I was lucky I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation – the Macintosh – a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960’s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

As midlifers seek the fountain of youth, chances are they’re not noticing the younger folk glancing enviously their way. “I’m looking forward to my 40s,” says Mikey, a struggling entrepreneur in her mid-20s. “I plan to suffer my midlife crisis at the wheel of a new red Porsche.”

Recent college graduates have always grappled with hesitation and self-doubt. But in their new book, “The Quarterlifer’s Companion,” co-authors Abby Wilner and Cathy Stocker suggest that these feelings can signify a legitimate problem.

The quarterlife crisis – which typically hits between the ages of 21 and 35 – is, according to Wilner, a “state of intense anxiety resulting from the uncertainty and instability accompanying the shift to adulthood.”

The crisis generally sparks feelings of helplessness and isolation. And various culprits like student loans, inflation, job competition and parental pressure are to blame. The key factor, though, is the void created in the transition from school to the workplace.

“Quarterlifers graduate from the most productive point in their lives to a time of less meaning and far less direction,” says Stocker.

And when the structures of home and academic life vanish, the undefined road ahead can seem paralyzing and disorienting. The QLC would be easier to define if it were a static issue. But because the pressures of 21 and 31 are different, the crisis can mutate over time.

At the early stage, twentysomethings are less likely to feel pressure to settle on their career choice or spouse. But while this freedom has its benefits, the unlimited options it presents can lead to confusion and doubt. Such is the case for Maren, a 21-year-old nonprofit worker who is generally optimistic about life.

“I want to accomplish countless things while I’m young, like backpacking through Europe and human rights work abroad,” she says.

“Between all the careers, places to travel and degrees to seek, I can’t commit to a thing!” The good news is that many quarterlifers resolve their indecision as they progress into their 20s. The next snag, however, is the frustration they face when they fail to meet their goals.

“It doesn’t matter what they’ve already accomplished,” says Daisy Swan, a career counselor. “They have this sense that they should be making more money, getting married and acquiring all the superficial ‘benchmarks’ of success.” Enter Chris, a 27-year-old design assistant who feels stalled in his career.

“I’ve committed to fashion, but being past 25 has made me re-evaluate where I thought I’d be by now,” he says. “With a bottom-rung salary and little chance of promotion, I feel more insecure than I did at 21!”

Wilner and Stocker believe that a micro-managed regimen can help QLCers gain control of their lives. Through strict financial planning, cautious spending, a healthy balance between work and play, and an understanding of office politics, they believe young people can achieve the confidence and security to kick their lives into high gear. Stocker also hopes the book will help quarterlifers “relax and understand that everyone feels confused by these new life responsibilities.” Psychotherapist Andrea Macari agrees, urging QLC-ers to take their time exploring options.

“The process itself creates fulfillment,” she says. “And if individuals could learn to enjoy applying for jobs and finding their passions, then there would be fewer morose twentysomethings around.”

There’s just no silver bullet to overcoming uncertainty, which is why Macari advises QLCers to live with a certain level of confusion. “Insecurity is a fact of life at any age,” she says. “A little doubt can drive us to do better!”

And fear not, says Stocker. “You’re not a loser if your life isn’t perfect at 25. Don’t worry about where you wanted to be, and focus on where you are now.”

CHICAGO

Evan Wayne thought he was prepared for anything during a recent interview for a job in radio sales.
Then the interviewer hit the 24-year-old Chicagoan with this: “So, we call you guys the “Entitlement Generation,” the baby boomer executive said, expressing an oft-heard view of today’s young work force. “You think you’re entitled to everything.”

Such labeling is, perhaps, a rite of passage for every crop of twentysomethings. In their day, baby boomers were rabble-rousing hippies, while Gen Xers were apathetic slackers. Now, deserved or not, this latest generation is being pegged, too as one with shockingly high expectations for salary, job flexibility and duties but little willingness to take on grunt work or remain loyal to a company.

“We’re seeing an epidemic of people who are having a hard time making the transition to work, kids who had too much success early in life and who’ve become accustomed to instant gratification,”
says Dr. Mel Levine, a pediatrics professor at the University of North Carolina Medical School and author of a book on the topic called “Ready or Not, Here Life Comes.”

