And the band played on my lawn

Network Pushing in your Job Search

2011-07-16T19:44:00.000-03:00

I’ve been talking with clients and friends about job searching a lot over the past few weeks, and exploring the idea of what I am calling the network push. I mentioned this a few days ago on this blog, where in order to network to get your new job, you’ve got to get out beyond your own friends and neighbours, to a position where you are networking through their friends and neighbours. We hang around with people who are a lot like us, which means that if they could have helped you find a job, they already would have. Besides, you are quite likely all working and playing within the same network, and so far, that’s not helping you get a job so far. Instead, try these tips:

· Be very clear on the type of work you are looking for. Try not to look for “anything and everything.” Instead focus on your experience and your transferable skills, then focus in on something that makes sense and be focussed about it. Someone in your network may know you as someone who does one thing but they may not really know what your qualifications or interests can lead to. If you are looking for “something in IT” you make their job hard. If you make it easy for them and get specific, they will be much more willing and able to help you.

Update your profiles all over the internet and keep them consistent. And I mean all of them. If your LinkedIn profile lists you as a forward thinking, highly qualified legal assistant with great organization skills, make sure that Twitter says the same thing. Clean up your profile and remove that one liner about being “a party animal who speaks my mind” on Twitter, at least for the time being. Build a consistent picture of yourself across the internet to help people find you and you’ll get the added benefit of keeping yourself focussed on what you need to be doing right now.

Ask the people in your network (in person and on line) for referrals to your specific area of work. Avoid being flippant and targeting a CEO’s job unless that’s what you do.

I don’t know of very many people who find a job by just using one approach to searching. You’ll need to do an active job of networking: use the internet, connect to companies and their career pages, go to networking events, make phone calls and do research, and depending on the kind of work you are looking for, you may also want to visit specific workplaces. Whatever you do, don’t get comfortable sitting on your laurels, and don’t expect a job to fall in your lap.

People hate when I say this, but finding a full time job IS a full time job. You can expect to spend up to two weeks for every ten thousand dollars in salary that you are looking for. That means if you want a $40,000 a year job, it’ll take up to eight weeks, on average. If you are working a full time job, you can anticipate that it’ll take more time, plus you need to invest your off work hours in your job search.

If you’re looking for someone to help with your job search, work with a professional career coach or counsellor. The ROI will be comparing what you invest in yourself to work with that person, and the potential for you to earn it back quickly in your new job.

Do you hate your job?

2011-07-07T07:00:00.001-03:00

Do you hate your job? You’re not alone, even though you might get that way if you keep complaining to everyone you meet that your job makes you miserable! Lots of people hate their jobs, and if you want to know how many, ask your boss what the most recent results of the engagement survey say.

I’ve seen reports for different industries say that up to 60 and even 80% of people in a certain industry are looking for a new job. Huffington Post quoted a Manpower study from the end of 2010 that said 84% of working people they surveyed planned to find a job in the new year. That post is located here. You might think these numbers are a stretch, until you stop and consider your friends.

Do you like your job? Tolerate it? Hate it? Do your friends like their jobs? We tend to hang around people who feel the same way that we do, and so you might be a very fortunate person who loves their job and works with people who feel the same way. Then again, you may be among a group of peers who cannot stand what they are doing.

As people, we are social animals. We tend toward other people, not away, or at least not all of the time. It can get pretty lonely though if you are constantly complaining about your job (or your spouse, your children, your budget, and so on) and while people will sympathize for a while, it can be wearing on them to become your career or life coach. Try to work on your happy vibe – or at least a contended thought – and focus on things that are going well. Small things that make you feel good, even if it is something small. Finding happiness isn’t about being over the top happy all of the time; it’s about celebrating the things that make you happy one at a time.

What's your happy thought?

The Other Kind of Networking

2011-07-06T07:00:00.000-03:00

Alright, so my last post was about using social networking. Today, more detail on the other kind of networking seems warranted.

People who are looking for work over a long period or have been unemployed for a long period of time can be scared to death of networking. It does require that you get out of the shell that you’ve built around yourself, and go meet some people. Not just anyone, but the right kinds of people.

You can sometimes start this by working on the phone, provided you can get to the people that you need to speak to. At some point, your potential boss will want to see you in person. This is pretty common in the service industry (restaurants, retail, customer service), although far less so in industries that promote a work at home kind of approach. How do you meet those in-person people? You stop in at their place of business during a non-rush period. Try first thing in the morning, and if that doesn’t work, one hour before the close of business. Avoid approaching them during rush periods, like meal times in a restaurant, or first thing when the phones start in your local doctor, dentist or veterinarian’s office. If you’ve been referred by a member of your network, that’s your leverage when it comes to introducing yourself. “Hi, I’m Elaine. Jeff Rogers said that he called you yesterday and I wanted to thank you in person for taking his call, and stop in to see if we could set up a time to meet. I also have a resume here if you would like to take a look at it.” Notice that you aren’t asking for the meeting right now, but at a time that is convenient. You won’t endear yourself if you are interrupting for more than a brief moment, and if things work well and they like your approach and time permits, they will invite you for a chat right then.

Use your network, and remember to thank them all for their help as you explore the thing that you are looking for. Also keep in mind that people can't refer you to anyone if they don't know you well enough, but you might be able to influence them enough to ask for an introduction.

Go get 'em!

Using Social Media for Your Job Search

2011-07-05T07:00:00.001-03:00

Everyone’s doing it, so you probably will too, right? Then do it strategically, so that it helps you and also so that you know just how many people are helping you out. Most of us actually have a very small group of people that we know, and who will help us connect through social networking. I mean the kind of people that you can meet for a coffee or lunch, or invite to your wedding, not just the people that you add to a Friend’s list on facebook or Google circles or Twitter list. You do know that all those programs allow the people with whom you have “connected” to filter out all your updates and never engage with you unless they have something specific to say to you, right?

To start your networking, you need to reach out to your personal inner circle, which is most likely between 20 and 30 people. This group likely has a lot in common with you; they belong to the same groups, talk to the same people, may even work in the same company or the same industry. So, when you put the word out to your inner circle that you are looking for work, expect nothing. Oh you’ll get messages like “good luck” and they’ll hope the best for you, but most of them are probably unable to actually help you. The brilliance of networking doesn’t start until they refer you out of your inner circle, and two, three, or even four layers beyond. That’s right, you need them to refer you out of that circle into other layers. Get Out!

Social networking power, or networking period, kicks in when connectors in your network push you outside of your network, through theirs, and outward. In order to orchestrate this you may also have to be very careful. Most people don’t want their bosses to know when they start looking for a job, and yet the world is very small. If you are using networking of any kind to help you find a job, expect that your boss will know about it at some point. Depending on your relationship with your current employer, you might want to let them know ahead of time…and you may not. Just know that the wider your networking circle becomes, the more likely word will get back to them that you are looking for a job.

Any cynics or agitators in the readership will be saying, hey, I got a job within my inner circle. Great! Glad to hear it! And you need to know that you are the exception and not the norm. I know that it is possible for you to find a job within that first circle of your network, but chances are that it will be very similar to what you or your close friends are doing right now. That’s great if that’s what you are looking for, but not if you are trying to break away from that particular group and move on, or you are looking to grow (in challenges, responsibility, and income). In order to make big changes, you need ask your network to refer you through, or introduce you to people that you need to meet. To set up connections, and then you have to follow up on them. It’s exciting! You can meet some new people, forge new connections, and start something that is new and different than what you were doing before, even if it’s the same job!

People are getting really creative when it comes to using networking in their job search. Make sure you know what kind of work you are looking for, and use the keywords associated with it to get the word out. This seems like a bold as brass kind of move, and it is. You need to establish yourself in the job market and find a job, not join the masses who just wish they could find a job and prefer that it fall in their lap. Look at the potential of some slightly offbeat places, like facebook Marketplace and fan pages, Kijiji, and make sure that you set up a clean, professional profile on LinkedIn. You may not like it, but LinkedIn is a good place for potential employers to search for you. Make sure they can find you, and don’t make it too difficult for them to contact you. Keep all your contact details up to date to avoid disappointment. Most of my recruiting colleagues will only leave one message for a potential candidate, if they come looking for you at all, so you’ve got to be accessible and responsive.

