Is Life Balance Really Possible?

Your life is spent in the minutes, hours, and days that are yours. How do you spend that time, and where do you spend that time? Does the way you spend your life seem to mirror your interests, joy, values, and relationships? If not, why not?

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal by Allison Pohle, “The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s 2020 Better Life Index found that the U.S. ranks 30th out of 40 countries in terms of time devoted to leisure and personal care. With fewer Americans commuting to workplaces during the coronavirus pandemic, many are using that time to work even more, leading some to feel burned out. In a September survey of 310 organizations by the Conference Board, 46% of respondents said their work-life balance had decreased.”

An Intentional Approach to life balance

Life balance means something different to every individual and it is important that you determine what balance appropriately supports your mission, values, and goals. Healthy individuals have multiple sources of satisfaction. Are you regularly engaging in a variety of activities that bring you satisfaction? This is an opportunity to evaluate what is important to spend time on and what activities you need to diminish in your life.

Having a balanced life doesn’t happen by accident. It requires an intentional approach toward one’s life, aimed at achieving a comfort level that an individual desires in all areas that matter to them. It’s next to impossible to move immediately from being a workaholic to having a well-balanced life. Moving in a positive direction is a step-by-step process. It requires personal commitment.

Having a balanced life doesn’t happen by accident. It requires an intentional approach toward one’s life, aimed at achieving a comfort level that an individual desires in all areas that matter to them.

For example, Ken explained that his job required 12 -14-hour days to get the work done. Over time, he committed to a work reduction of one hour at a time until he reached the point where he, his employer, and his co-workers understood how much he was willing to invest in his job and what he needed outside of work to be a happy and healthy individual.

Integrating Life Balance

Life balance needs to be seen holistically and integrated with all aspects of your life and not as a pure balancing of your time, effort, and attention. You’ll need to think about those areas of your life where time spent must be reduced or eliminated and those areas where it must be increased. You’ll have to think about to whom you will need to talk--your boss, your spouse or your significant other, a friend--and you will need to think about taking action steps that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-sensitive toward the vision you want.

Life balance needs to be seen holistically and integrated with all aspects of your life and not as a pure balancing of your time, effort, and attention. You’ll need to think about those areas of your life where time spent must be reduced or eliminated and those areas where it must be increased.

We know that what may appear to be the most intractable challenges to having a more balanced life can be met head-on and overcome. We have seen this in the people we coach and advise. The solution always appears to be that the challenge has to be named and accepted, and then one has to have the courage to take those first steps leading to incremental, positive change.

Our book is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon. Click here to buy the book.

If you would like more information about living a balanced life, we recommend reading chapter six in our book Time To Get Real!. Having an appropriate life balance is one component of the Life and Career Planning Model© featured in the book. This model is the framework for developing your own life and career plan. Should you choose to create your own plan, we suggest that you consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s mission and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. Our coaching fees and services are flexible and meet a broad array of client financial and coaching needs. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

The Value of Your Personal Values

Values exist, whether you recognize them or not. Life can be much easier when you acknowledge your personal values and when you make plans and decisions that honor them.

Personal values are those basic principles, ways of behavior, or basic belief tenets you would find exceptionally difficult to live without. There are many personal values including achievement, adventure, compassion, creativity, trustworthiness, determination, friendships, happiness, success, wisdom.

Knowing your personal values

What are your personal values? And where do they come from? First, there are many contributors to your values. Your family and the significant people in your life, both relatives and friends, make a contribution. Your religious beliefs, education, and life experiences all help you to discern how your values develop and just what they are. Why is this important? It’s important because when you plan to create a holistic, strategic approach for your life and career, your values will be the motor to drive you forward and to help you make the decisions about the kind of work you’ll do, the kind of position you’ll accept, the kind of company or organization you’ll join or move away from, and the kind of person you choose to be.

When you plan to create a holistic, strategic approach for your life and career, your values will be the motor to drive you forward and to help you make the decisions about the kind of work you’ll do, the kind of position you’ll accept, the kind of company or organization you’ll join or move away from, and the kind of person you choose to be.

We encourage you to take a look at your personal values. In our book, Time To Get Real! there is a brief exercise to help you to discern your personal values. To guide you, we refer you to a list of values, but remember that there may be a personal value you hold that is not on the list. Also, you might start out with a fairly long list of values you hold to be important, but we would encourage you not to have more than five to eight key values at the end of the exercise. As a matter of fact, you might find that some values are contained within others. For example, if you have a personal value of helping others, this might be listed as service to others or philanthropic/charitable work. Or if you have a personal value of education the value of learning could be a part of that. In any case, try to get down to the values that really matter to you.

