Category Archives: encontrando significado

Why on Earth are you here?

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Even during an economic downturn, finding meaning in our lives is not a privilege reserved only for a select few – it’s everyone’s responsibility.

At the risk of sounding too preachy, I’ll borrow some insight from Jewish wisdom that says: ”The day that you were born was the day that G-d decided that the world could no longer live without you.”

That means two things:

First, that we all matter to this world. 

Second, that it is up to each one of us to find out exactly why we were put on Earth – so that we can fulfill our unique purpose. (I can assure you that while paying bills is part of life’s package – it is not anyone’s main reason for being)

Here I share with you the process that helped me uncover what I’ve come to call my reason for being.

To get your mental juices flowing, take time to imagine what you would do with your life if you did not have any bills to pay.  If it helps your imagination, take some time to relax before you answer this question.   Close you eyes if it helps you relax.  Take a few deep breaths.  Let it all go.  Once your mind is still, imagine that it’s your 80th birthday (or 100th depending on your gene pool).  What would you like your friends and family to say about your achievements and your contributions?  What about your adventures?

Now consider the following three dimensions of your work life:

  1. Distinguishing skill: This is something that not only you are able to do well, but you are well known for at work.  Think about the tasks or projects for which you are the ‘go to person’.  For example, among my friends, I’m the go-to-person for career advice.  It’s been that way for several years even before I decided to write a book on the subject.
  2. Predominant interest:  It’s possible that you have many interests.  Even so, pay close attention – observe yourself.  What one interest do you keep going back to?  Which is the one that has not been a passing fad in your life?  If you’ve been drawn to fads all your life, what is the theme of those fads? In my case self-improvement has been the undercurrent of most of my interests.  Whether I’ve taken up meditation, read books on leadership, or spent time learning about health and nutrition.  The predominant theme of all these activities is self-improvement.  Consequently I’ve read hundreds of books that are directly related to the subject.
  3. Obvious strength:  Beyond being a skill or something that you can do, it is part of your essence as a person.  It is not something that you learned through practice.  Instead, it’s something you can do innately.  For example, people who know me well, like my husband of eight years and some of my bosses, have mentioned that I’m great at persuading people about things I believe in.  I did not learn how to do this – and no one taught me this. It’s something I do – and I don’t know why.  If you’re having trouble identifying this, ask people who know you well.  Ask colleagues, bosses, relatives or friends.

Where your distinguishing skill (career advice), predominant interest (self-improvement) and obvious strength (persuasion) intersect is your unique reason for being.

When I took time to complete this exercise, I discovered that my reason for being is:

To inspire and empower people around the world to create, follow and succeed on their path and consequently become better citizens of planet Earth.  To achieve this I will empower you with insight and know-how to claim control over your career and succeed on your own terms.

It’s your turn now.  I’d love to know why on earth were you put on Earth. 

10 tell tale signs of a meaning LESS job

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According to Jewish Mysticism (a.k.a. Kabbalah) the number 9 represents truth*.  Since it’s 2009, I’ve taken the liberty to declare this my year of finding my own truth. 

Part of my commitment has been to discover what gives meaning to my life.  That includes finding meaningful work.  Those things that bring meaning to my life are what I call my truth.  And as I have my truth, I  believe that you do as well.  Some of you may already know what that is.  In case you don’t, read on to see how you can tell if your current job is devoid of meaning.

Here are the tell tale signs:

1.      You feel that it’s enough to do as little as possible in your job. 

2.      You start to crave external rewards, like bonuses, a pat on the back or a ‘well done’ from your boss.

3.      You play the blame game – and flick-off responsibility for your well-being at work to your boss or employer.

4.      You are stuck focusing on ‘what happened?’ rather than ‘what can I do?’ whenever a challenge comes your way.

5.      Little annoyances feel like big obstacles.

6.      It seems that most of your friends’ jobs are better than yours.

7.      You feel jealous – instead of happy – for other people’s achievements.

8.      You spend more time planning your next holiday than developing a five year plan for your career.

9.      Drudgery rather than excitement is your prevailing mood during the week.

10.  Paying bills is your only reason for being – and for getting out of bed every morning.

In my next post I’ll share with you an exercise I completed that brought me closer to finding my truth at work .