While Levine also notes that today’s twentysomethings are long on idealism and altruism, “many of the individuals we see are heavily committed to something we call “fun.”

“He partly faults coddling parents and colleges for doing little to prepare students for the realities of adulthood and setting the course for what many disillusioned twentysomethings are increasingly calling their “quarter-life crisis.”

Meanwhile, employers, from corporate executives to restaurateurs and retailers, are frustrated.

“It seems they want and expect everything that the 20- or 30-year veteran has the first week they’re there,” says Mike Amos, a Salt Lake City-based franchise consultant for Perkins Restaurants.

Just about any twentysomething will tell you they know someone like this, and may even have some of those high expectations themselves. Wayne had this response for his interviewer at the radio station: “Maybe we WERE spoiled by your generation. But I think the word “entitled” isn’t necessarily the word,”he said. “Do we think we’re deserving if we’re going to go out there and bust our ass for you? Yes.”

He ended up getting the job and, as he starts this month, is vowing to work hard. Some experts who study young people think having some expectations, and setting limits with bosses, isn’t necessarily negative.

“It’s true they’re not eager to bury themselves in a cubicle and take orders from bosses for the next 40 years, and why should they?” asks Jeffrey Arnett, a University of Maryland psychologist who’s written a book on “emerging adulthood,” the period between age 18 and 25. “They have a healthy skepticism of the commitment their employers have to them and the commitment they owe to their employers.”

Many young people also want to avoid becoming just another cog working for a faceless giant. Anthony DeBetta, a 23-year-old New Yorker, works with other twentysomethings at a small marketing firm
and says the company’s size makes him feel like he can make a difference.

“We have a vested interest in the growth of this firm,” he says. Elsewhere, Liz Ryan speculates that a more relaxed work environment at the company she runs no set hours and “a lot of latitude in how our work gets done” helps inspire her younger employees.

“Maybe twentysomethings have figured out something that boomers like me took two decades to piece together: Namely, that there’s more to life than by-the-book traditional career success,” says Ryan, 45, CEO of a Colorado-based company called WorldWIT, an on- and offline networking organization for professional women. As much as some employers would like to resist the trend, a growing number are searching for ways to retain twentysomething employees and to figure out what makes them tick.”

The manager who says I don’t have time for that is going to be stuck on the endless turnover treadmill,” says Eric Chester, a Colorado-based consultant who works with corporations to help them understand what he calls “kidployees,” ages 16 to 24. At Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, for instance, administrators have developed an internship with mentoring and more training for young nurses that has curbed turnover by more than 50 percent and increased job satisfaction. Amos at Perkins Restaurants says small changes also have helped loosening standards on piercings or allowing cooks to play music in the kitchen.

And Muvico, a company with movie theaters in a few Southern states, gives sporting goods and music gift certificates to young staffers who go beyond minimum duties. “If you just expect them to stand behind a register and smile, they’re not going to do that unless you tell them why that’s important and then recognize them for it,” says John Spano, Muvico’s human-resources director.

Still others are focusing on getting twentysomethings more prepared.
Daisy Swan is here to help…

Finally I am getting this out to you. Many of you had signed up for my Daisy Swan & Associates newsletter in the past, and many of you haven’t but somehow you’re on my email list. Honestly, some of you are on my list and I don’t know how that’s happened so if you didn’t want to be, and don’t want to be, you are welcome to unsubscribe below. I won’t take it personally – well, maybe a little. I do hope you’ll read to the end of this so that you can decide if you want to stay on to see what’s coming up in the next few months. I promise I won’t inundate you with fluffy pieces about my personal whereabouts and chatty pieces about my life. You have enough of your own life to pay attention to – I’m certain you don’t need my stuff too. I will, however, be unveiling my new website featuring new course and event offerings – things I am so enthusiastic about. I will also be introducing the people who are joining with me to create the great team of smart, well educated and trained individuals who will be bringing all of these offerings to life. Teleclasses, live events, and podcasts are on the menu as well as the one-on-one coaching that I and my associates have been offering these past several years.