Your behavior Reveals your values

You should be able, when your list of values is completed, to see just how the values you say you hold dear are apparent in your life. Once you have identified your most important values, it is important to then engage in behaviors that move you towards those values. This means committing to things you can do that are in line with them. Identify an action or behavior that will bring your life more in line with a particular value. For example, if a value of yours is “trustworthiness” notice if you are regularly engaging in trustworthy behavior. You can also ask a close friend or family member if they perceive your behavior as trustworthy.

Our book is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon. Click here to buy the book.

If you would like more information about discovering and living your values, we recommend reading chapter three in our book Time To Get Real! Knowing and living your values is one component of the Life and Career Planning Model© featured in the book. This model is the framework for developing your own life and career plan. Should you choose to create your own plan, we suggest that you consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s mission and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. Our coaching fees and services are flexible and meet a broad array of client financial and coaching needs. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

How to Stick to Your Financial Goals? Have a Financial Plan!

If you are like many other Americans, you have promised yourself that you will save more money this year, especially to cover emergencies. Perhaps you even set a goal. But inevitably something unexpected, an emergency, comes up, your financial resolution is derailed, and you are back to where you started. Except that now you feel like a failure.

The best way to stick to and achieve your goal is to develop a plan. At Life and Career Planning, we recognize that having a complete financial plan is critical. A life without a financial plan is like a boat adrift in the sea. You just won’t know if you can weather a storm, where your boat will land, or if it will land at all unless you have a plan. Financial Planning is a critically important chapter in the book Time To Get Real! The contents of this chapter are one of the greatest gifts that we can give to a reader because all of your life plans should be based on a realistic view of your financial life. Your financial position will either support your plans or cause them to crumble.

A life without a financial plan is like a boat adrift in the sea. You just won’t know if you can weather a storm, where your boat will land, or if it will land at all unless you have a plan.

Too many people shy away from thinking about their current and future financial status. Our day-to-day worries and financial concerns eat up our time and prevent most of us from thinking ahead more than the next several months or a year. In our practice and in our teaching, we have met too many people who are financially ill-prepared no matter what their career. In addition, financial planning is important at every stage of life.

Financial Planning is Important at Every Age

We find that our message about financial planning is not taken as seriously as it should be by younger individuals in the 20 to 35-year range. These young people, with exceptions, see the need for financial planning as something way off in the distance. After all, “Why talk about retirement when I’m 27 years old?” The reason that this attitude concerns us is that the possibility of achieving one’s long-term financial goals is greatly increased the earlier an individual thinks about it, acts on it, and makes decisions about savings and investments. Career decisions can be informed by an early financial plan. Decisions about marriage, having children, where to live and so on, can all be informed by having a financial plan. Having a financial plan at a young age can demonstrate the choices and options faced by the young person and how one choice or one option might be better than another for their long-term financial health.

One example of how a goal and a financial plan could be implemented focuses on the establishment of an emergency fund. According to an article by Michelle Singletary in The Washington Post, “When trying to build an emergency fund, it’s best to set it and forget it. Set it up so that there’s a direct deposit from your paycheck to a bank account for your emergency funds. I suggest it be a different financial institution from the one where you keep the account to pay your bills. The separation usually results in less temptation to transfer funds into the household account to make up for overspending.

If your employer doesn’t allow split deposits or you’re self-employed, you’ll have to set up a system to make the automatic deposits yourself. You could schedule regular transfers from your checking account into a savings account at the same institution. The point is to make paying yourself feel like a bill that needs to be paid every time you get a paycheck.”

On the other end of the financial planning spectrum, individuals on the glide path to retirement have different expectations for their time in retirement. Some want to spend more time traveling; others merely want to spend more time with family. Others prefer to move to a warmer climate, perhaps purchase a home. Still others want to take up long-desired hobbies like cycling, painting, or volunteering. You need to envision just what you would like your retirement to be and attach to it the lifestyle costs that will support your vision. The amount of money you need is a function of your needs and your desires. The ability to be able to produce that money now and into the future, so that you’re ready for retirement, starts with a good financial plan and the actions required to build that supporting base.

Involve loved ones in your planning

Financial planning helps you to discuss with those you love important issues about retirement, savings, where to live, planning for children, the details of your respective wills or estate plans, and so on. If you have someone significant in your life, engage him or her in the planning at the outset. It works even better if that significant individual is one of your key relationships and has provided input to your overall life and career plan.

If you have both a life and career plan and your financial plan, you now have a motor on your boat and you can take that boat, which is your life, where you want, bringing your significant others along with you. If you don’t have a financial plan, don’t procrastinate in getting one.

Our book is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon. Click here to buy the book.

