Ok, so by now you are getting insights into what is REALLY driving your procrastination. The biggest thing to know is what is your highest level fear driver? Which one is driving your behaviour? If this is the first time you are reading this blog, please review the previous three entries first.
The real reason you are procrastinating relates to one of the those fears (or something similar in your construct of the world). In CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Technique), the premise is that people procrastinate or do other unhelpful behaviours because they have unhelpful rules and assumptions, related to fears.
Another way to think about motivation of your behaviour is known as “Towards or Away from Motivation”. In my experience understanding this model is key to helping you overcome your issue! In a nutshell, all humans have a preference for pleasure (happiness, good things etc) and we dislike pain (emotional or physical pain, bad things).
Therefore, our behaviour is motivated TOWARDS PLEASURE and AWAY FROM PAIN. Most of us fool ourselves into thinking that we are being motivated toward our goals, however, if you are putting up barriers to achievement (such as procrastination) then you are actually being motivated from AWAY from motivation!
The best way to know what your motivation is for sure is to look at your actual behaviour whilst trying to achieve your goal. If your behaviour/motivation is patchy (up and down) and you are having to push yourself and exert lots of effort, and then procrastinating then you are actually fighting yourself unconsciously. When people are NOT moving CONSISTENTLY towards achieving their goals, their motivation is actually coming from fear (or away from motivation).
Therefore recognising and releasing your fear is the best way to overcome your procrastination. A good coach can take you through a number of processes to release fears. NLP and CBT techniques are highly effective in achieving this. In order to move forward you need to identify what is really holding you back and then disputing the truth of that unhelpful belief or assumption. You can get started by using our Overcoming Procrastination template.
Step 3: Get clear on your TRUE values
Sometimes part of the reason that you are procrastinating is because you are not acting in line with your true values. So getting clear on your real values is important. As this process in in-depth I cannot go into it this on a blog, however, you need to know that your true values are about valuing things you already do and have.
Too many people confuse their expectations or goals with their values! E.g. I value wealth creation, yet I live week to week – i.e. your reality is week by week living (current behaviour) and you desire wealth (your goal)
If you are operating outside of your real values the biggest clue is that if something takes too much effort then there is a very strong chance that you are telling yourself you value it, because “you should”! Whenever we tell ourselves we ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ being doing something, we are normally out of alignment with our values and in alignment with other people’s expectations of us (real or imagined)! Assess whether it really is congruent with your TRUE values.
Identifying your real values is in-depth and an experienced coach can help you tap into this. Please be aware of ‘free’ value assessment tools. These tools generally only feed your delusions about your values, and do not help you identify your real, true values! My Performance Coaches works with the powerful tools that help you identify your true values.
Step 4: Develop a compelling vision and goals
Develop a compelling long term vision (10-15 years) and clear, realistic and goals. Write it down in detail. If you have already done this and NOT moving forwards, the chances are, you don’t believe it to be true or you have created goals and visions that are unrealistic or not congruent with your values. Again a professional coach can assist you do this at both a conscious and unconscious level to deeply embed these into your psyche.
Step 5: Understanding the Cycle of Procrastination
So we now have all the information you need to change your behaviour. Before I give you tips in the next blog to help you overcome your procrastination, let’s look at the procrastination cycle.
Stage one of the cycle is that you contemplate doing the task/goal. This triggers stage two (which you now should be consciously aware of) which is the unhelpful beliefs, assumptions, fears and conclusions. Then if these unhelpful beliefs are undisputed, discomfort avoidance techniques kick in (e.g. you first start to justify why you can’t do the task and then take alternative or no action). This then enables stage four which normally creates dual pay-offs for you. This continues until the next time you contemplate the task/goal and around you go again.
Hopefully by now you are really starting to understand the true nature of procrastination. The next blog will be the last in the series and will help you with tips to overcome these unhelpful behaviours.
My Performance Coach specialises in Career Coaching for professionals. We help you get unstuck, positively motivated and inspired to create the career of your dreams! Our aim is to empower and enable each and every client to develop a compelling vision, inspiring goals and to achieve the success they wish to create in their lives. Our qualified coaches do this through a structured and professional process combining profiling tools, supportive environment, a variety of different coaching methodologies, and sophisticated one-on-one training to expand and inspire growth and learning for our clients.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Procrastination - Part Three....
