life@work

Variety vs. Security - How Much of Each Do You Want in Your Career?

5 years is the maximum amount of time I want to spend doing the same thing at the same place.

This insight comes to me as I look back on my life, and it’s an idea that, looking ahead, gives me a feeling of curiosity and relief.

Outside of my career life I am remarkably consistent and enjoy sameness. I’ve been living in the same city for 20 years, have been with the same man for 21 years, have had some of the same friends for over 25 years, and of course there’s no changing being a mother to the same two people, something that's been true for 11 and 8 years.

I generally order one of two ice cream flavors, always get my favorite dish when I go to my favorite restaurant, and could visit Cannon Beach, Oregon every year from here on out.

But ever since the 6^th grade, I have changed what I do or where I do it at least every five years. Well, almost. I've been a life and career coach for the past six years. Gulp.

Many people are like me and want to move on to something different fairly frequently. Others want to stick with the same thing or the same place their entire career. Still others end up sticking with the same thing but aren’t quite sure why they did or how they could have chosen differently.

When it comes to career happiness, the elements of variety and security are essential to understand. When you know your demands and tolerance for these two elements you can better design a satisfying career plan.

For instance, my five year rule is the formula that blends my desire for both variety and security. I don’t want to job hop, but I don’t want to feel stale and bored.

Your formula for happiness might mean staying with the same company for 20 years but changing jobs within it every four or so. Your desire for security (financial, job, emotional – there are so many different kinds) might be much stronger than your need for variety. Or you may find ways to create variety in small ways that don’t threaten your requirement to stay in the same position for many years.

Different careers offer different opportunities to blend security with variety. A freelance management consultant is going to experience more variety and less security than a tenured university professor, for example.

Take a look at your situation and how it fits with your needs for variety and security. If it falls short, are there small tweaks you can make to strengthen your position?

If you think about this every once in a while, instead of only when you become desperately unhappy in your job, you can head off a whole lot of angst at the pass.

I'd love to know - are you satisfied with the mix of variety and security you experience in your career right now?

What It Takes To Change Careers In Midlife

I get a number of calls every month from people in their late 30’s, 40's or 50's who want to know what kind of process I go through with clients to help them change careers. They’re all revved up about possibility and change. Some of them sign up for the adventure while others, sighing as they hang up the phone, do not. 

Changing careers after 10 or more years is an incredibly daunting task. It’s a complex process that takes a whole lot of energy, creativity, persistence and work. And chances are you are already engaged in a life that requires a whole lot of energy, creativity, persistence and work.

I was interested to read this useful piece that sums up the process of changing careers in mid-life. If you’re thinking about it, I recommend you check it out.

Here is an overview of the steps, with my editorial comments:

• Assess yourself (There are 468 ways to do this, including written exercises and various tests.)
• Know what’s important to you. (Pay, hours, tasks, challenge, industry, people contact, etc.)
• Find out what’s out there (Research online and/or use a career counselor or coach.)
• Narrow down career options. (Between two and four options is manageable and not overly limiting.)
• Talk to people in the field (informational interviews, attend professional association meetings).
• Volunteer, work as a temp, or moonlight to try something out first while minimizing risk.
• Engage your existing network of people to assist you. (This is one of your biggest advantages over younger career-changers, so use it!)

You've heard about all of these steps before - none are difficult to comprehend. A big challenge for most people is deciding exactly how and exactly when and exactly with whom they are going to accomplish the steps.

But perhaps the most daunting challenge is keeping up the interest, momentum and sheer stamina it takes to change careers, while at the same time navigating the ever-changing currents of the river called My Life Right Now.

Just because you're in the midst of engineering a career change doesn't mean you can't go through a re-org at work, or the dog won't die, or your teenager won't test your limits, or your spouse's mother won't need to move into assisted living, and so on and so forth.

It can be tempting in the face of such distractions to give up on your career change plan altogether. But with a little patience, and a caring person in your life to nudge you, you can do it.

I'd love to hear: What made it possible for you to change careers?

