Welcome! History and Hope

2010-03-30T14:33:00.000-04:00

Welcome! This is my first attempt at creating a blog. It contains thoughts, feelings, and hope for the future.
Constructive comments are welcome.

Let's begin with My Story ... we all have a story right?

Two years ago the company where I worked downsized and eliminated my fairly lucrative but personally unfulfilling job (sound familiar?). Whoa! Now what am I going to do? If you've ever been unemployed or are now experiencing this turn of events, you know unemployment is humiliating, demoralizing, depressing, and the fear of the unknown can be paralyzing. I allowed it to devour my confidence which sapped my energy and I turned into a negative, unpleasant person which only made matters worse. I unconsciously but systematically began to alienate myself from family, friends, and former business colleagues, the very people I needed most in my life, the people who really cared about me. Sound familiar?

After writing dozens of resumes, cover letters, searching the Internet job sites, applying to a host of employment agencies, attending scores of "how to reinvent yourself, how to get a high-paying job in today's environment and how to (you name it), reading mountains of personal development articles, books, and information posted by online "gurus" it became abundantly clear that I was going to have to stop sabotaging myself and get a grip on things or the rest of my life could end up in the dumper!

As if all this wasn't bad enough, I sustained a work-related injury at a spa during a stint as a nail technician (a job to try to make some money while I found my next dream job) to my shoulder which required surgery in January 2008. Shortly after that debacle ... my gallbladder went on strike and it was necessary to undergo more surgery in March 2008. The added stress combined with nasty side-effects from anesthesia and pain-killers just put me over the top.

It was time to take ACTION ... time to quit feeling sorry for myself, blaming the economy, employment recruiters, age discrimination, lack of technical skills, too much experience or not enough experience. It was time to quit hoping the proverbial knight on a white horse would ride up to my door and hand me the dream job, I envisioned for myself, on a sliver platter.

I needed a GOAL ... ummmmm ... tough one ... let's see ... oh I know ... A JOB! Doing something I would enjoy, something I could feel passionate about, something where I could share the knowledge I already have with others to "pay it forward." Something with a limited commute, no boss looking over my shoulder, and of course, a great compensation plan. Whew! Sounds like a tall order doesn't it?

I felt desperate and I remembered what my mother and grandmother used to say, "necessity is the motherhood of invention" and my father used to say, "it's time to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get moving". Great advice, but no one ever handed me a, "How to Pull Yourself up by Your Bootstraps Manual" which meant I was going to be responsible for creating a PLAN for my life. After all, with no plan in place how am I going to do all this?

First, I needed to BELIEVE in myself again, have a Vision about where I want to go and make a Decision on how I'm going to acquire the knowledge and skills to get to where I want to go.

Now bear with me, I'm getting to the point ...

As I said earlier, I want to be the captain of my own ship, control my own destiny so-to-speak without having to re-invent myself.
How can I do this?
What can I do using the knowledge and skills I already have?

I would like to live life as I was designed to live it ... healthy, happy, and with purpose.

Until next time, Be Well.

Become a GO-GIVER ...

2008-08-19T10:33:00.001-04:00

If you've visited with me before, welcome back!

How many of you think life really stinks? You've had one challenge after another, money issues, health issues, relationship issues, employment issues (you're convinced your boss has it out for you); you're the product of alcoholic parents, drug using parents, or an abusive family. Well guess what? Most of us have been down that path in one form or another. The good news is, that's the past and you are not the same person you were then. You are better!

Have you ever noticed why people who are deemed wealthy stay this way? The successful people socialize with other successful people. Like attracts like!

Let me suggest an experiment to you ... shift your focus to more of what you want in your life. It can be anything large or small. Write it down, say it out loud, find a picture of it and post it where you can see it throughout your day, close your eyes and feel what having what you want in your life would feel like. Visualize yourself as a magnet attracting into your life what you really want ... if you do this, you'll get it. This I know for a fact.

Here's a small example: Recently I went into a Barnes & Noble bookstore to find a book on Multi Level Marketing and effective networking. Whoa! I was not prepared for the number of books on the market and everyone is an "expert"! There were the Dummie books, all the "how to" books, the step-by-step books ... most of these books were the size of a dictionary. As I slowly circled the aisle where all these books were neatly shelved, a thought occurred to me. How am I going to get the right book for me? And, if it was going to be so complicated what were my chances of getting through all that material before I entered into the next decade?

I selected a few books, read the flyleaf on the covers and put them back on the shelf. Way too much complicated information. Then I saw a little book with a red cover entitled, "The GO-GIVER" (yes you read it right, go GIVER). It's a little story about a powerful business idea by Bob Burg and John David Mann. I was drawn to it immediately because of its size ... it looked manageable.

My mother always used to say, "good things come in small packages" and this little book is no exception. It's packed with something totally unexpected in a traditional business model with today's mantra being, ... be a go getter ... go get 'em tiger ... get out there and get, get, get.

The cost of the book is $19.95 in the states. I hemmed and hawed about spending this much money on such a small book but something (let's call it intuition or a gut feeling) was telling me to buy it. I trudged up to the check out area, placed the book on the counter and proceeded to rummage around in my purse for my wallet. Whilst I was doing that a gift card fell out of my purse ... I had forgotten about it and had no idea how much money was on the card. I handed it to the clerk and apologized for not knowing the value of the card. He looked it up and told me it was for $15.00 which meant I was now going to pay only $4.95 for this little book. Great! Just what I thought I should pay for such a little book.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

The Universe, or if you prefer (the Creator your Higher Power, G-d) or whatever name you're comfortable with, not only guided me to this particular book it was also providing most of the money to pay for it!

Let's just say, the lessons in this little book are far greater than I could ever have imagined. I encourage you to read it for yourself and I challenge you to become a "GO-GIVER". You'll be glad you did.

Now, the second part of the story. Go to your public library and borrow a DVD entitled, "The Secret" and you can see more of what I'm talking about. Keep an open mind and let yourself be receptive to how the Secret can work for you. It's as simple as changing your "focus". Focus on what you DO want in your life, be a magnet for good things to be drawn to you.

I'll share one more story with you to illustrate what I'm talking about. Many years ago I worked for a sales training and motivation company. During my presentations I always told the story of teaching a child to ride a bicycle for the first time. The training wheels are off, it's the big day. You're standing beside the child, holding onto the back of the seat to steady them before they pedal off into new adventures. While you're giving those important, last minute instructions, (keep your feet on the pedals, watch where you're going, hold onto the handle bars and steer it straight) you also tell your child to watch out for the neighbour's mailbox with the big rock next to it. Off they go ... you're shouting encouragement from behind them ... good job, look where you're going ... watch out for that mailbox with the big rock next to it ... uh oh! ... guess what? Your child has just crashed into the mailbox and landed on that big rock you told him to watch out for! What happened here?

Here's what happened. You changed your child's focus. Instead of steering straight down the road for a successful first solo ride, he went straight for the place you told him to watch out for. He essentially did exactly what you told him to do ... he was so busy watching out for the mailbox with the rock beside it he forgot all your other instructions. His focus was on NOT hitting the mailbox thus he did exactly what you were cautioning him about.

The moral of this story is ... focus on what you want, not what you don't want.

Until next time ...

Be well.

Unemployed & Looking ~ My Story & more ...

Welcome! History and Hope

Become a GO-GIVER ...