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21st Century Career Success

Have you noticed how much your worklife has changed recently? This article offers you an insight into how you can prepare yourself for career success in the new workplace and stay ahead of the changes that you may face.

21st Century Career Success

When it comes to modern career development, one thing we can all count on is change.

With the advent of technology, telecommuting, and E-commerce, how work is performed is in a state of reinvention.

Self-employment and small business development will become more the norm than big business. And career changes will be more frequent due to rapidly changing organizations and industries.

Finally, the line between one’s personal and professional life will become even more blurred.

Since the modern world of work is rapidly changing to keep up with the demands of our fast-paced lives and lifestyles, here are some characteristics of what the new work contract will look like:

• Seeking more meaning from work.
• Equating “career success” with personal satisfaction over paycheck or status.
• Everyone will need their own “name-brand.”
• Increased use of technology.
• Finding work that needs doing.
• Changing in the way management and leadership is conducted (less arrogance at the top level, more power on lower levels).
• Increased need for networking and self-marketing.
• Lifelong “trying on” of various roles, jobs, and industries.
• Creating a plan that is flexible, and continually assessing the “fit” of the work.
• Increased representation of women and minorities in the workforce.
• Changing career fields numerous times in a lifetime.
• Self-responsibility: Everyone knowing they have to chart their own career direction.

However, the 21st century career also offers many advantages:

• More career opportunities for everyone.
• Freedom to choose from a variety of jobs, tasks, and assignments.
• More flexibility in how and where work is performed, i.e. working from home or telecommuting.
• More control over your own time.
• Greater opportunity to express yourself through your work.
• Ability to shape and reshape your life’s work in accordance with your values and interests.
• Increased opportunity to develop other skills by working in various industries and environments.
• Self-empowerment mindset.
• Allows you to create situations or positions where you can fill a need in the world that is not being filled.
• Opportunity to present yourself as an independent contractor or vendor with services to offer.

How can you successfully navigate through the turbulent times of change and career uncertainty?

By developing resiliency, exercising proactivity, creating excellent self-marketing tools, keeping your skills up-to-date, and finding your unique life balance.

1. Develop resiliency (the ability to bounce back).
Having the right attitude about career change is imperative to your ability to bounce back from setbacks, sudden changes, and twists and turns along your career path. You will experience a lot of career change and transitions, so you may as well get comfortable feeling uncomfortable.

2. Take a proactive approach to your career development.
You must constantly be on the lookout for new ways to apply your gifts and talents in the new economy. This requires thinking creatively, actively promoting yourself/business, and being actively involved in how your career progresses.

Staying involved in professional associations, and continuous networking are excellent ways to connect with other like-minded professionals.

3. Create first-rate marketing materials.
Always keep your resume current. You never know when you are going to want to share it with someone or pass it along. If you are in business for yourself, develop classy business cards and letterhead. Harness the power of the internet by developing an interactive website.

4. Commit to lifelong learning.
To keep earning, keep learning. Do not wait until you lose your job or want to look for another position to gain new skills or training. Recognize the need to be open to learning and attend classes related to your area of expertise to keep your skills sharp and marketable.

Keep in mind the top skills needed for career success include: Communication, Computer-knowledge, Creativity, Customer Care.

5. Find your unique life balance.
There are four dimensions to life: love, labor, leisure, learning.

Remember that work is just one aspect of your life pie. Be sure to indulge in all of your areas. Because having an overall balanced life is what leads to the most fulfillment.

3 Tools for Career Transition

If you're looking to improve your career or change careers, this article gives details of three simple tools that will help you.

3 Tools for Career Transition

Do you really want to improve your career? Or change careers altogether?

Are you tired of all the internet "gurus" telling you that all you have to do is sell their products to get rich?

That's not what I'm here to do. Let's face it, some people are not meant to run an online business. Some people don't even care about getting rich.

But everyone wants to be happy in their career. In this article I will show you some tools to help you achieve that goal.

None of these are new ideas, but I hope that putting them all together in one place will be as useful to you as it was to me.

First, you must believe that you can do anything you want.

It doesn't matter what your age or education is. It has been scientifically proven that you can improve your brain! Your brain and how you use is the most important tool you have.

Use it and your opportunities will be unlimited.

To learn more about the fascinating scientific research being done and how it all relates to your goals visit Science for Success Systems and sign up for the free newsletter and introductory home study course. Or even better, buy one of the CDs for a more in-depth look at motivation.

What is it that you want to do with your career?

A lot of people don't have any idea. Are you one of them?

The second key to finding happiness in a career is to find something you have a passion for. Emotion allows us to more easily achieve our goals.

The more passionate you are about your career goals, the quicker you will achieve them. Take a good look at your current job and see if there are any aspects of it you would like to explore more.

Or brainstorm ideas to make money from a hobby you enjoy. A personality test may be one tool to help you to find areas that appeal to you or that you may excel in. A personality test will tell you whether you would prefer working with people or ideas.Finally, you must set goals.

Most of us don't know how to set goals properly. Neuroscience has discovered that there are scientific "rules" to goal-setting if you want them to work.

You've probably heard most of them before from the self-help gurus.

They must be positive; they must be in the present tense; they need to be written down. But now we know there are physical, scientific reasons for them. Once you have set your goals, you must find a way to follow through with them.

I have found that a software program does just the trick for me, allowing me to track each action step and to set up to do lists right all in the same spot.

These tools will help you in finding and achieving the career you want. Study them, apply them, and see the difference they make in your life.

Nine Sure Fire Ways to Boost Your Career

Is your career in need of a boost? Use the tips in this article to help you progress upwards.

Nine Sure Fire Ways to Boost Your Career

1. Differentiate yourself using a Personal Value Proposition.
A PVP a description of how your unique mixture of five key elements creates and/or adds value for an organization and the people in it.

A personal examination of these elements reminds you of all the strong, positive things you bring to the table and it points out the gaps you need to close before you can position yourself more effectively. Examine each element separately, combine all the data and created a succinct summary of what you have to offer.

The five elements are:

• The knowledge you have about the events and trends in areas critical to or of most interest to your company and clients;
• The kinds of internal and external networks that you can tap into to meet corporate/client needs;
• Your ability to generate and implement superior solutions to organizational issues and concerns;
• The academic, technical, or interpersonal tools you can bring to bear in key situations and; finally,
• The personal attributes and strengths you have that sets you apart from others in the organization.

2. Describe yourself in terms of the outcomes you create, not the activities you engage in.
Fashion a one-line proclamation, a marketing slogan if you like, that reflects the outcomes you create for your company and its customers.

3. Make it your personal mission to always make others, including your boss, look good.
Someone once said, "you can have anything you want; all you have to do is give others what they want." While there is the odd exception to be sure, most people are fair and honest - willing to share credit where it's due.