If you would like more information about financial planning, we recommend reading chapter nine in our book Time To Get Real!. Having a comprehensive financial plan is one component of the Life and Career Planning Model© featured in the book. This model is the framework for developing your own life and career plan. Should you choose to create your own plan, we suggest that you consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s mission and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. Our coaching fees and services are flexible and meet a broad array of client financial and coaching needs. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

Take the Quiz -10 Ways to Know You are Ready for a Personal and Professional Strategic Plan

We all know that effective organizations continually review, evaluate, and refine their action plans for success through a process called “strategic thinking and planning.” The CEO and others in the organization periodically take a candid look at the company’s strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and challenges, finances, and competitive set in a changing marketplace to plan for action to better control their future. Good companies are also opportunistic. They look for those actions that can be taken now to improve their positions.

Create a strategic plan for your own life

But what about you? How ironic that this activity happens all the time in our workplaces, yet few consider the same approach or model for their own lives. Our Life and Career Planning Model© takes this observation to its logical next step: the need to create a strategic plan for one’s life while being assertive about the opportunities that arise each day.

Do you know if you’re ready to seriously think about your life and career and to move both in a positive forward direction? Take this quiz and find out -

1. Do you have a personal mission or purpose statement that is documented?

__Yes __ No

2. Do you have key relationships in your life, people who tell you what you need to hear not what you want to hear?

__Yes __ No

3. Do you believe you live a balanced life?

__Yes __ No

4. Can you describe your top five personal values?

__Yes __ No

5. Do you have any toxic relationships in your life and have a plan to deal with them?

__Yes __ No

6. Do you know your personal and professional strengths?

__Yes __ No

7. Do you know what areas in your life require personal and career development?

__Yes __ No

8. Are the culture and values of where you work or volunteer compatible with what you know about yourself?

__Yes __ No

9. Do you have a financial plan?

__Yes __ No

10. Do you have a documented description of the next position to which you aspire?

__Yes __ No

The Life and Career Planning Model© will get you thinking and on track to move you confidently forward.

If you can say yes to seven or more of these questions, you’re in good shape for thinking ahead and our Life and Career Planning Model© is the tool you now need. If you said no to most of these questions, there are many things you haven’t thought about but should. The Life and Career Planning Model© will get you thinking and on track to move you confidently forward.

Our book is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon. Click here to buy the book.

If you would like more information about the Life and Career Planning Model©, you will find it fully explained in our book Time To Get Real!. This model is the framework for developing your own life and career plan. Should you choose to create your own plan, we suggest that you consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s mission and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. Our coaching fees and services are flexible and meet a broad array of client financial and coaching needs. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

The Benefits of Engaging a Mentor

A key relationship is a highly important connection to an individual with whom you can share your innermost thoughts and plans, whether about your life or career. In our book Time To Get Real!, we describe in our chapter about relationships that a person serving this function in your life, when asked, provides advice and counsel on any problem or decision with which you needed help. This person tells you what you need to hear, even if you don’t want to hear it. They care about you, they seem to understand you, and they want the best for you and your future.

In the professional world, a mentor can serve as a key relationship to help empower you to explore career options that may have been previously unimaginable and provide access to opportunities. A mentor can also help you navigate workplace challenges. In fact, a mentor can help and support you in numerous ways and according to an article in the Washington Post, those benefits include:

“Honest feedback - Being able to accurately identify your personal strengths and weaknesses is necessary for your professional growth. A mentor will be able to offer honest feedback related to your performance, which will highlight areas in which you excel and those that need improvement. While a Yes Man might do wonders for your ego, they will only hinder the development of essential leadership skills.

A mentor will be able to offer honest feedback related to your performance, which will highlight areas in which you excel and those that need improvement.

Accountability - It’s one thing to let yourself down, and it’s an entirely different thing to disappoint someone else who has given you their time and support in order to help you succeed. A mentor will hold you accountable for your actions, and that makes it more difficult for you to give up or slack on achieving your goals. What it boils down to is—you’ll care more about your progress when you’re not the only one who cares.

Increased chances of getting a raise/promotion - According to statistics compiled by Sun Microsystems in a study following 1,000 employees over a five-year period, those who received mentoring were 20 percent more likely to get a raise than their peers who chose not to participate. Additionally, mentees were promoted five times more often than those employees without mentors. This benefit alone should provide all the justification needed to seek out a workplace mentor.”

How to Find a Mentor

When contemplating people in your life who may be a good candidate for a mentor, think about those who are ahead of you in terms of their careers or professional growth. Another way to identify potential mentors is to find individuals who have the position you would like to grow into in the future.

