March 01, 2010
Helping Career Changers Around The World
March 2010
Hello!
Welcome to the March 2010 edition of The 5 Minute Career Coach!
What’s in this Issue
- Quote of the Day
- Community Member Spotlight – is it you?
- This month's article - Are you a Perfectionist?
- The Career Change Question
- Recommended Resources - Thinking of working at home?
- What Help do You Need?
- Useful Links
If you are teetering on the brink of making a career change and then keep finding that something pulls you back from the edge, read on - there is lots in this edition to help!
If there are any particular issues you would like support with, do just get in touch.
With best wishes
Cherry
Cherry Douglas
Your Career Change Guide
How To Change Careers
Please don’t keep me a secret!
Feel free to share this newsletter and my website with your friends. I wouldn’t mind betting that there will be a few of them who are unhappy with their own careers.
Remember that they can get their free copy of 11¾ Ways To Kick Start Your Career Change when they visit the How To Change Careers website.
Know Your Personality, Know Your Career
- Would you like to get greater clarity over what kind of work could be right for you?
- Are you intrigued by the idea that your personality can guide you towards the right career choice?
- Would a list of career ideas that match your personality be useful?
Then take a look at Know Your Personality, Know Your Career and find out more.
Quote of the Day
This is another one of those quirky quotes from the TUT Adventurer's Club website and it seems to me to be spot on for many an aspiring career changer. After all, who doesn't want a career that will mean having more fun and being happier?
If you have not yet signed up for Notes from the Universe, I recommend you take a look. The Notes are quirky, unconventional and humorous and yet can sometimes offer you just that glimpse of insight that you need. Click here to get them delivered straight to your inbox.
Community Member Spotlight
I like to say a particular hello to one individual member of the 5 Minute Career Coach Community each month.
For March I am sending extra best wishes to Debbie.
Debbie has recently shared a video on Facebook that I thought I would pass on to you all. It's a great reminder to be bold and not be knocked back when things don't work out – and that is a great attitude to carry with you if you are thinking of changing career.
Take a look for yourself.... (You'll need to log in to Facebook to see the video)
Thanks for sharing, Debbie! I hope you are continuing to enjoy the 5MCC newsletter and the How To Change Careers website.
Are You a Perfectionist?
I expect you know if you have perfectionist tendencies. We all do to a certain degree, but for some, perfectionism can really hold them back.
- Do you like things to be just right?
- Do you set very high standards for yourself and for others?
- Do you believe there is one 'right' way of doing things?
- Do you dither over decisions because you want to be absolutely sure you have thought of every angle before you commit?
- Do you avoid starting (or completing) something in case it doesn’t turn out right?
Perfectionists all share an irrational belief that everything must be absolutely right, and because this is nearly always unachievable, they can then get frozen into inactivity on the basis that it is better to play it safe and do nothing than run
the risk of a less than perfect outcome.
Irrational beliefs
The secret lies in recognising that the underlying beliefs that perfectionists hold are irrational. You will often find that these beliefs are all or nothing beliefs.
For example:
- Everything must be done to my own (vastly inflated) ideas of perfection.
- If I cannot be perfect, I am a complete loser.
- Mistakes are not permitted.
- If I experience a setback, I have failed and so I might as well give up.
- Winning is the only acceptable option.
- There are so many pitfalls on the way to perfection that I might as well not bother trying.
Perfectionism rarely leads to a perfect life but is more likely to result in procrastination, a pessimistic outlook and low self esteem. So if you think it is a factor that is holding you back from making a career change, take a look at these tips for challenging and changing your approach.
Challenging perfectionism
- Make a list of the ways that being a perfectionist is holding you back and stopping you getting on with your career change. Seeing how it is hindering rather than helping can free you up from the perfectionist ties that bind you.
- Allow yourself time to make changes or learn new things. You are unlikely to jump to your goal of an ideal career in one step. You didn’t learn to ride a bike in one go, did you? And you just kept on trying in spite of falling off a lot at first!
- Acknowledge that setbacks and 'blind alleys' are natural steps on the way to any goal. ( Did you look at that video that Debbie shared?)
- Learn to break your habit of focusing on mistakes you think you have made or things that could go wrong. Focus instead on the positive outcomes and benefits that a career change will bring.
- Practise taking action rather than thinking and planning endlessly. Just taking tiny steps forward means there is less at stake if it doesn’t work and yet it is still moving in the right direction. Reward yourself for the progress you make, however small and learn to enjoy the journey.
- Recognise that there are many different routes to the career change you are seeking – there is not just one 'right' way to do it. Allow yourself to explore the unlikely options that don’t seem to fit your ideas of how things 'should' be or of the kind of person you are.
- Seek out people who are positive role models of how taking the relaxed 'good enough is good enough' approach allows them to lead happy and successful lives.
If you follow these tips, they can help you break free of the perfectionism habit and start making real progress towards a career change.
And my own perfectionism?
