Creative Career Coaching Blog - Creative LifeWork Design

Are You the Best That You Can Be?

7/28/2017

Are you in the driver’s seat managing your career or are you a passenger waiting to see what direction it takes? If you are not clear about your vision, strengths, values, and goals you may be passively watching the road as opportunities come and go without recognizing the possibilities in front of you, and taking action.

Your Life Coach will show you how to take charge of your life and career. You can’t control the road hazards and detours along the way but you can choose how you act and react to your environment.

You have a vision for what you want in your life and career. If you take the time to write it down, reflect, clarify and see what is most important based on your values and strengths, you will have a clear picture for your life and career. A clear vision will drive you to make plans and goals that fit your values. Understanding your values and what is most important to you will take you on the ride of your life. With a Master’s degree in Career Counseling and 15 years’ experience, Nancy has the expertise to help you create your map for success.

Ready for a complimentary conversation to see what coaching can do for you? Read about Nancy, her coaching style, and what a 20-30 minute get acquainted appointment might look like. While you’re here, send Nancy an email to set up a telephone conversation. She’s looking forward to hearing from you.

Imagery for Healing

5/9/2017

Using imagery I learned in NLP training, I began imagining this growth in my kidney coming out of my body, flying out into the universe, and getting a big smile in return.

A couple of months ago I was having a lovely pre-valentines day dinner with my husband when my doctor called and told me he was sorry to give me the news that I have cancer and would need surgery. It was a shock, and I didn’t know what to expect. A large mass in my kidney, the doctor said. That didn’t sound good. I told my husband that I would have that glass of Merlot after all.

As I had follow up tests without really knowing what all was involved, I found myself getting very anxious since we have a lot of cancer in our family, often with less than positive results. When I called the after hours nurse about my cough from recent pneumonia, I was told I would need more tests and probably shouldn’t go on the train trip to Colorado that I had planned. Wow! I felt overwhelmed. I realized I needed to give my worry thoughts to God. I really didn’t have all of the information yet, and worry thoughts were not making me any healthier.

Wondering about the next phase of my life: how I would sell my books, see clients, and write when at best I would be taking a break for tests, appointments, and surgery. What to do besides worry?

Using imagery I learned in NLP training, I began imagining this growth in my kidney coming out of my body, flying out into the universe, and getting a big smile in return. After doing this exercise several times, I smiled every time I thought of surgery. I’ve had many surgeries for my eyes that have not all gone well, so I know I can get nervous at the thought of surgery. Giving myself a big smile each time I thought about surgery eased my tension. I was fairly relaxed through the whole process.

I also thought about this growth as too much of a good thing. We all want cells to grow when they need to. Apparently my cells had too much growth. They didn’t know when to quit, repair, or die when no longer needed. Thinking of these cells as too much of a good thing rather than feeling diseased helped my attitude and healing. Saying growths or cancers are too much of a good thing is definitely an oversimplification, but for me it was a healthy one.

Healing comes in many forms that I can control:

Attitude
Perspective
Mind
Lifestyle

While there are some aspects of health and healing that I cannot control, there is much that I can self-manage. When my body cries out that something is wrong, rather than stressing it further, I can stop, pray, listen, heal, and then move forward with the next phase of my life and work.

Cancer Cells. Cancer Research UK.
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/what-is-cancer/how-cancer-starts/cancer-cells. Accessed 5/9/2017.

Dilts, R. (1998). Harnessing the Imagination. Retrieved from:
http://www.nlpu.com/Articles/artic16.htm. Accessed 4/2/2017

Schaub, F. The 9 Keys to Self Healing. http://www.cellularwisdom.com/keys-to-selfhealing.shtml. Accessed 5/9/2017.

Blessings for Health and Prosperity,
Nancy J. Miller, M.S.
Author: Vegetable Kids in the Garden
Fire Up Your Profile For LifeWork Success

Create a LifeWork Portfolio

3/31/2017

A portfolio is a gathering place for your proudest accomplishments. It’s easy to gather your projects, experience, skills, and values in one place if you start now by finding a binder (or folder if you don’t have a binder handy) and drop in what you have right now. As you gather more accomplishments add them to your binder.

Keep it simple – add to your portfolio as you gain accomplishments.
Make it easy – start with what you have.
Have fun – add a picture or photo to the front of your portfolio, add colors, assessments, lists, art, or whatever best represents you.