Good luck, and let me know how it goes!

Resume Rules - Or Not

2011-07-04T07:00:00.002-03:00

Yesterday I was writing a little about resumes, and said that there are some rules to follow and others that need to be broken. Here they are.

Rules to Break

When I come across a job ad that says “don’t call us, we’ll call if we are considering you for an interview,” I always ignore them. Call the HR department and be really nice to whomever answers the phone. Let them know you are applying for a job and that you’d like to get the name of the person that should go on your cover letter. Avoid sending it “To Whom It May Concern” and make sure you confirm the spelling.

The interviewers know that you can go to their website and find things out. They will eliminate you from consideration if you can’t be bothered to at least find basic data. Go the extra mile, and do some real research. Find out what they do, who they do it with. Arrange to meet the hiring manager for an informational interview and decide if you want to work with them. You don’t have to go into stealth mode or anything; simply ask the right people the right questions in a respectful way.

Stop trying to create a resume that uses the same template everyone else does. Be yourself. Create something. Speak to your potential employer as an individual, and not a copy of every other applicant.

· Don’t list every task you’ve ever done with every job you’ve ever had. Blech. Tell them what makes you different from everyone else who did that job. Did you work on some interesting projects? Meet some interesting people? What did you learn?

Rules to Follow

Have a paper version and an e-version of your resume. Most companies insist that you apply on-line, so you need to be ready for the format they prefer. Be sure to take plenty of paper copies with you when you go networking or to a job fair.

Make sure your contact information is on the resume. This seems obvious, but I’ve seen people leave out critical details like their phone number and e-mail. Actually, I didn’t see them because I couldn’t get hold of them easily enough.

Update your voicemail so that you sound like someone the caller wants to meet. Remove the sighing, “ums”, the name of your 16 cats, and for goodness sake get rid of the digital voice that says you don’t care about updating your voicemail.

Have someone read the resume over: don’t get them to critique the content (it’s YOUR resume). But make sure they can spell and punctuate so that there are no errors in your resume or cover letter. I’ve lost count of the number of times someone says they are “detail oriented” (whatever that is) and yet there are mistakes in their application.

Small companies will probably ask for your resume by e-mail, although you might drop off a paper copy if you are out networking. Big companies don’t want the paper and take most of their applications online. Since the copies they print off for the interview can look messy, make sure you bring a paper copy to offer everyone. Choose paper that is a heavier weight than the stuff that normally spits out of your printer or a copier. It makes it look like you care.

Keep track of the jobs you apply on, when you apply, and also make sure that you save a copy of the posting or advertisement. Copy and paste it into a document that you can save, since the ads are usually removed as soon as the application deadline passes. If you are applying for lots of positions, you need to have a system to track what their ad said, and especially what they were looking for in a candidate. Some companies can take months to make a hiring decision, and you look like you’ve really got your act together when you have the details figured out.

Tomorrow we'll have a look at applying social media to your job search.

Job Searching 101

2011-07-03T21:09:00.000-03:00

I am anticipating a higher than usual demand for job search services over the next few months. With the inflation rate continuing to go up (highest place in Canada right here in my backyard, Nova Scotia), and consumer costs with it, there is one way to get a raise in pay when no one else in your company is getting one. Change jobs, and negotiate yourself a new deal.

Of course you could also take on a part-time job for some additional income, or start some consulting work on the side if you’ve got something to offer.

Scared? Got lots of seniority where you are? Lots of questions? Then you may decide to stay where you are, of course. Lots of people do stay, but my sense is that over the next 12 months there is going to be an increase in people starting to look and then making the leap.

What’s the best way to start if you are still attached to your job? Do you quit your job then start to look (not highly recommended if you can avoid it)? Do you move to the city of your dreams then start (it can help to have a local address – do you know someone there who can help you out?)?

I receive several serious coaching requests a month, and usually have a few people who are “feeling things out” and not quite ready to move, but they are engaged in some pre-planning. They are extending feelers, updating their resume, and may make a couple of jabs into the job market, but aren’t ready to start looking full time.

Full time, that’s right. A search for a full time job is a full time effort, so you’ll need to be ready to pull double shifts to find what you want, but it’ll be worth it as you create a future that you want, and link with work that has meaning for you, or will at least pay the rent.

Somewhere I read that you can expect to take about 2 weeks of searching for each $10k of salary that you are looking for. You also need to start drafting cover letters, update your resume, and touch base with all of your references before you can say that you have started. But wait! If you create a resume that is just like everyone else’s how will you stand out from the crowd? When it comes to resumes there are rules, and then there are rules that should be broken. Keep your eyes open for my next post, which will be about creating your resume, and what you can do to make it easy on yourself.

In the meantime, if you are part of a creative industry, or want a cool way to showcase yourself, have a look at these smart resumes that make the most of social media

http://mashable.com/2011/05/20/social-media-resumes/#146356-Add-Personality-to-Your-Print-Resumehttp://mashable.com/2011/05/20/social-media-resumes/#146356-Add-Personality-to-Your-Print-Resume

and some interesting digital ones

http://mashable.com/2011/02/21/dynamic-digital-resumes/ http://mashable.com/2011/02/21/dynamic-digital-resumes/

Vancouver Riots

2011-06-16T08:37:00.000-03:00

Riots followed the Canuck loss of the Stanley Cup last night. To me, this action demonstrates what a fragile hold we have on life. It reminds me of when I crashed my car several years ago, when a faster reaction could have avoided the whole problem, but just as the crash showed me how fragile life is, and how quickly it can change. In a moment, a balanced, secure, everyday circumstance transitions to a frightening circumstance, where afterward, nothing will be quite the same.

I’ve seen sports riots before. Edmonton had their experiences of them when I lived there, and they are all equally ridiculous. Sporting events are not worthy or rioting. Being stupidly drunk is not an excuse for rioting, vandalism, or assault. This morning, as shop keepers start replacing glass, burned out cars are towed away, The Bay dries up (and by the way, it’s very UNCANADIAN to attack The Bay, even if it is no longer a Canadian store). This year it’s particularly easy to look at shifts in government, civil war, and poverty as being worthy of rioting and united people standing for a cause. That I understand.

A cynical part of me thinks that the size, alcohol consumption rate, and excitement of the Vancouver crowd would have resulted in riots even if the Boston Bruins had not outplayed the Canucks and won the Stanley Cup. People were in a riot state of mind, and poised for getting things started.

And in case you are wondering, I don’t think that the rioters should be referred to as Canuck’s fans. They are hooligans, and ought to be ashamed of the way they treated Vancouver, and Canada, on account of a hockey series.

I want to congratulate the Bruins on a series that was, in the end, theirs. With Halifax’s close affiliation to Boston, and the fact that Bruins’ Brad Marchand is from here, there are lots of good feelings here today and we’re looking forward to seeing the Stanley Cup when he comes back for a visit. In the meantime, my heart goes out to Vancouver as clean up efforts get into full swing right about now.

What kind of feedback are you giving? Are you a cat or a dog?

2011-06-07T19:11:00.000-03:00

One of the things that gets me excited at work is the whole area of feedback. We think we know what we’re doing, that we’ll offer feedback at opportune times, that we’ll deliver it with respect and sensitivity. That every piece of feedback we offer will help our employee build an amazing career. At least that’s what we learned in that feedback course we took, and it’s what our human resource manager reinforces. But then we get back to our workplaces and the fires are stoked, and those good intentions are left behind. Completely.

My cat’s pretty good at giving feedback. She lets me know when she is hungry by meowing and batting at me; when she’s bored she claws at anything and everything; if she’s cold she on my bed curled up in a ball. If I am too slow to feed her, she works herself into a howl. If I don’t pull our the laser pointer to entertain her, she stretches against my legs while sinking her claws lightly into that first layer of skin. But seriously, she’s a cat. She is aware of nothing other than her own needs, and so I expect her feedback to be like it is. Frank and slightly painful.

