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Is Your Work Working For You?

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Research shows that between 30 and 45% of people want to change job. That is a hell of a lot of people not enjoying their work and feeling unfulfilled. Many of us fell into it by chance. Did you? 

I have people contacting me who have been working for 7-10 years who have never found their work fulfilling. That is a lot of hours clocked up of misery. Often in that time they have cheered themselves up by shopping, taking weekend breaks and holidays as well as the cheaper frequent comforters of food, alcoholic and drugs.

In the time and for the money they have spent soothing themselves, they could have retrained and changed their career. Blocks to action can be confidence, circumstances e.g. needing flexibility with a young child or knowing they won’t get as a good a package elsewhere. With retirement getting later and later as we will be living longer, isn’t now the time to start the ball rolling? Otherwise the ball and chain remains – a heavy weight.

Take the first step and download our free report http://www.careerstrategies.co.uk/

What Is Fair At Work?

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What is fair at work and who decides? I predict that fairness is going to be a burning topic this year and it will feel like the City are walking on hot coals at times. It has always been a topic bubbling under the surface but the volcano is about to erupt.  Recruitment is growing in the financial sector, which is great news.  

Fairness is and will be a source of strikes, discussion and argument. Companies need to give good rewards to attract the best talent, but bonuses in the city enrage people losing their jobs. Is it fair that teachers and nurses get paid low wages when their role is so important to the health and prosperity of our country? No. What is ‘enough’ and who is responsible for deciding?

 Is it fair that companies fund working women having time off to have kids? Is it fair that women get penalised with higher unemployment by doing the majority of child care, creating the perception that they are less reliable then men, because they are the ones who pick up the pieces when the kids are ill? Who decides how to carve up the cake? Like food in the world, there is enough money to go around, it is just unequally distributed,   

Answers and thoughts on a postcard, by carrier pigeon or the modern way a blog post to ….  

Are you following us on Twitter yet? talentliberator is our Twitter name.

Career Change Dreams Up In Smoke?

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Suffering from that ‘going back to work feeling’? Reality after the festive season reminds many people of going back to school at the start of a new term. A feeling of dread; shining those shoes; buying a new fluffy pencil case; the who got the best Christmas gift parade, but mainly the sinking feeling.

Life can be so superspeed at work that it feels like being on a giant human hamster wheel. The break spits you off the corporate rat race so you catch up yourself before you go completely bonkers and think about what you really want. Mulled wine fuelled dreams of career change, when back at work, often crumble faster than a digestive biscuit.

If this is you, here are some free resources to keep your resolve with your career change full even if your bank account feels empty: 

5 free tips you can do while in employment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b8CFaOq6GY

Free report ‘Pain free career change’

http://www.careerstrategies.co.uk/

Energise ‘Career strategies’, ‘Self promotion’ bulletins and more  

http://www.liberateyourtalent.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=106

Hope they are useful. Happy new year!

Rachel

Do You Find Career Change Daunting?

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Career Change Feel Daunting?Career change can feel really daunting, can’t it. Like a ladder, taking it one step at a time is wise.

Download our free report “Pain free career change” and you can make career change safe. Take the first step now and click on this link to download your free report http://www.careerstrategies.co.uk/

How Subjective Is Subjectivity?

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You know all the snow this week? Well they keep on saying, “Do not travel unless absolutely necessary.” I know they mean life or death/emergencies, mothers just about to give birth etc, so why don’t they say so? After all ‘necessary’ is so subjective. You can imagine some of the responses as the police and AA/RAC dig people’s cars out of snowdrifts:

“I was gagging for a cup of tea officer, but had run of milk”. “It was my first date with someone hot, I simply could not postpone.” “I had an interview for my dream job – there is no way I could miss it.”  People’s behaviour is linked to their values – what is important to them – and their beliefs. I tell you one thing I believe – Mother Nature is the boss – she always wins!

How do you know when a career change is absolutely necessary? Some of my clients have taken 10 years to contact me about helping them create their new career after they have struggled on alone. I had a client this week who I helped achieve something she had wanted for 20 years. She was ecstatic and I was too – for her.  If you dread coming to work in the morning, if you look ahead into the future and don’t feel excited at the prospect, if you find yourself low in energy or often ill, these are signals that you are resisting change.  As a first step, download our free 30 page report “Pain free career change.”

http://www.careerstrategies.co.uk/

The Beauty Of Contrast

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Isn’t contrast useful? After all, without illness we wouldn’t appreciate good health, a new career wouldn’t be new without having had an old career; if we had holidays all year round, they wouldn’t be as enjoyable; if we didn’t have pain, we wouldn’t recognise bliss; without being broke, we wouldn’t value money; if we hadn’t chosen the wrong partner, we wouldn’t know a better match. 

The world has done a bit of a ‘back flip’ since the credit crunch and we are still in the aftermath, but once it has all settled, perhaps it will be a better place? Communities pulling together, countries helping each other out, appreciating simple things that don’t cost much, lower interest for mortgages.   

Work-wise, if you hadn’t had a bad job, you wouldn’t know a good one; experiencing a poor boss helps you be a better boss yourself; you only know you are in the right new career having experienced the wrong one.  Are you truly happy in your career? Did you fall into it by accident? Many people do. Download our free 30 page report and find out

http://www.careerstrategies.co.uk/

Are You A Pushover?

