08.23.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:38 pm by Jackie Jones
My granddaughter Kelsi spent most of the summer visiting relatives, first a month with me in Washington, D.C., and then several weeks with her mom’s family in Connecticut.
Her plane was scheduled to land in Salt Lake City at midnight, but thunderstorms sweeping the East Coast delayed the flight. Kelsi, her mom and her toddler sister arrived at 4:30 in the morning.
My son was convinced Kelsi would sleep in and skip the first day of school, but at 7 a.m. she was waking up her dad and exhorting him not to make her late for school.
“You don’t have to fix breakfast. I’ll wash my face, brush my teeth and get dressed. You can stop and get me a muffin on the way to school,” she told her father.
Kelsi had had such a grand summer that nothing was going to keep her from attending the first day of school so that she could share her How I Spent My Summer Vacation story.
How many of us have that drive to see something through? Kelsi’s goal was to be fully present at the first day of school and only an act of God was going to stop her.
All too often, we let ourselves get worn down by circumstances. If those circumstances persist for several weeks or months – and in some cases, years – we are convinced that we must not be destined to have our hearts’ desires.
While it may take a little longer to get where we want to go or land that job, that contract, that promotion, staying the course and being fully present each step of the way, doing the best we can at whatever is before us gets you steps closer to the goal.
Get up and be present – and don’t be late.
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08.16.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:10 am by Jackie Jones
The email subject field said: Alert.
My heart began to race. As a veteran newswoman, when I see a bulletin, I’m thinking: bad news.
This time, however, it was a grand announcement from a friend in her 60s who had landed a full-time job after three years and 180 applications.
Oh, she did some legal temp work and “various and sundry other jobs” including conducting some training for the U.S. Census along the way. This is a highly educated, dynamic, energetic, professional woman who had been actively involved in local politics over the years. She had connections.
A few bad breaks and the recesson turned a solid, exciting work history into a spotty resume.
But my friend never gave up. She kept pushing when others would have cashed in their chips, taken a meager pension and waited for Social Security to kick in.
Sometimes, the most productive years of some people’s lives start when others are winding down. Former President Jimmy Carter’s mother, Lillian, joined the Peace Corps as a senior citizen. Grandma Moses started painting at 76. W.E.B. DuBois, a friend recently reminded me, published his seminal work, “Black Reconstruction,” at 67.
There’s no cutoff age for productivity. And while my friend may not have had a full-time job, she never really stopped working. She picked up opportunities along the way, networked, volunteered and worked at looking for a job.
It may not have been a path she would have chosen, but her persistence paid off.
So when you feel like you’ve reached the brink, don’t give up. Keep on pushin’.
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08.09.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:59 pm by Jackie Jones
Thirty years ago, on Aug. 7, 1981, The Washington Star newspaper folded and with it, it seemed at the time, my dreams of pursuing journalism in my hometown.
I had only been at the paper five months when it announced it would close in two weeks. I had worked hard the previous five years to get back to Washington so that my family could see my work and cheer my success.
While dozens of newspapers descended upon The Star’s offices to find talent for their newsrooms, I was torn between giving up journalism and just finding a job of any kind and staying in Washington, or leaving home – again – to pursue my dream.
The Washington Post didn’t hire me (until years later) and my former employer in Baltimore would not take me back, out of fear that I might leave again if the opportunity presented itself.
I was 27, but suddenly felt much older, a single parent with a 6-year-old son to raise and no earthly idea what to do, since I already was where I wanted to be doing what I wanted to do.
But I found work in another city and proceeded to build my career, educate my son and go on to enjoy a fulfilling journalism career until I decided to become a coach.
The one thing I knew in all of this was that I wanted to follow my passion and do work that would fulfill me. I chose to stick with newspapers, turning down more lucrative offers in other fields, to pursue what had become my heart’s delight.
It wasn’t always easy, but I did it and 30 years later, after a career in journalism and now a career coaching others about reinvention, I can say that following my passion was the best move I ever made.
I’m proof that anything is possible and I hope that my story encourages others to stay the course.
