“Excellent firms don’t believe in excellence – only in constant improvement and constant change.” – Tom Peters

A healthy state of career and life…

rarely ever “just happens.”

Rather, it is by questioning and examining, being open and available for greater insight, and feeding a never-ending desire to see what’s missing.

I was once told I was a mismatcher. Explanation: if you want to go to a movie with a “matcher,” you say “Hey, would you like to go to a movie?” If you want to go to a movie with a “mismatcher,” you say “Hey, you wouldn’t want to go to a movie, would you?”

A mismatcher looks for what’s missing. Of course, there can be downfalls to that if taken to extreme. Yet, there is a constant imperative towards growth.

Though voluntarily opening ourselves up for feedback — around our work, business, capacities, skills, etc. — can be very vulnerable, the rewards can be life/direction/self-altering. Plus, voluntarily sought feedback always falls lighter than that which comes unrequested.

In my work with companies conducting 360-degree evaluations for high-potential individuals, their new awareness of the possibilities for positive change is half their battle to getting there. Asking and getting answers to the tough questions are the key.

In what ways are you willing to be questionable for your own healthy life/career/direction today?

I’m also game. Please do me a favor and answer a few quick questions I have for you so I can best serve your needs. I’ll include all respondents in a raffle next week for $369 worth of valuable, career goodies.

Answer the short survey here.

Got questionable health?

“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” – Winston Churchill

The post March 14, 2018 – JOLT – Questionable Health? appeared first on CareerGuy.com.

“March on. Don’t look in the rearview, just the windshield.” – Josh Bowman

Most months are just months…

but a few are charges and descriptives.

I’m a wordie, like others are foodies, and March always inspires me to keep moving…like May has me considering possibilities and permissions and August has me thinking majestically.

As a matter of fact, March 4th is the only day that is also a sentence.

Simply put: March is a good reminder to keep moving, keep playing, and keep discovering it out…whatever that Big Game is that you’re up to.

Discovering it out is way more fun, and takes the pressure off of the idea that there’s already an “answer” out there to “figure out.”

What holes have shown up in your grand plans that could use the playfulness of discovery?

What ideas yet to be enacted could get air from a discovery (vs need-to-know-it-all-upfront) mindset?

This is the time to march forth into discovery, even though it’s March 7th.

Got march of discovery?

“March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life’s path.” – Khalil Gibran

The post March 7, 2018 – JOLT – Marching for discovery? appeared first on CareerGuy.com.

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw

With 1/6 of the year behind us…

It’s easy to become complacent on some of the bold intentions created for this new year (if, in fact, you designed some).

A lot of good reasons may have started to build as to the difficulty, if not sheer impossibility, of fulfilling on those ideals. Or, maybe the actions toward those goals are just not taking place as excitedly as they began.

Yet, if you’re really up for the “game” of growth and transforming your life, no goal comes without risk or muscles to be developed.

That’s what makes it a game.

One important muscle, as you move into the remaining 5/6 of the year, is to raise your head out of the weeds and 1) remember what you were playing for in the game, 2) assess what has worked and what hasn’t, and 3) implement a revised plan for achieving that goal.

“Reasonabuild” is a natural occurrence when you’re really up to something, because if what you’re taking on is big enough, all the reasons that have stopped you in the past will come up to be overcome.

Getting bigger than the reasons is where the “new you” that you envisioned when coming into the year will show up.

Around what goals, dreams and splendid plans can you tear down your reasonabuild today?

Got reasonabuild?

“I tried being reasonable, I didn’t like it.” – Clint Eastwood

The post February 28, 2018 – JOLT – Reasonabuild? appeared first on CareerGuy.com.

“It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life.” – Julius Ceasar

The word creativity…

is often used in realms of art, design, or imagination.

Creativity, as defined by Dictionary.com — “the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.” — is, therefore, rightly associated with these areas.

Yet, the root word itself — create — goes deeper, meaning “to cause to happen; bring about; arrange, as by intention or design.” That’s something we can all do…not just the artistic.

Whereas “creativity” can be seen as molding what’s already there in new ways, to “create” implies making something from nothing, being the source of what’s new.

