By Victoria Joanna Bailey  BBA, CNP, RNCP http://www.victoriajoanna.com/

We’re right in the middle of summer and there’s no better time or season to live in the moment and stop to smell the roses.  Literally.  We should all take more time to live in the present and enjoy our lives, even when the flowers aren’t in bloom, but let’s use this season to remind us just how important it is to live in the “right now”.

As driven, ambitious, independent and career-oriented women, I know this is easier said than done.  We spend our entire lives moving from one goal to the next and rarely stop long enough to acknowledge and enjoy our successes.   As 20- and 30-something’s it’s particularly challenging.  This is the time in our lives where we build our futures and have a long list of accomplishments we feel we must achieve in order to feel complete – get: married, pregnant, buy a home, promoted, into the dress size we’ve always wanted… the list goes on.

While ambition and hard work can serve us well helping us to create the life we want, we need to be conscious of our tendency to live in the future at the expense of experiencing the present.   As women, we are hard on ourselves at the best of times and so when we are always focused on the “thing” we haven’t yet achieved we are literally “missing out” on our lives.  We may have a wonderful relationship or job or friends, but we often focus on the one thing that is missing.   As a result, we aren’t as happy as we could be.  We aren’t at peace.

This doesn’t mean that we give up on our goals, but rather, we give up on our self-imposed timelines of when we think things should happen.  We stop rushing for the finish line and enjoy the journey. 

When we can see that growth is the fuel of life, we realize that growth is never ending.  There will always be the next thing that we want to attempt, achieve and attain; but in the meantime, we need to also be fully present living the life we have.  When we live in the future or the past, we are stuck in our heads.  We create anxiety, fear, and sadness, even depression.   By choosing to live in the present, we open ourselves up to experiencing our emotions.  We create space for intuition, joy and happiness to fill our lives. 

A wonderful thing happens as a result; time becomes less of an issue.  The things we think we still need become a little less urgent.  Ironically enough, we achieve the feeling of happiness and fulfillment that we’ve been chasing.  When we focus on the good things in our life rather than what we have yet to achieve, we are able to live in the moment and fall in love with our life… right now, which is the only moment that matters.

By Aurea Crotty

Whether you find yourself unemployed and looking for a job, or considering a switch from your current employment, stop thinking in terms of just looking for work and start working at uncovering opportunities.

What’s the difference?

Looking for work: applying for jobs that are posted, looking for doors that are already open and established- waiting for others to find you

Seeking opportunities: going out and finding or creating the job you want –crafting your own door and experience

Although there are many great job search sites and job listings out there, they are not always the best way to help you find great opportunities. Most of those elusive “great jobs” are not posted through traditional job search sites, rather they are found through your network.

By seeking opportunities you are taking a proactive stance in your life, aligning your work to who you are and what you want, versus the other way around.

Opportunity seeking strategies:

Be clear about what you want. This is the single most important factor in everything you do; the clearer you are about what you want the more likely you are to achieve it. Being clear will help make your investigation easier by allowing you to articulate your wants and needs, more specifically, it can help others help you. 

Do your research: Once you have a clearer picture of what you’re looking for, now it’s time to find out who does it.  For example, what industries should you be targeting? Which companies embody what you want?

Find your 6 degrees: Use your network to find connections to these industries / companies. 

No door? Find a window:  Don’t have any connections? – create them.  Ask yourself…”where are my contacts and what are they doing”?

Try using LinkedIn or Facebook, and make a virtual introduction.

Are there any industry associations / networking groups / specific recruiting companies you can join?

Identify decision makers and ask for an informational interview, they‘re a great way to get your foot in the door and always remember to ask for another referral.

Get the skills you need: I am consistently discouraged at the narrow-mindedness of so many organizations that fail to see the power of transferable skills.  Given the current economic climate, unfortunately for many of us, this attitude will not get better anytime soon.  Many companies want to see specific experience, and with stiff competition in the job market, it may be your only chance to be considered.

Be clear on what specific skills you will need to be considered and come up with creative ways you can gain that experience. Some suggestions: try volunteer /part-time work or come up with your own project and execute it –track your results and experience.  

Be brave, bold and creative. It is no easy feat trying to create your own opportunities, you may hear a lot of no’s along the way, but stay true to yourself and the yes’s will come. Good Luck!

Have a question on how you can start creating your own opportunities? Let us help you, post here.

By Ed Muzio,
Author of Make Work Great: Supercharge Your Team, Reinvent the Culture, and Gain Influence — One Person at a Time

Are you having a bad week at work, or maybe a series of bad weeks? Do you hopelessly suspect that things will never get better? Have you sadly concluded that the pay you receive is not in exchange for your output, but rather for your willingness to tolerate misery?

