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.

Make the Most of the New Year - How to Develop a Personal Vision Statement

In the previous blog entitled Make the Most of the New Year - Design Your Future and Develop a Personal Vision Statement, we explained the importance and benefits of developing a personal vision statement. This blog focuses on how to develop your personal vision statement.  It may seem intimidating to peer into a future three or five years from now and write a vibrant account of your personal and professional life.

This Forbes article offers guidance for this process, “In order to start, you need to reflect on who you are, what matters most to you, your values, goals, desires and more.

When creating your personal vision statement, you want to avoid thinking about limitations. This vision should not be based on what others think or say, how much money you have, what you own or do not own, nor where you’re at today in your professional life.

When writing your vision statement, you don’t need to know how you will achieve your goals or fulfill your personal vision today. These answers will come with time.”

How to write a personal vision statement

In our book, Time To Get Real! we suggest you think in a more vivid fashion about your future. So, let’s say that your life to date is represented as a car driving on a specific road. That road falls behind you. In front of you is the road that you’re going to be traveling in the future. It includes all the choices and decisions you will make as you drive your life forward. When you deploy your life and career plan based on the Life and Career Planning Model© found in our book Time To Get Real!, it becomes the engine to drive you down that road. Farther in the distance there’s a hill that turns into a mountain and at the top of the mountain is your personal vision. That is what things will look like for you when you arrive.

In our book, Time To Get Real! we suggest you think in a more vivid fashion about your future. So, let’s say that your life to date is represented as a car driving on a specific road. That road falls behind you. In front of you is the road that you’re going to be traveling in the future. It includes all the choices and decisions you will make as you drive your life forward.

As you write your personal vision statement, consider the following: for your career, note the type of position you will have, type of organization you will be working in, amount of expected compensation and benefits, the culture of the organization in which you will be working, the type of work you will be doing, the kind of relationships you expect to have, the geographic area in which you will work, and so on.  Also include a description of your life/work balance--how you spend the minutes, hours, days of your life at that point. Will you be cultivating your interests? What are they? What aspects of your life will be providing joy? What is the impact of this new stage of your life on your personal mission statement and values? Have there been any changes in your personal relationships and family? What are they? Does your current work position place you on the correct path to achieve your vision? Most importantly, if you imagine yourself stepping back and looking at the personal vision that you are writing now, which describes a time in the future as if you were actually there, would it make you feel satisfied and happy that you have arrived in that place?

This may sound like a daunting task, however, we know a few things from our coaching of individuals in all age groups. First, once you get started you will find it difficult to stop. You will want to know what your future looks like. Second, if you need help, our book Time To Get Real! takes you through the process of developing your vision statement as well as a strategic personal life and career plan. Finally, experienced coaches are here for you and can be your accountability partner.

The road that you are going to travel to your personal vision may not always be straight. It may have side streets down which you are forced to venture. For example, you’re squarely on the road toward your vision and you suddenly lose your job. You may have to take a new position in the short term that takes you off your main path. It may not be the right “next job” for your personal vision. Or illness rather than job loss derails you. No matter what occurs, keep trying to find your way back to your main path. The important thing to keep in mind is that if you know where the road is leading and recognize which events happening in your life will slow you down or move you off your road, you should be able to find your way back. If not, it’s then time to think about developing a new personal vision based upon the changes that have taken place in your life. Remember, your vision statement is a decision-making tool updated for life.

The Underpinning for a strong life and career plan

We find that your personal vision statement along with an understanding of your personal values are the underpinning for a strong life and career plan. Our book Time To Get Real! empowers you to develop both of these important aspects of your life. Should you choose to accept the help provided in our book Time To Get Real!, you will know where you are in your life and career, and by building your personal vision you will know where you want to end up at a specific point in time. The important thing to determine is how you are going to get there. You’re going to get there by having a strong life and career plan and activating it. The actions in the plan will lead to the achievement of your interim goals, which power you to the next stop along the road to your vision.

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

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. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

Make the Most of the New Year – Design Your Future and Develop a Personal Vision Statement

This coming new year, instead of making resolutions, we suggest that you develop a personal vision statement. A personal vision statement is a vivid account that describes what your life will be like at some future date and is based on your values and goals. It is focused on both personal and professional goals and is intended to orient you toward your long-term dreams.

A recent article in Forbes describes why a personal vision statement is important. “You would consider it foolish for a person to drive around aimlessly looking for a destination without an address, directions, or a map. For the very same reasons, it’s foolish to maneuver throughout life without a roadmap or plan.

It's often said that ‘If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.’ Creating a roadmap will help you stay focused and on the right path to achieve your long-term goals.”

Why You Need A Personal Vision Statement

Most individuals have an easier time thinking about what the next month or year might be like for them. It gets a bit more difficult when peering into a future that could be three, five, or ten years from now. For some people, it’s hard to do this since we are asking our minds to picture a state of life that’s quite intangible in the present time. However, just as a company or organization develop their vision, an individual is no less in need of knowing what their future is expected to look like.

