“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
- Steve Jobs

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.

Video inspired by this narrative written by Barbara Zarrella and reprinted here with permission.

Power
Just saying the word emits force. The emphasis on the first syllable, the way your mouth has to round out to form the word, the way the air pushes the word out into sound.

Power is everywhere. Consider the commercial airliner. Remember the thrust that pushes you into your seat on take-off. Think of how many people are riding with you. This huge craft can be lifted into the air by a single person! That’s power.

Power
Coveted since the beginning of time. Two generals standing in a battlefield posturing. One points to one of his men and requests that he fight and defend though it may mean certain death. That soldier runs brave and mighty to fulfill that task. The other general retreats. That’s power.

Power
Nature at her best. See the dark clouds, smell the cool dampness in the breeze. Take mental inventory of loved ones. Are they home? Safe? Check around the estate. Pick up, put away, tie down, close up. The soft dance of raindrops begin followed by battering hail, then the sound of a train. All of a sudden it is quiet and sunny as if nothing happened. The splinters and broken glass prove the devastation. That’s power.

Power
The miracle of new life. The anticipation of a new human being forming in the womb. Old life is changing forever. So many goals, so many plans, so many decisions, so many surprises. How could such a tiny creature hold our entire soul in its grasp? Nothing can match the power of a child standing with open arms looking at you. A tiny voice says “up”. That’s power.

There comes a point in unemployment where there is time to spare. Here is a list of Inspiring Productivity Ideas for you to consider if you find yourself unemployed and feeling a little bored or lost.

Feeling a little stress is a normal part of the working day but when stress gets to be too much it can affect your judgment causing you to make rash decisions. Or, it can affect you physically causing tension in your muscles, increased heart rate, or aches and pains.

The key is to keep stress at a manageable level. One way to do this is with a simple breathing exercise.

• Sit still in a relaxed position with your back straight.

• Clear your mind as much as possible.

• Breathe in slowly, for a deep breath.

• Hold, but only as long as is comfortable.

• Breathe out slowly.

• Hold.

• Breathe in.

• Hold.

• Breathe out.

• Hold.

Repeat as necessary. Take a few seconds here and there and use this simple breathing exercise on a regular basis to help lower your stress level.

“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.” –Etty Hillesum

There’s a difficult time between where you are now and where you want to be that must be managed when you are changing careers. One thing that helps is to focus more on what you want next rather than what you don’t like about where you are currently because that makes the current day-to-day very difficult and keeps a negative vibe going in you. So during times of change, its important to focus on the excitement of what is coming but with an ability to be appreciative of where you are now and how far you’ve come.

Here is a short careerillionaire story. It is a beautiful demonstration of something I’ve been thinking about.

You see, no matter what your work is each day you are in charge of your attitude. If you spend time resisting what you chose to do (i.e. working in order to feed yourself and your family) then you are spending a lot of energy resisting something you have decided to do. What a waste! Since you have decided to do it anyway, why not be fully present in the moment and engaged in your work cheerfully?

As demonstrated in the fast food workers’ story that I linked to above, it is when working while fully engaged in the present moment and with a positive attitude that you profoundly affect the people around you. Not only that, but you also greatly help your own cause. People love to be around such a positive, carefree personality so your networking becomes easy and natural. You begin to allow creativity and intuition to work through you. And, most importantly of all…you just generally become a force for 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!

Okay, so it doesn’t have to be total bliss but it should not be career hell either. I mean look at what often happens to people who stay in jobs they hate…stress and health issues, negative effect on relationships, and overall poor quality of life — what a bust!

But food does need to get to the table and sometimes despite all your best preparations and intentions, you don’t know that the job you just accepted is a buster until you are in it. From there you have a few options.

• Assuming you are financially able, admit the mistake asap and get the heck out of dodge within the first few months on the job. Don’t do it more than once or you are demonstrating poor decision making skills but it is a once in a decade option if need be and it can become a “lessons learned” story.

• Follow the advice of Eckert Tolle and learn to drop the emotion, frustration, anxiety, and anger around the situation and be fully conscious and egoless in the present moment. This approach will help you stay in the job you accepted and it will help you to make a smoother transition overall when the time comes.

• Hang in at the job remembering to take care of yourself a bit more than usual on your time off. Give yourself plenty of opportunities for rejuvenating exercise and recreation. Also, give yourself permission to further explore your interests and be open and creative about possibilities for your next career move.

There is definitely something to be learned by studying those who find their success by following their bliss. I believe following your interests is so important because interests are often little taps from intuition pointing to flow experiences and other types of abundance.

Careerillionaires have a zest for their work which feeds their zest for life. Most of the time they are happy and energetic and generally a breath of fresh air. They seem above the fray and are usually relaxed and composed. They are proud of their contributions and move along with confidence and ease. They will talk to anyone about what they do for a living with pride and enthusiasm.

How can anyone have that?

It begins with knowing it is possible, and believing you can tap into that kind of abundance. See yourself in those shoes. Imagine that others find you joyful to be around and that even complete strangers will support you in your goals. Be cognizant of when you are in a zone, when things are coming easily. These “flow” experiences are major hints that you are on the right track and they will help you identify your passion.

Most importantly, live in the present moment, the now. Sure, set goals and spend a small amount of time periodically thinking about what you want to get done and what you desire to achieve in the short and long term. But then get to work doing what can be done right now.