4 Attitude Adjustments to Make About Your Job & Career

Did you find it difficult to get up this morning with enthusiasm for your job? If so, you’re not alone. Depending on what you read, most people are dissatisfied with their work situation.

If you are unhappy with your work, there are ways to make your job work for you until you move into a more satisfying position. But it will take some work and some changes to your attitude.

Make the effort to make some adjustments to how you view and approach your job and you can see your satisfaction levels increase.

View your job as an opportunity for growth. No matter what position you’re in the job provides opportunities for growth. You might have to look hard for these opportunities and the truth is, they might not be directly related to your job, but they exist. For example, if your current position does not seem to offer a way to move up or receive a promotion you can view this as a chance to develop patience. You might be an impatient person and this situation with your job allows you a chance to grow in this area of your life. Sure, it’s not why you took the job in the first place but don’t let that stop you from growing as a person.

View your job as an opportunity to serve. Wherever you work and whatever the nature of your job, your efforts impact others, regardless of whether you work as part of a team or are a lone freelancer. Someone else depends upon your efforts. You have an opportunity to serve those “customers” by making their work experience more pleasant and easier by doing excellent work with a view to support and serve others.

View your job as an opportunity to fulfill your purpose. As noted above, if most people feel dissatisfied at work, it’s likely they do not feel their job offers an opportunity to fulfill their purpose. To remedy this in your situation first requires you to become clear about your purpose. If you’ve done this work, then you are ready to think creatively about how your current job allows you to fulfill that purpose. You might find this to be a stretch, but you can likely come up with some basic ways your work supports the fulfillment of your purpose through your strengths and skills. 

View your job as a step to meeting your goals. You are not stuck, and this is not your final job (or resting place). There will be other opportunities that come along. View your current position as one step toward meeting your bigger goals and keep those goals clear, perhaps by writing them down and posting them on your desk in from of you. Take advantage of the opportunities that you have in your current position to develop the skills, learn the processes, gain the experience, and meet the people required to move to the next level in your career and meet your goals.

By adjusting your attitude to your job and career in these four ways, you can experience a greater sense of fulfillment, purpose, and energy at work.  

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 5 Things I Had to Give Up to Grow My Career

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below from The Art of Improvement offers five important guidelines to help you grow in your career, including limiting the amount of information you take in. Check it out.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 7 Growth-Inspiring Ideas and Tactics

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below, from Practical Psychology, learn seven tactics to enhance self-growth and personal success over the coming months, starting with developing a practice of expressing gratitude. Watch the video for more.
 

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Ways to Grow a Side Business While Keeping Your Day Job

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 5 Ways to Grow a Side Business While Keeping Your Day Job: "There’s an app for systematizing almost every aspect of your business. Your goal should be to free up as much time as possible to work on revenue-driving tasks that net the highest return for the limited amount of free time you have."

• 7 Ways to Become a Better Person this Week: "Instead of wasting even a second considering the opinions of future people—people who are not even born yet—focus every bit of yourself on being the best person you can be in the present moment."

• 10 Harsh Lessons That Will Make You More Successful: "When all is said and done, you will lament the chances you didn’t take far more than you will your failures. Don’t be afraid to take risks."

• 4 Steps to Building Your Dream Career: "There’s no point spending time planning out a dream career in an industry or occupation that you are just not passionate about."
• How to Steer Clear of Office Gossip: "My own preferred tactic, which I used successfully over the years, involved a combination of ignoring the conversation and instead going on to inject a business-related subject that had no connection to what was being gossiped about."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 4 Career Mistakes You Should Make by 30

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 4 Career Mistakes You Should Make by 30: "But making some missteps and mistakes early on in your career is actually a critical part of growing -- both professionally and personally."
• The Best Way to Learn: "Learning is best done by people acquiring ideas from various sources, running experiments in their context, and then sharing their insights with their peers."
• Building a Better Company Culture in 5 Steps: "While you don’t want your employees failing 100 percent of the time, taking away the fear of failure can free up employees to not just win but win bigger than they ever would have had they been afraid to fail."
• Strategies for Dual-Income Families: "Lots of parents with big jobs work what’s called a 'split shift.' They leave work at a reasonable hour, spend the evenings with family, and then do more work at night after the kids go to bed."
• Do These 4 Things to Avoid Losing Your Mind as an Entrepreneur: "But in the end, listen to your gut. Create the business you want, on your terms and in your time. You’ll reap far greater rewards than revenue."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 3 Tips to Identify Your Life Purpose

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 3 Tips to Identify Your Life Purpose: "Look for a unifying thread or pattern that's consistent throughout your past experience that's also consistent with your passion and skills."