The Forbes article states additional benefits to developing a personal vision statement. “Having a written personal vision allows you to plan the most efficient course to your goals. It allows you to have the clarity of when to say “yes” or “no” to things based on your own personal values and vision. It also helps you to spot potential hazards or roadblocks before you’re impacted by them.”

A personal vision statement is a vivid account that describes what your life will be like at some future date and is based on your values and goals. It is focused on both personal and professional goals and is intended to orient you toward your long-term dreams.

This is the focus of the chapter Personal Vision in our book Time To Get Real! Wouldn’t it be great if you could peer through the window of the future and see exactly the way things will be for you three or five years from now? It would be great, but you can’t do it. The best you can do is to narratively depict that future as you want to see it with as much detail as possible so that you can almost feel as if you will one day inhabit that vision. So, a personal vision describes what your tomorrow will look like. The vision itself has great value since it is a magnet pulling you toward your future. In addition, a vision will have multiple uses in the present. It can help you to decide if that job offer can be accepted or whether buying that home fits into your plans.

Not only is a personal vision a tool to be deployed for decision-making, but it is also aspirational, motivational, and becomes a driving force when reviewed on a periodic basis. A vision can be shared with others to demonstrate that you have thought about and made decisions about where you want to take your life. This is especially helpful when seeking mentoring from trusted individuals or preparing for a job interview.

Although it may not be possible to achieve 100% of your personal vision, even the achievement of 70, 80, or 90% of your vision can be extremely satisfying. It may not be possible to get everything you want. However, without a vision, and without trying to attain it, it’s unlikely that you will get what you want.

Now that you know the importance and benefits of developing a personal vision, in the next blog, we will describe how to carefully craft your vision.

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. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

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

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.

The Perfect Holiday Gift!

What could be more perfect than giving someone you care for a gift that helps them to determine the future that they want and how to get there.

The Leading an Intentional Life course is a great holiday gift idea! Based on our book Time To Get Real! and the Life and Career Planning Model©, this noncredit course helps people take control of their career and their life so that they can intentionally move forward in a direction that leads to personal and professional satisfaction and fulfillment. Perfect for anyone who’s serious about planning for their future: Your daughter or son?... Mom or dad?... The love of your life?... Grandma or Grandpa?... Whether they’re 21, 41, or 61 years old, this course can make a very real difference for anyone just starting out, mid-career, or on the glide path to retirement. The course is self-paced and easy to move through with plenty of help including coaching if desired.

Click here for more information and to purchase.

What could be more perfect than giving someone you care for a gift that helps them to determine the future that they want and how to get there.

The course progresses through the Life and Career Planning Model© in the following way:

SELF - The process starts with an examination of self; a thorough review of six aspects of your life that make you who you are. This is a highly introspective section of the model.

CAREER - You then move to work and career; a comprehensive review of five aspects of your work and career that helps you to better perform and progress.

PERSONAL VISION - Next it’s time to think about what your life and career will look like at some future date, thereby creating a destination in which self-satisfaction and happiness are attained.

ANALYSIS AND LEARNING - During this phase of the model, you analyze the work and the results that you have obtained so far during this process and determine the insights that you have derived from your process of self-discovery. The results of this analysis and your learning become the input for your life and career plan. This is pay off number one: your self-knowledge and learning are now well documented.

THE PLAN - The final stage is to develop your life and career plan. You assimilate all of your good work and thoughtful preparation into an action plan that will propel you onto a path to your best life. The final payoff: the development of your life and career plan that will propel you onto a path to your best life and career.

Click here for more information and to purchase. 

Create your own strategic life plan

This course, Leading an Intentional Life, is based on our book Time To Get Real! and the Life and Career Planning Model©. The book also makes an excellent gift on its own. Click here to buy the book.

With the help of this course, anyone can become the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of their own strategic life plan. The course creates a focus on both their life and career while providing a decision-making tool that can last a lifetime. They will create their own plan while positioning themselves to take advantage of opportunities along the road to their desired vision.

Show how much you care: Give a gift that leads to success! Click here for more information and to purchase.

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.

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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 Five Personality Traits for a Long, Healthy Life

Many of us are motivated to live a long and healthy life. When it comes to strategies for slowing down the aging process, exercise and nutrition are very important, but personality traits also factor into the equation. According to a November 2021 article in Time Magazine, “Recent research shows that several personality traits predict who will enjoy health into their 80s and beyond. According to some studies, the link between personality and longevity is as strong as intelligence or how much money you have, both of which are correlated with longer lifespans . . . The following five traits can be cultivated for a long, healthy life: conscientiousness, purpose, optimism, extraversion, and a lack of neuroticism.”

We encourage you to read the Time Magazine article (click here for a link to the article) to learn more about these five personality traits. For this blog, we will focus on purpose. The article states, “Another good quality for longevity is being purposeful, or having a direction in life with clear goals that energize you. Those who say that they have a life purpose recover faster from aggravations such as viewing pictures of pollution and other disturbing scenes. They also tend to have more brain volume in an area of the brain that’s linked to self-awareness and decision-making.”