Making others look good sweeps you up in their success and almost guarantees that they will help you enjoy successes of your own.

4. Be a can-do person.
Take to heart the words of the old song, "the difficult I can do right now; the impossible will take a little while."

Instead of saying "I've never done that," say, "I'll learn how to do it." Don't be afraid of steep learning curves. Remember the organization hired you because you were smart. Look for the opportunity in difficulties rather than the difficulties in the opportunities.

5.Develop success from failures.
Don't be afraid to fail or make mistakes. But if you do either take responsibility - don't project or rationalize. Admitting a mistake or failure and moving forward is proactive not reactive. Above all, identify and remember the learning opportunities in the situation. Forget about everything else and move on.

6. Ask for help.
IQ expands exponentially. Together, two people bring four times the intelligence. Super-hero individualism is often counter-productive.

7. Remember the Pareto principle, or the 80/20 rule as it's more commonly known.
Eighty percent of your effectiveness comes from twenty percent of your activities. Manage your priorities and don't waste time spinning your wheels by engaging in unimportant activity.

8. Get yourself in front of an audience.
Learn to make effective presentations and make as many as you can. Good presentations are the mark of a true professional.

You, your ideas and skills receive broader corporate exposure that, in my experience, can result in challenging new assignments, larger budgets, greater general recognition and even raises and promotions.

9. Develop and use internal and external networks, both formal and informal.
People who network well often receive and move information faster, cut through organizational politics more quickly and, create solutions better suited to the needs of their companies.

Research in different types of organizations shows that those who develop and use networks usually get to serve on more successful teams, receive early promotions more often, get higher compensation, and get better performance reviews.

The 6 Stages of Modern Career Development

As we are all more likely to change careers more often nowadays, it is worth knowing the different stages of career development, so that you can recognize which stage you are currently at. This article offers details of each stage to help you.

The 6 Stages of Modern Career Development

Career experts say that people will change careers (not jobs) 5-7 times in a lifetime.

This being true, career management is an important life skill to develop and cultivate.

There are six stages of modern career development:

• Assessment
• Investigation
• Preparation
• Commitment
• Retention
• Transition

Learning the characteristics of each stage will empower you to navigate through each stage easily and with more confidence.

In the Assessment Stage, you are getting ready for your life’s work.

This stage is characterized by unawareness, in that you are not sure what your values, strengths, and weaknesses are. You start to feel like you want to know more about yourself and make a conscious effort to get in touch with who you really are.

Key characteristics:

• Taking assessment instruments
• Working with a career counselor or career coach

In the Investigation Stage, you are researching what work exists in the world.

This stage is characterized by feelings of confusion, in that you are not sure what career options exist for you. You may feel overwhelmed with all of the different jobs and opportunities that exist as you begin the process of researching the modern world of work.

But if you approach this stage with a positive frame of mind, you will find that you will learn about many possibilities you may have never considered.

Key characteristics:

• Researching the world of work
• Conducting informational interviews with people in your chosen field

In the Preparation Stage, you are still getting ready to do your life’s work.

This stage is characterized by feelings of excitement, as you think of how wonderful it will be to perform meaningful work.

However, there is still much work to be done, and in order to be successful, you have to be prepared.

Key characteristics:

• Gaining knowledge and experience
• Setting goals and adopting a success-oriented mind-set

In the Commitment Stage, you will feel confident, in that you have figured out what you are meant to do.

Sometimes people have known all along what they were meant to do, but were not able to commit to the process of making it happen, for whatever reason.

At this stage, more than ever, you must focus your energy and keep your eye on the target.

Key characteristics:

• Conducting a job search
• Negotiating and accepting a job offer

In the Retention Stage, you will feel comfortable in your career field, as you will now have figured out how things work in your industry.

You will want to remain committed to your career by continually updating your skill set and staying current with industry standards.

Key characteristics:

• Providing first-class customer service skills
• Building a professional network

The Transition Stage is characterized by feelings of discomfort, in that you are unsure of what you will be doing next (and/or if you will be happy).

In this stage, you will learn to make conscious changes in your career direction.

Key characteristics:

• Making career changes
• Developing resiliency

No matter what career stage you find yourself in now, you can be sure that you will enter and re-enter through these six stages many times though out your lifetime.

The serendipitous career move

Serendipity can be defined as "Pure luck in discovering things you were not looking for". Can you apply this to your career? Read this article to find out.

20 Powerful Tips For Advancing Your Career

Are you frustrated with lack of career progression. Use the tips in this article to help you advance in your career.

20 Powerful Tips For Advancing Your Career

You don't want to stay in your current position forever... you want to move up! Here are 20 ways to boost your chances of getting that nice promotion:

1. Do more than is expected of you. Prove that you're capable of handing more responsibility. Volunteer for special assignments.

2. Take initiative and do what needs to be done, before being asked.

3. Learn the skills you'll need to advance. Take advantage of on-the-job training, but don't rely exclusively on that. Consider taking (and paying for) skill-enhancing courses on your own.

4. Be loyal to your boss, your team, and your company. (Yes, you can be loyal without being a "brown-noser.")

5. Be patient and don't expect to be promoted without demonstrating your abilities over time.

6. View the big picture and understand your company's mission. Find ways to help them accomplish it.

7. Save money for your company by identifying ways to boost revenues, reduce expenses, or streamline processes.

8. Offer solutions to the problems you must take to your boss.

9. Show respect to everyone -- superiors, peers, subordinates, and especially customers.

10. Don't be afraid to say "I don't know." If you don't know something, say so; don't try to fake it. Find the answers you need.

11. Take responsibility for your actions. If you're at fault, admit it and take the blame. If you're wrong, apologize.

12. Never gossip. Gossip can hurt the careers of two people: the person being talked about, and the person doing the talking.

13. Never say "That's not my job." Don't think you are above anything. Pitch in and set a good example, especially if the job is one that nobody else wants to do. Your willingness to do so will be noticed and appreciated!

14. Share the credit. People who share credit with others make a much better impression than those who take all the credit themselves.

15. Ask for help when you need it. Don't let a difficult task get out of hand. When you need help, ask for it -- before things get worse.

16. Keep your dislike to yourself. If you don't like someone, don't let it show. Never burn bridges or offend others as you move ahead in your career.

17. Don't hold grudges. Life isn't always fair. If you were passed over for promotion, didn't get the project you wanted, etc., let it go. Be gracious and diplomatic, focus on the future and move on. Harboring grudges won't advance your career.

18. Be humble. When you're right, don't gloat about it. Never say "I told you so!"

19. Make others feel important. Compliment others, emphasize their strengths and contributions, and help them whenever you can. They will enthusiastically help you in return.