Stay tuned.

 

*Thank you Rabbi Shuey Rosemblum for sharing your wisdom.

Is your job meaning full or empty?

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On my latest trip to South America I met a remarkable woman who I’ll call Maria.

Maria took care of my grandfather for many years until the second that life left him a week ago at age 96.*  As thankful as I am for her unconditional support and care for grandpa Pipo during his last years, that’s not the reason why I found her to be a special person.

Here’s why. 

After the funeral, Maria and I became quite close and she opened up to me.  During one of our last conversations she confessed that she had a dilemma and asked me for some advice.  She was in the middle of deciding whether to accept what most of her colleagues would consider an attractive job offer.   My grandfather’s second wife offered Maria the opportunity to stay working in her household and keep her company for an indefinite period of time.  In her new role she would not be required to take care of sick or elderly people.  In essence, Maria was offered a cruisy job for a very competitive pay.  Even so, Maria was conflicted because she happens to take pride and find meaning in her nursing role.  Keeping a healthy person company – although is easy in comparison  – does not give Maria the fulfillment that she finds in knowing that thanks to her, an elderly person has a better quality of life during their last years on Earth.

Maria’s dilemma reminded me of a situation I encountered some years ago while I was attending a sales conference as a medical sales representative.  During an afternoon break I overheard one of the more senior sales reps say to a group of rookies that they should give their new job at least six months, because after they got the hang of things, they wouldn’t have to do much – and still get paid well.  That conversation has stayed with me over the years because I’m still trying to figure out how someone can stay at a job where they get paid to do ‘not much’.  In this situation one might think that employees are short-changing their employer.   In my mind, the only one getting short-changed is the employee who is wasting their lifetime doing ‘not much.’

New York Times best-selling author and ultra-vagabond Tim Ferriss may not agree with me.  He might argue that making money without having to work is the ideal scenario because it means that there’s time to do other things in life – like dance Tango.  That’s fine by me if a vagabond existence brings meaning to someone’s life.  If it doesn’t, then a cruisy job comes only at the expense of the employee – not the employer.

Like Maria, doing something that I find meaningful brings meaning to my life.  That is one of the reasons I go to work.  The question is what brings meaning to your life?  Is that what you’re spending your lifetime on?

 

*Thanks everyone for your kind words and support. Given that Grandpa Pipo passed painlessly at 96, I feel sad that he is gone, but happy that he had a full life and I’m hopeful that he is in a better place. Fingers crossed that I inherited his gene pool!

WARNING: This may rock your world*

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This time last year I was in the middle of making an important decision for my career and life.  I had to decide whether or not I would resign from a corporate job that looked fabulous on the outside to write on a full time basis.  To begin with I had national management responsibilities and was the youngest member of the executive team in a multi-million dollar startup.  I was working with like-minded people and reporting to a female CEO worthy of imitation.  My pay package was quite competitive and I had a 20-minute commute in mild traffic – and across Sydney’s Harbour Bridge which offers a stunning view of the Opera House.

So who in their right mind would even consider resigning from a job like that? Before you judge me too harshly, know that as good as my job sounds, it was not meaningful to me.   It was the role I was aspiring to for years but was ultimately unfulfilling – and that did not feel good inside.

Maybe you’re thinking that I’m asking for too much.  I think it’s quite the contrary.  I left looking to give more, not receive more. 

“How so?”  You ask. 

I reached a point in my career where I’d taken enough.  Among other things, I had the flashy title and the salary I set out to achieve five years earlier.  It was time for me to give back.

In this, my final post for 2008, I share with you the questions I answered and the guidelines I followed that led me to discover what I really want to do with my life. 

Read – at your own risk – if you’re also looking to lead a more meaningful life.

Start with the end in mind.  Begin by asking yourself: “What do I need to achieve in the following five years to feel fulfilled with my life?”  When you answer, allow yourself to dream huge.  Craft your answer around ‘and’ not ‘either/or’ terms. 

