The Power is in the Pen

"Knowing where you're going is all you need to get there." ~~Frederick (Carl) Frieseke~~

The Power is in the Pen. Well, maybe not the pen, but definitely in writing it down… An interesting thing happened to me early this week. In preparing for the first meeting of my accountability group after summer’s hiatus, I spent some time thinking about my goals between now and the end of this year. I recognized again that goals and tasks are not the same, so I actually spelled out – wrote down – 7 different goals. One business development goal, one public speaking goal, one job seeker social media client goal, etc. I also wrote down a recurring to-do list, things like a daily blog post, daily candidate sourcing; things I need to do every day to help me achieve my goals. Literally within hours, I had a new social media referral from a boutique outplacement firm that seemed to have also taken the summer off. By the next day I also had two referrals / introductions form colleagues to potential new clients, and an inquiry about my LinkedIn Webinar. It felt great!

I was reminded again yesterday about the power of writing it down. One of the participants on my last webinar sent me an email, which I have excerpted below:

Dear Jennifer,

I want to tell you a funny (peculiar, not ha-ha) story about what happened to me after I attended your LinkedIn webinar on 28 July.

On Tuesday, 2 August, my latest newsletter was sent out. With that done, I went back to musing as to how I would implement the to-do list I created while listening to you. Top of the list – how to get recommendations. On Wednesday I received notification that someone had endorsed me.

When I asked this client why he had suddenly written the referral, he responded by saying that he had never written a LinkedIn referral before, but when he got my latest ‘newsletter’, he thought “if I ever write a referral, then it would be for this guy”. And then, he said, he suddenly thought, “Why not now?”. And he did.

So, I put it down to your lessons being in my mind sending out thought patterns to the Universe who then nudged someone to act on it. You have a better explanation?

To which I replied:

I love hearing this stuff! And, I do NOT have a better explanation. I am a huge believer of writing things down, putting thoughts out into the universe, and letting the magic happen! There’s no such thing as coincidence in my book…

My take-a-way… Write it down. Put it out there. Know your intentions. Make them real. By the way… when I was writing down my goals, I also wrote down some affirmations. I even taped them to my wall right next to my computer!

Motivation: We all have it in us.

“They are the weakest, however strong, who have no faith in themselves or their own powers.” ~~Christian Bovee

Even when we know things work for us, we don’t always do them. Even though we know there are certain behaviors, actions, activities, rituals and practices that make us feel energized, whole, accomplished, happy… we don’t always remember or take the time to participate in them. Even when we have the tools… we don’t always use them. We’re an interesting species, us human beings.

I had a rough morning yesterday. It seems, in all honesty, that I’ve been a bit off balance for the last few weeks. I’ve been fine; happily working, feeling good about my accomplishments, enjoying my family… just a bit off. But yesterday morning I was particularly unbalanced, and frankly, it was uncharacteristic. So, I decided to take action. (Sometimes us human beings need a swift kick in the pants to take action!) I did some research (read: a quick look through an old notebook) and remembered a meditation I have had great success with in the past, so I took some steps to be prepare for the attitude adjustment I so desperately needed. Thankfully, I already had a fantastic “power breakfast” planned with two colleagues and friends, and that got me off on the right foot. I came back to my office, worked for the rest of the day knowing that it was all going to be better soon. I went to the store and bought a few things that in my past have helped me achieve the most out of the meditation I was planning – a green candle and some new Tigers Eye tumbled stones (that’s a whole other post!) – and just before dinner I found 30 minutes of quiet time. I lit the candle, meditated, did some visualization, and BOY! It was nice! I then had a relaxing evening, and went to sleep knowing that things were changing.

And, change they did! I woke up this morning 40 minutes before my alarm, and I feel great! So, instead of asking myself what took me so long (which believe me, I started to do!) I am grateful that I have the tools I need to get out of my own way and re-energize, motivate and achieve!

And, I ask you – what can you today to get back on track?

Motivation

“Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson~~

Today I remind myself to get out of my own way!!

I had a great coaching session this morning. I had a client come in who was feeling a bit demoralized about her job search. She’s in what she called a holding pattern… She’s waiting to hear back from a final round of interviews and she was really struggling with moving forward with her search while she was waiting. We talked through some of this as much as we could, and then I started talking to her about her 10-year plan. She really does have a dream, and thinking about it kind of made her smile, but it has no real shape or form. She couldn’t really define it and as such has no idea what it will take to achieve. (I’ve already talked about the importance of a plan… here is a great “case in point”.) As we looked at her dream, talked about it in some detail, and put some thought around how to actually make it possible, she started to get excited again. We talked about what proficiencies she might need to acquire, what certifications she could get, what alliances she could build, and what she could be doing now in order to make that 10 year dream actually possible. ** I suggested she think more about this. I suggested she do some research. I suggested she talk with her husband and her kids to get their input on this plan. I suggested that she graph out what she can do between now and then to really help her get there. And then I suggested that she make it “look pretty” and hang it on her wall! Maybe she could even cut out pictures or take photos of what this could “look like” in 10 years, and remind herself why she is doing what she is doing now. This visual could be just the motivation she needs to stay ON in this job search…

Well, fast forward to one of my favorite sayings, “physician, heal thyself!’

I have a dream… in fact, I have several. And sometimes I lose sight of them. Sometimes I forget why I am working so hard, and I forget what I’m working for! So, today, I remind myself to get out of my own way because my dreams CAN be my reality, and I am worth it!

“Grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me. ~Author unknown, variation of an excerpt from "The Serenity Prayer" by Reinhold Neibuhr

** 10—year plan format credit goes to Linda VanValkenburgh at www.MyExecutiveCareerCoach.com. If you want to talk with a phenomenal career coach about developing an individualized career campaign, I highly recommend giving her a call!

Tuesday: Focus

“The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.” ~Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, 1996

Continuing with the visualization tips… Focusing on the dream, physically staring at, thinking of, and dwelling on “it” (the picture, the offer letter, the job description, the check, or whatever the “it” is) is a huge help for me when engaging in creative visualization. Clearing my mind of other thoughts becomes easier when I can actually focus on an object.

Yesterday I prepared an offer letter from one of my clients to one of my candidates complete with salary info, an outline of the compensation package, and a start date. Today I will focus on making this offer letter their reality!

What will you focus on today?

Monday: Preparation

"Execution is the ability to mesh strategy with reality, align people with goals, and achieve the promised results." ~ Larry Bossidy

Preparation and planning are the first steps to successful execution. Visualization is one of the most powerful forms of preparation I can think of. I’m not sure if it helps because you’re putting the thoughts out into the ether… or if it just helps you get your mind in the right place… and I’m not sure I actually care why it works. I just know it does. I reminded myself last night as I was preparing for this week, that I really need to get back into this. It’s time. Some tools I use to assist me through visualizing my future are pictures (actual cut out of photos of me sitting behind some giant mahogany desk that I cut out from a magazine, photos of me cut out and placed on pictures of big stages with projector screens behind me, like the stage on which you might see Bill Gates or Tony Robbins standing); checks made out to my business for large placement fees, articles or press releases I draft that tell of my huge successes, photos of the 14 room inn on Nantucket where I plan to “retire” some day…etc. These take time to prepare, but you can really have fun with it.

Where do you see yourself?