This is a nice collection of articles to stimulate thinking about traditional educational investment in higher education and potential career development payoff. While it is possible to get too analytical in coming to a decision about whether to invest in further education and when, it is a good exercise to check these kind of statistics in the process.
Even more important, have fun with the decision! Talk to people who are already in the field you are considering further study in, and talk to a coach for feedback and insight through your research and decision making process. It can’t be emphasized enough that whatever steps you take to further your career should be in line with what you truly enjoy and not just to impress others or fulfill someone else’s expectation for you. Your career is about you and what you desire to have and create.
In a previous post I talked about Robert Allen’s definition of an infopreneur. This month one of my favorite organizations, The World Future Society, has a very good article titled The 21st Century Writer. Fascinating stuff and another way of further defining the career option called infopreneur although they don’t use the term infopreneur in the article.
Reading this article reminds me that the key to cutting edge infopreneuring is taking advantage of the newest technology and knowing how to mix the media to provide people with the information they want the way they want it. Maybe that is text, blogging, audio, video, slides, some sort of mixture…who knows? The point is the possibilities are endless for creative, tech savvy infopreneurs!
I have been thinking about the money flow difference between coaching and mentoring and it has been good food for thought. Surely mentors get some other sort of compensation for their contributions (rather than the green stuff), maybe not from the person who sought out their expertise but from somewhere else. Or, maybe they do get something besides money from their mentees. They might receive stimulation for their own development and/or creativity; or they might simply get another set of ears to hear them speak about their passion which may feed their energy and motivation. That could be worth more than money because of the richness of the experience.
It is about taking responsibility for yourself.
Your career is your own and it belongs to no one else. You have within you the power to create it, to live it as an expression of your unique talents and energy. The other choice is to work at the whim of others, not usually a positive place to be since it is difficult to be inspired and enthusiastic when you believe the choice was someone else’s. Instead, be empowered knowing that you are in control! You may not always choose the activities of your day but you do choose the spirit in which you complete each task. Focus on what you are doing and enjoy the process. Spend some time working to understand yourself in order to better communicate that to your personal network, potential employers, clients, project managers, and partners to secure the best-fit opportunities for you at any moment in time.
It is about creating your future.
It involves self-reflection, learning, researching, planning, and/or talking a little everyday about accomplishments, potential, and opportunity. It is not an obsessive thing though. It is more about going with the flow in a productive manner yet always honoring where you are right now in the process so that your day-to-day work is a source of fulfillment and positive energy.
It is about choices.
Career and personal development is an ever evolving process of making more and better distinctions of who you are and what you want during different phases of your life. Career development is influenced by your whole life…your own changing roles as well as personal and economic circumstances. You will be choosing again and again to create the path of your personal career development throughout your lifetime. You will also make choices each day about how you feel about your work and the attitude and energy you will bring to it and take from it.
It is about rapid change.
Today’s world of work is highly competitive and in a constant state of flux. We can no longer expect to stay with the same company for 20 years then retire. The current environment is much more dynamic with many more opportunities for success when an individual properly manages their own career and personal development.
It is about quality of life.
Think about it, what is a career? It is about the work you do over time and involves such ideas as your productivity, the way you contribute, how you are driven to spend your non-leisure time. Some people are driven to accomplish lots, others are interested in a simpler and more independent existence. Your career becomes the work activities (whether that is paid or unpaid work –such as volunteers, students, parents, and homemakers) that you participate in during your lifetime. Because of the current complexity and speed of life, managing your own career development is an important task for having some control of your quality of life.
It is about hard work completed with ease.
People who know themselves well (by understanding their strengths, what they enjoy, what they want, what they have already accomplished, what they can uniquely contribute, where they are going) are so easy to spot in their enthusiasm and confidence. They are like a breath of fresh air so people and opportunities are drawn to them like vacationers to a sunny beach!
Okay, so it doesn’t have to be total bliss but it should not be career hell either. I mean look at what often happens to people who stay in jobs they hate…stress and health issues, negative effect on relationships, and overall poor quality of life — what a bust!
