What's your daydream escape job?

What is your favorite escape daydream?

It’s that daydream you have when you’re bored to tears at work,

or staring down another day in a miserable job,

or just feeling like there really should be more to life and definitely more to you. 

What do you imagine yourself doing?

You might imagine yourself as a world traveler and blogger, living on a sailboat as you visit ports around the world. You might imagine yourself living off the grid, farming a small homestead and raising goats. Maybe you just designed a best selling app or created a multi-million dollar company and have an entire top floor as your office - with an ocean view. 

What do you imagine? What can you imagine? It doesn’t have to be realistic. Be expansive. What is the grandest escape you can dream up?

Take a minute, close your eyes, and imagine. Even better, write it down - with full details.

I’ll wait….

Those escape daydreams are important. They often hold powerful clues to something that might be missing in your life. If you dream of traveling the world, maybe you’re missing a sense of freedom or adventure. If you’re longing to be off the grid with no cell phone interruptions or emails, maybe it’s simple peace and quiet or a stronger connection with nature that is lacking. Maybe it’s the “no more money worries” of the financially successful that you dream of.  

It’s helpful to take a look at our escape dreams because they can give us insight into our next step.  You may know that you really won’t quit your job and buy a sailboat, but you may need to think about ways that you can dip into that sense of freedom and adventure.

What’s missing in your life that you find in your daydream escape job? Write it down. 

How can you use your escape daydreams as a pointer for a new direction for your life? 

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You just experienced a sample day of the LifeWork Project. The LifeWork Project is a 21 day e-course designed to help you make changes that lead to a more satisfying career and a happier life.  Each day, you’ll receive an email with a short LifeWork Discovery reading and a question of the day to ponder - just like the one above.

The LWP helps you take a holistic look at your life and offers a structured process for making decisions and positive change - both in your career and your life.

The next class begins on June 1, 2020. You can read more or sign up here. 

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For those of you who are actively job hunting, it’s time to get busy. As the world slowly re-opens for business, more opportunities are starting to come available. Here are some things you need to do to get ahead of the competition. Read 5 Tips to Prep for a Job Search during a Pandemic.

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I’m also hearing from parents who are worried about job prospects for their adult children. Yes. It’s a tough time right now, especially for those just starting out. As a parent, you want to share all your hard earned wisdom, but they don’t want to hear it. It’s a tricky situation. Here are some ideas. Check out 9 Do’s and Don’ts for Giving your Adult Kids Career Advice.

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And again, I want to let you know that I’m here to help. I’m offering both career and life coaching on a “pay what you can” basis for the duration of this crisis.

I’ve reduced the price for resume services and career assessments. Again, if you need help and can’t afford it, let me know. We’ll work something out.

If you’re looking for a job, or if you just need a listening ear, let me hear from you. I’ll be glad to help in any way that I can. Just send me an email at anita@bluesagecareers.com.

Hang in there. We’ll get through this together.

Stay well!

Anita

Anita Flowers is a Board Certified career and life coach at Blue Sage Career Strategies. A little different than most life coaches, Anita’s background in clinical psychology and years of experience as a counselor gives her a rich understanding of human development and family dynamics. Her work history includes 13 years working with an international business company and 12 years doing individual and family counseling as well as career counseling. This blend of counseling and business experience gives Anita a unique perspective on the world of work and life. Anita works with people literally all over the world to help them discover a life and career they love.   Contact Anita here to get started on your new career and life! 

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. 

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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Gather your courage, strap on your parachute and jump the canyon. Do it!

Gather your courage, strap on your parachute and jump the canyon.

Happy New Year from Blue Sage!  Ok, so I’m not actually jumping the canyon in that pic. My husband and I were mountain biking in the canyons of Sedona, Arizona a few years ago - which in itself was a challenge for two cyclists from the South Carolina Lowcountry. We bike on flat land at sea level. The altitude in Sedona is 4500 feet. Enough said. My husband swears he will never mountain bike again. I'm still hopeful. 

It’s that time of year when everyone is making resolutions for the New Year.  I have to admit I’m a sucker for resolutions and goal setting and the beginning of a new year seems the perfect place to begin again. It’s a new year, a new beginning. Anything can happen. Bring it on!

There are two ways to make resolutions. The best advice is to take baby steps. Break your goal down into specific, positive steps that are achievable on a daily or weekly basis. Instead of planning to lose 25 pounds in a month, make a resolution to eat 5-6 servings of vegetables each day or walk 10 miles a week. If you’re on the job hunt, create a goal to make 2 contacts each week (phone calls or emails). Baby steps are a great way to achieve a bigger goal.  Sometimes looking at a big goal be overwhelming and can lead to procrastination and resistance. I encourage all my clients to use baby steps to achieve their goals in life and in their careers. Baby steps are a great plan and a great way to move forward toward your goals. 

