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TODAY’S WISE
WORDS
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Nobody can
give you wiser advice than yourself. ~ Cicero
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1. Featured
Article
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The Key to
Changing Course is to Start:
6 Tips on
How to Get Started
By Valerie
Young
Sometimes
signs arrive when you least expect them. On a recent dog walk along the
Connecticut River, I spotted a large white sign tacked to a tree on the
opposite shore. The sign contained a single word: Start.
This simple
but powerful word got me thinking of all the different places someone who
wanted to change course could start. Here are 6 tips to get you started on
getting started:
1. Start
where you are.
The great
tennis player Arthur Ashe once said, “Start where you are. Use what you
have. Do what you can.” Let’s say the main thing holding you back from is
money. You might start by downsizing your life now so when you do take the
leap, you’ll be better prepared to earn less in the short term. Or, you
could start by setting up a special savings account to fund your dream. The
psychological impact of saving for a dream can be as powerful as the actual
monetary earnings.
2. Start
hanging out with the right crowd.
A client
name Eve had been a teacher for 20 years. Whenever she talked about the
things she’d love to do – travel, work with dogs, start a summer camp, her
voice would fill with excitement. This initial excitement would though
always turn to resignation, “I know this is just a pipe dream,” she’d sigh.
The fact
that I never see dreams as unrealistic made me think that Eve was probably
hanging out with the wrong people. People who have always worked for someone
else tend to have a status quo, play it safe, the only way out is to hit the
lottery type mentality. Entrepreneurs on the other hand are possibility
people. They think “what if…” and “why not?” and then they go out and make
it happen.
Where do you find entrepreneurs? You don’t have to be a business owner to
join your local chamber of commerce or another organization like
Business and Professional
Women (BPW). Even though I’m not an inventor, I joined a local
inventor’s group just to be in the company of “yes you can” type people.
3. Start
tuning into your gifts
A great
place to begin to explore your true calling is by looking back at the kinds
of things you loved to do as a child. That’s what Barbara Ewing of
Springfield, Massachusetts did. Barbara has known since she was young that
she loved to cook. When other kids were outside playing Barbara would be in
the kitchen.
Pay
attention, too, to the things you love to do right now. Like Barbara, Cindy
Friedman of California shared a passion for food and cooking. When I first
met Cindy she was considering becoming a personal chef. Living in wine
country also made her want to work somehow with wine.
For Gail
Greenwald, a 41-year-old from New York City, that love is yoga. So much so
that after a long day working at her job in a media research company, Gail
still had the energy to teach a yoga class. If something makes you happy, it
probably contains important clues to your calling.
If you still
don’t know what you want to be “when you grow up” then start by trying to
find out. You might want to do as Barbara did and start by recalling the
kinds of things you loved doing as a kid, start reading Wishcraft, or
anything by Barbara Sher, or checking out the various resources described at
http://www.ChangingCourse.com/passion.htm
4. Start
listening more to yourself and less to others.
Pablo
Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain
an artist once he grows up.” Unfortunately, even in childhood, our dreams
too often get dismissed. Barbara says that growing up, her interest in
cooking was always either viewed as a hobby or as “cute.” She says, “I was
never encouraged to pursue this as a career choice,” adding “sadly, I am not
alone. If more people would just stop listening to others and instead
develop [their] God given talent or skill,” she writes, “we as a society
would have happier, less stressed, successful workers (verses the grumpy,
stressed, unhappy, successful workers).”
Once you do
find your gift, Gail says you should never dive in without doing your
homework. Once you do though, she adds, you should “listen to your heart
because your head will tell you differently.”
5. Start
letting go of the idea that everything has to be perfect.
In his online newsletter,
Quick Tips for Creative People, creativity coach Bob Baker writes,
“Far too many creative people drag out the artistic process, adjusting a
detail here, fine-tuning a nuance there... waiting for a time when the thing
is as perfect as they can get it. Others wait years just to start a new
project. They require every factor (including their mood) to be in alignment
before they'll even take the first step.”
Perfectionism is the bane of dreams. So is striving to be the “expert” who
has to know everything there is to know about a subject before you can take
action. And like perfectionism, striving to be the expert can slow you down
or, in some cases, bring your goals to a screeching halt.
Why? Because
if your definition of competence is “needing to know everything there is to
know” then there will always have one more book to read, one more class to
take, one more presentation to make, one more book to write, one more degree
to earn before you dare pronounce yourself “qualified.”
