–   Albert Einstein

“This we know: all things are connected like the blood which unites one
family.

Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons and
daughters of the earth.

Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a
strand in it.

Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. “   –    Chief Seattle

As the author of this
monthly blog, I write in the hope of helping to improve the world.  I know that I probably can’t, but I also know
that the world changes based on how people see it, and if what I write can help
alter that view, then I can change
it.

When I was a child, I
wondered about all the miracles I heard about in my Sunday School classes, and
why they were so common in ancient times – 
 while so few miracles were talked
about in modern life.   By the time I was
11 years old, I had decided to leave my unanswered questions behind and begin
formulating a world view that was more spiritual in orientation than religious.

I am happy to report that today
I not only read about miracles all the time, but I am telling my share of miracle
stories in my coaching work, among friends and in my family.  My spirituality matured and the Web arrived, with wonderful resources and books that help
explain how the universe works, and our role in creating reality.  Miracles, I have come to understand, are not rare;
the subtle energy field that Chief Seattle named ‘ the web’ is “…more profound
than physical laws and every bit as dependable as gravity.” (from the new book,
E2 by Pam Grout).

In the bereavement groups I
co-facilitate twice a month, when widows relate miracle stories we know that we
have entered the spiritual realm of “The Mystery.”  A woman recently related a story about going shopping on
the anniversary of her mother’s death, and upon arriving home, unpacked groceries and found a small
paper bag with a “Happy birthday to my dear daughter” card in it that she had
neither selected nor purchased!  Where
had it come from?  How had it gotten into
her cart?  Was it a loving
communication from her deceased mother or just a bag boy’s mistake?

Another woman described
going out on the family boat with her grandkids after her husband had died a
few months earlier, and one of the grandchildren spied a golf ball floating on the surface of the water
next to the boat. None of them had ever seen a golf ball floating before – and
after they retrieved it, they agreed that it had been placed there for them to
find to remember their beloved grandfather who was an avid golfer.  Rather than feeling weird, the experience was reassuring and appealing to them.

In my coaching practice, the
first assignment I give to clients who want to make changes in their lives
is to begin paying attention to “coincidences” and “synchronicities.” I explain
that these are signals of encouragement that emanate from the field of possibilities
that surround us all.  The signals are
not happening by accident and are so perfectly suited for the person’s goals
that it can seem uncanny.  One woman who
longed to leave her current job opened the afternoon mail one day to find an ad
that had this expression written on the front page, “This is not all there is; you
are intended for greater success, so keep going.” 

When I write my blog,
articles, and books, I enter that state of “flow” described by psychologist
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi where I lose all sense of time and place, and become intensely focused on the moment.  I feel
the joy that comes from being fully alive and I relish putting my brain to work
in the ordered universe of language. 
Writing brings me to a paradoxical state of calm excitement and a
feeling of spaciousness where anything is possible.

Writers who are not
connected to the world generally cannot connect with readers.  Good storytellers help heal the world, and
the stories that save us are those that bring us new understanding and growth
that expands our circle of caring.  I
hope I am one of those kind of writers. 
It is my intention to work in the service of humankind and I espouse the
philosophy of Khalil Gibran, the Lebanese mystical poet, who wrote that “work is
love made manifest.” 

We exist in the great
energy field of life and we create the world together with our thoughts.  My hope is that one day we will create a
world that has a place for every human gift and a  culture that is commensurate with our capacity
for wonder.  Neuroscientists inform us
that 95% of our conscious thoughts are controlled by our programmed
subconscious mind.  Instead of actually
thinking, we are just running old tapes in our minds that are like outdated
software.  But change is coming; we are
on the brink of claiming what science has known for quite some time: our
thoughts have power and we are all connected to the field of infinite possibility.