If you don’t know what you want, start by writing down what you don’t want, or want less of in your work life. In my case I knew that I wanted to contribute in a more meaningful way.  But I did not know what that meant exactly. I knew that I had to do something that was genuinely me.  Not follow a ‘me-too’ path.  I also knew that selling insurance and managing a team were not what I called ‘contributing’.

Fill your goals with meaning.  Now ask yourself ‘Why?’  “Why do I want to achieve my goals?” Identify what it will mean to you, the ones you love, your community and the world in general once you achieve your goals.  Take time to look inside.  If you find it hard to answer this for a particular goal, be open to the possibility that it could be because that goal is not as important as you originally thought.  If that’s the case, don’t be discouraged.  Instead use this as an opportunity to identify a more meaningful goal.

Knowing the real reasons why you want something so much will help you stay committed to your goals and focused.  For those very reasons, this is the most important step in the process.

Develop a plan.  Finally, ask yourself: ’How?’ In other words, ask: “What do I need to achieve my goals?”  Focus on the resources that you’ll need.  How much time and money will you need?  Do you need to up-skill?  More education? Experience?

Then take time to think through the obstacles that may come across along the way.  Take it a step further and come up with at least two solutions for each obstacle.  Make sure not to confuse real obstacles with your fears.  To tell the difference, test your thoughts against reality.  Are you being catastrophic? Or are you generalizing?

It took me a few days to complete this three-step process, but I guarantee that the time I spent working through it has been one the best investments I’ve made on my career.

May 2009 be a meaningful year for us all.

Take a deep breath – with a little smile.

Silvana

*Rash decisions may lead to career suicide. 

Job hopping 101

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Because I’m still reading through the hate mail that I received after posting Are You Getting the Itch to Switch (jobs) on brazencareerist’s blog: http://www.brazencareerist.com/2008/09/08/are-you-getting-the-itch-to-switch-jobs I thought it would be a good idea to set the record straight about my philosophy about job hopping.

Lets start by defining what it isn’t.

Job hopping is not a sport. It’s certainly not about running away from something. Neither is it a way to feel redeemed by getting back at your boss or the HR department. Make no mistake, if it’s not done strategically, job hopping might as well be called career suicide.

In order for job hopping to lead you to success in your career, you must be strategic and follow a few ground rules.

These are my top 10:

Rule #1: Be a career owner. Take charge and run your career like a business venture. Have a long-term plan. At the very least know what you want to achieve during the next 5 years. Map out how you’ll get there. That way when you switch, you’re not running away, you’re going towards something.

Rule # 2: Package yourself on your resume. Ditch the features. Focus on the benefits that your past experiences will bring to your future employer. Your potential future boss does not care about how many clients you cold-called. She wants to know that because you’re not afraid of cold-calling you have the potential of opening new accounts. Back up your claims with past accomplishments.

Rule #3: Package yourself during the interview. Okay, so I’ve had 4 jobs in the past 5 years and I owned and ran a business in between. To show my future bosses what that means to their bottom line, other than quite possibly that I will not be around for more than 18 months – I use the following illustration:

+ + + + + = $$$ for you

To do this, I pull out a piece of blank paper and a pen and draw this same picture as I talk about what I learned from each experience. I focus on the transferable skills that I bring to the table that will impact their bottom line. For example, when I mention that I’ve had my own business, I explain that I can work under minimal supervision and get things done. I do not leave it up to them to answer: “What’s in it for me?”

Rule #4: Partner with a recruiter. I’ve worked in recruitment so I know how nasty recruiters can get – especially when they’re desperate to fill a role (i.e. to get commission). But I have also found some very professional ones out there. In fact, much of my success in hopping around I owe to one particular recruiter who since day one got me. It was more than chemistry. She took time to read my resume and ask me insightful questions. Not only did I feel respected, I also felt that because she took time to understand me, that she would be able to place me well. Twice in a row she has placed me in jobs that have been bigger and better than my previous ones. I suggest that you take the time to look for a recruiter who you feel comfortable with and you can trust. When you do, keep them around. I had to kiss a few frogs before I found mine.