But what about all those workplace leaders who behave in the same way? They only reach out to us when we do something wrong. They tell us that we’re too late, making mistakes, missing steps, or not giving it our all. You might have a good boss – or maybe you are a good boss – who also reinforces positive behaviour by offering positive, constructive feedback, and if you are I applaud you. And I also think you are a rarity to be modelled, because I just don’t see the right kind of feedback happening very often.

Remember that course on feedback that you took? The one that provided you some practice in performance review conversations, and what it means to offer meaningful, sensitive feedback that is on time, appreciated? Pull it out and dust it off, or better yet, go again for a refresh. Ask your employee how you can help them do better. You just might discover something that you never imagined, that makes your relationships with staff better, or that helps the work flow better. Very few of these ideas cost a lot to implement, and to ignore them can be at the detriment of your business.

If you continue to offer feedback that is really nothing more than a negative conversation about why you can’t give a good performer some credit, a thank you, and an annual raise, you are behaving more like the cat. Instead, I’m challenging you to be the person that your dog thinks you are. Brilliant. Kind. Loving. And you usually have some kind of a reward nearby that everyone wants.

If you'd like to do some learning about feedback, check out the soft skills courses offered here.

Do You Remember Classes You Didn't Like While in School?

2011-05-31T16:59:00.000-03:00

For the non-math buffs out there, do you remember sitting in high school math and thinking to yourself that you would never use some of this stuff? Well, I have a creative young friend who is studying interior decorating. Witnessing her do her homework one weekend, she asked her dad (who used to be a flooring and tile installer) how to calculate the area of a room so that she would order the correct amount of paint. Dad was helping her out, and I thought about how we do need to learn a large range of things in order to succeed, and that it’s too bad students balk at so many things. However, an important life skill was demonstrated here, and that knowing where to go to figure out an answer.

Train the Trainer

2011-05-31T16:57:00.000-03:00

I have been refreshing some train the trainer style courses recently, which leads me to ponder about how we learn. There is research at both ends of the spectrum that present convincing arguments about how adults learn differently than children, and then how adults learn in the same way as children. I’ve pretty much decided, after digesting a lot of it, that adults and children really do learn in very similar ways. Adults have a lot more experience at things than children, naturally, and that has implications for training in that adults want to know how their experience relates to what they are learning, and how it will apply. A natural extension of the adult experience is that they often want to know where and how the training will apply to their work or personal lives. Children may not think about the application piece, but they are still important for kids. If they are going to remember what they’ve learned, they need to apply what they’ve learned, and to use the information frequently. Think about learning a second language in school, and how within a short time of graduating, if you don’t use that language it is quickly gone from your lexicon. Forgotten.

If the idea of education is for adults and children to learn, to grow, to do things differently, then we teachers and trainers out there muse present in ways that appeal. I love the way Sir Ken Robinson contemplates education. You can see him here.

For more info about the kind of train the trainer writing I’m doing, have a peek at the softskills courses at this site, and articles here.

What are you reading?

2011-05-27T08:00:00.001-03:00

When I am chatting with people, I often ask what they are reading. The answers never cease to entertain me, and give me things to think about. I am frequently told, “oh, I’m not a big reader.” I have been told this by people I’ve interviewed for advanced jobs, students who wish to apply to grad school, supervisors, team leaders, middle managers, sales people, customer service reps, teachers, and more. It always strikes me as a poignantly sad although there was also an instance where a young woman who reads a lot was being teased for it by her coworkers. I found the teasing equally sad.

As independent bookstores continue to lose ground to big box stores, and those mega operators give up more and more book space to sell greeting cards, stuffed animals and super sized cups of coffee, I see fewer books on the shelves. Determined readers have to turn to websites to find their new literary gems, as neighbourhood libraries head into states of neglect or are simply forgotten (great pictures here of haunting library ruins in Detroit http://bit.ly/hrtwpG ).

We’ve got to get more creative in getting people to read. They’ve got to be engaged as children, because the challenge gets harder as they grow up. There is an ongoing effort required to encourage readers to get excited and pick up a book. I'm working on a series of stories for young readers, but it takes a little longer to get done than I want it to.

Libraries are will have to change, and I know that librarians are up to the task. There’s a great article on Seth Godin’s blog, here, if you want to read more about the challenge. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/05/the-future-of-the-library.html

So, what are you reading?

Firefighter Job Action Pushed Into Medical System

2011-05-26T10:47:00.000-03:00

I heard a newstory about Fredericton firefighters just now that irks me. Apparently there were so many firefighters who called in sick yesterday, their positions had to be covered by other firefighters who were called in for overtime and even off of vacation. The employer feels that the number of people calling in sick was a protest to changes in their pension rules. Changes are being proposed (or maybe they've already been made, I cannot remember), which prevent overtime hours being taken into account for pension calculation. I can relate to the frustration over changes to the pension, but I bristle when people use "sick leave" to take job action. Sick leave is for people who are sick. When it comes to job action, have your union, the employer, and the employees sort it out.

To make matters worse, the employer now wants those firefighters to get a doctor's note to say they are fit to return to work. Hold on a second! A doctor who did not see someone yesterday can certify them fit for work, but cannot confirm they were sick yesterday. Doctor's are not magicians. Stop confusing sick leave, doctor's notes, and our already beleaguered medical system with being a tool to settle disputes between employers and their employees.

And keep in mind that if we continue to demand rich pensions, loaded benefit plans, and frivolous visits to the doctor's office, someone's taxes are going to go up. A whole bunch.

On Writing

2011-05-26T09:36:00.000-03:00

I’m back to writing full time. I am so lucky! As part of my new schedule I am trying to work in a time when I will also work on some creative writing, because I know if I don’t schedule it I won’t get it done. Some of you probably hate scheduling creative writing time, but I am obliged to fulfill my employment contract, which has me writing for 8 hours a day (which is frequently more like 10 and even 12 hours), and without scheduling the fiction writing, I will never get at it. I’m too pooped at the end of the other stuff, and I really do need to make sure that we eat.

I have tried to set myself up at a coffee shop from time to time – don’t all good writers do that? Crack open their laptop, sip a latte and have prose slip effortlessly from their fingertips? That is not a great method for me, I find. Firstly, those lattes are bloody expensive, and often times they’re laced with sugar, which is not good for me. Plus, nobody makes a chai tea like the place I used to visit in Edmonton, where they actually put the spices in your tea instead of using a bag that is labelled chai, but tastes on the soggy side of wretched. The tables in the coffee shops are not that comfortable; they lack the ergonomic correctness of my much loved desk at home. And the chairs are hard.

I know as well as all of you that they really do not want writers (or anyone else) sitting for too long a time at their establishment, unless you are drinking a very steady influx of magical seven word coffee and somehow compensating them for tying up a table. Like the colours of fast food restaurants in the past that used to provoke us to gobble down our food and get out so that another happy customer could have the space, the coffee shops are not big on long visits.

It’s too bad really, because they could be an ideal place to do a little more character study work. There are many fascinating folk who visit and work there.

Publishing Your Work

2011-05-20T08:00:00.001-03:00

So you’ve written it, edited, rewritten, polished more and had it edited professionally, and you are ready to publish. Or you think you are, but it seems like the world may not be quite ready for you and so you are getting rejections practically before you get in touch with the publishers. You’ve checked all the websites of publishers who should want your stuff. You’ve sent them inquiry letters even though they said not to. Maybe you were at a writers’ festival and were able to deliver a concise, passionate and moving pitch about your work, but you’ve been told, “No, we’re not looking for anything like your book right now.”

What next?

Well, I hate to tell you this but if you really want to sell what you write (and we have to sell if we are going to make a living at this), you need to approach this part of the life of your book like a professional salesperson. Many writers don’t like to do this and they settle with having their hard work take up space on their hard drive, or in prettily tied packages in their den, because the idea of selling scares them to death.