Your portfolio is flexible. As you build your LifeWork Portfolio, take out what is no longer working for you and add what makes you smile. Develop new skills and accomplishments where you need them. If you can’t easily list your strengths, skills, and character, refer to pg. 110-113 of Fire Up Your Profile For LifeWork Success.

CAREER SUCCESS FORMULA

Strengths + Skills + Character + Opportunities = Career Success

The purpose of your portfolio is to gather personal and career information, job search tools, plans, and goals in one place. If you need a portfolio to take to an employer, you will want to choose the most relevant information from your LifeWork Portfolio and create a separate professional presentation folio, binder, or folder. Use the method most appropriate to your field of interest. Grow your portfolio and adapt it to your career transformations. Be creative, make your portfolio yours, and use the section titles that work best for you. Here are some sections you might want in your LifeWork Portfolio:

About Me
1. Vision Statement
2. Strengths/Value/Interests
3. Motivational Quotes/Poems

Purposeful Work
1. Your Purpose for Working
2. Preferred Working Environment
3. Examples of Successful Experiences

Career Management
1. Flexible Goals
2. Action Plan
3. Healthy Lifestyle Strategies

Job Search Plan
1. Job Search Assessment
2. Occupation/Company Research
3. Job Descriptions
4. Exit Strategy
5. Challenges
6. Job Opportunities

Job Search Tools
1. Skills you want to use
2. Master Application
3. Master Resume/Letter
4. References
5. Degrees/Licenses
6. Training/Certifications
7. Recommendations

Accomplishments
1. Awards/Presentations
2. Work Experience/Projects
3. Art/Writing/Creative Work
4. Letters of Appreciation

Community Involvement
1. Cultural
2. Travel
3. Volunteer
4. Leadership
5. Memberships
6. Languages

If you should feel a bit overwhelmed with the task of gathering your strengths, skills, and accomplishments to create an extraordinary picture of you, then contact a LIfeWork Coach,
or counselor to help you bring your strengths and accomplishments to light.

Adapted from: Fire Up Your Profile For LifeWork Success
@copyright 2016 by Nancy J. Miller

Create a Fired Up Profile

3/30/2017

Your profile is an opportunity to paint a unique picture of yourself that you can use and adapt for a bio, an “About” page for your website, a resume for job search, or a profile for social media.

"Create your own visual style... let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.”
—Orson Welles

If you haven’t ever created a picture of yourself in words, it may seem like a daunting task. Where would you even begin? You can start by gathering your education, experience, accomplishments, credentials, and skills in a Career Portfolio (you can gather your information in a binder, file, or album).

You decide what you want to share and with whom. Once you write a basic profile you will be able to adapt it to many situations. Use your profile to tell people who you are and what you value. Play around with the words until you come up with something that feels like you.
Depending on where you use it, your profile might be a paragraph or a page. You can adapt your profile for media, a short bio, a cover letter, a proposal or presentation. Choose the voice you want to use (your name or pronoun “I”, or “we”). Looking back at your accomplishments and what led to where you are today will give you the push to move forward.

Whether you are starting a formal career, you are transitioning with years of management experience, or you are reorganizing for retirement, your Fired Up Profile will provide you with the information and tools you need for a commanding introduction. Listen first then connect with common interests.

With your job search tools, your ability to manage your career, and your Career Portfolio of accomplishments you can feel confident wherever you are. You are NOT a job search beggar waiting for an employer to provide you with his meager offering. You know what you want and you are willing to take the steps necessary to find your own personal career success.

The ability to tell your story in different ways will help you respond to the prompt “Tell me about yourself.” As Kathy Hansen says in her book, Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling
to Get Jobs and Propel Your Career, “Knowing how to tell your story makes you unique and gives the interviewer something to like about you.”

When connecting with customers, employers, and partners you want them first and foremost to like you. Why wouldn’t they? You have so many unique talents to share.

DESCRIBE WHO YOU ARE

The first step to finding life and career success is knowing who you are, how to describe your strengths and abilities, and how to confidently say how you make a difference. Use your journal or a page in your Career Portfolio to write about yourself. This is the first step to writing your profile. Write a description of yourself.

Describe three skills and how you like to use them.
Write about three strengths or talents you enjoy enough that you would do them without getting paid.
Name an interest or hobby and why you enjoy it.
List an accomplishment that made a difference for someone.
Explain something you have done in your career that added value to your job, business, or responsibilities.