Rule # 5: Network. I don’t believe in being Machiavellian about relationships. It’s those people who I genuinely connect with who have helped me the most during my career. So there’s little point to go around collecting acquaintances. For your network to really support your success, it must be made up of people you like and respect. Your recruiter is one of them.

Rule #6: Prepare for the sales presentation. Make no mistake, you are selling yourself at an interview. For that very reason, I treat every interview in the same way that I treat a sales presentation to a client. The difference is that at an interview I’m the product and the salesperson. I make sure that I know my product (i.e. my resume) and also my presentation. These days there are no secret questions at an interview. You’ll find lists and lists of interview questions online. Here’s a list I found to be quite insightful since it gives advice to interviewers on how to get the best (and worst) out of candidates: www.bnet.com/2403-13056_23-52952.html

Rule #7: Ask for the job. Please do not get so close to the job and yet be so far away simply because you do not ask for it. I admit that it can feel awkward to say to the interviewer: “I like what I know about the company, and what I learned today about the role and the team. And I really want this job. What will it take for me to get it?” But being that I’ve sat on the other side of the table, I know that candidates who do not ask me for the job come across as people without a back-bone. As a future boss, I want the person who will do whatever it takes to get the job done – even if it means putting up with a few seconds of awkwardness.

Rule #8: Learn to negotiate your salary. In an earlier post I wrote about negotiating the empowered way (http://silvanaavinami.com/?p=28). The main thing to keep in mind when you’re negotiating your salary is that a negotiation is the beginning of your relationship with your future employer/boss, not the end. To set a positive tone, aim for an outcome that’s mutually beneficial. For the relationship to last, you must feel that you came out getting what you need. By the same token, do not expect your future boss to give you more if that will land them in the loosing position. Expect them to pay you in line with your contributions – not the smick life-style you want to lead. By focusing on the value that you’ll add to the company, quite possibly you’ll find that you’ll be able to afford all those toys that you want.

Rule #9: Exit in style. I covered this in an earlier post (http://silvanaavinami.com/?p=161). In short, aim to preserve the relationship that you worked so hard to build with your soon-to-be ex-employer. Very few people know you as well as they do. Like I have, some day you’ll find that they will be great allies as you sail across the big blue ocean of possibilities.

Rule #10: Become a learning machine. To successfully switch jobs, let alone careers and industries means that you’ll have to climb some steep learning curves. And tackling all the information that comes your way can at times feel like trying to survive an avalanche. The key is to find out very early on in your career what steps you go through to learn new information as well as under what conditions you learn best. Once you know this, you’re less likely to panic if by month 2 in a new job you still feel clueless. For example, I know that after month 3 things start to gel in my brain. After month 6 I’ll start to see the light. So I no longer panic. I simply make it a point to sleep 8 hours a night for the first ew months so that my brain survives the over-stimulation.

Go Fetch! (lessons from inside the walls of a Buddhist monastery)

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Contrary to what most would think, that the reason I went away for 3 days to meditate and observe Noble Silence* at a Buddhist monastery was to take care of my spirit, my main objective was to take care of business.  By learning from those who know best about meditation, my goal was to improve my practice and sharpen my mind.  In the process I did learn about loving kindness and the impermanence of things.  But those were only fringe benefits and pale in comparison to what I learned about how to control my mind by keeping it still.

My main hope in sharing this with you is for you to realize that, like me, you too can benefit from sitting down and doing nothing for 30 minutes a day – talk about a great return on an investment!

The reality is that as much fun as it looks like a dog is having when it’s playing fetch with its owner, something tells me that just like me, you would much rather be the one throwing the stick.  Not the one panting from chasing after it.

The question is, are your thoughts sending you to go fetch?  In other words, are you mindlessly reacting to situations around you, chasing after your anger, your worries and your doubts? Or are you in control of your mind, taking time to think and respond to the world around you? 

Aside from your pride being threatened if you are in fact the one running breathlessly after your thoughts, the more important thing that is at stake here is your ability to think clearly.  When your mind is too busy going on an emotional errand, you’re not able to experience your mind’s full capacity to think.  It’s a well-known fact that your mind performs at its peak when it’s calm and clear like the surface of a pond on which you can see your own reflection.  A still mind is a clear mind.  A clear mind is a thinking mind.