• How to Follow Your Dreams and Pay the Bills: "Whichever path you end up taking, make sure you make an informed decision and understand the short- and long-term financial implications. Choosing a career for its intrinsic reward is fine – as long as you can repay your debt and cover your bills."


• 5 Habits of People Who Always Get Promoted: "A large part of any business is helping people work together well. Super-employees make that a top priority. They look at relationships as something that’s critical to success in the business."


• You Don't Need a Promotion to Grow at Work: "Expanding your influence through actively mentoring others, building internal communities of practice, or stepping up to represent your organization with external bodies can forge satisfying new frontiers without changing roles."


• 10 Steps to Millennial Financial Success: "The biggest monthly expenses that most millennials have are rent and transportation. Making some sacrifices to keep those bills as low as possible can have a huge impact."

Three questions to become a self-actualized professional

Maslow's hierarchy of needs has had a strong effect on our culture, allowing us to understand our motivations and actions. According to his theory, unless we are able to reconcile our lower-level needs, we are not able to progress toward our higher-level ones.

While Maslow's hierarchy is not without its flaws and critics, it serves as a gateway to understanding how to live a happier and more productive life...including a professional life. Are you interested in learning how to become a self-actualized professional? Consider these questions and use them as guides as you strive to attain the level of engagement in your work to which you aspire.

Do I operate independently of the good opinion of other people? When you operate independently of the good opinion of other people, you separate yourself and your work from the praise and accolades   that others at a lower-level need to stay motivated. While it might be nice to be praised, the work that you do - the mission that you are on - is more important than flattery or recognition. It doesn't matter to you if you are being carried on the shoulders of your admirers: what you create is motivation enough to continue. In fact, the good and the poor opinions of other people have little affect on you. You commit yourself to the passion of what you do.

Am I detached from the outcome? If you are nervous about giving a talk in front of others - nervous about making mistakes, nervous about what others will think about you, etc. - you are focusing on the outcome. When you are detached from the outcome, your attention turns toward your purpose: what you have set out to do. To be a self-actualized professional, you separate yourself from any kind of worry about what the outcome might be. If you take care of your purpose, the outcome will take care of itself. And, honestly, you have absolutely no control over the outcome...so what's the point in worrying about it?

Do I desire to have power over others? While you may believe that you have power over others, you really do not (ask the parents of a small child about how power dynamics work!). To be a self-actualized professional you surrender your need for power as you recognize that true power over others does not exist. Instead, you seek to influence using love and understanding. This doesn't mean that you do not hold others accountable or let them conduct themselves however they choose; you simply no longer become anxious about the choices they make and how those choices affect you. When you can master this, you no longer take things personally and you are able to improve your professional relationships.

Five Reasons to Plan a Professional Conference

I was recently named registration chair for a regional coaching conference to be held this summer, and I couldn't be more thrilled with this opportunity. See, I love attending conferences: networking with other professionals, engaging in informative education sessions, learning new skills, staying abreast with industry trends...they serve to "light my professional fire." But being on the planning team for a conference boosts this even further. Why should you consider helping to plan a professional conference?

In-depth networking: It's one thing to meet someone at a conference and have a series of nice conversations over lunch or during an educational program. But planning a conference enables you to get to know a set of professionals sooner, longer, and the quality of your interactions are more in-depth. They get a sense of you as a professional: your interests, your drive,  your passion, and your experience. The relationships you make can last you a lifetime, and those relationships can result in wonderful career opportunities for you and for them.

Solve new problems: In the workplace, the problems you solve can become too familiar after some time, with the same issues being tackled by the same individuals and groups. Planning a conference creates a "shock" to your system where the problems are newer, the environment fresh, and you are challenged in different ways.

Use different skills: Similar to the point above,  you become used to using a certain set of skills in your current occupation. When planning a conference, however, you employ new or different skills to tackle the new problems you are confronted with. In my role as registration chair, I see spreadsheets, technology-issues, and essential communication between myself and other conference attendees in my future. I look forward to doing something different and in a different context in service of my professional community.

