Seeing your job as an honorable job, adds more meaning and peace to your life. Also, seeing the honor in what you do now, creates an ideal foundation upon which a career change can be built.
At fifteen, my first job was that of a waitress at a local truck stop. One day, back then, I happened to meet the elementary principal of my past. She mentioned she had heard I was working part time and wondered at what.
Shamefacedly I mumbled, "Oh, I am just a waitress." That wise, old, stern headmistress said to me, "Teresa, any job is an honorable job. Don't you ever forget it!" And I never have.
Of course, seeing the honor in our job is not always an easy task.
Societal Values Demean our Work & Worth
Our societal values make it difficult to honor so-called menial jobs. Our sick societal values esteem big bank accounts, fancy houses, new cars, extended paid vacations, prestigious jobs, beautiful, youthful looks, and perfectly cloned behaviors. These societal values wring the worth from the vast majority of hard-working folk.
Create your own values by looking for the honor and worth in your work now. Any honest day's work is honorable and worthy. Finding the honor and goodness in everything you do builds dignity and honor within you.
Even if you wanted to career change but instead returned to the field you had hoped to leave, remember, there is huge honor and courage in this. Taking care of your family and responsibilities does not mean you are a failure. It means you are a responsible, caring human being.
If you cannot find any worth in your current job, that lack of worth will likely haunt your career change. Before jumping jobs, seeking fulfillment elsewhere, consider your current job as sacred work.
Your Job as Sacred Work
Monastic writers have described their day-to-day, menial work as the path to holiness. Your job is much more than a means to pay bills. Try envisioning your job as your ministry.
I have a very health conscious, spiritual friend who, at this moment in her life, sells lottery tickets, liquor and cigarettes in a liquor store to help pay her bills. Rather than bitterly resent her position, she has made it her ministry to create a positive atmosphere, giving kindness and care to every human being that passes through those doors. Not surprisingly, wonderful little miracles occur often. (And yes, she is also doing the groundwork to create new employment.)
Rarely are things what they seem to be on the surface. In every relationship, in every job, and in every life experience there is much more going on than meets the eye.
"The three foundations of spirituality:
hearth as altar,
work as worship and
service as sacrament."
A Compilation of Triads, Volume I John F. Wright
We are always being called to see the bigger picture and to grow nearer to our soul. To find more meaning within the work you do now, query your soul as to the larger view.
Ask Your Soul
Try sitting quietly for awhile. Practice letting go of passing thoughts while lightly noticing your breath coming in and going out. Relax your body and mind. Ask your soul, "What is my work really about. What work am I really doing here?"
When I had grown weary of facilitating the same career assessment program for nine years, I sat and asked my soul this same question. Within the whisper of my small, still voice I heard the truth, "You are bringing light and hope to people."
The work I was doing was not about self assessment tools or job search but about bringing light and hope to people. From that day onward the program was no longer repetitive for me and as I gained more depth and meaning in my work, so did the program.
When we see our work as sacred and honorable, we feel good about what we are doing and who we are. This goodness spins off into our family, workplace and ultimately the world. This also, builds an ideal foundation for career change, if we so desire. From honoring ourselves and our current work we can then successfully begin taking small steps towards change.
Teresa Proudlove
Teresa is the publisher/editor of Yourlifework.com encouraging people to listen to their inner guidance, be gentle with themselves and practice present moment awareness. Herein, we learn to navigate through life with more acceptance and peace.
Teresa Proudlove has been inspiring, supporting, and guiding over 3000 people upon their career and life path for fourteen years - with compassion and heart. This entrepreneurial woman also, successfully owned two clothing boutiques for ten years. A well-read columnist for twelve years, Teresa continues her successful writing and teaching today as an editor/writer.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Resume Tips To Take You From SAHM to WAHM
When looking for a telecommuting position, it is very important to have your resume in tip-top shape. This is often the only thing that a potential employer has to base a hiring decision on since they most likely will not be interviewing you in person, your resume has to make that great first impression for you.