Start thinking like someone who is a business person, which you will have to be to make a living. Write while you are writing, and then turn your thoughts to planning, marketing and selling to get your best work to your readers. Even if you do get really fortunate and find a publisher, you will need to sell yourself to them. You’ll have to help them understand what your name and your book brings to their business (if this sounds a little like finding a job, you’re on the right track).

The era of getting books published in being far outstripped by the number of books being self published. This too is a scary thought for any writers who thought they would finish the writing and a big house would take care of editing, polishing and scrubbing that manuscript. Then that same big house would market, sell and send royalty checks. The now nearly famous author would do radio interviews, book signings in big brick and mortar bookstores, and then win some kind of book prize and never look back. That’s a nice life if you can get it, but like I said, rare.

Be brave. Look at your work and decide whether you have a marketable product that someone else will read. Chances are that if you have gone through all that work to get it ready there is value there. Look at it again. Get your work out into the world by approaching it as a business.

The new Sobeys

2011-04-30T08:00:00.001-03:00

I got an insert in my flyers this week that celebrated the opening of a new Sobeys store. I visited this morning, and was impressed with the look of the new place, and they are certainly offering some great deals on groceries, which I took full advantage of. At the end, I had purchased about $120 worth of food, and was provided with a coupon for $10 off my next $100 purchase, so I am quite happy with that.

I left the store with a few thoughts, however.

Firstly, the fresh vegetable section has changed enormously. Where the older stores have great big cases with mounded fresh veg (which granted just sits there and leeches nutrients into the air) the new cases have much smaller sections. The cauliflower section hold about 10 heads, so if there is going to be a rush, you’ll want to get there early. The layout has changed too. Where the older stores are designed to accommodate you in a counter-clockwise stroll through the store (which Terry O’Reilly has successfully convinced me is the direction most people like to go), this one is laid out clockwise. You’ll be forced to the very back of the store for the dairy case, to make you take a nice long walk, but the freezers are to the right, and the produce and bakery sections to the left when you come in. That means that if you follow the usual shopping habit of picking up frozen stuff last, you’ll be going backwards. Is there some kind of marketing plot afoot to get people to change direction?

My other note was to do with the freezer section. It’s huge. Cases upon cases of frozen, microwavable no effort required meals. I find this kind of surprising since I am still one of those people who prefers to know what’s in my food and cooks at home. I have never acquired a taste for frozen to the cardboard box meals, although I have really tried and will admit that I foist them on my son when I am aiming for a deadline and don’t have time to mess around in the kitchen. I was kind of dumbfounded by the amount of tore space dedicated to those freezers. They are not just in one area either – the entire right hand wall and opposing bank make up an entire aisle, plus there are end cap style freezers for shrimp and seafood near the fish counter, and a couple of others strategically placed in between.

Anyhoo, if you are in the Halifax, NS area and want to check out the specials and the bright bank of windows, Sobeys is open for business just off Larry Uteck Boulevard, where it meets up with Highway 102. Happy shopping.

Coffee Culture

2011-04-26T08:00:00.000-03:00

I’ll admit that I am intrigued by this coffee culture of ours. I cannot really figure it out.

A coffee at Tim Horton’s, established as a Canadian chain and eventually bought by Wendy’s, is just under $2. People will visit Tim’s several times a day for their coffee, which is not one of those pleasant, smooth, rich blends. It’s just a pretty average coffee. Then there are the coffee connoisseurs who habit the more expensive coffee bars for fair trade stuff that is home roasted, carefully teased, manicured and served under a flotilla of foam. For as much as $6 or $7, and sometimes even more. Again, they will do this more than once a day.

Now there are some, but not many, who combine their visit to the coffee shop with a social stop to chat with a friend, have an informal meeting or read the paper. Most of the coffee shop visits, though, are much quicker. Up to the counter, or the drive-thru, to order a coffee that has a 10 or 12 word description (tall-non-fat-foam-French-roast-latte-with-a-shot-of-almond-to-go). They’ll spend ten minutes or more in line, and then wait off to the side for another five minutes while the barista whisks it all together, and vroom, they’re gone.

Even with coffee prices having gone up, I can purchase a very fine bag of coffee for a reasonable price. I can brew it in my very reasonably priced pot at home, and mix it up exactly how I like it. I can do this for next to nothing, pour it into my travel mug and vroom, off I go.

When I talk to people who are complaining about their financial situation, and we get honest about their coffee habit, it’s costing them an equivalent of a warm weather vacation stop (2 coffees per day at Tim’s, 5 days a week and one $6 special at Steve-o-reno’s or Just Us on the weekend, at $27 per week is about $1400 a year). That’s a lot of coffee.

I’ve calculated that my habit costs me about 60 cents a cup at home and I don’t have to stand in line to wait, and that’s for the fair trade espresso laced stuff, which I really love. I drink a cup or two a day, and yes, I visit Just Us or another local coffee place to visit with someone and spend about $18 a month doing so. That $18 plus the coffee I buy for home at about $20 a month for my son and I is less than $450 per year.

Am I missing something?

At Dalhousie

2011-04-18T09:21:00.002-03:00

I’m sitting in the student union building in Dalhousie for a second time this week. My son is writing an exam and since it’s the weekend and the buses are not to be counted on at this time of the week, I’m supposed to be sitting here working while he pens his way through an exam. Except that I have been distracted by the potential for a couple of blog posts rather than working, and since it’s the weekend, I win!

There’s been a huge number of students file past my post on the edges of Tim Horton’s, where I found a table next to a plug-in. There is a little bit of snow fluttering outside and so the students are filing by wearing everything from shorts and hoodies to winter coats and scarves. I am more of a scarf person myself except that I didn’t really think about the temperature before I left home. I don’t like being cold one little bit, and forgot that we’d probably have to park a little farther than I like to walk in the cold. I know I shouldn’t complain because it is only just below the freezing mark, but jeez, it sure does penetrate.

Earlier this week while I was here there was a mouse that went darting across the floor. I haven’t seen anything untoward yet today, although it is far noisier where I am sitting today. They could all be hiding.

Weather and Woolies

2011-02-28T13:31:00.001-04:00

There’s been a lot of griping about the weather lately. It’s all over status updates on Facebook, people’s blogs, and out here in the Maritimes it is often the biggest news story of the day. Sometimes I get in on the griping too, but given that I have chosen to live in a “northern” country, I try to limit my complaining as much as possible. Like many of you, I’ve had my eyelashes freeze together, my cheeks kissed by frostbite, toes and fingers that that were stiff and numb. I even managed to freeze my tongue to the screen on the back door when I was six or seven. I can remember being in elementary school and inventing words to describe how cold it was, although I don’t actually remember being that cold, because we were bundled up in toques and scarves and layers of knitting.

My mom is a knitter. She loves to knit scarves more than anything, and occasionally a toque too. Her mom was also a knitter, and used to create cable knit sweaters, kids’ cardigans with puppies, fairies and snowmen on them. When it came to winter, we often wore a sweater knitted by my grandmother and were sealed inside our bulky winter coats with a scarf that was knitted by my mom.

Somehow the 1970’s seemed a lot colder than more recent winters (except maybe this one – brr!) and so scarves were important. Mom would purchase lovely soft acrylics, and knit them loosely enough that they felt soft on your face, and you could still breathe through them. There were also several winters when we wore leg warmers. All the kids at school had hand knitted scarves, and if your mom was clever (as mine still is), she made you an extra long scarf that she’d wrap around your forehead, cross over behind your head and then wrap it around your face to cover your nose and mouth.

One of my favourite scarves was a mauve double wide, super long scarf. Whether it was just breezy or fully storming outside, that scarf was ideal. It was around so long that my own daughter wore it a few times. When my kids were born, Mom was still making scarves, tracking the pattern in rows of ticks and lines on her cigarette pack, and later, after she quit smoking, on any scrap of paper or old envelope.

The magic of these scarves, really, was the love that came with them. Like being wrapped in a big hug, they helped to carry you through elementary school. Where I grew up, in Alberta, you were a true dork if you were wearing anything handmade in junior high school so those were colder trips on the bus, and in high school it was even worse if you wore a hat or scarf.