Here’s  more food for
thought that I will leave with you, as an early holiday gift, written by Charles Steinmetz, inventor of the
alternating current motor:

“The greatest discovery and development of the coming
years will be along spiritual lines. Here is a force which history clearly
teaches has been the greatest power in the development of man and history, and
yet we have been merely playing with it and have never seriously studied it as
we have physical forces.  Some day people
will learn that material things do not bring happiness and are of little use in
making men and women creative and powerful. 
Then the scientists of the world will turn their laboratories over to
the study of spiritual forces. When this day comes, the world will see more
advancement in one generation than it has in the past four.”

The post Musings For the End of The Year appeared first on Elaine Voci Life Coaching.

Your brand is a treasure worth protecting your entire life
because it’s your reputation.  Your brand
is the vehicle for your authentic self; after all, you are unique, different,
an original.  You are also superior in
some things, the best at what you do. 
Hopefully, your brand is built on a solid foundation of truth, not spin!  

Your brand is based in part on your public image – the way
you dress, walk, talk, your education and professionalism that shines through
everything you do.   And your brand is
only as good as your “products and services” so be very good at what you
do.   Strive for excellence.  I remember one of my first bosses took me
aside one day early in my career and told me “Cream rises, Elaine, so always
aim for your personal best in everything you do.”

Your brand is also spiritual; it’s who you are and what you
love and care about.  Your brand is an
expression of your life purpose and mission on this earth.   A brand cannot be rushed; it’s organic and
comes from holding a strong sense of purpose. 
It’s about living up to your promises, again and again.

Benefits of having a great brand:

·        
More clients/customers/followers – of the right
kind

·        
Top of the mind status at work and in your
social life

·        
Leadership role – you are often chosen to be in
charge of things

·        
Greater recognition – you get credit for
accomplishments and opportunities to succeed

A brand is not rational – it’s emotional.  When other people recognize your brand they
have an emotional response to it.  Think
about your best “go to” friends, the ones you go to when you need emotional
comfort, or financial advice, or advice about parenting.  You found yourself feeling good inside just thinking
about them, maybe even smiling a little as you brought them to mind.

With brands, two things are required: consistency and
clarity  – you can’t be all things to all
people and you can’t keep switching your focus. 
Branding always generates a result; it either attracts new
business/followers/fans or it drives business and people away.  And, one final word: if you don’t brand
yourself, someone else will!

Some books on brand that you might enjoy:

✤  Be
Your Own Brand: Achieve More of What You Want by Being More of Who You
Are,  by David McNally and Karl Speak

✤  You
Are a Brand: How Smart People Brand Themselves for Business Success, by  Catherine Kaputa

✤  Career
Destination:  Stand Out By Building Your
Brand, by William Orveda and Kirsten Dixson

✤  Make
a Name for Yourself, by Robin Fisher Roffer

The post Here for a Purpose: The Soul of Your Personal Brand appeared first on Elaine Voci Life Coaching.

Your life purpose is who
you are and how you intuitively and uniquely respond to life, and it is rooted in
self-knowledge and self-awareness. 
Without a sense of purpose, you may find yourself drifting and confused,
often settling for less than satisfying conditions in your personal and
professional life.   We all know the
wisdom of this oft-quoted passage from the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that speaks to knowing your
purpose:

“Will you tell me, please,
which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal
on where you want to get to.”

“I don’t much care where –
“said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter
which way you go,” said the cat.

When you know your life
purpose, you are able to weigh and make healthy decisions with conscious
clarity and take actions that infuse your mind, body and spirit with a deep
sense of passion, power and joy.  A life
purpose gives you a vision in your mind, a picture that beckons you upward and
onward toward a desired future.  With it
you are able to recognize which opportunities are right for you and which ones
will lead you in the wrong direction. 

Are there any tangible “clues”
that help you discern your purpose in life? 
Yes!  The following three life experiences serve as bright neon signs pointing you to your purpose:

 What
you are good at and what you enjoy doing.  (What do other people consistently complement
you on?  When you have the experience of
time “flying” what is it that you are doing?)

Your vision of life and your values. ( What values do you want your life to stand
for?  What legacy do you want to leave
when your time here is ended? What vision of the future do you hold in your
heart?)

Your passions and your dreams.  (What “causes
“do you feel passionately about? What would you do if you won the lottery?)