6. Start
taking action.
Since
attending the Dreams Can’t Wait workshop last May, Barbara has made
tremendous strides in turning her dream of launching her own food line into
reality.
She writes,
“I have decided on a name for my food brand, contacted the Franklin County
Community Development Center and met with director of the Food Center. I
have chosen the first six or so recipes I want to use to get the food line
started. I have also started formulating the next level (growth) processes.
In addition to the contact with the Food Center and development of my ideas,
I have enrolled in the AWAI
Copywriting and Resume writing courses. My plan is to use some of the
writing income to fund the Food project.”
Cindy too
took action. After 16 years in the software industry in Marin County,
California, the 39-year-old decided it was time to get off the fast track.
She quit her high-pressured sales job and moved to a less expensive area of
the state to work in the field she really loved, wine and food.
But first
she reconsidered her initial idea of becoming a personal chef. “After giving
this careful consideration I decided to hold off pursuing it in the fear
that I would burn out and not enjoy cooking for my own family and friends
anymore... which is something I enjoy immensely.”
The
important thing is that Cindy put herself in a position to be open to
possibility. So when a part time position opened up in Chico at a very
successful wine bar and cheese shop, she went for it. “The customers are
demanding and walk in with their dinner menus and ask for specific wine
pairing recommendations. This job has turned into much more than just retail
sales. I have helped the owner with special events, including wine tasting
classes, etc.”
Sometimes changing course happens in phases. Cindy says, “I am exactly where
I need to be. Even though I am not running my own business I have
flexibility and am able to enjoy being involved with something I am
passionate about. Perhaps someday I'll become such an expert in my field
that I can teach community classes about wine tasting basics and pairing
wine and food!”
Gail has
also taken bold steps to transform her love of yoga into her career. These
are the kind of follow up emails every career advisor loves to get. She
writes:
“About 3
weeks [after our session] I found a listing on a yoga website for a yoga
teacher at a B&B in Cozumel, Mexico. I corresponded with the owner, went
down in June to visit and this Thursday I'm leaving for a stay of four
months to teach yoga classes in English. I quit my job to follow a more
rewarding path.
Three weeks later another update arrives. Reading Gail’s update should
inspire anyone with a dream to start. She writes:
“My decision to go to Cozumel, Mexico involved a surrendering of some sort.
I left a steady job, the sites and sounds of New York City, said goodbye to
clients, co-workers, friends and family to make room for a new experience.
My schedule and transportation options allow me to bike to Playa Azul during
the day. I swim in the clear turquoise colored waters at this beach and
admire palm trees sprouting out of white powdery sand.
I am able to travel to Isla Mujeres, another island that is a laid back
Carribean paradise of shallow clear waters. It is twenty minutes by ferry
from the city of Cancun on the Mexican mainland. An overnight stay at the
island enabled me to see the moon lighting a lunar path over the sea and
fall asleep to the sound of the ocean’s ebb and flow.
I find myself giving in to afternoon naps. The temperature has been in the
80’s with high humidity. It is perfect for falling asleep below a whirling
ceiling fan. There are areas of Cozumel I would still like to explore, but
when I feel my body dragging and my eyes closing, doing nothing is more
satisfying.”
Not quite
ready for such a big change? Then start small. Read a book, take a course,
talk to someone who is doing work you’re drawn to, research how other people
are making a living from their love of animals, cooking, writing, travel,
art, or wherever your own gifts lie.
If you’re
waiting for inspiration to strike first, don’t. As Frank Tibolt put it, “We
should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always
generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.” When it
comes to changing the course of your life, the key is always simply to
start.
Off the
beaten path career counselor, Valerie Young, abandoned her corporate cubicle
to become the Dreamer in Residence at
http://www.ChangingCourse.com, offering free resources to help
you discover your life mission and live it. An expert on the Imposter
Syndrome, she’s presented her How to Feel as Bright and Capable as Everyone
Seems to Think You Are program to over 30,000 people. Find more articles
written by Valerie at
http://www.ChangingCourse.com/articles/
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2. 12 Gift
Giving Ideas
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Avoid the
last minute rush! Help yourself or someone you love “change course” this
holiday season with these great gift ideas… including gifts for under $35!
1.
Making Dreams
Happen featuring career change experts Barbara Sher, Barbara Winter and
Valerie Young in this 24 CD audio program. Now with a new payment plan
option.
