Tag: professional development

The Work of Well-Being

The work of well-being is all about taking control.

We here so much about balancing life and work in our world today.  It’s really more about taking control of what we’ve been given-life.  You can’t take control of your life, and your well-being, until you see your life as the center. The center is the place where everything begins.

Most people want a sense that they are doing the right things. They aspire to have a good life, but unfortunately some areas of life live to corrupt our best intentions. Whether it’s work, relationships or some other area, we sometimes feel one step away from being undone.  How about you? With all the advances in technology and education many felt it would improve our state, beyond a tablet computer.  The puzzling question is; where’s the advancement for managing our lives? Where’s the cure for feeling overwhelmed?

The answer has been with us all along.

Life is a gift. I certainly believe life is a precious gift given from above.  I also believe that gift implies a sense of responsibility and management.  I don’t know anyone who would verbally endorse an approach where life just unfolds on its own.  Deep down we know that life is tough and it requires work.  Unfortunately, we have a modern world that has sold us a bill of goods.  The one that says we can ignore well-being or mask our issues with money and/or medication.  How powerful would it be if we changed the paradigm?

Seeing value in the small. There’s no better a mindset than embracing small steps, small goals and the results that follow. If you start small with changing a certain area of life, you will start to see your paradigm shift.  Think of it as racking up small and quantifiable victories. Happiness and contentment follow the person who is willing to do this kind of work.  As you slowly embrace with commitment and urgency, the outlook changes.

Ignore all the haters. I read once where the original CEO of Cadillac believed insults and criticisms were a signs that the organization was onto something great. The fair warning is found in you not listening to the naysayers and the persuasive lips of chatter.  Specifically, those that try to convince you that ignorance is bliss or that someone else is responsible for your well-being.  Be careful here.  Many a man and woman have started off well only to be derailed by their own temptations and deceptions.

If you truly want a great life, then take your well-being and own it. It will require hard work, but you won’t regret it.

Eric Pennington is the founder of Epic Living, LLC. He is the author of Waking Up in Corporate America and the newly released book The Well-Being Guide: Making the Most of Life and Work. The book is available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and select book sellers.

Career Fear Factor

3 Headed Dog 

 

"You are caught by what you are running from." – Sam Keen

 

Does losing your job or not finding a job scare you?  For many, the answer would be yes.  Now if it’s just a passing thought don’t pass out.  I'm speaking of preoccupation and consistent fear.  Most people have, at one time or another, considered the reality.  In 2011 the reality of this type of change is real-for better or worse.  But do you manage your career and life around that fear? 

 

I’ve seen leaders make decisions because they were calculating the most foreboding scenarios.  The great fear of job loss controls their every move.  This motivation produces mediocre results, and even worse, an absence of credibility with those that follow.  And since leaders who hold high positions of power are human, they lead by fear and hope for the best.  Sadly, many leaders and managers infect the very people they're supposed to help.  So what was once a singular issue is now organizational.

 

Human beings are skilled at setting up their own kingdoms…complete with impregnable walls and barbed wire fences.  We think we're in control.  The higher an individual climbs in their respective organization, the more tempting it will become to try to control everything.  That’s why organizations are “certifiable” for not catching their people early in the process.  For example, teaching them about holistic leadership and the danger fear-based living presents.

 

If you desire something great (something that leaves you, your family, other people, and your health intact) from a career, then you’re gonna have to risk.  Maybe even risk that very career you're hold onto so tightly.  I'm a much better human being, leader, entrepreneur because of the risks I've taken.  The risks have not always worked out in my favor, but there is no way I would have become what I am without those risks.

 

Better to get ahead of your fears, before they claim you.

The Career Divorce

Scales of Justice 
First, this is not a post on marriage.  But it might help your marriage/relationship.

Have you ever considered filing for divorce, from your career in this context?  I don't mean resigning or changing employers.  Though that could be a good thing.  But I'm speaking of putting your career back to its rightful place.  The ending of allowing this segment to dominate the others.

What if your career can only be great when it stays its proper size/dimension?

What I'm advocating is counter-culture and is very difficult to pull off-especially in places where work is an altar to be worshiped at.  The secret is to get the "divorce thing" early or get hurt.  I didn't get it early and I got hurt.  My hope is I'm catching you at that early stage or in the midst of your hurting.

Here are some things to consider regarding your career's place in your wheel of life:

  1. Very rarely will you find an employer that REALLY wants you to have life-balance.  Though it flies in the face of proven research, employers are still drunk on profit-first.  Nothing wrong with profit, but getting drunk can and does kill.  Given this, why not stop being in awe and work on becoming irreplaceable.  That way, you won't fall into the trap of being in a slave/slave-master relationship with your employer.  You really are helping the organization when you have this mind-set.
  2. Start practicing total life management.  We can help here.  I have found that way too many people feel they can leave parts of their lives on auto pilot.  It's not a case that people want to do this, they're either afraid or unsure of where to turn.  I wrote this piece last week about our issues around trust.  Think of it like your car; all cylinders need to be working properly and together to get you to where you want to go.
  3. Small is a very big word.  Start small and end great.  Set small goals, conduct small expeiments, find celebration and victory in the small things.  What you're actually doing is moving yourself toward your "big" thing.  Most confuse thinking big with the process of getting there.
  4. It's not too late for a turn-around.  Unless, you don't think you're worth it.  Which would be crazy to think considering your DNA.  This is very important if you're further along in the race.  See #3 for further encouragement.
  5. At some point, sooner or later, your life will have the final say.  Listen to your life.

