When I work with people on their career plans, I’m often asked what I mean by creating a long-term plan. Does this mean you’re supposed to detail out what you’ll be doing for the rest of your life? Impossible!
I had a client a few years ago who had a career plan for the next 25 years. Seriously. Personally, I find it challenging to map out five years.
No matter how much I know I need to do some things, it’s a pain. I have to wash the dishes, but nothing much is going to happen if I don’t do it right now. So maybe I’ll procrastinate for awhile, then a little longer. Pretty soon, it’s next week with a big pile of dishes in the sink.
There’s a number of great ways to get around these mental barriers:
Our culture focuses on the future. We seek out what’s new and fresh, always wanting to have novel experiences.
But there’s a lot to be learned from the past.
I had a chance to work with over a hundred people last week in workshops around career planning. The theme of each session was on developing your own resilient career, which many people are struggling with right now. Worried about insecurity and job loss, many are finding it difficult to realize that they have options and choices.
But I wanted to talk a bit about humor, lightness, and energy. (more…)
Here’s a simple, but interesting concept I’d like to throw at you today.
How much time and energy do I spend worrying about the future? I might lose my job. That next appointment with the doctor might not go well. We don’t know how the new US Health Care law will impact us personally.
As the year and the decade draw to a close, I just wanted to express my gratitude for all the help I’ve received this year. It’s been tumultuous, the future is uncertain, and depression and fear still reign over the economy.
Despite all that, I’ve been blessed with a great number of friends and supporters, a wonderful number of opportunities, and the love of my family. If you’re going to lose your job and head off into a new career, it’s hard to ask for more.
Thank you.
Now let’s get to work on making 2010 a much better place!
When I was growing up as a child in the 1960s, I thought about the upcoming turn of the century – 2000 seemed so impossibly far away. But here we are, ten years AFTER entering this new millennium, and it’s disappeared so quickly!
Ten years I was employed in Hewlett-Packard, just beginning to discover this new emerging field called coaching. I was managing a team that was embroiled in the whole Y2K issue, worried that all our hard preparation might not have been enough to ward off customer problems on January 1st. As it turns out, things went remarkably well.
I was in a networking meeting this morning with HR people who are job-hunting, and I had a chance to do an exercise with them that you might find useful.
I had a great discussion with a group of leaders today, about how to unleash the hidden potential within their organization. Here’s the basic idea.
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