20. Join associations and professional organizations related to your career. In addition to helping you learn more about your industry, this can provide invaluable networking opportunities. (Which might come in handy if your employer isn't promoting!)

Achieving Excellence

Are you demonstrating excellence in your job? Do you now what motivates you?

Achieving Excellence

Every now and then you encounter someone who demonstrates excellence on the job.

It might be an exceptional waitress who anticipates your every need. Or a manager who generates both high performance and loyalty on his teams. It could be a teacher with a knack for unlocking the desire to learn in each student.

Excellence, true excellence, is something we prize but seldom see.

It’s a joy to encounter someone who is truly excellent at what they do. Why is that so rare? More importantly, how can you become known as a man or woman who consistently demonstrates excellence?

One comment that is heard time and again about those who demonstrate excellence is, “He/she is a natural at it.”

They don’t seem to struggle to be excellent; it just flows. That is always a sign of motivation, and therein lies the first key: Motivation is required for excellence.

Motivation is what we like do well naturally.

It’s like being right or left-handed. We don’t even think about it. We just write.

The same is true for people known for excellence. They have a group of motivations that work in concert to help them perform at a higher level. Like all motivations, these were inborn and are as much a part of them as being blue-eyed or tall.

But there is a second key: Motivation can be developed.

People who demonstrate excellence have identified their motivations and worked hard to develop them. They have added knowledge, skill, experience and practice to consistently produce at the highest levels.

By the way, there is a flip side to these two keys, and it is this: The best we can be with low motivation is adequate.

No matter how hard we work and desire it, in the long run we will never be excellent at something without high levels of motivation in that area.

In other words, if we toil in areas where we have low motivation, we resign ourselves to mediocrity.

Who wants to be mediocre? Who wants to be known as “adequate?”

Wouldn’t you rather have a shot at excellence?

The first step to unlocking your excellence is to know what you do well naturally. What are your motivations?

Build on Your Strengths

Do you know what your strengths are?

Build on Your Strengths

In fact, if a person has low motivation in a particular area, spelling for example, there is very little likelihood that he or she will ever be a great speller. The best they will be is adequate. Who wants to be adequate?

It’s a much better idea to build on your strengths.

If you want to move up from being good to being great, know what your talents and motivations are, and build on them.

Why? Because you will develop what you do best and enjoy most.

These are your strengths, and they are yours for life.

You can build on them, and they won't let you down. Think about it: what would your life be like if you got paid to do what you do best and truly enjoy? Awesome, isn’t it?

How To Grow Your Network

Many people refer to the benefits of your network when you are looking for a job, but how can you grow your network? This article gives you some practical tips on ways to build working relationships on a daily basis that can help you in the future.

How To Grow Your Network

Everyone knows that networking is the most effective way to find a new job, and yet most people feel their network is far too small.

I want to share with you the secret of how to grow your network painlessly.

First of all, what is your network?

It is simply the relationships you have with people, and when it comes to job hunting, people who are willing to help you.

The more people you know who are willing to talk with you about your job search, the faster you’ll find a new job.

Here’s the secret to growing your network:

Help other people.

Make it your goal to help people you meet naturally during your day.

Be intentional. Look for ways to help co-workers, neighbors, people in your professional organization, (What? You don’t belong to a professional organization?), people at conferences and every new person you meet.

The reason this works is the rule of reciprocity, which says that if you help people, they will be favorably inclined to return the favor in the future.

By helping others you are making deposits in accounts that you can withdraw later.

What can you offer?

Whatever might be helpful, and it doesn’t have to be a big deal.

Perhaps you can send them a link to a website, or a copy of a relevant article. Introduce them to someone in your network.

If they are in sales, ask them what a good prospect looks like.

The important thing is to cultivate a habit of being interested in the needs of others. Once you discover their needs, you are well on the way to finding a way that you can help.

If you find someone who is feeling unsatisfied in their job, suggest they take a career assessment.

They can be  powerful tools that identify what truly motivates a person. Career assessments can help people move confidently toward a more satisfying job.

If you make it a goal to help one new person each week, you will soon have a network that any executive would envy.

Bring A Dead Career Back To Life

At some point during your working life you may feel that things just aren't working out how you'd planned.

The following article gives you some tips on how to bring things back under your control.

Bring a dead career back to life

"I have a great job. I'm just not earning any money."

"My career has died. My company merged and my industry is dying. I have no choice."

"I'm really burned out. I've been missing meetings and losing important documents."

Do these scenarios sound familiar?

Notice a common theme of these scenarios:
Feeling Powerless.

"I have no choice."
"I don't know what to do next."

What's your first step?

To stop feeling powerless, reclaim your power.

Totally Stalled?

Sometimes you are at a point in your life when it's time to do nothing, but inability to act can signal serious problems, such as clinical depression or anxiety.

If you're willing to move but don't know what to do, do something different. It doesn't matter what you do. Take a different route when you walk home. Turn left instead of right when you walk the dog.

Here are some other ideas:

• Do something alone that you normally do with others: shopping, traveling, eating in a restaurant.

• Do something in the evening that you usually do in the morning, or vice versa.

• Change a routine. Can you move a first-thing-in-the-morning activity to noon? Alter an evening activity to morning?

Learn something new.

Learning a new skill is the greatest confidence-builder I know. And by gaining mastery over some portion of your environment, you enhance your power in meaningful ways.

For example, when I adopted my dog, I experienced a meaningful life transition. As a confirmed cat-owner, I was accustomed to spoiling my animals and letting them run the house. With a dog, I had to become a pack leader. That meant obedience training, for both of us!. Five years later, I still feel thrilled when strangers stop to compliment me on my well-behaved dog.

Any skill gives you confidence.

My skill-building was accidental, but you can plan for skills through continuing education programs, Learning Annex, and more.

If you've avoided learning computer skills, take a basic course and then learn how to build web pages.

If you've stayed away from Home Depot, dare to try a carpentry course. Are you a couch potato? Check out classes in aerobics or yoga.

If you're smart enough to read this article you won't try the steepest slope at Aspen on your first ski trip and you won't overextend your heart or tendons in a high-impact step aerobics class. Adopting a dog is a lifetime commitment (and a puppy will tax your patience more than you can imagine). Stay within your own limits.

Bottom Line. There are two ways to reclaim your power when your world seems to be slipping away:

Action and Learning.

Do something different and learn something new.

Not always easy -- but guaranteed to move you out of a dying career and bring life to your work as well as your soul.

Career journey? Don't overdrive your headlights!

Are you trying to move up the career ladder at speed? Use this article to help you get to your goals safely.

Career journey? Don't overdrive your headlights!

As a die-hard New Yorker, I learned to drive after I moved west as an elderly twenty-one-year old.

Night driving was a special challenge and the instructor reminded me, "Don't drive past your headlights."

Over the years, I came to understand what he meant.