Changing Careers: Research Before You Dismiss

At some point in our careers, most of us dream about doing something completely different. Those of us who want to do more than dream can quickly feel stymied and frustrated.

Many people I talk to who are thinking about making a significant career change feel alone in this pursuit. It seems to them that everyone else is happy enough toiling away at their current job, or have dismissed ideas of change because, "I can't afford it" or "I'm too old" or "What would I do, anyway?"

If you notice that you keep imagining yourself doing something else, you owe it to yourself to look at that carefully and give it due regard.

This doesn't mean you have to follow every whim. But if you pay attention to the truth in your gut and have the courage to research the possibilities, it could be one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself.

Why does it take courage to research? Because for a lot of folks, there are large psychological barriers to making a career change. We want to stay in our comfort zone (remember homeostasis from science class?) We are used to a certain income per month. The state of the economy seems like a good reason to hunker down. Certain people count on us to continue to be what we are. Facing risk is just plain scary.

When we quickly dismiss our ideas, we get to stay in our comfort zone. When we research, we may find a way to move forward, and we can feel pretty ambivalent about that.

But when you take your ideas seriously and take the time to research the possibilities - talking to people in the field, talking to companies and organizations and researching professional associations, salaries and job openings online - you can experience some relief from the persistent nagging in your gut that you've been ignoring. (Note: "Research" does not mean merely taking one person's opinion as the Gospel Truth).

Through research, you might discover a way to pursue what you want to do "on the side". You might decide that going back to school for a Master's degree is feasible after all. You might resolve once and for all that acting professionally was a pipe dream, and then be ready to put all your energy into something that is going to work for your life.

Doing the research isn't sexy, but it can lead to all kinds of options.

When I talk to a new client who is tentative about sharing her desire to go from, say real estate agent to kindergarten teacher, I've noticed she likes to hear about what changes other people are making. So here's a partial list of the recent changes that people I know professionally and personally have made:

• From mechanical engineeer to attorney to manager at a start-up specialty beverage company
• From college athletic coach to self-employed personal trainer
• From journalist to law school student
• From full-time instructional designer to contract instructional designer
• From laid off administrative employee to self employed retailer
• From technical writer to TV production
• From hi-tech manager to at-home parent
• From corporate training manager to self-employed consultant and professional speaker
• From working for corporations to working in two-person partnerships in law, management consultancy and architecture
• From full-time high school teacher to part-time curriculum designer
• From biotech marketing to self-employed chef-for-hire
• From community college dean to e-learning consultant and retiree

What's your gut nagging you about? What questions need to be answered so that you can do more of what you want to do?

What are you waiting for?

What It Takes To Change Careers In Midlife

I get a number of calls every month from people in their late 30’s, 40's or 50's who want to know what kind of process I go through with clients to help them change careers. They’re all revved up about possibility and change. Some of them sign up for the adventure while others, sighing as they hang up the phone, do not. 

Maybe it’s a reflection of my sales technique (I tell the truth, yet with an optimistic attitude!)

Or maybe it’s that changing careers after 10 or more years is an incredibly daunting task. It’s a complex process that takes a whole lot of energy, creativity, persistence and work. And chances are you are already engaged in a life that requires a whole lot of energy, creativity, persistence and work.

I was interested to read this useful piece that sums up the process of changing careers in mid-life. If you’re thinking about it, I recommend you check it out.

Here is an overview of the steps, with my editorial comments:

• Assess yourself (There are 468 ways to do this, including written exercises and various tests.)
• Know what’s important to you. (Pay, hours, challenge, industry, people contact, etc.)
• Find out what’s out there (Research online and/or use a career counselor or coach.)
• Narrow down career options.
• Talk to people in the field (informational interviews, attend professional association meetings).
• Volunteer or work as a temp to try something out first.
• Engage your existing network of people to assist you. (This is one of your biggest advantages over younger career-changers, so use it!)

You've heard about all of these steps before - none are difficult to comprehend. A big challenge for most people is deciding exactly how and exactly when and exactly with whom they are going to accomplish the steps.