But food does need to get to the table and sometimes despite all your best preparations and intentions, you don’t know that the job you just accepted is a buster until you are in it. From there you have a few options.
- Assuming you are financially able, admit the mistake asap and get the heck out of dodge within the first few months on the job. Don’t do it more than once or you are demonstrating poor decision making skills but it is a once in a decade option if need be and it can become a “lessons learned” story.
- Follow the advice of Eckert Tolle and learn to drop the emotion, frustration, anxiety, and anger around the situation and be fully conscious and egoless in the present moment. This approach will help you stay in the job you accepted and it will help you to make a smoother transition overall when the time comes.
- Hang in at the job remembering to take care of yourself a bit more than usual on your time off. Give yourself plenty of opportunities for rejuvenating exercise and recreation. Also, give yourself permission to further explore your interests and be open and creative about possibilities for your next career move.
There is definitely something to be learned by studying those who find their success by following their bliss. I believe following your interests is so important because interests are often little taps from intuition pointing to flow experiences and other types of abundance.
I had e-mail correspondence with someone I barely know yet who asked if I ever watch “The Big Idea” with Donnie Deutsch on CNBC. When someone comes by with a little tip like that out of nowhere I pay attention. My experience shows that there is probably something I need to see there. So, I responded that I had not, thanked her for the referral, and promised to TiVo it. I have now watched three episodes and I enjoy the show very much. But I’ve also noticed an interesting phenomenon.
On the show, one of the main things Donnie Deutsch does is to try and get insight with each person featured on the show about exactly where and how they got that big idea. This makes total sense because that is the name of the show, after all, so people really should expect that question. Nevertheless, each time he asks it the person pauses for a moment and looks as if they are processing that question and aren’t quite sure what to say. As if they are saying to themselves, “hey, that is a good question, where did that idea come from?” And, it is a pertinent question because essentially Donnie is trying to educate and coach people in his audience to find their own big idea and go for it.
I think the reason that the question is difficult is because when people have a great idea, they are often fully engaged in whatever it is they’re studying at the time inspiration strikes. They just know that they were busy following their noses, uncovering clues, letting one thing lead to another and it all seemed obvious at the time…until they get this question anyway. Then they want to be able to tell others how to do it.
Creativity is something that we all have if we can open to it. I think the first step for someone who is just sitting there with no idea at all but desiring one is to remove all barriers to getting into the flow of creativity. Very “out there” I know, but creativity can’t occur while sitting in judgment of every thought that pops into your head. One has to open and be comfortable with the creative process. Some people are very good at tapping into their creative source consistently, others might have to be reminded to let go and play a little.
Begin by exploring things that catch your eye, just follow your nose a bit and see what happens. Once you have gathered some info, give yourself a rest and see what your wonderfully creative mind cooks up. When you feel a little kick of enthusiasm, you may be on to something!
So I was going strong last month, feeling at the height of my creativity and productivity. I love it when that happens! But, like most things, creativity goes in cycles. I’m trying to learn to embrace noncreative times with the idea that if I do maybe I’ll come out of it quicker. After all, those are times that are meant for rejuvenation which is so important to keep from burning out. So I’ve lounged around a bit more than I’m comfortable with and I’ve had a lot of fun watching some footfall and being a vegetable.
I think I’m starting to come out of it now with the help of a friend who reminded me of something important on Friday… just try to complete one thing a day. I’ve learned this before but I’d forgotten how effective it can be. When things are moving slowly just a tiny step forward each day really adds up fast.
So, today I charged into my office with the intent of just updating my coming soon page for my website. Before I knew it, I had my free article completed and added to my autoresponder in addition to having my coming soon page updated. I had forgotten how close I was to having these things done.
The process for me and has been quite a challenge. I had to figure out what kind of website I wanted, which way to build it, including the content management program I wanted to use; and I had to learn how to manage that software, then how to FTP, then about getting an autoresponder to work right and on and on and on.
Most importantly, I just wanted to share with you that if you have an idea you want to pursue, just keep making small steps and things well unfold nicely for you too I’m sure. The process is very fun and it’s interesting to see how pieces start coming together when the time is right.