Time for a reality check?

Are your Sundays spent dreading Monday? Are you in a secure job, but one that doesn't fulfill you? Is fear holding you back from making a change? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you're not alone.

It's easy to become complacent when you're in a job that you could do in your sleep or that pays well. A part of us may want to make a change, but then that nagging voice tells us, "I've got it made; I earn a good income. I SHOULD be happy" OR "I'm not sure I want to invest in discovering new options because of the money or time involved." So, you spend months, even years, being less than happy in your job. Plus, you're probably not giving your full 100% or more to the company.

It starts with a first step. Start to discover or re-discover your interests, skills, work values, etc. to determine if a new career would be a good move or if you could find more success and satisfaction in your current job or even a different position within your current company.

Sign up for my free teleclass, "Top 3 Myths of Career Success & 10 Keys to Becoming a Career Conqueror."

Tips for Moving Up the Proverbial Career Ladder

Let's say you've been in the same position for a few years now and you're ready to move up. You've done a great job, but you no longer find it challenging. How can you position yourself for a promotion? Here are some tips that can help:

1) Increase your visibility. Be sure to network within your own department and with those from other departments and even other divisions.

2) Let your boss know you want to advance. Your boss isn't a mind-reader. And, your boss may be too busy to notice you're not being stretched anymore. Tell your boss of your desire to move up and why you're a good candidate.

3) Keep track of your accomplishments and keep your boss and your boss's boss apprised of your them. Many folks feel like they're bragging when they do this. I encourage you to reframe it as "just stating the facts."

4)Volunteer to work on a special project. This will demonstrate that you have initiative and want more out of your job than just a paycheck.

Moving up the proverbial career ladder requires action- your action! Incorporate the above tips and start climbing!

Grab a copy of "Get a Job, Keep a Job, or Move Up- faster!

Container Lessons: A Fable by Sydney A. Paredes

A fellow coach wrote and shared the following fable with me. The story is a great analogy for how we put people into containers, i.e., traditional gender roles.

There were jars and bowls and pitchers and various containers all around the land. Everyone knew that container know-how was the most important competence anyone could have.

In early days of school, even in preschool, the teachers began container lessons. For the littlest children, the most popular way to teach was to help them choose just the right container for a caterpillar – or later for a butterfly – and to help them pay attention to which food belonged in exactly which shape and size of container. Everyone knew by age six that jello always belonged in a 9-oz round or 32 oz round basic containers with round lids in milky white color that still let you see a hint of red or green or orange or yellow color based on what flavor of jello was in the container. It was equally important to put olives and pickles in small square 3-oz containers with clear lids that let you see inside but kept any errant liquid from leaking out.

Leaking was a sure sign that one’s container acumen was lacking or that their pride in their containership was low.

There was a specific container for socks in one’s dresser drawer, too, to keep them neat and tidy and easily accessible. Even dinner plates had containers built in so that each food would stay separated while you ate.

There were specific containers for transportation depending on how much money a family had to spend or where they chose to live. And containers for living space, too. There were containers within containers so that little Johnny and little Susie knew their place and space when it was time to go to bed.

It could be tricky for container illiterates, especially when people came together in large container spaces – sometimes called family rooms or dining rooms. The most popular strategy to help people manage was to have each person assigned a particular chair container in a particular space around the table. If a family was consistent in their container practices, the times when people came together stayed appropriately contained.

These are just a few examples. Be assured that in some way, shape, or form, everyone and everything could be contained.

One bright spring day, upon her twelfth birthday, Susie Smith had a dream that shook her to her very soul. In her dream, dinner plates had NO containers, so the juice from the peas ran into the juice from the roast beef. People stared in horror at their plates, forks and spoons suspended in mid air. Some picked at areas where the food was still contained. Others just stared at their food and looked around uncomfortably to see what they should do.

Now Susie, in her own dream, was coaxing the peas into the roast beef and purposely making sure some of each was in her spoon. Then to everyone’s astonishment, she put her spoon in her mouth!

“Yum!” She exclaimed. “This tastes really good.”

Then Susie noticed everyone staring at her in disgust.

“How could you?” said her father. “Have you no sense of shame? No sense of honor? No loyalty?”

“It would be better to not eat at all,” said Susie’s father, “than to blatantly ignore rules of containment!”

“I’ll die if I don’t nourish myself”, replied Susie, her momentary joy of the new taste replaced by fear and sadness.

“I know,” said her father. “At least you would die honorably.”