Resume booster: Helping to plan a conference should most certainly go on your resume as a professional development activity. The initiative you conveyed, accomplishments you achieved, skills utilized, and problems solved help to show you in another professional lens, one that you want to profile to future employers.

Free or discounted registration: It isn't uncommon to receive free or discounted registration for a conference when on the planning committee. This is a nice perk, but don't let it be the primary driving factor of why you participate: you will be disappointed quickly because the time you put in to plan doesn't begin to cover the costs. Rather, see what you are doing in light of the first three points. You'll be happier for it, and the registration will simply be the cherry on top of the professional sundae you've created.

So what are you waiting for? Contact a professional organization in your field today, find out when their next conference is, and volunteer!

Reinventing Yourself in a New Position

In my last post, I gave tips on what to do when transitioning out of a position and into a new one. The big theme of that post was "preparation," namely to help the work unit you are leaving prepare for your departure through creating a transition plan with your supervisor, documenting procedures, and training your replacement. The Daily Leap is a fount of knowledge when it comes to transitioning into your new position, with great, timely tips here and here and here. There is one aspect of starting a new job, however, that is critical but understated: the potential for reinvention.

In your current role you are a part of a work culture, with certain norms and expectations. You develop practices that meet those characteristics and that fit your style of doing work. A new position provides a moment to reflect on what you are now and who you want to be regarding this new opportunity. In what areas would you like to improve or change? Do you want to develop new work practices, like saying thank you more? Before you start a new position, spend some time reflecting on these questions:

In what ways did I perform in my old position that reflected my core strengths? 

How did I let good and bad habits infiltrate my work in my old position?

If I start my old position over again, what would I change?

What challenges excite me about this new position?

What do I want others to say about me a month into my new position? A year?

What would initiative in my new position look like?

What key relationships do I need to develop to help me become successful in my new position?

The questions  are endless, and the endeavor important. View a new position as a way to create a new reputation for yourself professionally through changing those aspects of your professional character that need changing.

Have any better questions to share? Do so in the comments below!

Where Good Advice Should Come From

Wednesday morning I was in the gym on a rowing machine, going through my repetitions, when I was approached by a woman. She approached me because, she said, she noticed some errors in my form; specifically, I was putting all of the work in my arms and flailing my elbows out from the sides of my body. She recommended that I keep my elbows in, and work harder to pinch my shoulder blades back to really focus on my back. I thanked her and told her I appreciated her advice. She smiled and went on her way.

The woman who spoke with me didn't look like Jillian Michaels, Denise Austin, or any other female health guru that you might have heard of. She was actually older (about a grandmother's age), short, and-to be completely honest-slightly plump. You wouldn't expect her to know much about exercising, let alone how to properly row. But she did, and after I made the adjustments that she suggested, my back muscles were burning in a way that I didn't expect.

We have the notion that good advice-espeically career advice-has to come from a source that meets some kind of visual, experiential, or aesthetic standard. Those who look thin and healthy are the best at giving health advice. Those with PhDs are experts in their academic fields and the best at dispensing advice in those areas. A government agency-like the Food and Drug Administration-is the highest authority on what do eat. 

But, oftentimes, we can dismiss good advice because it comes from a source that judge to be unworthy: an annoying coworker, a younger person, a neighbor, or someone outside our career field. The "package" that the advice comes in supersedes what is said…and we miss lessons that could propel us ahead much further than we had anticipated.

This week, challenge yourself to open up to new sources of advice or guidance. We are being sent messages all the time, important messages that can significantly shape our careers. What messages did you receive? Please share them in the comments below. 

Three Ways to Get the Important Work Done

This morning I was very productive. I got up early and threw a load of laundry in the washer. While my clothes were washing I set up the ironing board to iron out the wrinkles in my work shirts, taking a quick break to move the load from the washer to the dryer. My shirts ironed, I put the ironing board and iron away and folded my now-dry clothes. I then went downstairs to do some dishes from the previous night's dinner, recycle the accumulated junk mail on the kitchen island, and file important papers. A quick trip to the gym and the grocery store after that, I was back at home by 11am, surfing the web.

