Free Career and Job Search Advice

halliecrawford

Hi Everyone,

Here's an article I wrote that I think you may find useful - I hope you find value in it:

Brainstorm Your Ideal Career Path: Dream First

One of the things that I like to tell my career coaching clients is "Dream first." This is vitally important to discovering what you were meant to do with your life, what you "want to be when you grow up." And yet - so few people allow themselves the necessary freedom of unrestrained and expansive thinking!

One reason for this may be that we have been trained all our lives to follow orders and rules, and as a result, tend to let process and procedure dictate our behavior. But if we're forever waiting for approval or instructions on what to do next, how are we supposed to think creatively and out of the box? It's no wonder that sometimes when we try to think for ourselves, without a specific process, we can come up empty-handed and/or confused.

Remember that this is your life, your future to shape and mold on your own. No one can take that away from you - not your employer, not your family, and not even society. So if you feel unsatisfied in your current career, are dying to explore new territory, or have a secret wish to do something entirely out of your comfort zone... just go for it! Try it out and see where the experience leads. You only live once and believe it or not there are ways and means around every corner to help you get where you want to be. One of my favorite quotes is “The greatest risk in life is not taking one.” And finding out exactly WHERE that place is, where you want to be, begins in the hollow of your mind where dreams and fantasies take shape.

So, what's your dream? What did you want to do as a child? What's your vision of the perfect career, the kind of job that makes the best use of your talents, skills and strengths? What would be the job for you that "doesn't feel like work" because it's something you're naturally good at and enjoy doing? Try the exercise below as a way to explore the possibilities - it's a great first step toward taking the plunge and making the move to a more satisfying career.

Career Seekers Brainstorm: What's Your Dream?

Take some time to think about/write down your responses to the below questions. The purpose of this exercise is to let go of the pressure, realize that the answers lie within you... and the future can be anything you want it to be. With this brainstorm, we will attempt to figure out what that future is. Have fun, let the ideas flow:

1. What's the one thing that drives you to get out of bed each morning and face a new day?

2. Recall your proudest moments in life. What were you doing when these took place? What gifts or talents of yours manifested themselves at such moments?

3. If you had a secret superpower, what would it be?

4. What's your daydream of The Perfect Job for you? What are you doing, exactly? Which tasks do you take care of yourself, as opposed to the things that other people will handle?

5. Is there someone in life who you admire, look up to, or even envy because you wish you had the life/career/experiences they have? What do they do and what part of that do you find attractive?

6. Which parts of your current job do you dislike, and why? What would you want to have instead?

Congratulations! You just took one necessary step in creating a life and career that fulfills your wildest dreams. If you enjoyed exploring the ideas in this Career Seekers Brainstorm and would like to learn how to "bring those dreams back down to earth" and turn them into practical steps for a great future career, schedule a consultation with me here: http://www.halliecrawford.com/contact.html.

All the best for a rewarding and fulfilling career doing what you love!

lexa10881 · Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:20 am Post subject:

Thank you. This came under my line of vision when I needed it most. I am making some life changes, bog ones, and I am trying to decide what I want to do. I have put my life on hold for several years now for a relationship that has not yielded much in the way of love, support, or anything healthy in the last couple months. So, I decided I had enough. As a step towards change, I have decided the educational boundaries that I had pushed aside for the sake of the realtionship should no longer be ignored, but now I don't know which major to pursue. Following your recommendations, and already building on what I have had schooling-wise, it only makes sense to try my hand at two of the careers instead of about the six different paths I had laid out. You helped eliminate some of the confusion, I think. Thanks!

http://www.cvtips.com/career_change.html

D_Ellis · Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 8:50 pm Post subject:

Absolutely and positively inspiring. You and I share the exact same belief system as far as this life becoming so systematic we forget who we really are and what we are meant to be. Im saving this article incase I need to read it in the near future.

Randy · Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:58 pm Post subject:

Well I hate to be the burster of bubbles, but it's entirely disengenuous to offer so much inspiration without at least giving casual mention that none of us exists in a vacuum. All I mean is that no matter what your "dream" might be, you ain't getting nowhere without some kind of help from someone else along the way.

