For many years, I fell into a trap: Working on problems.
What’s wrong with that?
Well, think about this: A problem is something that’s defined by your situation, or by someone else. Working on that problem means that you’re trying to find a solution that is just defined by that problem, and doesn’t usually address anything deeper.
The Career You’ll LoveSponsored by Carl Dierschow’s career blog at www.Dierschow.com |
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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. (more…)
Why are you here?
It’s one of the core questions of human existence, really, because without any purpose there’s no reason to live. Some people would frame this question as, “Why are WE here?”, but that’s really only motivating to philosophers. It really hits home when you make it personal.
By default, I suppose, I’m here because of the random circumstances of my birth and upbringing. But that only says how I ended up acting the way I do, not that there’s a reason for me to be here in the first place.
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…)
“This is a terrible place to work!” “My boss is an idiot!” “I hate my job!”
We hear these complaints all the time, and we know how it affects us to hear them. We might join the complaint train, we might feel sadness and empathy, or we might even try to argue.
But let’s think for a minute about what it means to the person who SAYS these things.
As a coach, I work with clients all the time who struggle to make tough career decisions. Here’s what’s interesting about this: usually they’re so focused on trying to find a solution that they don’t notice that they’re not sure what the real problem is.
Here’s an example. Joseph is struggling because he’s not happy with his job: the work isn’t interesting, his boss is a jerk, and the organization is overly political. The solution, clearly, is to find a new job which fixes these three problems.
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.
Peter Bregman, in the Harvard Business Review, wrote an interesting article this week about what motivates people to help. If you haven’t seen it yet, follow that link and have a look. Peter raises an interesting question about why people are motivated to give to others, to help.
In general, people like to be helpful. I suppose part of it is an expectation of getting something in return, but that’s not the core.
The fact is, you get a rush just from knowing you’ve done good. It actually physically feels good to you, and in many cases that may be enough reward in itself.
Of course, we get rather cynical about all this. Many charitable organizations prey on our need to be loved and to feel like we’re making a difference. After a while we get the sense that maybe we’re not actually making the difference that we’d hoped, and that some of the unscrupulous types might be taking advantage of us.
That’s why Peter’s example is so powerful. It’s about making a difference to someone here and now, in a way that makes a difference that you can actually see.
Here’s what we learn about giving:
As I said before, the act of giving has great value. Remember that in your own life, and those of people who you work with.
Who are You, the real person?
On this blog, I’ve talked a lot about career issues, but let’s face it: That’s only a part of who You are. I would hope that you recognize that there’s other important areas of your life: your family, spiritual growth, your physical self, contribution to important causes, your social circles – and perhaps more.
Your Authentic Self is the person underlying all that.
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