I thought I was being productive…except I wasn't.

The invoices for my business that I have been intending to get done for days hadn't been sent out, I did not update my LinkedIn profile like I had intended to, and I still need to write copy for my business website.

Welcome to the realm of productive procrastination. We tend to justify and rationalize the important things we put off by doing other "important" things that, really, are distractions.

What are you putting off to better your career? Perhaps it's completing your resume, talking with your supervisor about your future with the company, enrolling in that class that will provide the education to advance your career, or any other thing that will get you closer to where you want to be personally and professionally.

Distractions do not help. Yes, the laundry has to get done and you have to file. But not at the expense of your dreams. Here are three methods to make your time not just productive, but meaningful.

1. Jump In: Close your eyes and do it. Shut out the noises in your mind that are holding you back, focus on your breathing, and simply start what you have been putting off. You will probably find that it isn't as bad as you thought it would be; in fact, it is much, much easier.

2. Dwell on the benefits: Instead of dwelling on the pain associated with that important activity, think about the pleasure: what will you get out of it? What kind of future are you creating for yourself by doing this? How good would it feel to have it completed? Get yourself to a place of resonance, where you future is shining bright and you are excited about what you are to do, then act.

3. Get to know your saboteur: ah, the saboteur…the voice in your head that tries to protect you, tries to keep you the same and gets louder when you get closer to what you want. Spend some time getting to know your saboteur and its tells to know how to best combat it.

Just because you are doing something doesn't mean that you are doing something. Devote your time to those pursuits that will benefit your career long-term.

Is it Time for a Career Reinvention?

I heard a talk show host talking today about the necessity of reinventing yourself while growing and changing with the evolving economy, market and technology. He was talking in terms of the United States and its need to continue to evolve in order to stay competitive in the global market. However, it made me think about how the same is true about professionals.

If we are resistant to change and growth and we are unwilling to accommodate and adapt ourselves to changing markets and technologies, then we will soon become stagnant. The very essence of our life is change, as we began changing, growing and evolving the day we were born.

Quite simply, we can not have growth without change. Here are some quick and easy ways to help you grow and adapt in our ever-changing job market.

• Evolve the way you connect with the world. I meet so many people who are resistant to social networking. However, I recently spoke with a recruiter that said more than 80% of his candidates come through his research on LinkedIn. With this kind of evidence, today's job seeker can't afford to omit social media from their tool box.
• Commit to constant education to keep your skills and knowledge current. This does not necessarily always mean formal education. However, subscribe to blogs of respected leaders in your industry, follow these same people on Twitter, read new books and take advantage of educational seminars and conferences in your industry.
• Expand your network of contacts. Never count a contact out as being unable to help you just because they are in a different industry. You never know who can make that connection for you until you reach out to them. Simply opening yourself up to new people, new networking opportunities and new contacts can have a major impact on your career.

Three Ways Exercise Can Help Your Career

There is no question that exercise is beneficial...but can it be beneficial to your career? Researchers across the globe have studied the impact of exercise on one's career and have made some surprising discoveries. Here are three ways that you could benefit by incorporating intentional physical activity into your daily routine to move up in your career:

Getting along with others: A study by researchers at Leeds Metropolitan University in England found that those who engaged in exercise were able to get along better with co-workers than those who did not. By looking at workers who had access to a corporate gym, the researchers had the workers report their ability to get along with others as well as other metrics on a seven-point scale. Completing the scale on days that they exercised as well as on days that they didn't, the Leeds group found that exercise increased interpersonal relations among workers.

Increased mental capacity: But that's not all that the study found. Exercise increased the ability of the participants to deal with job stresses and their ability to meet deadlines. The workers were given the option to exercise between 30 and 60 minutes, but, surprisingly, the researchers found that the amount of time did not matter. They type of exercise, be it aerobics, yoga, or a pick-up game of basketball, did not matter either. The workers who exercised found their performance boosted by 15 percent.

Physical conditioning: The American College of Sports Medicine released a brief report on the impact exercise can have on those with physically demanding jobs. By analyzing the requirements of their jobs and creating exercise interventions that duplicate and compliment their movements, workers can increase their physical conditioning and perform better at work.

Incorporate more exercise into your daily routine to have a happier and more productive career!