I learned to look for reflectors, signs and lights, and to drive slowly on country roads that lacked these amenities. I also learned that I could drive much faster when I had driven a road many times.

I think about night driving when people ask, "How fast should I go in a life transition?"

Your confidence, like your car's headlights, will allow you to move forward. You know where you are going and you can handle what's ahead.

You don't get confidence when someone says, "You're wonderful!" You gain confidence the way you learn to drive country roads. Go slow until you learn the way.

If you feel nervous, you can develop your skills, find another route, or even delay your trip so you can drive in daylight.

You might feel better if you have a map, so you won't be surprised or wonder if you're lost when you see signs pointing to places you've never heard of.

Sometimes you have to tell yourself, "Look, I've done this before. I've never had an accident. The roads are dry and the sky is clear. Let's move!"

You have to respect your own inner wisdom -- and sometimes your realistic concerns can be misinterpreted as lack of confidence.

You must go at your own pace.

However, you know you need to get to your destination, somehow. You can't stay here forever. Once you're on the road, often your confidence grows as you move. And next time you'll know the way.

Recent research has turned career counseling upside down, realizing that most people actually find their careers by serendipity. They zigzag, trying one idea, then trying another. This process can take two or three years - or longer.

Second, what drives most people away from careers are the hidden components of a job.

Can you leave your desk for a long break? Are most opportunities available in small farming towns while you're a city person? Are you a morning person trapped in a career where all the action starts at midnight?

Third, few people make the transition alone.

Remember that song about walking the "lonesome valley?" The song says nobody can walk for you, which is true. Only you can do the work, even if you hire a coach or counselor.

However, the song goes on to say that you have to make your way "by yourself." Not true! You may have to put your own feet on the ground (metaphorically, at least) but you can ask someone to come along for company.

You can call around until you find someone who's walked the valley last week, who can warn you of pitfalls and give you some tips to make your own walk easier.

And if you expect the road to be treacherous, bring a guide.

Charge your career's battery

Is your career not going where you want it to? You can use some of the tips in this article to get you started again.

Charge your career's battery

Career stalled? Before you get out and push, read on.

1. Get moving! Action creates momentum.

2. Do something different. Even if you just find a new route to walk the dog or drive to work.

3. Rejuvenate your fitness program. Visit the gym three times a week. Ask your trainer for some new routines. Take up a new sport.

4. Do something fun -- every single day. A luxurious treat -- anything from hot fudge to hot tubs.

5. Go to a lunch meeting of a professional organization outside your own field. Most organizations welcome guests and the cost will be minimal.

6. Begin brainstorming ways to start your own business. If you have a corporate job, it's not a question of "whether" you'll be on your own someday. It's a question of "when."

7. Take a class on a topic that's outside your normal expertise. A lawyer might study ceramics. Writers might choose ancient history or water color.

8. Limit yourself to one self-help book every three months.

9. Limit your television watching to specials and favorites. Movies and plays create energy.

10. Consider hiring a coach or counselor - but stay away from assessments, tests and projections. Choose a resource who understand careers and businesses and begin with one hour at a time.

Finding energy to blast past your career comfort zone

Are you in a career comfort zone? Use this simple approach to help you find out.

Finding energy to blast past your career comfort zone

Career change, like all transitions, call for moving past a familiar zone of comfort.

Breaking free feels like blasting out of the earth's gravity zone: you need lots of energy to get started before finding a new momentum.

Gaining energy means staying away from energy drains and spending time around energizers.

To see where your energy is going, begin an energy journal.

For the next three days, keep track of how you spend time, hour by hour. You may combine blocks of 2-3 hours if you're in one place.

For each hour, write:

(1) What did you do? Be specific: Instead of "worked," write, "drafted proposal for the new account." Instead of "walked dog," write, "walked dog around the block and stopped to chat with two neighbors."

(2) Were you alone or with others? Indoors or out? Engaging in familiar activity or trying something new? Voluntarily present or feeling you had no choice?

(3) At the end of the hour or block of time, did you feel energized, drained or neutral? Were you ready to take on the world or crawl into bed with the cat?

I recommend waiting at least three days to study your journal and identify patterns.

You can also try journaling three days on a long weekend and comparing that journal with three days during a week.

When you're drained by television-watching or hanging out with friends who are on a lower energy wavelength, you can create your own action plan.

When your job, location or family drains your energy, that's a sign for deeper excavation, possibly with a coach and/or counselor.

Too much neutral can keep you stuck in a comfort zone.

You need energy to make a change -- and that calls for surrounding yourself with people, places and actions that charge your batteries and get you pumped for action.

Five ways to stop drifting and find a new career direction

Not sure what you want to do in your career? Read this article for some valuable tips on how to figure it out.

Five ways to stop drifting and find a new career direction

Q. After several months of feeling terribly uncomfortable with my profession, I left my job and gave myself time to review my options.

But now I do not have clear goals. I drift from one idea to the next. How can I define my personal life goals?

A. We've all read about people who took time off to wrestle with a knotty question.

They become desert hermits, go on long quests or just take long walks with or without their dogs.

Some report getting flashes of vision and insight. Others return home, tired, hungry and cold, with visions of hot chocolate far more vivid than visions of life purpose.

So how do people really figure out what they want to do?

First: Prepare to live with chaos for awhile.

 One week, we want to go on pilgrimage to the east; the following week, we're considering returning to school for a law degree. This confusion seems to be an essential aspect of change, not a reason.

Second: Forget about chasing your goals the way a cat chases a mouse.
Instead, listen to your surroundings and you'll get an invitation. Does this idea seem too woo-wooish and magical?

Believe it or not, serious career researchers, following respected mainstream methods, find that serendipity plays a role in almost everyone's career change.

Third: Stay active.
Most people find their purpose (and their careers) by a zig-zag process, not a straight line.

You investigate one option. Then you consider another. It's two steps forward, one step back, and a job to the side. But if nothing's happening, you won't have a zig to use as a base for your next zag.

Fourth: Take care of the basics.
A few people find their life purpose when they're experiencing painful pressure. But most of the time, you need the leisure to explore options thoughtfully.

Panic can be the enemy of insight. Find a less-than-ideal income source to keep afloat during the journey.

Fifth: Partner with mentors and experts, but hang on to your power.
Books, counselors and coaches should help you discover processes you can use to uncover your own inner compass.

Talking to others can rekindle a fire that's gone out or overcome discouragement. But ultimately you find your new direction, which should emerge from your own actions and ideas.

Career Advancement: Do More than Expected to Get Ahead

To keep progressing in your career you need to find ways of standing out from the crowd. This article covers one of the most effective ways of achieving this - doing more than expected.

Career Advancement: Do More than Expected to Get Ahead

One of the best things you can do to increase your career advancement opportunities where you work is to do more than expected.