When it comes to life and career, we can all fall into making the best of what we’ve been handed, and even “turning lemons into lemonade” if we’re so inspired.

But to invent, originate, or birth — a new opportunity, a new initiative, a new business, a new relationship, a new idea — is also something in our wheelhouse of capabilities.

I have heard said that gaining knowledge is great, but to discover something for yourself is far deeper in its impact.

What can you discover and create from nothing in your world today?

Got create?

“Don’t wait for the right opportunity: create it.” – George Bernard Shaw

The post February 21, 2018 – JOLT – What will you create today? appeared first on CareerGuy.com.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius

The day of love…

is generally reserved for focus on relationship.

And, if you know what’s good for you, and you’re in one, you’d better do that!

A supportive and loving relationship is one of the foundations of a solid, balanced life.

Another major foundation is fulfilling, if not blissful, work…though it rarely gets a Valentine’s Day notice.

Yet, we could at least give it a Valentine’s Day wish: a desire for more joy in our relationship with our career.

It’s a relationship, like anything else.

As a matter of fact, we spend more of our waking hours courting our work than cultivating our romantic relationships at home…so the nature of those hours goes a long way toward a happy heart.

Too often, like in some personal relationships, we stay stuck in thinking this is as good as it gets.

Then we see someone who is clearly in a love fest with what they do…and we get inspired by what’s possible.

Where in your world do you see people loving what they do and doing what they love?

If you see it happening over there, there’s no reason it can’t happen over where you are.

Consider sending a love-my-career letter to yourself today, and say what you admire about it now and where you’d like to romance it into the future.

Like every other relationship, it’ll give you more attention when you give it attention.

Got work of heart?

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs

The post February 14, 2018 – JOLT – Work of Heart appeared first on CareerGuy.com.

“The power of imagination makes us infinite.” – John Muir

Amazing…

is the best word to describe what’s possible with the responsible use of power.

Sure, power can and does corrupt, and yet power combined with integrity and character can liberate.

The question is how much of our own power are we willing to tap into.

One power we all possess is that of imagination.

Someone decided to imagine human beings flying…and we are in airports every minute.

Someone decided to imagine music libraries compressed into a speck…and ipods rocked our world.

Someone decided to imagine humans traveling to Mars or reaching any point on earth within an hour…and Falcon Heavy flew yesterday.

Someone will decide to imagine an end to cancer…and it will come about.

Someone will decide to imagine a world that works for everyone…and…we can only dream.

Yet, dreaming is where it takes place first.

The question today is “Who is the someone deciding to imagine your life the way you want it to be?”

You have that power.

Got power?

“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.” – Wilma Rudolf

The post February 7, 2018 – JOLT – Power appeared first on CareerGuy.com.

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

Blind spots…

Can be a booger.

Out the side of the car — and in many other life venues — blind spots can spell disaster. Not seeing the obstacles there to avoid can hurt you.

Yet, also being blind to opportunities right there in front of us to relish is a similar tragedy.

Walking on the bluff overlooking the ocean the other day, I faintly remembered what it was like to move here only a year ago and get to behold this view on a daily basis. What an amazing experience!

I felt the same when living on a sailboat in the marina for a few years, vowing to sit in the cockpit and simply look out for 30 minutes every day.

I think it lasted a month.

Let’s face it: there’s a natural tendency to go blind to what once fascinated and amazed us, simply because we get used to seeing it so often. Not so good for relationships, workplaces, careers, surroundings…life.

The question is whether we’re willing to turn that natural tendency on its head daily. It won’t just happen by itself, but a generated pair of new eyes intentionally positioned can have us see things we aren’t now perceiving, even if nothing has supposedly changed.

Where might your world be enhance today by relishing more of what’s right in front of your face?

Got new eyes?

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.” – Marcel Proust

The post January 31, 2018 – JOLT – New Eyes appeared first on CareerGuy.com.

“A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.” – Unknown

De-comfy-fy…

Is a word I’m coining for 2018.

It’s all well and good that you and I jubilantly project butterflies and unicorns surrounding our new year goals when we create them in the midst of holiday joy and cheer.

It’s another thing when there’s no garland on the ceiling, no short work weeks to enjoy, and no lofty over-arching spirit of the season coloring our mood.

