TransformationSummer is in full swing.   If you are ready to move to the next level, now is the time.  Life is ready for you — it always has been.

Enjoy the weeks of summer.  Be ready to jump into fall, spend a few minutes this week setting the stage for your personal transformation.

Transformation only happens when you are truly ready to shift and take action.  

Here are three steps that will help you be ready for your personal transformation in the months ahead:

  1. Listen to yourself.  Listen carefully to what you want and what you feel, then write it down.
  2. Jot down your concerns about what is next for you.
  3. Be truthful with yourself about each of your concerns.  Did you note all your concerns?  Did you note the real concern(s)?  Don’t stop with the surface issues and concerns.

Review your notes.  Reflect on the data.  For example, if you want a new job and you are concerned about the salary, make sure this is your real concern or your only concern.

Then ask yourself, “What can I do to address the salary of the job I really want?”  Often the limits people initially see are easily overcome.

These steps can help you accelerate your transformation to the life and career you want.

If you want to create personal transformation faster you can partner with a coach, a trusted advisor or mentor.

Try the three steps and share you comments below.

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phoneThe phone rang and the question was, “Why do they hate me?”

The person asking is a member of team I’ve worked with for some time.  This team leader set an intention to impact the team’s service at all levels before his retirement.  As a person, and a leader, he is legendary for his service focus.

The caller is always professional, liked by all new customers and those who casually interact with him.  He provides adequate service and has solid enough performance to maintain a place on the team.  However, he is seen by the team as a person unaware of several of his BIG blind spots.

We ALL have blind spots and this team knows that well.  In fact, all team members except the caller have identified many personal blind spots.  By doing so, they impacted results, fulfillment and increased their personal satisfaction, adding fun and joy to their work.

As the leader’s retirement approached, the team was deeply involved in hiring his replacement — interviews had even occurred earlier that day.

I confirmed the “they” he referred to was the team.  Then, knowing the team as I do, my reply was a question, “How do you know they hate you?”

I was immediately met with resistance and defiance (“No one is going to fire me or make me quit!”).  Then the caller hung up.

His resistance hung in the air around my desk for a bit.

The caller was stuck.  The story was spoken, believed and holding the caller in place.

What questions are you asking?  What stories are you telling?

Is your story creating resistance to satisfaction and fulfillment?

Have you created resistance that is holding you in place?  Share your thoughts below.

Ready to align awesome?

Contact me to discuss how the power of questions and coaching can transform your life, your results and your impact in the world.

Doing the work you love, living your purpose and having impact is fun and amazing!

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Until we can receive with an open heart, we are never really giving with an open heart.” ~Brene Brown

This is an amazing time of year.  As the year is drawing to a close there is a unique spirit in the air.

Business focus shifts. People smile and care in a little different way.  In this season, giving flows with ease.

How do you give and receive?

giftHow does your team give and receive?

When I watch how people give and receive I see joy, purpose and connection.  I also see awkwardness, discomfort, and sadness.

The latter observation is why I started this post with Brene Brown’s quote.  My view is there is a very interesting connection between the willingness to receive and what is given to you by the universe and people.

I have to admit it, I have always been a better giver than receiver.

Once, years ago, I yelled at a girlfriend for putting food on my plate in a restaurant.  The food was given with love and care, yet I could not accept it.  After a scene, raised voices, and hurt feelings, my friend who had graciously shared her food with me, pointed out how selfish I was in her view. Her scolding has stuck with me.  The sorrow and hurt look in my girlfriend’s eyes are, to this day, a visual reminder that receiving is an art and skill.

Being open to receiving shapes who we are, how others care for us and what comes to us.    That day I learned my giving set the stage for others to be open to giving.  Minutes later, when I lacked the ability to receive, I experienced another shift.

We are often taught the art and skill of giving as a child and thus have much practice at it.  Cultivating the skill and art of receiving can be much more challenging.  It was and is for me — it is not a skill I began practicing in earnest until I was in my twenties.

Have you cultivated the skill of receiving gifts, feedback, and compliments?

Will you open your heart and demonstrate your receiving skills?

What might be the impact if you receive as well as you give?

Are you open to the opportunities receiving might bring?

Thank you for reading and receiving this post.

Doing the work you love, living your purpose, and having impact is fun and amazing!