But sometimes… you need to jump the canyon. Last year, I jumped the canyon when I created and developed Blue Sage Career Strategies. I’ve done life and career coaching (and before that individual and family counseling) with other groups for years-  but this time I’m completely on my own. My business. My ideas. My success or failure. Jumping the canyon works when you have a plan in place and a parachute at the ready.

 I’ve worked with clients who have taken the leap to start their novel (and are now published authors!), with clients who have taken the risk to talk to their boss and change their job for the better, and with others who have left a profession that was sucking them dry to begin a new creative endeavor that makes them happy to go to work in the morning. It’s a leap of faith that can literally change your life. Is it time to take the leap?

Gather your courage, strap on your parachute and jump the canyon that is between you and the life you want to live. Talk to your boss about a promotion. Enroll in grad school. Buy the ticket to Australia. Ask him to marry you. Do the big thing that scares you but will turn your life in a new and better direction. 

Today carve out a few minutes, find a quiet place and write down your goals for 2017. It’s a new chapter, a new year, a new beginning. Are baby steps best for you - they always work and are a great way to achieve your goals - or is it time to jump the canyon? Either way, resolve to believe in yourself this year and make those dreams a reality. I believe in you. 

Small steps work almost every time. (And this year my resolutions are baby steps!)  Jumping the canyon works when you are ready for a big change and have a plan in place. Don’t forget the parachute! I’ll be writing more about moving forward with baby steps and jumping the canyon for this first week of the New Year.  If you need a coach to help you jump the canyon or work those baby steps, for the month of January, Blue Sage Career Strategies is offering a 25% discount on all coaching packages. 

Follow your heart...but

Just a little Friday wisdom. Amidst all the advice to follow your bliss, it's important to remember to take your brain with you. By all means, explore what makes you come alive in life. Take a good deep look at your personality and passions and find work that makes your heart sing. But remember to put on your practical hat as well. Before you quit your job to follow your heart and open your own business or move to Nova Scotia or whatever your dream is, it's important to ask the "Is your dream realistic?" question. Is is possible? There may be a lot of answers to that question - and you may have a lot of nay-sayers in your life giving you the wrong answer. But often the underlying question  - or the question you need to ask is - "Am I really willing to do what it takes to achieve this goal? Am I willing to pay the price, to put in the work, to make this dream a reality? How far am I willing to stretch myself?"  

Take some time to do the research and find out what it will really take to make your dream a reality. Talk to people who are doing it. Make a list of pros and cons. Identify the first steps you would need to take. Get out your calculator and run the numbers - the real numbers. As you do this, take note of your excitement level. Are you still passionate about this dream? Feeling a little scared is good, but does the anxiety keep you awake at night? Do you get more excited as you work the details? Are you even more committed to this new path now that you have a better idea of what it will entail?

Follow your heart... but take your brain with you. You might just surprise yourself and make your dream come true! 

Welcome to Blue Sage Career Strategies!

Hello and welcome to Blue Sage Career Strategies.  In this blog, I'll be writing about everything career related. You can look for some upcoming posts on finding a job that makes your heart sing, job search and interview tips, what to do when you're ready to "take this job and shove it," conversations about work and life and family, and resume help. When is it time to quit your job and move on to a new adventure? What is ASCII text and when is it essential to use in formatting your resume? All this, and so much more!

I began career counseling while doing private practice counseling over 20 years ago when I created a career workshop called Dreamcatchers. I'll be putting all those years of experience and garnered information together in one place here at Blue Sage Career Strategies. I've realized I'm at my best when I'm helping others find their passion and live it out. Yet, I'm a practical realist, so in this blog, I'll be combining ideas for finding your passion and living your dream job with some positive and practical ideas about living in the real world of work and life.

And just for new blog launch fun, I'll be offering a free giveaway each month through December 2016. In September, I'm giving away a free Myers Briggs Type Indicator Career Report - chock full of helpful personality insights and careers tips based on your own MBTI type ($125 value).  You'll take the MBTI online, I'll email your individualized report and then we'll follow up with a phone call to confirm and discuss your results.  You can sign up here for the giveaway. 

I work with clients in person or by phone so don't let location get in the way of talking with me about your next, best career step. Give me a call or send an email. I'll be glad to talk with you about what's next for you!