Stepping back
- At January 25, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Stepping back in order to move ahead doesn’t seem to make sense, but it can help. Some who are reading this may feel that what you really need in order to make progress in your career, or in any other area of life for that matter, is more and more intense focus on the problem at hand.
Sometimes what you really need is to just gain a new perspective; take a step or two back from your situation, so you have a better view. You might be surprised what you will see from a new vantage point.
Please note that I am not advocating the “view-view” here. Reality and truth is very much still out there, it is just that a different vantage point can make a world of difference in terms of seeing what is actually there.
Take a trip. If you can’t afford to take one, just use your imagination. Picture yourself hovering over your house. Looks like you could use a few new shingles doesn’t it? Never noticed that sitting in the basement, did you? Launch yourself a little bit higher. What do you see?
I can see Saskatchewan and Canada fading into the distance as the USA and parts of South America come into view. The curved edges of the earth are coming into the picture now, and it feels like there is water, water – everywhere. A feeling of emptiness and being alone comes over me now as our planet appears to be the only inhabitant in an empty universe. But of course, I had forgotten about our sun. There it is now, blazing in all of its brilliance. And yet soon even the sun seems like an insignificant speck of light in a small corner of our galaxy.
Moving back down towards the earth if feels remarkable to me that the earth actually exists, and even more so, that it is teeming with life.
Life. Suddenly the fact that you are alive may seem much more staggering and stunning than any problems you are presently facing.
Influence
- At January 24, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Moving towards a career and a life that is more of a fit with who you are may eventually place you in a position of influence. That being the case, it is worthwhile considering in advance how you plan on making use of such a position of power sometime down the road.
While I am not a prophet nor the son of a prophet, there is one very good way to find out. Ask yourself: “What am I doing with the measure of power and the degree of influence I have today?” Each person reading this has some clout, a small realm where you already rule, a tiny kingdom at your disposal. How do you suppose you are doing in the polls?
You are likely familiar with the following scenario: The big boss at work comes down hard on employee #123, who goes home to vent at family member #4, who steps out and kicks pet #3, who in turn bites mail delivery person #2, who then botches the mail delivery for big boss #1.
So once again, “How are you using the little influence you have right now?” Or to put it another way, “What are you preaching from your platform?” Everybody is preaching something. The other day I watched and listened as Vivienne Westwood used her platform as famous fashion designer as a pulpit to promote a humanistic worldview.
What would you promote if the camera was pointed at you? What would you vote for if you got into government? What type of movies would you make? Which news stories would you focus on? What would you edit if you monitored the internet? Something to think about.
You don’t need me to tell you that a lot of people out there are abusing the power they already have. Let’s face it, all of us at times have done just that.
Make wise use of the influence you have today. This will prepare you for a position of greater influence tomorrow.
Small steps
- At January 21, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Traveling to the moon must have felt like an insurmountable task back in the 1960s, even for NASA and the USA. Even now, it is not a trek that has been often repeated. Charles Branson, the British billionaire, seems to have settled on taking his space tourists just a wee bit of the way there. You can only golf for so long on the moon anyway.
Breaking things down into bit-sized chunks can go a long way towards helping you accomplish seemingly overwhelming career-related or space-exploration goals.
If you want to replicate Neil Armstrong’s daring adventure and visit the moon for yourself, you have to first of all figure out where you would like to go and when you would like to get there. Read the travel brochures; you might want to schedule your lunar holiday for a time when it is only minus 85 degrees celsius or plus 98. The triple digit temperatures are sure to affect your golf game.
From there, you need to deal with one little insignificant detail: how you are going to get there. Perhaps you could lobby the United Nations to move the moon closer to the earth to make your job considerably easier. Controlling the world’s climate is on their agenda so why not moving the moon? Get Branson to build a moon base, book yourself a space tourist spot for a cool 12 million or so, and you are good to go.
Which brings up the question of funding. Money follows vision. If you know what you really want to do and it is a worthwhile venture, something that will provide a significant service to others, chances are that somebody out their might be interested in helping you pay for it. One obvious thing you might consider is a student loan. But this may just be the tip of the potential funding iceberg.
