Comments for Choose On Purpose

Comment on Deployment… An Exercise in Compressed Change by Tracy Shearer

Tracy Shearer — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 16:03:49 +0000

Susan,
What a wonderful post. Very grounding. Much love to you and your family.
~Tracy

Comment on My lovely daughter… by Janis Long

Janis Long — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 01:08:27 +0000

Everything about the wedding weekend was the best!

As a friend of the bride’s parents, I felt their caring and compassion as they shared their daughter with a community of family and friends…..every detail, every moment was a celebration of a new life for their daughter and son-in-law!

My husband and I were honored to be a part of it all!

Comment on Caring for Grandma by Jo

Jo — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:36:02 +0000

First of all, you should be admired and feel good about the fact that you accepted the responsibility with good and loving intentions to have your Mother live with you at this time in her life. We are all human in our ability to deal with the stress of caring for anyone with special needs. I am sure your Mother knows of your other responsibilities in life and understands when you cannot give her your full attention. I think it is good to take a moment, as you have, to consider what she is going through and to consciously make the decision to be more attentive. I wish more people would be this considerate of older family members. It is for that reason that I say that everything is probably fine for all of you and that you are just feeling a little guilty sometimes for carrying on with your life as normally as you can. I believe your Mother understands how you are feeling and loves you for it. The last thing she wants you to do is drop everything in your life for her if you don’t have to.

My mother is also getting up in years and I live out-of-town. I have a sister who lives close by who cares for her, but there are times when I feel very guilty for not being able to be there and help out more. I tell my sister to let me know if there is ever anything I can do to help and I know she will, but there is still the feeling sometimes of not doing enough. I think we do the best we can with the best intentions and tell them how much we love them. That’s all we can do.

Comment on “iConnection” between Parents and Twentysomething Kids by Bill Wilson

Bill Wilson — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:18:30 +0000

I heard the same interview on my way to have lunch with my son. His reaction was interesting. Will said to me, “Most of my friends ask their parents what to do about everything. It really bothers me.” Now Will stays iConnected with us. He calls frequently and sends me songs or videos that he thinks I will enjoy. He takes enormous pride in his total self sufficiency. So does his dad.

Comment on The Resistance Dance by Tracy

Tracy — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:29:53 +0000

So, so true. I’m guilty. No matter how much I feel or think I am open and objective, sometimes, I too, experience resistance and a bit of insecurity. I guess that it is a part of the cycle of acceptance to change. However, once realized, I agree that the “breakthrough” is a such liberating gift that can be used to refresh, energize, and grow!

Comment on For goodness sake, make fun of yourself by Jim

Jim — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:37:00 +0000

Yes, I remembered to get the bananas. I also found some cheap banana cream cheese! Just like you asked!

Comment on Gaining Momentum by Mike Sample

Mike Sample — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:42:20 +0000

You raise several important points in your post. I have some suggestions for you.

Career Selection:
As for choosing an industry, I suggest you avoid that unless you are on a crusade. I suggest looking at your skills and your pleasure first. In a pinch, you can do a job which is not enjoyable, but you should not carry that load long. Your skills/resources should be assessed in two ways. The first is your personality type. If you are not detailed oriented, you don’t want to consider an accounting job. Your personality is the hardest to change, so staying in a career field that fits your personality should be your first consideration. There is a good website I found that helps toward assessing one’s personality. It is http://personalitytype.com/career_quiz_2. You can improve on personality type skills, but my experience is going outside those personality skills just does not feel comfortable.

The second resource assessment targets the skills acquired through experience. Those skills can be increased with greater ease. There are many lists for these transferable skills. One can be seen at http://www.quintcareers.com/transferable_skills_set.html. As I look at career opening, I can see what skills the hiring manager feels are important for success. If a skill is posted that is not on your list, you have work to do. If you don’t fully know what you need to do, you should ask someone in that career. Such a resource can explain how that skill is related to job responsibilities and what options are available to close the gap.

