| It’s not uncommon to get advice about taking on the contractor’s mindset, even when you’re a corporate employee. Heck, I wrote an article about thatmyself a couple of years ago.But I’ve been working more with entrepreneurs lately, people who are shooting for something much larger than just landing their next job. (more…) |
| I tend to think of myself as an optimistic guy. Despite some internal struggles and down moments, I find that it’s more fun going through life looking for opportunity more than focusing on pain.But this can get me into trouble sometimes. |
When I gave a presentation a few weeks ago, I talked about how people relate to their income level. I observed that people worry about money a great deal when their income is less than sufficient to maintain their lifestyle, but they focus on other things once they can generally afford how much they spend. But “lifestyle” is a very individual term, something that each person and family develops as a norm.
This is from a manager’s point of view, and can be used to explain why people stay in jobs even though they might be paid more elsewhere. When an employee has “sufficient” income, he’ll tend to focus more on other factors. Relationship with co-workers now have more weight, as does the motivating factor of working on something that’s actually important.
I also observed that many employees in the current economy have been forced to slide back into situations where they’re unmotivated and unhappy, just to maintain a satisfactory income. Or perhaps less than acceptable income.
How would an employee use this information? In a growing economy, you’ll generally have the ability to move your lifestyle up during your lifetime. When you do that, you’ll feel relatively happy, even rich. You’re able to get a nicer car than you had before, and move into a nicer home.
But this is a temporary effect. As soon as your expectations get adjusted to the new comforts, you’re not really any more satisfied than you used to be.
And realize that adjusting your lifestyle back down can be QUITE painful. I’ve seen both good and bad examples. I’ve seen divorces ruin peoples’ lives for economic reasons, because they’re now trying to maintain two households with no additional income. Even worse is when people destroy their finances by attempting to maintain their lifestyle through debt.
But I’ve seen a few good examples, too. I talked with a person last year who essentially “rebooted” her lifestyle after a job change, starting over again with fewer luxuries, lower obligations, and less debt. That’s pretty courageous, but it reinvigorated her spirit. She’s now focused on spending her life doing good for people rather than amassing a big pile of possessions.
I’ve also seen people who had enough self-control to take any pay raises and put them almost entirely into savings and investments. They’re delaying the upward adjustment in lifestyle in the short term, to give themselves more cushion against risk.
When I set out in my own business three years ago, this was a serious challenge for my family. It takes a long time to grow a successful business, so we had to decide which expenses we could reduce. And it’s generally been a healthy route for us, but now always easy.
But if you’re going to adjust your lifestyle – up or down – do it with some forethought and intention. You’ll be happier.
| Carl Dierschow is a Certified Small Fish Business Coach and author of the career management guide, Mondays Stink! 23 Secrets to Rediscover Delight and Fulfillment in Your Work. He is a career coach for those going through interesting transitions, and works with small business owners who need to create breakthroughs in achieving their business goals. Find out more at www.Dierschow.com and www.SmallFish.us.
If you are interested in individual career coaching, group coaching, or other resources which might help you with difficult choices, please contact Carl at carl@dierschow.com. Connect with Carl on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to get timely updates and connections to a broader range of professionals. |
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| To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, send an e-mail to newsletter@Dierschow.com
© 2011 Possibilities Partnership LLC |
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| You’re feeling beat up. Your career has been jerked around for the last five years, even more, and the inspiration you once had seems to be a distant memory. Maybe you feel stranded in a leaky lifeboat, wondering if you’ll ever see a brighter future.I understand. Many people are in this place right now, so you’re not alone. |
You’ve heard this advice before: If you wait until a job opening is posted, it’s too late!
How frustrating! You’re following the rules, and I’m saying that there’s no possible way to win. What – you’re supposed to break the rules and sprinkle magic dust in order to find a job?
Read more on my Workbloom blog»
It’s not WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know. Right? So who is it that you should know?
The implicit assumption is that if you want to get a new job, you need to know people who have jobs. But that could be ANYbody with decision-making authority, so it’s not as helpful as you’d like to think.
Read more on my Workbloom blog»
What’s the next step in your career?
The way you answer this question says a lot about how you relate to your work – whether it’s pulling you or pushing you.
Read more on my Workbloom blog»
The Career You’ll LoveSponsored by Carl Dierschow’s career blog at www.Dierschow.com |
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| Welcome to my career tips newsletter! I encourage you to pass this to anyone who might have an interest in revitalizing their career – instructions for subscribing are at the bottom. | |
Asking for helpI’ve noticed a curious thing about asking for favors. You’d think that the difficulty of getting someone to give you something would directly relate to how valuable it is. If I ask for a dollar, you might give it to me. But ten dollars? That should be about ten times harder. If that’s the case, though, I should never be able to convince you to help me with something that will take many hours of work on your part. You’re very busy – everybody’s busy – so what would cause you to just give me a lot of your time? What’s going on here, it appears, is a much more complex transaction. There’s a lot of value you might receive from giving me some of your time:
These are often the reasons people contribute to charitable causes or join groups. Especially when you aren’t getting paid for your contribution, it’s clear that these other factors are what drives you to engage and help out. What do we do with this knowledge? A particular case I run into constantly is this: John would like to learn something from Jane, but is reluctant to ask for her time. He fears that he might look foolish, and is worried that Jane will see it as an imposition. And in fact, she might, if John approaches it the wrong way. “I’d like to schedule a two hour meeting with you” seems difficult for a busy person. Why? Because it hasn’t conveyed that Jane is going to get anything useful out of it – perhaps it will just be a boring waste of time. If John really values Jane’s knowledge, he should let her know. Here’s some useful phrases that he might weave into a question:
Each of these, to varying degrees, conveys a sense of gratitude to Jane: She’s going to end up feeling good about having helped John’s career. John will end up receiving priceless knowledge, and in the same way, Jane will receive priceless satisfaction. That’s much easier, in fact, than trying to get a stranger to give you $10.
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| Carl Dierschow is a Certified Small Fish Business Coach and author of the career management guide, Mondays Stink! 23 Secrets to Rediscover Delight and Fulfillment in Your Work. He is a career coach for those going through interesting transitions, and works with small business owners who need to create breakthroughs in achieving their business goals. Find out more at www.Dierschow.com and www.SmallFish.us.
If you are interested in individual career coaching, group coaching, or other resources which might help you with difficult choices, please contact Carl at carl@dierschow.com. Connect with Carl on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to get timely updates and connections to a broader range of professionals. |
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| To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, send an e-mail to newsletter@Dierschow.com
© 2011 Possibilities Partnership LLC |
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Whew! It looks like we may actually survive to the end of 2011 – and it’s been a brutal year. If you’re lucky enough to have a job, you’ve probably worried about whether you’d keep it.
Read more on my Workbloom blog»
Some years ago, I ran across a person who asked me, “How’s it going?”. I issued the standard answer, “fine,” thinking nothing of it. End of conversation, nothing interesting said.
Read more on my Workbloom blog»
—> Small Fish Business Coaching