So what is The LifeWork Project 21 Day Reboot? And why you need it.

The LifeWork Project is a 21 day e-course to help you find your path forward.

It’s the LifeWork Project - Pandemic Edition.

I’ve offered the LifeWork Project as an e-course for several years and clients have loved the simplicity of the daily assignments and the deep understanding and vision that comes from the work. The LifeWork Project has helped artists get their groove back. It has helped bored employees find real work that is satisfying and meaningful. A recent retiree used the LWP to refine her vision for retirement and now uses her skills in environmental advocacy. Even those on the corporate hamster wheel have found a path to fresh grass.

So what is the LifeWork Project? Good question - because - It’s actually a bunch of questions.

I considered calling the LWP the Life Questions Project. The LWP is basically a series of questions for you to answer about your life - questions that will:

• help you asses your current situation

• take a realistic look at your finances

• clarify what you really value and how you want to live your life

• explore your personality

• take a look at the lessons you have learned from your past

• make positive decisions about your next step

• create a plan for living into a future that really works for you.

I call it “do-it-yourself life and career coaching”.

The LifeWork Project helps you find the answers within yourself - the keys to your next step forward. 

The LWP uses the tools I have developed over years of mental health counseling and life and career coaching - tools that include journaling exercises and creative visioning experiments, along with practical worksheets and inventories.

You will receive a daily email with a short LifeWork Discovery reading and the question of the day to ponder, write about, and reflect on. Each weekend, you will try a creative LifeWork activity - something fun but helpful - and modified to fit the restrictions we are all following to stay safe and healthy.

You will start by assessing what shape your life is in right here right now - in the middle of a global pandemic and coming recession. Scary, I know, but once you look it in the eyes, you know what you’re dealing with and you can move on.

The LWP Pandemic Edition is a little more philosophical - a little more spiritual.  The lockdown and resulting anxiety about life and money and jobs has us all re-thinking our lives a bit. The LWP gives you a chance to write down what you’re thinking, spend some time reflecting on what it all means, and then make good positive decisions and create a plan for your next step.

And the big bonus: For the first time, I’m creating a private group where you will have the option to share your responses, ask questions and interact with others on the same journey. I will be moderating the group - so I’ll be available virtually to answer questions about the process - and about any job search or decision making problems you encounter.

So what are you waiting for?

The LifeWork Project begins June 1, 2020 and I’ve deeply discounted the price until May 31, 2020 - trying to do my part to help us all get through this together. Normally, $89.95, the LWP Pandemic Edition is on sale for $39.

If you’ve lost your job and even that is too much, just email me at anita@bluesagecareers.com. I have a few scholarships I can offer for half the sale price.

You can read more about the LWP: Pandemic Edition here. And please just email me at anita@bluesagecareers.com if you have any questions. I’ll be glad to answer them.

Give it a try - it could be the best thing you’ve done since March.

The 3 Best Job Search Websites + The ONE Thing That Really Helps You Find a Job

It’s a question I’m asked by every career coaching client I work with. What job sites should I use to find a job? There’s a long list out there - Monster, Simply Hired, LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, Career Builder and many, many more. Which is the best? Job searching takes a lot of time. Which job site is worth spending that valuable time on?

Where can you find your dream job? 

Based on my experience with job-hunting clients, along with a great in-depth analysis from reviews.com, here are my top picks for job sites that might actually land you an interview.  These are in no particular order - but I think they are the best of the bunch. 

The 3 Best Job Sites

• GlassDoor. GlassDoor has the most new postings each day, according to reviews.com. In a 2 week test, GlassDoor had 30% more new posts than the competition. GlassDoor allows you to search by job title, key responsibilities, company and location. It also provides anonymous company reviews on the corporate culture and salary information. It’s a great site if you want to research the company that you might be working for. It’s also a place to check out career fields if you’re not quite sure what your next move will be.

• Indeed wins for the best coverage. Lots of jobs that are posted in niche job boards and other places will show up here. Employers can post on Indeed for free - so that increases the odds that jobs will be posted here. It’s a Google-like search engine for jobs and pulls in information from job boards, company listings and news sites.

• Linked In - Recruiting and hiring managers stalk Linked In. I have been contacted by recruiters with job possibilities for myself - and I’m not looking for a job! On Linked In, you can search for jobs and then see people in your network who have connections to that company. That's pure gold for networking! Posting a profile is free and you can find friends and others to connect to. Online networking works if you take it to the next level.