Here are some specific ideas from an article from Indeed.com:

“Search your network - There are several places you can begin searching for mentors. Some examples include family connections, professional associations, your workplace, nonprofit organizations, local businesspeople, and volunteer groups. When searching for a mentor, look for inspirational and successful people in your life. Before someone will mentor you, they will likely need to see your potential in the industry, as well as your willingness to work hard and succeed.

Ask for a meeting - The best way to reach out is usually by sending a short email. Share one or two things you admire about their work, then tell them a little about yourself, why you’re reaching out, what you would like to learn from them, and wrap it up with your ask.

Explain why you selected them and how much you value their expertise - When you can make a clear case for what you want from a mentor relationship and why you are asking this individual to become your mentor, you are more likely to receive a positive response. If your potential mentor seems uncomfortable or skeptical, it's best to step back and keep looking. Even if they want to, they might also simply not have the time or capacity to offer you effective mentorship at that time. A good mentor must be invested and excited for it to be mutually beneficial.”

How to be a good mentee

After you successfully form a relationship with your mentor, it is important to maintain it through regular contact. You will want to set up ongoing meetings or phone calls at a mutually agreeable interval. You will want to be clear about your goals and your expectations of the relationship. During meetings, ask questions, request guidance, and learn from your mentor as much as possible. Be respectful and show up to meetings on time and express your appreciation for their time and support.

When mentors offer constructive guidance and criticism, be prepared to accept, and implement the guidance into your professional life. During your next meeting, provide feedback to your mentor about how these changes are going. Having a mentor as a key relationship is a great way to help you navigate your career path to achieve success.

Our book is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon. Click here to buy the book.

If you would like more information about key relationships, both personal and professional, we recommend reading chapter four in our book Time To Get Real!. Having strong key relationships in your life is one component of the Life and Career Planning Model© featured in the book. This model is the framework for developing your own life and career plan. Should you choose to create your own plan, we suggest that you consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s mission and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. Our coaching fees and services are flexible and meet a broad array of client financial and coaching needs. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

How to Savor the Holiday Season

The holiday season is a special time when family and friends come together to celebrate. This coming together can include hectic travel schedules, last-minute shopping, and family relationship stresses. But what can you do to make this important time of the year as joyful as possible?

According to an article by the Center for Creative Leadership, “Consciously savoring the good things in life is important because neuroscience research suggests that our brains have a negativity bias. Negative things tend to stand out in our minds, while positive things tend to be easily dismissed or forgotten. It’s perhaps not surprising that savoring — or being good at taking in good things — is linked to increased well-being, happiness, life satisfaction, and decreased depression.”

Ideas on How to Savor the Holidays

This holiday, the article suggests that you try these four techniques to savor your experiences and maximize your joy.

Share your gratitude with others - Do some savoring with others this holiday season by taking the time to connect with people who are important to you

• “Bask in happy moments - Try selecting a few specific moments or events over the next week or two that you plan to savor. Maybe it’s watching loved ones unwrap gifts, savoring the taste of your favorite holiday food, or being fully present when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. Whatever the occasion, remember to take in the enjoyable sensory, emotional, and relational aspects of the experience and hold on to them for as long as you can.

• Wear your joy on your sleeve - Try intentionally laughing, smiling, hugging, exchanging high fives, jumping for joy, and doing the happy dance to amplify your happy moments.

• Engage in positive mental time travel - Think about a time when you felt so happy, you thought you would burst. Remember how you felt in that moment (Giddy? Grateful? Excited?). Replay the event in your mind as if you were reliving it. Remember what you were thinking, seeing, doing. Recall who else was there and why that moment was so special.

• Share your gratitude with others - Do some savoring with others this holiday season by taking the time to connect with people who are important to you. Get hot chocolate with a valued colleague or put aside work to spend quality time with a family member you don’t get to see often. Use the opportunity to share what’s going well in your world, reminisce over a good experience you both shared, or let them know how grateful you are to have them in your life.”

How To Find Joy in the New Year 

This book makes an excellent holiday gift and is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon. Click here to buy the book.

As the new year approaches, we strongly encourage you to take the time to reflect on what brings you joy and then to actively seek to engage more with those sources in 2022. Reading chapter 2 in our book, Time To Get Real, will help you with this.

We recommend that in addition to reading our book Time To Get Real! and working through the Life and Career Planning Model© that it provides, consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s mission and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. Our coaching fees and services are flexible and meet a broad array of client financial and coaching needs. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner as you read each chapter of the book and capture your thoughts in the interactive exercises. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

Who is Generation Z?