Applying for the Same Job as a Friend - Part 1 of 2

A close friend and coworker contacts you on the phone, talking excitedly. Listening more carefully than normal (you have to; you've never heard him so energetic!) you are able to decipher that he found a job posting with another company that would be perfect for him. "Check your email," he says, as he has sent you a link to the job description. After hanging up the phone and gently laughing to yourself, you make your way over to your computer to read the job description. When you get halfway through it, the smile disappears from your face. The added responsibilities, the ability to supervise more staff, the engagement with senior leadership...this position is fantastic.

In fact, it would be fantastic for you.

The above scenario sets in motion a not-uncommon ethical dilemma for job seekers: when two friends apply for the same job (particularly if one found out about it "first"). This is a tricky, burdensome, emotional space to exist in, one that needs to be handled with delicacy, honesty, and practicality. In this two-part series, we will delve into both the logical and emotional components of applying for the same job as a friend.

Pre-Application Assessment

Look at your potential application objectively: As talented, skilled, personable, connected, and everything in between that we feel that we are, none of us are shoo-ins for any job. Nearly all of us have a story where we did not make it past the application phase for a position that we felt we were perfect for. Further, with the many factors that go into hiring the right person for their position (including past experience, skills/abilities, how the candidate presents him/herself in an interview, references/recommendations, professional dress, the candidate's social media history, etc) it's impossible to say which of these is the determining factor that will lead to the candidate being eliminated. The point is that-controlling for these factors between you and your friend-there is no guarantee that you will or won't get the job, so check your ego at the door if you feel you will outperform your friend. All that you need to do is to determine whether you meet the minimum requirements to apply.

Look at your relationship with your friend: For most people, the most difficult part of these situations-even after convincing themselves that the application process won't favor one or the other-is their relationship with their friend. There are two possible outcomes if you apply: your friend will care or you friend will not care. If your friend doesn't care, you're fine; you go about your business and the chips fall where they may. But if you feel that your friend may care, or if you're not sure, you have to be prepare yourself for a tough conversation...and possibly the loss of the friendship. 

Next week: how (if necessary) to have a conversation with your friend.

Are You Trusted in the Workplace?

Cultivating trustworthiness is a worthwhile endeavor if you want to succeed in the workplace. The more that you are trusted by your supervisor, your coworkers, and your peers, new opportunities and areas of collaboration will be opened up to you. Developing trust, however, requires an amount of vulnerability, honesty, and an ego-free state of being that many struggle to cultivate. Ask yourself these questions to gauge how well you create a persona of trust in the workplace:

Do you stay true to your word? A simple yet important question. You may speak highly of your work (most people do) but are you giving your all to the thorough analysis that you say you do, the time that you proclaim to give to clients, and the attention to detail to that important project? Your work is an extension of you word, so ensure that you produce what you state you will.

Do you speak up if you see problems? Honesty is a critical component of trust, and diplomatically pointing out problems will ensure that your interests are for the project, the team, and your workplace as opposed to yourself.

Do you freely share important information? Those who keep information to themselves can be seen as dodgy and putting their own interests before the team and the project. Share information that you have to cultivate trust and to build strong relationships with those that you work with.

Do you admit mistakes? To err is human…to admit it, superhuman. Immediately admit mistakes and work to rectify them to show that you can learn from your failures and fix problems you have caused.

Do you give credit? It feels good to accomplish things, but share credit with others to create strong relationships and increase the likelihood that they will want to work with you in the future.

Reflect on these questions and adjust your work habits to garner trust and enhance your career.

Four Workplace Advice Tips…from Mom

Yesterday we honored the most important woman in our lives: mom. Ensuring that we washed behind our ears, ate our vegetables, shared our toys, and were home before dark, moms-in a sense-acted like our first managers, guiding and shaping our behaviors so that we can thrive in the future. Read on for four workplace tips inspired by this wise and devoted woman:

Mind Your Ps and Qs: This Mom-centric expression speaks to a basic tenet of interpersonal interaction: manners. Manners, in the workplace, are everything. How you treat others speaks not only to your professional reputation but to your personal character. Despite differences of opinion, different working styles, and different ways of approaching problems, creating an environment of respect for others will ensure that you receive it yourself and aid your career by showing you operate with integrity.

