Katreena's Career Blog

I recently was asked to speak at a local Phoenix area high school on helping students identify their career passion. This, as you might guess, is one of my favorite topics on which to speak.

During the presentation I shared my career philosophy, followed by asking each student to do a thorough inquiry of their career gifts. As you’ll remember our career gifts include our natural strengths, abilities, skills and talents; our values; our interests and our passions.

Once students define their career gifts I challenge them to name their passions by asking: If you won the lottery today, what would you do tomorrow? To answer this students are asked to consider the question with an interesting caveat: That to receive the lottery funds they must be willing to volunteer 20 hours per week, of their time on a worthy project of their choosing. Finally, I offer up my formula for life success: E=MC² … Energy = Mission X Creativity² (I cover this in my next blog…so stay tuned).

At the end of my presentation I ask each student to fill out a one question evaluation. Students circle a number from 0-10, with 10 being the highest score. I generally gather the evaluations and hand them over to my assistant who enters the information in to a database.

However the following day, I had time to browse the evaluations; happy that the majority of evaluations were 9s and 10s. One survey, however, caught my attention! One survey had a short sentence written on the slip of paper. It read: “You’re very nice and sweet but I disagree with the presentation, sadly not everyone can have a job they love.”

Sadly, I agree, she (or he) is absolutely correct. In fact, research suggests that 86% of working American adults are not happy in their work. I know and understand that not everyone IS happy in their job, but they could be.

Career happiness is a choice, one that requires a clear vision, dedication, hard work and a positive attitude. We may never shift the 86% to 0%, but we must try and we must remember that it begins with us. Choose your career with care, take the time to really think about and define your career gifts. Once you do, the rest falls neatly in to place and then enjoy the journey, the hard work isn’t work!

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My sister-in-law Cindi has an expression “doing the happy dance.” I love that expression, when she tells me she’s doing the happy dance I have this picture in my mind of her dancing around her kitchen in her big, green-frog slippers, hair in a ponytail with a steamy cup of coffee in hand.

I’m not naive enough to think that every day’s a happy dance day, but as you know I do believe that we can choose to have a happy dance day most days. It’s occurred to me, however, that some folks just don’t know how to wake up and do the happy dance. Let me give you my recipe:

1. Upon waking be thankful. I make sure to take time in daily contemplation to think about those in need and reflection about my life, my goals and the contributions I hope to make.
2. Dance to one of your favorite songs. I dance to Katrina and Waves’ Walking on Sunshine. Trust me on this one; it gets your vibe going! This is the actual Happy Dance.
3. Drink strong, sweet coffee in the company of someone you love. This is a ritual I enjoy and I don’t intend to give up. This “someone you love,” just might be your cat, your roommate, or for me my best friend and husband, Jeff.
4. Exercise your body in some way every day. I must admit that I’m not faithful with this one, but I’m working on it and so should you!
5. Plan your day. This might include showering, dressing, etc. but it also involves thinking about what you wish to accomplish throughout your day. Always have a plan and work your plan.

It’s easy to get started off on the wrong foot. But I’ve learned from experience that if you get up every morning with a smile on your face and do your happy dance, that everything else during the day gets better. It’s easier to have a good day, when you make the decision to start it off on a happy note.

If you’re a job seeker, have a plan and work your plan. You can check out the Career Center at www.StriveForStudents.com where we have a Career Strategy Worksheet (Planner) that will help you get started with the logistics. For the happy dance part,  I have created a Happy Dance Day Planner, which is on my website also.  Plus, I have added a Happy Dance Quote of the Day on the home page of my web, so you too can start off your day with a happy dance too.

If you have suggestions of happy dance songs, or positive, uplifting, inspiring quotes send them to me at Katreena@StriveForStudents.com and I’ll not only post them, but give you credit. Just make sure that you site your sources and the authors of your quotes.

Yea, yea, yea…Shake Your Booty…Walk on Sunshine

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I had the pleasure of a long and interesting discussion with my assistant Tiffany today. One of the issues that bubbled up included a chat about attitude and outlook. Tiff has been battling a major challenge lately and made the decision to have an attitude of altitude, but in the process of her decision she discovered that what she really needed to do was to change her outlook.