So did you meet the August 8 deadline? Apologies for my lateness! With all good intentions, I failed to take into account that some parts of OZ have no mobile or internet coverage! I guess better late than never! So onto Step 2.
Step 2: Uncover what you are getting out of procrastinating?
So what did the previous exercise tell you? What insights did you get I wonder?
Now it’s time to understand what you are actually getting out of procrastination! This takes some in-depth exploration. You may find it useful to discuss your answers with someone who knows you well and has had the opportunity to observe your behaviour consistently for at least six months. Otherwise, a good coach will speed this process up and help you get these answers quickly and efficiently. A good coach nails this stuff with you in a few sessions if you really want to overcome it!
What pay-offs are you getting? You really need to understand these. The obvious ones are what positives you get out of procrastinating, and more importantly what you get to avoid doing!
More often than not though, the REAL pay-off is an unconscious motivator. By virtue of it being ‘unconscious’ you are unlikely to be able to point to the answer quickly. A pay-off is generally associated with a negative driver (significant negative subconscious self belief). This subject is too sensitive and involved to discuss in a blog. However some of the more obvious and more common ones are “I’m not good enough”, “I/things must be perfect”, “I’m not strong enough”, I can’t cope”, “I can’t do anything right” etc.....
Be careful not to just accept what comes to you first up. This is just your psyche dishing up the same old same old. The real insight is harder to grasp! This is where a skilled and experienced coach can help you nail the REAL reason for your behaviour.
For instance, you may perceive that the pay off you get by not doing your admin tasks every week in your small business, is that you get to AVOID BORING TASKS and you have WAY more important tasks to do. But actually the real meaning you are attaching to it, when you really drill down is that you are fearful that your profit is not on target. So whilst our logical mind knows you may have a financial issue, thinking that its probable and knowing for a fact are two different things!! Because the latter actually means you will need to do something about it if you do not wish to make the situation worse, procrastination is helping you put off the pain of knowing! So the real reason is your fear of serious financial loss!
I know most people dislike the idea that their behaviour is often motivated by fear, and many out-rightly reject it (which is just a resistance mechanism) but most of our behaviour, particularly behaviour that is a disservice to us is motivated by fear!!
Without going into a great deal of explanation about it, there are 7 main fears that drive most of our behaviour. If you keep drilling down and asking yourself honestly what you fear, your answer will be based on one of the following:-
1. Fear of breaking away from a value system held by society (e.g. law, church, professional)
2. Fear of poor mental capability (e.g. not smart enough, not educated enough)
3. Fear of failure/success (coming up short, not good enough)
4. Fear of financial loss (e.g. bankruptcy, not enough money)
5. Fear of losing loved ones (e.g. death, disownment, leaving you)
6. Fear of societal rejection (not fitting in, not being liked)
7. Fear of poor physical capability (e.g. not strong enough, not tall enough)
Now it may seem to you that fear driving your behaviour doesn't make sense, since procrastination is just putting off the inevitable. Well you'd be right! It doesn't to your logical mind!!! But your psyche (sub conscious mind) is trying to protect you from having to face the pain of your fear, so procrastination is the key strategy of avoidance it uses to achieve that goal.
However procrastination can be a highly effective strategy. Many people delay pursuing their dreams and allowing their fears to run their whole life without ever acknowledging they lived out a fear based protection mechanism. Think about those people you've heard say, I would have, could have, should have done x, y, or z - yes, they are living examples of this process in practice.
So the REAL question is, do you really want to be doing the woulda, shoulda, coulda gig for the next 10, 20, 30 - 70 years or do you want to live your life and achieve your dreams???
If you are about the latter, then you really need to work out what is really driving your procrastination? Get to the answer and release yourself from this current level of procrastination!
More explanation on this next week. Until then....
Get Cracking ;)
Step 2: Uncover what you are getting out of procrastinating?
So what did the previous exercise tell you? What insights did you get I wonder?
Now it’s time to understand what you are actually getting out of procrastination! This takes some in-depth exploration. You may find it useful to discuss your answers with someone who knows you well and has had the opportunity to observe your behaviour consistently for at least six months. Otherwise, a good coach will speed this process up and help you get these answers quickly and efficiently. A good coach nails this stuff with you in a few sessions if you really want to overcome it!