Yes, I have a bit of it too! Well, I hate my newsletter or my website having any spelling mistakes or typos! In spite of my best intentions, the odd one creeps in every now and again – and do you know what? The world hasn’t come to an end as a result, my readers haven't all unsubscribed in droves, so I guess I too am learning that it is OK not to be perfect all the time!
The Career Change Question
Challenging questions are a key tool in helping to create change.
Each month I offer you a question to think about. Just let the question wander round your mind for a few days, or even weeks and see what answers unfold for you. The questions are designed to get you thinking in new ways and hopefully gain insights that may open your mind to new possibilities for you career and for your life.
And with this question, I suggest you don’t just jot down a couple of obvious people or places. I challenge you to make a list of at least 50 different ideas! This is because it is when you force yourself to make a really long list that you get past the obvious and begin to be more creative.
It is best to do this exercise in one sitting – maybe with a trusted friend to help prompt you. You will start with the obvious, but as the list grows, you are forced to be more adventurous, a bit whacky even, and this is when the off-the-wall ideas begin to show up, the ones that actually have some real but unexpected potential.
So go on, see what you can come up with – and then take action!
Recommended Resources
Work At Home Mom's Masters Course
This month I’d like to recommend an ebook written by four stay-at-home moms who are also making a living while they raise their kids.
If you are not a mom, but maybe like the idea of working from home, read on. You will find a lot of the ideas, tips and suggestions are just as relevant to you too.
I think that this ebook offers one of the best work-at-home solutions for any one who is fed up with the daily commute to the office. And I know, because I have used this solution myself!
If you are a stay-at-home mom, you are doing it because family comes first and you are loving it – well probably most of it! There is no other place that you would rather be than with your kids. But, at the same time, maybe you would also like/need to contribute financially to the family?
So why not Work At Home, Mom (WAHM)?
The WAHM Masters Course shows you how. Four Work-At-Home Moms (WAHMs), the course's authors, will introduce you to a work solution that 'fits' naturally with your family needs and yet is rewarding, exciting and satisfying for you.
Just like they are doing (and I have done), you too can create an information-rich web site that is based on something you know and love. No technical knowledge or prior experience is necessary. You too can build a real, long-term business on the
Net.
Learn from the experiences and advice of Elizabeth, Cate, Jennifer and Erin (and several other successful WAHMs) in The WAHM Masters Course. They are busy moms just like you and they know what it's like.
So they have taken the time to tell you everything, from reviewing all your options and getting organized to work at home. They progress all the way to the final desired outcome, including the nitty-gritty of how to actually build a substantial income online, illustrating with well-explained case studies.
An online business is affordable, flexible, and convenient. You can work at your Web business when you like, at the speed that suits you, and still put the all-important needs of your family first. In other words, you can take your family to work with you!
The most amazing part about this course?
It's free and you can download it now!
Just click the image to download the WAHM Masters Course. Save it to your computer then you can refer back to it any time you want.
Find out how to use the Net, the right process, and the right tools to achieve the work at home success that you have been dreaming about...
Be there for your kids, generate long-term income (that could very well become your family's primary income), fuel your own creativity and passion, and of course, have fun!
Click here to download "WAHM-IT! Masters Course".
And if you are concerned that this is a load of hype, I can honestly recommend it because I have used the tips and tools recommended in this book to build my How To Change Careers website and I have had great fun doing it.
So why not just take a look at the free ebook, it could be the beginning of a journey to a new career!
More recommendations
If you would like to see more recommendations for books and similar resources, follow the link to the Career Change Books page of the How To Change Careers website. Do keep popping back to it as I am adding to it all the time.
And if there are books and resources that have inspired you and that you would like to recommend, there is a place for you to do so on that page.
What Help Do You Need?
The 5 Minute Career Coach is my way of keeping in touch with aspiring career changers all over the world. I know there are many of you out there who are trying to find the courage and/or the inspiration to take a big step forward in your working lives so I hope you find this newsletter a useful source of ideas and encouragement to help you get on with your career change plans.
I love hearing from the people in my 5 Minute Career Coach community and I have been heartened to hear how many of you feel supported and encouraged by what I write. Do please keep your feedback coming.
What is your biggest question or concern about changing career?
I am regularly adding to the How To Change Careers website and I would like to be sure it continues to meet your needs and you find it helpful.
I want to be sure that both this newsletter and the website are focused on YOU.
The best way I can do this is by asking for your comments and feedback:
- What are the biggest challenges you face in changing your career?
- What one thing would help you most with your career change?
- Which careers would you like to know more about?
- What other information and support would you like to see on the How To Change Careers website or as an ebook, ecourse or teleclass?
Do let me know what you think and share with me how you think this newsletter might be improved. You can post your feedback here.
Useful Links
Read more articles about career change on the How To Change Careers website
Contact me with any queries or questions
Read my ezine articles
Find me on Selfgrowth.com
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