It’s been a fast 4 years since I officially opened the doors of Daisy Swan, MA, CPCC, which grew to Daisy Swan & Associates in 2005. While I’ve been a practicing career counselor since 1991, and meeting with private clients since 1995, it’s the last 4 years that have been the absolutely most rewarding. Having worked with hundreds of clients in the past 4 years, it’s time for more expansion to serve more clients in more varied ways – hence the expansion that going on quietly behind the scenes here. One thing we’re very clear about is that Daisy Swan & Associates works with proactive people seeking balance in both work and life. We are committed to helping you not just better your career, but better yourself in the process. We’ll help you to realize your potential and accelerate your success according to your life stage and career phase. It’s coaching and strategizing designed to overcome any set of obstacles, for all the range of life stages. Because it’s not just about what’s not working now, it’s about where you’re taking yourself next.

I’m excited for what’s coming next in 2008 and happy with what’s happened in 2007 thus far. This newsletter is partially going out to let you know about one major change that’s transpired this year:

My new office address is 11812 San Vicente Boulevard, Suite 505, LA, CA, 90049 and my phone, which my wonderful assistant Ros answers, is 310-820-8877. I am unendingly grateful to Heidi Tuffias, mediator and attorney extraordinaire, for sharing her office space with me.

While I’m letting you know that expansion is in the works, I also want to let you know where some of my inspiration is coming from that has made 2007 such a treasure of year for me, and many of my clients and associates – so this may start to sound a bit like a blog. I hope you’ll learn of some interesting resources here that are useful for you.

A few high points of 2007 include the launch of a book group for parents of my son’s school. I’ll be using this to tip you off to some interesting reads and how they have raised or answered good questions for all of us. First off, we read Daniel Pink’s smart and clever must-read book about what we have to look forward to in the workplace; A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future. We now live in such a business/arts/technology blended world and this book explains just how join with this blend of facets. Knowing how to read and communicate well with others, and get along in teams is so important in the age we live in – isn’t life all about getting and being connected?

One place I connected with other creative minds this year was at the New Yorker Conference. I had the opportunity to hear the amazing Malcolm Gladwell speak about how genius develops in our times; it is well documented now that this occurs through team and group work – collaboration rules. And given that it takes approximately 10 years to establish expertise in any given area, and that mastery leads to innovation, I am curious about what the twenty-something phenoms in our society have been doing since they were 14 or so? The now shuttered (so sad!), but much loved magazine Business 2.0 showed us just how clever this cohort is. Our world of innovative business is giving us new developments moment to moment. Thankfully Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of the Wall Street Journal has so far proved to be a blessing for the paper – big sigh of relief here. I’m now having so much fun reading the pages of this updated paper. It’s a must read for any breathing, aspiring individual these days. Inspiration and challenge abound here and that’s what I find most people are looking for – whether they know it or not. However, it’s also important for everyone to take a breath and let go of some of the over inflated personal expectations that are potentially crushing important creative spirits and dulling senses and aspirations.

Another important read, John Gottman’s Raising Emotionally Intelligent Children, offers good insight into our and our children’s needs for learning how to effectively listen and hear others. Parenting with Love and Logic by Foster Cline Faye and Jim Fay is an excellent antidote for parents who may be ‘hovering’ just a bit too close. Helicopter Parents have been unfairly maligned, in my opinion (everything in moderation, I say), and which I blogged about a couple of months ago – there are up and downsides to this phenomenon which I’ll be writing more about in 2008. Many of my younger clients who are considered Millenials and Gen Xers are known for expecting and appreciating what we all appreciate…things like recognition for a job well done, flexible and reasonable work hours, and meaningful work, being given challenging and creative work (or the room to create that themselves) that makes a difference in the world. What is wrong with that??

I am so excited that this generation may actually force companies to make some of the changes that baby boomers would have enjoyed too. Judith Warner who smartly wrote, Perfect Mess: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety helped me and members of our book group look at the issues of just being a human being in 2007 and what it takes to make life work. While Warner’s book focuses on motherhood, I found it really shines the light on how much pressure we all live with in this increasingly competitive and lightening speed world.