The great news for you and me is that we can learn to make our mind stay still – and not go fetch – in spite of what happens around us.  The simplest way that I know how is by meditating.  By sitting down to focus on your in and out breath, you’re learning to take control over your mind by keeping it still.  The whole point is to keep coming back to your breath as it enters and leaves your nose, over and over again, as you watch your thoughts go past.  The more you do this, the easier it becomes for your mind to stay in one place.

I know that sitting down and doing nothing does not sound like much of a party.  But you tell me, what would you rather do; pant as a result of fetching after your thoughts all day long and continue to think with an impaired brain, or spend 30 minutes of your day to make your mind sharp as a diamond?

Take a deep breath (with a little smile).

*Noble Silence: silence of the body, speech and mind. Speaking is allowed only in case of an emergency or to ask staff about your practice.

The Buddhist monastery that received me with loving kindness: www.sunnataram.org

 

The games have begun! (part 2 of 3)

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World-class soft-skill # 2:  Visualizing

In my mind visualizing is one of the most under-rated and under-used skills.

Next time that you’re watching athletes compete at the Olympics, take a close look at your TV screen.  The fact is that most of the athletes that you’ll watch compete have already seen, felt, tasted, smelled and heard in their mind’s eye, their routine and what it would be like to compete at the Beijing Olympics. 

In fact, since the 1980s sports psychologists have been using visualization as an add-on to athletes’ training programs. 

Visualization helps athletes in two major ways: 

* It helps them get better at what they do and

* It helps them get closer to their goals

Logic tells me that if it helps athletes, who like you and I are made of skin and bones, it can also help us both become better at what we do and achieve more.  Experience tells me that it does.

Here’s how visualization works.

Improves your performance

Visualizing a routine makes you better at it because the brain perceives no difference between imagining an action and doing it in real life.  Both activities, imaging and doing, create neural pathways in your brain. Because this is how the brain processes information, you become better at doing things. For example, when a gymnast practices a routine on the parallel bars, she becomes better at it because she’s actually strengthening neural pathways in her brain.  So it follows, when you practice in your mind a presentation, your brain registers it as one more practice and neural pathways are strengthened.

Because you can imagine more things than when you’re actually rehearsing, in your mind you can add as many elements of reality as you like.  For example, you can visualize how you’ll respond if you forget a line during your speech.  How will you feel? What will you do?  By preparing beforehand for uncomfortable mishaps, you’re likely to feel more comfortable during the actual performance – and when you do, it’s likely that you’ll perform better.

When I was working in sales, I used to visualize my presentations during the car-ride on my way to clients.  This really helped me feel psyched and get focused, as opposed to feel nervous and dread the meeting.

Gets you closer to your goals

When you visualize your goals, you’re creating a conflict in your brain between where you’re at and where you want to go.  When this happens, your brain goes on a mission to bridge the gap between your current reality and your imagined one, and jumps into action. When that happens:

1. You become more aware of what you need in order to achieve your goals.

2. You become more creative.  After visualizing my goals I often find that ideas come to my mind more easily and frequently (that’s why I carry a pen and paper 24/7). I also find that I’m able to find solutions to problems faster.

3. You stay active and motivated because you’re brain now has a mission to solve something. 

Visualizing is easy (and can feel trippy)

Quite simply visualizing is about creating a movie in your mind’s eye. Whether the movie is about an upcoming performance such as a presentation or a phone call to a difficult client, or about your major goals, the technique is the same.

Here’s how:

1. Pick a quiet spot and sit in a comfortable position.

2. Take 10 deep breaths or until you feel that your mind and body are relaxed.

3. Start to picture the event or your goals.

4. Now make it a blockbuster movie by making it as real-feeling as possible. Put yourself in the picture in 3-D.  Add colors, smells, feelings and even flavors.  

5. Picture your best performance or that you already achieved your goals.  Don’t waste time dwelling on your work in progress.  This is your movie and you’re the super-hero. It’s done, you’re there at your peak.