If you build your life on
the solid ground of your genuine interests and passion, meanings, and values,
you will work in the service of something greater than yourself, you will feel
the power of your authentic self, you will take pride in your contributions,
and you will find your vocational bliss.  

A book I highly recommend that can help
you search for your calling or passion in life is What Color’s Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles.  With more than ten million copies sold around
the world this classic book is considered the “bible” of career coaching books.  It will help you figure out how to job hunt in
the same way you live your life by using one of three styles: intuition, step
by step, or luck.  Focused questions and self-directed
exercises help you uncover useful insights and practical strategies to search for
the work you are meant to do.  The book is
updated each year with numerous websites and other web-based tools and
resources to make your job search easier.

A final encouragement:
don’t give up on your dreams.  You are in
this place of questioning right now, facing a future job hunt with all its
anxieties, not by accident.  This is the
most perfect time to seek the union of your mind and heart to find the work you
were born to do, that only you can do,
and that the world needs you to
do.  What are you waiting for? 

The post What’s Your Life Purpose? appeared first on Elaine Voci Life Coaching.

Among the
many books that have shaped the direction of my career, that informed and
inspired me, I count the following nine books among my favorites.  I also include the first book I published as
among my best teachers because I learned so much from the women in it and from
the process of writing and self-publishing.  

Do What You Love and the Money will Follow
by Marsha Sinetar.  This classic career book is about
finding your right livelihood; of attending to the spiritual dimension of work
and to living the life you were meant to live. 
When I discovered this book, I was working in my first career as an
alcohol and drug abuse counselor; the first reading of it was interesting to
me, but it was not until a few years later that it provided the support and inspiration to make
my first career change.

What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles.   Considered the “Bible of career books”,
Bolles entered my life when I hired my first career coach to help me successfully transition from
the helping professions into a corporate training role.   Mike Kenny, my coach, assigned Bolles’ book
as required reading and we used the “daisy petal” model in it to design the
work I would do next. 

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel
Goleman, Ph.D.  This bestseller affirmed for me the common
sense notion that people who were good with other people stood the best chance
for lasting and fulfilling success in work and in life.   Having good people skills was touted during
the 90’s as a key life skill and it remains true today.  

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.  The creative side of me loves this best-selling book because
it speaks the language of my heart and shows me how to nurture my creative
soul. Filled with practical disciplines (ex, do ‘morning pages’ each day) this
book encouraged perseverance as a writer/artist and helped me value my
creativity and put it to use in my everyday life.

We Are All Self Employed by Cliff
Hakim.  This book was ahead of its time, and helped me
see that the old order of loyalty was gone, and that each person had to take
full responsibility for their career. 
Rather than bemoan the change, this book compassionately supported it
and celebrated it.  I still refer to it today and assign pages in it for clients to read.

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor
Frankl.  A book for the ages, I have recommended this
book to students and clients over the years for its wisdom. In it, Frankl
asserts that “man’s main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain but
rather to see a meaning in his life.” 
Even in the bleak setting of a concentration camp, and in the face of
great suffering, Frankl and others managed to find meaning and purpose. (I
devoted my entire blog last month to this book if you want to learn more.)

The Invitation by Oriah Mountain
Dreamer.  This small book is a treasure; if you
want to live more deeply, honestly and passionately then read this book.  I have given copies of it to dear friends –
it makes a wonderful gift to yourself or others.

What Happy People Know by Dan Baker,
Ph.D.  A well written book, I love the writers’ style and the
content is really engaging.  Dr. Baker is
director of the Life Enhancement Program at Canyon Ranch and has taught many
people how to be happy.  There are all
kinds of “gold nuggets” inside such as the two issues that cause unhappiness;
and how to spot happiness traps.  A blend
of science and spirituality, this book will teach you important things about
bringing more optimism, courage, good humor and fulfillment into your life.

Aging Well by George Vaillant, M.D.  From the landmark Harvard Study of Adult Development, this
book helped me better understand why some people age well physically and
emotionally and others don’t.  An
inspirational look at the science of aging, this book is a reminder that “to
know how to grow old is to master the work of wisdom…the great art of living.”