If so, I know you don’t want to hear about how the emotional state of a single person can influence a whole group. If I tell you to buck up, think positively, and set a better example for those around you, you’ll stop reading immediately. You’ll probably also come up with a few choice nicknames for me that I wouldn’t want my mother to hear.

So I’m not going there. Forget it. You don’t have to buck up, think positively, or set a better example. Instead, I just want you to have three simple conversations next week. I don’t even care who you talk to, as long as you discuss these three topics.

1. “What I am trying to accomplish is . . . “

A huge amount of workplace dissatisfaction — not to mention lost productivity — comes from a lack of clear purpose. If you don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing, you are destined to be frustrated by feelings of uselessness.

Pick a purpose! If you’re not sure, take your best guess, and then tell someone what you think you’re trying to produce. Don’t discuss the steps you’re taking, like email or meetings, just talk about the output itself. Summarize all of your most important output in about 90 seconds. Much more, and you risk losing your listener’s interest. Much less, and you risk sounding cliché.

Depending upon your listener, you might choose to state it with all the certainty of your most important mission in life, or you might choose to state it tentatively, as if you’d be happy for someone to correct you (I suggest the latter approach when speaking with your manager). Either way, you’ll be reminding yourself, and your listener, about why you’re bothering to show up.

2. “What I’m doing matters because . . . “

If you don’t want to feel like a hamster on an exercise wheel, you need to attach the work you do to a real benefit. This can be a benefit to the company, a benefit to society, or a benefit to you personally. All three would be ideal, but you should find at least one.

Tell someone the why behind your work. Maybe your tireless processing of expense forms allows other salespeople to travel overseas, find buyers for company products, and enhance the bottom line. Maybe your quality inspections or document audits lead to babies being safely strapped in their car seats as per manufacturer recommendations. Or, maybe your work as a nurse gets you the experience you need to finally become an ultrasound technician.

Reach if necessary. Take pains to find at least one reason your work is worth doing, even if you’re not particularly enjoying it at the moment. On the other hand, don’t brag. You’re not trying to show off, or show anybody up. You’re simply discussing the ways in which your work matters to you, your company, and your society at large.

3. “I can tell I’m making progress when . . . “

What you’re doing, and why, are not quite enough. You also need to experience yourself making headway toward your goals. Otherwise, your days will blend together in an endless wave of to-do lists worries, and discussions, and you’ll cease to have the experience that your presence in the workplace matters.

Seeing your own progress is not the same as demonstrating progress to others. Your manager may require a status update at the end of the month, but you need to experience your progress every day, even every hour. Otherwise you will vacillate between a detached disinterest in your goal, when it is far off in the future, and full-scale panic about that goal when the future arrives faster than anticipated.

Seek simple cues, like the accumulation of completed forms in your out box, a column of check marks on your to-do list, or the number of telephone calls you processed this hour. Celebrate when you’re ahead, but don’t be afraid to learn that you’re behind. When you have this kind of insight, you will be the first one to see problems coming. So, you can get to work fixing roadblocks — looking for more resources, perhaps, or finding the training you need — long before you ever miss a commitment to anyone else.

Better Working through Conversation

These three topics are the practical, positive, systemic aspects of your work: what you’re doing, why it matters, and how you know you are progressing. They reinforce the fact that you bring value to, and find value in, your workplace. They focus your creative energy on value, output, and mutual benefit.

Conversing about them encourages both you and your listener to think more clearly in these terms, and distracts you from less productive avenues of discussion. It’s difficult to complain about an uncaring manager when you’re defining the output you need to produce; it’s hard to grouse about impossible customers while recounting the broader good generated by your work.

To be sure, in having these conversations you’re likely to uncover some real issues:  the fact that you don’t exactly know your purpose, for example, or the fact that you’re not sure whether you’re making progress. They may seem frightening on the surface, but once defined, such questions can be investigated. And the answers you find will invariably lead to feelings of regained control rather than hopelessness. All you have to do is to start the process, to be the one to start the conversation.

Remember how I said I wasn’t going to tell you to set a better example for those around you? I lied.

