The Career You'll Love » stress

Is money the universal measure?

Carl — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:08:08 +0000

How much is your time worth?

I know some people who would say that all of their time should be judged by the wage that they get paid on the job. Suppose you’re paid $20 an hour, then you should think of your time spent eating meals as if you’re NOT getting paid $20 an hour to do that. If someone asks you for help, you should be thinking about whether it’s worth $20 an hour of your time to give them some assistance.

I don’t buy it.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

Prepare for your next job loss, for peace of mind

Carl — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:41:09 +0000

Sorry to tell you this, but there’s a good chance you’re going to lose a job in the future. And quite likely it’s going to be something outside your direct control.

Fine. So what have we learned from the last few years? After all, a lot of us have had our lives totally upended through our own job loss, or those close to us. It would be great if the next time didn’t cause quite so much heartbreak.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

Recovering from disappointment

Carl — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:28:38 +0000

It happened. You had that important presentation to the big boss, and it went down in flames. You were worried about it, and your worst fears came true.

Yikes!

Okay, now that you’re a little further away from the event, how do you recover?

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

Regenerating your energy

Carl — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:10:26 +0000

We’re constantly going through cycles in our jobs, in our careers, and in our lives. And if you’re out hunting for a job, it’s tough to keep your energy up to do the draining work every day.

Be sure to give yourself a break. Just as your body needs its rest every night, your mental stamina will also go through normal ups and downs.

But there’s also some tricks and techniques to regenerating your energy when you need to. Try some of these out to see what works for you.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

You can’t manage time

Carl — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:18:14 +0000

When you think about it, “time management” is a ridiculous concept. Time always has been, and will continue to be, impossible to manage.

Each of us is given 24 hours a day, and that’s it.

Really, the choice is about how you manage your attention: where you place your focus, your energy, and your effort.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

Tips on how to be motivated

Carl — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 01:27:34 +0000

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:

How to Stay Motivated at Work by Creating Your Own Reward System

Carl — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:57:44 +0000

In the work environment, it all seems to be about receiving recognition and compensation for the work we do. Great bosses know this, but there are so many others which are … clueless.

How do you keep motivated to do great work when your boss isn’t being much of a help?

One answer is to go ahead and create your own recognition and rewards for a job well done.

Read more on my Workbloom blog»

Take advantage of the opportunity

Carl — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:05:28 +0000

Some of you might know that I got hung up in London this week, due to the Eyjafjallajökull volcano blowing its top in Iceland. It was a bit upsetting because it disrupted all my plans for this week, and resulted in a great deal of uncertainty about whether I would even be home for some important events this weekend.

In the end, I grabbed a flight home yesterday, which oddly enough wasn’t even full. I’m still scratching my head over that one.

But here’s the important thing I learned: The universe handed me a great opportunity through all this. Rather than focusing on what I had lost, I put my energy into taking advantage of the situation. I stayed with some colleagues outside London, met some wonderful people, built some relationships, and even tried a number of great local beers.

Last week I was able to give a couple of workshops on Building Your Resilient Career for a bunch of my great former colleagues in HP. It was challenging for me, but also tremendously rewarding to be able to make such an important difference for so many people. The energy was quite remarkable.

So here’s my advice for the day: Surprises happen, things change, and life hands you unexpected challenges. Within each of those lies an opportunity for responding in a way which will give you some value. Even if it’s just learning about yourself.

Just-in-time worrying

Carl — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:40:29 +0000

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.

Read the rest of this on my Workbloom blog»

Lighten up!

Carl — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:37:40 +0000

Life’s stressful. So much work to do, so much to worry about. If you have a job, you’re stressed about losing it. If you don’t have a job, things seem so hopeless.

The fabric of society is falling apart. Politics bring important decisions to a standstill. Global climate change. Terrorism.

OK, folks, enough. Cut yourself some slack.

First, try to make a key distinction: Of everything that’s broken in the world, it’s important that somebody worries about it. That somebody doesn’t have to be you. That doesn’t mean you’re unaware of the need, but if you don’t have the means to do something useful, why is it you that needs to be the worrier?

Worry about the things where you can be a help, where you’ll actually do something.

Be aware of what’s going on in the world, and let other people take on the emotional burden.

Second, realize that negative energy shrinks you, and positive energy grows you. When I use positive energy – encouragement, lightness, humor, passion – I attract others who want to help. I increase the scope of my impact, and have more energy doing it.

When I use my negative energy – complaining, debating, accusing, berating – I drive away people who might be able to help. Those who remain are the type of people who are combative and self-serving, which reduces my impact. Energy is wasted internally, not getting useful things done.

Third, concentration and focus gives you a greater depth of impact. If I worry about the shortage of clean water in the world, it’s incredibly difficult for me to make a difference. If I focus on water in my community, I can now work with a few people who can influence important decisions.

Let me leave you with a thought to ponder: Giving positive energy to others is one of the greatest free gifts you have to offer. And when you do that, they will give positive energy back to you in abundance.

Kind of like sharing your love, really.