The Career You'll Love » relaxation

Ten ways to rebuild your energy

Carl — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:19:03 +0000

I don’t know about you, but there’s some days I can hardly get myself out of bed. The prospect of yet another day of pointless work….

Or I get out of meetings late in the afternoon and it hits me how behind I am. REALLY behind.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

A Springtime Attitude

Carl — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:57:45 +0000

The Career You’ll Love

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A Springtime Attitude

Here at the foot of the Rockies in Colorado, spring is definitely arriving. We need more rainfall, to be sure, but the trees and flowers are budding. It’s so nice to be able to let the breeze flow through our house during the day.

This helps me to realize that there is a time for rebirth – not only in nature, but in my work, family, and spiritual life as well. It’s time to take advantage of this and change my attitude.

The first thing I’ll do is put away things that aren’t going to serve me during the warmer months. That means the snow shovels and winter clothes, of course. But in my career, I also notice that there’s some activities which were once useful but not so much anymore. Perhaps it’s some groups I’ve been involved with on a regular basis, or sources of information (looked at what’s clogging the inbox?) that aren’t so interesting anymore. It’s time to retire those with grace, and gratitude for how well they served me in the past. But then move on.

The next thing I’ll do is some house cleaning, removing the dust and grime and organizing things anew. In my career, I see that there’s skills which have been a bit ignored, so maybe it’s time to brush those up. My time and e-mail management tools have not been working as well for me, so it’s time to figure out how to really make those perform well again.

Finally, moving into the new season means that I’ll be doing different activities than I did during the winter. This is time to shift the balance a little, so that I can spend time with my family and get a bit of relaxation. In my career, it’s time to realize that relaxation and rejuvenation are important – not just escaping from work, but maybe looking also at HOW I do my work.

What are the opportunities you’re seeing to inject some spring into your career?

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.

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Playing is good!

Carl — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 15:56:48 +0000

When did we get so darned serious?

Yeah, things are rough. There’s a lot of stress, a lot to worry about. Work never ends – if you’re lucky enough to have a job.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

Public speaking with zero preparation

Carl — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 05:01:17 +0000

It happens.

Here you are in the store, and you run across a friend. She’s with another person, and makes the connection that perhaps the two of you might be able to help each other. So with no notice, you’re asked to talk for 30 seconds about what you do – and relate it to this other person. Terror sets in.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

10 incredible team-building trips you wish your company would do

Carl — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:46:37 +0000

I got a note from a reader pointing me to this Bschool blog post: 10 Incredible Team-Building Trips You Wish Your Company Would Do. Of course, these examples are so notable precisely because they’re so far outside our normal experience.

Actually, I’m not a great fan of doing outrageous things that often. In my view, parties and events should be proportional to the impact of what’s being celebrated. I would imagine that there might have been a pretty outrageous party after NASA landed the first man on the moon.

But I wouldn’t think it would be good to have outrageous parties for relatively normal events. With that mentality, you end up with an over-the-top culture like Enron or AIG.

So here’s today’s thought to consider: Celebration is good, whether it’s work-related or personal. What would be proportional to the emotional impact you’d like it to have?

Perhaps that’s an interesting thought as we consider what to do for our sweethearts for Valentine’s day!

Have a rejuvenating lunch break!

Carl — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 03:36:19 +0000

I’ve seen more and more people for whom the concept of a lunch break has effectively disappeared. There’s so much to do, and spending time on a break seems like a waste. So lunch is wolfed down at your desk, and work continues on.

But here’s the thing: Done properly, a break makes you MORE productive for the rest of your work.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

What we can learn from Autumn

Carl — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 03:10:19 +0000

I’m a big fan of the yearly weather cycle. Here in Colorado, we have seasons which are quite distinct from each other.

As we head into autumn, we see that nature is heading toward hibernation. Rather than dying, the trees are going dormant. It’s a dangerous time for forest fires because the winter moisture hasn’t yet arrived, but even fires are necessary for some trees to create their next generation.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

How to get in the zone!

Carl — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 01:11:09 +0000

What puts you “in the zone?”

We’ve all been there. It’s the place where you’re fully engaging all your energy, your passion, both the left and right halves of your brain.

You’re in the zone when you lose sense of time, and you have a heightened sense of engagement and accomplishment. And you’re having fun.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

Gimme a break!

Carl — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:29:06 +0000

I’ve been a bit under the weather for the last week, recovering from an unpleasant bout of stomach flu. Now that I’m back up to 98% again, I was thinking about the value of taking a break from the intensity and stress.

One of the nice things about getting sick – if you permit me to say something might be “nice” here – is that it gave me a great excuse to let things slide a little bit. I had a great reason to blow off some the less important meetings and to reset expectations. After all, everyone has first-hand experience with being ill.

Here’s the lesson to be learned: Breaks are necessary for rejuvenation and rebuilding. I know that life seems extremely complex and stressful at the moment, with no end in sight. It feels as if there’s no room at all to let up, to get some rest, to take a break.

That’s a mirage. If you’re in this life for the long term, you need to make your decisions around having the best overall life, long term.

That’s one of the great things about having a holiday season every year, whatever you might celebrate. Many use the time as an opportunity to take a break from the intensity of work, and reconnect with family and other priorities. The result is often a new focus and energy for the coming year.

When I coach, it’s not uncommon for me to give the client my “permission” to push concerns aside for a moment. The word is used partially for its shock value, because it’s rather strange phrase to use when I have no particular authority to give permission for anything. But this also helps the client to realize that taking a break is under his or her control, a conscious choice. That creates a new sense of freedom, the possibility to move into a fresh way of thinking.

Here’s my gift to you today, even though I have no authority to do this: I give you permission to take a short break. Or better yet, just recognize that you’re already taking a break by spending a few moments reading this.

What are you going to do with the rest of this break? Perhaps have a little fun, build a little energy?

You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies

Carl — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:22:46 +0000

Something light and interesting today! My wife and I went to the Phoenix Art Museum this afternoon, and there were some fascinating pieces.

One was a piece entitled “You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies” by Yayoi Kusama. Let’s see if I can try to describe it before giving you a URL.

It’s a completely black room, with mirrors on all surfaces. As you walk (OK, stumble) through the room, you’re surrounded by a whole bunch of little LED lights hanging from wires. They’re at all levels, and because everything is mirrored, you perceive that you’re completely surrounded ad infinitum by these lights. And they slowly change color.

It’s quite disorienting, but fascinating. It took a minute to collect my brain after getting out of there.

I found a video which does a decent job of showing you what this might look like: check this out.