I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success” by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. In this book, the authors outline a system to meet goals in any area of life –from how to loose weight, how to better your finances, how to stop addictions, how to change relationships. They even talk about how to further your career. The strategies and tactics they outline are derived from research at the Change Anything Labs in Utah. They also have a membership website to provide resources and tools for you to use as scientist and subject in the process of customizing a unique approach to changing your habits in a way that gives you the results you want.

By reading this book, you will learn why willpower in and of itself is not enough to mount a successful change effort in most cases. The authors explain that if you are relying on willpower alone, you are blind and outnumbered! Most importantly, they provide lots of ideas and options for you to become aware of your own crucial moments and corresponding vital behaviors. You’ll also learn about the six sources of influence and how to leverage them toward your cause. It’s particularly enticing that their research shows that successful changers often experience improvements in another area of concern for themselves as they go through the process of meeting goals in their main area of focus.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of “Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success” by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. I received no other compensation for this review.

The Get Hired Bootcamp team is providing a free webinar on “Keys To A Successful Job Search” (affiliate link) this week and I’m helping to spread the word. This bootcamp will be helpful for people who are currently job hunting and want to speed up their search to get an offer quicker.

Looking for work is a skill. There are things you can learn to increase your chances.

• Skills to make it easier to target a good job.
• Skills to handle the interview.
• Skills to network to find the hidden jobs.
• Skills to position yourself as the top candidate.
• Skills to negotiate your salary.

I just listened in on one of the free webinars myself and there are several things I like about this bootcamp format.

1. The Get Hired Bootcamp sessions are all presented via webinar with each session recorded and transcripts provided too.
2. They have developed a nice curriculum plan to hit the essentials within 3 weeks time with access to the VIP area for 3 months after registering.
3. Many of the experts that will be presenting are human resource professionals and recruiters so they can share how they work when filling an open position.
4. There will be Q&A time after each call so you can have the experts address your specific situation.
5. They offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee which you will see near the bottom of the page and hear more about during the free webinar.

What is a workaround, you say? It’s a temporary fix that gets you moving again when things get stuck or broken.

In this book, Russell Bishop outlines strategies for “How to Conquer Anything That Stand in Your Way at Work.” These types of strategies are especially applicable when work situations make you feel frustrated and ineffective. In today’s work environment that is a common feeling with few solutions offered and it’s a big contributor to work stress. That is why I wanted to review “Workarounds That Work” for some fresh ideas.

Russell begins by pointing out that workarounds have varying levels of risk that are important to consider before choosing a strategy. Then, the first question to yourself should be, “What can I do to make a difference that requires no one’s permission other than my own?” Even before that you must free your mind from the blame game to get mentally prepared to focus on and create a viable solution. Russell writes,

Assume the positive. Just about all workarounds start with you and your internal attitude, intention, and determination. If you bump into something in your organization that seems like a roadblock, it may be useful to consider that what now appears to be a hindrance might have originated as something helpful (page 10).

In the beginning of the book, Russell is quick to emphasize that all workarounds begin with you and he goes on to describe three circles of your environment: control, influence, and respond. Next, he outlines the three basic elements of creating workarounds: intention, accountability, and response-ability.

In the chapter about communication, a neat distinction is made about listening vs waiting to speak vs malicious listening. The workarounds that Russell suggests are questions you can ask to move a stagnated discussion on to something useful.

Russell shares excellent strategies for workarounds in decision making, moving beyond consensus leadership, making the most of meetings (including dealing with disengaged attendees), and e-mail management that are spot on!

The last two chapters of the book were the highlight for me. In “Overcoming Criticism, Complaints, and Resistance,” Russell introduces the “minus 6″ mentality and how to turn that around. He reframed complaining by explaining three types of complainers and how to get at useful information they may provide. There were some very clever descriptions in this chapter too such as describing complainers as skilled at “one-downmanship” and that playing with gravity is what happens at the Olympics. Love it!

In the final chapter “Multitasking Our Way to Oblivion,” Russell contrasted multi-taskers with serial taskers and explained that many of us are distracted taskers and half-taskers. He pointed out that a more viable way to go is to “become a uni-tasker and supreme multi-goaler!”

I enjoyed this book and found it to be a very good professional development read with outstanding, outside-the-box, practical strategies to consider.

The book is available at Amazon.com. You can learn more at the website for the book where you can also download a free chapter — WorkaroundsThatWork.com.

Also, check out Russell’s Top Three Tips audio on e-CareerCoach.com.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of “Work Arounds That Work” by Russell Bishop. I received no other compensation for this review.

