Archive for the ‘Career Coaching’ Category

What is Your Vision?

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

“What every man needs, regardless of his job or the kind of work he is doing, is a vision of what his place is and may be. He needs an objective and a purpose. He needs a feeling and a belief that he has some worthwhile thing to do. What this is no one can tell him. It must be his own creation.” - Joseph M. Dodge

Why is it that we as individuals rarely create a vision statement for ourselves? Is it that we do not know what our vision is? Or perhaps the real truth is that we have never taken the time to figure out what it is? Either way I cannot over state the importance of having a personal vision statement.

So what is a vision statement?

A vision statement is a description of what you would like to achieve or accomplish in the mid-term or long-term future. It is intended to serves as a clear guide for choosing current and future courses of action. A personal vision statement guides your life. It is the shining light in the darkness toward which you turn to find your way.

How do I figure out what my vision is?

Take some quiet time out this week and consider the following questions.

  • What it is you most enjoy doing? Is it helping people, meeting people, traveling, working with animals, drawing, writing, painting? Write down a list of the top 10 things you enjoy doing and circle the ones that you love the most.
  • What strengths and qualities have other people complemented you on? 
  • What do you see as your greatest talents and natural abilities? Pick the top three of these and write down two ways that you really enjoy expressing each one.
  • If you never had to work another day in your life, how would you spend your time?

These are only some of the questions which will help you uncover your vision, stay tuned to my blog next week for more……..

Have a wonderful week and enjoy working on your vision!

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Space to Explore

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

When did you last give yourself some space to explore?

We all need space free from demands, deadlines, expectations and judgments so we can explore who we are and what life is all about. When did you last take some time out to take stock of your life? When did you last take time out to begin dreaming of the future you want to create?

Free time, with absolutely no agenda, is so rich with potential. How can we grow if we have no space and freedom to dream?

“Reach high for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream proceeds the goal”

As children we have amazing dreams and aspirations. We don’t have the fears or limitations of adults but as we get older we cannot help but be suppressed by them.

So how can you reignite that child like imagination and creativity? How can you start thinking outside the box that is currently limiting you?

I have included four fun tips which I have personally used to open up my imagination and creativity.

1) Vision Boarding.
Flick through some old books and magazines and cut out all the pictures and words which inspire you. Glue them onto a large board and place it where you will see it every day.

2) Change your environment.
Go to a place you have never been before e.g. an art gallery, a market, a museum. Spend time with people who are already living their dreams, they will inspire you.

3) Spend time in nature.
Nature offers us the greatest source of inspiration and creativity whether that be beautiful scenery or wildlife.

4) Start a creative journal.
Begin writing down all your thoughts and ideas in a journal. Always keep it close to hand as you never know what will spark your imagination.

Enjoy reigniting your creativity and always remember that limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.


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Is Inconsistency Stealing Your Time?

Friday, September 4th, 2009

How often have you given up? How often have you quit just before you’ve struck gold? In life there are many keys to success but one you simply cannot do without is consistency.

Think about it, if your goal is to get fit, to be slim and trim you have to take consistent and steady action to get you there. If your goal is to have a successful business you need to consistently put the work, effort and time in to make it happen.There are NO exceptions!

All too often we start out taking lots of action towards our goal. We go in with all guns blazing; we are so motivated that we throw ourselves into it with total abandon. A short while later we get disappointed because we are not seeing results.  Worse still we put so much effort in that we end up exhausted with the outcome that we simply give up. 

Two, three or even four months may pass; you know you still haven’t made any progress so you say to yourself “Right that’s it, I don’t care what happens I am going to do it this time!” So again with all guns blazing and perhaps equipped with a hand grenade or two you launch yet again head long into the attack, only to find yourself right back where you started. Does any of this sound familiar?

I suggest to you one of the true keys to Success is Consistent and Steady Action. Consistently completing small action steps each day towards your goal, no more, no less.  

As Paul McGee once said “You don’t get a chicken by smashing the egg”. Like all the good things in life you have to nurture it, give it time and when it is ready it will hatch.

If you would like to hire Suzanne as your Personal Coach, or for a workshop or corporate event in your area click here or call +353-(0)86-8266051.

 

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Success Breeds Success!

