Kit Prendergast, PCC
Kit brings you a wealth of expertise and experience as well as a wonderful spirit, energy, and a gift for inspiring you to create the life you truly want for yourself.Kit's Tips & Books
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Tag Archives: Career
Dark Night & Seance & Dinner = Evening of Value
It’s a dark October Saturday night. I’ve persuaded my friend, Yvonna Estep, into joining me for dinner and a “seance” at a small local restaurant. Yes, a seance . . . it’s being hosted by Barb Giacomini, owner of the Daughter’s Cafe www.daughterscafe.com.
Barb’s restaurant is in a old house down by the Truckee River here in Reno, Nevada. Tall oak trees grace the front and as you climb the stairs you enter a house with several beautiful rooms, creaky wooden floors, large windows and a rich history. Barb serves breakfast, lunch and on occasion special dinners such as this night . . .
Barb is an inspiration. She has owned the Daughers’s Cafe for five years but it hasn’t been easy. She is a wonderful cook and the dishes that she prepares for her customers are incredible. But attracting enough customers is always a challenge. So what she does is unique. Barb has figured out how to add unique value to her customers who want more than just to go out for a nice meal. Yes, she knows that people want to enjoy a meal out but they also to have some entertainment as well.
So this is what Barb does . . . she partners up with either the local theater group, our world-renown museum, or the movie theater around the corner to offer a themed dinner or brunch. On this particular night, she did something even more unique. She invited a psychic, Theresa Peacock,www.aboveandbeyondpsychic.com, to come and conduct a seance. And the place was packed – as it had been for each weekend night before. Barb knows what people want and what they are wiling to pay for – she provides a wonderful evening of entertainment and a fabulous meal as well.
Add a Unique Value to Your “Everyday” Service
This is what we can learn from Barb. As a small business owner, think about what you can offer people that is just a little more – something that your customer can “write home about”. Take your time . . . what would be unique? Fun? Meet a need? And then try it out. Make it simple and time limited. If it doesn’t work that’s fine. Try something else.
In this process you stay engaged and motivated to move your business forward. And you are visible – people know that you are in business. While many others are on “hold” during this tough economy you’re out there making it happen. People pay attention – they remember. It says a lot about you,the energy and the spirit of your business!
Create a “Portfolio” LifeStyle for Yourself
What will this next year 2012 look like for you? As we roll through a beautiful fall season, it’s natural and healthy to start thinking about the upcoming year. What do you want it to look like? Are you willing to change it up a bit by stretching into creating more “pieces” that perhaps feed your adventurous spirit; give you a chance to learn and grow and maybe even an opportunity to do something very different but meaningful to you.
Creating a “Portfolio” Lifestyle for Yourself
The word “portfolio” means a collection of things. Artists have creative portfolios for their work. We can use the same concept to creating a life for ourselves that is filled with several things. Creating a “portfolio” lifestyle is a balanced mix of work, learning, recreation, family and community contribution. It’s different. It’s fun. It engages your energies and spirit. And you don’t have to wait until retirement to do it.
But are you willing to change how you think about your future life? To move from a linear life vision to a muti-life vision takes a major change in how you see yourself and your world around you. Some people are open to doing that and others can’t imagine working and living differently than they have for years or their parents before them. Interesting, our tough economic times in the last few years have certainly “inspired” many of those folks to be much more creative – and sometimes much happier!
5 Tips to Begin Creating Your Life
But here is a easier way to begin . . . start with shifting away from traditional expectations of “what should happen when” in your career and personal life. Challenge yourself to incorporate activities, people and interests into your daily life that bring genuine joy to you. Can’t think of any right now? Relax . . . watch what you naturally gravitate toward and what you truly enjoy. And most importantly, put your fear on a back burner. It only slows you down. Are you willing to give it a try?
Here are five tips to begin shifting your thinking in a powerful way . . .
- Give yourself permission to be optimistic
- Seek out change – stretch your comfort zone daily
- Slow down to think and allow yourself to imagine
- Take responsibility for designing your own next chapter
- Be curious about everything and willing to learn anything
Let me know how it is working for you. You’ll have a jump start on a great new year!
