Accelerate Your Search™ Now

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

Mid-year evaluations are complete.  Maybe you spent weeks tuned into the gossip about who would get a raise, who’s getting a promotion and who is on the way out the door.

Then you learned your verdict.  No promotion and only the standard cost-of-living increase or maybe no increase.  Or, you had been asking for help and instead got more work.  You hoped completing more work would, at least, get you promoted.  It didn’t.  Now you are frustrated, upset and unsure of what to do.

Do you really want to do something different?  If so, here are some practical suggestions to help you move forward:

 1. Identify the conditions you want to change about your work.

What are the true conditions and issues you want to change?  Clearly identify what you want and what you are willing to take action on.  It is difficult to resolve an unidentified condition or vague matter.  It is a challenge to request support if others don’t know what you want, what you need or understand the help you wish to receive.

2. Identify what you are protecting or avoiding.

Complaints and/or comments seem to be a way to release our internal stress.  But oftentimes, when the stress is gone so is the desire to change the matter.

If you have a strong desire to change the situation look deeper.  If you are just ‘blowing off stream’ or releasing your frustration, find a way to do so that does not cause harm to your reputation and your relationships with other people.  If you are avoiding something you fear, identify the fear and how you want to productively deal with it.

3. Set up your ongoing and future success.

Identify the actions and valuable resources that will help you gain knowledge about what changes and performance level are needed to secure your desired promotion.  Start with your conversations/interactions.  When someone asks, “Did you get the promotion?” share the news and your intention.

Here a suggestion: “No, I did not receive the promotion, yet.  Thank you for asking.  If you’re interested in my progress, would you like periodic updates, in confidence of course?”

Not getting the promotion you wanted can be disappointing and frustrating.  It can also bring up concerns, stress, and doubts.  Growing to the next level is exciting, fun and fulfilling, but it can also present bumps and challenges along the way.  Having the support you need to achieve your goals helps smooth the road.

Have you missed a promotion you wanted?  What is next for you?

What are your thoughts or comments?  Please post them below.

Who are you partnering with to grow to the next level?  Do you have a mentor or coach?  Have a question or want to talk about how you can get the promotion you want?  Give us a call.

“You 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?

Last week, I shared how one experience created many limitations for me over the years in both my career and in business.  I allowed the past to limit my future.

For a long time, I did not stop to think, design and intentionally review the opportunities presented to me.  And, unfortunately, I did not realize it or know why.  Years later, I have come to understand my behavior and spot it in a second!  Now, I do my best to pause in lieu of reacting immediately.

Here is the story that created my limiting beliefs:

It was my first solo sailing trip after purchasing my sailboat.  I had learned how to sail, purchased the boat and went out alone on a great summer day.  Unfortunately, I opened my sails too fast and very quickly the wind caught the main sail.  The wind shifted the boat and dumped me in the water.  I am a good swimmer and almost fearless in the water.  Yet, on that day, the wind was strong and the water cold.  I felt the sting to my confidence of being ill prepared for a brief minute.

This sting momentarily rattled my confidence and tested my knowledge.  A voice in my head said, “You don’t know enough to do this alone.”  That voice was scary and loud.

A moment later, I climbed back aboard the boat and I immediately knew I could correct for the error I made — so I did.  I tried again and enjoyed sailing for another couple of hours.  I was happy, had fun and went home to share the events of the day.

As I shared my adventure with others, they added their voices of concern to the little voice in my head that kept repeating, “You don’t know enough to do this alone.”  Over time the voice in my head, and the voices of others, grew to sound like a bold, robust choir!  I started to believe that perhaps the others knew better than I did.  What if they were right?  What if I did take too many risks?

In the moment that I lifted my head out of the water that day and the cold wind stung my face I began to write the ending to a story that would evolve and limit my opportunities for many years.  My story that resulted in quick “NO’s” kept telling me, “Don’t be too fearless.  Don’t be too courageous.  Don’t risk too much.”

Now when that choir shows up like a cold wind, instead of saying “NO” immediately, I use it to offer encouragement to myself to pause and assess each opportunity.  When that sailing experience flashes through my mind, I see it as an opportunity to design, craft and set an intention for each opportunity before me.  Rather than being a limitation, as it initially was, it is now helpful.

What story do you tell yourself that limits your opportunities?

What story or stories do you need to review?

If you are a courageous, do-it-yourself person, much like me, you may be putting off seeking help and support.  I can tell you I did not learn to turn off the choir and write new endings without help.

Just like learning to sail, building a career or a business are adventures that are much more fun and profitable when they are not solo adventures.  I sought out mentors, coaches and many others to help me.  Who is helping you rewrite your “stories?”  Who is helping you build and transform your career?

If you are ready for a career, business, or life experience that will transform your work and create an amazing new career filled with fun and many opportunities, let’s talk.

I love the summer season.  It brings play, work and fun into a different space for me.

Most of all, summer is a reminder to create, design, and intentionally write the endings to the experiences and stories of my life.

What about you?

Do you have stories you tell yourself that limit your opportunities?

For years I had many ‘stories’ that created interesting limitations.  One in particular came not from previous work experience, but rather from a sailing experience.

In my youth, I learned to sail with my dad and family.  I enjoyed sailing and decided to buy a sailboat.  This is where my limiting story began.

It took me years to realize how one event created so many far-reaching limitations for me. Later I was offered an invitation to ‘open my sails’ and I immediately said, “NO.”    Not, “No thank you” or “Let me have the details” — replies that would have allowed me to assess the opportunity and risk.  My reply was just “NO!”  It was a time when the winds of change were strong.  In an instant, I felt the winds on my face and decided the invitation was too risky.  Why?  On that day, I was not sure.  It was later, while talking with my coach that I sorted out the reason.

The simple answer?  A story from the past that instantly wrote an ending to this invitation.  An ending that felt too risky.

Do you do this with career opportunities?

What story do you tell yourself that limits your opportunities?

Join me next week for more about my sailing story . . .

A few weeks ago, Nancy Tierney, a super gal and owner of Firecracker Communications, posted the article  “Do You Have An Upper Limit Problem?“.  Nancy’s post is a must read.

Here is why:

1.  She shares the definition of the “Upper Limit Problem” as explained in the introduction of Gay Hendricks book, The Big Leap.
2.  She opens the conversation as to what holds so many of us back.

Job seekers, those seeking promotion and entrepreneurs/managers trying to grow a business, so often “put the brakes on” success.  If you are ready to move forward and accelerate your search in 2015, then it is time to understand and reframe how you hold yourself back.

I hope you will read Nancy’s post and Gay Hendricks’ book.  Both are good and offer insight for the months ahead.  Then, I hope you will pause and ask yourself these questions:

1. What did I do last week to hold myself back?
2. What one thing would I like to change, or reframe, this week to land the job I want?

Think about it.  What limitations did you set for yourself today or this week?

Was it?

• You worked all day and you’re too tired to take one positive action to accelerate your search.
• Your family/kids/boss needed something, so you allowed that need to set the bar for how successful you can be today.
• You believe you are too shy, not enough or not worthy of a conversation.  Or, you are too busy looking for job postings to make one positive personal connection or contact today.

Is your internal thermostat set to low?

Is it you that is holding you back?

Do you have an “Upper Limit Problem?”

Have a comment or thought?  Post it below.