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08.02.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:48 am by Jackie Jones
What I love about NPR is that it takes chances. Some of its pieces may be too long, too intense, sometimes unfocused, but mostly it hits the mark.
The reason it succeeds so well is that editors, producers and reporters are willing to step outside their comfort zones and push listeners beyond theirs.
My friend Tanya Ballard talked announcer/newsman Carl Kassell into doing a rap about the debt ceiling. It works because it runs counter to Kassell’s style and is so wonderfully awkward. Just what you would expect from NPR: http://n.pr/p6YQUi
When I worked for The Philadelphia Daily News, then-Mayor Ed Rendell – who was quickly becoming folically challenged – testified at a city council hearing that he had a better chance “of growing a pompadour” than seeing the schools superintendent get the huge budget he said he needed to turn the system around.
The reporters and I decided to give Rendell a pompadour. I went to the library, found a photo of singer Roy Orbison and had Orbison’s hair Photoshopped onto Rendell’s head. We boxed the picture and quote and ran it on the same page as the story.
Our executive editor, Zack Stalberg, thought it so funny he had the page blown up and sent it to Rendell. Not only was the mayor not offended, he thought it was a stitch and had it put it on an easel in his office.
So step outside your comfort zone. Test the limits of what you might ordinarily do. Some of the best ideas come from doing something that makes you scared or uncomfortable.
Take a chance. Anybody can play it safe; why be just anybody?
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07.25.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:42 pm by Jackie Jones
Over the weekend, my high school class had a mini-reunion.
My late, lamented Catholic girls high school hosts an annual reunion for all classes over the years. It’s lovely seeing women in their 70s and 80s, and even a few 90-year-olds, celebrating and keeping up with longtime friends and classmates.
But there also something special in spending extended time with folks who were integral to your coming-of-age.
So after our spring reunion, we agreed to meet at a restaurant over the summer – just us. A couple of our teachers joined the group and about 20 women got together to reminisce and see where we are today.
We all have overcome a variety of challenges, from job loss, divorce, and major health issues, but we were all there, filled with joy and gratitude for the opportunity to (re)connect.
One woman in our group has had 10 back surgeries over the past 12 years, initially triggered by trying to help an elderly neighbor. At the time, she was married with four young children, working full time and just living a happy and fulfilling life. There were times after the injury, she said, when she could not even lift her legs to get out of the bed.
“Some people would have given up, but I was determined to get my life back,” she said.
And so she persisted, consulting with doctors, agreeing to surgeries and going through five of them before she began to see some relief and progress.
“I’m always going to have chronic back pain but I’m at a point where I can handle it. I have a high threshhold for pain and I’m just glad to be able to move and be here,” she said, standing and chatting after a group photo.
As we push through the tough times, we must remind ourselves that it is not the challenge that is the issue for us, but how we choose to respond to it.
Corporate branding expert Anne Sempowski Ward said in a recent interview that it is important to be deliberate and self-aware about the choices you make.
Rather than be on auto-pilot and trudge through each day just pushing forward until you can get to what you want, she said, your attitude should be: “I know what I’m doing; I’m acknowledging it, and I’m pushing through it.”
When you set your goal, decide whether you will develop a plan and pursue it with persistence or PERSISTENCE.
Your investment will dictate the outcome.
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07.18.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:36 pm by Jackie Jones
Even coaches have trainers and mentors. While I work with people to help them design the careers of their dreams, I work with a team of coaches who help me figure out how to get even better at what I do.
I work with Jesse Koren and his wife Sharla Jacobs who run Rejuvenation Training, a series of programs that help life coaches and holistic practitioners grow their businesses. At a workshop earlier this year, Jesse stopped me in my tracks when he said that anywhere you are feeling stuck in your practice probably reflects a bad habit that you have and that you will see those same issues with your customers because “your clients reflect you.”
Well, that was a scary thought, but it made me realize that the issues that most frustrate me about clients probably are habits that I thought I had overcome. Even if, on the surface, I seem calm and assured, the jitters that I get before I hit the stage to give a talk or the hesitance I sometimes feel before taking on a new contract are often what I see in clients who I know have the gifts and skills to get exactly what it is they say they want.