What pay-offs are you getting? You really need to understand these. The obvious ones are what positives you get out of procrastinating, and more importantly what you get to avoid doing!
More often than not though, the REAL pay-off is an unconscious motivator. By virtue of it being ‘unconscious’ you are unlikely to be able to point to the answer quickly. A pay-off is generally associated with a negative driver (significant negative subconscious self belief). This subject is too sensitive and involved to discuss in a blog. However some of the more obvious and more common ones are “I’m not good enough”, “I/things must be perfect”, “I’m not strong enough”, I can’t cope”, “I can’t do anything right” etc.....
Be careful not to just accept what comes to you first up. This is just your psyche dishing up the same old same old. The real insight is harder to grasp! This is where a skilled and experienced coach can help you nail the REAL reason for your behaviour.
For instance, you may perceive that the pay off you get by not doing your admin tasks every week in your small business, is that you get to AVOID BORING TASKS and you have WAY more important tasks to do. But actually the real meaning you are attaching to it, when you really drill down is that you are fearful that your profit is not on target. So whilst our logical mind knows you may have a financial issue, thinking that its probable and knowing for a fact are two different things!! Because the latter actually means you will need to do something about it if you do not wish to make the situation worse, procrastination is helping you put off the pain of knowing! So the real reason is your fear of serious financial loss!
I know most people dislike the idea that their behaviour is often motivated by fear, and many out-rightly reject it (which is just a resistance mechanism) but most of our behaviour, particularly behaviour that is a disservice to us is motivated by fear!!
Without going into a great deal of explanation about it, there are 7 main fears that drive most of our behaviour. If you keep drilling down and asking yourself honestly what you fear, your answer will be based on one of the following:-
1. Fear of breaking away from a value system held by society (e.g. law, church, professional)
2. Fear of poor mental capability (e.g. not smart enough, not educated enough)
3. Fear of failure/success (coming up short, not good enough)
4. Fear of financial loss (e.g. bankruptcy, not enough money)
5. Fear of losing loved ones (e.g. death, disownment, leaving you)
6. Fear of societal rejection (not fitting in, not being liked)
7. Fear of poor physical capability (e.g. not strong enough, not tall enough)
Now it may seem to you that fear driving your behaviour doesn't make sense, since procrastination is just putting off the inevitable. Well you'd be right! It doesn't to your logical mind!!! But your psyche (sub conscious mind) is trying to protect you from having to face the pain of your fear, so procrastination is the key strategy of avoidance it uses to achieve that goal.
However procrastination can be a highly effective strategy. Many people delay pursuing their dreams and allowing their fears to run their whole life without ever acknowledging they lived out a fear based protection mechanism. Think about those people you've heard say, I would have, could have, should have done x, y, or z - yes, they are living examples of this process in practice.
So the REAL question is, do you really want to be doing the woulda, shoulda, coulda gig for the next 10, 20, 30 - 70 years or do you want to live your life and achieve your dreams???
If you are about the latter, then you really need to work out what is really driving your procrastination? Get to the answer and release yourself from this current level of procrastination!
More explanation on this next week. Until then....
Get Cracking ;)
Monday, July 26, 2010
Procrastination - Part Two....
TA DA! Yes I can get things done when I want to!! So in the spirit of following my own coaching, here is part 2 of the series on procrastination.
I know you are all dying to know what the QUICK FIX is. Sorry, no can do! Look elsewhere for that answer!
If you have read my blogs, you’ll guess that I’m the kind of coach that deals in reality. I help people become successful, achieve their dreams and create the life they desire, by dealing with their limiting and unhelpful beliefs, perceptions and thinking systems.
I get results for people, because I use what works! I know what drives performance and outcomes and I help others get it. And how you get it, is through putting in time, energy, effort and focus on yourself and what you want. You have to be ready and prepared to work on yourself and take 100% responsibility for your outcomes.
Does that sound harsh or unfair to you? If so, you are likely to be in the 90% of the herd looking to blame others or events and seek your quick fix pill. I know you don’t want hear this, but there is NO quick fix (not for anything) and YOU are 100% responsible for what shows up in your reality. This is often a hard concept to accept, but it doesn’t make it false! People who tell you otherwise, are just praying on your gullibility and your desire to have the wish fairy wave her wand over your head and fix your problems for you. Yes that does sound wonderful I know! We can all dream, but reality, is reality.