Develop Your Personal Mission Statement

Defining your purpose is one aspect of a Life and Career Planning Model©, featured in our book Time To Get Real! that helps individuals to be more intentional about their life and career while employing a strategic life plan. At Life and Career Planning, we ask individuals we are teaching or coaching to write a statement that describes their life’s purpose or mission. For most people, this is not an easy exercise. It requires thinking about all the dimensions of your life, your relationships, your work, your personal motivations, and in some sense your spiritual or humanistic beliefs. A personal mission statement offers clarity and gives you a sense of purpose. It helps define who you are and how you will live. Frankly, it’s much easier to write a description of a job you want than to answer the question – why am I here?

For most people, this is not an easy exercise. It requires thinking about all the dimensions of your life, your relationships, your work, your personal motivations, and in some sense your spiritual or humanistic beliefs.

A number of years ago Alex Plinio, author of Time To Get Real! had the opportunity to work with Frances Hesselbein, the CEO of the Girl Scouts of America, who had been named as the best executive leader in the United States in business, nonprofit, or government fields. She talked about the need that people have for a hope beyond the change experienced in their daily lives. She said that the need was for an anchor, a purpose, which provided meaning for their life and their work. We believe everyone needs this, but few people take the time to think about it and to provide that meaning for themselves.

Purpose statements can be quite powerful in motivating a person toward their specific life’s vision. An individual’s vision is that future place to which they hope to arrive. The statement can help with decision-making in all aspects of one’s life. For example, when offered that new job, your purpose can make that decision a lot easier As Francis Hasselbein has observed, a well-thought-out statement provides an anchor in life’s sea of change.

Align Your Life and Career Plan with Your Purpose

We strongly encourage you to take the time to reflect and develop your own purpose statement. Aligning all the parts of your life and career plan with your purpose is like fitting the pieces of a puzzle together. It provides the opportunity to make your life better and helps you feel good about your place in the world. Let your purpose strengthen your resolve, help you to make decisions, and bring you a level of comfort. We have helped many individuals through this process and we can help you. To contact us, click here.

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.

Finding the Right Job During the "Great Resignation"

People everywhere are quitting their jobs during this current “great resignation.” According to an article in the Washington Post, “The number of people quitting their jobs has surged to record highs, pushed by a combination of factors that include Americans sensing ample opportunity and better pay elsewhere. The phenomenon is being driven in part by workers who are less willing to endure inconvenient hours and poor compensation, who are quitting instead to find better opportunities.”

Now the challenge is, “how do I find the right new job?” At Life and Career Planning LLC, we are here to help.

Sign Up for Our New Online Seminar

Envisioning and Getting the Right Job for Me

Thursday, November 11, 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

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Whether you want more from your current role or want to change careers entirely, this Life and Career Planning seminar will help you get there!

During this 90-minute Zoom seminar, you will learn:

• What’s happening in the current job market

• What does this mean for you?

• How to decide what you want in a new job or career

• Should you stay where you are, or move to a different organization or job sector?

• Developing the strategies, goals, and objectives to get your new job

• The importance of developing your personal action plan

• Where to begin - starting your search

• How to monitor your progress

• Reaching out for help when needed

If there ever was a time, this is it!

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Envisioning and Getting the Right Job for Me

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Webinar Attendance Is Limited

Those who sit idly by as life happens to them will not emerge from this current environment in as great a shape as they need to be. What do you choose to do? We are here to help.

Whether you want more from your current role or want to change careers entirely, this Life and Career Planning seminar will help you get there!

The Seminar Presenters

This seminar is presented by Alex Plinio, President of Life and Career Planning LLC, and Melissa Smith, Managing Director of Life and Career Planning LLC. Our firm, Life and Career Planning LLC was started by these two professionals, having experience in the business, nonprofit, government, and educational sectors. Although they served in academia, they are not academics. They are practitioners. Their experience helped them to recognize the acute need on the part of individuals, regardless of sector, for intentional life and career planning, and professional coaching. They understand it because they lived it. Their values and purpose in life are directed toward helping as many individuals as possible to gain what Alex and Melissa have already gained: a life lived intentionally, with purpose, and based upon values that are enduring and fulfilling. For the full bios of Alex Plinio and Melissa Smith, click on their name.

More About Life and Career Planning LLC

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

Our message to you is clear. You can be more in control than you believe and can achieve success and happiness. Our Life and Career Planning Model© is a market and time-tested guide to leading an intentional life. Following this model helps you take control, directing you through a strategic planning process leading to actions that result in personal and professional success. In addition to our model, Life and Career Planning offers high-quality resources among which are: our highly rated book Time To Get Real!, personal coaching, online courses, informative blogs, and direct contact for immediate need situations.

Join Alex and Melissa on Thursday, November 11, 10:00 am - 11:30 am for this time-sensitive, informative, and potentially life-changing seminar.

Click Here To Enroll Now