To do better – for myself as well as for my clients – I must be better.
“Most of the barriers we beat against are in ourselves. We put them there and we can take them down,” says minister, life coach and motivational speaker Mary Morrisey.
If you tell yourself you can’t find a job because you are over a certain age and employers only want young people, you will be right.
If you tell yourself you can’t find a job because you are too young and inexperienced and employers want people who already know the drill, you will be right.
If you tell yourself you can’t find a job because you are a woman, and not a man; or because you are black and not white; or because you didn’t finish your degree; or, or, or – you will be right.
It is all too convenient to focus on what can stop you instead of what will move you forward.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow, who is credited with defining the Hierarchy of Needs and self-actualization, sums it up best: “If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being you will probaby be unhappy all the days of your life.”
Stop getting in your own way. It’s not about what you think cannot be done but what you believe can.
The hardest part isn’t making it happen; it’s making yourself believe that it is possible. It is your can-do belief that will motivate you to succeed.
In the end, it’s all about Taking Care of the Business of You.
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07.08.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:24 pm by Jackie Jones
The widespread cheating scandal in Atlanta public schools (http://bit.ly/p6MPo5) is nothing short of stunning, not because teachers and principals cheated to make their schools appear to be performing better than they were, but because of the utter lack of confidence that their work could speak for itself.
How many times have you cheated yourself?
Have you ever tinkered with your resume to make your job sound more important, make yourself seem more productive, take a little more credit for a major organizational victory than you deserve, all because you don’t believe your background, to date, will get you far enough?
Have you ever posted photos on an online dating service site when you were younger or slimmer, or ever exaggerated what about your job, or your skill level for a hobby to seem more desirable?
Have you ever just out-and-out lied, hoping the lies don’t catch up to you, or even embellished the original lie(s) to make it appear that you’ve only gotten better with age?
Even if no one else ever learns the truth, you know. How comfortable can you ever really be on the job, in a relationship, among peers, if you are always worried you may be found out?
You know when you are prepared to be the best. You know where your talents lie. If you are not happy with what you know and what you can do, do something about it. Lying or exaggerating is not that something.
Take a class, get a degree, practice a skill that you have let lapse. If you don’t have everything on an employer’s wish list, but you have some other skill that may compensate in some way, say so. You can always offer to take additional training, if necessary. If you are a quick study, say so and give a solid example.
If you want an employer to believe in you, you must believe in yourself. If you are Taking Care of the Business of You, you will always be prepared. That way you never have to get ready, and you will never have to cheat to get someone to hire/love/like you.
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06.29.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:45 pm by Jackie Jones
Sometimes the hardest part of career reinvention is getting your friends and family to believe in and support the change.
I loved working for newspapers. I still get a lot of joy from writing, but when I decided I was ready to leave daily newspapering behind, I was equally dedicated to my new career.
The transition took a while as I underwent training and built the business a few clients at a time. I spent 30 years in newsrooms as reporter and editor and it has been hard to get people who have known me all or most of that time to see me as anything other than a journalist.
One of my closest friends still introduces me as a reporter and ticks off the places I’ve worked. Even up to a year or two ago, after I introduced myself as a career coach to people at social events, my then-boyfriend would later turn to people and say, “but she’s really a writer.”
You may have to remind folks when they slip up and introduce you as a reporter, a banker, a teacher that yes, you have done that, but you now run your own business, become a personal trainer or are running for local office.
And you need to see yourself differently as well.
Resist the urge to look at your former career as Plan B. You don’t want to run to the safety of what you’ve done in the past if you really want to move forward. Telling yourself that you can always go back is setting yourself up to do just that. When you hit the rough spots as you move ahead there will always be the temptation to run back to the devil you know.
If people see you have the courage of your convictions, that you are confident in your decision to change and that everything you do speaks to making it happen, they eventually will stop letting their fear that you may fail or not fully succeed get in your way.
