Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the Career Transitions Group!
Our meeting last night marked the 6th year that we have met monthly to support each other in our career transitions.

And, the success stories keep coming!
One member started her own marketing communications business a few months ago and her business is steady - even in this tough economy. This is a great example of, "Do what you love, and the money will follow", which is the title of a book by Barbara Sher.

Last night, we revisited the wealth of great information that our guest speakers have shared with us, so far this year.

In January, Kathleen Radebaugh discussed with us "The Power to Find Meaningful Work". Kathleen is the Developer of Spatial Relations Changework and Certified in Neuro-Linguistics Programming (NLP). She shared with us the stages of transition and characteristics of each stage. She says that one stage of transition is called chaos. If we expect the chaos phase and accept that it's coming, we will get through it much easier than if we reject it. Then, after chaos, things come back to order, but in a better state than they were before.

In February, Angela Loeb discussed with us "Get Clear, Get Focused, then Shift". Angela is founder of InSync Resources Consulting. She says we should evaluate our actions and always ask ourselves, "Is what I'm doing right now, moving me closer to my goal?" We should also evaluate our skills, habits, environment and mindset regularly. Do you have what you need to accomplish your goal? If not, do what it takes to address each area of your needs before moving on. This might include taking a class to improve your skills, changing your schedule to use your time more wisely, creating a productive work environment and/or addressing mental blocks that are getting in the way of your goals. Lastly, stay motivated. Reward yourself along the way during your career transition.

In March, Tonja Eaton with Full Circle Coaching & Consulting, guided us through the creation of our own vision boards. "A vision board can be a strong visual reminder of the life that you are creating. By setting specific intentions, demonstrating them in a creative way, and displaying them where we will see them at least once (preferably multiple times) daily, we invite specific feelings and goals to play front and center in our lives and let the rest fall away." My personal take on vision boards is that it's a visual form of writing intentions or affirmations. I enjoyed the process and have placed my vision board where I see it every day.

In April, Katie Raver, Master NLP Practitioner and co-founder of Austin NLP, guided us in creating our own life purpose statements. Katie says that a life purpose statement can remind us of the direction we should be taking in our career path. It can also keep us motivated to continue searching for work that fulfills who we are. A life purpose statement should be short, concise and direct. It should be written in the positive and focused on actions that you've taken that have brought you the greatest satisfaction in your life.

In May, we did not have a meeting. I encouraged everyone to use the time that we would have normally met, to focus on their own career transitions.

In June, Sherry Ransom with Sherry Ransom Productions discussed with us "Change your focus, Change your life". See last month's blog entry for a summary of tips that Sherry shared with us.

I am very, very thankful to each of our wonderful guest speakers who take time out of their busy schedules to help our members make progress in their career transitions!!
Stay tuned for more great career transition topics in the coming months of 2009!