Next week we will celebrate Thanksgiving. A time when we should think about and appreciate the many things for which we are grateful - or should be grateful. Sometimes it may be hard to think of what that might be, but if you can read this, then that is one thing for which you can be grateful - there are many people who are not capable of reading or who do not have access to a computer on a regular basis or who do not have sight or the instruments to allow them to "read" from the screen.
From there, you can think about what you have to be grateful for - it may be that you have a job that at least pays the bills or that provides health insurance for you and your family and allows you to put food on the table. Even though the job may not be what you want and even though the job may be "making you crazy", there are those who would suggest that in this day and time, you should be grateful you have it. I do know a number of people who are out of work and have been for more than 10 or 12 months. And many of them can still name the things for which they are grateful. So being grateful is actually a state of mind. We can choose to gripe and moan about our situation, whatever it may be. Or we can be grateful - even if for the little things in life. That does not mean that you do not want things to be different, but for now, appreciate what you do have and those things for which you could and, probably should, be grateful.
I am grateful that I have the ability to string together several sentences that seem to make sense. I am grateful for the capacity to communicate via this medium. I am grateful that my mind is still functioning and I can think of things to write about. There are so many more things for which I am grateful and, particularly at this time of year, I like to remember the big and the small things that I appreciate in life and express my gratitude. You may want to think about doing the same thing.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Mary Ann Davis is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in private practice providing coaching and coaching for life's transitions; including a career or job change, planning to return to work or to school, preparing for retirement, coping with a job loss, and other changes. She meets with individuals in person and via telephone to assist them through a change guidance system. Mary Ann is certified as a Master Career Counselor (MCC) by the National Career Development association, a Life/Work Counselor by the National Employment Counseling Association, and is a Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC). To learn more about her services, please visit her web site at www.YourCareerPlan.com. To contact Mary Ann, please call (513) 665-4444 x3 and leave a personal and confidential message or send an email to YourCareerPlan@cinci.rr.com.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Are You a Worker Who Is Concerned?
In today's world of work, there are a number of workers who are concerned - about where their organization is headed and/or how they fit into that future picture. Perhaps there are rumors of a merger or buy out or possibly shutting down an office. Maybe you have heard that there will be a new office opened, in the near future, that will handle the same kinds of tasks done at your location. There could be a number of different concerns. If you are one who is concerned, I encourage you to think about the basis for your concern and determine if you need to develop a plan for working on it.
Start by writing down the facts that you know. If you have no facts, then write down your beliefs or what has caused you to be concerned. You may need to spend some time thinking about little signs that you have noticed over the past several months, perhaps. Maybe you heard the tail end of a discussion between two managers that caused you to wonder what was up. Perhaps you have noticed a change in the form or frequency of communications from management. Whatever indications you have that something is not right - write those down.
Then you must decide how you can get more information to clarify the realities of the situation. Do you have a co-worker who is a confidante? Are you comfortable discussing a variety of issues with your supervisor? Is there someone in Human Resources that you can talk to who will give you some answers? Try to determine where and how you can get some real data. You may just decide to add up what you were able to write down initially and determine that you would be better off taking an active approach to make a change yourself.
It may be that there would be something else within your organization that would be more stable and would suit you. It may be that the potential coming change will not impact you or your work and you are OK where you are. It certainly may be just odd circumstances that caused you to be concerned and there really is nothing out of the ordinary to be concerned about. Or it may be that you want to begin thinking about where else you could look for work. Sometimes although people may see the "handwriting on the wall", they choose to ignore it until they receive confirmation of the change that is now underway.
As a professional career counselor, I can talk with you about your concerns and help you evaluate what may be real. We could also discuss possible options for you to consider. If you are concerned, I encourage you at least to identify why you have those feelings or thoughts. From there you can decide what direction you want to take.
Mary Ann Davis is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in private practice providing coaching and counseling for life's transitions; including career or job change, loss of job, retirement planning, planning to return to work or to school, and other life planning issues. She meets with individuals in person and via telephone to assist them through her change guidance system. Mary Ann is certified as a Master Career Counselor (MCC) by the National Career Development Association, a Life/Work Counselor by the National Employment Counseling Association, and is a Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC). For more information on her services, please visit her web site at www.YourCareerPlan.com. To contact Mary Ann, please call (513) 665-4444 x3 and leave a personal and confidential voice message or send an email to YourCareerPlan@cinci.rr.com.
Start by writing down the facts that you know. If you have no facts, then write down your beliefs or what has caused you to be concerned. You may need to spend some time thinking about little signs that you have noticed over the past several months, perhaps. Maybe you heard the tail end of a discussion between two managers that caused you to wonder what was up. Perhaps you have noticed a change in the form or frequency of communications from management. Whatever indications you have that something is not right - write those down.
Then you must decide how you can get more information to clarify the realities of the situation. Do you have a co-worker who is a confidante? Are you comfortable discussing a variety of issues with your supervisor? Is there someone in Human Resources that you can talk to who will give you some answers? Try to determine where and how you can get some real data. You may just decide to add up what you were able to write down initially and determine that you would be better off taking an active approach to make a change yourself.