2.
Mark Victor
Hansen’s Building Your Mega Speaking Empire. Everything you need to
launch your career as a highly paid speaker.
3.
Barbara Sher’s “Dare
to Live Your Dream” Audio Program will give you all the techniques,
practical nuts-and-bolts, and step-by-step methods you need to identify your
gifts and use them to turn your dreams in to reality. Begin to live your
dreams today at
4.
One on One Creative
Career Consultation with Valerie Young can help you figure out what
kinds of things really excite you... and then show you how you can earn a
living doing the very things you most love.
5.
Mark Victor
Hansen’s Mega Book University features a hand-picked panel of highly
successful colleagues will teach you their insider secrets to writing,
publishing, and promoting your own best-seller. Read all about it
~~~~~ GREAT
GIFTS FOR UNDER $35 ~~~~~
6.
Finding Your True
Calling will help you discover the work you were born to do... learn how
to reawaken the "unique genius" within you... find out how to redesign your
life one step at a time... and more.
7.
Yes You Can! is
the perfect tool to adjust your mindset by “hanging out” with a group of
people who know how to guide you along your path and give you that
inspirational jolt you need to stop wishing and start doing.
8.
How to Feel As Bright
and Capable As Everyone Seems to Think You Are: What Every Woman (and
Man) Needs to Know About Competence, the Impostor Syndrome, and the Art of
Winging (Handbook) features 20 exercises to help you understand why so many
intelligent, competent women and men just like you secretly feel that you’ve
“fooled” people into thinking you’re smarter and more competent than you
“know” you are.
9.
How to Feel As Bright
and Capable As Everyone Seems to Think You Are: What Every Woman (and
Man) Needs to Know About Competence, the Impostor Syndrome, and the Art of
Winging (CD) This live presentation includes strategies to help you to start
seeing yourself as the intelligent and competent person you really are.
10.
The 10 Steps to
Escaping the Job World and Creating the Life You Really Want (CD). What
if living the life you love and doing work you love were just ten steps
away?
11.
Winning Ways: How to
Profit from Your Passions will teach you how to turn what you love to do
into income with this inspiring and informative newsletter from Barbara
Winter, the author of “Making a Living Without a Job.”
12.
The Caretaker Gazette:
Live Rent Free gives you 700+ property caretaking opportunities each
year, from New Mexico to New Zealand
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INSPIRATION
TO FOLLOW YOUR BLISS
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Failure is,
in a sense, the highway to success… ~ John Keats
The best
thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time. ~ Abraham
Lincoln
The
indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this:
decide what you want. ~ Ben Stein
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3. GUEST
ARTICLE
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The Courage
to Change
By Judith
Kirk
Autumn ~
crisp, cool nights and pleasant days; vibrant red, yellow, orange and rust;
a hot cup of tea and a cozy fire; a good book and the call of Canada geese.
These are autumn changes and they fill me with peace and joy. As Henry David
Thoreau said, “Only that day dawns to which we are awake.” It is time to
wake up and look around; we are in the midst of change.
As I venture
forth in Vermont during this time of year, I am amazed at the power of
nature. It has the ability to heal, to provide rest and rejuvenation, and
the courage to burst forth with a new color scheme. Autumn is eloquently a
part of the circle of life. I stop for a moment and ponder my own circle of
life. What changes have I made and do I have the courage to change some
more?
Life is a
journey, a journey to enjoy. I am going to embark on a journey right now. Do
you have the courage to come along? I hope so and I hope this journey will
be a vehicle for change for you and for me.
The Journey
of Change…
Let’s park
the car, get out, and walk awhile. The sun is bright and warming the day
nicely. The air is fresh. Put on your hiking boots, as the ground is uneven
and slick with the morning dew. Grab your backpack and let’s go!
Choosing a
Path…
Shall we go
this way or that way? Shall we choose our own path or follow someone else’s
footsteps? You decide. Sometimes it is easier to travel down a trail blazed
and well worn. Other times it is best to choose a new direction. Let’s stop
for a moment and think about what we are seeking. Do we want to climb the
mountain and enjoy the autumn scenery from the top – a mountaintop
experience? Or, do we want to tread the serene valley along the meandering
brook? Are we looking for peace and solitude or do we need the company of
fellow hikers? Do you have the courage to choose?