It's often not enough to just do a fine job and expect promotions now and then based on longevity.

So find opportunities to show you can handle more responsibility or different duties than those in your job description.

Here's one example from my own personal experience.

I had a great job as the executive assistant to the general manager. But I often didn't have enough to do to keep me busy.

I hate being bored, and I enjoy writing. So I began writing articles and submitting them for the employee newsletter, even though none were solicited.

The editor liked what I wrote, and every article I submitted was accepted and published. Readers even began looking forward to my articles.

One day the editor left for a position with another company.

Having already demonstrated my writing talent, I was asked to apply for the job.

I had to go through the standard hiring process and compete with other applicants, but because I had volunteered to write articles, the hiring manager had first-hand knowledge of my capabilities and I was hired.

Not only was this a promotion, it was a move into a position that I found much more challenging and rewarding.

So look around and take advantage of opportunities to do more than expected.

You'll enjoy more job satisfaction, help others, and - just maybe - get rewarded for your efforts!

The Relationship Between Motivation and Talent

Have you ever experienced a work situation where you really enjoyed using one of your own talents? This article gives more information on why you may experience this type of situation.

The Relationship Between Motivation and Talent

Hydrogen and oxygen are distinctly different elements, but sometimes they combine to form water. Something similar is true for motivation and talent.

Motivation is the desire to do something. Talent is what you do well naturally.

They can exist independently, but when they combine, they create something special. They create motivated talents.

People often are naturally good at something (talented), but it just doesn’t turn them on.

For example, Heather is good with numbers, but she doesn’t go out of her way to find tasks calling for that talent.

Most people have such talents. But then there are those talents that we really enjoy using. These are the motivated talents, and this is where the magic is.

We use motivated talents every chance we get. Most of the time we don’t even think about it.

For example, Larry has a motivated talent for conversation, and he naturally engages both friends and strangers in dialog.

He doesn’t consciously determine to do so; it just happens. It’s natural and unforced.

He enjoys it, and he’s good at it. That’s the hallmark of a motivated talent.

Motivated talents tend to be irrepressible.

They find expression. In fact, if you’ve ever tried to stifle a motivated talent (either yours or someone else’s) it probably felt like you were trying to hold two dozen ping pong balls under water at the same time.

Motivated talents pop out, even if no one else is asking for them. And doesn’t that make sense? After all, it’s what we do well AND enjoy.

Well then, wouldn’t the ideal job be one where you can use your motivated talents daily and get paid for it? Absolutely!

What are your motivated talents? Shouldn’t your boss know? You can let him/her know by giving them a copy of your own career assessment.

Get a job you love and never work a day in your life.

Changing Careers - With Little or No Experience at the New Career

Are you thinking about a career change but don't think you have enough experience for your new career? Read this article for some tips on how to identify the skills you have that will be relevant to your new employer.

Changing Careers - With Little or No Experience at the New Career

Changing careers could be one of the best decisions you make in your life.

It may also be one of the more difficult things you will do. Creating a self-inventory and doing some basic preparation can make a big difference in the way you view yourself and as a result how others see you.

Here are five tips to help you weave your way through your transition.

1. Focus on your “transferable skills”.
When you change careers the focus will be on the "soft" skills - referred to as "transferable" or "portable" skills. These are skills you have used at any and every job or situation you have been in, including volunteer work and school.

Examples of transferable skills are: communication skills, ability to work with a diversity of people, ability to plan and organize, time management, analytical problem solving, customer service skills, etc.

Make a list of your transferable skills, keeping in mind that these are the skills you could use regardless of what company you worked at, or what position you are applying for.

A good source of desirable transferable skills can be found in job postings. Print out several postings and highlight words that reoccur. These are “key traits” that the employer is seeking – don't underestimate them.

2. Find your uniqueness.
Each candidate is unique. What makes you unique?

Think about your personality and your personal traits. One of the things that the interviewer is looking for is "someone to fit in" - who is likeable with the ability to work well with other team members.

Your personal traits could be the tie-breaker between you and an equally qualified candidate. Think of at least five personal traits that make you unique.

Some examples are: friendly, flexible, quick learner, reliable, responsible, easy to get along with, detail-oriented, loyal, etc.

3. Believe in yourself.
Once you have established what you have to offer, you will begin to see the value you can bring to the job. When you believe in yourself and the fact that you have something of value to offer, it will be easier to show confidence and to convince the employer that you can do the job.

Any sales person will tell you that when you believe in your product and its reliability it is far easier to sell and influence someone to buy.

4. Listen and read between the lines.
Prepare five to ten questions to ask about the company.

The best questions will come from your ears. It is also important to listen to what is said as a way of formulating questions. For example, if several of the questions they ask you center around a certain topic, for instance “databases,” be sure to ask questions about the database and the challenges and the problems with the database.

Showing an interest by asking questions demonstrates your interest in the company.

5. Prepare stories about your past experiences.
When you can show examples of past successes, you will have a better chance of showing the interviewer that you have used similar skills in past jobs, even if the job duties are different.

Changing careers is not easy to do in any market, but in a tight job market it will take that extra step to differentiate yourself from the next candidate.

Remember, the employer has a problem – there is work to be done. It is your job to listen to what the interviewer is looking for and then to sell yourself as the solution to the problem.

Letting the interviewer know you heard and understand the job will make you appear more interested in what is going on at the company, and in turn will make you appear to be a more viable choice as the best person for the job.

Creating your Vision for your business, career and life

If you are feeling overwhelmed with everything you need to do, use the simple approach detailed in this article to help you create your vision and get things back under control.

Creating your Vision for your business, career and life

Many people go through their daily lives feeling overwhelmed.

There are so many things to do and there never seems to be enough time or energy to do them all. Is this how you feel about your business, career or life?

Have you promised yourself that this month you are going to make some serious changes but you just aren't sure what those changes need to be?

Think about laying out a vision, but make it a big vision.

One that encompasses your passion in life and the gifts you have come to share.

No matter what the focus of your business or career you have a lot to offer. You are unique and only you can contribute your strengths in your special way.

Whether it's staying at home and raising a family, making the best widget there is, the CEO of a company, a manager in IT ... Life is not a dress rehearsal so create your vision of what you really want and then take inspired action steps to attract it to you.

Don't think of creating a little vision for your life, it's time to stop thinking small.

First you must be willing to take action.

Without changing your focus and habits you will never be able to change the results.

Without taking action you will never move forward and reach the results you want. Coaching is about getting results; listening to what the client really wants and working together, setting out the measurable steps to be taken that result in action and success.

You are responsible for the momentum; it will be up to you to take the actions on your own unless you choose to have the support, encouragement, guidance, and accountability that a coach provides.

Without the forward momentum and inspired actions it's just a good thought.