As Tiff was describing her breakthrough to me, I agreed and felt that her outlook was an expression of her attitude. In other words, what she chose to do with her attitude resulted in what she got…a positive (or negative) outlook. And her outlook determined what she accomplished.

So often, in life, we’re so busy trying to analyze our challenges and difficulties that we miss the opportunities that await us. Ever here the passage, “When one door closes another opens?” Today, I read this same quote with a twist: “When a door closes, another one opens, but often we stand there so long looking at the closed door, that we do not see the one that’s opened.”

With our economy in a shambles and the jobless rate rising daily, it’s easy to see the sun setting instead of rising. Don’t get caught in the dusk but rather the dawn. Don’t miss an opportunity because you’re too focused on the negativity in your life. See the good in every situation, learn from every challenge and turn every lemon in to a tall glass of frosty, sweet lemonade (or if you live on the east coast, a steamy cup of lemon herbal tea spiked with sweet honey)!

Good things are everywhere; we just have to be looking for them…be ready for them…be waiting for them. If you’re job seeking, network. If you’re afraid of a layoff, update your résumé. Stay ahead of your fear, have a plan B and be ready with an attitude of altitude!

Take stock in the awesome career skills you possess, not those you lack. Look at the benefits you bring to your job and the assets you offer an employer. Believe me, you have more positive skills and assets than you realize. Make a list of what you enjoy, what you excel at and what you’ve accomplished. Once you do, you’ll have a positive outlook.

Make the best of your situation. Find that opportunity you’ve been waiting for and for Pete’s sake enjoy your lemonade!

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I have been in the process of updating the Strive For Students business plan. It’s horrific work as far as I’m concerned. Working on my business plan reminds me that I don’t enjoy working with details, statistics and numbers. However, it is part of my job and it’s crucial to my business’ success.

We all have stuff in life we have to do that we don’t necessarily want to or that we find minimal joy in doing. The difference is our attitude on how we go about doing that not so fun stuff. There are two things in life that I believe are crucial to happiness and success: Attitude and Integrity.

My mom used to tell my brothers and I that, “When you do the right thing you have the power to do anything.” When you tell the truth you don’t have to worry about what you say. True integrity is when you choose to do the right thing when nobody’s watching.

Your attitude is the other leg of success in life. The really cool thing is that every day THE CHOICE IS YOURS! You get to choose if you have a good day or a not-so-good day and that choice not only determines your day but it affects those around you as well. You have the power to make a positive difference every day.

Here’s a story that illustrates my point: This past summer I had a girl in one of my classes that was a real trouble-maker, always mouthing off and causing chaos in our class. The thing is she was an incredible leader. During her mock interview I asked her if she realized how big a responsibility it was being a leader. I told her that what she chose to do not only affected her and her life but the lives of all the other girls that followed her. I told her that when she chose to get in trouble, that her friends got in trouble too. She told me she’d never thought of it that way, but that when she did, it made her worry about some of her bad decisions.

That’s how your life is too and your career. All the decisions you make, the attitude you choose to have and the level of integrity you decide to maintain make a difference. Maybe you won’t notice the difference today, but eventually you become the sum total of your decisions.

So today… make the decision to have a great attitude, one that supports the person you were born to be and have a level of integrity that gives you the power to do anything!

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Alright, I hope you’re doing better with recognizing what causes you stress? Have you been journaling and strategizing about ways to deal with your stress?

One of my biggest stressors is clutter. I hate dust bunnies, piles of paper and it makes me crazy when people don’t put their stuff back where it goes. I love to organize. My husband would tell you organizing is my religion!!! That’s one of the things I like best about taking down Christmas decorations. I get to go through all my cabinets and closets and clean and organize…really, I love this stuff!

This past fall I went to the Celebrate Your Life, conference in Scottsdale, AZ. If you’ve never gone, you should plan to go, it’s amazing. Anyway, this year I left the conference with a promise to myself that I was going to get rid of the clutter in my life…if I didn’t love it (or use it on a very regular basis) it was going bye-bye. During November, December and all of this month I’ve been tossing, donating and gifting many, many things. Jeff, my husband, who is a saver, has been very unsettled about this and nervous whenever I start on another organization project.

Here’s my point: Take what stresses you and develop a strategy to consistently manage that stressor. Decide what you don’t want in your life … and toss it out. If it’s not good for you, if it doesn’t make you feel great, or make you look fabulous…dump it! Likewise, if there is something you want or need in your life…make it happen.