Nowadays, I see a change. We are becoming more committed to eating food that is grown and raised closer to home, and I see a return to used clothing, hand me downs, and yes, knitting. I am also flexing my knitting muscle, and making tick marks on scraps of paper to track patterns. A little more warmth and a great big hug for the next generation.

Darned Groundhog Day Had Me All Excited

2011-02-26T11:40:00.002-04:00

If you were faithfully hoping that the groundhog was right this year, you won't like this blog post. We had a significant storm blow through here last night. When the lights went out during the suppertime news I figured they'd be back on soon enough and didn't get too excited about it. I did a little knitting, but that's not that fun by candlelight, so then I gathered the candles and a flashlight around the piano and had an Alfred Hitchcock type of recital. Dark and creepy but with terrific music going on. After I wrapped up the set, I decided to peer out the windows and see what was going on. In addition to my building, the funeral home and the library, I could see that there were more buildings affected. The occasional flickering candle in a window, the streetlights on, but apartments and businesses in the dark. I pulled out my ukulele and started to fool around with that and sing a little. The cat, who is named Allegro because of her own musical voice, has no affinity for music making at all, looked at me in disgust and headed off to bed.
Well, how much can you really do when the lights are off and no one else is home, I asked her retreating highness. I am not about to play Yahtzee by myself. Slightly offended by the cat, I updated Facebook and LinkedIn from my phone, and then sat at the window, storm watching some more and thinking. The poor guy walking in long strides, his jeans whipped tightly around his legs as if the wind is encouraging him to get back inside, while he fights hard against it to reach the windbreak provided by the bus shelter. The traffic sign that the power guys had erected earlier in the storm that had blown over and was repeatedly run over by people brave enough to be driving around out there.
Thinking some more, moving into meditation and thinking about life, work and what I do. Where I am going and how I intend to get there. The wind continued to battle the building and the cat roamed around restlessly. When she started clawing at my dresser (why she would do that I have no idea, except that some voice on the wind might have been telling her to) I decided I had thought long enough, and it was time to pack it in.
This morning, things look much nicer outside. It's cold, and we're still at the receiving end of some stiff, bracing wind, but the sun is shining. Apparently there are still plenty of families without power (5700 customers at last report in Nova Scotia, something like 8500 around Moncton, NB), and one friend reports that the top blew off her chimney.
Weather. Winter. Damn groundhog was wrong.

That's it, I quit!

2011-02-17T08:37:00.000-04:00

“So, I heard that you’ve quit your job.” “Now what?” “Are you okay? What’re you going to do now?” “Are you panicking yet? There aren’t that many jobs around here. What’ll you do?”

All these questions have been asked of me during the last couple of weeks. I gave my notice at work and there were some startled looks from people I am close to. I had not been at this job long, and like anyone, I need to work. Had I lost my marbles, my friends asked.

No, I have not lost my mind. I did have a kind of epiphany over the New Year (my goal setting season, typically). During the last several months I have been leading workshops, and standing in a classroom for consecutive days. This is satisfying work; fun even. People attend workshops in order to learn new skills, test out new ways of thinking, and for the most part they were very keen participants. But almost immediately I started having trouble with my legs. I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy years ago, but I did not realize that prolonged standing was going to make it so much worse. Every day that I spent training led to intense pain afterward, and the more training I did, the worse things became.

My issue is being compounded by degenerative discs in my lower back and the beginnings of arthritis in my left hip. This is causing pain too, and so when I am moving from one training session to the next without respite, things feel a whole lot worse than they did when I had a desk job. Right now I am six days past my last training session, and this morning I finally feel as though I am getting better.

It dawned on me recently that things were like this for my own mom when she was my age, and so I called her yesterday to figure out exactly when she started walking with a cane. She quickly replied that is was in 1993, which means that she was about seven years older than I am now. She didn’t use it all the time; just when she was walking outside, and felt like she needed some support. Now, however, she uses it all the time when she is outside of the house. Her doctor tells her that there is no amount of surgery that would help her out, although they did try a few rounds of injections. We had thought that Mom’s back problems were prompted by some injuries she had as a youngster, but it seems like there is most certainly a genetic component to it too, since I am looking at the same thing.

I know there will be positive things that come from this, the most certain of which is leaving standing in a classroom behind, and tackling more frequent writing and coaching work. Where’s my purple pen?

Trouble at home

2010-09-28T09:39:00.000-03:00

Every once in a while, I get on a rant. It’s not delicate of me I realize, but sometimes it’s the only way to engage in conversation with people about things because they often don’t comment on my more sensitive, homey posts.

For months I have been thinking about things in China. By things I mean the actual things that are produced there, like cell phone and computer components, light fixtures, and clothing.

Employees in China have been staging strikes against their employers to improve their earnings. If you think stuff is cheap in North America and that can also mean people in China make a decent living wage, think again. So, people there have been staging strikes, and the news of these strikes gets spread via cell phones, because it’s not getting allowed to be carried on the news. Before you get riled, please know I firmly believe that people in China deserve fair wages, just like we do here.

What do these strikes mean to us here in North America? To start with, the price you pay for stuff is going to go up, assuming that salaries increase in China, even marginally. As prices go up, my hope is that it will stimulate some development here at home so that we return to manufacturing more goods again. Opening manufacturing plants in poorer regions of Canada and the United States makes a lot more sense to me than welfare. It’s not like we have to look to China for clothing, shoes or cell phone components; we just do because it’s so inexpensive and convenient. Let’s stop shipping stuff half way around the world and wasting energy on transportation; use the expertise that we have to make things over here.

This is a similar argument to Ezra Levant, who wrote Ethical Oil. If we don’t sell oil from Alberta’s oilsands to the US, then the US will go do what they did before, which was to import it from Saudi Arabia. Let’s face it folks, it’s not as though we have a better idea or access to other technologies yet that will eliminate our reliance on oil. And the way that Canadian’s process it (whether you believe it or not) is a whole lot cleaner and friendlier than other places use. Can we improve? Of course. Do we have an alternative? No, not yet.

Right now we’ll got major building projects delayed (including a brand new school cafeteria that was supposed to be ready at the beginning of September), because China cannot provide the parts for the light fixtures, and China is now the sole supplier of these pieces to North America. What does it take for people to realize that relying on China to keep us supplied is not a solution?

Start looking at your labels, think about where your stuff comes from and what you can do about it. Buying goods in China might be easier on your wallet for now, but it’s not going to make things any easier in the future.

For more information on Ezra Levant’s opinion, have a look here:

http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/2010/08/30/15191206.html

or visit http://www.exralevant.com

My Not So Humble Sandwich

2010-09-25T16:26:00.001-03:00

I returned home today after a morning of errands and groceries, and I was so hungry I could’ve eaten my arm. To me, a sandwich is one of the most sensible and quick lunches of all, but I have spent about the last 25 years or so resisting them. A history of school day lunches built around warm, slightly sweaty sandwiches.

I suspect that when I first began school I went home for lunch. I vaguely remember kids at the kitchen table slurping chicken noodle soup. At some point though, we moved and I was far enough away from school that I had to take lunch by about grade five. Every day, that plastic wrapped sandwich came with me, except for a couple of stints to the UK where they actually (in those days) fed students a very decent hot lunch. By the time I got to high school, I had a well developed hate for sandwiches. Bologna, mock chicken loaf, mac and cheese loaf, ham, it didn’t matter. By lunch time that sandwich tasted like mystery meat. And really, what kid wants to eat something that starts with the word “mock” in front of it? Yuck.

This summer, however, I had the opportunity to kind of step back and explore the possibility of the sandwich, partly because I was trying not to eat out at lunch so often (too expensive, and fattening), and partly because they are a quick, easy lunch that does not require heating up. In addition to that, they offered the chance to redeem themselves because I had visitors coming, and we were planning to take picnics to the beach.