Ready to align awesome?

Contact me to discuss how the power of questions and coaching can transform your life, your results, and your impact in the world.

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qyestionIf you read my blog regularly you may recall a recent post about “drift.”  Over the last year I have discovered much about the impact of drift in my own life.

This year one of my coaches, Laura Clark, has helped my explore my personal drift on a much deeper level.  One discovery in my work with Laura has been the power of experiencing the drift like the wind on my face.  I am also learning to use my own strengths in new and different ways — including asking powerful, and tough, questions.

Most people who know me, including my clients, will tell you I ask tough questions . . . and now I’m learning how to use them to help others who are experiencing drift.

If you are seeking more satisfaction, meaning and fulfillment from your career, it could be time for you to ask the tough questions, too.

WARNING:  Tough questions can cause discomfort, uncertainty, and doubt.

Before you blow by and quickly answer each question just to move on to the next task, I challenge you to pause.  Pause and feel the wind on your face.  If you are inside, pause and feel the temperature of the air in the room on your face.

Here are a few very powerful questions:

  • Who am I?
  • Where am I?
  • Why am I here?

Do you feel the wind or temperature?

During the last year as I have focused on each of these questions in a new and deeper manner, I have rediscovered the power each question truly holds — and, the edge and discomfort of each question.

Whether you are on the edge of transition or transformation, these questions may be all you need to launch you to the next level.

This week, pause and answer these questions.  Answer them as they call to you.

Have a comment, share it below.  If the questions will serve someone you know, share this post.

Do you want to discuss your answers and how they impact your career, business and work?  Let’s talk. I  am happy to schedule a career chat with you.

Doing the work you love, living your purpose, and having impact is fun and amazing!

Ready to align awesome?

Contact me to discuss how the power of questions and coaching can transform your life, your results and your impact in the world.

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coward

You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best.  You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do.” – Jerry Garcia

Growing and having fulfilling work requires courage.  Do you have courage?

Life can be messy.  When it is messy do you have the courage to call it like it is?  There are a few people in the world who dislike me (yes, it is true!) because on any given day I have the courage to call it like it is and to ask the questions that need to be asked.

It is neither mean spirited nor intended to stir painful emotions, yet I know sometimes that is the outcome.  When emotions are stirred up you might feel fearful or vulnerable.

In my 20’s and 30’s I was unwilling to own my emotions.  My first reaction was to be defensive.  Can you relate?  I wanted to blame someone else for my emotions.  I often said, “You make me feel <mad, sad, angry> — you fill in the blank.  The truth is your emotions belong to you alone and it takes courage to own your feelings . . . and your mistakes.   As Brené Brown says “We cannot selectively numb emotions, when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions.”

Having the courage to be who you are and deal with all the messy parts of life often feels uncomfortable.  Yet, uncovering your courage and allowing it to show will transform your life and your work.

A few years ago a client shared, “I love being unemployed, but I am afraid of what people think of me because I don’t have an 8-to-5 job.  I shiver thinking about what they would think if they knew I did not want to return to my previous career.”   She viewed her courage to speak her truth as a big weakness.

In the moment she allowed her courage to show up, the moment she spoke her truth, she stepped forward.  Her willingness to be courageous allowed her to explore a new way to do the work she loved.

Only 20% of people look forward to going to work on Monday morning.  Are you one of them?

It is not easy to have the courage to step away from the crowd.  Are you seeking joy, fulfillment and satisfaction from your work?  Do you have the courage to uncover and share with the world what you do?  What would it be like to be considered one of the only ones who do what you do?

Do you want help and support to uncover your courage and share your remarkable work with the world?  If so, let talk.

Do you have a comment or thought about courage?  Post it below.

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beliefDo you believe you are special?  Talented?  Different?  Unique?  Better than someone else?

I believe every person on earth is talented, different and unique.  I believe what sets people that are happy and fulfilled apart has much to do with how they unlock and use their uncommon talents, gifts and unique human potential.

Additionally, I believe it is not necessary for people to compete with one another to have the life you desire.  No one person is better than another and all people matter.  The knowledge of that is very powerful.

How do you use your potential?  Is your performance directly connected to what you believe about yourself and others?

Belief is a game changer.  Belief (some call it faith) in an experience, interaction, or event can change your impact.