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

One of my daily mantras is that there is nothing like Success to breed Success!

There is nothing like achieving a goal to really make you feel good and make you want to do more.

Often I have found that when we set big hairy goals we get so over whelmed that we don’t know where to start. The key is to start small. Start by setting some realistic goals which form part of  your larger goal, ones you know you can achieve. The goal can be as simple as putting 15 minutes aside tomorrow to do something that makes you happy or to get out of bed when the alarm goes off (i.e. not hitting the snooze button!!). Set yourself smaller targets this week, you will feel good when you hit them and I can guarantee that you will want to do more.

Each of these small action steps completed each day will take you closer to where you want to be. All too often we decide not to take action as we feel it will take us too long to achieve our big hairy goal. What a pity…in two years time you could be looking back saying to yourself “if only I had kept taking action I would have achieved my goal by now”.

This quote from Bill Gates sums it up
“We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next year and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction”

Will Rogers said it even better
“You may be on the right track but you will get run over if you just sit there!”

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Stress - It’s a huge Crisis in the Business World

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Take a look at some very worrying statistics on stress in the workplace:

  • 52% of executives will die of diseases related to stress, as stress effects nearly every major system in our bodies according to Tyne.
  •  The New England Journal of Medicine in 1998 declared that “managing the long-term effects of the physiological responses to stress is critical to survival.” Stress may contribute to 85% of all medical problems.
  • A US government health white paper “Saving lives” published in 1999, warns that people in stressful jobs with either very high demands or very little control over their work are more likely to suffer heart disease. It sights a long running study of civil servants which shows that women in high demand low control jobs are 70% more likely to develop coronary disease than women in high control jobs. Men in high demand low control jobs are 50% more likely to develop heart problems than their counterparts in high control jobs.
  • 55% of full-time employees say that work-related stress makes them ill-tempered at home, according to Carol Hymovitz article in WSJ Career Journal
  • More than 1million workers in the UK & Ireland say their managers are so over worked that they don’t really have time to manage their staff.

People suffering from high levels of stress generally have a number of symptoms including but not limited to:- chronic fatigues, anger at those making demands, negativity and irritablity, a sense of being besieged and a hair trigger display of emotions. A wide range of behaviours some destructive frequently accompany these emotions. Highly stressed managers and workers inappropriately vent anger at subordinates and co workers, and quite often the negative emotions associated with stress will spill over into their home life.

In the UK and Ireland the average work week is approx 4 hours longer than the EU average but the average productivity is 25% lower.

Work like balance is not anti work, in fact having a healthy work life balance increases your productivity.

Putting in long hours is not the badge of honor it once was. Are these long hours really worth it?

What are you doing to create the work life balance you desire?

For further information on how we can help you and your organisation, click here now.
 

 

- Statistics and information courtesy of the “Rescue Institute”

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Change is inevitable, growth is optional, choose wisely!

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

As I am going through a lot of change currently in my own life now, as is the world over all I think this quote sums up for me how to we might all best approach change.

It’s often so comfortable to stay where we are as its familiar, secure and easy. However, as with many things in life we might try to stay where we are but life has a funny way of forcing us to make changes.  This can be demonstrated by the current recession. A lot of people have been let go from their jobs, and now have to look at themselves to see where do I go to next? What else can I do? For most this is forced change, which when they look back in years to come will say Yes I am so glad that happened, it forced me to look at myself, and look at options which I previously had thought impossible! This is not to say at the time that this change isn’t difficult and stressful, but we need to push ourselves outside of what is normally comfortable in order for us to evolve and grow, in order for us to reach the next level.

“It’s not so much that we’re afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it’s that place in between that we fear . . . . It’s like being between trapezes. It’s Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There’s nothing to hold on to” MARILYN FERGUSON

On the other side of the fence there are those people who approach change slightly differently in that they invite change and all the learning’s and excitement it brings with it! The opportunity to meet new people, the opportunity to invest time in oneself, to grow and be the best they can be.

So what is the difference between people who welcome change, and those who don’t?

At the end of the day I believe it’s all down to your perception, and the filters and lens you view the world through. All we need to do is change the filters and open ourselves up to the endless possibilities that exist out there in the world!

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek”. BARACK OBAMA

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