   Changing Course Newsletter: Issue 10Date: Jan 5, 2001
Subject: Changing Course Newsletter: Issue 10
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Changing Course Newsletter: Issue 10 - January 5, 2001
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Brought to you by Changing Course
http://www.ChangingCourse.com
Dedicated to helping you:
~ Live Life on Purpose
~ Work at What You Love
~ Follow Your Own Road
Barbara Sher, author of "I Could Do Anything If I Only
Knew What It Was," says Changing Course is "wonderful,
inspired and informative."
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QUOTE FOR THE DAY
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Never let it be too late.
~ Billy Bob Thornton
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IN THIS ISSUE
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~ ASK THE CAREER COACH
From Administrative Assistant to Home-based Business Owner:
What Steps Should I Take to Change Course?
~ FEATURE ARTICLE
Exploring Potential Career Options?
Be "Car-ful" - Make That Careful - of What You Think You "Know"
~ WHAT'S NEW AT ChangingCourse.com ?
Books to Help You Balance Your Life and Your Checkbook
~ INSPIRATION TO FOLLOW YOUR BLISS
Words to Live By
~ LIVE YOUR DREAM MARKETPLACE
Products and services you might like to know about
~ FEATURED RESOURCE OF THE WEEK
Working Solo
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ASK THE CAREER COACH
From Administrative Assistant to Home-based Business Owner:
What Steps Should I Take to Change Course?
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QUESTION:
I have been an Administrative Assistant for eight years now. I have
worked at several companies over the years and have finally come to the
realization that it's not the company that I work for that I don't like
but that I do not like my job. I feel like I am stuck in this position
and don't know what to do next. I really don't want to go back to
college (I have a 2-Year Degree) and have thought about starting a
business at home. I have a couple ideas on this but don't know if they
would work or not. What would be my first step to changing my course?
Lisa
Answer:
Dear Lisa,
You are already past the first step on changing your course. You may
even be up to step number three or four! The first step in changing your
work-course towards one of increased passion and fulfillment is
realizing that you no longer want to get up each morning and return to
your current job.
At this point many folks go to Step 2 which is to change employers but,
keep doing the same type of work. It sounds like you've tried that and
now realize that it's time to change what you do and not just where you
do it.
That brings you to Step 3 - envisioning other types of work that you can
do, would enjoy doing, and that fits your lifestyle. This seems to be
the step you are currently exploring.
You are ahead of the game in that you already have 2 or 3 ideas that you
now want to explore - Step 4. Excellent. Exploring your work options is
a fun step. It means you get to do some research and weigh the cost and
benefits of your various options against what you want to create in your
life.
The easiest way to begin this kind of research is to look close to home.
You said you have a couple of ideas in mind. Who do you know and trust
that may be doing work you are interested in exploring? Secondly, whom
do you know who is an enjoyable person to brainstorm with and you know
he/she has only your best interests at heart?
You may also want to get in touch with people you do not know, but who
are doing work similar to what you are interested in doing. It pays to
do some prior research here to make sure to contact people who are good
at what they do. Odds are these folks can offer you the most valuable
advice on how they have created success in their chosen work. You can
also use the library and Internet to do some of this exploring work.
There are many books to guide you through Steps 5 and 6, which are the
planning and implementing stages of your new career. One of the most
popular of which is Richard Bolles book, What Color Is Your Parachute.
Since you are looking to join the growing ranks of home-based business
owners, some potentially helpful sites may be:
http://www.onlinewbc.org - the SBA's on-line women's business center
http://www.AllBusiness.com - business start-up tools and tips
http://www.SmallBizManager.com - resources and links
Let's review these changing course steps:
1. Admit it's time for a change
2. Decide whether it's time to change what you do versus where you do it
3. Create a personal vision of meaningful and sustainable work
4. Research your career opportunities and threats
5. Create a strategic plan on how to create your new career
6. Implement your work creation plan
7. Holistically evaluate your progress toward your work and life goals
Lisa, from these steps you can see that once you have done your
research, it is time to prioritize where you want to take your work
life. That is the next step in allowing you to create a time frame for
your strategic plan. Then you can begin to take the actions toward
manifesting it in your life.