What do you believe about yourself?

Those climbing to the next level realize where they are today is only a point on the journey.  Those who have impact consciously choose and believe in the next step.

For those that believe they “have arrived” or have reached the pinnacle of their potential, growth may have stopped.  They may begin to believe that only the status quo needs to be maintained.  This pause or stop in growth may be a steady roll into a valley.  It might look like a glorious golf shot hit high, long and straight with grand yardage that ends up rolling into a low spot of tall thick grass that is very tough to hit out of.

What do you believe?  Have you arrived?  Are you in a valley working to maintain the status quo?

Are you growing to the next level and not at your intentional target yet?

Eduardo Briceno has a powerful short TEDx talk on this subject, “The Power of Belief — Mindset and Success.”  Check it out.

After you watch Eduardo Briceno’s TEDx talk, share your comments or thoughts on the power of belief below.  If you found this post or the TEDx talk interesting, please share it with others.

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networkFaith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.” – Gandhi

The job search can be the toughest job you will ever have.  Sometimes despite “positive thinking,” great marketing, resolve, determination, focus on your goals and vision, doubts jump into your thoughts.  Go ahead, admit it.

Pause and think about how you FEEL about building, connecting and interacting with your network.  Those feelings dictates how your network grows, how fast you have an impact and your growth to the next level.

Sometimes when you reach for the phone or start to type an email your inner voice of doubt begins to chatter.  It asks, “Why would this person be interested in hearing from me, we’ve not talked in years?” or “What will this person think of me?”  You don’t want to be known as “underemployed and begging for help” or “that person that needs help to make it.”

When inner doubt shows up it can change how you feel.  The way we feel directly impacts the actions we take.  Especially in marketing ourselves, our value, and with whom we are willing to share information.

What you choose to do (or not to do) will determine the opportunities you have and those you will find.  Actions directly impact the results you achieve, your income and your success.  The choice of what to do will also impact how you FEEL and ACT this afternoon and tomorrow.

Discover how you feel.  Decide if you like it or not.   Decide if you want to change it or not.

How you feel shows up in how you THINK and ACT.  If you feel bad, do you what that to continue?

What would be different if, as Gandhi suggests in the quote above, you grow into the faith that connecting or re-connecting with each person will bring good things to you and to them?

Intellectually, you and I already know you have significant value to offer.  Why not grow the value you offer by sharing it with the world or at least your network?

Have the courage to BELIEVE the results you achieve are indeed coming from your feelings, thoughts and actions.  Be a magnet for success and prosperity in your search.  FEEL confident about your value and be willing to ACT.  You must be aware of your feelings and take action or your will miss the opportunities available within your network.

Assess your network.  Take inventory of the people you know.  As in any business, inventory is an asset and will impact your bottom line.

The network of people you know is a component of your social and business capital.  Who are your critical connections?  Who are the critical connections you need to add to your network?

Create a plan to connect and stay connected.  Who knows you?  Who likes you?  Who trusts you?  Who will you connect with this week?  How will you stay connected?

Share your feelings and thoughts below.  Do you need help with your networking plan?  Give Cindy a call.

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doubt

Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; whenever there is opportunity, there lurks danger.  The two are inseparable.  They go together.”~ Earl Nightingale

Doubt will kill your career.  Doubt will stop transformation in a second.

Does doubt and danger lurk in your life?  If so, it may well be killing your career.

Do you view doubt as danger?  When doubt and danger are inseparable, you may overlook opportunity.  Your brain and body work together to help you survive.

Opportunities may require you to step out of your comfort zone.  Does the area outside your comfort zone feel like danger?

For most people, their career is not filled with danger.  There are exceptions, such as military careers, skydivers, etc.  Similarly, most career opportunities are not a threat to survival.

Now that does not mean that I have not had days when an opportunity didn’t feel like danger, sending all my systems into survival mode.

Or, from time to time that real danger does not appear in my life.  Recently it appeared on the highway during a morning commute.  That morning I was delighted that “divine intervention” and all the amazing systems of my brain and body worked together to keep me safe.

Doubt is different from danger. Can you separate the two?

The Earl Nightingale quote above is a reminder that the line between danger and opportunity can be very thin.