Start a DreamBook to track all the totally cool and wonderful promises you’re going to keep to yourself this year. In March, we’re launching our www.MyDreamBook.com website where you can design your very own virtual, online DreamBook. In the meantime, visit www.StriveForStudents.com for more information on how to develop your DreamBook. Go to the Career Center to find the one-page instructions. Let this be your best year ever. I’m re- organizing my life… so let’s do it together and have some fun!

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In my last blog I promised we’d discuss how to Find Your Joy. There really is no better time of year to discuss Joy than the holiday season!

In my class Find Your Joy, the underlying premise I use is: Stress is who you think you should be – Joy is who you really are. Many of us spend countless hours trying to please other people. We work at being who we think other people want us to be. How crazy is that? This craziness causes us untold frustration, pain and suffering. It may also lead us down a less-than-joyful life path.

I have a clear example of this from my own past. My parents, well-meaning, loving people, wanted me to be an Airline Attendant. They thought it would be a fun job allowing me to travel around the world. So, to make them happy (and I thought this would make me happy too, at the time), I interviewed with TWA Airlines during my freshman year of college. The Human Resources folks at TWA suggested I complete my AA degree and follow up after I finished. I never followed up! I instead completed a degree in Public Relations and Communications and eventually came to enjoy my current career in public speaking and career development training.

My point is, I was trying to do what my parents thought would make me happy (STRESS), not what really made me happy (JOY).

As you dash through your holiday hustle and bustle make sure to take some time to give yourself the gift of inner joy…think about what makes YOU HAPPY and what brings YOU JOY! As you consider all the options available to you in the coming year, make sure part of the equation includes tapping into your personal and professional gifts.

Remember each morning presents you a choice to live joyfully or not. Your choice not only affects the outcome of your day, but the outcome for each and every person with whom you come into contact.

Next, I’ll start my blog by discussing ways we can get on track to have our best year ever.

May each of you enjoy a holiday filled with laughter, love and good cheer and may your New Year be filled with enough JOY to fulfill all your dreams.

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Step 4: Planning a Successful Career Strategy

By this point, if you’ve been faithfully following my incredible (wink, wink) blog, you have a pretty solid understanding about an optimal career path for yourself. Before we go any farther, let’s get one thing absolutely, clearly defined: You must be explicitly and unequivocally thrilled about the career path that you have chosen for yourself!

Because without passion, without joy, without true enthusiasm for your career path, the journey will be nothing more than steps along a road instead of the delightfully, happy gait of a person of purpose that it should be!

Simply put, LOVE WHAT YOU DO!

Once you are emotionally and spiritually committed to a career path, all the steps needed to plan, focus and achieve begin to fall in to place with ease. Once you’ve aligned with your purpose the plan will not be work it will be fun.

My undergraduate degree is in Journalism and Public Relations. One of the most significant lessons I’ve used from my college days was how to write a good story using what’s called the Inverted Pyramid. The Inverted Pyramid is a way of writing where you address the most important information in the first paragraph of your story and expand on the more specific details throughout the narrative. Basically, you answer the: Whom (or who), what, where, when, why and how at the beginning of your piece. I have used this strategy as a project management tool with my own company and as well as many of my clients.

You can use this technique to plan your career strategy too. If you’d like to use my Career Strategy Worksheet, you can download it from the Career Center, Career Tools page on my website at www.striveforstudents.com

Career Strategy Planner

Begin by writing the JOB TITLE at the top of a piece of paper and answer the following:

1.  Why do you want to pursue this career field?

a.      You need to have a compelling reason why you want to pursue this career.

b.      Why do you want to do this:

i.      to help others

ii.      to have fun

iii.      to make/ earn a good living

2. Who (other than yourself) is involved with this decision or strategy?

a.      Family/spouse/significant other?

b.      Current employer?

c.       Friends and mentors?

3.      What type of training/connections will you need?

a.      College or other post- secondary degree/training

b.      On-the-job or apprenticeship programs

c.       Mentor/networking based like connecting with people that have contacts in the career area you have chosen

4.      Where will you get that training (or make those connections)?

a.      What are the names of the colleges or other post- secondary schools/training facilities?

b.      Where are these schools/training facilities located?