It's important to evaluate your progress throughout this process.
Evaluation is both an analytical process (i.e., tracking cash flow and
customer needs) and an emotional process (i.e., tracking how you feel
about the work and life you are devoting yourself to). Many people are
unduly intimidated by evaluating what they are doing. They adopt the
attitude that if they do not really admit how things are going things
will somehow get miraculously better on their own. This is the
proverbial 'pink elephant in the living room.' The truth is, it is only
through honestly evaluating our work and lives that we can begin to
change things for the better.
That's how Step 7 naturally flows back into Step 1 - and the cycle of
growth just continues. It is this cycle of growth that we celebrate each
New Year when we make our resolutions for healthy life change.
Wishing you many years of good health and good work,
Erik Larson
Career/lifestyle coach Erik Larson helps others to envision, plan, and
take the actions needed to increase the satisfaction and meaning in
their lives and work. He may be reached by calling Bean Fields
Professional Services (231) 439-6882 or online at
http://www.beanfields.com
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FEATURE ARTICLE
Exploring Potential Career Options?
Be "Car-ful" - Make That Careful - of What You Think You "Know"
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By Peter Vogt
How many times have you heard (or made) sweeping generalizations
like these?
~ I'd like to go into teaching, but people say there's no money in it -
only stress and bureaucracy.
~ Sure, it would be fun to be a professional artist - but you can't get
a job in the field. Everybody knows that.
~ My sister told me that all computer programmers do is sit behind a
computer all day and type in code.
Have you ever thought about where these types of broad conclusions come
from? As I've seen in my work with college students, my research on
students' career decision making, and in my own life, more often than
not these perceptions rely on shaky evidence at best or downright
falsehoods at worst. Yet they carry enormous weight in our career
decision making, so much so that we often fail to explore potentially
satisfying career options or, perhaps more tragically, conclude that our
career dreams are simply out of reach.
You can get a better handle on this important concept by thinking like a
used car buyer.
Suppose you've saved up $1,500 to buy a used car. My 1989 Toyota Camry
just happens to be for sale, for $1,500, and I let you know that. We get
together and I tell you all about how well I've taken care of the car. I
also fill you in on the repairs I've made to the car, and I describe all
of its little idiosyncrasies as well.
Convinced, you hand over the $1,500 and drive off in my car - right?
Hardly. You probably wouldn't be convinced, even if you knew I was being
totally sincere in my descriptions of the car and how I've maintained
it. You'd probably take the car for a test drive yourself. You might
even bring the car to a mechanic you trust, to see what he or she has to
say about its performance and current condition.
In other words, you wouldn't simply take my word on the car. You'd
gather all of the independent information you could, knowing that you'd
be making a big investment - and that the information I've given you is
only one small piece of a much bigger puzzle.
This is the same thoughtful approach we all need to take in exploring
our many career options and passions. Here's how:
NEVER ASSUME: Just as you wouldn't assume that I know everything about
my own car, don't assume that you - or, just as importantly, other
people - already know everything about a job or career you're
considering. You likely know only a fraction of what there is to know,
and you probably have to go out and find the rest.
GATHER INFORMATION FROM MANY SOURCES: If you're thinking about a
particular career, don't just ask your friends and family about it. Talk
to people who are actually pursuing that career. If possible, work with
a career counselor or coach who can help you identify and then contact
professionals who can share their firsthand knowledge and experiences
with you.
CRITICALLY EVALUATE YOUR SOURCES: This step is absolutely key. Think
carefully about your sources of information on careers. How do your
friends and family, for example, really compare with the U.S. Department
of Labor when it comes to knowing trends in various industries? Who will
really be able to give you a better sense of what it's like to be a
professional dancer - a dance teacher, or your friend the accountant?