From the book: Fire Up Your Profile For LifeWork Success

March 30th, 2017

3/30/2017

I found my self feeling apathetic about my writing until January of this year when I started two classes through the Creativity Coaching Association that includes Creativity Coaching, self-coaching, and building my practice. I can see that I've been neglecting my Creative Coaching blog, but now I am getting energy and motivation to fire it up!

Apathy can kill a business or project before it really gets off the ground. Apathy is so boring that I can't even think of a picture for it. Where does it come from?

Distractions, disruptions, tech difficulties, working on something I am no longer interested in, wondering if anyone is listening or if anyone cares. Wow! I'm' bored just listening to myself––that's what apathy does. Apathy is indifference or suppression of emotions.

My job as a coach and writer is to stir up the emotions in myself and interest in others. It doesn't happen by itself. It often happens with others or in groups. My creativity coaching class and clients are bringing out my emotions, excitement, and interest. It doesn't happen in a vacuum. We need people to stimulate us, bring out the best in us, and inspire us to do the work we were made to do.

Ok. I'm ready to write! My next post will definitely have a picture.

Blessings for Health and Prosperity,
Nancy

Enjoying Carol McClelland’s Seasons of Change

12/19/2016

We are coming to the end of the fall season, and in the Sacramento Valley we are feeling an early winter. After four years of severe drought we are getting rain and frost. Seeing damp streets with the breeze bouncing leaves up on our lawn, reminds me of an activity in Carol McClelland’s, The Seasons of Change: Using Nature’s Wisdom to Grow Through Life’s Inevitable Ups and Downs. She says:

"Take a walk and notice the season. What are some of the signs
of winter? Notice lingering traces of fall. The seasons are
a great reminder that things are always changing, growing,
and continuing."

My favorite evening activity is to walk outdoors and notice the season. I find the changing seasons are most interesting whether it is a cool breeze on my face contrasting with the warm sun on my back or the bright Christmas lights in contrast to the cold dark winter night.

The seasons remind us that change is normal but unexpected change or changes that come fast and furious can feel dark, unsettling, and confusing. McClelland calls the darkness the Winter Solstice where there is hope in the darkness. The work of a counselor or coach often intersects with a sense of darkness or confusion. Bringing light, hope, and clarity to the challenging times is like the natural movement from the darkness of winter to the bright resilience of spring.

Unexpected change can cut into plans and expectations like an axe into wood, but expected change can be more like a slow slice into fresh bread. Instead of feeling the clamor of separation, the slow slice is made easier if there is a plan for how to share the fresh bread. Is that too much analogy for you? Personally I could smell the fresh bread and feel the anticipation of what comes next. I’ve learned to be optimistic and find joy in expected change. I start feeling a little sad in September with the yearly expectation that our swims and weekly trips to the lake are ending, so I start planning winter trips like a train ride from Sacramento to Denver in the winter. Last year riding through the snowy mountains was a peaceful winter adventure. The colder days are perfect for contemplating and writing.

Enjoy the coming winter season. If you get stuck in the Winter Solstice, contact a counselor or coach to spring you back to life before you even turn your calendar to March.

Give Yourself a WooHoo!

8/9/2016

When you accomplish something or have a small success––it doesn’t matter how small it is, give yourself a WooHoo! It's even more fun if you share your WooHoo! with someone else and then High Five. You might even want to give yourself a nice WooHoo! to energize yourself for your next success. Here’s what to do:

!. Stand up.
2. Raise your arms up high.
3. Jump up and say WooHoo!
4. If you didn’t smile and feel a little energy go through your body, then do it again.

Feel your success in your body. You can energize your mind and body in a matter of seconds to start opening up your posture for success. WooHoo!

Bastion, N. (2016). 5 Fundamentals of Body Language to Increase Your Success in Life. Retrieved from: http://www.lifehack.org/431002/5-fundamentals-of-body-language-to-increase-your-success-in-life

Taking Time Out for a Train Ride

1/18/2016

I read about writers who love to take the train. It sounded like a writer's dream. Since I want to write another book, possibly scifi, I couldn't wait for the opportunity to write on the train. I was picturing myself getting so much work done during my ride.

It was so much fun to talk to people ahead of time about my upcoming train trip and hear about the trips they want to take on the train. The conversations and stories turned out to be a highlight of taking a train trip.

I got a roomette on the train with a big window. I was ready to be inspired to write the great novel. My computer was in my bag in the seat across from me as I gazed out the window looking at the mountains, snow capped trees, and rivers. I was mesmerized. I took lots of pictures and sat in awe of the nature surrounding us.