Share: Mom may have been referring to our toys, but in the workplace sharing takes on a new meaning: sharing credit (particularly with those that helped you succeed) and sharing responsibility (even if you don't want to or it's not expedient). Sharing reinforces the satisfaction one receives by giving others opportunities for them to succeed, setting a great example for your team and other coworkers.

Always Wear Your Seatbelt: Mom implored us to fasten our seatbelts to keep us safe while traveling in the car. The workplace seatbelt is decidedly more proverbial but no less important: prepare yourself for the challenges and threats that are to come your way through careful anticipation and preparation. Just as a seatbelt keeps you safe in a car, your due diligence and vigilance will keep you safe in the workplace.

Stop and Smell the Flowers: Mom has high expectations for you and wants you to succeed, but she also wants you to be happy. Celebrate both the little and big successes at work, giving recognition to those who helped you along the way and recognizing yourself for the hard work and dedication that you put in.

Leadership Lessons from a YPO

After relocating to Minnesota over two years ago, I didn't know a soul. I had just begun a position at a local college and was slowly growing a social network there, but I desired to branch out and get to know others similar in age and industry. I had heard that the local Chamber of Commerce supported a young professionals organization (YPO) so I thought I would join to check it out and see how much my career would benefit from the opportunities they provided.

Lesson #1-Get involved: A lesson I had learned years ago, you can't expect someone to take you by the hand and guide you toward opportunities for leadership and civic participation. Proactively seek them out and-if they resonate with you-get on board with them.

I hadn't even gone to an event yet when they contacted the membership to solicit new applicants for their leadership council, the board-like entity that helped guide and direct the organization. With an air of "why not?", I shot them an application without really expecting to be accepted. In fact, I had just skimmed the email that informed me that I was accepted, almost deleting it. It looks like my gamble paid off, and I was about to go on a new leadership journey.

Lesson #2-Take the risk: In my mind I had nothing to lose and a lot to gain by becoming more involved with the organization. I didn't question my worthiness or buy in to any other self-created "rules" about why this group wouldn't benefit from my contribution. It's great to be a member of an organization, but joining its leadership team will provide even greater opportunities for personal growth.

I had been with the group for less than a year when one of the members wanted to coordinate an event for a week-long fundraising campaign for local nonprofits. Having been a transplant from St Louis, MO-home of the trivia night-I proposed that we coordinate one to raise money for another local organization. Together with a small group of volunteers from the YPO, we put on a wildly-successful trivia night that raised over $2000 for the organization, helping to put it in the black and helping our group gain more notoriety.

Lesson #3: Make your mark: Don't keep your ideas to yourself because you never know which ones may be the ones to take you and your group to another level.

There is something that you can take from every experience, so long as you stay aware of the possibilities presented to you and don't underestimate your impact. My résumé is much stronger due to my experience in this YPO. Stay aware, present, and go for the opportunities.

Living with Your Career Saboteur - Last in a Series

You've done it. You discovered your career saboteur, figured out how it operates, faced it, and now you have conquered it forever.

Wrong.

Remember when I said that the career saboteur appears "any time that you think about engaging or engage in an activity that brings you closer to who you want to be"? The operative words in that sentence is any time. Unfortunately, the saboteur is going to keep coming back into your life, right when you don't need him/her the most, when you are getting closer to the life you dreamed. Up until this point, you might have listened to your career saboteur and backed off, fearful of failing, "them" laughing at you, screwing up, or overextending your reach.

But we both know this is nonsense, a ploy created to keep you safe. You are much stronger, more capable, and more successful than you have imagined yourself to be. And look at you now: you are much better equipped to handle your career saboteur. You know the circumstances when he/she appears. You are familiar with his/her name, back story, and other ways that he/she operates. Finally, you have methods to combat your career saboteur.

And I have some news for you, too: you have beaten your saboteur before. There have been times in your life when you have met a challenge head-on, fighting back the fear, trepidation, and uncomfortableness to achieve...for yourself or for a cause that is much bigger than you. You need only remember, and use this information to propel you to future success. So for your final assignment...

Assignment #4: Your Success List
Create a list of things you have accomplished in your life of which you are proud. Keep it available to add to it any time, and to look at whenever you feel the saboteur appearing. Use it as another line of defense against its power.