5.      When will you attend the school/training facility?

a.      When can and do you want to attend these schools/training facilities?

b.      How long will you need to attend to obtain the degree or training certificate?

c.       By when do you want to graduate?

i.      When you write down a deadline, you own it.

ii.      When you own it, you have a much better chance of obtaining your training on schedule and achieving your dream.

d.      How much will it cost to complete the degree/training?

6.      How does this strategy need to unfold?

a.      Look at the information above for your answers.

b.      Write down your strategy.

c.       Put your written strategy where you will see it every day.

d.      Keep a My Career DreamBook™ (to find out more about this tool, check it out at the www.striveforstudents.com website Career Center)

Working on your career strategy is real homework! So get started it is worth the effort and the payoff…you’ll see, it’s amazing!

Join me next week when I talk about how to Find Your Joy, everywhere, at home, at work and at play.

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We’re on a roll now, so let’s keep plugging away at Your Career Karma by exploring your career options.

Step Three: Exploring Your Career Options.

If you’ve been following me over the past few weeks, you’ve probably determined a few career areas that interest you. You’ve completed a thorough self-assessment of your skills, interests, values and passions. Now, my friends you’re ready to ride the World Wide Web to seek, find and explore your options.

My favorite website to explore the different types of jobs is: www.dol.gov (this is the U.S. Department of Labor’s website). This page is pretty easy to navigate, but be careful, there is a ton of information and plenty of links to sidetrack you. Stay focused!

Start by viewing the “Occupational Outlook Handbook,” which is a handbook that the DOL updates on an annual basis with labor statistics, including a comprehensive outline for nearly 400 different jobs. Click here for direct access to this page.

Now, scroll down the page to a light gray box labeled: “Ways to use the Occupational Outlook Handbook site.” Using the A-Z list click on the letter that the job you’re investigating begins with and learn all about that career. As you read down through the text on the page you will learn everything you would ever want to know about that job. Including the nature of the work, qualifications and training requirements, earning potential, plus additional sources of information (including website links). You can easily print or save these pages by selecting PDF (in the upper right hand corner of the page).

The idea of researching 400 jobs can be daunting, but you will not need to do that…just look at the ones that interest you. I recommend that you use an organizer to keep track of the jobs that you research. Once your Career Interest Manual is in place, now you are ready to begin the fun work of developing a Career Plan.

To learn more about how to organize your Career Interest Manual, visit the Career Center “Cool Tools” page at www.striveforstudents.com for details. Don’t forget to check back next week where we will learn how to develop a sure fire way to plan (and organize) the career of your dreams.

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The key to career success is passion for what you do.

Begin by taking an inventory of your skills, values, interests and passions. Your skills are the tasks you do naturally and enjoy. Your values will always include the issues you highly regard like family, education and service to community. Your interests are generally hobbies, the activities you do in your spare time, or that you would like to learn to do. Finally, explore your passions, those issues that touch you in a profound way.

For help with a Career Inventory click here and follow the link provided. Also for additional Career Exploration resources visit the “Career Center” at www.striveforstudents.com

In my best-selling book: Help! I Need a Job, I tell readers, If you don’t love what you do change what you do. I know, I know in this economy many of us are lucky just to have a job! However, it is critical to find a job you enjoy. A place where you are using your natural skills and engaged by participating in work activities that are similar to your interests and that incorporate your values and embrace your passions.

The key to my career success has been my love of helping people find work they love and enjoy. Join me next time when I explore the one question that can help you to discover your ideal career.

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I love helping people discover career success! I spend a fair amount of time encouraging folks to have a career plan, but the funny thing is, I did not plan my career. In fact, I fell into my occupation by accident. When I moved to Phoenix 25 years ago, I went to an employment agency seeking assistance locating a career in the field of Public Relations. My undergraduate degree is in Journalism and Public Relations with a minor in Speech Communications.

The interviewer at the employment agency, in uptown Phoenix, told me there was an opening in their office working for the Temporary Division. She thought that I would be great in the employment industry and because I needed a job, I took it. What I learned at the agency changed my life and it can change your life too.

Check in with me next time to find out what every person needs to know when choosing their career field… so that even “accidents” can lead to success.

Eager to get started? Visit the “Career Center” at  www.striveforstudents.com for helpful tools on Career exploration.

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