Don’t try to reach the moon in one day. Take small steps towards your large goal.
Thriving
- At January 19, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Many things in your life are out of your control. You cannot, for example, control the weather. Right now a lot of people and governments are talking as if they can take control of the climate on this planet. We will see how that plays out, but I am not holding my breath. If everybody on the planet decided to hold their breath there would be a lot less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere…and nobody would be around to enjoy our new and improved climate conditions.
Moving on, and to put it positively this time around, you can only steer the wheel of your own car or truck or tank or whatever you happen to be driving. This is not a very comforting thought to be meditating upon when driving down a narrow and icy road in the early morning hours of New Years Day. Yes, many people you meet may have been drinking. And yes, lots of them are likely dead tired. One wrong move and you could be in the ditch or just dead.
Third, you cannot control what the government does. Somebody somewhere in the upper echelons of society may make a decision that affects you greatly, and there is nothing you can do about it. True, you can vote in a certain way, speak out, and maybe even lobby certain groups or individuals to do what you think needs to be done. But at the end of the day, Stephan Harper or Paul Martin, or any number of other civil servants, are calling the shots – not you. Everybody wants to rule the world and few people actually do.
Fourth, you cannot control the actions or attitudes of others. You can influence other people, but trying to control them is not such a good idea anyway. Hiring an airplane to fly over your girlfriend or boyfriend’s house with a banner reading “Will you marry me?” would make you a rock star in the romance department. But if the banner was a bit longer and read “Marry me or I’ll let all the air out of your tires every day for the rest of your life you big lummox and I am not kidding!!!!!” you might not get the same response.
In your quest for a more compatible career, the sobering reality is that all the polishing and preparation in the world is not going to make much of a difference if the company or organization you want to work for doesn’t want you to work for them.
What you can do, and what I am encouraging everyone reading this to do (including myself), is to attempt to take control of your own attitudes and actions so you can move beyond surviving and towards thriving. Here are a few suggestions as it relates to pursuing a different career:
- You can go out and get the skills a company wants
- You can make short-term and long-term goals
- You can make a plan to guide you towards those goals
- You can search for the information you need to move ahead
- You can train your mind to focus on positive thoughts
- You can talk to people who do what you would like to do
Some who are reading this may feel that there is so much that you can’t do and very little that you can. May I encourage you to still focus on doing what you can do, even today.
Buzz
- At January 18, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
No matter what you set out to do, whether that means choosing a new career or simply cleaning the garage, you cannot avoid one little word: why. Why? Why bother doing what you are about to do or at least seriously considering doing?
The answers that come to mind may initially be all about you. You are cleaning out the garage because all that junk in there is starting to drive you crazy. You just can’t take it any more. You are acting with nothing more than your own self-interest and sanity in mind. Gotta get a job or a new job because you really need that job.
That’s it. That’s all.
Fine. But this assumes that it is appropriate to care about yourself, your mental well-being, etc. And the “why” word lights up once again in your unstable mind. You know that the way some people talk, when it comes right down to it human beings really aren’t much to write home about. Some live, some die…so what! Too many people on the planet anyway, and on and on it goes.
Suddenly it dawns on you that you have unknowingly taken a position, and a definite and shall I say “dogmatic” one at that: Your life matters. Maybe you would go so far as to say that the lives of others matters too.
Again, why would say something like that? A statement like this implies value and significance. Do you mean that you just happen to think that your life matters or is it more than that? If some bloke in Australia decided that this belief of yours was just true for you, and got out his handy hammer to whack some sense into this crazy Canuck, would you protest?
Why? Just out of self-interest? No, it has to be more than that.
Looking for answers you discover that large numbers of “educated” people actually claim that answers do not exist, or at least not really. Somehow this is supposed to mean that we will all find ourselves floating along contentedly in a cosmopolitan sea, believing nothing in particular about the large and critical questions of life – nothing at all.
Get yourself a bit of prosperity, the latest fashion, a high-tech gadget or two, at least 300 HD channels, a man or a women if you feel so inclined, and your off. It is called living in denial.