TEST YOUR IDEAS: Most companies offer opportunities to "try out" a
particular career path. If you're thinking about becoming a financial
planner, for example, see if you can spend a day or a week with a
working financial planner. That way, you can see up close the pros and
cons of working in that field. Similarly, check to see whether your
community offers experiential activities like internships,
volunteerships, and "shadowing" experiences - all of which will give you
an even more extensive look at a particular career field.
Acknowledging and challenging your beliefs, assumptions, and perceptions
about careers takes time and effort to be sure. So does changing them
through critical thinking and positive action. Clearly you'll be making
an investment - but it's an investment that could mean the difference
between the unnecessary discouragement of "the road not taken" and the
joy of a satisfying new path paved by your critical thinking.
Career counselor and career development writer Peter Vogt is President
of Career Planning Resources, a Minneapolis company focusing on the
career concerns of college students and recent college graduates. As the
Campus Career Coach at http://monster.com he advises the Campus
Community at http://campus.monster.com Peter is also Producer of The
Career Services Kiva at http://www.careerserviceskiva.com, a
comprehensive web site for college career counselors. You may reach him
at peter_vogt@careerserviceskiva.com or (952) 906-2835 (CST).
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WHAT'S NEW AT CHANGING COURSE?
Resources for Balancing Your life and Your Checkbook
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How many times have we thought to ourselves, "If I only had a
substantial nest egg to tide me over for a year or two, then I could
change my work to something more fulfilling.?" The problem with this way
of thinking is that years go by, and then more years go by, and we still
haven't done anything about pursuing our dream except keeping it just
that - a dream.
The problem is, we are constantly bombarded by advertising messages
telling us to spend everything we make. And so, we end up spending our
time as well working in a job that neither inspires nor challenges us,
in order to keep on paying the bills. There is hope, however.
Altering our perceptions about money and creating choices about how we
choose to spend our time, and facing the harsh truths about just what we
are trading our time for, is not easy. It requires forming new habits
and new priorities. Knowledge is indeed power.
It is still possible to achieve "right livelihood" and keep your
finances in check. Once you start taking the little steps, you gain a
greater awareness of the link between dreams and reality. Money is the
necessary bridge between the two. You can build a bridge one rung at a
time, and after sufficient building it will be easy to walk across. If
you just try going from here to there in one huge leap, the difficulty
is that you don't know where the other side is. That is why so many of
the lures of the get-rich quick schemes out there are so misleading.
Things like day-trading, lotteries, gambling, pyramid schemes, etc. are
always ill-advised paths to take because there are no intermediate steps
upon which to stand as you go from here to there. If you just get the
money and have no solid foundation upon which to stand, you usually end
up losing the money back anyway, in one manner or another. Build your
own bridge according to the dictates of your own sense of what is
purposeful for you, one rung at a time.
If you're ready to take a closer look at your relationship with money,
here are books that can help:
~ Joe Dominquez and Vicki Robin's best-seller, Your Money or Your Life:
Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial
Independence, and
~ Choosing Simplicity: Real People Finding Peace and Fulfillment in
a Complex World, by Linda Breen Pierce
You can read more about these dream-enabling books at the Live Your
Dream bookstore at http//www.ChangingCourse.com/bookstore.htm
You'll also find some good on-line resources at ChangingCourse.com including:
~ Frugal Living Resources: Tips, articles, books, discussion lists and
other resources for living simply
~ One Income Living in a Two Income World: The title says it all!
Includes frugal tip of the week, articles on simple living and more
~ The Simple Living Network: Interactive catalogue to help you live a
simple, comfortable, less consumptive lifestyle
Find all of these links - and more - at:
http://www.ChangingCourse.com
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INSPIRATION TO FOLLOW YOUR BLISS
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Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people
always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can
become great.
~ Mark Twain
The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it
could be turned into momentum.
~ Frances Willard
Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous
circumstances, would have lain dormant.
~ Horace
On the long and winding road, it is easy to lose the way. Listen. The
old hermit along the side of the road whispers, 'Stranger, pass by that
which you do not love.'
~ Phil Cousineau
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live life on purpose