These days, I avoid meat that is pressed and rolled and squished into some kind of loaf. I can also make a pretty decent ‘wich with leftover roast beef, chicken or tuna. I am not a fan of wraps, because they seem to encourage more filling in the chamber, and I have a hard time getting comfortable with mouthfuls of filling. I also avoid the squishy white bread of my childhood, and prefer the hearty, seed laden types of bread that actually smell yummy as things get underway. I like mustard on one side, and a thin layer of mayo on the other. The meat goes next to the mustard, sometimes there is some kind of flavourful cheese added, and then I cut the sandwich from corner to corner and put it into a reusable plastic container. Thinly sliced tomato, cucumber and a handful of lettuce usually finish it off, although I wrap veggies separately, so that they can be laid on the sandwich just before I eat it, and they aren’t making the bread soggy. It’s not that I like lettuce in the sandwich, because I really am not a fan of lettuce if you read one of my earlier posts about it you’ll understand, but it seems to help bury the sandwich of my past, and helps the sandwich – now a stacked, multi-layered flavourful and textured meal, a half decent lunch of the present.

University the Best Road to the Future?

2010-09-24T09:12:00.003-03:00

Nova Scotia’s got some issues around university enrolments. In a province with a million people, there are 11 degree granting institutions who are run very independently within a small province. Some of them also offer the same degrees, so I can see why we have problems. If we offer, as an example, arts and science degrees at most every one of them, we are stretching resources across the province. It might make more sense to offer those degrees at just one or two locations, so that you can focus the faculty and learning and centralize some resources. I’ve also heard that Canadian student enrolments are decreasing (no wonder given the costs and abysmal support from student loans and grants), so the reaction seems to be to encourage more international students, because they will pay the high tuition. Dalhousie alone has seen an increase from about 1200 to 1700 international students this year, and St. Mary's has made similar efforts. What does that do for Canadian students who need to compete in local and international marketplaces?

Dalhousie’s tuition freeze the past few years means that undergraduate Canadian students there now pay the third highest tuition in the country, and graduate students there are paying the highest. It means my son’s tuition for the fourth year of his undergraduate degree is about $6500 this year.

Somewhere I remember reading that as Canadians, we only pay about half of the costs of that education. The government subsidizes the rest through funding to the universities. Sometimes I wish that I had grown up somewhere else, where university is paid for in full. I think it would be worth it, even if it meant my taxes were higher, because this tuition bill is out of this world. When I compare how international students (and I don’t belittle them the education, I’m just not happy with what they get that is also tax payer funded--and they do get stuff) are treated, I fund the preferential treatment frustrating.

For example, in Nova Scotia, international students who qualify receive free provincial health care after their first year. That puts them on equal footing with my son, who also receives free provincial health care. There are associations here and abroad that will pay for 100% of tuition, books, study aids (like a computer) and living expenses for international students. My son is an honour student, and only receives a small scholarship. We have to budget and scrimp to pay for books, clothing, tuition (with help from student loans), and still accrue debt. The average Canadia student finishes a 4-year undergraduate degree with about $40,000 in debt. Something is not right about this when we live in an apparently weathy country.

Some Early Thoughts About Christmas

2009-12-02T18:59:00.004-04:00

This is such a fascinating and exciting time of year for me, that I wanted to share a couple of things.

As a child, Christmas had a lot to do with big family meals. We seemed to start eating on Christmas Eve with my grandmother's scotch eggs, Yule log and plum pudding, Mom and Dad's Christmas cake, trifle, sausage rolls and cookies, pounds of turkey and gravy...I'm sure you get the idea. We all wound up stuffed to the gills until some time after New Year's.

When I entered the world of music as a youngster, I played all kinds of instruments and spent a lot of time playing in Christmas concerts and frequently the levee's at New Year too. I absolutely love Christmas music, and playing so much a part of it really became a part of the holiday for me. While some people may love a particular music genre (rock, jazz, r & b, rap, etc), my first love is with Christmas music.

When I had my own kids, Christmas' were made even more fun. Watching them bake and have fun in the kitchen, sharing the family gatherings together and seeing their own joys of music and colour grow have enriched my life far beyond my expectations.

As I have gotten older, there are a couple of important things that I have learned about Christmas:

I no longer have to stuff myself over the holidays. I enjoy the food, but keep it in perspective. Okay, maybe I stuff a little, especially when it comes to chocolate and gravy, but I don't eat full time from Christmas Eve to New Year's anymore.

Giving is about really making a difference, and so while I do still fill up a stocking for my now grown kids, I also look at ways to help people make it through what for many of them is the worst time of year. This year my attention will be sharply pointed at two very important people in my life: my 89-year old grandmother who had a stroke earlier this year and is still pretty sharp but physically a mess, and my dear friend who lost her 21-year old son to kidney disease in May. These normally strong women are both suffering as we head toward Christmas, and so I will be there - cooking and carolling - with and for both of them.

The Practice of Paying Attention

2009-07-04T08:08:00.002-03:00

I am working on paying attention. Actually I have moved it up several notches, to reverence. In the midst of this fascinating book which I can relate to really well in terms of my relationship with both God and religion, is a discussion about reverence. About slowing down and considering things in their smallest, complete detail – to revere them. I am forced to do this somewhat reluctantly at this early hour, as my upstairs neighbour and the man delivering the paper once again engage in early morning discussion.

I live in a building where people know each other at least enough to say ‘hello’, and maybe ‘how are you’ although not many that you would ask ‘what are you at?’. In the mix is the fellow who lives above me, who is home much of the time, and prefers to smoke and pass the time on his balcony. And talk with the neighbours as they come and go from the building. This morning the man’s cats woke him at 5:00 AM, not that I know him well enough to ask, ‘Hey neighbour, what time did your cats wake you on this particular day?’. I heard him tell this to the paper delivery man, just before 7:00. You see, if folks see upstairs neighbour on his balcony, they always say a friendly ‘hi’, although often neighbour says so first. Sometimes, there follows a bit of chit chat about weather, the state of politics, the birds darting around protecting their nests, the stolen car aerial flags, and what have you. Today was the day to discuss the early rising (due to the cats waking him) as well as some critter that the paper guy saw early one morning. I have already forgotten what kind of critter it was; possibly an otter, a beaver, or a magical creature from some lagoon, so that part of it doesn’t matter I suspect. The point is that the chit chat is important for these two men today.

What does this have to do with reverence? Well, my first reaction is to get very short tempered about the noise outside my window. If you’ve read earlier entries to this blog, you know that we’ve been subjected to parties in the wee hours, midnight scurrying as people dodge their lease and move out, birds nesting in my bathroom fan and making all kinds of eerie noises, as well as the neighbourly chit chat outside. Reverence comes from looking at the minute details of the noise, considering what each person – particularly upstairs neighbour – is dealing with. The man is ill, very much so (although he does continue to smoke...but at some point, it no longer matters does it?), and has relatively few things to look forward to in his day. The contact that he gets from the balcony is company for him. He is the neighbourhood weather reporter, barometer, and crime watcher. When someone moved from the building, he let me know right away so that I could see the superintendent and claim a better parking spot for myself. He trims the neighbours cat claws for her so that she does not get scratched. He has a good heart and so the noise, while annoying in the midst of my reluctantly waking up, can be forgiven. Though I was up working and writing until late last night, being up early this morning means that I can get back to it and on to other things rather than wile the morning away in bed. This is the start of breaking down and looking at details, the beginnings of reverence.

Reverence takes time, and it takes practice I think. It is, however, a way to discover a different perspective on life. A way to uncover meaning, by looking at things on a small scale, and to reveal treasure within that we would otherwise have dismissed. It is not necessarily about discovering the divine, although it is really about uncovering the divine within everything. Next time something catches your attention, try looking at it again; that second look can make all the difference in the world.

If you are curious about the book, it is called An Altar in the World, by Barbara Taylor Brown, and the chapter I am referring to is called The Practice of Paying Attention. Fascinating.

Book Launches to The World!