© 2010 Ed Muzio, author of Make Work Great: Supercharge Your Team, Reinvent the Culture, and Gain Influence — One Person at a Time

Author Bio
Edward G. Muzio, CEO of Group Harmonics, is the author of the award winning books Make Work Great: Supercharge Your Team, Reinvent the Culture, and Gain Influence One Person at a Time and Four Secrets to Liking Your Work: You May Not Need to Quit to Get the Job You Want. An expert in workplace improvement and its relationship to individual enjoyment, Muzio has been featured on Fox Business Network, CBS, and other national media, and he has been cited in many publications including the New York Post, the Austin American Statesman, and Spirit magazine. He lives in Albuquerque, NM.

For more information visit http://www.makeworkgreat.com/ and follow the author on Facebook.

By Liz Radzick of Manifest Consulting

A senior executive was introducing me to a class I was about to teach recently. He got my name right (most hilarious version to-date: Liz Razdick) but then came my company name: Manfelt. Oops. While I don’t understand why my recent intro’s seem to be trending into x-rated name territory I do know how to ensure that you succeed when introducing someone from the front of the room.

Get the person’s name right. If it is difficult to say, make sure you hyphenate it so that it is easy to read on your script e.g. Liz Rad-zick

Edit the bio. Weed out the excessive acronyms and general blah blah that doesn’t mean much (“Harriet is accomplished at helping people to achieve their goals and dreams”). Pick the top 4 or 5 most impressive things in the bio (education, publications, designations, honours/awards, travel) and if there aren’t any, see if you can talk personally with the speaker or their assistant to find out more engaging details.

Type the bio in 18pt font. Left justify the margins only, and use 1.5 spaces between lines so that the script is easy to read and allows you to look up to connect with the audience.

Look at the person you are introducing. As you read, make eye contact with the person and smile. By doing this you create a rapport between you, them and the audience before they speak.

Create excitement. Your job is to create enthusiasm and credibility for the speaker so speak with energy – there is nothing more disheartening than having to present after a tired-sounding introduction. Practice aloud before the actual event at about an 8 energy level (on a scale of 1-10).

Begin the applause. As you transition to the speaker use a phrase like “Will you please help me welcome…” and then start the applause yourself so that the audience follows along.

By Lisa Richards

Finding Her Passion

Starting from scratch isn’t a new idea to seasoned entrepreneur Sarah Prevette. From being involved with new businesses in addition to building her own, Sarah’s familiar with the ups and downs of startups and has learned some tips along the way. “As a student, as I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work at a fast-paced, high-growth technology start-up,” remembers Sarah. “The exposure to a visionary entrepreneur and a dynamic work environment was inspiring. The experience gave me the desire and the confidence to pursue one of my own ideas. I started a pop-culture opinion site for teens called Upinion. This was my first start-up and led me down a path to where I am today.”

Her Story

Sarah’s story is one that a lot of newbies to the workforce can relate to: “As a young entrepreneur without a rolodex to turn to, I felt isolated and unsupported. I wanted to bounce ideas off of other people and engage in meaningful discussions around startup challenges. While my friends, family and colleagues were supportive, they just weren’t facing the same issues and couldn’t truly identify.” Where others may have resorted to complaining, Sarah saw an opportunity to take action and connect herself while connecting others. “I needed to connect with other startup founders. I was dissatisfied with existing options for early stage entrepreneurs and decided to do something about it.”

Making it Happen

“I decided to build a platform that startup founders could easily plug into in order to connect with other innovators and get immediate answers to their most pressing questions. RedWire launched in late 2008 and the rapid response further underscored the need and desire for such a service.

After our initial launch it became abundantly clear that the real value inherent in the site was in the advice and conversation happening behind the scenes on the private messaging service. We recognized that we needed to evolve the technology to bring conversations to the forefront and encourage greater dialogue between all members.

We re-vamped the site to make knowledge-sharing the focal point and launched as Sprouter in November 2009.”

In less than a year, Sprouter has grown entirely through word-of-mouth and referrals from its existing members. Through a variety of media, Sprouter engages the global startup community. “We want to be wherever the conversation is happening,” notes Sarah. “Twitter, Facebook and other social media has allowed us greater visibility and has provided us with communication channels to connect with potential users as well as media and other strategic partners.”

Her Mission Statement

As Sprouter evolved from Sarah’s own personal experience not being able to find out what other entrepreneurs were working on, it’s not a surprise that her personal mission statement and that of Sprouter are one in the same: “The mission is to connect entrepreneurs around the world for collaboration, knowledge-sharing and support.”

The Challenge (and the Success!)

Like many entrepreneurs, one of Sarah’s biggest challenges running a company is effectively prioritizing. “When you have multiple priorities and limited resources, it is sometimes difficult deciding what to do first. Sprouter’s success can be attributed to the contributions of our community. Our members provide us ongoing feedback on what’s working, what’s not and give us insight into where we need to focus.”