In the workforce in the United States today, as well as in other developed countries around the world, there are five specific age groups. There are significant differences in how these five age groups perceive themselves, and there are specific differences in how they would like to be treated in communication, supervision, and the working environment. In our book Time To Get Real!, the chapter entitled “Crossing Age Groups and Cultures” provides an overview of these differences. Much has been written about Traditionalists (1928-1945), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980), and the Millennials (1981-1998). It is more recently that the characteristics of Generation Z (1999 to present) are coming sharply into focus.

Core characteristics of Generation Z

In this blog, we will learn more about these newcomers to the workforce. According to an article by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, “One of the core characteristics of Generation Z is racial diversity. For many Gen Z-ers, the backdrop of their early years included the country’s first Black president and the legalization of gay marriage. They are more likely to have grown up amid diverse family structures — whether in a single-parent household, a multi-racial household, or a household in which gender roles were blurred. As a result, they are less fazed than previous generations by differences in race, sexual orientation or religion.”

One of the core characteristics of Generation Z is racial diversity.

The article explains, “Another characteristic of Generation Z is their native use of technology. Whereas Millennials were considered “digital pioneers,” who bore witness to the explosion of technology and social media, Gen Z was born into a world of peak technological innovation — where information was immediately accessible and social media increasingly ubiquitous.”

In addition, the article describes their purchasing behavior. “As consumers, Gen Z’s behavior reflects their values — and the influence of an increasingly digital world. Gen Z kids can rely on their tech-savvy and extensive social networks to make informed purchasing decisions. Their pragmatism leads them to explore and evaluate a range of options before settling on a product. In addition, they are more likely to be swayed by the recommendations of real-life users than by celebrity endorsements.”

Understanding generational differences

In your life and career, you will come into contact with many individuals, and increasingly with members of the Gen Z group, who may not view life in the same way you do. You, as does everyone, belong to a specific age group that has distinct characteristics--many, but not all, of which you may embody yourself. It is helpful when developing and deploying your life and career plan to understand the generational differences among groups of people.

To buy the book, click here.
Our book is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon.

We recommend that in addition to reading our book Time To Get Real! and working through the Life and Career Planning Model© that it provides, consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s mission and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. Our coaching fees and services are flexible and meet a broad array of client financial and coaching needs. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner as you read each chapter of the book and capture your thoughts in the interactive exercises. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

The Benefits of Gratitude

During this Thanksgiving season, many of us turn our thoughts to the things for which we are grateful. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what we have received, both tangible and intangible. With gratitude, we acknowledge the goodness in our lives.

According to an article in Harvard Health Publishing, “People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways. They can apply it to the past (retrieving positive memories and being thankful for elements of childhood or past blessings), the present (not taking good fortune for granted as it comes), and the future (maintaining a hopeful and optimistic attitude). Regardless of the inherent or current level of someone's gratitude, it's a quality that individuals can successfully cultivate further.”

Expressing gratitude leads to greater happiness

The article explains that expressing gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater feelings of happiness and joy. In our book Time To Get Real! we agree with the importance of focusing on joy. In chapter 2 entitled Joy, we ask you to look back on your life and consider what achievements and accomplishments gave you the most joy. What was the sense of accomplishment or joy you received from them? What are the discernable themes? And what is the importance of focusing on joy or happiness?

Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what we have received, both tangible and intangible. With gratitude, we acknowledge the goodness in our lives.

Joy is derived in different ways for different people; however, we all know when we have it, we like it a lot and would love to keep it. Joy can come from various sources: your work, your interests, your family, your hobbies, things accomplished, challenges overcome, new experiences, and so on.

To the extent possible, the more we can replicate in our lives and in our career that feeling of joy, the happier we will be. Joy is one specific area readers explore in our book. It is one aspect of a Life and Career Planning Model© that helps individuals to be more intentional about their life and career while employing a strategic life plan. In our book, we ask you to write about several incidents in your life that produced joy. This is important when considering later aspects of the Life and Career Planning Model© and attempting to determine how to replicate those feelings through work and life.

Reflect on what brings you joy

We strongly encourage you to take the time to reflect on what brings you joy and then to actively seek to engage more with those sources. Reading chapter 2 in our book will help you with this.

To buy the book, click here.
Our book is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon.

We recommend that in addition to reading our book Time To Get Real! and working through the Life and Career Planning Model© that it provides, consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s vision and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner as you read each chapter of the book and capture your thoughts in the interactive exercises. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

Ready for a New Career?

According to a recent survey by the career site Monster, 95% of workers are currently considering changing jobs and 92% are willing to switch industries to land a new position. The pandemic has caused many people to reevaluate many aspects of their lives including their current careers. People are ready to see what else is out there.

But how do you know what career move to make? How do you make sure you are heading in the right direction?

The pandemic has caused many people to reevaluate many aspects of their lives including their current careers. People are ready to see what else is out there.