Some of the white, Anglo-Saxon, protestants of yesteryear got a bad reputation in the minds of some modern people, hence the unflattering label WASP. For the purposes of this blog, whatever the faults of the buzzing believers may have been, I would like to point out that at least they actually offered answers that had some credibility, and that this type of thinking launched people out into life.
Nowadays, the white, agnostic, secular, pagans have a lot of explaining to do. Especially the ones who just might be reading this blog; trying to figure out who they are so they can find a career that feels like a fit.
It gets annoying after a while, I know, but here it is again:
Why?
Decay
- At January 15, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
As you read this, your body is busy breaking down. Such a lovely thought to brighten your day!
But it is true nonetheless. The sand is running through the hour-glass. The clock is ticking. Moment by moment, minute by minute, hour by hour, year by year – your life is coming to an end here on earth. Imagine a car driving towards a cliff if you want to really freak yourself out first thing in the morning. It won’t be long before someone hears you say, “So loooooong world.”
It is a sign of wisdom to view your life in limited terms rather than an endless quantity. Reflecting on the brevity of life can serve as motivation to make sure that you live your life before it is too late.
May I mention part of the Christian story in this context?
This world is not the way it was supposed to be. God’s good world has been broken and messed-up by God’s misguided creatures. Angelic and human freedom had a great price. As a result, we are now dealing with death and decay.
Jesus came to fix the world and to make the wrongs right. He started with humanity’s broken relationship with their Creator. This is to say that He died for our sins. But His resurrection proves that He is able to restore creation to its original form. Jesus is able to deal with death. Christians look forward to a new heaven and a new earth.
But while you are on this less-than-perfect planet there are things for you to be and do. So if you have been wondering when you should get around to pursuing God’s purpose for your life…now, is the time.
Development
- At January 14, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
When it comes to the development of your career, do what you can with what you have.
Everybody lives off of the land, whether they realize it or not, and each one of us is dependent on the DNA hand that we have been dealt.
Natural resources are plentiful in Canada, but you will find different things in different places. There is no sense drilling for oil when you should be digging for granite. Farming is all fine and good but not if you live smack dab on a big chunk of rock. Starting a logging company in the middle of the Prairies just might be a waste of time.
If you thrive in the academic world you might want to consider pursuing a marketable degree. But keep in mind that this world needs much more than just people with PhD’s. What you are good at or interested in may not be equally honoured, but don’t let that deter you.
Provincial governments in Canada need to take a very good look at what they have in terms of assets and resources, and then carefully consider how they can encourage development.
May I encourage you to take a very good look at yourself?
Building bridges
- At January 12, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Trying to transition from one career to another is comparable at times to trying to cross a body of water without a bridge: it is exceedingly difficult and discouraging.
Flooding has been in the news as of late; serious flooding in eastern Canada and parts of Australia. More than a few bridges have been washed away. It will take years to recover and rebuild.
When it comes to your career, you have a choice. You can stand on the river bank and bemoan the fact that a bridge is missing, and that nobody seems to feel inclined to build one for you, or you can get busy and try to build one yourself.
This may not appear to be the best illustration because the task seems impossible on your own. Then again, that could be part of the point. Robin Williams once said, “No man is an island, but some are peninsulas.” But cutting yourself off from others, and failing to seeking appropriate assistance, is not a good idea.
Getting where you need to go will require taking the initiative and enlisting the expertise of others.
Standing tall
- At January 11, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Viewing yourself as a person with great dignity and worth; as someone who has something to offer the world, is an important plank to set in place as you set out to build a career.
Arrogance can certainly sabotage your career-building efforts, but so can insecurity.
The post-modern worldview that you may have been submerged in implies that you – or anyone else for that matter – are not really much to get excited about at all. But it isn’t true. Human dignity is denied in many different ways nowadays. Human rights language is much in vogue, but it is now used to hammer home all sorts of agendas that end up denying core elements of what it means to be human.
