download Beyond the Law aka Fixing The Shadow dvd Who doesn’t want to find a more effective way of handling the ups and downs and overwhelms endemic in a busy work life?  Add to that the domestic responsibilities you oversee for household management, childcare, social planning and it’s no wonder that you want to take off for a Carribbean cruise on the next ship leaving.

Chicken Run release For over fifteen years, I’ve both coached and spoken frequently on the topic of balance.  Recently I gained another perspective on it that came from a day in the park while babysitting a niece who was on the teeter-totter (see-saw to some), that had me drift into thinking about ”balance.”  Here are a few of the thoughts that came to me that should help you to become more proficient with it:

1.  What does a teeter-totter do?  It goes up and down.  Notice how it’s easy to come down, but requires some push to go up.  It’s often this push that people resist.  “Why can’t it be as easy as coming down?” you might say.  Accept that balance has both a work component along with the effortlessness, rather than expecting effortlessness most of the time. This can offer you some freedom in how you view your energy output, especially when you’re met with challenges that require you to stop and contribute unexpected bursts of energy.

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Catch Me If You Can full movie (more…)

Do you have a laissez faire job hunting style or are you doggedly pursuing your next job?  These are extremes, but if you lay out a clear, workable, job-hunt strategy and are committed to your goal and taking action, you’ll find your new job even in tough economic times. 

The following are some of the pointers I recently went over with a new client who hired me because she was burning out on her job hunt, admittedly relying on her credible experience and expertise on the job, and not working off any organized plan.

If you don’t know what job you’re after there are great workbooks you can use, such as “What Color is Your Parachute?,” or if you’re not that disciplined to go through a workbook yourself or short on time, hire a Career Coach to help you quickly assess you and your interests, narrowing it down so you can finalize your choice and move ahead.  This is for women who already know what job they’re seeking with ideas of how to make it more strategic.

Grab your cup of coffee or tea, your laptop, scheduler, paper and pen.  Prepare your own list from these mentioned here and then get ready for action. 

1. Make a list of any specific contacts you know who are in your desired field that you can call for an informational interview, to meet with over lunch or tea, to help you brainstorm, and even to position you within their company or one they know that does what you want to do.

2.  Make a list of all of your closest friends and supporters.  Schedule a short phone call with each of them separately to briefly introduce your job experience and what you’re looking for.  Request their support for introductions.  Don’t hesitate to call someone you know well if they’re in an unrelated field.  You never know who else they know.  Set a goal to leave the call with at least one contact name or number – better yet – see if they’ll make a call to introduce you and let their contact know you’ll be calling them.

3.  Attend your informational interviews and luncheons.  Bring pad and pen to write down any advise or leads from those meetings.

4.  Be very organized in your followup.  If you told someone you would call their contact, be sure to do that in a timely manner and let your friend know you did it and the response.  They may have meanwhile thought of other folks you can try, or that they’re willing to talk to on your behalf.

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Like most entrepreneurs, there are times you’re aware of  low client action, probably because you’ve become too invisible  in the comfort of your home office and day-to-day busyness, and you need to reintroduce more networking into your business strategy.  You feel you’ve been there done that; those large chicken luncheon network meetings weren’t for you.  Well here’s some ways I’ve found networking to be enjoyable and effective:

1.  Talk to the masters.  If you’re beating your head against a wall and forcing your hand at what isn’t fun or bringing results,  find someone in your industry who does it better to help you improve at it.  Take them for coffee and pick their brain for how they make it work.  Why reinvent the wheel.

2.  Stop networking in ways you don’t want to anymore.  For example, if  formal network business meetings aren’t for you, join a group that is doing something you like that gets you out of your home office, like a hiking group.

3.  Try saying yes to invitations when your automatic is to say no.  I was recently invited to join a female friend with her group of friends.  It meant traveling across town and staying out later than usual on a work night.  Heh – big stuff.  But it was at the Hollywood Bowl for goodness sake, and it included fireworks.  How stuck on invisible must I be to pass this up, right?!  I had no sound reason to say no, so I said yes, and am looking forward to the evening.

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I was out for my walk at dusk today. I’d really wanted to be outside in the afternoon sunshine, but I had a project deadline and there were problems to iron out that kept me at my desk too long.

As I was walking I thought, “I wouldn’t want this day to repeat.” That made me think about the movie “Groundhog Day” – a day that continually repeats until the lead character gets a clue about his life and becomes grateful for it. I laughed to myself in the realization that this was what I needed to get about this day.

Every day has some sweetness, something that bears repeating and being grateful for – like this walk at dusk.

How do you deal with your Groundhog Days?

Funny how uncomfortable it can be to publicly declare what you’re grateful for.  For me, I want to shout it from the rooftops.  But many of us are pre-programmed from childhood to not talk about positive things going on for us because it could look like it’s boasting.  Most of what I’m grateful for I recognize comes as a result of the love and support of others, yet I take responsibility for the fact that I create and nurture those relationships.  It’s very empowering to be able to examine my achievements, large and small, and take ownership for them.

If this is awkward for you, I encourage you to share your successes more often.

At Thanksgiving this year, everyone passed a pomegranate and took their turn to share something, or a few things, they were grateful for.  To keep things light, folks might want to interject humorous asides, but the pomegranate was used in the sacred fashion of the Indian talking stick and it symbolized, it’s the holder’s turn to speak now.  As all eyes were on the person sharing, thoughts of boastfulness disappeared, and each of us were able to share in the joy of the accomplishment for each other. 

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