2009-06-20T13:45:00.002-03:00

The push to share Wake Up Live the Life You Love Empowered with the reading world went very well last week. With about 50 authors, including some really fascinating coaches (okay, me), a man who blows square bubbles (Geoff Atkins), a co-authors from Wake Up Women (Melinda Day Harper), and several highly public and recognized teachers of inspiration including John Assaraf, Michael Beckwith, and Brian Tracy. There’s even a little tidbit in there from Wayne Dyer.

The word empowered has taken a beating over the last several years. It’s been debated in PhD dissertations, and I recall last year there was a debate in Britain about removing it from common English usage, or something like that, because it is confusing. I remember the haranguing going on because it was taking place at about the same time that my chapter was being submitted. The debates fascinated me because in older usage, empower meant to pass power to someone. It’s a verb. Nowadays, in the self-help industry in particular, it has become a buzzword, referring to giving people there own power. I don’t see anything wrong with that at all. I think that the more aware people are of their own value, their gifts, their ability to serve and strengthen others, the better off we all are. As such, the book hit the marketplace last week in what we call a “push” with the marketing team and individual authors getting the word out and selling the books from the Barnes and Noble website. We made it to #4 on the Bestsellers list, and #1 on the Self-Help list. Not bad for a little book!

There really is a wealth of information, advice and insight here.

Expressions

2009-06-20T12:51:00.003-03:00

There is a theme of loss countered with renewal going on for me right now. A sense of energy through the changes at work, but tempered by heart wrenching and unexpected loss. Two unrelated deaths that have really rocked people who are huge parts of my life, and it’s hard to find words that will meaningfully convey comfort to my loved ones . My expressions of love and condolence that I extend do not feel quite as though they are reflecting the full weight of my emotion when I say them, but words are all that I have since none of the people affected are close enough to actually, physically be with right now. Were I closer, I would do all those kind hearted comforting things people do at a time like this – many of which revolve around food (cooking, baking, preparing for others and sharing it), and some which involve providing a shoulder, offering a hug, or sharing a look. Those things are harder to do over the phone. Sometimes, even for someone who writes and has a pretty good grasp on language, words fall short.

Need a Rain Dance

2009-06-19T12:49:00.000-03:00

My friends and family in Alberta are being subjected to a severe drought. Farmers are selling their cattle, and fields are producing very little. There is a good article here. Listen guys, the summer solstice is this weekend – some ceremonial rain dancing may be in order.

Great drought article here

Sleeping Remedy

2009-06-17T12:48:00.000-03:00

On April 22, I announced I was promoted at work and taking on a new job, so if you’ve wondered about the boom of silence on here, dear reader, that was it. I am now well into my transition, having spent about several weeks of overlap between the two jobs, and quite enjoying the adrenaline rush, the learning and getting myself immersed in the newness. One unexpected bonus is that I am sleeping like a log at night – so much going on in the daytime, that my head and heart are full, and zonk! I’m out like a light!

Empowered!

2009-04-24T13:39:00.002-03:00

I just had a moment. One of those heart skipping almost out of your body kind of moments. I am presently sitting in the student union building at Dalhousie. My daughter is writing one of her last final exams for the term, and I have the day off so I thought I would do some reading while she writes. One of the things I needed to do today was have a look at an advance copy of a book that I have a chapter in. The book is called Empowered, and it is part of the best-selling series from Steven E and Lee Beard called Wake Up…Live the Life You Love.

The idea with receiving an advance copy of the book is that each author gets a chance to read through it and make sure there are no errors. Given that this series of books goes through about four levels of editorial process (consultation, proofreading, line edit and contextual editing), I did not expect any errors, and I did not find any. The beauty of this exercise, for me, is that I have the entire book in my hand and so I also flipped through it and read several other chapters.

It’s been a long time since I submitted my chapter, nearly a year. There has, as is one of the themes in my life, been a lot of change in the past year; the focus of my work, my living arrangements, financial situation in light of the recession, and my relationship with God being the major ones. Looking back on it with the assistance of Empowered is uplifting. It felt exceptionally good to read chapters by some of the other contributors to the book, including Brian Tracy, John Assaraf and Dr. Wayne Dyer. Geoff Akins is in there too, brilliantly describing the art of a life that flourishes amid square bubbles. Melinda Day-Harper, whom I worked with on Wake Up Women, has a beautiful and inspiring message too. There is a lot here for you to read and think about, and then to act on. I am excited about getting my copies of the book, and sharing them with you as part of the goal to help people “Wake Up…Live the Life You Love”.

Here's to Your Success!

2009-04-23T09:30:00.000-03:00

I want to share with you a few of the techniques that I used to get my new job. If you are looking, know that this stuff is important.

1) after the first interview, I followed up by sending a hand written thank you note to the hiring manager and the hr manager that interviewed me. Your note should be brief, genuine and need not be complicated. Try something like this:

Dear___________,

Thank you for interviewing me yesterday. It was a pleasure to meet with you, and I am looking forward to learning more about this opportunity.

(If you aren’t interested in the position any longer, you can use the note to say that too).

2) the hiring manager hoped to get back to my by Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, not having heard anything just yet, I sent her an email asking to meet together so that I could ask her some questions about the position. We met on Thursday. I had a list of six, in-depth questions that highlighted both my understanding of what the area needed, as well as looking at some ways to support the team quickly upon my joining.

3) I called my references to let them know what was happening, and sent them a copy of the cover letter and resume that I had used to apply for the position. That way, they don’t have to wrack their brains for dates or specific projects that I worked on. The information is there, in their email.

4) I negotiated my salary, and did a great job of it for the first time ever. Often companies have a rule about the way that an internal promotion is handled, and they put restrictions on how much of a raise you can get. Don’t buy that on the first pass.

a. negotiate your salary with your boss, not the HR person

b. discuss a salary that fits the position and the experience that you bring to it, in terms of the value that you bring to the role. Be flexible, but also clear on what your expectations are, and why. Know what similar positions in your region are paying, if at all possible. Your new boss will be clear too, but you won’t be able to negotiate anything once you sign that letter, so know what you are getting yourself into. Remember that sometimes we negotiate money, and sometimes we can negotiate things like professional development opportunities, vacation time, benefits, hours of work (if they lowball, will they consider a 4-day week?), and so on.

Good luck! Getting a job in a recession might be a little more challenging than usual, but that makes it even more satisfying, see?

New Job

2009-04-22T09:30:00.000-03:00

Cool things are happening, and so loyal readers, I can finally share. I have been working with one of

Canada

’s top 100 employers for the last nine months or so, to supplement (okay, replace) the lack of progress I was making with my business this time last year. Now, I have been given an opportunity to manage a department of about 25, and I am really stoked! I’m looking forward to the challenge, to doing some really interesting people work, and to finding my groove here. It’ll be good. It is good.

Thinking of Home

2009-04-21T09:30:00.000-03:00

Yesterday had some tinges of the truly surreal. I am missing my family back home, and they were gathering in honour of my mom’s birthday. I connected with the over the phone briefly, but that’s not the same as actually, you know, being there. I’ve seen some of them since I got here of course; my sister was living with me until last fall, my parents have been to visit, as did my oldest daughter, an uncle, a cousin, and several friends. At times, however, the pull from home is really strong. I would love to show up out there for a couple of weeks this summer, and it just isn’t going to happen because I start a new job in a few weeks. Not totally new, but a great promotion, and the summer is going to fly by.

Maybe next year guys!?!

Driving and Waving

2009-04-20T21:31:00.000-03:00

On my way home from work today, I stopped at a red light and glanced in my rear view mirror. The woman in the car behind me was talking quite animatedly and I looked around her car to see if there was a child that she was speaking too. Nope. No one there at all. It only took a moment to realize that she was talking while using her hands free phone, which around here is the law.

As we pulled away from the light, I glanced back again and she that now she is doing that most dangerous thing; she is talking with her hands – gesturing. Both hands off the wheel as she flails around and emphasizes some point. Her salon blonde hair is cut in a perfect bob, moving in time with her gestures. She is close enough to me that I have to creep up to fit her hood ornament in my mirror. She is driving a silver BMW. She was in my sights like this for some time as we crawled toward the train tracks that cross Akerley. There was a lot of traffic, and was congested as usual for this time of day. Five minutes later, as I pulled onto the highway, I left her way behind, still intent on her conversation.