I also count
a book that I wrote as one of the books that shaped my career: Bridge Builders: Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary
Things.   This was my first book and
I entered the magical world of writers when I felt that urge to create during a
one year sabbatical between jobs.  The
list of 12 women in the book grew from women I knew who had inspired me to
women recommended to me by friends.  I
learned life lessons from each of them as I told their stories, and the writing
took over my life for 9 months – each day disciplined me to wake at 4 am and
write for 3-4 hours. Week after week, the women appeared and I interviewed
them, writing and writing.  I lost 15
pounds because of my single-minded focus on “birthing” this book as its mid-wife.  I learned from this experience that I was a
writer – and that writing was one of my passions that would forever play an
integral part in future careers I chose.

What books
have been your best teachers?  Which ones inspired you to step out and do
something you have always wanted to do? 
Which books have been on your bookshelf for 5, 10 or more years as
trusted companions?  We are all so
fortunate to live in a country where freedom of speech is our shared heritage;
where we can voice our beliefs and tell our stories to comfort, inform, inspire
and encourage ourselves and others.  Happy
reading!

The post Ten Books that Shaped My Career appeared first on Elaine Voci Life Coaching.

It’s
February and we associate this month with our hearts as we recognize Valentine’s
Day, honor love, and celebrate lovers.   With
a nod to these sweet activities, I want to take a different path and
talk with those of you who are on a job search. I want to discuss the hidden power
of your heart and the remarkable role it plays in job interviews.

First, some very simplified definitions:   When I refer to heart
power, I mean that your heart is the seat of your emotions, the container that
holds such spiritually charged feelings such as compassion, forgiveness, and
empathy, and it has an intelligence which rivals that of your brain.  The heart communicates more often with your
brain than vice versa, and it is 5,000 times more powerful (to learn more, see The Heart’s Code by Paul Pearsall or
visit www.heartmath.org).

The heart is beating in a
Human Energy Field, a fluid world of radiating energy, continuously moving and
changing like the ocean.  Modern science
tells us that human beings are made up of molecules and magnetic energy. These
can be measured as electrical currents in the heart (with an EEG) and as
magnetic fields around the body (with SQUID which stands for superconducting
quantum device).  Everyone has an energy
field that broadcasts emotions much like radio waves broadcast sounds to an
audience.  (To learn more, I refer you to
Hands of Light by Barbara Brennan.) 

With these understandings
in place, let’s consider how your heart influences your feelings about an
organization during an interview, how the hiring official’s heart influences feelings
toward you during an interview, and the combined effect of both hearts on the
hiring decision. 

How your heart
influences feelings toward an organization during an interview

Some career experts estimate that it takes experienced recruiters approximately 90 seconds to form a first impression by scanning a resume.  If that initial assessment is positive, candidates are then invited to come in for a face to face interview.  The average interview
lasts 45 minutes.   Not a lot of time,
but enough for you and your interviewer to make a major decision about whether
or not you will be invited back.  
Interviewing is stressful, so your heart is probably beating faster than
usual during interviews. This means that you will be paying attention to what
is happening in the interview but also coping with a rise in stress hormones,
doing more shallow breathing than usual, and experiencing an elevated blood
pressure.  In short, you will be in the
fight or flight mode.  

Your heart has intelligence, and is a second brain in your body;  it will pick up the interviewer’s energetic signals that typically operate below your conscious level of awareness.  Your heart will help you make a preliminary assessment
of the interviewer’s energy – to determine if it is positive or negative.  Because the interviewer represents a company,
your heart‘s assessment will also influence your perception of the organization
that employs him or her.  (We’re all
familiar with this process: we go into a store, someone waits on us who is
really fun and nice to talk to, and we walk out later feeling good about the
store for having hired such a great employee.)

