Who Are You Answer the Question, Help Your Job Hunt

Who Are You Answer the Question, Help Yur Job HuntWho Are You?Who Are You Answer the Question, Help Your Job HuntWho are you? What makes you tick?The double-barreled question seemed simple enough when I heard it in a church sermon two decades ago, but it has stuck with me. Of course, it was asked in a spiritual context, but the same question can also be applied to the job search. If you have a strong grasp on who you are, chances are you know what you want from your work life.The provocative sermon was not presenting an original question. For centuries, writers and philosophers have urged us to look deep within ourselves for answers to that question. And really, sense of self-awareness is where it all begins when it comes to our work lives understanding the things that drive us, motivate us, stimulate us, stoke a passion within us, and prod us to learn more about them.All that is easy enough to say, but much harder to define.So, if youre at a crossroads in your work life and trying t o figure out which road to take, how do you come up with those answers?Here are three ways(1) Take a self inventory. What do you like about your current job? Or, what did you like about a previous job? On the other hand, what do you not like? Is there a certain type of corporate culture that brings out your best? Or, can you adapt to any work environment? Do you like to work alone, or as part of a team? If you have regular performance evaluations at work (and you trust the people who wrote them), review them for insights that can give you direction.Further, ask yourself What excites me? What would make me want to work an extra hour or two and not look at the clock because Id be so engrossed in the task?(2) Talk with a trusted friend. This could be your significant other, a former coworker, your college roommate, your best friend, or even someone you play poker with. Find someone who can give you their perceptions of your strengths. More than 20 years ago, a long-time friend told me Id be a good teacher. I remembered that about 15 years later, and became one. I still am. Choose a friend who will also give you the clear, unvarnished and maybe even brutal truth about your areas of weakness.(3) Take a couple of zugreifbar career and personality tests. One or more of these tests may help give you some direction, but I wouldnt rely on them completely. However, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a useful tool that can gauge your psychological and emotional strengths for instance, it can tell you not just whether youre an extrovert or introvert, but how much of one you are. And the results can change over time, as I found out earlier this year. In the late 1990s, the MBTI showed that I was near the borderline between extrovert and introvert. Today, Im a more extreme extrovert.Once you get all the information you need, use it to write a personal value proposition, which can form the basis of the Summary or Objective that will headline your resume.With your new found self-awareness in mind and on paper, youll be better able to target jobs that complement your passions and your strengths, making it easier to build the rest of your resume and move your career in the right direction for you.What about you? Have you ever discovered something about yourself that helped you maintain or change your career direction? Please drop in a comment and share it.

Dont set 2019 goals ... I beg you. Please do this instead

Dont set 2019 goals ... I beg you. Please do this insteadDont set 2019 goals ... I beg you. Please do this insteadIm a reformed goal junkie.Once obsessed with setting every 1-5-10 year goal under the sun, I now cannot be bothered with them. Because theyre so tied to achievement, and so rarely tied to the things that really matter to us. They sound good on paper, but they have little follow through. We cant just write a goal down and expect it to make us happy. Just like we cant write a goal down and expect it to happen.Have you ever set out to accomplish a goal, only to feel a whole lot of OK, now what? once youve achieved it. Or worked REALLY hard towards something and the bottom just completely falls out on your desire once you get there like, OK, this is it? Setting a goal wont make us happy. And they sure as heck wont change your life. You wont be any happierwhen than you are right now. Right now.What will help you get to a future that youre really freaking pumped about. and a y ear that you can be REAL proud of is to take a few minutes to turn around. To look at where youve been. To look at what youve loved. What drained you. What lit you up like a lamp post.If you want to get 2019 off to a really beautiful start, start by looking back at 2018.Ask yourselfWhat did I do that made me the fruchtwein proud?What actions did I take that gave me the most energy?When did I feel the most inspired?What activities, people, or projects completely drained me?What activities, people, or projects completely energized me?(If you want to take reflection SUPER seriously which I encourage do these 25 questions for reflection)Then planWrite down three impossibly small plans that you can make for the very first month of this new year. Make them small. Make them count. And if youre feeling frisky, write down someones name next to each of the plans that can help you and keep you accountable.This will be the type of small strategy that will give you huge momentum. Each month, e ach quarter, ask yourself,Whats the absolute smallest plan I can make?And then go do that. Small plans are manageable. Theyll give you immediate feedback. Theyll be the small stone that builds the masterpiece of your path.Thisarticlewas originally published on MaxieMcCoy.com.

Youre Thinking About Success All Wrong, Oprah Says - The Muse

Youre Thinking About Success All Wrong, Oprah Says - The MuseYoure Thinking About Success All Wrong, Oprah Says Oprah Winfrey is practically synonymous with success. As a media icon, a philanthropist, a billionaire, and a household name who needs no surname, she knows a thing or two about it. And she often shares her wisdom with willing audiences, as she did when she spoke to the graduating class of 2019 at Colorado College on May 19. The truth is success is- its a process, she said. Im here to tell you that your life isnt some big break like everybody thinks it is. Theyre waiting on the big break. Its actually about taking one significant life-transforming step at a time, she explained. Small steps lead to big accomplishments.In other words, every action every day builds on those from yesterday and the day before, and its the slow accumulation of actions and choices that carves out paths to success in your life and career, the way a steady stream of water can sculpt a smooth route t hrough even the roughest stone over time. Winfrey recognized that many of the graduates sitting before her harbored a great deal of anxiety about what those paths could and would look like for them. The same welches probably true of some of their parents and siblings and others there to celebrate their commencement, and those watching online anywhere in the world. No matter where they are in their lives and careers, people still get anxious about what their futures hold. From her perch at the podium and decades into a successful career, Winfrey admitted that the money is fabulous and all the attention is also good sometimes, but the real reason she believes she now has a beautiful life is neither of those things. Its because I had an appreciation for the small steps, the seeds that were planted, the map and flow of my life that unfolded because I was paying attention, she said. You have to pay attention to your life because it is speaking to you all the time and the bumps in the roa d and the failures...pointed me in a new direction and led me to a path made clear. That is what Im wishing for you today Your own path made clear.That clarity doesnt come without failure. Its an inevitable feature of any path toward success- one that not only humbles you, but also teaches you about the fleeting nature of success as its traditionally measured. So instead of looking only at objectives achieved and visions manifested to account for your self-esteem, she said, think about how all the steps and actions you take every single day impact the people and the world around you. Your path isnt about one decision taken at graduation or any other point. Your career isnt about one big break. Your purpose gets revealed to you daily. It is not just one thing. It is the thread that is connecting the dots of everything that you do, she explains. Winfrey said that her friend and mentor Maya Angelou impressed upon her that you have no idea what your legacy will be. She repeats that idea everywhere- in this case nearly five years after Angelous death- because your legacy is not one thing. Its everything, she said. The most important thing is how you touch other peoples lives. Every day youre carving out the path. Even when it looks like youre not.So dont get so wrapped up in waiting for the one big break. Instead, consider the choices and actions and obstacles right in front of you. They will define your path and your success and the mark you leave, regardless of the job you do or the field you work in. Being anxious about uncertainty is normal, to an extent. But Im here to tell you that youre going to be more than okay. So take a deep breath with me right now and repeat this Everything is always working out for me, Winfrey said. Thats my mantra. Make it yours. Everything is always working out for me because it is, and it has, and it will continue to be as you forge and discover your own path.