How do we all do what we do? Getting our lives ‘done’ is an amazing feat; having a supportive and inquisitive guide and mentor is becoming an important requirement at some point or another. Starting a new business, or considering the smartest next career move and the one beyond that? This is one of the reasons we at Daisy Swan & Associates are expanding our offerings. My aim is to be meeting the needs of our clients and their family or friends by offering programming that fills a need in the fun and thought provoking way that we have achieved already. If you have a question or suggestion for me about our services, or services you’d like to see offered, please email us through [email protected].

So, Judith Warner is now on my list of smart people to meet one of the days. Others on that list are Nora Ephron, who I have a lot in common with – I’m a (former) New Yorker who feels Bad About Her Neck, and who also thinks a lot of Ken Auletta, who I met when I attended The New Yorker Conference last May at the brilliant Frank Gehry IAC building in the Chelsea section of NYC. When I told Ken Auletta that I am working on a book proposal he laughed and said ‘Welcome to the joys of the journey of going through the ups and downs of working and reworking a book’. I was very hopeful and young in my book proposal process and now, several months along the way, I know the ‘joy’ that he alluded to. OK, back to the list: Oprah is on my list of people I want to meet (she’s on everyone’s list, right?), as well as Katie Couric and Martha Stewart – all of these women have had their fair share of ups and downs this year and have made stunning contributions to the world of communication and commerce. I’d also love to talk with Ben Stein, who’s written stimulating editorials in the Sunday New York Times, Charlie Rose, and Elizabeth Spellings our Education Secretary. I’ll continue to add to my list. Who’s on your list? And be careful what you wish for – it might actually happen…

We have some real celebrating to do for clients and friends who have launched great products like Shampowder from Buttercream Cosmetics, and Joshua Young’s simultaneous release of his CD Arrival Time while transitioning to the world of Wall Street commerce. We’re celebrating well developed services like the one that Julie Gray has created with The Script Department, as well as the clients who secured writing and acting agents and contracts (Good job!) and the companies joined (Match.com, Myspace.com, CAA, Universal, Disney, Corazonas to name a few). I also want to give mention to those some of those who have launched their businesses – check out Modern Nest, 62 Mile Club and Lambent Light. There are also some new businesses that we can’t mention just yet. I’m thrilled to point you in the direction of Chris Steinkamp’s non-profit that you’ll no doubt be reading more about elsewhere; ProtectOurWinters.org and the film related Women’s Independent Cinema that Jen Siebel is working with. Personally, I decided to get involved with the cause related group Step Up Women’s Network this past year. Having written my master’s thesis on mentoring programs and having designed and implemented several of them, I find this organization very much in line with my values and interdisciplinary thinking. This particular organization is designed for girls and women and they do an incredible job of providing services. Los Angeles Team Mentoring also has a wonderful program worthy of note; you can find more information about this, and other important organizations, by going to www.connectinglosangeles.com, which is also a link on my website.

Hat’s off also to those who have begun, or completed, their graduate programs and are forging new opportunities that will have lasting impact. Transitions of any kind can rock your world. The delight of a new baby (real or figurative) means a new identity for the bearers of said baby, and this can be tough and delightful stuff – and we work with a lot of people with new babies! We at Daisy Swan & Associates are here to see you through the transitions you go through at any of the stages of your life that you find yourself at. Whether you find yourself at a stage we call Confusion, Roadblock, Wisdom, or Authentic– the ripple effect of the choices you must make can be positive or negative. We’re figuring you want the former and have new programs to address any and all of these stages to enable you to keep moving forward, getting results you want in your life.
We’ll be rolling out the new website with the new programs and offerings early in 2008 – fun and interesting options for those of you who are creating something new, or just looking for inspiration.

With wishes for an inspiring end of 2007 and beginning of 2008 I thank you for making it to the end of this long, and long overdue, communiqué. If you want to unsubscribe you can do so here, but if you know of someone else who’d like to be kept in the loop about what’s to come here, please forward this along. We’re about doing good things here. Daisy Swan & Associates works with proactive people seeking balance in both work and life. We are committed to helping you not just better your career, but better yourself in the process. We’ll help you to realize your potential and accelerate your success according to your life stage and career phase. It’s coaching and strategizing designed to overcome any set of obstacles, for all the range of life stages. Because it’s not just about what’s not working now, it’s about where you’re taking yourself next.