In order for your business to be successful, to be happy and fulfilled in your career, or prosperous and content in your life you need to have one common thread i.e., Vision.

The process of creation starts with a thought, a great idea, a passionate want, or a dream of something magnificent to achieve.

These are the intangible sparks that ignite our drive to move forward and turn the intangible into our reality.

Begin by brainstorming on paper, yes you must write it down to bring clarity, to make it real.

The first brainstorming session should be free flowing, don't edit your thoughts or ideas. If you are working on your personal vision and your work vision to define what you want and how you want to spend your time, start with the personal vision.

This will give you absolute clarity about what is important to you, what you want, what are the things in your life you are passionate about and that make you feel fulfilled.

Then from there you can create the vision of your ideal business or career and take action to bring want you really want into your life.

Focus on what you really want, be very specific.

Don't just say you want lots of money, a nice home and no stress. Create a picture in your mind of exactly what you want down to the color of the carpet and the list of clients, and then using words draw that picture until your vision is clear.

For example:

• I want a profitable and fulfilling holistic health practice.
• I want to see clients in three different specialties plus passive income revenue streams.
• A full successful practice will have 30-40 clients.
• I will work five days a week between noon and six devoting the rest of the day to self-care, gardening, exercising, and spending time with family and friends.
• I will make 100,000 a year and take 5 weeks vacation throughout the year.
• I love to learn so I will spend 3 weeks a year in educational workshops and training programs to advance my career and myself.

I have several tape sets, workbooks, & learning products that fit into my personal and vision statement providing my clients excellent value and tools that help them to get on track with their lives.

These products are very rewarding to me because I can make money without having to be there. Making a contribution and improving people's lives is very important to me so this is always something I carry out in my business practices and my community involvement.

I have redesigned my home to be bright and airy and laid out the gardens for ease of care, and to provide color and fragrance from my flowers and tastes and aromas from my organic vegetables.

I avoid stress by focusing on the positive and focusing my energy on the things that are really important to me and just let the rest go.

You create what you put your energy on. If you concentrate on all the things you don't want on all the things you don't have enough of that is what you will create more of. Start creating what you do want.

Start with your vision; clearly lay out your life, career, and business vision and then take the steps to make it your reality.

One of the steps might include hiring a coach to make it happen faster for you.

Have You Got Time For Planning?

Are you making enough time available to plan? It only needs about 5 minutes a day and you'll save much more time in the long run. This article will help you get started.

Have You Got Time For Planning?

You know that planning is essential both for success and effective use of your time. But what if you don't think you have the time to plan in the first place?

It's a catch 22. You need to have the time to plan because such preparation would free up more of your time.

You're probably aware of the costs of not planning, such as being ineffective, fire-fighting, feelings of panic, worry and being out of control.

But if you don't plan ahead, you'll be unable to change things.

I've found that many people who don't plan say they don't have time. But this may be a red herring and not the real reason at all. Once you manage yourself more effectively and free up some time to plan, you'll soon see if lack of time is the real reason.

If it's not the time factor, you'll soon be able to identify what else could be stopping you from planning and choose to change it.

You may think that planning will take a long time. Perhaps you've come across other people who spend a long time planning so that's your only reference point.

I invite you to consider that planning doesn't need to take a long time. It's not the length of time you spend planning that counts; it's how effective your planning is.

A smaller amount of time spent planning effectively is more productive than a longer period when you plan without a purpose, or an objective and you don't know where to start, what to do or what you want to achieve.

I believe most planning need take only a small amount of time and once you're in the habit of doing this, it will fit naturally into your day.

I've found that people think they don't have time to plan because they see it as a much bigger task. This stops them before they get started and just focusing on taking the next step.

They often think that planning needs to be formal and sometimes it does: if, for instance, you're presenting a business plan to your bank or investors.

However, most of the time it doesn't need to be formal and this makes it easier to keep it fun. Some of the best plans have started life as notes on napkins or beer mats.

When I work with people who think they don't have time for planning, I ask if they're willing to take just 5 minutes. This keeps it simple and easily achievable.

Even if you're planning something fairly big like a new business, a house move or career progression, even 5 minutes effectively spent will achieve a lot. What would it take for you to spend 5 minutes a day on planning?

So now you have 5 minutes to plan, let's use this time effectively.

One of the best ways to do this is to ask yourself questions. You need to ask discovery questions which allow you to enquire, probe and challenge yourself. Questions take up very little time.

You can ask yourself these questions at almost any time and when you find the answers, your plan can be added to or changed. It's surprising what can be discovered, planned and made clearer if you devote 5 minutes to asking and answering powerful questions.

These 5 minutes a day will give you a good opportunity to plan your day ahead. For bigger plans, 5 minutes spent on a regular basis asking yourself powerful discovery questions and listening for the responses will move your planning ahead consistently.

There are many powerful questions you can ask yourself to enable you to plan more effectively and here are some to get you started:

• What one specific thing do you want to achieve today?
• What do you feel inspired to do today?
• What one specific task are you willing to delegate today?
• What one specific thing are you willing to say no to today?

Even if you only choose one question to ask yourself each day, I'm sure you can see that it's not going to eat up lots of your time.

Your planning can be effective even in a very short space of time.

What is a Career?

How would you describe your career? The view of what a career actually is has changed dramatically in recent times. This article seeks to define what a career is and offers a number of perspectives on this definition.

What is a Career?

A career is the sum total of all of your work-related contributions to society in a lifetime.

This includes time and effort spent to provide goods, services, or benefit to others.

A career includes paid, un-paid, volunteer, part-time, and full-time positions. Your career includes many life roles you may not think of: student, homemaker, babysitter, office worker, doctor, lawyer, etc.

A career encompasses all the roles you play and duties you perform. You may have many jobs or positions that make up your career, but you only have one overall career.

There are various career options in the modern world of work: Self-Employed, Organization Employed, or Project-Employed.

By definition, career development is the interaction of psychological, sociological, economic, physical and chance factors that shape the sequence of jobs, occupations, or positions a person may engage in throughout his or her lifetime.

Career development is an ongoing process that includes the aspects of planning and strategizing your career based on information about your self, the world of work, the match between them, and the action you will take to create your life’s work.

Formal career development occurs in high schools, colleges and universities, adult education programs, business and industry, military, community and government agencies, trade and technical schools.

Consider all the places you have developed your career with either academic or work experience. Where can you go next and what can you do to further develop your career?

You have the power to create what you want, whether you wish to be self-employed, change career fields entirely, hold a certain kind of position, or volunteer your time.

Smart career development requires you to be self-reflective, resourceful, motivated, flexible, and able to keep your skills and competencies up-to-date.

Contemporary Career Concepts
Statistics say that we will experience many job transitions throughout our life.