I found the best part of my 2-day train trip was relaxing while watching the amazing scenery, serenity, and sharing stories with other passengers in the dining car. We talked about Dr. Who, science fiction, gardening, and vegetables. I even got praise for my book, Vegetable Kids in the Garden from people interested in gardening and vegetables. It was a fun place to network.

There are so many ways to talk about yourself, become yourself, and reach out to others in unconventional ways. I didn't write much on the train, but I found that taking time out to see nature, talk with different people, and gain a new perspective inspired me to do the work I want to do. I was excited about hearing more stories, talking to people, and finding creative ways to use social media.

When I got back home, I interviewed a local entrepreneur about his businesses successes, motivation, and plans for 2016. Jim Brown is a cowboy married to a ballerina. It was very interesting to hear how they bring the two themes together in their Bravos restaurant. Read more of his success story.

A career is more than a resume and a business is more than selling a product. Doing something different, finding a new perspective, sharing interests and a bit of our lives is part of creating career success.

Does Style Matter?

12/15/2015

Your style shows in how and when you work and play. It is your brand––what you show to the world. You brand your work with more than what you say to your audience.

You show your style in what you do, how you look, what you say, and how others perceive or react to you.

What’s inside is the substance. Without that you don’t have a resume, profile, book, or whatever you want to show people. But unless you can draw the person in to see the substance it goes nowhere.

Take a moment to think about your business. Imagine what you want your customer to feel when they meet you. Do you want them to feel relaxed or energized? Do you want to look efficient and functional or warm and fun? Do you want your voice to sound warm and passionate about what you do or cool and professional?

Whether you have your own business or you are in the business of looking for a job, working for an employer, or writing you want to find the style that truly reflects the you that you want to present. Notice how your customer or employer reacts to you. Are you getting the result you want?

Ask yourself:

Am I presenting my best self for the situation?
Will I need to check my vocabulary for power words?
Is it time to revisit my goals to make sure they reflect my values and strengths?
Are there other opportunities that are a better fit for me?

Style matters because it is how you show yourself to others. Unless you attract your audience with your style, they will never see the real you and what you have to offer your employer or customer.

Do You Know Someone Who Is Working on Thanksgiving?

11/24/2015

The holiday of gratitude is coming this week. But even though Thanks is in the name, some may not feel very thankful if they are working rather than spending time with friends and family on Thanksgiving.

Many people are working on Thanksgiving Day as well as other holidays, some providing necessary services so we can enjoy the holidays, while others are working to earn extra money and benefits.

Although everyone appreciates people working in necessary support services, many Americans are not supportive of stores being open on Thanksgiving. Retailers open on holidays to keep up or get ahead of what other stores are doing. What do you think about the trend toward retailers opening on Thanksgiving to get ahead? Is it a service to customers and employees or just another way to make a profit?

Traditions are important to many people and change can be disruptive. "It is healthy for employees to get a day off during the holidays, especially for Thanksgiving Day because it really is a time to show gratitude." said W. Ballard, the Assistant Executive Director for Organizational Excellence for the American Psychological Association. Can you be grateful for your job while working on a holiday especially one with Thanks in the name?

For those who choose a career where they know they may be working on holidays to help people in crisis and emergencies, they are often thankful they can be of service on holidays. Those without families in the area who want to earn extra income are thankful for their jobs in retail.

Whether you are working or expecting someone for dinner who ends up on the job, you can create a holiday of giving thanks for the opportunity to work.

Creative LifeWork Design
PO Box 580891
Elk Grove, CA 95758
(916) 800-2607
success@nancyjmiller.solutions

Nancy J. Miller, M.S. is a Certified Life Coach, publisher, and author of "Fire Up Your Profile For LifeWork Success ".and "Vegetable Kids in the Garden." With a Master's Degree in Career Counseling, she has over 15 years experience coaching entrepreneurs, writers, job seekers, professionals seeking a career change, and students. Contact Nancy at: success@nancyjmiller.solutions to learn more.

Photos used under Creative Commons from Eric Kilby, Leimenide, freestockimages, stevendepolo, Jenifer Corrêa, lumaxart, Peaches&Cream, Muffet, JeepersMedia, Jeffrey, elliotbalynn, bortescristian, Janet Hudson, seanmichaelragan, ♔ Georgie R

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