How Long Will It Last?

Roads 

 

When you consider where you and your options for a great life are at, how long do think you have to get things in order?  In other words, how long before you move forward with looking at your life as the thing you manage and not just your career, your money or your spiritual?

You wouldn't need to ask many people to find out that the majority feels out of balance.  Many have made a deal with themselves to pick and choose what they will pay attention to.  A game of pretend where you believe that ignoring will make everything okay.  A warning may have been given, from a doctor or counselor, that was designed to shake the slumber.  But fear or insecurity continues its dominance.

This all makes sense in so many ways.  Where do you go?  Who do you turn to?  What's the right pathway back or out?

For better or worse we have a trust issue running through our modern day world.  It almost feels like you need the CIA to find out who really cares-in business and out.  I can't solve this, but I can be a source of consistent truth and encouragement.  My contribution to you and your journey.  The bottom line is you need help in making sense of your whole life.  Any successful life warrior I've ever met always had help.  It is this help that is truly a difference-maker.  A way to a breakthrough.

But what if you look away?  What if you tell yourself that it's too big of a mountain to change?  What if you believe the promises of your employer?  I would ask that you consider remembering the following:

    All of the disease, dysfunction, stress, and unhappiness would not be such a big deal if ignoring your whole life was a viable solution.  Employers wouldn't still be grappling with engagement and performance if relying on half-a-person to do the work that only a full person could do, was a viable solution.

The Problem With Talking Points

Talking Points 

Many years ago, some of my colleagues and I would joke about various talking points executed in the oh-so many meetings we attended.  What was ever striking about those talking points was the lack of conviction and sincerity.

So why the problem?

At some level we crossed over the line of danger when it comes to our words-spoken and written.  So much so, that many inside of organizations, families, churches, communities, and governments are jaded.  We've blurred the picture of what is real and what is fiction.  Regrettable leaders now feel comfortable using words in truth and lie.  They see this time as one meant for convenience and opportunity. 

Is there hope here?

The short answer is yes.  But the following needs to be adopted:

  1. Stop ceding your voice to those who think they're smarter than you.  Often-times they're not and should never be given the power to smother you.  It's a basic human thing that is bigger than a position, a title or career security.
  2. Stop allowing fame and fortune to cause you to turn the ether on.  The courageous and integrity driven folks are often never on Oprah.  But if we only see fame and fortune as valid, how will we recognize the "real" and authentic?
  3. Stop living someone else's life.  I wear a size 40 jacket, you wear a size 42, so why should you try wearing my jacket?  Your size is what you were meant to wear.  And by the way you'll be happier.
  4. Stop listening to the negative voices in your head.  Specifically, the type that cause you to run and hide.  Negative voices are inherently evil.
  5. Start demanding honesty from those that lead you, serve you or ask you for your money.  You're worth it!

Defining A Blue Sky Experience

 March 28 2011 002

How do you define a blue sky experience? Is it some place over yonder? Is it a person? I see it as a moment. Just one moment.

Even in a business like mine where you work hard to get people engaged, I always take a step back and consider those who claim they have no time, shrink back in fear or laugh off the thought of what a blue sky experience might mean.  I guess you can't escape all of the things that get in the way of blue skies.

Since we began our partnership with Take Time for Your Life, it has become very clear about what's at stake.  Think of the premise of the words "take time for your life."  The urgency is great here, we actually are in the business of helping people put their life first.  Not their career, not a degree, but their life.  A life that includes career, education and more.

So the blue sky experience requires you to put your life first.  It requires you to understand that you only have so many times to see it feel it, embrace it.  It requires you to understand that the blue sky experience was given to you as a gift of sorts.  A wonderful gift.

I am an experiential writer and guide, so you need to know that I'm not just poking around here.  The picture in this post was taken in a moment today.  A moment I almost passed up because I thought I had so much work to finish, and I did.  But I turned around.  About an hour after I took the shot, I had to remind my mom that theattorney needed my dad's death certificate to finish her estate plans.  Admittedly, my blues increased substantially.

Enjoy your blue skies when you see them.  

Do You Know What Your Work Is?

Worker bees 
Do you know what your work is?  Most people could rattle off a list of things related to their career.  For example, a title, an employer's name, annual sales, deferred compensation, etc.  But those things are abstract compared to what your work is.  If you want a starting point in finding an answer, then the following question must be asked:

If you lost everything related to your career and I asked you to help my mission/movement, what could you offer?

Now notice, I didn't ask about your credentials, your experience, your references or what companies you worked for before.  I focused my question on you.  You!  That's where the answers begin to come into focus.  I know that may make you uncomfortable for a host of reasons.

