eventually pursuing a childhood dream to create a coloring book for children where staying inside the lines wasn’t required. Now calling himself a coloring book engineer, Shields was not only bored to design but also born to design!
If you are bored at your job, let that be the impetus to examine where your talents truly lie. What would you like to design in your career and life?
“Frustrated Painter Leaves Corporate America to Pursue Art Full-time.”