10 Tips for Keeping it All Together

2009-03-09T08:00:00.001-03:00

Following along on the topic of the last few posts, we’ve been exploring burnout and avoiding distress. Here are ten things that I do to keep myself together. Perhaps there is something new that will help you out too. These are from Live Inspired.

Take a break! Plan for healthy breaks around vacations and long weekends or just set aside fifteen minutes now and again to meditate; you know what your body and spirit need and you must respect that. While you are at it, take your breaks at work. I am amazed at the number of tired and dragged out faces at the end of the day, many of them from folks who have not managed to extract themselves from their desks long enough to catch some air. Come on, you can do it!

Do something that you love each week, for as much time as you can spare. I love music but had little time for my piano or flute. Now I also own a drum and I am back to playing my ukulele which keeps me connected to music and gets my adrenaline thumping too!

Make plenty of time for the important people in your life; kids, spouse and family or whomever is important to you. It doesn’t mean you cook gourmet every night in order to get them all to the table. You can walk the dog together, wash dishes together or have a games night. Stay connected and make special times into mini celebrations that they want to be a part of.

Eat properly most of the time. Believe it or not, fruit and vegetables, complex carbohydrates and protein do have a huge impact on how we feel. Learn about nutrition and make the most of it. You don’t have to become a fanatic or anything; just know what’s going in your body and how long it takes to come out.

Maintain a regular sleeping schedule; get up and go to bed at about the same time each day to keep your body conditioned to when down time is, and when you are going to need some energy.

Work on your spiritual side. You don’t have to get religious if that’s not you, but there are huge benefits to spending time with yourself and working on your spiritual development or meditation.

Laugh out loud and often. If you just can’t muster the energy to laugh, rent a comedy or pull up some videos on YouTube. I love Robin Williams’ Live on Broadway, Ellen DeGeneres, and Russell Peters. Find some funny folks that you enjoy and you will soon find yourself laughing. No matter what you do to create laughter for yourself, your body will release those feel good endorphins, and we can all use some of those!

Say ‘no’. I am sometimes surprised that I still have to remind people to do this, but I include it because it is vitally important. If you are someone with too many things on the go, too many demands, it is okay to say ‘no’. People will respect you for identifying your limits.

Breathe deeply. When pressure starts building or you just feel the need to relax, deep breathing exercises can calm you quite quickly (see below for directions). Once you get really good at this, you can actually do it while walking around or listening to someone at work. This is a very effective way to “unclutter” what’s going on in your head.

Visualize things that make you feel good. Let things that are pleasant come into your mind and enjoy them for a moment before you move onto other things. Visualizing is powerful because your brain does not really know where your body is. This means that if you are feeling tense and want to relax, you can think your way to an pleasant state. If your moment of joy comes from whooshing down Marble Mountain on a pair of brand new skis, then close your eyes for a moment and picture yourself at the top of the mountain; feel the skis move over the fresh powder, the cool air against your face as you begin to head down the slope. Your brain will think that your body is there, you will feel the same feelings within your body that you would if you were at the place you imagine.

Do you have things that you do to de-stress? Share them here with us, and we'll create a list of how to get through life that everyone can benefit from.

Do you drive yourself crazy?

2009-03-08T08:00:00.000-03:00

I’ve been reading this great little book by G. Gaynor McTigue, called Why Make Yourself Crazy? One of the women that I work with loaned it to me and although at first I wondered what the message was (do people think, or know, that I am crazy?), it’s too good a book to keep to myself.

This is a small book, kind of like my Live Inspired. It’s not meant to take a month to read, although you could read it in small digestible pieces and spread it over a month if you wanted to. Why Make Yourself Crazy? is a collection of 100 short strategies for untangling the chaos that we perpetuate. Each chapter is about the length of a blog post, so it is a quick read. If you are heading up a meeting, you could even read one or two as an introduction. Strategy #93, for instance, speaks to saving time hunting through boxes, packages and containers by using see-through plastic. Practical, useful tips for all aspects of life. I also like #10, Eliminate Meaningless Deadlines, because we are perpetuating an environment where everything has to be done at supersonic speed, and it’s really just stressing us out. Life is short. There is no need to make ourselves crazy!

You can find the book in a few places, but here are the details:

Why Make Yourself Crazy? 100 Ways to Rid Your Life of Needless Stress, by G. Gaynor McTigue, Pick Me Up Books, ISBN 0 9716427-0-2 $9.95 in the US You can check out the author here http://www.ggaynormctigue.com/

Do you recognize burnout?

2009-03-07T08:54:00.001-04:00

Burnout was once a word that we heard a lot - it referred to the "other guy" who had hit work really hard, gave his all and then needed a six month "vacation" to properly recover. It certainly would never apply to us personally would it? We're tough, perfectly aligned, or immune to problems that the rest of our friends or colleagues might experience. Ha!
In the past ten years or so, we have become much more likely to speak in terms of depression and anxiety, or we may run into problems that we ascribe to moral turpitude but I do not often hear the term "burnout". It is too bad if it has run out of common usage, because it's one of those words that actually describes what it means. I witness it on the faces of my clients and colleagues frequently, and have certainly worn the look myself.
One rather official definition of burnout is something like this:
"a state of fatigue brought about by a devotion to a cause, a way of life or a relationship that failed to produce the expected reward" (H. Freudenberger).
There are other definitions, although personally I think that this works quite well too:
"When I devote 90% of my energy to one area of my life, other things are left to share just 10%. When I look around and realize that the leftover bit is suffering horribly, I try to readjust, but it means that I need to tap into some kind of extra reserve in order to keep everything running smoothly. Not surprisingly, this math doesn't work; I cannot be 100% to all things all the time, and when I try, I actually shut down physically and emotionally, and do and be even less." That shutting down is, of course, the burnout part of it all.

There is a continuum to consider that runs from Stress ---->>>> to Distress.
Stress itself is not harmful; it's even normal and healthy. A certain amount of stress keeps us on our toes and alert. Turned on even. Distress, however, can come from many sources, and occurs as we become less able to manage the stress that we are experiencing. Distress can lead to changes in your health, behaviour, and lead to feelings of illness and being overwhelmed.

One of the leading causes of distress people tell me about is a lack of work-life balance. Or is it life-work balance? That whole life/work work/life thing baffles me, because no matter what we call it, we are really talking about a sense of balance period; an integration within our life.

Personal causes of burnout can be:
-a lost sense of purpose (who are you, and what do you stand for?)
-personal issues that are getting out of whack and distracting us from our purpose
-changes or circumstances that we feel powerless to influence
-a choice we've made to stop taking responsibility for the results that we get in life

Work related causes of burnout are sometimes:
-low levels of cooperation, trust and respect
-lack of resources and reward in jobs that have high demands
-limited opportunity for advancement
-a choice we've made to stop taking responsibility for the results that we get in life, and in particular, our work

Signs of burnout
-an inability to concentrate on priorities effectively
-that negative voice inside our head that insults, shames and irritates
-changes to health including persistent minor illnesses and fatigue
-changes to sleep (too much or too little), eating (again, too much or too little), or lack of attention to personal hygiene when there was good attention there before
-making more mistakes than usual
-absenteeism or presenteeism
-self medicating with over the counter or illegal drugs, alcohol, etc

Solutions to burnout
-know who you are and what you are about (your purpose)
-know the organization where you choose to work and what they stand for
-remove yourself from negative, pessimistic people and situations
-look after yourself by including things that you enjoy in your week, manage your time and boundaries, and also give of yourself to people and activities that you love
-look after your career by taking responsibility for where you are at, and where you are going
-accept that there are times when we are exactly where we need to be; the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence. A little weeding and fertilizer does wonders for helping the flowers to grow.

Are you feeling a little frazzled around the edges, or completely burned out? What will you do to help yourself get through it and to feeling back on top of the world? Share your ideas here, and perhaps help someone else out in the process.