Here’s a little info about niche job boards - which are most helpful.

You need to check out niche job boards. These boards exist for every industry. Check out your national association or google 'your industry + job board'. For example, if you’re looking for a job in nursing, google “nursing job board” and you will find nurse.com or nursingjobs.com. For retail, you might look at workinretail.com or AllRetailJobs.com.  

And finally….

What actually helps you get a job 

This leads me to the last step. Again from Reviews.com: Steve Dalton is a program director for Daytime Career Services at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and the author of The 2-Hour Job Search. Here’s his quote about job search sites. “It’s the black hole everybody thinks it is. For every one person hired through an online job application program, 12 are hired by an internal referral, according to a 2012 hiring study at the New York Fed.”

Yep. This fits with my experience as a career coach. What gets you hired is “who you know” - also known as networking. An internal referral means a person that the company trusts gave your name and resume to HR. Internal referrals can be a friend, or a friend of a friend or a friend of a friend of a friend on LInkedIn. Use the tools above to research job opportunities and find out what companies are hiring. And then check your network.. and then your extended network on Linked In to find anyone you know connected to that industry. Contact them. Take them to lunch. It really is what works. 

Check out the websites. Create a network. Join your local association of whatever. Create a profile on Linked In and work it. Call your uncle and your friends and that person you met at the restaurant. Call me if you think you don’t have a network. I’ll help you find one. And call me if you want help sorting out the online job search sites. We'll work it out. 

How to Re-Kindle Your Passion for Life and Work

Cooler temps are not the only thing to look forward to in the fall. Our second e-course is in the works. The working title is How to Re-Kindle Your Passion for Life and Work - A Guide to Mid-Life Transitions. It’s designed for anyone who’s feeling discouraged and a bit beaten down at mid-life.

Maybe you’re tired of your same old job  - or the never ending routine of your life.

The things you once enjoyed now feel blah and hum drum.

You’re feeling anxious and washed up already. It’s too soon for that.

Whether you’re feeling tired of your same old, same old job or have simply lost your interest and passion for life, this e-course is designed to rekindle your excitement for life and work. Through questions, readings, and assignments, you will be guided through a structured path to create positive, actual changes that will make the next stage of your life more rewarding and fulfilling For a further boost, optional discounted coaching is available to give you a chance to talk through your reflections and make a specific plan for change. 

Break through that mid-life slump and discover what’s next for you. 

Sign up here for more information or to reserve your spot! 

“Well, I’ve been afraid of changin’
’Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I’m getting older, too”

— Stevie Nicks - Landslide

Open the Door to New Possibilities

Have you ever had a dream like this? 

In the dream, you’re walking through your house - the house you’ve lived in for years and suddenly you find a new door that you have never seen before. Maybe it’s a different color - or maybe it looks just the same as all the other doors in your house. You open this surprising new door and find an extra room that you didn’t know about. Except, in my dream, it wasn’t just a whole new room, it was a whole extra wing of the house. Several big empty rooms with polished hardwood floors and sunlight streaming in through big paned windows - right there in the same old house I was living in. In my dream, I’m amazed by the empty rooms and by the extra space suddenly in my life. I open the windows and let cool fresh air into the rooms. Look at all the room I have. I’m thrilled by the possibilities!

This “new room” dream seems to appear when I need it, when I’m feeling stuck or limited, or simply discouraged by life. It’s such an expansive feeling to realize that your life has so much more possibility than you thought it did. When you are in the same old place in your life, maybe feeling stuck in a not so good situation, or feeling that all the great chances have passed you by, it’s a good thing to look around and realize that your life is not limited, that there is more room that you had imagined. Dreams of new rooms invite us to open our minds to the possibility that we have even greater potential than we thought. These dreams encourage us to look beyond our “limitations” and begin to believe that we can move beyond them.

I’ve always been a big student of dreams. I’ve journaled my dreams since I was in college and studied Jungian dream analysis. I learned to pay attention to the messages I find within. I encourage clients to write down their dreams and engage with them - talk them through and find the wisdom inside. This particular dream is a metaphorical reminder that there are still new rooms in my life to explore, new journeys to take, new things to try. It causes me to look around in my psyche for new places to grow, new parts of my inner self to explore and develop. What new parts of myself are there to discover?  A little personal growth is always good thing. 

No matter your age, whether you are almost 30 and feeling oh-so-old or 55 and feeling younger every day, each sunrise brings new possibilities and exciting chances to try something different, to learn fresh skills and crafts and to rekindle your passion for your work and life.