With gratitude –
Daisy

Guest Blogger – Colleen Cooke

Have you ever said no to making $100K four times? When opportunity knocks, typically I open the door. However, in the last six months, I’ve turned down at least four terrific opportunities.Like many women focused on their careers, I had my first child in my late thirties. My daughter is amazing and almost four now. People told me that life would change, and it did. Yet, I tried to keep doing what I had done; work 50-60 hour weeks while juggling the rest of my life, family, friends, and household. After three years of living in denial and becoming depressed (all while rapidly approaching my fortieth birthday) it finally sank in life had unequivocally changed. I needed to catch up with my life and make some changes. What I was doing wasn’t working.

The real epiphany came after I was offered a terrific role on a great team at a major software company just outside of Seattle. I was flattered and yet, I found myself hemming and hawing. When I finally said, “thanks, but no” I felt guilty and relieved at the same time. Later I realized why I had a hard time saying no. Though it wasn’t the right job for me, I was attached to following the only path I had known.

Work had defined me for so long that I hadn’t actually tuned in to the changes that motherhood had wrought. I wanted to spend more time with my daughter (me, the one who said she would never be a stay-at-home Mom!). I also unearthed a list of goals written in my early thirties, one of which was to own my own company by the time I was forty. Forty had seemed so far away back then. Forty embodied the age of wisdom, experience, and laugh lines.

I took a leave from work. I spent more time with my daughter, pondered my laugh lines and took a good look at what makes me happy. With Daisy’s help, I began envisioning what my ideal life would look like. I saw myself running my own business working only three days a week, enabling me to spend more time with my daughter. Once I had set my sights on this goal, really good things began to happen. Two friends, who had encouraged me to jump on the self-employment bandwagon, hired me to revitalize their companies’ marketing. I also began writing and submitting work to be published.

Of course, there has been a cost. Initially my income was drastically reduced and inconsistent. We were squeezed pretty tight after purchasing a home, moving and taking care of life’s basic expenses. Each time I was approached with a job opportunity and said no, I felt a little crazy for turning it down while I was stretching every penny to pay my bills. And yet, some part of me believed that living my ideal life was possible. I just had to stick with it.

Halfway through my first year of business and working only part-time, I am on track to make almost as much as I did last year. There are still times when my revenue isn’t in sync with my needs, and yet, I am happy to be working for myself. I feel fortunate to be growing professionally while creating the life I want for my family and me.

I recently read an article about someone else that reconfigured his life and seems much happier for it Al Gore. My life is much simpler than the former vice president’s, however, I do identify with his journey. He cited a line from a poem written by Spanish poet, Antonio Machado, which touched me: “Pathwalker, there is no path. You must make the path as you walk.” I breathed a little easier after reading that line. I am making my path.

Challenges and Opportunities are Abundant

Men in their thirties are earning less than their fathers earned at the same age. That’s the disheartening news I read in the LA Times (Sat. May 26^th, 2007) that cited an ongoing study called the Economic Mobility Project.

Opportunity for advancement and increased income would appear to abound in this time of innovation and new business development. However, earnings figures show that earnings opportunities for young men are slow to develop upwards due to competition with healthy baby boomers and savvy businesswomen. What does this mean for young men (and frankly, women too)?

Where there is challenge, there is opportunity. You can sharpen your awareness for opportunity and find the efficiency gaps in your work place. Leverage your strengths maybe they include creativity, technological savvy and a willingness to learn. Identify them and then let your boss know you’re ready for more responsibility by generating good ideas to solve problems that others are letting slide. If you are already doing this and aren’t getting noticed or are being skipped over, start looking for new opportunities at another company or organization.

Granted, these are good tips for anyone seeking to develop their career path, yet shifting your thinking from scarcity to abundance not only changes your attitude, it changes how others respond to you, too.