Networking Websites:
You wrote that you have found LinkedIn a good source for such consultation. I have also found the site very useful. I use it as advertisement of my portfolio, company research, and referrals. The portfolio topic is one left for another full topic. Company research can be done on the Company. If you don’t see what you need, there is a link to the BusinessWeek site with the company information for more detail. The networking is its real power, and that power increases exponentially as you increase your connection count. One note to remember, don’t overlook the Groups section. Membership to Groups is like a free meal coupon. You can communicate directly with anyone in your groups list.

My next favorite professional networking site is Jigsaw (http://www.jigsaw.com). It offers contact information for many companies. It is much like a super corporate phone book. Contacts are listed with the contact name, job title, phone number address and email address. The site has an excellent search using filters. When you find a contact of interest, you must buy the information or trade information you have that Jigsaw is missing. Once you have acquired the information, you can export it in various ways including vCards for direct import to Outlook. Jigsaw can be used at no charge, but I have found the paid membership is a great value. A significantly high percentage of the contact information is out of date, but you get enough information to solve your problem.

Spot Opportunities:
The third area of research you need to consider is referred to as spot opportunities. Basically, it is business news informing you of companies or people on the move.

Comment on A Lesson in Docking by Mike Sample

Mike Sample — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:59:56 +0000

I am not in your shoes, nor do I know the details of your six hour emergency room visits. I wonder if you can do what you can juggling the first ball even when someone throws you another. I spent time in emergency rooms, or even weeks in intensive care. How about taking your laptop? Download recent blog activity and compose responses offline.

Does your mom like discussing such topics? You need to discuss something while being that caregiver. Taking her mind off her own problems will help fight any depression she now battles.

We recently lost my father-in-law. History convinced me to expect deep depression out of my mother-in-law while she faced life without her past constant companion. To my surprise, she has faced it very well. She is facing tasks which were previously handled by dad, asking for help from her team, but not complaining. She has faced it as an opportunity rather than a disaster.

My layoff during the past 14 months sometimes gets me down. I have used the time to learn several new skills, taking classes which should improve the resume, and networking to get referrals. All the while, I continue to apply for that next career opportunity. I suppose this is analogous to fishing while at the dock.

Comment on Career Search Unknown by Mike Sample

Mike Sample — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:17:13 +0000

To introduce myself, I am an engineer with 33 years experience in industry, primarily auto and electronics. I have also done a lot of mentoring. Until the recent auto industry downturn, I had never been unemployed and was nearly always doing a job that I loved.
To your questions, “How do I find the people that can truly help me get where I want to be?” I believe that is where you network comes into play. There are several websites that can help expand your network. One is http://www.linkedin.com. Such sites offer a place to post your goals, history, portfolio and for your network members to place professional recommendations. You will find that such sites provide many contacts, along with their background and contacts that can help open doors. Another source of network contacts is your states department of workforce development (unemployment agency). Here in Indiana, they hold monthly meetings where businessmen discuss opportunities. You also get to practice your elevator speech during the introductions.
As for closing the deal, that is usually on your shoulders. Your personality, credentials and experience is what will make or break the deal. I find today’s job market makes it difficult. Companies can demand professional certification and experience in their specific business sector, and still see dozens of qualified applicants. Use unemployed time to get certified and get more education. The web has made that much easier and much cheaper. I found many colleges are offering courses at no charge. Start your search at http://www.ocwconsortium.org. That organization is international, so you are limited only by your language.

Cheers, Mike

Comment on Let’s get going by Michael Ng

Michael Ng — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:26:03 +0000

Susan, you have done very well in the past year or so. The book is fantastic, much like the whole Choose On Purpose Network. I am confident that what you are bringing to twentysomethings is pertinent to their future success.

Thank you for including me on your journey, and as always I wish you the best of luck with all your trials.

Mike