Archive for the ‘motivation’ Category
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If you have ever uttered this phrase or found yourself whining along those lines, it is deeply understandable. There are a lot of messages that we give ourselves and pick up around us that invalidate the study of music, poetry, dance, language, history, comparative literature, and the whole spectrum of liberal and fine arts majors.
So, start by reading yet another amazingly helpful and concise posting by Kathy Hansen at QuintCareers.com. If you aren’t already a fan of QuintCareers, let me introduce you. I’ve followed them since 1998 when I was on the job market after grad school in English and found the content refreshing, direct, and useful. Really, truly everything career from “I’m in high school and thinking about….” to “I’m a senior executive” to everything in between and beyond. Start there and it’ll lead your job search journey along to many great resources, ideas, and practices.
Go now… read what she has to say about the amazing value of owning your degree. It’s SO important in finding a job and, really in all of life… If YOU can’t convince yourself of being likable, valuable, hirable… Well, it’s going to be really tough sell to others.
If it’s helpful, learning to like yourself and value what is special about you IS something you can learn. Undeniably, it *really* helps to have great nurturing parents who’ve told you repeatedly how amazing, gifted, talented, and full of potential you are while setting clear supportive boundaries in developmentally appropriate ways. But…..given that didn’t happen for most of us and even those that it did… well, trust me. Not even the coolest parents are perfect. We all have issues.
And that’s where I really want to add something to Kathy’s great list of ways to value–and, realize the value of liberal or fine arts degrees--and, it honestly might be much clearer to the fine arts majors than it is to those of us in the humanities, but PEOPLE are the most central and effective resource on a job search. Liberal arts includes the humanities after all!
You might have heard people say, often with a snicker… that “it’s not WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know?”
Well, I’d argue it’s really, equally and crucially, both.
- Who you know gives you a chance to develop what you know
- Who you know gives you an opportunity to demonstrate what you know (and what you don’t)
- Who you know gives you a chance to increase who ELSE you might talk with about resources
- What you know can bring positive attention from who you know (and perhaps even introduce you to those you’d like to know!)
- What you know can connect you to others who share those interests
- What you know can change your perspective on who you know
Who you know is only part of the recipe of success. If you ONLY know people and you are a complete idiot (and we all could possibly point to someone like this in our history?), you can rise quite far. That’s true. But you are still a complete idiot and at some point the emperor has no clothes and falls in disgrace.
What you know is only part of the recipe of success. If you ONLY know facts and figures, information without social context and human connection is of limited use. You can be very smart, but you need other humans to be able to put that information to work.
Connecting who and what through learning is optimal networking. Intentionally setting out to learn from those around you through Informational Interviewing and less formal conversations too about what others are doing, how they got there, where they got started, when they learned some of their biggest lessons, and especially who else they would suggest you speak with in your mission.
Building community is crucial. I’m not talking about fake networking of the worst most cheesy bad car salesman type. I’m talking about being human. Connect with other humans around what you want to learn about the world. More on this in the future…
Sending fabulous energy as you connect with people around passionate ideas!
What’s the Point?
Posted on: January 25, 2010
- In: career coaching | graduate school | happiness | inspiration | leadership | motivation | performance | success | Uncategorized
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If you’ve been reading along in my series on going to graduate school, you might at some point in the process get overwhelmed. That’s totally normal.
If it’s helpful, I get overwhelmed as much as the next person. Thinking about life… career options… relationships… from the big picture to the smallest pixel… there are moments when it can all become too much.
From questioning where one might to live, work, study, or raise a family? to considering what others might think? how it might work? or even what might happen if…? Sometimes, it can be good to pause, take a minute to breathe, and consider the larger purpose of why we are heading off to do something.
Just like anyone, I can get caught up in exploring the enormity of options, unknown variables, quantity of elements to coordinate, etc…that it’s just a seemingly never-ending pointless laundry list of tasks and duties and responsibilities…and it’s at that moment, especially if I find myself discouraged, frustrated, or wanting to just quit, one of the most powerful things I’ve found I can do for myself and others is to ask “What’s the Point?”
Try it. Take a deeeeeeep to-the-belly-kind-of-breathe…hold in and sloooowwwwwlyyy–as slowly as you possibly can– but evenly…let your breath out. Gather your focus in doing so. Slow your heart rate by slowly breathing in and out. Ask yourself: “What’s the Point?”