Career Development Tips

— Solve problems that are interesting to you – tap into your creativity.

• Leverage your comfort with technology. Use technology to streamline processes, bring people together for industry education, and connect seemingly disparate departments together to create a new synergy.
• Seek out professional organizations to meet others and attend conferences or seminars to stay abreast of innovation in your field (it’s likely that you’ll hear of job openings too!).
• Read The Wall Street Journal and other periodicals to broaden your knowledge base. This will give you the wherewithal to connect with others about trends that may impact your area of work.
• Look for the story behind the story – think about how a product or piece of information reached you who made this happen, what did it take for this to reach you? Your curiosity will lead you to new questions that can “unearth” other opportunities of which you may not have awareness.

The Big Picture

Regardless of age, career satisfaction affects every part of your life. Take time to reflect upon your life and career satisfaction levels regularly. What’s working and what isn’t? Staying aware of your satisfaction levels can help you determine when you need to learn new things and/or meet new people.

In addition, thoughtful analysis and a bit of research can make necessary actions obvious — although not always easy. Then it’s time for action. Too much thought and not enough action can result in burn out and frustration. Look for ways that your actions can improve your outcomes (you may be surprised at how effective this technique is). Intelligent effort that produces results makes everyone feel more competent.

There’s no doubt about it — the work world we live in is more demanding than ever. It gives everyone greater opportunity to flex their creative muscles. And these fast-paced, information rich times put more responsibility on all of us to manage our lives, our careers, and our sense of fun; we have to create our own vision of what we want life to be.

You know I read a lot. Lately there are a lot of articles around about helicopter parents…parents who hover over their kids seems to be the usual definition of this phenomenon. These articles have been cropping up a lot lately because school’s just started and administrators are aggravated by these ‘over involved’ parents, and parents are now getting worried that they are becoming this type of parent if they are trying to be helpful to their kids. Well, I’m in favor of parental involvement. I’m in favor of parents educating themselves about what the world offers and how important it is for parents to know what kids are facing in the world. Parents shouldn’t be doing for their kids what their kids can do for themselves, but there’s nothing wrong with parents or teachers or other mentors showing kids how to do something the first time. Why not help someone who’s new at something to know how to do it so that they can do it for themselves the next time, and then feel good about it?

The times they are a changing — and on this anniversary of 9/11 I think it’s fair to say that the times are not getting easier. The times are getting more demanding. More is demanded — not asked — of all of us. We are all stretched (I’d like you to believe that I, as a coach and strategist who works with people to find balance, am a great example of a balanced working mother but it’s a daily challenge) and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. I do a pretty good job but it is not by any means easy, and with a son who is very, very easily distracted and overwhelmed by ‘executive processing’ tasks it means I work harder to help him organize his life. That means I’m organizing me — and I’ve got a lot going on – and him, and our home so we feel like we have a hub. I’m not doing anything unusual here…parents everywhere are doing this. And they are doing it because they love their kids and their kids are overwhelmed because they need to know more to keep up with the pace of life.

Parents get a bum rap because their kids are in ‘too many scheduled activities’, kids have ‘playdates’ instead of freely running around outside, or parents are criticized because kids are ‘over scheduled’. But the fact of the matter is that parents need their kids to be somewhere that’s supervised, doing something ‘good’ because the parents are working to provide a level of income that makes the other future options available to those beloved kids later in life. And plain and simple because life is just so much more expensive then ever.

Ok, so what about the helicopter thing? I see it more as attempting to mentor and advocate. Sure there are parents who are over the top and getting too involved…but is that the norm? I doubt it. My parents, and the parents of a lot of my peers, weren’t very involved or present as we kids stumbled along. And some of us fell through some jagged cracks and realized that more supervision and connection with our parents would have been beneficial. Voila! We have parents today who are remember what it felt like when they made a bunch of mistakes that they wish they hadn’t made. The parents who are making a real effort now are trying to help their kids avoid the mistakes they made. And they recognize that life is different now. If you’re an involved parent and want tips for how to support your growing adult kid keep looking here. I’ve heard too many clients say that they wish their parents had known what to tell them about work. I’ve got some ideas for those involved and interested parents. More to come…

I know it’s an understatement to say we are living in extraordinary times. The fascinating and radical transitions our world is experiencing with online media and advertising, the telecom craze and the global marketplace is staggering. Maybe I read too much — I don’t think so — but when I read article after article about the new developments in business that combine creativity and commerce all I see is abundant opportunity within reach for everyone. Everyone, that is, who is courageous enough to reach out and touch it.