But perhaps the most daunting challenge is keeping up the interest, momentum and sheer stamina it takes to change careers, while at the same time navigating the ever-changing currents of the river called My Life Right Now.

Just because you're in the midst of engineering a career change doesn't mean you can't go through a re-org at work, or the dog won't die, or your teenager won't test your limits, or your spouse's mother won't need to move into assisted living, and so on and so forth.

It can be tempting in the face of such distractions to give up on your career change plan altogether. But with a little patience, and a caring person in your life to nudge you, you can do it.

As always I welcome your comments and stories on this topic!

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com

Goal Setting That's Actually Fun with 43 Things

My brother told me about 43 Things a long time ago, and recently it's made its way back onto my radar screen.

I've written before about how traditional goal setting often doesn't work for me. I also know that when you want to get something done, you need to write it down and you need support from others. Typically the support you need should come in the form of some kind of accountability, as in "cattle prod", "feet to the fire", or "kick in the butt".

43 Things is a way you can "discover what's important, make it happen and share your progress", online. It takes away the isolation and boredom of trying to change a habit or do something new. The people on it seem cool, too.

Are you looking for a new job? As I write this, 584 people on 43 Things are too. 57 people want to find a career they love. 403 people want to get a better job.

You can request to receive reminder emails about the progress you're making on your goals - your own friendly little cattle prod.

And all of this good stuff is free! Gotta love that.

Check out 43 People and 43 Places for more sharing about, you guessed it, people and places you know, want to go to, or have something to say about.

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com

How Much Variety and Security Do You Need In Your Job?

5 years is the maximum amount of time I want to spend doing the same thing at the same place.

This insight comes to me as I look back on my life, and it’s an idea that, looking ahead, gives me a feeling of curiosity and relief.

Outside of my career life I am remarkably consistent and enjoy sameness. I’ve been living in the same city for 17 years, have been with the same man for 18 years, have had some of the same friends for over 20 years, and of course there’s no changing being a mother to the same two people, a condition that has been going on for 8 years.

I generally order one of two ice cream flavors, always get my favorite dish when I go to my favorite restaurant, and could visit Cannon Beach, Oregon every year from here on out.

But ever since the 6^th grade, I have changed what I do or where I do it at least every 5 years.

Many people are like me and want to move on to something different fairly frequently. Others want to stick with the same thing or the same place their entire career. Still others end up sticking with the same thing but aren’t quite sure why they did or how they could have chosen differently.

When it comes to career happiness, the elements of variety and security are essential to understand. When you know your demands and tolerance for these two elements you can better design a satisfying career plan.

For instance, my 5 year rule is the formula that blends my desire for both variety and security. I don’t want to job hop, but I don’t want to feel stale and bored.

Your formula for happiness might mean staying with the same company for 20 years but changing jobs within it every 4 or so. Your desire for security (financial, job, emotional – there are so many different kinds) might be much stronger than your need for variety. Or you may find ways to create variety in small ways that don’t threaten your requirement to stay in the same position for many years.

Different careers offer different opportunities to blend security with variety. A freelance management consultant is going to experience more variety and less security than a tenured university professor, for example.

Take a look at your situation and how it fits with your needs for variety and security. If it falls short, are there small tweaks you can make to strengthen your position?

If you think about this every once in a while, instead of only when you become desperately unhappy in your job, you can head off a whole lot of angst at the pass.

As always, I welcome your comments and stories about this topic!

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com

 

 

 

How Your Work Style Affects Your Career Happiness

Inspiration for today’s post comes from Jennifer Louden, an author whose books I have on my shelf and recommend to others, and the blogger behind LoudenMouth, on “cries and whispers on the creative life.”

In my blog about finding career happiness I often end up writing about career change. It’s true that sometimes in order to have our smiley faces on at work we need to move on to someplace or something else.