Some people got their work from their parents, from their religion, from peer pressure, and it's all wrong.  Some people followed a path they couldn't fully see unfolding and stayed on it, and it's all right.  Regardless of which one represents you, the game is not over.  Unless you've fully surrendered and choose to look the other way.  What matters most is where you're going, not where you've been.  There's no greater a story than the person who says and lives out. "I need to make a change."

The following outlines some ways to get to that place of a fully-defined work:

  • Compile a list of what makes you come alive, makes you satisfied even when it exhausts you, makes you want to talk about it.  There could be other examples, but just start compiling.
  • Stop the negative self-talk.  You've made some mistakes, I've made some mistakes, everybody has.
  • Be vulnerable.  This opens the door to courage.  It will help you when you have to tell the world you need to make a change.
  • Before you rush into making a change ask yourself if your current setting is suited for your work.  Your current business, employer, etc., may be a great fit.  The main thing is to define what your work is.
  • If a change in career, for example, is necessary, then start small and build to the big.  Most people run out of gas because they go to fast and too far at once.  Patience is a virtue.

Houston, We Have a Problem-Updated 2011

Corporate boardroom 
The following post was written almost 4 years ago.  Ironically, the problem still persists inside of my friend's organization.  I know you may be wondering how this organization manages to stay in the game.  I won't wast precious space on all of the reasons, but one reason is they're in a hot market.  Sadly, hot markets can be like ether to organizations and they come and go.  Regardless, it was sobering to read and update this post.

I talked to a friend this week about how her company is facing a crisis of identity.  Their crisis is not a marketing one, but an internal sales vs. operations one.  Ever heard of it?

Many companies deal with the following:

  • What area is most important sales or ops.
  • Areas (sales, ops., customer service, etc.) that create their own fiefdoms.
  • Top management that is unable or unwilling to be clear.
  • Conflict avoidance.
  • No programs for people development.

The above is not an exhaustive list, but covers some key areas of stress.  In many cases the organization has allowed the weeds to overtake the garden.  Meaning; there is one vision and all must serve that vision.  Anything less results in a culture full of dysfunction.

I recommend the following:

  • Change the culture or change the culture.

Apple_news

See this article on how Apple values their culture.  As you may have guessed, taking responsibility for your culture is paramount.

What Others May Not See

Rainbow 

What if you're the guy or gal who has decided to embrace change, even if you're not sure what that change may bring?  I applaud you if you are.  It's healthy and the life you want is paved with your willingness to move forward.

How about those that decide not to go with you?  Not a huge deal when it's the co-worker who likes to gossip or the brother-in-law that seems to think he has the best plan for your life.  But when it's someone you love or someone you call a friend it can stop you in your steps.  You might even think about going back to Egypt.  A place you think, even if it was miserable, as a safer bet with no resistance.

From my own experience it is never easy to change.  And conversly it is not easy for those that are watching or playing a part in your motion picture-your life.  Your changes may be a source of discomfort, construed as a violation of a committment you supposedly made, or like the fool who believes only the stuff flowing through their head, you refuse to be the person they define you to be.

Here's what I've done so far to manage what others may not see on my journey:

  1. Let go.
  2. Open my eyes up so that I can see new friends (thank you Marc, Ed, Anna, Mike).
  3. Give those who are trying to stick with you a chance(s).  Not everyone moves at the same pace, but they must be moving.
  4. Remember, the world need the person you're becoming.
  5. Don't expect applause, don't think you can change people, and it accept that some relationships were intended for only a season.

 

The Danger Of Professional Arrogance

Cracks_appear 

First, you could change the title of this post to "The Danger of Personal Arrogance" if you so desired.

When you have a enough time in your rear-view mirror you can soberly look at your past.  If you're like me, you have had enough experiences to have a track record/history.  You can see what you missed as well as what went wonderfully when you look back-don't stay there too long though.

I was warned at an early stage in my career to avoid arrogance.  It was a poison many advised.  I did a decent job of heeding their advice.  But like any human being, I took my share of poison pills.  Some people and organizations were hurt by my arrogance.  Some applauded with a knife ready to pierce my back, while others figured I'd find my way back home.  And yes, my arrogance was fueled by my power and success.

Now that I've set the context, I'd like you to consider the following:

  1. This is big!  Arrogance robs you of the opportunities to find the things/people that can  help you figure out some of your problems and mystries.
  2. Arrogance lives on the same street as power and success.  Doesn't mean that power and success are bad, just means you shouldn't invite them all over for a Super Bowl party.
  3. When arrogance starts to grow in you, your learning starts to atrophy/die.  This can be reversed but like most things, the longer you wait the tougher it is to change.
  4. Arrogance assures loneliness.  Even if hundred's of people smile and cater to you, the reality is they really don't care.
  5. The chances of living an Epic Life dwindles significantly.  When arrogance takes hold, you'll find yourself too concerned about your "press" and not your legacy.
  6. Arrogance convinces you that you have to be "better than" in order to be safe and protected.  In short, a lie.