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Quote of the
Month
"Anticipating the conniptions of change blocks us from acknowledging that we do know, and have always known, what our calls are.”
- Gregg Levoy, author of Callings
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Under The Radar
RETIRMENT PREPARATION AND LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT
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“Age legislation is due to come into force October 2006, “ says the Older Workers Employment Network online. Since AARP says 68% of workers plan to work in some capacity during retirement or not retire at all, legislation to protect their jobs, health benefits, etc. would certainly be in order.
“For reasons of personal fulfillment and financial incentive, many people ages 50 and older—‘experienced workers’ in human resources jargon—are planning to work well past traditional retirement ages. For many of the more than 70 million members of the baby boom generation, that will mean switching jobs, with some moving on to maximize their pension plan benefits while others are downsized. The good news: The growing demand for highly skilled employees will enable many people ages 50 and older to take their pick of the right job to bridge their way into full retirement." U.S. News & World Report, March 20, 2006.
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To better prepare you for this life phase see Laurie’s article this month, The Pro-tirement Plan.
For additional information about employment opportunities, ageism issues, or corporate regulations updates, plus a variety of other senior issues in the U.S., visit AARP http://www.aarp.org/ or the National Council on Aging http://www.ncoa.org. One international source is the Older Worker’s Employment Network (The Owen Project) http://www.owenproject.co.uk.
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Recent Career Trends
VACATION DEFICIT DISORDER
As of May 1, 2006, The International Coach Federation (ICF) membership has officially passed the 10,000 mark. Professional coaches are in more than 80 countries. What are all these coaches doing? They’re helping you find the Golden Mean, as Aristotle put it – the right balance of virtue and knowing when enough is enough. Some of you overextend yourself so the scale is tipped in the favor of others at your expense. Others of you are so busy finding your own portals to success that you neglect your well-being and lose awareness of others you care about and those things more central to living a meaningful life.
“'Because of job insecurity, American workers often feel huge pressure to be present in the workplace,’ says John de Graff, 59, national coordinator for Take Back Your Time, a Seattle-based advocacy organization devoted to promoting humane work hours.
“There’s a term for this. It’s called vacation deficit disorder.” De Graaf is an advocate of passing a federal law to grant Americans legal rights to vacations rather than leave it in the hands of the employers. Even when vacations are approved by employers, employees don’t always take them.
Mark Jenkins distills main concepts from Joe Robinson’s 2003 book Work to Live: The Guide to Getting a Life, in offering this eight-point Vacation Declaration:
1.
Take every single day you’re given.
2. Go big. Plan vacations of at least one full week.
3. Cut out clean. Put out-of-office messages on your voice mail and e-mail.
4. Leave your gadgets at home; never check in to the office while away.
5. Take a break from all news.
6. Forget a raise—ask for more paid vacation time instead.
7. Vote for politicians who support a federal vacation law.
8. Really vacate: Ban all work talk on vacation.
Quotes excerpted from The Hard Way. Breaking Away by Mark Jenkins. Outside, June 2006
Career-Life
Symmetry
HABITS AFFECT NEEDED CHANGES
“Wherever you are in life, your habits determine 95% of your thoughts, feelings and actions.” – Brian Tracy, Motivation Expert and Author |
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If you’re on a constant learning path, the way to improvement and positive change, rather than through the perfection approach, is to learn what your weaker habits are and find methods to compensate for them. Especially in your career, you have to learn how to play your strength cards and delegate tasks or ask for support to handle areas of less strength. Two Directors of the MBA Career development school have written about 12 bad career habits (see this month’s Book Referrals). Dan Robey reminds you of four simple positive habits:
“Many of us are stressed out by the negative effects of work overload in our careers. Every time you are faced with a new task to perform, apply the 4 D's as listed below. You will find that your workload will be reduced as you apply this screening and decision-making tool to each task you are confronted with. Decide on the most appropriate choice – and take action. |
- Do It Now – take immediate action, do the task right away, don’t procrastinate.
- Dump It Now – make a quick decision and dump the task.