When your resume comes across the fax line or is opened in an email, it needs to be presented as professionally as possible. Besides the obvious typos and misuse of words, your resume needs to be highly organized and make a great impression as quickly as it reaches your potential employers hands. With some organizational skills and a little work your resume can be the one that stands out.
Where should you start, I would suggest starting with a list of your skills. Most people would probably not start in that manner but I think that it gives you a more positive basis to work from. When I speak of skills, I don't just mean how many words you type or that you can operate a hundred programs on your computer. Use skills from volunteering with every organization from the school PTO to your church. You might be surprised when you really stop and think of everything that you learned while being an officer in the PTO or organizing the volunteers for the Little League concession stand. All of these are skills can be effectively used when organizing your resume. Not only do they require leadership and organizational skills but an ability to work well with others.
Now that you have your skills listed, you should be pretty proud of yourself. Sometimes making a list of your attributes is the hardest part. We should all know what year we graduated and when we finally got the nerve to resign from that dreaded 9-5 office position.
Next, I would recommend making a list of all previous positions with your job title as well as a brief description. Make sure that you use some "key words" that will easily grab the attention of the eyes scanning your resume. If you don't have a solid work history , I would recommend a functional resume format. The functional format highlights your skills rather than the time line of your work history.
Remember to see your resume as a marketing tool. On a billboard you only get a few key words to catch the attention of the traffic speeding by. Your resume needs to serve the same purpose. It needs to spark the interest of the potential employer so that they will want to know more about you and your assets. That is how you land the interview.
Kim Bauer is the President and Founder of www.wah-101.com A Work at home web site that focuses on researching and providing legitimate telecommuting job leads to her members. Keeping parents with their children physically while providing for them financially is the goal.
When your resume comes across the fax line or is opened in an email, it needs to be presented as professionally as possible. Besides the obvious typos and misuse of words, your resume needs to be highly organized and make a great impression as quickly as it reaches your potential employers hands. With some organizational skills and a little work your resume can be the one that stands out.
Where should you start, I would suggest starting with a list of your skills. Most people would probably not start in that manner but I think that it gives you a more positive basis to work from. When I speak of skills, I don't just mean how many words you type or that you can operate a hundred programs on your computer. Use skills from volunteering with every organization from the school PTO to your church. You might be surprised when you really stop and think of everything that you learned while being an officer in the PTO or organizing the volunteers for the Little League concession stand. All of these are skills can be effectively used when organizing your resume. Not only do they require leadership and organizational skills but an ability to work well with others.
Now that you have your skills listed, you should be pretty proud of yourself. Sometimes making a list of your attributes is the hardest part. We should all know what year we graduated and when we finally got the nerve to resign from that dreaded 9-5 office position.
Next, I would recommend making a list of all previous positions with your job title as well as a brief description. Make sure that you use some "key words" that will easily grab the attention of the eyes scanning your resume. If you don't have a solid work history , I would recommend a functional resume format. The functional format highlights your skills rather than the time line of your work history.
Remember to see your resume as a marketing tool. On a billboard you only get a few key words to catch the attention of the traffic speeding by. Your resume needs to serve the same purpose. It needs to spark the interest of the potential employer so that they will want to know more about you and your assets. That is how you land the interview.
Kim Bauer is the President and Founder of www.wah-101.com A Work at home web site that focuses on researching and providing legitimate telecommuting job leads to her members. Keeping parents with their children physically while providing for them financially is the goal.
Monday, April 19, 2010
American Idol Syndrome
I like Simon, one of three judges on American Idol. I find his feedback refreshingly honest. And while his words startle me with their ego wounding potential, the traditional feel-good, let-you-down-easy, sugar-coated feedback is not much of a gift. It's hard to tell someone they're not good enough and their dreams are not going to happen, at least in this venue. But not telling them is no gift either. Some contestants rise to the challenges he throws at them. Some don't. And, some can't. Which one are you?
The people who influenced me most in my career were those who gave me the hardest critiques. Stricken with a bruised-ego for days, or on occasion for months, inevitably their feedback helped me make the right life choices to improve, change direction, or stay the course with intensity. In fact, the boss who was the hardest on me is the one I thank the most. Good was not good enough if I was capable of better, and she was quick to point out when that was. No sugar coating from her. And the funny thing? When I was honest with myself, I knew she was right.