How the hiring official’s
heart influences feelings toward you during an interview

The hiring official’s
heart is busy, too, receiving your energetic signals and interpreting your
energy as positive or negative.  The official
does not have an easy role; in fact he or she is quite worried about making a poor hiring decision.  This is a costly
mistake, a waste of training and orientation resources, and is not easily
undone.  As a result, the official’s
heart is most likely beating faster than usual, blood pressure is rising and
while the conscious brain is attending to managing the interview successfully,
the brain in the heart is analyzing and assessing whether or not you are a risk
worth taking.

 The impact of both of
your hearts on the hiring decision

The decision-making journey culminates through the following process:

·        
On the energetic
level the hiring official’s heart experiences your energy field and this
contributes data to his or her powers of perception that confirms or negates
the earlier first impression based on your resume.  

·        
On the energetic level
your heart experiences the energy field
of the hiring official and this data either confirms or negates the first impression
you formed from the job ad and the phone call made to invite you for an interview.

·        
On the material
world level you are both engaged in observing
the appropriate social skills of shaking hands, exchanging pleasantries about
innocuous things like the weather and traffic, and noticing one another’s body language,
eye contact and voice tones.  Questions related to the job and your previous work history are asked and answers are given and weighed against criteria known to the interviewer but not to you. How well
you each do these things – the degree to which you are poised or awkward –
contributes more data to the decision making process each of you is compiling.

·        
On the intuitive
level both of you are sensing if there is a good match for the job and
the organizational culture. Silent, internal questions
are being answered by the interviewer such as “Do I like this person?” and “Would this person fit
into our way of doing things?” and “Would the team be comfortable with this
person?” Silent, internal questions are being answered by you such as “Do I like this person?” and “Do I want to work here?”and “Can I imagine myself being happy in this environment?”

By the end of the interview a decision has been made in the hiring
official’s mind and heart to either invite you back or to end the interview,
thanking you for your time.   Likewise, by the end of the interview your mind and heart have also made a decision to either accept an invitation to proceed further or to thank the interviewer for the opportunity while expressing your belief that you are not the right candidate for the job.  It has
taken about 45 minutes. 

Human beings are a
combination of intricate systems that include an energy field, a brain with
intelligence, a second brain in our hearts that also has intelligence, five
senses that report data, and a sixth sense that reports intuitive knowledge.  Many of us are largely unaware of how effectively and efficiently these work together in decision-making. It is also interesting to note that once we’ve made a decision the logical, rational part of the brain between our ears
will eagerly confirm the validity of our decision, and defend it to anyone who may
question it.  That’s the way we are
wired. 

 So, this February, thank
your heart for its wisdom and its ability to work so well with your other
brain, your senses and your intuition. 
It is truly a Valentine’s gift every day of the year.

The post The Hidden Power of Your Heart and the Remarkable Role It Plays in Job Interviews appeared first on Elaine Voci Life Coaching.

As we approach the end of 2012, the season of
Thanksgiving presents a good time for job seekers to seriously rethink work; to
plan for economic surprises; to envision short and long-term career adjustments.  If you dream of a new job, or feel unhappy in
your work, or sense that you have outgrown your current position, take
advantage of the next two months at year’s end to increase your awareness of
what the new marketplace demands of you and the steps you must take to create
your right livelihood.

Creating the work you love requires
self-discipline and discernment – the ability to know what to do without being
told.  No one else can tell you when to
stay or to leave, or precisely when and how to exercise your courage.  But you can use your time wisely as a resource
and dig deeper into finding your authentic vocation.

Work is  Global

It is a basic human need to want to have a
job.  And it’s always been the case that
there are many new jobs coming into the marketplace with opportunities to
compete for them.  President Teddy
Roosevelt’s observation is still true today, but what’s different is the
competition for jobs is now on a global scale. 
The old foundation is gone and we are in an era of redefined loyalties,
expanded options, and a transformed job market.

There are billions of people in the world
trying hard to achieve the prize of a good job, one that carries with it the
feeling of contributing to something worthwhile.  Significant numbers of job seekers have found
the job of their dreams with a good salary and a sense of doing work that
matters, but there are many more that have not. 
What’s contributing to this uneven playing field?