Colleen DeCourcy is the new Chief Digital Officer at TBWA according to today’s Wall Street Journal. Clearly she has a big job ahead of her — bringing an agency to workable consensus of how to function by integrating digital as Standard Operating Procedure. The paper (I hope newspaper’s never go away — what’s better than standing at the kitchen counter with a great cup of coffee reading a great paper? — Hope you’re listening Mr. Murdoch) ran a great article today that includes a discussion with Ms. DeCourcy about digital media that highlights the need for digitally savvy creators and marketers. I get excited by statements like Ms. DeCourcy’s, “I think that people who continue to be culture eaters regardless of their age are trainable”. She points out that “People are mistaking recognizing digital as an object of conversation with having the craft to throw down”. What an invitation to learn and have something to ‘throw down’! There is such opportunity in this field for hands on learning and creativity — the new developments in digital marketing offer a place for creators of all kinds to sharpen their creative talents to use in a whole new way. The opportunities can boggle the mind — but they are there for those willing to invest time and money. Looks like a worthwhile investment. The marketplace needs courageous adventurers to get out there and grab the possibilities.

Be a culture eater and make something happen. I’ve always said that we need to ‘turn over rocks’ to find what’s available to us that we can’t see on the surface…that sounds a lot like DeCourcy’s ‘culture eaters’. It’s a feast out there. For the hungry the soup’s on!

While I was on vacation at Hilton Head, SC last week I had the chance to read the last few months of People magazine. One article that really grabbed me was about Alexis Stewart, Martha Stewart’s daughter. At 41 she is feeling heartbroken because she’s not been able to get pregnant. I have had clients and friends who have suffered through this agony — a strong and appropriate word. I had my son when I was almost 38, after having one miscarriage. I had always wanted to be a mother so when I had that miscarriage I went into a terrible spin about what my life would be like if I weren’t able to fulfill my dream of being a mother. It was an awful, scary time. Thankfully I gave birth to my son not long after that, and I am grateful everyday for the opportunities I have to parent, play with and teach my son…a precocious and often head strong boy who is much like his Mom and Dad.

Alexis Stewart believed she could put her dream of motherhood on hold while her own mother went through her very personal and public trials. Alexis bought the myth that women are infinitely fertile — a myth that the celebrity press has been propagating for several years. A client of mine worked for months trying to convince her husband that they should get started on the baby making when she was 35 — her husband was sure she could continue with her career full court press and wait until she was 40 to have a baby. Thankfully she convinced him that she couldn’t wait — she needed to have that baby. Good thing they started working at it when they did because it took longer than they thought it would. Finally at 37 she has the baby she wanted. And her career options are opening up in new ways to suit their family life.

I appreciate Alexis Stewart coming forward with her story. Young women (and men) have high expectations for what they’ll achieve in their lives — the Super Mom of the 80’s has just morphed into the Super Mom of the new century — we expect to do and have everything. We need to be clear about what we want, and be clear with ourselves and our men, too. Putting those expectations and wants out there can be very powerful in attracting what we want. I’m sorry that Alexis didn’t take her own needs more seriously — her mom already has her daughter and her career. Alexis put her dream on hold — a selfless thing to do, but was it worth the risk?

Sometimes you have to say ‘It’s my turn’ and turn your attention in the direction of your dreams even if you get resistance. Our bodies don’t wait for our, or someone else’s, schedule to be ready. Know what you want and don’t be afraid to say it out loud. Go for it! We figure it all out as we go forward. Alexis will too — one way or another we can get what we want, but it may not look like what we expected.

For more on women and their biological clocks I highly recommend women, and men, read The Female Brain by Dr. Louann Brizendine. Knowledge is power and this book is highly empowering for both sexes.