Other times if we’re honest about what work process and work style works best for us and have the guts to adhere to those most of the time, we can feel a whole lot better about our work.
Jennifer wrote Friday about what happens when she forgets, fights, denies or feels guilty about how she works best. (Hint: it’s no fun!) She offers this honest appraisal:

“The truth has knocked on my head, direct from my heart: I work best in a steady healthy way, days where writing and art and a sit-down lunch and time with my family and exercise is all wound together. And you know what, I mostly do that!”

Many of us have tried on all kinds of work style “hats” – the work-through-luncher, the frequent chatter, the in-late and out-late gal, the seat-of-your-pants planner, the crisis manager, the firefighter, the yogi, the triage nurse, etc.

But the work style hat that’s best for us is always going to be the one that fits the natural shape of our head.

We hear enough about how people feel they have to conform to a certain work style in order to survive at work. Often in corporate America this style is hard driving and obsessive.

I want to read more stories about people who know and accept their natural working style, set limits about how far out of that style they’re willing to go, and have found places where their style fits.

If this subject resonates with you, I’ve got a challenge for you: to shift from an uncomfortable work process to one that’s more natural for you without changing jobs.

This kind of change takes some guts. You may feel you’re going against the corporate cultural grain or are sticking your neck out.

Or maybe this kind of change would feel more internal -  to accept how you work best and get rid of the pressure you put on yourself to be a certain way that you're not.

But the rewards of working the way the that feels most natural to you are worth the initial queasy feelings. You’ll feel a whole lot better and be more productive.

Examples of changes clients of mine are working on (in collaboration with their managers!):

• Coming in earlier or later and staying earlier or later
• Working from home one day a week
• Exercising during lunch
• Checking email 3 times a day rather than 12
• Closing their office door (or figuratively closing their cube door) to control interruptions
• Working 3 long days instead of 5 regular days
• Stretching every hour
• Learning how not to accept every monkey that lands on their back
• Taking a walk outside for 5 minutes every 2 hours
• Taking a mental health day
• Delegating more projects more often
• Allowing at least an hour after hearing the facts before making major decisions
• Reserving 1 day a week with no email or computer work
• Taking a vacation that is at least 1 week long every year
• Arranging and attending fewer meetings
• Returning voice mails after hours
• Scheduling 15 minutes between appointments to avoid being late so often

Even if you make one small change every two months, you’re going to feel a significant difference.

If you decide to take on this challenge, email me and I’ll cheer you on!

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Seven Wonders of Your Career

I was inspired by the voting process for the new seven wonders of the world (read about this here) to come up with my own list of wonders: The Seven Wonders of My Career.

This is a list of the seven most powerful and wonderful projects, successes or even tiny moments from my career. These are the seven snapshots that stand out for me most as I look back in time. They are when I felt the most proud, happy, successful or involved in what was happening in my career.

Why have I bothered to do this?

• Because the process of reviewing and deciding on the “best of the best”, whether they be architectural triumphs or personal achievements, helps us to celebrate what is great. And we need more celebrations.
• Because knowing what my most important successes have been is critical as I make decisions about my career.
• Because I wanted to see if I could do it. Would I have trouble narrowing it down to seven? Would I even be able to think of four?

Here are a couple of examples from my list:

• When I was 24 and a newly hired HR assistant at a company, my manager (the other 50% of the department) left for a different job, and I ran the whole department for six months before her replacement was hired. One day the CEO called an impromptu meeting in the lobby during which he sang my praises, and the entire company gave me a big round of applause.

That was when I learned that sincere and public recognition is easy to give and can be a balm that soothes the sores earned from slaving away in the background. Since then I’ve learned that far too few people know how to give sincere recognition.

• When I was an HR manager, our benefits administrator told me about some problems he was having helping an employee resolve an insurance claim issue. I dug into the details, made a lot of phone calls and made life easier for this employee, for which he was extremely grateful.

This is when I learned that going to bat for an employee is a seemingly small gesture that reaps gigantic rewards. I earned his trust, and thanks to his big mouth, the respect of his union brethren. My rep was golden, and it saved me countless hours down the line. Many grievances were never filed because employees came to talk to me first because they trusted me.

This is also when I learned that I really like to help untangle problems and help people out in general.