When I’m asking “What’s the Point?” it’s not typically in a despairingly dramatic “ohhhhhh woe is me….what is the point of living…” while swooning, gnashing my teeth, and falling on my heroic but trite sword of death, while whining that “it’s not faaaairrrr.” Not typically. but you know everyone has their moments. 😉
More helpful in asking “What’s the Point”, I’ve found, is that it calls for a focus on purpose or mission. In Breaking the Rules, A Visionary’s Guide to Effortless High Performance, Kurt Wright examines the difference between a goal and a purpose. For example, going to graduate school or getting a job is a goal. It is a specific (albeit large) task that can be accomplished. Goals are great. But, a goal without a reason is hollow, demotivating, and unlikely to be successful.
Consider any time someone orders you to do something. It really typically doesn’t matter who it is doing the ordering: it could be your mom, your boss, your significant other or roommate; it could even be yourself, but almost every time, our natural response is “Why?” Often that “why” question is a way to resist…or contest power…but that’s deeply understandable. Anytime we commit our time, energy, and resources to a task, it it is more helpful to know why we are doing so, than to simply march forward with a 1000-yard stare into meaningless action.
So, in someways whenever we get overwhelmed, frustrated, or otherwise feeling grumpy about something, it can be useful to take a moment to consider that core “Why” questions because the answer is central to providing a motivating reason to each goal. Providing context and purpose is key to swift action and to meaningful results.
“What is the Point?” is another way of asking “Why?’ and gets at the central motivating reason or purpose of the goal. Knowing the purpose of a goal is much more likely to move me into action. Simply telling myself “I have to do this or that” makes me actually resist or procrastinate action. When, we know why we are doing something, we have the power of choice.
Yet, if it’s helpful for me to share, sometimes that all important “why?” question can simply be too confrontational, too personal, too combative, or too philosophical to be helpful in asking ourselves and others. It’s a crucially important question to ask, but because it’s the most core question,it can be too much for us to address, especially at stressful moments in life.
For example, even people close to us…even when we mean no confrontation…even when we ask a simple curious “so, why’d you park out front, honey?”…and it’s not a deep philosophical issue that requires soul searching…people can snap at you when you ask “why?”
So, here are ways to ask “why” in more effective frames:
- What’s the larger mission? What’s the central purpose?
- Where does the mission point?
- How does the larger purpose or mission frame options?
- When does the mission connect?
- Who benefits?
Ask yourself these questions at any point along the way. Asking and answering these can keep you going, as well as keep you focused and motivated.
It can also be a great tool in crisis.
- So, if you haven’t yet articulated a specific mission and find yourself adrift, unfocused or unmotivated, this can be a great jump start.
- Or, if you at one point were on a mission and then started to forget to keep checking in with your mission and begin to get frustrated and overwhelmed, this can knock you out of your rut.
- Or perhaps like all of us, even when you are clear on a mission, certain days and experiences are just hell. Being able to not get stuck there is key.
Asking great questions, creating mission statements, or reciting inspiring quotations and the like are a powerful tools in controlling our thoughts, beliefs, motivations, actions, and are a few of the key elements of transforming our lives on our terms.
Sending fabulous energy!
Thinking about Graduate School?
Posted on: January 10, 2010
- In: audience | career coaching | degree | education | graduate school | graduation | motivation | students | success | Uncategorized
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Perhaps you’ve already applied to graduate school and are nervously awaiting the response? Or perhaps you’re a recent graduate frustrated in the job search and find your thoughts keep turning to graduate school? Or perhaps you’re stuck in a job and think that perhaps a graduate degree would help you move to the next level of your career? Or perhaps you are an undergraduate student consider graduate school as the next step?
No matter what your situation, here are a few things to consider as part of the process:
1. This is the most important aspect and it might seem really basic, but know specifically WHY you are going.
- What are your motivations for going to graduate school?
- What do you hope a degree in a specific field will accomplish?
- How is it tied to a specific career plan? how realistic is that plan?
- Who do you know who has a career in that field? What do they suggest regarding your plan?
- How very specifically do you think the schools you’re applying to will partner with you to meet this plan?
Put this all in writing. This is the basis of each of the different letters of application you will send to the schools.