Getting Ready for Your Next Career Move

Our book Time To Get Real! provides a model that, if followed, gets you ready for that next career move. Chapter 10 in the book takes you through the process of evaluating your current position and uncovering just what your next position should look like. Previous chapters delve into the most important things you will need to know before saying yes to the next position. You are asked questions about your interests, your values, your desired work/life balance, your relationships, your financial needs, and so forth.

Once you have a clear picture of your needs and goals, you are asked to write a job description for the position you envision, noting the key ingredients of the work you want to do as part of your long career. The book provides you with clear examples and helps you create the necessary action steps to begin to move toward your next position.

Once you have a clear picture of your needs and goals, you are asked to write a job description for the position you envision, noting the key ingredients of the work you want to do as part of your long career.

Make the Best Decisions for Your Personal and Professional Life

Our recommendation is that you develop a complete life and career plan. Having this plan will allow you to make the best decisions for your personal and professional life so you can move forward to the life of your dreams.

We can help. Obtain the book Time To Get Real! (to buy the book, click here) and get started. You can also engage a Life and Career Planning coach who will provide a safe space for you to explore who you are, what you truly want in your life, and offer encouragement as you go. All Life and Career Planning coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© as shown in the book Time To Get Real! They also can coach you through the process of seeking your next position. Our coaching service is personal, and we serve as your accountability partner as you read each chapter of the book and capture your thoughts in the interactive exercises.

You can also watch this video of Alex Plinio talking about the job search process.

Don’t commit to that next job until you commit to your life and career planning development. To schedule a FREE introductory conversation with a certified Life and Career Planning coach, please fill out and submit the introduction form. You will be contacted within 24 hours. Click here to fill out the form.

The First Steps to Managing Your Finances Have Nothing to do With Money

When I was younger, I used to play video games. I would not consider myself at all a gamer by today's standards. We had a Nintendo 64 with game cartridges that you could still blow on to make them work. I used to love this Star Wars game called Rogue Squadron. You would fly around in an X-wing defending the Rebel base from the evil Empire. As you flew around, you would hit spots that would trigger cut scenes where the Empire would destroy buildings and you'd have to complete these side missions to complete the level. However, what was true of this game and many at the time was if you didn't see something happen - it didn't happen. So, in your multiple attempts at completing a level, you learned how to avoid certain areas to keep those cut scenes from being triggered. In other words, you didn’t want any surprises even though you knew that those surprises were just around the corner.

It seems like, in life, we've adopted a similar attitude. If we don't see something happening, it doesn't happen. It makes sense - we go toward things that give us pleasure and avoid the things that don't. But, in reality, things are happening outside our view.

Everyone looks at their bank account and wishes they had more

The truth is - almost no one grows up talking about money and it is seldom we learn about it in school. Everyone looks at their bank accounts and wishes they had more. Everyone thinks about all the decisions they could have made - how they could have started saving and investing earlier. Everyone at some point looks at things to come, whether it's immediate bills or future goals, and wonders “how I will do this?”

Everyone at some point looks at things to come, whether it's immediate bills or future goals, and wonders “how I will do this?”

We live in a world where it's effortless to swipe our cards and pay for things. We have built a world that much like the video game, so long as we don't see the mountain of debt piling up, it isn't happening. So long as the card keeps swiping, I can carry on with my day. We do this with all areas of life; how many people only see the doctor when they are sick? Only go to the dentist when their tooth hurts? Only get their car checked when the light comes on? Like the video game, we've learned to navigate our world while desperately hoping to avoid setting off any of those side missions. Like the video game, if I don't go to the dentist, he can't tell me I have a cavity, and therefore, I don't have one now and don't have to think about it. But, maybe, just maybe if I flossed every day, I could avoid the pain of a cavity.

manage your money Better

If you're reading this, there is a good chance you hit a trigger and now you want to figure out what to do. Here is some advice: the chapter on Financial Planning in the book Time To Get Real! is a gift. I found it important, and I know that it will help you to better manage your money.

First, as the Japanese philosopher, Musashi once said, "It will be difficult at first, but all things are difficult at first." We forget how difficult it was to walk at first, but now we do so without thinking about it. We forget how much we struggled with basic math, and now we exchange currencies and schedule times to meet without thinking about it. We forget how difficult it was the first time you met someone you liked, and now you're living with someone and maybe having a family. All things take time. The more you do something, the more comfortable you will become doing it. This also applies to money management and financial planning.