After this exercise, because I was feeling so great about myself, I thought I’d go over to the flip side and devise my list of Seven Career Disasters. In architectural terms, we’re talking the seven ugliest buildings in the world. (Just for fun, check out this list.)

This challenge is not for the faint of heart! Ouch! I’m not going to recount my hall of shame in detail, but here are a few lessons I learned the hard way:

• Before you pass judgement or take action, hear all sides of the story.
• Speak your mind even if you feel intimidated by your audience.
• Before you hit “send”, doublecheck you have the correct recipient for your email message!

If you’re in a career rut or are thinking about what’s next, I recommend making both of these lists of “seven”. Afterwards, think about the answers to these questions:

• What recurring themes do you see?
• Have any of the best successes happened in the last year? What do you make of this?
• Are you likely to experience more wonderful moments if you stay where you are doing what you’re doing? What would it take to answer yes to this question?
• Was it easier to think of accomplishments than failures?
• Are you applying what you know about your strengths and weaknesses weekly, if not daily?

As always I welcome your ideas and stories.

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Career Happiness

I thought it would be an interesting challenge to connect today's holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to my blog on finding career happiness.

Hmm..on the one hand you have a legendary leader of the civil rights movement, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who dedicated his brief life to ensuring equality, justice and peace for all. The lessons of his life and death are dramatic, historical symbols, taught to schoolchildren and paid tribute to across the country every year on this day.

On the other hand, you have going to a job you really love.

Clearly we'll have to get creative to make a connection. But I believe that if we focus on the essence of the man and put aside for this exercise the particulars of his life's work, we can get there.

Last night my second-grader asked me to read a book to her called Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King. It's a simple picture book by Jean Marzollo, one that my daughter has no trouble reading on her own but wanted to share with me last night on King's birthday. A passage from that book got me thinking:

"Martin Luther King had a special talent for leadership. When he spoke, people listened."

Dr. King was a man who took his natural-born talents as far as possible. He used his gifts of leadership and oration to serve others. He tenaciously pursued a magnificent dream in the face of great odds. He was courageous and took many risks when he could have chosen to play it safer.

Dr. King lived his life with great passion and was an activist who seemed to waste few opportunities.

Whether or not we aspire to impact others at a national or historical level, we all possess talents and gifts. And when we tenaciously seek opportunities to apply those talents and gifts full-bore, the possibilities for greatness are limitless.

Our life's work is often our most concentrated opportunity to impact the world with our natural-born talents. When we are happy in our life's work it is often because we are using many of our talents and skills in ways that bring a sense of deep fulfillment and contribution.

It doesn't matter whether we are leading the civil rights movement, teaching children how to do math, helping a customer or cleaning garbage off the streets, finding work that we feel in some ways we are  meant to do (or finding unpaid work that we feel we are meant to do) is good for us and good for the world.

The life of Martin Luther King Jr. has a lot for us to reflect on regarding the history of civil rights and our current role in fulfilling his dreams for equality and justice. But it also has a lot to teach us about living our lives with passion, persistence and courage.

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com

'Tis the Season to Set Up an Informational Interview

The holidays can be slow periods at work for some, and that makes it the perfect time to call people to arrange informational interviews.

The week between Christmas and New Year's often has far fewer meetings than other weeks of the year. So if the person you wish to talk with is working next week, they may have the time and energy to share with you what you want to know about their career progression, their job, their industry, their take on what it takes to succeed in their industry, and answers to other burning questions you have.

The informational interview is an essential tool in the career changer's toolbox. Here are a few tips to make it go smoothly:

• Explain your purpose (it's not to ask for a job!)
• Explain how much of their time you are requesting (30 minutes is reasonable).
• Prepare your questions in advance. Write down all the information you want to come away with, then craft the questions and edit if needed.
• Follow through on your commitments (don't ask for a job and don't take longer than you said you'd take).
• Ask who else they suggest you talk with for additional information.
• Send a handwritten thank you note within one day.

If you've been meaning to arrange informational interviews, pick up the phone this week and get them done!

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com