2. Know your audience. Each application to each school must be crafted with the specific school in mind.
- Read absolutely everything you can about each school and this is mandatory: Read the entire website of the specific department to which you are applying. i.e. if you are applying to the English program, read the entire English departments’ website. if you are applying to law school, read the entire school of law’s website. It is not enough to read the information admissions provides to you. Know who the faculty are that teach in the program. Know what the program requirements are. Know what the structure of the program is. Know everything the program put out there for you to read.
- Speak to a specific audience in the letter. Do not use the same letter of application to each school. You might have an initial template you start with, but identify specific people in the department from whom you want to learn, name resources such as libraries in your field or research facilities in that program that are attractive, and list experiences that the program provides such as teaching, research, interning, surveying, clerking, or whatever actually attracted you to them about their program. Make the pitch to them as to why you selected their program out of the many that exist and what you hope to contribute to the program.
- Best fit is key. Part of the letter should address why you as a candidate are a good fit for their program. Do it from their perspective: How are you a team player? What in your background qualifies you for their program? What experiences led you to feel that going to graduate school in their program was part of your career or mission in life? What’s your planned contribution to the program or field? Use specific examples.
3. Go Visit.
Perhaps you’ve already turned in the letters and didn’t do the above things? It is what it is. This is still a great move. Or perhaps you are still exploring going in the future? No matter where you are in the process of considering graduate programs, there is no substitute for a scheduled on-site visit.
- Reading about a program online is great. It’s mandatory before applying to a place you will be studying for a minimum of at least a year and typically 2 to 6 years. Knowing the program’s culture is something that you will only truly understand by meeting the people in the program. So, an on-site visit really helps you make sure this is a solid professional choice.
- Visiting will increase your chance of acceptance. It shows you are serious about your application and helps you fill in the gaps any application might leave. Visits are very impactful any time of year, but timing is a factor.
- Make sure you make appointments in advance. People are not just waiting around in their offices on the off-chance you might pop by and if you don’t have an appointment they might not have time for you. Scheduling appointments far enough in advance will ensure a great experience for everyone.
- Request the experiences you want. Ask to meet with faculty who do research in the areas of study and would potentially be teachers of graduate classes and/or your faculty adviser . Ask to sit in on a class that is required in your area of study. Ask to meet with graduate students in the program. Ask to tour the facilities. Ask for information on housing, student organizations or clubs, career services, programming, and time to meet with people who can answer these questions.
- Be prepared to make quite a number of phone calls to set this all up. It is likely that people keep their own calendars and there is not a central person to make this magically happen for you. This is your job.
4. Remember that you are interviewing them (the school) as much as they are interviewing you.
Take this as seriously as a job interview. So, be prepared. Ask questions. Do research. Set expectations and conduct yourself professionally. Going to graduate school is an enormous professional investment in time, energy, and resources. If you aren’t willing to commit to a serious search process, ask yourself if you are ready to commit to what graduate school demands of you. Make sure that going to graduate school is a meaningful conscious choice on a path to a career you have chosen, researched, and are entering aware of what the graduate degree will do for you.
At the same time, just like a job interview, this is not a one-sided process of trying to squeeze into someone else’s expectations of what kind of candidate should do, be, or act like. This is a process of you knowing what you want and asking questions…seeking to find the program that will be the best fit for you and one in which you can make a meaningful contribution to a field.
Graduate school can be a great investment in yourself personally and professionally… and like any investment, if you to do the research and groundwork to ensure the investment is a good fit for the goals you have, it is more likely to pay off. And, if all of this seems a bit daunting, that’s understandable. Most people find it pretty overwhelming to do this all on their own and so it’s wise to have a mentor or coach helping walk you through the process, pointing you towards resources, and providing accountability so you stay on track.
So, start where you are, take inventory of your resources, and if you need assistence, ask for help. You aren’t alone.
Sending fabulous energy!
Live Life Lyrically!
Posted on: January 24, 2009
- In: career coaching | coaching | inspiration | life coaching | motivation | success
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What if life is an improv dance? What if you could read through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyrical_dance and see how each element could apply to how we might choose to live our life? How might you apply the ideas of fluid movement or passionate expression in your life? in your relationships? in your career? What would it mean to see it that way?
Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVPKnNXWr9s for inspiration
What Am I Going To Do When I Grow Up? 