Hopes for the Future

As the word ‘sprout’ implies, there’s still growth happening for this Canadian startup. “We’re excited to be rolling out new services to further assist entrepreneurs as they grow their startups. We’re continuing to evolve our business in direct alignment with what our community needs.”

Her Advice to You

Ladies, take note. Sarah offers up some amazing advice for motivated and ambitious women focused on a great, not just good, career:

“Be unapologetically ambitious. Realize that your success is entirely dependant upon you and what you’re willing to do in order to achieve. Set ridiculous, audacious goals and push like hell to reach them. You need to be hungry to succeed. Success is 90% resourcefulness – those who succeed have a relentless drive and an innate ability to adapt to any situation.”

“Stop making excuses and just do it. Too many people squander their talents and abilities sitting on the sidelines just talking about their ideas.”

“Don’t be afraid to fail. You are going to fail. Everyone does. You’re going to have bad ideas, things are going to go wrong and people are going to say horrible things about you. Get over it. Realize that with every failure, you’re learning, adapting and getting stronger. Fear of failure is the first barrier to starting a company, and the hurdle that most people don’t make it past.”

According to Sarah, the first step is making the commitment to yourself, the second is to rapidly execute. Get out there and try.

Looking to connect with other innovators and entrepreneurs? Join the conversation to learn and share what everyone’s working on over at http://www.sprouter.com/

By Victoria Joanna Bailey  BBA, CNP, RNCP http://www.victoriajoanna.com/

Ever since I can remember I’ve been determined to find my purpose and live a meaningful life.  I wasn’t satisfied with finding the right job or career, I needed to feel that whatever I was doing, I was meant to do.  I wanted to feel inspired and alive and most of all, authentic.

So I did what anyone seeking fulfillment would do…. I went to University to get a business degree, with a major in Accounting.   Okay, so in hindsight, it is painfully obvious that I was not on the right path.  However, as a 20 year old with the pressure and desire to succeed, you do what you have been raised to do, and for me, I was raised to do well in school, get an education and climb the corporate ladder.

After 10 years of job changes, career counselors, aptitude tests and well meaning advice from friends and family, I finally figured it out.  I stopped using my head and started using my heart.  There’s a saying that goes something like “You can’t solve a problem with the same thinking that created it.”   I realized, if my head got me to where I was, I would need to find another way, another form of guidance and decision-making.

What I have learned since those confusing early 20’s is that purpose and inspiration come from a deeper place, a place of connection with Self, with intuition, with something bigger. 

Living an inspired life requires courage, commitment and faith.  No one has the magic formula, so here are a few tips to get you moving in the direction of your dreams.

Tap into your intuition.  This is your internal guidance system.  Learn to trust your inner voice.  Meditate, journal, learn to pay attention to the way your intuition communicates with you – often this will first happen in hindsight and eventually you will be able to trust that voice and listen to it in the moment.

Have faith.  Set your intention, take action, but then surrender your ideas of how things “should’ happen.  Having faith means that you believe you are on the right track even in absence of evidence in your immediate reality.

Follow your bliss.  Your passions are the clues and guideposts to your unique purpose and path.  The word desire means “of the spirit” – your dreams are your roadmap to create an inspired life.   

Get outside of your head.  You may need to move beyond rationale, fear-based, logical thinking.  Not everything will make sense.  Our mental chatter is often based on other people’s fears and opinions that we’ve unconsciously absorbed. 

Get ready to leap.  If you wait for guarantees, you will never take action.  Your ability to leap will depend on how often you practice steps 1 through 4.  

Stop endlessly searching for “something more”

There is a new generation of high-achieving women: confident, ambitious, and driven yet anxious, discontented, and above all, restless. Constantly juggling multiple roles and reevaluating goals, today’s “wander women” move from job to job, challenge to challenge, almost on impulse. Drawing on fresh research and extensive interviews, Marcia Reynolds helps you understand the roots of your restlessness and learn how to make your wandering a conscious strategy, not a series of unplanned events. She provides a wealth of exercises and practices so you can better understand the needs that drive your decisions, discover new ways of finding direction, and thoughtfully choose and plan your future — whether climbing the corporate ladder, finding satisfaction below the glass ceiling, or setting out on your own.

About The Author:

Dr. Marcia Reynolds is fascinated by the brain, especially the nuances of the female brain. She is a master certified coach with a doctorate in organizational psychology, focusing on the needs and challenges of smart, strong women in the workplace. She travels around the world speaking at conferences and teaching classes in leadership, emotional intelligence and organizational change. Her book Wander Woman: How High Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction was released this summer.  