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I was amused to read that Pizza Express are helping their staff with training from a ‘conversational flirt expert, so customers are comfortable and relaxed. I feel comfortable and relaxed with a big glass of wine, good company and carbohydrate in my stomach. ’ I shall be extra vigilant next time I do there to see what they do, and I hope that the brand experience isn’t like that TGI Fridays Catherine Tate sketch, otherwise the only thing I will be ordering is a chat with the manager.  

I don’t know about you, but I hate being sold to. Anyone who sells to me gets short thrift. They get the “I don’t take cold sales calls” or “I am on TPS (telephone preference service), you shouldn’t be calling me. ” And if they don’t have the courtesy to check if it is a good time to speak, well. I’ll get off my soapbox now!

I am someone who thinks a lot, thinks ahead, does research and knows her own mind. If I want advice, I’ll choose to ask for it from people I know and trust. There is nothing worse than a customer care person schmoozing me and then they switch into selling mode. Really manipulative, really yuck. No thanks. There is a big difference between a genuine building of rapport and one with an agenda 

I am not going to sell to you. Here’s something free since we are in a downturn. Happy Christmas (nearly)

http://www.careerstrategies.co.uk/

Need Inspiration for Xmas Gifts??

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As I know how busy you are, I got my virtual PA to dig out some ideas for imaginative Christmas gifts for your delectation. Here’s the best of the bunch:

Protect your delicate bananas, but please note that they only work with non-EU certified i.e. ‘bent’ bananas.

Banana guards

Make an unforgettable impression at the office Christmas party

Inflatable turkey suit

Keep your hamsters fit – an alternative to the wheel for daily exercise

Hamster bikes

Multi task – play golf while on the loo

Toilet golf

Never have your memory stick mistaken for someone else’s again

Sushi memory sticks

I don’t know about you, but it is good to have a laugh, especially with the news often so sombre. If you find these ideas a bit cheesy and would rather buy a gift that gives more than a few minutes, hours or days of fun, our career change e course makes a thoughtful and practical gift giving rewards that last a lifetime. You can download one section a month over 10 months and pay as you go. Click on this link for more information:

http://www.e.careerstrategies.co.uk/

What’s Your Favourite Noise?

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Unusual question I know. Church bells? Your favourite pop star? The sound of your partner’s voice? The engine revving of the latest top sport car? A champagne cork popping?  An ex boyfriend of mine sounded like a silky radio voice-over and I played his messages so many times, the tape on the answer machine wore out!

What’s your least favourite noise? The mother-in-law on the phone? Your partner’s voice during an argument? The beep a mobile phone makes when someone presses the keys to create a text? My cat hates my sneezes with a passion. I didn’t realise they sounded like Hurricane Henrietta, but they have her running for the hills. The doorbell has the same effect and I only have to open the cupboard where I keep the monster hoover or touch the cap of a can of wood spray, and all I see is a glimpse of her rear end in a puff of smoke. It is worth being aware of what noises trigger good feelings and what cause bad, so you can manage them, e.g. that ping sound when an e mail arrives can distract you from concentrating and you can choose to change the settings and switch it off.

One person’s least favourite noise can be another person’s favourite, for example, if you work in a call centre all day, the last thing you want is the phone ringing when you go home. But if you are self-employed and work from home, then the phone ringing is welcome. Different people have a different dominant sense; visual, auditory (sound) and kinaesthetic (touch and feeling). You can often work out which one they are by the words they use and what type of work they do. Be curious today.

If you are ready to play your career to a different tune, our NEW career change e course is now ready – music for your ears? If you are 100% happy in your work, there is no need to take a peek at the link, unless you know someone who has been made redundant or who doesn’t like their job that is. http://www.e.careerstrategies.co.uk/

Do You Have ‘Inner Rants’?

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I caught myself having an inner rant yesterday. Do you ever have those? You know those times where you are having an indignant conversation with yourself about something that has frustrated you? Think driving, traffic jams and road rage. You are with me! I had got a text from a friend implying that she wasn’t around to meet up that evening after 6 when we had arranged to.

My rant was on the lines of ‘charming, so much for reliability, people not doing what they say they are going to do – whatever happened to integrity, bla bla bla.’  And then there was a counter rant. ‘Yes but remember to accept what is, you believe in that, things happen for a reason, rather than wrestling with it and creating unnecessary angst and stress.’ Then logic kicked in – ‘seek to understand before being understood’ (Stephen Covey, 7 habits of highly effective people), i.e. clarify; there is bound to be a good reason. She might have a medical emergency, one of her dogs/horses might be ill, the car has  a flat tyre etc

So how do you manage inner rants? The first step is to notice them and catch yourself having circular or repetitive thoughts that are negative or unconstructive and choose to nip them in the bud. Creative approaches help. The other week I noticed negative circular thoughts occupying my mind. I decided to inwardly sing the Goons song ‘Ying Tong’ every time the thought appeared. Not only did I start laughing which shifted my mood, the song got shorter and shorter until it was ‘Ying’ and then finally ‘Y..’. Magic!

By the way my friend and I did meet up and we had a great night!

If you have regular inner rants about your job, boss or vocation, maybe it is time for a change? For more information about “Pain free career change” download our free 30 page report “Pain free career change.”  http://www.careerstrategies.co.uk/