Are You Really Ready To Quit Your Job?

Ask yourself these 4 questions before you take the plunge Sometimes you just want to throw in the towel and move on. After the holidays, coming back to work can leave you feeling drained and wiped out at the end of the day. Your motivation is low, perhaps your mood is too. To compensate, you scan jobs on all of the internet, but nothing looks interesting because these jobs look like what you’re already doing. Or perhaps, they ALL look inviting because even if it’s similar, it’s not where you are now. Maybe you feel boxed in because you need the money you’re making and don’t feel like you can afford a cut or loss of benefits right now. Maybe you’re finally doing well and have accumulated some good vacation time and a bit of stature and really don’t want to lose it. So what do you do… Read More

Ready for that New Job? 5 Actions You Must Take

January is the big month for job changers. But did you know it can take 18-24 months to land a job? You can cut your job search short by starting with these 5 actions. 1) Write your ideal job description; include all of the criteria that are essential like commute time, environment, desired responsibilities and those new challenges you’re ready for, salary range, perks and benefits you’d like, even the organization’s mission if that’s important to you. Write about the immediate contribution you can make in this job. Get excited about this. Really see yourself here. Make it real. 2) List all the work you’ve done that you’re most proud of. Be detailed and write down the skills you’ve used to be successful at what you’ve done. Note what the results have been when you’ve contributed your efforts. 3) Think of everyone you know and write their names down. Read More

Creativity for the New Year!

I am an intellectually and creatively restless person. I love to be creative every day in my life. I Create. All. The. Time. If I’m not learning and trying something new, then I’m probably sleeping. You, and most of my clients, probably feel the same way. Go ahead and call me ADDHD; I’m happy with the label at this point. People like us are what’s fueling our economy. We are the people looking to change things up and we’ll do the necessary work to figure out how to do whatever needs to be done to make those changes. We do the creating, and innovation, the ‘scratching’ as Twyla Tharp calls it, to come up with something new, and energizing. Or do we….? If you’re like a lot of people I know (ok, including me) you, too, probably let yourself get lost and sidetracked by doing things that end… Read More

Do Your Emotions Matter?

Think about it. When you’re upset about something that happened before you got to work, how do you then perceive things or people at work? Do you think your emotions affect your decision making? Even if we don’t think they do, research shows, in fact, that they do. A study by the Yale Center on Emotional Intelligence showed that teachers who were in a bad mood were more likely to give students lower grades, than those who were in more positive moods. Ever had a to give a performance review on a bad day? Or received a review on a day when your boss was having a bad day or week? Hmmm. Emotions, research shows, actually spread like a virus…that goes for either negative and positive emotions (except that we are more wired to see the negative because we are predisposed for what’s known as negative bias… Read More

5 Steps You Can Take Today To Banish Mommy Burnout For Good

You know that feeling. It’s like the gears just don’t connect, there’s no traction, no energy to accelerate. If you’re a mom who’s burned out from taking care of everyone at home (and at work, playgroup, your extended family too), it’s predictable that your feelings of guilt, anxiety, resentment and outright anger are building to the point where you’re afraid you will blow like a rocket. That’s super scary because if that happened, you’re sure you’d ruin everything. So what can you do instead? It’s not your habit to share with others what’s really going on inside. Your habit is to go underground with your feelings. In fact, as your anxiety grows, you take fewer healthy steps to feel better. Instead of reaching out to a friend, you tell yourself you need to work harder, and, well, get over yourself. Read More

5 Ways to Raise Career Savvy Kids

I was pregnant with my unborn son and already had ideas for what sort of work he would do as an adult. I figured that, with my interest in people and wanting the best for others combined with my then husband’s analytical brain and approach to the world, that our son could be an important weather scientist who could predict terrible storms and save hundreds of lives. Ok, so maybe this sounds a little nutty. But really, don’t we as parents think about our child’s future all the time. Who will they be? How will this little person’s life turn out? We spend hours researching schools and encouraging our children to do well in school. We are constantly doing things for our child’s future. But oddly enough parents often unknowingly overlook sharing some very important information that could greatly impact their child’s future – they don’t share the realities… Read More

Finding Meaning in Your Life

How – and where – do you find the meaning and value of what you do in your life? Hopefully, the work that you’re doing is feeding you (and your loved ones) in more ways than one. But I know for many of you, the nourishment feels – or actually is – less than what you desire. Take a moment to check in right now, and think about how your work (and home!) life is adding up for you. The following short quiz will help you assess signifiers that are important to most of us: 1) When I wake up, I think about the people and the projects that I get to work with in the upcoming day, and feel energized to get going. 2) My significant other/friends look to me for advice about managing their time and money because I… Read More

And now for something a little different…

Goodbye, Golf Clubs. Hello, Hiking Boots and Kayak. Source: New York Times By ABBY ELLIN THEY call him “Elusive,” at least on the hiking trails. And that’s pretty much where Dave Roberts spends his time these days, crisscrossing the country by foot, by bike, even by kayak. Mr. Roberts, a retired teacher and software engineer, is on a mission to navigate the United States powered only by his two legs and two arms. Hotels and lodges are out of the question; he camps out at night and lugs 25 pounds of equipment — including his tent, sleeping bag and food — on his back. And oh yes: Did we mention he is 72 years old? “I expect to keep doing it until I get tired of it,” said Mr. Read More

2015 Review & Release Event

Release 2015 and Recharge Your Vision of What Can Be for 2016  with Career Coach Daisy Swan, and Tarot/Astrological Reader Mary Griffith January 23, 2016, 1-5pm Cost $199 (includes 30 mins. Tarot Card reading) During this afternoon, you’ll have TIME to choose what learning from last year you want to keep and put into action in 2016, to get insight from a professional astrology/tarot reading, to create a vision board based on a vision developed for what you want to see come to life in 2016, and beyond, to do exercises lead by an experienced career coach to help clarify next career moves based on your strengths and interests, to learn mindful awareness meditation, to support clarity and calm throughout the coming year. This event will be held at a lovely private residence in South Bay. Location details shared after registration. [REGISTER… Read More