Laura Berman Fortgang

Do You Believe? [Video]

By Laura Berman Fortgang on March 12, 2015

I promised you the third installment and here it is: Video THREE is about the third block to clarity: BELIEFS

“But I can’t make a change right now.”

We’ve heard it all.

You can’t make a change because of the money, the mortgage, the college, the debt, the _______________. We don’t doubt there’s truth to that, but we also know there’s a way to get past all those obstacles.

Our third and final video walks you through the third block to clarity- beliefs.
Watch to understand how to get to the other side of the blocks and then JOIN Laura for a chance to do the WHOLE Now What?® Program with her guidance at a fraction of the cost of one-on-one coaching.

One lucky participant will also win a private coaching engagement with Laura. Your registration is your entry ticket to answers and to the GRAND PRIZE.

Thank you for taking part in the 10th Anniversary celebration of Now What? 90 Days to a New Life Direction!

Please comment below.

Got An Identity Crisis? [Video]

By Laura Berman Fortgang on March 7, 2015

Are you stuck?……

It was nice to hear from so many people who saw the first video that debuted on Monday. I hope I’ve answered your questions here in video TWO which is about the second block to clarity: IDENTITY.

Do you allow who you think you’re supposed to be get in the way of what you really want?

I know I have.

I spent years dragging my feet to make a career change because I felt so many people were invested in me doing what I did before. So many other people’s hopes pinned to me pursuing and achieving my Broadway dreams. It took me longer to leave that chapter because I was attached to the IDENTITY of the artist before I realized I could be an artist in other ways.

If you or someone you know is stuck not knowing what to do next in life or career, this could be part of what’s stopping you.

Watch the second video HERE and join me for some upcoming events that will help you find your way out of the hell of second guessing and into the new future you’re longing to create.

Thank you for taking part in the 10th Anniversary celebration of Now What? 90 Days to a New Life Direction!

Please comment on the blog to let me know your thoughts.

You are NOT what you do or have always done……

Is It Flying Or Is It Just Me?

By Laura Berman Fortgang on September 23, 2014

The last few years have felt like they’ve been speeding by and this one is on steroids compared to them. I feel catapulted into outer space by the speed at which time flies. Oddly, the feeling bookends the individual days that seem to have plenty of time in them.

The push and pull, pulse-racing and deep breathing seems to be the ying and yang of recent times and I think it reflects what happens for the clients I work with on their careers. The rhythm of life and business don’t have a steady pace. It ebbs and flows and so does your career search or your ability to move ahead.

Can you harness that or control it? The key is to be ready for it and expect it. Circumstances don’t stay good or bad. Things are always in flux.

The way to deal with it is to create conditions you can control. You can control (or at least plan) a structure within which to work on the changes you want to create. Be consistent in those actions. For example, if you are looking into what you might do next or you are sending out resumes, keep doing the research and wallpapering the internet with your resume no matter what. Repetition is key.

I’ve recently started to step up my exercise regime after a long streak of doing minor amounts of physical activity due mostly to back issues. I hate working out so much it was easy to let the smallest amount of pain keep me from trying. However, the middle-age spare tire has been growing and the lazy streak had to stop. I’ve had to get back up to speed slowly—first taking restorative yoga classes and aerial yoga which is very easy on the body. Finally, it was time to take an intermediate level class. After the first one, I couldn’t walk for five days. Once I could walk, I came back every other day. My level of fitness is increasing. Weight loss will come but consistency is going to be the most important factor. I’m not back to doing a headstand or handstand. I am not back to full flexibility but I know it will come if I keep up consistent action. I know that they gym with weights and cardio will interest me again as I keep feeling better and wanting to build strength further and further.

Here is what I want you to take away from this. Consistent action. We can’t wait to see success. We have to just keep building and stop measuring the results.

Obviously, you are not going to persist if something is not working at all but with steady, consistent work peppered with the occasional burst of high-intensity creativity and action will get results. Just don’t give up. I’m saying that to myself too.

I worked with Scott in the last year on figuring out what he wanted to do with his life. We succeeded at gaining clarity on what his next career move needed to include to gain the satisfaction he was missing. When we parted ways, his job was to keep networking to make his way into a new field. What transpired over consistent action and time (less then four months) was that he was approached by a vendor he worked with through his job to lead their $800 million company. Scott’s story will appear in the updated and revised anniversary edition of Now What? coming out March 2015 so stay tuned for details.

Be consistent. Keep on your career quest. I’ll keep going to the (yoga) mat. Time won’t stand still for us but we will be less at the effect of it if we stay the course.

I Want To Quit!!!