 The World Is Smaller and Yet Larger
Simultaneously

There are two primary trends responsible – globalization and innovation in information technology.  Both forces are moving the world closer to a single market for labor.  Competing for good jobs with other qualified
workers used to take place in the city, state or region where you lived, but
now you may be competing against workers who live in different countries.  

Contract Work is Here to Stay

Companies are buying services from a growing
contingent of part-time, contract and temporary workers – an inherently more
flexible work force.  In the U.S. in
2010, the number of part-time workers reached a new high of almost 20% of all
employees.  Getting a contract job (what may
be called a “bridge” job) while you search for your ideal work is a smart
strategy that can lead to unexpected full time work. 

Education Matters

Education matters more now, not just in
developed nations, but worldwide. 
Studies show a high correlation between a good education, higher
earnings and a reduced risk of becoming unemployed. In response, novel initiatives are emerging in
higher education such as the Stanford University program, Coursera, which
offers the best instructors teaching the most “in demand” courses for
free to students living around the globe.  Using technology to advance their reach, the
University offered its first free technical course in early 2012 and more than
160,000 students signed up!  

Naturally
this has created a good deal of attention from other schools and many are
beginning to emulate Stanford’s pioneering innovation while others are
challenging the model.  For an overview,
go to TED talks to see a video featuring Coursera co-developer Daphne Koller
at:

http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education.html

Things You Can Do Right Now to Manage Your
Career

Consider this: given the current state of the recovering
U.S. economy, it will take you just as long to find a poor job as it will to
find a good one.  Why not look for a good
job, then, one that fits you and makes you feel alive and engaged? 

Here are some things you will need to take
responsibility for in order to win in the global job market:

·        Know yourself, your
skills, your interests, and your passions. Your individuality is the greatest
talent you can offer an employer and the greatest foundation upon which you can
build a career.

·        
Be prepared to work far harder to get an employer’s attention in your job search than you
may have previously thought necessary. 

·        
You will need to market yourself better and consider a broader range of employers
than you might have previously thought of as part of a full job search.  This includes “bridge” jobs that help pay the
bills until you find your ideal job.

·        
Be judicious about what you put on the Internet and “clean up your act”. 
Facebook and other sites are now regularly visited by human-resource
departments and if they find anything negative or embarrassing about you, they
are likely to simply pass you by in favor of other candidates. 

·        
Use social media to your advantage.  In spite of the
Internet, a successful job search is still about networking and the people you
know, but social media has changed it from an art into a science.  For example, LinkedIn, begun in 2002, has
become an integral part of the job market used by jobseekers and recruiters
equally.  It has about 120 million
members; more than half are outside the U.S. and many are professionals earning
$100,000 a year or more.   The website
enables professionals like you to locate mutual contacts who can introduce
would-be employees and employers to each other. These personal recommendations
may increase your chance of success more than applications or job offers made
to total strangers.

·        
Adopt and practice the attitude that we are all self-employed.  Even after you find
work for a company that pays your salary, you had best continue to act like
someone in charge of their own destiny by owning your individual, authentic
contributions on the job, along with the ability to collaborate within a team,
and the willingness to make extra efforts along the way to help the team “win.”

·        
You
must continually reevaluate what you need
to succeed and survive because change is a constant.  What
looks like chaos in the marketplace can actually be a good thing for your
growth and for your career reinvention –  if you are open to learning and willing to
take responsibility for your own destiny. 

That
last bit of advice is in keeping with the approaching Thanksgiving season – as
we pause to remember the first Thanksgiving and the brave Pilgrims who risked
their lives, fortunes and well-being in order to create a new life in a land
that they had never seen.  Let their
courageous example encourage your heart, and their perseverance inspire your
spirit in this season of gratitude.  As
they did, use all the means at your disposal, especially your passion and your
enduring vision, to serve your dreams and reach your destination. 

The post Thanksgiving: A GoodTime for Job Seekers to Sharpen the Saw appeared first on Elaine Voci Life Coaching.