No. This is the time when the so-called rubber meets the road…and we face daily the [uggh!] and [eeek!] and [maybe later?] reactions that come from making those little and large changes.

Now, granted, it can all be accomplished in a spirit of play, making a game out of it all…and yet we can all use some empowering (vs forceful) context to take us over the hill of change.

My personal rallying charge is: De-comfy-fy!

What’s yours? What’s the anchoring statement, phrase or word that you can and will pull out when your rubber meets the road? And, who are you going to tell it to.

Find three people today to share your 2018 personal change charge with. Have them write it down…and beg them to put it in your face when you most need it.

And, for those of you ready to de-comfy-fy to find the work life you really want, join me next Wednesday on a live webinar to support you to do just that. Register for free here.

Learn and overcome the 5 biggest challenges to finding the work you really love.

It’s a new year. Is it time to create the new career you?

Got de-comfy-fy?

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsh

The post January 24, 2018 – JOLT – De-comfy-fy appeared first on CareerGuy.com.

“Motivation gets you going and habit gets you there.” – Zig Ziglar

Easy to say…

But not always easy to do.

Change. Begin a new initiative. Put a long-pondered plan into action. Actually institute a resolution. Become someone beyond who you’ve been before.

Motivation is key, and countless ideas and splendid plans have no birth without it.

Yet, what’s often missing is to realize that the desired new creations never existed before because there were no structures in place to hold them.

Plain and simple, we’re talking habits.

New habits are what put desired changes into potential existence and then, with practice, eventual reality.

As you continue in hot pursuit of the fresh goals, personal changes, and inspiring themes of your new year, focusing on the construction of new habits will go take you further than hanging out in the motivation.

Start building the structures and, as with any new construction projects you’ve ever been involved with or surrounded by, a healthy dose of compassion will go a long way.

“Forgive our appearance while we are under construction!”

I offered a worldwide webinar yesterday for 169 former fellow initiates of Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), the national honorary leadership society.

It was all about constructing career and thought leadership in 2018.

I’m making it available to you for a limited time so that you can get the tools to support your construction as well. See the replay here.

Enjoy the webinar and the full 40 minutes of Q & A afterwards, and make a habit of engaging in the resources to help fulfill your big games in 2018.  http://careerguy.com/ODK

Got cultivated habitualness?

“But I will find new habits, new thoughts, new rules. I will become something else.” – Veronica Roth

The post January 17, 2018 – JOLT – Cultivated Habitualness appeared first on CareerGuy.com.

“Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine.” – Mario Fernandez

There’s a lot of noise…

And you and I have a fresh start at rising above it.

The New Year gives us an opportunity to transcend the noise: in your career, in your business, in world events, and primarily, in your head.

Your head wants to move forward but is sometimes weighed down by the past rationalizing loudly “Can anything really change? Can I really change?”

If there ever was a perfect time — other than birthdays — to start thinking and acting differently, you just hit that time stamp 10 days ago.

So, without all the serious pomp and circumstance of creating new years resolutions, what are some areas you could institute changes in, of even a seemingly minor consequence? It all starts with simply starting.

For example, on New Years Day, without any forethought or planning, I simply decided to end each day this year by reviewing a powerful quote on my phone, and then to review it again and meditate on it in the morning.

No big wup, you might say, but who knows how this little contextual shift might impact everything coming in between my morning and evening bookending of that power quote?

Look for yourself: what could you just begin now that would support you rising above some noise in your own life? A new daily practice? A new hobby, even in the face of your claims of not enough time? A new mindset about approaching your career and dreams?

In regard to your career and dreams, here’s a free gift I’d like to offer you to inspire you above the noise (possibly in your own head) that says this year will be no different than any other.

Your career and your dreams will be what you make of them. Let’s have them be louder than the noise, starting NOW. Get a helpful gift at http://careerguy.com/free-gift.

Got rise above?

“Don’t get mad. Don’t get even. Do better. Much better. Rise above. Become so engulfed in your own success that you forget it ever happened.” – Donald Driver

The post January 10, 2018 – JOLT – Rise Above appeared first on CareerGuy.com.