By Laura Berman Fortgang on August 12, 2014

Exploring next career moves, doing a job search or starting a new endeavor like your own business are all daunting and often, frustrating propositions.

Many times you’ll come up against a lack of results or clarity that dumps a heap of hopelessness on you in the from of “I want to quit!!” Should you?

To quit or not to quit? What do you think I’m going to say? No! Of course, you don’t quit. Not yet anyway.

I always say: “ Life will tell you if you’re wrong. YOU don’t need to decide”. Roadblocks, a lack of results, obstacles and setbacks—those could all certainly be interpreted as life saying, “give up”. But maybe there’s another message.

If you were running a race or working out at the gym and you experienced pain, you’d have the choice to stop or to work through it. Most athletes work through it being sensitive to the threshold where they’d cause major injury. The smart ones also know to build in recovery time in between the big competitions or work outs.

When it comes to your exploration or ramp-up, ‘pain’ can mean, “Wait!” Just pull back, observe, divert your attention to something else to gain perspective and then
re-engage.

Taking your foot off the accelerator and coasting in ‘neutral’ for a bit can go a long way to knowing whether to proceed and how to do so or whether to redirect your energies to something else altogether.

Maureen is Senior VP in the finance industry and she has been on a campaign to further her career. She knew it wasn’t time to begin a job search but she did feel that strategizing a way to be better known and more valuable in her organization as well as her industry at large, was necessary to her future plans.

She made a Herculean commitment to networking and even cold calling at an ambitious pace of several times a week. She was quite successful and then hit a wall. People weren’t calling back at the same rate, the lunch meetings weren’t happening and the pipeline was drying up.

There was some harsh self-criticism, berating herself for quitting her pace, but we reframed that to allow herself some breathing room. In the open space, an opportunity appeared to be given larger responsibility along with greater exposure within her company. Succeeding at the new task would be a huge boost and resume-building highlight which would poise her for a promotion or better opportunity elsewhere.

Let’s call what happened to Maureen the result of ‘focused in-action’. She wasn’t giving up but she was allowing a break to see what might emerge. In this case, an opportunity came up but you might find inspiration for a different strategy, the idea to call on someone else you may need to talk to or you may find a slight course correction.

The next time you want to quit, take a break instead. Allow some focused in-action and pick up within two to three weeks. If you go longer, it will become unfocused in-action and you could derail. If nothing emerges in your break, you may need to go back to drawing board. It’s OK.

Quit? Never. You may have to go a different way but keep your eye on the ultimate prize—-a satisfying line of work. It just may look different than you thought.

Let us know how we can help.

It’s Garbage Day

By Laura Berman Fortgang on January 19, 2014

It’s time to take out the trash, folks, even if the trash is YOU. I know that sounds rude, but it’s a new year and I’m turning 51 this week and as my patience for nonsense wanes at an astounding daily rate, I am passing my sass on to you.

This is not a “misery loves company” scenario. No. It’s an I-don’t-care-what-you-think-of-me, but I do know what works slap down. I want my sass to slap your _____(rhymes with sass) into action. Maybe some ego mixed in there, but no harm is intended.

Do you want to gain clarity in your life? Do you want to figure out your next career steps? Do you want to feel commitment to a bigger vision of what’s possible for yourself? Then, call it a trash day every day for the rest of this month and get on with it.

People underestimate the importance of a clear slate to strategizing new horizons. We mistakenly think we can compensate for and overlook the physical clutter, emotional baggage, poor health, soured relationships and dysfunctional work or home scenarios. We think we can carve out an escape route and all of that will fall away behind us and it’s just not true. Problems will follow you even into a shinier new situation. Wading through the garbage is what gets us to a clear, new, unfettered path.

I am not advocating for perfection and tidiness in all areas, but what I am asking for is a higher level of awareness. Garbage drains you of energy, mental bandwidth, creativity, awareness of your intuition and peace. Without those, you are just existing and not growing and probably feeling down and discouraged.

Michael is a high-level, well-paid executive who has lost his edge. He doesn’t feel any passion for his work anymore although he did five or six years ago. Relationships are strained at his job, he’s wearing out his friends with the same repetitive complaints and he doesn’t feel motivated to keep up with his exercise routine. He hired me because he wants to make a decision about where to focus to find a new job opportunity. Where we started was with the clutter. Sustainable, good decisions aren’t made in the midst of chaos. As he addressed the chaos, I could hear his confidence building. Week by week, his conviction and vision of what he wanted for himself grew. The ah-ha’s are already breaking through like the sun does after a rainy afternoon, and I know that definitive decisions and actions on the career move are immediately imminent.

Shouldn’t that be you? It’s garbage day. You know what to do.