6. Think about who else is in your movie.  Who’s watching you? The whole world?

7. Think about how you feel about how other’s respond to you. Do you feel butterflies of excitement in your belly?

8. Slowly open your eyes and feel like a winner.

If you’re new at this, I suggest that you don’t do this exercise for longer than 10 minutes at a time.  That way it’s less likely that you’ll get frustrated and more likely that you’ll continue to do it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Meditate When There Isn’t Time to Buy Milk?

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What’s all the rage? 

Finally there’s sound clinical data that proves that meditating on a daily basis has a positive effect on our performance at work.

A study that was published in 2007 by two neuroscientists doing research at the University of Pennsylvania’s Stress Management Program, proved that even small doses of daily meditation improves attention and focus.  Also, Dr. Giuseppe Pagnoni, from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University’s School of Medicine, agrees and explains that meditation trains the mind to focus by directing blood flow to select parts of the brain.  When this happens, we become better at tuning out distractions and being in the here and now. Both being essential for performing at our peak.

And all it takes is 20 to 30 minutes a day. 

If you feel that you don’t have this time to set aside everyday, I feel that you need an overhaul – so I’m going to offer you a life-line.  Get yourself a copy of the book: The 4 Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferriss (www.fourhourworkweek.com).  Trust me, it will help you change how you view productivity and time management in general. I hope that when you rethink these two aspects of your life, that you will make time for what’s important in life.  Meditating for 20 to 30 minutes each day happens to be one of those things.

What does it take to meditate?

Learning to meditate does not have to be a costly exercise.  In fact, my first exposure ever to meditation was through a tape that a friend lent me in college.

Because there are many ways to meditate, in fact the Meditation Society of America lists 108 techniques on their website (www.meditationsociety.com), you may have to try a few ways before you find the one that you connect with.  Through the years, I’ve tended to gravitate towards the Zen technique mainly because I find that it’s frills-free and very simple. Here’s where I got information: www.mro.org/zmm/teachings/meditation.php  I love the pictures on this site because it makes it easy for my visually inclined brain to follow.

While you’re learning and even for the more advanced I highly recommend attending a directed group session. Every so often I go to a group session to give my practice a boost or whenever I feel that my practice is slipping.  Aside from getting your questions answered, it’s likely that you’ll get to hear from people who have been practicing for longer than you. Buddhist temples and community colleges are both great places to access directed sessions. The most I’ve ever ‘donated’ at one of these sessions has been $10.

It has always been worth every penny!

Making (or breaking) Sustainable Career Decisions

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The time has come for us all to forget about career management. To call your shots and make your mark in the real world of work, you need to instead think about career ownership. 

As a career owner, you are the CEO of your career* – Me Inc.  So that you can enjoy the benefits of your new role, first you need to take care of your most important responsibility as CEO of Me Inc.: to make sound and sustainable decisions.  Doing so will enable you to be in control and in the seat of power of your work-life.

As the one responsible for orchestrating the decision-making process you need to be able to have a big picture view and to think long-term. For that you’ll need to set time aside to answer the following 4 questions about yourself and your work-life:

  • Where are you right now?
  • Where do you want to go?
  • Why do you want to get there?
  • How will you get there?

Here are some tips to get you started:

Element #1: Where are you right now?

Similar to the process that an entrepreneur undergoes when analysing a business, you’ll need to take stock of your key assets.  Working together, these are the things that turn you on and keep your engine running.

In the context of your career, these are:

  • your personality style – or the way you do the things that you do;
  • your values – or what rewards matter most to you;
  • your skills – what you’re good at;
  • your strengths – what you’re better at than most; and
  • your interests – what you’re drawn to.

Personally I have found it very powerful to have a one-page snap-shot of my key assets (the top 5 of each of the traits above) that I can refer to whenever I need to make a decision.  In essence this snap-shot of Me Inc. is the foundation of my decisions and I’ve used it to answer the remaining 3 questions that you’ll find on this post.

To develop a snap-shot, I’ve relied on a number of assessments, some have been free and others have charged me a fee. I’ll share these with you – and my reviews – in a future post.  A career counsellor or a coach may also be a good starting point for you.  If you decide to go that way, I suggest that you interview a few before you decide to work with one.  I’ve found that personal chemistry and that they ‘get me’ are both more important than the number of degrees on their wall.