Reviews:

“The ideas and exercises here represent breakthrough thinking. I plan to give this inspiring and thought-changing book to many women as a gift of guidance on their journey.”
–Linda Alepin, Founding Director, Global Women’s Leadership Network

“This is a book for highly successful women and their executive coaches. Not only will passionate, driven women better manage their minds, the exercises and coaching questions will help them improve their relationships with those they live and work with.”
–Madeleine Blanchard, cofounder, Coaching Services, The Ken Blanchard Companies

“Marcia Reynolds’s deeply insightful stories of wander women-as well as her own transformative journey — will touch the restless wanderer in your own soul and open new paths to love, joy, and contentment.”
–Deb Giffen, Director, Wharton Executive Education

You can read more about the book at wanderwomanbook.com and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter.

By Aurea Crotty

Life is an ever evolving canvas, no stroke can be undone and with each expression our painting comes to life gradually, revealing our masterpiece. Taking time to step back from our canvas allows us to see the bigger picture, to watch our work unfold, and to make the adjustments necessary to create our greatness.

Summer is officially here, and for many of us it couldn’t have come sooner. Longer days, warmer weather and vacation schedules, now is our time to take things a little easier.

Since summer is a time to kick back, and with many companies following suit, it is a good opportunity to take some time to reflect on our life and check-in to see how we’re doing – to step back from our canvas. 

We can also look at summer as a midpoint marker to the end of the year; a great time to take a look at our progress towards achieving our goals, or, setting new targets for the end of the year.

Here are some questions to help you step back from your ‘canvas’ and see the bigger picture:

Overall how happy am I on a scale of 1-10?

You can break this question down into individual areas of your life i.e. Career, Relationships, Personal Fitness, Money etc… If you are less than 5 in any area you probably have some big shifts to make. Over 5 you may be looking at some ‘fine tuning’.  

What’s working for me and what’s not (or, what do I love doing vs not)?

I like to make a two column list outlining each, then compare them. From this question you can easily come up with…

 How can I do less of what I don’t like and more of what I do like?

Your answers may reveal a matter of re-focus or a talk with your boss to get more of those projects that you love.

What one thing would I like to achieve by the end of the year?

Since this is the half way point…are there any goals you can set to get you closer to feeling more fulfilled?

 What do I need to do to achieve my goal / bring about the change I want?

Do you need to gain a particular experience, find a certain contact, update your resume.  How can you set yourself up for success by being proactive and ensure change happens.

It is so important for us to continually take time in the quite moments to reflect on where we are and where we’re going. This is our life, our canvas, let’s not let anyone paint it for us.

Now… go find a great patio, get a drink and start painting.

I’m very excited to share with you our latest Pretty Savvy press, we were featured in Fusia Magazine – Now on sale at Chapters / Indigo across Canada.

Have a wonderful weekend.

To read the article, click on the image and click again to enlarge, if needed.

By Aurea Crotty

A referred job candidate has a 35 to 1 chance of getting hired vs. 500 to 1 for the typical candidates. -Mark Mehler from CareerXroads

Networking is a powerful tool to helping us get ahead, but for many of us it can be an intimidating and freighting experience. In my own career and business I have found that the key to moving ahead is largely a result of the network I have built and the strength of my relationships. Statistics have shown that 70 percent of all jobs are found through networking.

For me, networking is more than just handing out business cards and giving an “elevator pitch”, it is about the relationships we build with others. By focusing on building a relationship with someone we not only help alleviate the pressure and intimidation around “selling ourselves” but we create a window of opportunity for that connection to extend beyond our immediate situation -and THAT is what builds a network of qualified leads.

Here are 5 networking tips that are sure to help you at your next networking event:

1. Be real and in the moment: It is ok to have a little something rehearsed before showing up to a networking event, just make sure you deliver your message genuinely. Networking is about being authentic, building relationships and trust, and understanding how you can help others.
2. Listen more than you talk, by listening more it is easier to engage and build a strong connection…The best way to make a great first impression is to make the other person feel good about themselves.
3. Ask open-ended questions: Ask Who, What, When, Where and How. These types of questions open up the conversation and demonstrate to your listener that you are interested in them. Remember, the best way to make a great first impression is… making the other person else feel good about themselves!
4. Be able to succinctly articulate what you do, what you’re looking for, and how others can help you.
5. Follow-up. Always follow up. And take the time to foster and keep your connections.

Looking to expand your network -check out The Art of Mix & Mingle July 7th