Just file this under my personal annoyance with the "unspoken guarantee" that always accompanies the "you create your destiny" line of thinking, the "if it worked for me, it'll work for you" thing that goes along with everything from six-pack abs to selling real estate.

Here's all I mean:

Do you not think, for one moment, that for every Brad Pitt in the world there's not a million more young men, probably immensely more talented, good-looking, all working their butts off, determined to "make it," yet never, ever do, or will?

For every Stephen King, don't you think there are a million more writer-wannabes who can outright him and tell a better story but who will never, ever make it?

And why is that?

It's what the Greeks called deux ex machina--divine intervention, god from the machines.

The kind of "success" of which you're speaking--the kind I, too, favor greatly!--never, ever happens without that "break" that can come only from a "someone" else. That's all I'm saying.

And the painful truth is that very few people ever, ever get that "break" that I think they damned well deserve. And that's why this sounds so angry, not because of what you're saying... That's all....Now back to your regular schedule programming.... Laughing

halliecrawford · Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:11 pm Post subject:

You're welcome! Glad it helped. So often the reason why people fail in achieving their goals is lack of focus, and lack of true commitment.
They think they are committed, but they really aren't committed 100%. Or they continue to spin their wheels in several different directions, getting nowhere fast in any direction.

It's true that for every successful person out there, there are plenty of others with the same dreams who aren't making them happen. It comes down to commitment, focus, talent, working hard towards something (because yes you do have to work hard at it), and taking consistent persistent action. The successful people aren't focusing on those other 5 who didn't achieve their dreams - they're focusing on those who did. If you focus on lack and why you can't get there - you won't.

Randy · Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:35 pm Post subject:

quote="halliecrawford"

So often the reason why people fail in achieving their goals is lack of focus, and lack of true commitment.

Agreed, but who do you think you are to follow that up by saying:

They think they are committed, but they really aren't committed 100%.

It's that same vapid and thoroughly disingenuous insistence that we live in a world completely free from the external forces of, oh, spiteful, vindictive employers, the perfectly normal prejudices and biases we carry around, and so many other painful truths of daily life. Then again, admitting the reality of such things hardly affords you the luxury of such arrogance and pomposity, does it? It's all YOU! YOU did and at no point was there any other person who had anything at all to do with your success. Damn it must be nice.

It's true that for every successful person out there, there are plenty of others with the same dreams who aren't making them happen.

Yes, "aren't making them happen" is indeed the perfect way to say the thing. And why do you suppose that is? Right, as you said:

It comes down to commitment, focus, talent, working hard towards something (because yes you do have to work hard at it), and taking consistent persistent action.

What you've written is the "polite" way of saying the obvious: To achieve the sort of "success" you're talking about, the kind that absolutely will not stand for "failure" come hell or high water--for THAT kind of success, you can't afford the luxury of giving one damn for anyone else other than yourself and your own dreams and hopes and ambitions.

Now I've no problem with that so please don't misunderstand. What you simply can't grasp is that very few people on this planet have that tenacity which, when all is said and done, is a wonderful thing because those people have what those who achieve that kind of success lack: Heart.

And with all due respect, I'd rather be surrounded by a bunch "failures," those who tried with everything they could but, once reaching that "point" beyond which they dare not go because of the consequences to others--give me people like that any day of the week.

Or, in your own words:

The successful people aren't focusing on those other 5 who didn't achieve their dreams....

Translation: They don't give a damn about anyone other than themselves.

And please, are we never going to tire of repeating that pathetic "millionaire mindset" and "laws of attraction" nonsense, as in If you focus on lack and why you can't get there - you won't.

Yes, there are indeed as many "realities" as there are individuals on this planet. But the one you set forth as being applicable to all? No thanks. I'd rather spend my days in a cardboard box simply because I've had the misfortune to be surrounded by people like that all my life and if there's ever been any influence to make me despise the kind of "success" you're advocating, it's the arrogance of people who have achieved it.

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