I ran across this post from Hunter Edwards recently. It contains particularly relevant information for people looking to get hired in the accounting field. The reason it caught my eye though, is that it is a fine example of a special report. You could create something similar for your portfolio where you identify a relevant question for your industry, conduct the research, and write it up.

I received a complimentary copy of “Awaken Your CAREERpreneur” by Alexia Vernon for review and wanted to share it with you because it reflects an idea whose time has come…everyone as CEO of their own career. I received no other compensation for this review.

Alexia Vernon gave us a lesson on personal networking and building your All-Star team in a previous audio post. After reading her book, I must tell you, she has got it going on as a trainer and expert in career development.

In her new book, “Awaken Your CAREERpreneur: A Holistic Road Map to Get from Your Calling to Your Career,” she pulls together a spectacular process to help you to your dream career and she offers spot on coaching insights along the way. Her process goes from creating the vision and overcoming barriers right on through to crossing the finish line. I really like the written exercises she has developed including, to name a few of my favorites: writing a letter from an employer offering your next perfect opportunity, the tolerations list, the first impression questionnaire, and the sticky factor top ten list.

She also organizes a step-by-step plan for interview preparation and personal network building that is top notch. Most importantly, she emphasizes the often forgotten step of attitude and mindset prep work as a daily habit. I just love the fierce concept that she creatively intertwines into the networking chapters too.

I recommend this book and Alexia’s other work. You can find the book on Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. Also see the book website at AwakenYourCAREERpreneur.com.

A short summary of some successful CEOs who didn’t major in Business. Cool report!

I ran across this presentation during my internet travels and wanted to share it. It is a little talk on success secrets. I especially like the part where he says you have to persist through the CRAP = Criticism, Rejection, A**holes, and Pressure. I find that so true. Many times people put off doing or exploring what they really want to do for their career. Then often when they do begin to venture out to do work they love, they might run into CRAP that they must learn to ignore as distractions. Most important, they have to learn to trust themselves, listen to that intuitive voice inside, and take action to connect to work that makes them feel good.

We have all heard the statistics about setting goals. Those who write their goals down are more likely to reach them. For me, writing down main goals in several categories on an annual basis is the best way to go. I use the time around my birthday each year to inventory which goals were achieved and which were not, as well as to set goals for the next year. I pick the most important ones to me and break them down to smaller steps to be accomplished each month or quarter along the way to my next birthday.

Goal setting is a very personal thing, though. We all have to take time to learn what works best for us and stick to that. If a technique sounds good to you, try it for a month or so. Check your motivation and results at the end of the month to determine if that system is a keeper for you. Finding what works best is simply a trial and error exercise. The important thing is to keep trying.

When there is a goal you do not reach on a given year or time period that you established, it is time to reassess whether it’s important enough to keep it on the list for the next year. If it is important to you still, no harm done, you just guessed wrong about when you could get it accomplished. So put it on the list again and spend time reviewing the reasons why it is important to you still. Then try again. If the goal is no longer relevant or important to you then let it go without worrying about it any further. Turns out that goal was just not important in the grander scheme of things.

Living in the moment and being fully present is also an important idea to remember when goal setting. Sometimes it can be easy to be distracted with anticipating a future goal or accomplishment that must be achieved before you can move on. But, there is no need to be unhappy seeking a time in the future when all is accomplished. Even though it is important to outline goals and work towards accomplishments, it is also imperative to learn to enjoy the process!

I am movin’ and groovin’ on my infopreneurial websites this week. Yes! Got Google AdWord campaign set up. My goal is to get a mailing list built so that I can be ready for a successful launch.

Most of the steps are simple. I usually spend a bit of time intimidated and worrying about messing something up. But once I take action, it is often surprising how easy it is…just one little step at a time…that is key.

With each tiny accomplishment, my confidence and understanding of the technology grows exponentially. It does seem to take a leap of faith at each point though. It also takes a bit of persistence and patience because invariably there are little problems that have to be worked out along the way. With experience, I am learning to refrain from making the problems bigger than they really are and to find a workaround when possible.

I tend to jump in with both feet when my intuition sends me a shiver but it occasionally takes me a while to figure out the why or the how.

Last year I was determined to finally build a web presence and launch my internet business. First, in February I read an article in Business 2.0 that pointed me towards MemberGate. I just knew MemberGate was the solution I was looking for to turn my book into a website (please tell them Stevie Puckett sent you). Next, I got an offer to get two SBI sites at a special price and I jumped in. Then I started my WordPress blog and was off and running on that too…all this in addition to my teaching, consulting, and parenting responsibilities, mind you. WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Well, now it is about to all pay off! My plate is mostly clear to give my infopreneurial endeavors much more focus for the next few months and really give it a go…and today, to top it all off, I had a breakthrough that revealed a clear cut plan of action. I love it!