When you are down and lacking confidence it is easier for all sorts of people and powers to manipulate you into fitting into their purposes and projects. Lives need to be interwoven, like the roots of a tree. But this interconnectedness can be forced in ways that do not take into account who you really are or why you have been placed on this planet at this time in the first place.
As you grow in confidence and clarify a sense of direction for your life, be careful not to assume that others are going in the same direction.
If you want the freedom to be yourself, you need to allow others to do the same.
Five reasons
- At January 10, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Why should you bother trying to find a career, or live a life for that matter, that is a fit with who you are?
1. Life is short
Your days are numbered. Really, they are. You only have a limited number – 30,000 maybe, if you are lucky. Some who are reading this will only live to see 15,000 if that. Having already hit fifteen grand myself, I guess I can’t complain. As you consider the days that remain, why would you want to spend your limited time trying to be something that you are not? To the extent that you have the freedom to choose, why not choose just to be yourself?
2. God is real
This means that you have a maker. This also means that you were presumably made for a purpose. With this in mind, becoming yourself means much more than merely doing whatever you happen to feel like doing with your life; it means trying to discern and fulfill God’s purpose for your life.
Yes, I know, if you were God the world would be in much better shape than it is right now. Things would not have gone to pot so quickly under your watch. Surely all your friends would agree. Better cut yourself loose from God, you say, and just pursue your own purposes. But why not assume for the moment that God just might be a little bit smarter than you are, and that doing what God designed you to do is actually what is best for you?
3. People have needs
A career is all about providing a service to someone who needs it. People need food, water, shelter, clothes, roads, schools, security and health care. People need clean air to breath and healthy relationships. People need all sorts of things. People need God. And chances are that you will be most effective doings things for others that you are naturally good at.
It could be that you are a natural entertainer and are positioned to bring great joy to thousands of people during your lifetime. I forgot to mention earlier that people need to laugh and smile and forget about their problems every once in a while too. What would the world be like without Jim Unger and Herman cartoons? Wouldn’t we be missing something without people around like Bill Cosby and Mr. Bean?
4. Misery is overrated
Unless you are a gifted actor and entertainer, trying to impersonate someone else is a great way to get depressed and feel constantly drained. Hating your life may be a large clue that imitating others needs to come to an end. You may discover that you have dilly-dallied far too long in the depths of despair when you could have been moving towards a humdinger of a wing-ding life.
Joyce Meyer writes about how she tried to be just like the woman next door. She was the perfect homemaker: she made clothes for her family, she had a garden, she was a fantastic cook and a great decorator. Why it was like having Martha Stewart living right next door. But trying to be yet another Martha Stewart was making her miserable. As you may know, Joyce went on to realize that she was actually quite good at just being herself.
5. Some civilizations suck
Disrespect is not what I desire to communicate here. I merely hope to help a few blind people who are reading this to see.
There is a time and a place to celebrate diversity and also the odd occasion to point out that many people in the world are harassed by thugs. There are more nations that people would flee from if they could, than there are nations that people can run to. For all its faults, the Christian-based western world is a safe haven in a crazy world. To put it simply and dramatically: Everybody in the West needs to be doing what they can do best in order for our civilization to compete and survive, and continue to exert a positive influence on world affairs.
The builders need to get busy and start building things. The entrepreneurs need to dream big and then make it happen. The artistic people need to use their gifts to inspire others to do great things. The homemakers need to nurture young people who will shine in a dark world. Here in Canada, the folks at National Defence need to make us a force to be reckoned with. And on and on it goes.
© Career & Life Direction 2011. All rights reserved.
Speed
- At January 08, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Whether you like it or not, speed matters. A nation made up of 30 or even 300 million slackers is not going to prosper.
To put it positively and make it more personal, producing something of value quickly is critical to your career success.
What specific service do you have to offer and when can you deliver? Two questions to keep in mind.
If you enjoy cooking, can you cook and serve food fast enough to make a living at it? If you are good at building things, can you bid on a job and complete it fast enough to get the money flowing and the bills paid?
Every career has deadlines you will need to deal with. As you become more skilled in your vocational domain, these time restraints will be easier to live with.
So focus, first of all, on becoming very good at what you do. The speed will follow.