In fact, tomorrow’s jobs are relatively unknown to us at this time, as there will be new titles and new career fields that will develop.

If a modern career is like a wardrobe, you will wear many kinds of outfits throughout a lifetime, sometimes mixing and matching ensembles, but always checking to see that it still reflects your current style and remains a good fit.

It has been said that clothes make the man - what you are displaying to the world through your choice of clothing is how you express yourself.

Similarly, how you express yourself and what you value is reflected in the work you choose to perform.

There is no security in life, only opportunity.Given today’s changing times, we cannot hold onto one idea for very long - there is so much good work that must be done to help us evolve to our fullest potential.

We are multi-talented, multi-faceted beings with many gifts to share. We cannot lock ourselves into any one job or job path. We must walk our path, but remain flexible and open to new experiences.

We also need to learn our lessons along the way. Each job, no matter how small, is meaningful and is part of our career plan in that we are always building onto our careers. Today’s work will prepare us for tomorrow’s opportunities.

Is a Career a Calling or Choice?

Do you enjoy your career? Does it feel like the perfect career for you? This article will help you think about why this may be the case (and can help you if it isn't).

Is a Career a Calling or Choice?

How much of our career path is destiny and how much is free will?

In my opinion, it is 50/50.

We are given a life map at the beginning of our lives, and there are things we are meant to learn, people we are meant to meet, work we are meant to perform.

But many of us are not tuned into ourselves and the signs that are presented to us. We often miss important information, and miss out on those lessons, people, and jobs.

The use of free will comes about when we are presented with options. Choices are really curves in our path. We can choose to take the long route, or the quicker, easier route.

No path is better, it just impacts how quickly we move along our route, but remember: when climbing the mountain of self discovery, taking the long, hard, scenic route can be a rather enjoyable, enlightening experience.

Choose a career you love and you will never work another day in your life.

If you think about this, what a different experience we could have in our work lives. If we actually loved the work we were doing, it wouldn’t seem so much like our traditional concept of work (drudgery / pain).

Think about it! How many jobs have you had that you dreaded going to? What are some of the differences between a job, a career, and your life’s work? Let’s define it.

A job is something you get paid to do (money is the primary motivation). It is easy to perform because there is not much challenge, and you will eventually find other work to do.

It may or may not fully engage you. Spirit may or may not be present.

A career is something you get paid to do that is viewed as a profession (status or identity is the motivation).

It may provide more challenge, but after a while, you may get burned out, and choose to stop doing it.

It may or may not fully engage you. Spirit may or may not be present.

Your life’s work is something you do whether you get paid for it or not (your soul’s need for expression is the motivation). There is plenty of challenge and personal meaning. You will always want to do it. It definitely fully engages you. Spirit is present.

Remember that a job can get you started toward your life’s work. In fact, jobs provide the very important element of exposure to different kinds of industries.

Take for example, a woman who started out working in a department store as a clerk, who moved into a management position, and finally created her life’s work as an independent contractor who trains others in customer service skills.

Get Smart!
If everyone in the world could create their life’s work (and they can!) - if everyone could find what they were meant to do in life, how much happier and fulfilled we all would be!

How to Feel Satisfied in Your Career

Do you need to feel more satisfied in your career? The following article gives you some tips on how you can achieve this without the need for major changes.

How to Feel Satisfied in Your Career

Many people turn a beloved hobby into a vocation. They have a gift, a talent screaming for expression. It means doing something that they love. At last, they feel empowered.

However, this newfound empowerment is inside the person, not in the changing of careers. How can you feel empowered if you are already successful in your work but feel discontent?

You must recognize and feel the value within you and your work every day!

A colleague and I were presenting a workshop on career satisfaction to a group of health-care staff members. His segment, "Feeling Empowered in Your Career", and my following segment, "Empowerment in Words and Actions", complimented each other splendidly.

A majority of the participants had indicated before the workshop that they were happy with their career choice. Their need was to feel more contentment during the workday. Many felt isolated or emotionally distant from co-workers. They felt successful but not content.

They all believed that their work was highly valuable. However, as one participant said, "I don't feel connected to the people I work with or feel enough satisfaction in the value that I provide."

There is a big difference between believing in something and deeply experiencing the same thing.

An old expression suggests, "It will not help to believe in ladders unless you climb one." Many people are highly skilled, successful, and competent in their work. They are intellectually aware of their value. However, they do not experience the internal satisfaction and contentment that they want and deserve.

How can we experience the most contentment and satisfaction in our careers? Here are several key ideas to remember.

1. First, check your motivations for being in your career.
Success is the result of skills, actions, and choices. It is not a mandate to remain in one place. You can be successful in many different endeavors depending on your motivations, interests, and natural gifts.

2. Start with your desired result.
Notice how the participant's words focused on *not* feeling connected. After that gap has been acknowledged, it is time to shift focus.

We move toward the object of our primary attention. It may seem backwards, but begin at the end. Imagine and focus on what contentment would feel like for you as though you already have it.

3. Catch a partner or co-worker doing something great each day.
Verbally acknowledge the dedication and value that they contribute. Use sincere words and actions to show colleagues that they are valuable. Share your goals with others, and express sincere appreciation for their participation.

As children, we learned to communicate and relate to others by participating in a mutual action-speaking environment. We did not simply listen and respond. We built trust-worthy relationships by joining with adults and peers in cooperative activities that matched words and feelings with action. Showing appreciation for others will reflect back and enrich your experiences.

4. Seek constructive suggestions from both co-workers and clients.
Dive right into the experience of value, and acknowledge constructive suggestions with gratitude. Focus on your value by challenging yourself to make improvements each day.

5. Put your value into positive-action words.
Then catch yourself in the actions. Our words, actions, and focus of attention will pull us toward the contentment we seek. Journal your experiences of providing value. Review them frequently.

6. Nourish and maintain yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Discontentment may be a warning sign of burn out. Get regular medical checkups and follow a balanced lifestyle for maximum wellness. Daily periods of relaxation and meditation are important for renewal and wellbeing.

The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor.

Yet we can be both successful and content with our lives and careers. We create the most meaningful monuments from the love and enthusiasm we have for our work.

Create a monument everyday by doing what you love and focusing on the value you bring to others. Acknowledge also the value that others contribute to your life and career.

These actions coupled with a healthy, balanced lifestyle can add contentment and improved relationships to your career beginning today.

Finding Satisfying Work

Are you still trying to find a career that you enjoy.

Finding Satisfying Work

• Do you long for meaningful work?
• Are you bored?
• Are you feeling drained?
• Are you restless and don’t know why?
• Do you feel like you are just putting in your time at work?

The solution is Alignment, and there are three steps:

1. Discover what you are designed to do.
2. Do it.
3. Minimize everything else.

The idea is to align your work with your natural motivations and talents.