- Delegate It – give the task to someone else. This is a very critical aspect of time management. Your time is valuable; make it a habit to work on tasks that you do best and delegate the tasks that can be performed by someone else.
- Defer the Task – make an immediate decision to postpone the task to a later time. Make sure to schedule a time to complete it.”
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The Power of Positive Habits, Dan Robey, author of The Power of Positive Habits a program that shows you how to reach your goals automatically through cognitive restructuring. http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Robey1.html
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| Career Resources & Services |
LAURIE'S MONTHLY
ARTICLE:
THE PRO-TIREMENT PLAN
“In your seasoned work life, it becomes even more important to make sound choices. It’s time to bring about the kind of change ─ the destiny ─ you’ve worked towards. Whether charting a course to early retirement, holding steady in the job you’re in, or looking to leap to new work, this is a new stage of life and you want to be ready for it. Here’s how to pro-tire:
Dr. Frederic Hudson, an expert in adult development, calls the 50+ years, the pro-tirement years. This is where retirement shows up in a new way and you discover quality work that rewards you on all fronts. Even those who think they want to retire get easily pulled back into consulting or similar work, because they have the energy and wisdom to continue to give. Work at this time is less about how to prove yourself and get ahead and more about …”
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LAURIE'S JULY
ARTICLE:
Career Fallacies, Fantasies and Future-sees
Each month we try to provide you with a unique newsletter that has a variety of topics and is both informative and helpful. We’re not always sure if we’re meeting your needs. Please help us answer this question: How can we support you?
Click here for the 2-minute survey (promise that’s all it takes). Help us target what you’ll find most helpful in your career tips newsletter. Thank you to those who have already responded. We’ll post these ideas and new changes in our November Special Edition. |
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RECOMMENDED BOOKS:
The 12 Bad Habits That Hold Good People Back
by James Waldroop, PhD and Timothy Butler, PhD, Directors of MBA Career Development at Harvard
Also business psychologists, these experts offer the flip side of Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People” and help you zero in on what you do or don’t do that might be impeding your career progress, such as how to use your power and deal with authority.
Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life
by Greg Levoy
In contrast to other experts who refer to the term “callings” as career related, this book examines the many kinds of calls we receive and the different channels through which they come. It draws on the wisdom from stories of people who followed their true calling and how they moved into action.
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The Coach Notes
NOTHING IS IMPORTANT
Recently I had some health issues that were minor, but were, initially, annoying. They prevented me from doing things I wanted to do. Most of you can relate to having plenty you want to do. My thoughts at the time were that I just wanted to do my share. Yet, no good reason was going to heal me quickly and get me back in action on my time schedule.
One issue was some dust had got in my left eye and infected a gland. I couldn’t attend some events without looking suspiciously ill, or spend a lot of time on the computer, or read much. I had to lie down and put a warm teabag on my eye a few times a day to draw out the poison.
“What a nuisance to deal with,” I thought. Yet despite my mental chatter I heard the words within me: “Nothing is important.” I ignored it for a day, but the words continued to resonant and to remind me how I am the one who assigns significance to things. Tasks, projects and activities could in fact be postponed, changed, delegated or dropped — it was within my power to do that.
I lay on the couch in my living room, a tea bag over my left eye. I noticed out of my right eye a tree’s shadow reflected in a sunny spot on the wood floor near the window where I lay. How peaceful and relaxing it was to watch the shadows dance across the floor and surrender my busyness to a newly embraced concept of unimportance.
What is so significant to you, that on closer examination is “unimportant”?
-Laurie |
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Contact
Laurie Sheppard, Creating At Will
Los Angeles, CA
310.645.2874
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Laurie Sheppard is a Life
Coach and Career Strategist. She is known as the Coach
For Change. She is a graduate of The Hudson Institute of
Santa Barbara and a master certified coach with The
International Coach Federation. To learn more about her,
visit her website at http://www.creatingatwill.com/
or
email to info@creatingatwill.com
OR
contact her for a complimentary coaching session
today!
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