It’s also key to be able to look at the results of several assessments.  After all we’re all unique and very complex so there’s no way that one test will give us a well-rounded view of ourselves. 

Element #2: Where do you want to go?

This will involve some creativity and dreaming on your part. And the fact is that there is no hard and fast way of figuring this out. The great news is that there aren’t any right or wrong answers either.  In a nut-shell, this is a very personal question that involves some introspection.

However you choose to answer the question: “where do you want to go?” I strongly suggest that you dedicate time to figure it out. This is THE question that will lead you to really and truly own your career.

These are the models that I’ve used to answer THE question: (feel free to use these too!)

A 5-year plan

Rather than trying to figure out what I’m doing for the rest of my life, for the past decade, I’ve been basing my decisions on a 5-year plan.  I’ve found that this model gives me enough structure to get me where I want to while giving me the flexibility that I need in order to make changes along the way. When setting goals, I make sure that they are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound.

A vision and mission statement

This has taken me some time to develop, but I guarantee that it has been worth my while. In fact, in front of my desk where I write, I have posted my vision and mission so that I can look at it every day.  To develop both statements, what helped me the most was picturing that I did not have a financial need to work. Then I thought (long and hard) about what I would do every day – after I got bored of sitting around doing nothing. When I did this exercise in 2007, I decided to become a full time writer. And that is exactly what I’ve been since Feb 2008.

My life’s calling

I recently learned about this model and I’ve found it quite useful and inspiring. (Thanks Jack Canfield!). Here are the questions that I used to find my calling – at least for the next 5 years:

1. List two of your unique personal qualities. 

2. List one or two ways that you enjoy expressing those qualities when interacting with others. 

3.  Assume the world is perfect right now. What does this world look like? How is everyone interacting with everyone else? What does it feel like? Make sure that you write your answer in the present tense, describing the ideal condition, the perfect world as you see it and feel it.

4. Combine your answers to the above three questions into a single statement.

Element #3: Why do you want to get there?

Once you know where you want to go, you’ll be more likely to survive the tough times along the way if you attach meaning to your goals.

To help you find out “why” below are the three questions that I use: (from The Alignment Group: thealignmentgroup.com – thanks Erica!)

  1. Why is achieving my goal important for me?
  2. What’s in it for me when I achieve my goal?
  3. Who else will benefit when I reach this goal?

Element #4: How will you get there?

This is the equivalent of developing a business plan for your career.  Having SMART goals is a great start, but to make things happen, you need to be able to…execute.  For that, you need to develop a strategic career plan.

This is what my plan includes – I suggest that at a minimum, you include these in yours:

  1. A time-line: This is where you break down your long-term goals (the SMART ones that you set in Element # 2) into bite-size pieces.  In other words, figure out what needs to happen in the short and medium term so that you achieve your goals.
  2. Resource requirements: What will you need along the way to get to  your long-term goals, in terms of time, commitment, money, education, skills and jobs?  At this point, being as specific as possible will help you be more prepared.
  3. Obstacles: As Henry Ford said: “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.”  With that in mind, take time to think about what might get in the way of your goals. Find solutions and prepare for the hurdles.
  4. Description: I like to close my eyes for this.  Write a narrative, with as much detail as possible, about what it will feel like, how you will react to obstacles and what you will gain from each step. The more real your description, the better equipped you’ll be.  Make sure that you take time to enjoy your journey in your mind’s eye.
  5. A schedule: The time has come for the rubber to meet the road.  Set deadlines for your goals and schedule them in your PDA, calendar or whatever other tool you use to manage your time.
  6. Evaluation: From time to time, review your goals to make sure that they are still important for you, that you’re still on track and to make any changes that you feel are needed. 

Remember, this is your journey, not mine, not your boss’ and certainly not your parents’.

Until you’re able to answer these questions for your work-life you’ll be dragged by other’s dreams and visions. In other words, you’ll be wasting your life helping other people achieve their dream and visions. And a wasted life is the greatest, yet most preventable tragedy in the 21st century.

What do you think?

*the terms career and work-life have been used interchangeably throughout this post and my blog.