Imagine what it would be like to use to do what you enjoy and are good at, in a compelling environment, working with interesting subject matter, and relating to others in a comfortable way.

Can you picture what life would be like? Do you get a sense of how productive and energized you would be?

Too good to be true? No. But it does not happen overnight. Let’s take a look at the steps involved.

1. Discover what you are designed to do.
This is what a career assessment helps you do. It pinpoints your motivations and their corresponding talents.

This is good news, because most people can not articulate what it is they are designed to do.

2. Do it.
It’s all about Alignment. Align your work with your career assessment.

Begin to make adjustments that will allow you to do what you are designed to do. Some changes will be incremental, and some may be radical.

The idea is to spend more of your time using your strengths. That is where your performance and satisfaction both peak.

The natural place to begin is with your job. Once you are familiar with your career assessment ask yourself:

1. What have you learned about why you do, or don’t do, certain things at work?
2. Which of your responsibilities draw upon your most motivated talents?
3. Which of your highest motivations are rarely used?
4. Which of your responsibilities call upon your lesser talents? What can you do about this?
5. How does your job fit your preferred way of relating to others?
6. Are the circumstances that motivate you present?
7. Given your unique design, is there a position in your company that is a better fit than your current one? If so, what do you need to do to prepare for it?
8. If you are feeling drained or burned out, which areas are out of alignment?
9. If you feel you are in the wrong company or profession, what can you do about it?

Once you have resolved the questions above, it is time to share your motivations and talents with your boss. Include some examples or stories to illustrate them.

This is one of the most critical career moves you can make. That’s because if you and your boss talk regularly about your career assessment, you greatly increase the likelihood that:

• He or she will have realistic expectations of you.
• You will get assignments that play to your strengths.
• Together you will decide how to handle tasks that call on your minor talents.
• Identify areas where training/experience/mentoring will be most helpful.
• You will be able to spot opportunities and positions that are a good fit for you.

3. Minimize everything else
You are designed to do something, but not everything.

A fork is designed to help us eat, and we do not expect it to be any good at driving nails.

The same is true for you. You are designed to do something, but not everything.

Let yourself off the hook a little. Do not spend too much time working on areas of low talent.

What if you must work in areas of low talent? You have some options.

First, you can admit that you will never win the Nobel Prize in that area. Have honest expectations of your performance.

Two, see if you can create some type of system to help you. For instance, a man with low talent for time management found that using a Palm Pilot was very helpful.

Third, partner with someone who has high talent in that area.

This does not mean that anything that falls outside of your assessment can be shirked.

We all have to do things we do not enjoy from time to time. We have responsibilities and duties that must be honored.

What it does mean is that we need to have realistic expectations of ourselves.

The idea that everyone can be a well-rounded person, a Renaissance man or woman, is a myth. There are a few exceptionally gifted people in this world.

But holding them up the wise person knows he or she has limitations.

When and How to Say "I Just Can't Do It!"

There are only so many hours in the day and the workload pressures many of us face always seems to be increasing. How can you handle it? This article gives some advice on how to "manage your boss" in a constructive manner.

When and How to Say "I Just Can't Do It!"

We naturally hesitate to tell our boss when we can't do something or are feeling overwhelmed in our job.

Bosses don't want to hear that, right? Well, it depends.

In many situations, your boss is so busy that he/she doesn't keep track of how much work you're doing.

When your boss gives you a new project, he's not thinking about all the other projects you're already working on.

And here's the kicker - unless you speak up and tell your boss that you can't handle the workload he's giving you, he'll assume everything is fine.

This can have bad consequences for you AND your boss.

You know what will happen. Eventually things will start falling through the cracks or you'll rush through tasks and start making mistakes.

You can only do so much in a day, and deadlines will be missed. While you're stressing out, work that your boss needs you to do is NOT being done.

When this happens, your boss will not appreciate your excuse: "But I had too much to do, I was overloaded with work!"

Saying that AFTER the fact will be much worse than telling your boss up front - before mistakes occur or deadlines are missed - that you're having trouble with your workload.

It is your responsibility to tell your boss when you are overwhelmed, and there's nothing wrong with doing this.

Of course, you don't want to tell your boss, "I can't do that; I'm too busy."

But you can say, "I'll be happy to take that on, but I need your help with prioritizing the other projects you've already given me. Which jobs can I put on hold or delegate to someone else while I work on this new one?"

That's way better than keeping your mouth shut, trying to do too much, and failing miserably.

Five Powerful Tips for Interns

One of the best ways to gain early work experience is interning. You can also use this as a valuable insight to the world of work. Use the tips in this article to get the most from your experience.

Five Powerful Tips for Interns

Interning is about more than earning money during summer break.

It's a wonderful way to gain work experience and lay the foundation for your future career. But to get the most out of it, you have to do more than just land the job, show up for work and collect your paycheck.

Here are some tips that will help you get the full benefits of interning:

1. Pay Attention.
This is more than a job, it's a valuable learning experience.

And unlike school, this is the real world - where you'll be spending the rest of your life after graduation!

Your coworkers know you are new to this and will want to help you, but they can't spend all day explaining things to you. So when they answer your questions or show you how to do something, pay attention.

Also pay attention to what's going on around you. How do your coworkers talk to each other? How do they treat the boss? What are their goals and concerns? Learn the culture and customs of the work world.

2. Find a Mentor.
Whether it's your supervisor or someone else you work with, find a person who is willing to answer your questions and help you learn.

Ask about the job, the company, the career field.

Find out what they did to advance in their career, and what advice they have for you. Establish a strong relationship. This person may be able to help you with your career long after you leave this intern job.

But be fair and make this a two-way partnership that benefits you both.

Don't just take, give. Offer to help your mentor with special projects or other activities that may not be specifically part of your duties. Make yourself as valuable to him/her as your mentor is to you.

3. Accept Reality.
You may get stuck with some work that you feel is beneath you, boring, or just plain pointless.

You will probably not be included in the important decisions going on around you. But you are, after all, an intern.

The trick is to make the best of it by doing an outstanding job with every task you're assigned. Then ask for more.

Take on anything you can and show that you can be counted upon to get it done quickly and accurately.

Even if it's something dull like filing paperwork, your efforts will be recognized, appreciated and remembered.

4. Be Professional.
Remember, you are in a work setting now and need to act professionally.

Don't show up late, chat on your cell phone, take extra-long breaks or bring your personal life to work with you.

5. Evaluate Your Career Goals.
One of the best things you can learn from your internship is whether you're pursuing the career path that's right for you.

Are you enjoying the work? Is it what you expected? Can you picture yourself doing the same kind of work and being happy with it for the rest of your career?

If not, you should re-evaluate your career goals. Discuss your options with your career counselor when you return to school.