Doubt will kill your career if you can’t see the opportunities.  Blind spots show up when doubt is ever present or hangs around too long.

The executives I work with know that awareness, experience, knowledge and preparation build confidence.  They also have learned to pay attention to doubt, to pause and gather facts and create the best responses in all situations.

If your career trajectory is ready for a transformation, learning what these executives know about paying attention to doubt can change the game, enhance your sense of freedom and allow you to have the fulfillment you desire.

Doubt and danger are different.  Danger is cars spinning around on the highway out of control.  Learning to feel and leverage doubt helps you turn those moments — those “thin” points of opportunity — into unique situations with better than envisioned outcomes.

If stress and doubt are killing your career and you are not ready for life support, let’s talk.

Shifting you view of blind spots is easier than you think. Contact me.

I’d enjoy helping you transform your career.  Have an amazing week!

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trustYou can trust people, trust them to be exactly who they are every time” – Mastin Kipp

Do you trust yourself?  Why not?

The quote above has become a favorite of mine.  I like the truth in it.

I think it was Kerri Konik who first introduced me to this Mastin Kipp quote.  Thanks Kerri!

People are who they are.  People are worthy, funny and insightful.

All people have gifts and talents unique to them.  People are resilient, graceful, and caring.  People are amazing!  All people have an essence unique to them.

Yes, this is my point-of-view and I realize it is often not a popular point of view.  Over time, many have shared with me how wrong I am on this point.  Others protest and disagree with me, stating they cannot support my point of view.  I understand.

The world is full of different points-of-view, so much so that often people begin to believe that just being themselves is not enough.

Yes, there are days when I am not focused and not aware of the essence of every person around me.  Yet, I do trust that I can pause and, with a moment of focus, am able to capture a person’s essence and, usually, the person’s unique gifts.

People are flexible and adapt.  Some people work hard to change, adapt, and adjust who they are for various reasons, needs or concerns.  Some people move away from their essence if they feel they need to do so to survive or maintain the status quo.  Some people live in the present, being who they are in a conscious manner.

Perhaps those who disagree with me view people differently.  That is okay.  Seeing who people are, at least for me, requires being present and trusting myself first.  Then I can see and trust people for who they believe they are now.

What circumstances, thoughts or beliefs shape your trust of others?  Of yourself?  What needs shape your trust when you look in the mirror each morning?

Do you trust yourself?

Do you communicate trust in yourself?

Trust is critical in hiring and finding a job.  People hire and do business with people they know, like and trust.

Does your brand allow you to build and to shape your know, like and trust factor?

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See the Opportunities
 Every day, in each moment, there are opportunities before you.  Do you see them? 

An event, an encounter, a lunch with a friend can connect you to an amazing opportunity.  The challenge, at least for me on occasion, is whether or not I recognize these moments as opportunities.

My secret is to pause, if only for a moment.  Then, in that moment, there is a flash or a smile or just a knowing that opportunities abound.

When you are committed to sustaining your career trajectory and transforming these amazing opportunities joy grows and so much more appears at your fingertips.  The executives I work with know this, yet most will tell you it is not always easy to seize the moments.

Sometimes blind spots dart in front of opportunities and in order to see them you must stretch or shift to get a clear view of them. Often the stress of your job, your everyday duties, takes over and the opportunities drift from sight.

Building and sustaining an amazing career, a functional team and a profitable business takes continued drive, action and consistent progress toward your goals.  It also takes a willingness to see the opportunities as you travel through your busy day.

Are ready to accelerate your success?

Here is a simple assignment to help you to see the opportunities:

  1. Pause at least five moments during the day, think and ask yourself,  “Can I see the opportunities before me?”
  2. As you pause be mindful and interested.  What are you feeling?  What do you know?
  3. Who or what is nearby?  Where do you see joy, smiles, opportunities?
  4. What is the thought that darts out to hide what you see?

Can you pause for a moment more to see the opportunities?

Great!  If not yet, don’t worry.  Pausing to see the opportunities comes easier with a little practice.  Try the assignment. Practice it at five points during each day for one week.

Check in and share your results below.  Want to help others see the opportunity?  Tweet “Can you #seetheopportunities?”

Do you want support to see the opportunities available to you?

Are you ready for your amazing career transformation?

If so, I am happy to help, give me a call.  Talk to you soon.

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