Second, let's deal with that c-word, comfortability. Most people I know are not comfortable with their finances. There is enormous anxiety over even talking about money or checking their bank account. Being comfortable or uncomfortable are emotional responses, which may be difficult to manage. Here are few tips I have learned:

1. We can be hurt more by our expectations than the action themselves. This is true in multiple ways. Sometimes, we are hurt more by our expectations of people's actions than the actual actions themselves. At other times, we are hurt more by our expectation of checking our account and having $5,000 than the actual action of logging in and finding we only have $1,000.

2. We are not robots that can switch emotions on or off. Human beings experience an array of emotions. From a very young age, we are told we need to control our emotions, which often translated to when we got upset, we were supposed to flip a switch and stop behaving in a way that didn't align with what someone else thought was acceptable. The psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl once wrote, "between stimulus and response, there is space." It's okay to feel anxious, angry, or whatever emotion you are feeling about your financial situation. When that happens, you can identify how you are feeling and choose how to manage that feeling. If you feel anxious, decide to take a deep breath and move forward. There are thousands of free resources.

3. You are not alone. Everyone should have a system of support, whether that's family and friends or professionals. Whether you realize it or not, there are a lot of people in this world who want to help you. The professionals can come from your bank, your investment or insurance company, or from a financial planner.

You are not alone. Everyone should have a system of support, whether that's family and friends or professionals. Whether you realize it or not, there are a lot of people in this world who want to help you.

Third, be okay with where you are today. You have to start from someplace and here today is the someplace. We live in a world of overstimulation and oversharing. It is so easy to compare yourself to others and think less of yourself because of it. Remember, you don't know their whole story, and quite frankly, it doesn't matter. Don't worry about the things you could have done or should have done. Just focus on yourself, and wherever you are in the process, be okay with that. No matter where you are starting, it is better than never starting at all. But start you must.

Finally, we don't all start at the same place - and you need to accept that. The world is not a fair and equal place. Every one of us is on our own journey. No one can travel that path for you. You have to accept that. You have to own that. You can’t rewrite your past, but you can be the author of your future.

There are a ton of books out there about money, personal finance, investing, etc. It feels like most people don't take advantage of those or are in a place to learn from them because of one of the things I've listed above. We've built a society that entraps people into addictions. If you found this article because of trigger points, like a check bouncing, not having enough money to pay your bills, etc., be careful not to fall back into those habits that led you here. It seems like many people do well for some time, start to see progress, and then fall back into those old habits like spending too much, saving too little, or impulse shopping. Get to know your triggers and follow your plan.

There are a ton of books out there about money, personal finance, investing, etc.

I hope this article was beneficial to you. If you take nothing else from it, remember you are not alone. There are many people - like the life and career coaches at Life and Career Planning - who can help you develop and stick to a plan that is right for you. So, show your strength and ask for help if you need it.

Guest Blog by Jason Khurdan

Jason is the Manager of Central Services, Rutgers Access & Disability Resources, Rutgers University. His role is to work with individuals with disabilities to ensure equal access at Rutgers. He specializes in Assistive Technology (AT) and leads a team that works with individuals one-on-one to recommend and implement various resources. In addition to his work with individuals with disabilities in higher education, he has previously owned his own non-profit, which mentored children in Newark from K-12. Jason is also a Certified Life and Career Planning Coach.

In addition to the work he does at Rutgers, he builds websites and does small business consulting. He has sat on many strategic planning committees for large publishing companies and previously chaired the group across the Big Ten, which focused on course accessibility.

In his spare time, he practices a Japanese martial art called Aikido, which focuses on creating harmony. When not on the mat, Jason enjoys 3D design and 3D printing. 

Click here to send us a message. We welcome your comments on this blog.

Follow us through our blogs and the book Time To Get Real! to your desired future. For in-person and telephonic coaching, click here to send us a message

Click here to purchase our book Time To Get Real!

Getting Real with Myself

As a child, one of the most common questions you are asked is, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Now, I completely understand the good intent behind this question, we want kids to dream and learn and imagine all of the possibilities for their lives. As a child, your view of the world is quite narrow, you only know what you can see or what you are taught. Because of this, doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, police officers, firefighters are all popular choices in an elementary school career day. None of these things seemed like they were for me, and I always felt uneasy about having a specific career be such a central focus from such a young age. Everything felt like it was about what are we going to do now to reach that goal. The focus was always on what you could do, what transferrable skills do you have. Honestly, this approach led me to believe there was something wrong with me. I couldn’t think of a job I wanted to do; I just knew that I wanted to do something to make a difference in people’s lives. What that was, I had no clue, and because my ideas were so abstract, I assumed they didn’t count. I continued on to high school and college, never really sure of my path, but just following the steps everyone else did, hoping I’d figure it out eventually.