You just have to open the door. What are you waiting for?

What dreams do you have? What is the wisdom your dreams have to offer? 

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“We are such stuff 
as dreams are made on, and our little life 
is rounded with a sleep.”

— Prospero from The Tempest - William Shakespeare

Already dreading going back to work after a long weekend?

Are you feeling like you just can't face another day in your current job? Feeling stuck in your career or just burned out? Are you ready for a change  - but you’re not sure what steps to take next? Are you still trying to choose a career path but not sure what direction to take? Are you excited each morning to get out of bed and head off to work or do you drag yourself out the door just hoping for Friday to arrive? 

Are you ready to make the leap into a life you love? 

Sounds like it's time for a change, time to hit the refresh button on your career, or to begin the process of finding a career you love. Maybe you’re bored out of your mind in your current job and you’re looking for a new challenge that better fits your life and dreams. Maybe you’ve been out of the job market for a while - in school, at home caring for others or just can’t seem to figure out what’s next for you. Maybe you just need a change. 

If you’re ready to take some real steps to figure out what’s next for you, take a look at The LifeWork Project™ - a 40 day e-course designed to help you find the work of your life - work that leads to a lifetime of challenge, satisfaction and success.  The e-course will include weekday emails delivered straight to your inbox with a LifeWork discovery reading and a question of the day to ponder. Each week you will be guided through a series of exercises, journal writing prompts, and other activities to assist you in discovering your personality, identifying your strengths and transferable skills, clarifying your values and creating a career design plan with action steps for moving forward. You will complete the full length Myers Briggs Personality Inventory (MBTI®) and receive a personality profile plus career information tailored to your personality type. With individual email support from Anita, you will be guided through the Best Fit process for your personality type and career. You will spend time looking back and learning lessons from your past plus taking time to complete a frank and honest assessment of your current situation. Finally you will design a plan for moving forward toward the career you’ve always wanted.

The next e-course begins July 10, 2017. 

The ridiculously low price ($89.95) includes:

• Daily emails (Mon-Fri) with a LifeWork Discovery reading and a question of the day
• Weekly exercises, writing prompts and other LifeWork Discovery activities plus a weekend LifeWork Challenge.
• MBTI Personality Profile, Best Fit analysis, and Career Information based on your type ($59 value)
• The LifeWork Values Matrix 
• The LifeWork Career Design Plan
• Options for individual coaching throughout the process with Blue Sage Career Coach, Anita Flowers, MA  - available at a discounted rate for LifeWork Project™ participants

The next LifeWork Project begins on July 10 and registration is now live. Space in each class is limited. Take advantage of this low pricing on The LifeWork Project™ and sign up here today. Get started on your new career and life! 

Feeling burned out? When was the last time you went out to play?

Are you feeling a little burned out on 2017 already? It’s only February and I’m already hearing from clients and friends who are feeling overwhelmed and depressed by faded New Year’s resolutions, work overload, our nation’s political morass and worries about the environment and our world in general. It's clear. We are all going to need some serious self care in this year of anxiety. 

Self care is a trendy phrase these days. Most people think of self care as settling in for the night with a massage, a long hot bath and a big mug of herbal tea (always nice and relaxing) but I like to think of self care as those activities that restore our souls. Restorative care helps us to not just relax but to restore that creative piece of ourself. To literally bring our SELF back to life.

For me, it’s doing the things I loved to do as a child.  Digging in the dirt -even pulling weeds in the garden can be therapeutic. I lose track of time when I’m planting flowers. Maybe I just like getting my hands earth dirty. I love walking through the woods. Riding my bike. Swinging high on a swing set. Playing with fabric scraps or watercolors. A friend says that for her it’s baking cookies, coloring in a mandala book, and restoring old furniture. Another turns up the music, sings at the top of her voice and dances away in the kitchen. Think of it as playtime. I come away from play refreshed, restored, and often ready for a very restful nap!

What is play for you? What are those things that make you lose track of time? What makes you forget about the world of work and politics? What refreshes and restores your soul? These are questions I ask almost every one I do coaching with - because the answers offer clues about your true self, your passions and, sometimes, helps you discover the creative work of your life. 

It’s clear. We have a lot of work to do this year. Make sure you take time to play, that you take time for self care, for restorative care -  so you’re rested and refreshed for the journey of life ahead. 

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