Category Archives: Navigating Change

New Choices in the New Year

I caught the newspaper headline just as I was zipping out of the gym early this morning . . . “New Choices in the New Year”.  I like it!  That headline captures the spirit, hope and energy that as a professional coach I hope to bring to all my coaching and training clients.  It speaks to recognizing our own personal power in creating a future that we truly want at this time in our lives.

And that’s what we’re all thinking about this first week of January as the new year gets underway.  It may be a renewed commitment to a regular exercise schedule; healthier eating; more sleep; better time and energy management or a different career path.  This is a natural time to look back over the past year to see what has worked well and what hasn’t; what changes need to be made to move forward and then to use that wisdom to proactively plan for a “prosperous new year”.

The Power of Choice 

Let’s be honest and recognize that it’s all about choices . . . and it’s all within our personal power.  Everyday we make multiple choices – some move us closer to our positive year-long goals but other choices are made when we are hurried and stressed.  These are the choices that often distract or even derail us from what we really want in our lives.  It can be tempting to blame these poor choices on other people or outside circumstances but in all honesty we always have control over how we respond to these situations – even though we may not want to admit it.

Slow Down to Make Good Choices

So what’s the secret to making good choices for ourselves?  Bottom line . . . slow down and think about your choice before you commit yourself.  Make it a habit.  Push the pause button and think about how this choice may support or distract you from a higher priority goal.  That brief pause gives you a chance to think before acting.

But since daily life does move fast, don’t be too hard on yourself for making a few snap choices that you later find yourself regretting . . . it happens to all of us.   The good news is that as we get older and wiser that pause button gets much easier to push!

 

 

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Holiday Coaching Specials

Tired of the same old holiday gifts this season? Try this delicious change. Give a special friend or family member an opportunity to work with an experienced professional career & life coach over the next three months.

Coaching is results-oriented, fast-moving and incredibly powerful. Know that you are helping someone that you really care about create the life they truly want in 2012. What a great way to jump-start the New Year – there is no better gift than that!

This is the best part . . . for the month of December all my coaching price options are reduced by 20% for the first person on your gift list. For the second person on your list it’s a 50% discount. 

Several of these coaching options are for three months, so your savings is significant. And that first or second person could be you as well!

Here’s how you do it . . .

  1. Go on my website www.CareerConnectionsSN.com and click on the tab “Coaching”, then from the dropdown menu, click on “Individual Coaching Options”. Or click here: Individual Coaching by Kit.
  2. Review the descriptions and select one of the options you would like to gift.
  3. Shoot me an email [email protected] or call (775) 324-5151. I will take it from there!

Happiest of Holidays and into the New Year, too!

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Wildfires in the Snow: Lessons Learned

We were expecting snow that Thursday evening.  I was up at “o-dark hundred” getting ready for an early morning meeting before going to the airport to catch a flight out to Boston for Thanksgiving.  Suddenly it’s all over the news – a huge wildfire moving rapidly through the foothills of Reno heading toward the southwest neighborhoods (where we live).  It started with downed power lines.  Pushed by winds of up to 80 miles an hour off the Sierra Mountains the fire was traveling very fast through the canyons. Well, that got my attention!

It’s amazing how fast things can change.  Our daily routines are our comfort zones and we get a lot done each day, each week, month and year.  We plan ahead and we work the plan.  But when things suddenly change we have to move fast to accommodate whatever is needed in that circumstance.

Be Ready to Move Fast

So when the telephone calls came in to “voluntary evacuate” my husband, Wally, and I were already in high gear.  Our suitcases were packed for a week away; important papers were in several portable files from the last season of wildfires and the dogs were ready to jump in the car for a ride.  So off to the local donut shop we went to follow the news and to coordinate with family members plans for my elderly father who lived right in the center of the fire’s path.

All worked out fine for us.  But 29 families lost their homes completely.  These folks had gone to bed that night expecting that the following day would be a normal Friday routine.  It was anything but normal for them; for our first responders and for our Reno community.  And it was totally unexpected . . . after all it was suppose to snow.