There is nothing that you can't create from your dreams. Empower yourself, not your saboteur. Now show the world what you can do.

How Your Career Saboteur Operates - Second in a Series

You have decided that you want to start your own business.

Or you want to change careers.

Or perhaps you want to apply for a promotion you feel you "barely qualify" for, or even apply to your dream company.

Welcome to the land of the saboteur.

Last week's post asked you to think of one to three big, "dream-worthy" things that you have wanted to accomplish in your career but haven't been able to. If you haven't done this already, go back to it now and do it. You're going to need them going forward. Because today we are going to get intimate with your saboteur, rooting him/her out and connecting in a way that you haven't done so previously. But, right now, we need to learn about what the concept of resistance.

In his book Do the Work, Steven Pressfield speaks of resistance, ultimately confirming that "any act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term growth, health, or integrity" will be welcomed with resistance.

You know what I'm about to say: your saboteur is what generates the resistance. Because your saboteur only comes into play when you're dreaming big. It's not your saboteur that keeps you from eating a piece of rotten fruit that will make you ill or keeps you from jumping off of a 20-story building. You may think it is, but it isn't. The saboteur is different from your physical survival instinct. The latter keeps you from dying; the former keeps your dreams-and you-from living.

In order to build the resilience to counter your saboteur's resistance, you need to get to know him/her. This is our next assignment.

Assignment #2: How Your Saboteur Operates
At the top of a page, write one of your career dreams from the last assignment. Underneath that, note all of the saboteur-like statements that arise when reflecting on that dream: statements that undermine your power, want to keep you safe, discount your magnificence, and strive to keep you the same. Make the list as exhaustive as possible. Finally-after you have done this with all of your career dreams-answer these questions about your saboteur (note: this requires a modicum of creativity and playfulness; just go with it):

- What is your saboteur's name?
- What does your saboteur look like? Describe him/her physically.
- What does his/her voice sound like?
- Where does your saboteur live? Describe his/her home.
- When do you first remember your saboteur first communicating with you?
- How has your saboteur evolved over the years?
- Under what circumstances is your saboteur the loudest? The quietest?
- What can your saboteur claim credit for costing you in your life?
- What makes your saboteur as powerful has he/she is?

Next week: what to do about your career saboteur.

Making a Graceful Career Exit

It was 9:30pm and the party-which began 12 hours previous-was heating up. Their kids under the watchful eye of babysitters, the crowd I was hanging out with were free to cut loose and enjoy themselves. As I looked at my watch and surveyed the scene, one thing became clear to me:

It was time to leave.

I have no kids, I had a place to sleep that night, and I had nothing to do the next day. So what was my problem? I intently thought about this on my drive home, and it surprised me how closely the answers I came up with correlated with one's career. Sometimes-despite what logic may dictate-it's time to make a graceful career exit.

Values: Values are at the core of who you are, guiding your thoughts and actions. When I thought about staying longer at the party, I literally did a value check: how would staying later resonate with my values? While I had a blast up until that point, I noticed my values of peace and rest were winning over my value of socializing. They won, so I left. When it comes to your career, your values are an essential barometer of your feelings. You could be very successful in a career field but feel it conflict with other values: family, recreation. money, responsibility. Action To Do: Assess your current job with your values and see where it is meeting and not meeting them.

Time: Coinciding with values, time was another factor I considered. When I was at the party, I had a lot of fun! I was eating, singing karaoke, and socializing with old friends. As the night went on, though, the return that I was getting on my time was lessening. I had caught up with my friends. I was full. I didn't need to sing any more songs. If I had stayed longer than I had, the good time I had would have been colored by how much I didn't want to be there anymore. In your job, what could have been an enriching opportunity in the beginning may have run its course. Action To Do: Assess the time you have put in to your current position: have you received the benefit from it that you feel you need to receive?

Social Pressure: This is the factor that I struggled with the most, as I'm sensitive to-for better or for worse-what others think about me. When deciding whether to leave I had an internal dialogue, debating how my departure my be perceived? "Is he mad at us?" "Why is he being a jerk?" Social forces are powerful and need to be overcome to make a decision that resonates with you and your career? Action To Do: Assess the social forces that are keeping you in your career. Are they playing a bigger role than they should be?

Your career is the party, but there are other parties out there. Connect with yourself to make the best choices for you.