You are who you choose to be. If you are changing careers, the reinvention starts with how you see yourself. Update your identity. It is time you started Taking Care of the Business of You.
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06.20.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:33 am by Jackie Jones
When I explain to people what I do as a career reinvention coach, I often say, “even the best players need a coach.”
Think about it. As Wimbledon begins this week, you will see the players’ coaches in the stands, watching intently to see if all the hours of training and practice will pay off.
In any championship tournament, it’s clear that a team of highly talented players doesn’t automatically win without a strong coach to use that talent strategically.
You must willing to invest in yourself if you really want to achieve your goals. I continue to go conferences, seek out mentors and pay for coaching. I believe in what I do. I am on a mission to help people and I want to be the best coach out there.
I can’t get there by putting my feet up at the end of the business day and vegging out in front of the TV for several hours. I’m reading and researching new ideas to deliver the best information to my clients and regularly sharpen my skills.
The same way you think about making a major purchase (a car, a home, a post-graduate degree), the decision to invest in coaching is a serious undertaking and it is not cheap – not if you want results.
In an interview for Deborah Hardnett’s book “Wealthy Sistas,” Darnyelle Jervey, a transformational speaker and coach, said she openly tells prospective clients how much she spends a year on coaching for herself. Next, she asks them what they want – what they REALLY want to accomplish. Then she tells them what she charges.
Jervey said she can show would-be clients the results she has gotten for others and she tells people they may find cheaper coaching, but they won’t find better.
“If you really want it, you can go and pay a coach thirty-dollars an hour if that’s what you want but you’ll be back to see me because you didn’t get anything.”
It’s not arrogance. The results you get from investing in yourself will, over time, bring you a far greater return than what you spent in the first place.
But you need to be clear about what you want and be willing to put in the work.
Often we hesitate to invest the money and waste time worrying about what might go wrong if we spend what we have to spare right now.
That’s quicksand thinking. You get stuck in the muck and cannot or become afraid to move because you believe you will sink deeper. So you do nothing and sink anyway into anger, frustration, depression or boredom.
If you are not willing to invest in yourself, then who is going to be willing to invest in you?
You get back what you put out. If you’re constantly hesitating to take responsibility, to get additional training, to go for what you want, don’t be surprised when you are not assigned responibility, chosen for training programs on the job or are passed over for promotion.
Ultimately, you’re going to spend the money anyway. Shouldn’t it be on Taking Care of the Business of You?
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06.13.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:29 am by Jackie Jones
Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Shawn Marion know what it means to stay the course and focus on the dream.
Sunday night, the Dallas Mavericks won its first NBA championship in franchise history. Each of the aforementioned players had had nightmares leading up to this moment of championship titles that slipped through their teams’ fingers over the years.
Nowitzki said he wanted to erase the lost of the 2006 Finals. Jason Kidd said he still had nightmares about the losses with the New Jersey Nets.
Their mantra this year, however, was “Finish the Job.”
On paper, they weren’t as strong as the Miami Heat, but in the end, focus and desire were the bigger players on the court.
As you strive to be the best at whatever it is you want to do, remember it may take longer than you would like to secure victory, but when it arrives it will be just as sweet as you anticipated it would be.
When I scheduled my first live event only one person showed up – the woman who helped me secure the venue. I didn’t cancel the event. As long as there was one person in the room who wanted my services, I was determined I was going to give that person the whole program.
It was supposed to be a multi-hour workshop and I stepped up on the stage with easel and pad and coached that woman through everything I had prepared. I helped her map out a strategy for the next phase of her career and even gave her homework assignments and committed to checking in on her at regular intervals.
Today, she is a successful professional who just completed her master’s degree and is in the process of launching her own business – all while raising three kids as a single parent. She has said that initial investment of time and the pressure to stay focused have been the keys to her success.
Little by little, my business has grown and now I get larger engagements with bigger and better turnouts. I stayed focused on my mission to serve people and help them follow their passion and create the career that would give them professional and personal satisfaction.
I planned, invested and persisted in my dream. So did the Dallas Mavericks. They never gave up, despite years of working to make their dreams come true.
Neither should you.
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