Posted in Career Tips & Strategies, Navigating Change, Personal Development, Your Time & Energy
Tagged Career, change, energy
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Freshening Up the Look of Your Website
Freshening up the look of your website every couple of years is really important. And it’s much easier now that many of us are using Word Press or a similar platform. My wonderful webmaster/media expert, Judith Harlan, Web Words That Work, has been encouraging me for years to switch to a platform that would allow me to make my own changes easily and quickly. I was very hesitant since technology is a steep, time intensive learning curve for me. But finally with no more excuses left and both feet dragging I agreed to the switch.
And what a pleasant surprise! It’s as easy (relatively) as Judith promised it would be. And since I had been using the Word Press platform for my blog these last six months I was familiar with the general layout. It still takes time. Each page needs to be updated – new content, new pictures. But it gives me a chance to review and refresh what I offer in both the coaching and training areas.
New Look Brings Out the Best in You
By reworking your website you can communicate the best of what you have to offer. Your website is an electronic career portfolio telling others what you do, how you do it and the value that you bring others. Make it colorful. Make it welcoming. And make sure that your voice comes through on every page. That is what engages others and encourages them to contact you. So taking this time to freshen up my website has been well-worth it. And switching to a platform that allows me full control is pretty neat. Now back to my updates . . .
Hot Air Balloons & The Bigger View
As I was driving into work early last Friday, I was caught again by surprise. Out in the distance I could see dozens of hot air balloons popping up over the hills. The annual Hot Air Balloon Races were back in Reno! And what a treat they are. I always feel a wonderful rush of good feeling – maybe it’s optimism and hope – as the balloons lift off and gently soar up and over downtown Reno and the Truckee River. I know they start my day off beautifully but I was curious . . . “What do the balloons inspire in others?”
A Different & Richer Perspective
So that was the question I posed to my “Coffee, Careers & Conversation” coaching group that morning. And I loved the answers which all related to the idea of getting up and above the normal things we see every day. When you’re able to get up high – as coaches we call this the 30,000 ft. perspective – the world looks quite different. All of a sudden, there is so much more out there.
We see things from a whole different perspective. And it’s not only what is below the balloon basket but also the richness of a full 360° view of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Lake Tahoe and the California border just beyond. We can’t help but start to think of the opportunities – the possibilities – that are out there.
And that’s what the group members were inspired to do by simply watching these hot air balloons early that Friday morning. We stand in our own way too often. But how better it is to see the bigger view and then to challenge yourself to explore, stretch and grow into new opportunities. As Dr. Seuss would say “Oh, the Places You’ll Go”!
Posted in And a Bit More, Career Tips & Strategies, Navigating Change, Personal Development
Tagged Career, change, Visioning
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5 Ways to Minimize Multi-Tasking
The summer is winding down, kids are back in school and the fall work projects are ramping up. It’s so tempting to get over over committed this time of year. Doesn’t that sound familiar! But we quickly regret saying yes to so many requests – our plates are overfilled and tipping over. So we just work harder and “multi-task” even faster. But is that really effective? Many times it is not.
Downsize of Multi-Tasking
The research (and our own observation) confirm that we simply can’t do several things at once and do them well. Do you know that it takes between 9-15 minutes to refocus when you have been interruped from a task. So while you’re trying to get back to where you were you are losing valuable time and energy. We can feel our stress level going up because we’re not getting anything done well – and we’re making mistakes – silly, stupid mistakes that take even more time to fix. And it leaves us with a feeling at the end of the day “I didn’t get anything important done today.”
Reduce Your Multi-Tasking
Resist the temptation to multi-task by practicing on concentrating on one thing at a time. Select what is most important (to your business, to your job, to your boss) and make a personal commitment to be the best that you can be by being present in the moment. Stay focused until you get the job done. Sounds simple but it’s actually takes practice, practice and more practice. Especially when you’re getting pressured to do several things at once – being pulled into other people’s urgent requests. But by managing your time and energy effectively you are doing what you’ve been hired to do. But it’s tough to resist the temptation to start juggling tasks. But this has several things that have worked for me . . .
- “Chuck” your time by setting aside a block of time to concentrate on one task at a time.
- Resist reading your email early in the morning because it pulls you away into multiple directions – many relatively unimportant.
- Be more realistic about how much time a task will really take and build in some extra time as well.
- Close your eyes when talking on the phone so that you can really concentrate.
- Take at least three things off your list today to minimize feeling fragmented.
So think about it . . . are you ready to resist the popular notion that multi-tasking is the way to go? If so, try these tips to see how they work for you. You will be pleasantly surprised!