I wasn’t completely aimless. I had some general ideas about what I cared about, but I struggled to ascertain what any of it meant. As the years went on, I went from high school to a very choppy college experience, always thinking that if I found the right school, the right program, the right community that I would figure out what I was supposed to do. I had a handful of very valuable experiences, but nothing that ever led anywhere I deemed as ‘real.’ Perhaps I would have if I was focusing on who I wanted to become rather than what I was going to do.

“As the years went on, I went from high school to a very choppy college experience, always thinking that if I found the right school, the right program, the right community that I would figure out what I was supposed to do.”

I wanted a different life

Fast forward past college, my search continued. This call center job, that marketing job, a human resources position, I tried to no avail, but everything felt off. I felt like I was just going through the motions, I was good at my work, but it never filled me up, and because I never felt fulfilled, I wasn’t bringing my best self to the table. I couldn’t access her when I was doing these jobs because these jobs weren’t bringing me closer to who I wanted to be. I didn’t want to just go to work for 40 hours a week to check a box, but I figured this was just what is supposed to happen when you grow up.

When we found ourselves in the middle of a pandemic, everyone seemed to be asking more questions of themselves. When we saw in such a stark way, just how precious life is, it caused me to pause and consider whether just putting my life on autopilot was my only option. I felt like I had tried so many things and none of them fulfilled me in the way that I was hoping. I kept thinking there had to be something more, and during this time I began interrogating my own thoughts and choices. I was presented with the opportunity to go through the Life and Career Planning model.

I will be completely honest; when I first saw what it entailed, my anxiety went through the roof. I was not used to putting my ideas for my future on paper because I honestly didn’t really have any idea what I wanted my future to look like, and that was terrifying. As I worked through the model, I became a different kind of scared. I had now put out into the world what I dreamt, and I could no longer hide from it or claim that I didn’t know what I wanted or that the things I imagined for myself weren’t even in the realm of possibility.

Changing the way I see myself

Each step built on the ones before it, and as I worked my way through, I began to see how connected everything in my life was. It helped me to identify things that truly matter to me and how I can best make an impact on the world. I have never felt comfortable with defining myself by a job title or what I do. I am also uncomfortable with creating a vision of who I want to be, but it’s the kind of discomfort that forces action. It’s a pretty powerful thing to take back your identity from what you believe you should be and focus more on who you want to be, what are your values, what brings you joy, how you relate to others. This model has changed the way I see myself.

“Each step built on the ones before it, and as I worked my way through, I began to see how connected everything in my life was. ”

I was daunted by the first chapter asking about interests, thinking I had none, but I soon learned that was far from true. I didn’t think the other things about me mattered until I figured out what the heck I wanted to do with my life. What I hadn’t realized was that those were the things about me that were going to help reveal my purpose. It also helped me to identify areas for development. As I worked through this model, I began to realize that my confidence was the biggest thing that was holding me back. The model forced me to write down and talk about my strengths and weaknesses in a way I had feared in the past. I have been learning to become less timid about what I have to offer. I may not have the experience that I had anticipated having at this point in my life, but I have had life experiences that have helped me become the person I need to be for what comes next. I am not a robot who can be automated to do specific tasks, and that is okay, processes can be learned.

Being less afraid of what comes next

When it came time to put it all together in my action plan, one thing was clear-- if I had taken this type of approach to my life when I was younger, I may not have spent as much time jumping around and feeling like there was something wrong with me. Rather than blaming myself for time lost, I decided I could leverage those experiences to help others through similar uncertainties. I began brainstorming ways that I could do this and decided that my action plan would include steps to reach young people who are at their own crossroads and help them to be less afraid of what comes next by putting them in the driver’s seat.

Nell Schreck- “Working through this model has not changed who I am, it has revealed who I have always been and given me the confidence to bring that person into the world.”

I am a human being who brings my lived experience to take a holistic view of situations, connects with empathy, acts with integrity, and is guided by purpose. As Glinda, the good witch says in The Wizard of Oz, “You’ve had the power all along my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.” Working through this model has not changed who I am, it has revealed who I have always been and given me the confidence to bring that person into the world.

Guest blog by Nell Schreck, Director of Operations, Legacy Teams

Nell has always been involved in supporting the growth of people. Her strengths in communications and social media have allowed her to connect at all levels within businesses. She is a graduate of Temple University with a degree in Broadcasting and Communications. She also spent time at The Washington Center in DC where she did investigative reporting. Nell has a natural ability to ask the right questions and diagnose critical needs. Her attention to detail and passion for bringing people together makes her a great asset to Legacy Teams.

Click here to send us a message. We welcome your comments on this blog.

Follow us through our blogs and the book Time To Get Real! to your desired future. For in-person and telephonic coaching, click here to send us a message

Click here to purchase our book Time To Get Real!