It may be that there would be something else within your organization that would be more stable and would suit you. It may be that the potential coming change will not impact you or your work and you are OK where you are. It certainly may be just odd circumstances that caused you to be concerned and there really is nothing out of the ordinary to be concerned about. Or it may be that you want to begin thinking about where else you could look for work. Sometimes although people may see the "handwriting on the wall", they choose to ignore it until they receive confirmation of the change that is now underway.
As a professional career counselor, I can talk with you about your concerns and help you evaluate what may be real. We could also discuss possible options for you to consider. If you are concerned, I encourage you at least to identify why you have those feelings or thoughts. From there you can decide what direction you want to take.
Mary Ann Davis is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in private practice providing coaching and counseling for life's transitions; including career or job change, loss of job, retirement planning, planning to return to work or to school, and other life planning issues. She meets with individuals in person and via telephone to assist them through her change guidance system. Mary Ann is certified as a Master Career Counselor (MCC) by the National Career Development Association, a Life/Work Counselor by the National Employment Counseling Association, and is a Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC). For more information on her services, please visit her web site at www.YourCareerPlan.com. To contact Mary Ann, please call (513) 665-4444 x3 and leave a personal and confidential voice message or send an email to YourCareerPlan@cinci.rr.com.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
What Would You Rather Be Doing?
If you often sit around and think, "I would rather be doing _______" I wonder why you aren't doing _______. In the case of work, I wonder why you are still doing the work you are doing instead of the work you would rather be doing. Often the answer to that is that you don't actually know what you would rather be doing, you just know that you no longer (or maybe never) enjoy your current work.
If that is your situation, I encourage you to think about what you would rather be doing. Would that alternative involve working more with people, or possibly less people involvement? Would it involve working more with your hands - doing something with some particular tools - or less with your hands? Or maybe you would like to work more with numbers or if you are fed up with counting things, you might want less work with numbers or data. Those provide some good starting points. Most jobs include some of working with people, some working with things (using your hands), and some working with data or numbers. In most cases, those activities are not divided equally in a job, but more of one than the other two kinds of involvement.
Once you have figured out which kind of activity (people, things, or data) you would like more of in your job, you can then begin to look at jobs for which you are already qualified that would involve that. Or if you are prepared to continue your education or obtain more training, what could you qualify for that would be a better fit? You should also consider the kinds of skills you would like to use, what would be a good fit for your personality, and which kinds of work would not conflict with your major work values. But those pieces can be sorted through as you identify potential jobs. Those might be jobs with your current employer or with another employer, if you are ready to leave.
I encourage you to start this process by thinking of what you would rather be doing. From there you can develop a description of the kind of work that you would like to pursue - if not now, in the not-too-distant future.
Mary Ann Davis is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in private practice providing coaching and counseling for life's transitions; including a career or job change, preparing for non-retirement, planning to continue your education or return to work. She works with individuals in person and via telephone to assist them in finding solutions to life planning issues. Mary Ann is certified as a Master Career Counselor (MCC) by the National Career Development Association, a Life/Work Counselor by the National Employment Counseling Association, and is a Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC). For more information on her services, please visit her web site at http://www.yourcareerplan.com/. To contact Mary Ann, please call (513) 665-4444 x3 and leave a personal and confidential voice message or send an email to YourCareerPlan@cinci.rr.com.
If that is your situation, I encourage you to think about what you would rather be doing. Would that alternative involve working more with people, or possibly less people involvement? Would it involve working more with your hands - doing something with some particular tools - or less with your hands? Or maybe you would like to work more with numbers or if you are fed up with counting things, you might want less work with numbers or data. Those provide some good starting points. Most jobs include some of working with people, some working with things (using your hands), and some working with data or numbers. In most cases, those activities are not divided equally in a job, but more of one than the other two kinds of involvement.
Once you have figured out which kind of activity (people, things, or data) you would like more of in your job, you can then begin to look at jobs for which you are already qualified that would involve that. Or if you are prepared to continue your education or obtain more training, what could you qualify for that would be a better fit? You should also consider the kinds of skills you would like to use, what would be a good fit for your personality, and which kinds of work would not conflict with your major work values. But those pieces can be sorted through as you identify potential jobs. Those might be jobs with your current employer or with another employer, if you are ready to leave.
I encourage you to start this process by thinking of what you would rather be doing. From there you can develop a description of the kind of work that you would like to pursue - if not now, in the not-too-distant future.
Mary Ann Davis is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in private practice providing coaching and counseling for life's transitions; including a career or job change, preparing for non-retirement, planning to continue your education or return to work. She works with individuals in person and via telephone to assist them in finding solutions to life planning issues. Mary Ann is certified as a Master Career Counselor (MCC) by the National Career Development Association, a Life/Work Counselor by the National Employment Counseling Association, and is a Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC). For more information on her services, please visit her web site at http://www.yourcareerplan.com/. To contact Mary Ann, please call (513) 665-4444 x3 and leave a personal and confidential voice message or send an email to YourCareerPlan@cinci.rr.com.
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