Lessons Learned

Every community has its own challenges with the threat of natural or manmade disasters.  We can’t live a healthy life being afraid but we can be proactive.  Here’s how . . . don’t get too comfortable.  Just when you think that life is so routine and predictable it will take a u-turn.  Something will happen that you would never expect. Think ahead of what you would do in a worst case scenario and make some initial plans.  Nothing fancy but just what you would do when – especially if you’re also responsible for family members.  You may never need these backup plans but you have them.  And then you can enjoy that snow when it does come right on schedule.

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Rocks, Sand & Your Time

I’m delighted that Les Murray from the New England Chocolate Company, Salisbury, MA sent me the following time management tip this week.  Les is a regular reader of my blog “Conversations with Kit” and along with his wife, Jayne Murray, are chocolate extraordinaire entrepreneurs at www.newenglandchocolatecompany.com.

I’ve used this time management visual in my past training classes and totally agree with Les that this is a wonderful way to think about prioritizing your time and energy.  You may have even seen it done in a time management class – it’s been around for awhile.  I like visuals like this because we remember them better over the years and this truly is one of the best.

Here’s how it goes . . . the class instructor starts with asking you to think about what “Big Roles” you fulfill at this time in your personal and professional life.  These may be as a mother/father; spouse; son/daughter; business owner; employee; student; community volunteer etc.  Next, list for yourself several smaller things that also fill up your daily life but are not considered “big”.  Examples may be time you spend paying bills, doing household chores, doing errands, sorting paper clips etc.

The class instructor then takes out a big jar, some sand and some rocks.  He explains that the small things are represented by the sand and he then pours the sand in the jar.  It fills up quickly.  Now he asks the class participants to assign their big roles to each one of the rocks.  After that is done, he tries to put the rocks in the jar.  But there is no room – the sand has taken up all the space.  What to do?  The class discusses this and quickly decides to take the sand out and then put the rocks in to the now empty jar.  The rocks go in first – the big roles that each class participant identified that they most cared about.  Now the instructor pours in the sand and you guessed it, the sand fits quite  easily around the rocks.

And in Les’ words . . . “the moral to the story is that each one of us only has 24 hours/day, 7 days per week.  We sleep 8, we work 8 and there are 8 hours that we have for ourselves.  If we allow the “sand”  to fill our lives then we never have any time for our larger roles, those that we care most about.” Les goes on to remind us again to plan our time and energy carefully so that we are doing what is really important to us in this chapter of our lives – like  eating wonderful Belgium chocolates from the New England Chocolate Company!

 

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Story Telling is a Powerful Career Skill

Stories are wonderful!  As a professional career coach, I am asked all the time how you can best present your skills, knowledge and experience to a potential (or current) employer.  It’s actually quite simple.  Telling an engaging story that highlights your strengths is one of the best ways to do it.

Learn How to Tell a Good Story!

Do you get a little nervous and tongue tied when asked to describe your accomplishments in job interviews, an annual performance evaluation or even in networking events?  That’s normal.  It’s not that you don’t have anything to say – actually you have lots to say – it’s just getting it out there smoothly, briefly and with enough pizzazz to keep your listener listening.

So try this . . . story telling.  Everyone loves a good story.  And people remember a good story because it creates a visual image for them.  We come alive telling stories and listening to stories.  Stories are very powerful but they do take planning to avoid the tale going on and on.

Here’s how to design your story for maximum impact. Think of an accomplishment in your professional life that you are particularly proud of – it’s best if it highlights your individual strengths as well as contributions from a team.  Now describe it in one short paragraph using the C.A.R. format.

  • C = Challenge  (the challenge you faced)
  • A = Action  (the action you took)
  • R = Results   (the positive results that occurred)

Now the icing on the cake is to tie the story in with the value you can bring to this new position or the continued value you bring to your employer. This is what your listener really cares about – what can you do for them to solve the challenges they are facing.

Do one story and now do a couple of more.  Create a cheat sheet for yourself with the C.A.R. format.  For each story hit each of the three points briefly.  Practice out loud a couple of times but don’t overdo it. You want your natural enthusiasm to come through as you’re telling the story.  If you get stuck call me – I would love to help!

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