Being honest with yourself is one of the challenges to winning at working. We all have talents and abilities, but they're not always in the areas we pursue at work. Too many people I've run across in my career have American Idol Syndrome (AIS). Like Idol contestants auditioning with little or no singing ability, these people believe they are good at what they do. They can't understand why they don't get the promotion, the outstanding review, or the highest increases. They view themselves as varsity team material, but they play with junior varsity skills.
When I was a freshman at Stanford, I got a D in biology. Stanford graded on a bell-curve, so an 84% that might traditionally put me in a B category, was near the class bottom. Accustomed to A's, first quarter grades woke me up. At first, I rationalized a D at Stanford was an A or a B at most any other school. But, reality prevailed. I wasn't at another school. If I was going to compete at the school I was at, it was time to use more than high school skills to bring results.
Are you applying yourself? Are you as good as you could be to get the raise, the promotion, or the more interesting work? If these are things you want, don't suffer from AIS. Give yourself some Simon-esk feedback. Ego aside. A Simon-esk answer to the questions, "how good are you?" and "are you in the right field?" offers you a chance at becoming happier and more successful at working. The answers give you choices: you can stay the course; find a playing field at your skill level; improve your skills to compete where you are; or change directions.
(c) 2004 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.
Sign up to receive Nan's free biweekly eColumn at www.winningatworking.com. Nan Russell has spent over twenty years in management, most recently with QVC as a Vice President. She has held leadership positions in Human Resource Development, Communication, Marketing and line Management. Nan has a B.A. from Stanford University and M.A. from the University of Michigan. Currently working on her first book, Winning at Working: 10 Lessons Shared, Nan is a writer, columnist, small business owner, and on-line instructor. Contact Nan at nan@nanrussell.com.
The people who influenced me most in my career were those who gave me the hardest critiques. Stricken with a bruised-ego for days, or on occasion for months, inevitably their feedback helped me make the right life choices to improve, change direction, or stay the course with intensity. In fact, the boss who was the hardest on me is the one I thank the most. Good was not good enough if I was capable of better, and she was quick to point out when that was. No sugar coating from her. And the funny thing? When I was honest with myself, I knew she was right.
Being honest with yourself is one of the challenges to winning at working. We all have talents and abilities, but they're not always in the areas we pursue at work. Too many people I've run across in my career have American Idol Syndrome (AIS). Like Idol contestants auditioning with little or no singing ability, these people believe they are good at what they do. They can't understand why they don't get the promotion, the outstanding review, or the highest increases. They view themselves as varsity team material, but they play with junior varsity skills.
When I was a freshman at Stanford, I got a D in biology. Stanford graded on a bell-curve, so an 84% that might traditionally put me in a B category, was near the class bottom. Accustomed to A's, first quarter grades woke me up. At first, I rationalized a D at Stanford was an A or a B at most any other school. But, reality prevailed. I wasn't at another school. If I was going to compete at the school I was at, it was time to use more than high school skills to bring results.
Are you applying yourself? Are you as good as you could be to get the raise, the promotion, or the more interesting work? If these are things you want, don't suffer from AIS. Give yourself some Simon-esk feedback. Ego aside. A Simon-esk answer to the questions, "how good are you?" and "are you in the right field?" offers you a chance at becoming happier and more successful at working. The answers give you choices: you can stay the course; find a playing field at your skill level; improve your skills to compete where you are; or change directions.
(c) 2004 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.
Sign up to receive Nan's free biweekly eColumn at www.winningatworking.com. Nan Russell has spent over twenty years in management, most recently with QVC as a Vice President. She has held leadership positions in Human Resource Development, Communication, Marketing and line Management. Nan has a B.A. from Stanford University and M.A. from the University of Michigan. Currently working on her first book, Winning at Working: 10 Lessons Shared, Nan is a writer, columnist, small business owner, and on-line instructor. Contact Nan at nan@nanrussell.com.
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