Driving around town after our recent spring snowstorm, I noticed that areas west of College Avenue seemed much harder hit than those east of it—more fallen branches and remaining drifts. I mentioned it to my husband. “That’s the difference one degree can make,” he explained. Closer to the foothills the slightly-colder weather caused more snow to freeze on branches, resulting in more weight and breakage. Just a single degree created that much difference. It got me thinking, how many one-degree shifts were driving positive…and negative…shifts in my own life? “Shift” has been my theme for...

Cooking Up Job Experiments!

A friend loaned me her copy of Julie & Julia. I’d seen the movie years ago, yet reading the book reminded me of the delight and value that can come from diving into a career experiment. A career experiment is a short-term, low-risk experience that exposes the experimenter to an aspect of a profession that intrigues them. Career experiments can help with career planning, and, in author Julie Powell’s case, to satisfy a craving. Powell had been fascinated with cooking and Julia Child for years. If you’re familiar with the story, you’ll recall that Powell challenged herself to cook all of...

Career Wisdom from Mom!

Happy Mother’s Day! From the mouths of great mothers come these words of career wisdom: Consultant David Mullaney’s reminded him to, “Be a-lert, the world needs more lerts!” Artist Jennifer Spencer’s advised, “If someone has hired you, you must do your best whether you want to or not.” Retail specialist Sandra Hezlitt’s  told her: “Work just as hard as your fellow employees, and employers, work just as hard as your workers.” Business owner Ann Clarke’s said, “You don’t need someone else to make you happy or take care of you. It’s within YOU!” College Professor Jim Vernon’s...

Stress Relief through Journaling

“So the week begins anew. That sense of dread is with me again. I still haven’t figured out a solution to this business dilemma. Not sure what I’ll do from here…” This was the start of my journal entry on Monday last week. Lately I spend a few minutes each morning transferring the thoughts in my head to paper. I’ve known for years that journaling helps me deal with stress and speeds me more quickly toward fixes to problems that are taking up my headspace. It turns out that aside from my anecdotal experiences, there’s also science behind the value of journaling. Psychologist and expressive...

Are you clear on your focus?

“What kind of work are you targeting?”, I asked Mark, a young client, as part of his mock interview exercise. “Ah, I hate this question,” he replied, “I never know how to answer it.” His response surprised me, because we’d just spent months working together to define a motivating, good-fit career focus. When I asked why he hadn’t described that in his answer, he said, “I don’t know if I’m going to actually be able to land that kind of work, and it feels silly saying it.” I think of this as Gotta-Get-Used-to-It syndrome, where as we move into a new life phase, it feels so awkward we have a...

Take The Shot!

A friend’s manager just gave her notice. He doesn’t feel qualified to take his boss’ job yet, but her role is one he’d like to land eventually. Should he apply for it? There are many considerations, but in my opinion, yes, he should apply, for these reasons: Getting ready to submit an application to a job, even if you’re not fully qualified, nudges you to get in shape for other positions down the line. Thinking through your career goals, updating your resume, and actually sending in your materials are all positive steps. Applying for an internal opening signals upper management that you’re...