Enjoy the
Moments…
As we tread
along, we must be conscious of where we place our feet. The trail is uneven
with rocks and exposed roots that have a tendency to trip us if we are not
attentive. Periodically we need to stop to take in the vista. We need to
experience the harmony of nature around us. It is a simple pleasure to watch
the chipmunks scurry among the rocks, lose our thoughts at the edge of a
waterfall, or breathe in the scents of the pine grove. Take a deep breath.
Ah, wonderful autumn air!
Think for a
moment about your life and side journeys along the way. Too often, we focus
on where we are placing our feet and fail to recognize the peaceful
surroundings. Too often, we spend a great deal of time taking care of all
our stuff, our successes of the past and choices for the future and forget
to look around at life’s treasures of the moment. Too often, we go through
each day doing things by rote without even thinking about why we are doing
them. We repeat old habits, get the same results and wonder why. Too often,
we fail to take the time to nourish our soul. Too often, we miss golden
opportunities.
If we do not
slow the pace, we will miss the small blue flowers cascading over the
ledges. We will miss the call of the birds high in the branches. We will
miss the brilliant autumn display. What was the point of this journey,
anyway? We need to remember that it is the process, not the destination that
is important. Do you have the courage to slow down?
The Simple
Life…
As we
journey along our chosen pathway, we begin to notice the tension deep within
the body gradually dissipate. We relax and breathe deeper transferring
oxygen into the cells. We feel a sense of peace. Little by little our
attitude changes and a smile spreads slowly across our face.
Think for a
moment about your daily schedule, the rat race on the highways, the
pressures of success, chaos, clutter and confusion. Do you feel your
shoulders tightening and your breathing become more rapid and shallow? Now
come back to our autumn journey and relax. Life is simpler here.
Our journey
continues and we travel through thick wooded areas. We are glad that we
remembered to put some items into our backpacks. It is time to pull out the
sweatshirt. It provides warmth in the coolness of the forest.
A little
farther along, we notice light filtering through the trees. It is time to
sit in a patch of sunlight savoring the warmth; the sweatshirt no longer
needed. We reach into the backpack for water and a nourishing snack. We
packed well; we have what we need. Do you have the courage to lighten your
load?
A Journey of
Choices and Changes…
As we walk
along harmoniously with nature, I would like to pose another question for
you to ponder. What choices and what changes could you make that would free
you from your daily stress? Pick just one change and try it out. Do not rush
the process. Take it one-step at a time. Do you remember the story about
rabbit and the turtle? Slow steady steps win the race.
When I am
working with clients who have the massive goal of organizing their whole
life, the first thing I want them to understand is that one small change
yields huge benefits. After all, in the autumn the leaves start to change
gradually – a spot of red here and there, a blend of yellow and orange in
the midst of green. Nature teaches us that gradual changes are the easiest
to bear. Do you have the courage to make small changes?
Our autumn
journey has ended, but your journey has just begun. Here are a few thoughts
to take along with you.
1. Take a friend ~ It is much easier to share the burdens and more fun to
share the joys. The beauty of a rainbow is more spectacular when someone
shares it with you.
2. Organize your supplies ~ If the sun is shining you may not need the
umbrella. However, do remember to take the sweatshirt, nourishment, and
water. It is important to provide for your physical, emotional and mental
needs.
3. Vary the pace ~ There is a time to hurry along and a time to slow down.
Knowing when to stop is as important as when to begin.
4. Take along a map or ask for directions ~ You don’t want to tackle an
unknown trail without some guidance. Seek out tips on how to make your
journey easier.
5. Change gradually ~ Over the years you have accumulated a lot of stuff.
Learn to let go of one or two things until you reach the point where life is
manageable.
6. Take a rest ~ Brief rest stops along the journey will recharge your
battery as well as give you an opportunity to enjoy the immediate
environment. While you are resting, contemplate your purpose in life. Gaze
inward, for that is where all the answers lie.
7. Choose the simple life ~ Simple living is finding and keeping adequate
space and time for yourself, for those you love, for the place you live and
for the work you do.
8. Pack wisely ~ Do you have all you need? Do you need all you have?
9. Keep your heart light ~ Learn the value of laughter. It makes a world of
difference.
10. Do you have the courage to change?
If you are
interested in more information on the attitudes of living a simple life and
the power of organizing, please contact Judith Kirk through her website at
http://www.OrganizingResources.com
live life on purpose