Success, Achievement and therefore coaching is about facing reality and dealing with it. THAT is how you get phenomenal success. There is a formula that all successful people know and understand and all I can tell you is it is not about quick fixes.
So in that vein, here’s the first step to put your focus, time, energy and effort into.
Step 1: First thing is to recognise that you are actually procrastinating :)
It is important to be self aware! I think it’s Dr Phi who says “YOU CANNOT CHANGE WHAT YOU DON’T ACKNOWLEDGE”! As a coach, I know this to be 100% true. I cannot assist any client who refuses to acknowledge their own thinking and behaviours and the impact of those on their lives!
And our whole psyche is designed to filter out stuff that we choose to pretend doesn’t exist. Yes I said pretend! We all pretend stuff is not happening! The majority of the planet are walking around in denial a great deal of the time (way more than you or I could anticipate). This I also know to be true. I know it because of the science but also more powerfully, my own person experience. I have delved deeply within myself for 25 years and I see it in everyone I know and coach (and I know a lot of people)!!!!
So we all have our areas of denial. It’s now time to put a shining light on the things you are pretending NOT to notice! Therefore one of the main keys to success is to get SELF AWARE enough to know when you are doing it! Easier said than done - absolutely!!
Here are some questions to help you identify if you are procrastinating: -
• Is your day filled with unimportant or low priority tasks (think inside and outside of work)?
• Do you leave items/tasks on your To Do list for longer than 2 days?
• Do you have loads of To Do’s (written or in your head)?
• How much of your day is spent reviewing non-priority emails, watching TV, playing games, reading, on facebook (or other social media sites) or other non-productive, but pleasurable activities?
• Do you review emails/reports/voicemails and not doing anything with them straight away?
• Do you read the same thing more than once?
• Do you sit down to start a high-priority task, and almost immediately going off to do something else?
• Do you consider doing a task more than once, but still take no action to start it?
• Do you regularly agree to do unimportant tasks that others ask of you?
• Do you regularly agree to do things that you don’t want to do or don’t need to do?
• Do you find yourself waiting for the “right mood/inspiration/time” to tackle the important task at hand?
• Do you make up excuses and stories to yourself and others about why you haven’t done something or achieved something?
• Do you tell yourself that you perform better under pressure and tight deadlines?
If you have answered YES to any of the above, guess what? Yes, you my friend have been procrastinating. I know it, and more importantly YOU now know it ;)
Now for those people who answered yes to the last one, and are now telling the computer and themselves that that has absolutely nothing to do with procrastination, well think again! Yes it does. And I’m not going to tell you why for a couple of blogs yet! So now you have to keep reading. Oh LOL!
OK, so what I hear you say? So I procrastinate. No biggie! No it’s not, if you have every intention of leading a small, mediocre life! As highlighted in the last blog, procrastinating is our key self defeating behaviour. If you think you only do it occasionally and it has no impact on your life, then I ask you to consider the following questions honestly:
• Have I have achieved absolutely everything that I dreamed of for my life up until now?
• Am I in the top 10% of highly successful, top achievers in my area of expertise?
• Am I constantly achieving stretch goals and moving forward rapidly to greater success?
• Am I achieving what I want in ALL areas of my life?
If you can answer yes to all the above, then well done you! I congratulate you. You are one of few people who have overcome all their fears and have managed to find a truly balanced life!
However, most people cannot say that. Why? I know you have your reasons and excuses. But if you cannot accept that procrastinating is holding you back, then you will be unlikely to achieve the things you want in life (it will remain just dreams).
Just to be ultra clear - If you have consciously de-prioiritised a task for another high priority task and you complete both tasks, that is not procrastination but good time management. But make sure that this is true and genuine! At the end of the day, the only person you fool by not being truthful with yourself, IS yourself.
If you are serious about nailing procrastination, then I have some generic self help to assist you. Here is the first Overcoming Procrastination – template 1.
To give you a deadline (and me) this needs to be completed by 8 August. I am on holiday next week, but I will ensure I meet this commitment for you!
You need to do this exercise with focus and energy. It is often useful to buy a special note book to make your notes in. So take the time out of your day. Sit somewhere inspiring. Get in touch with yourself and ask yourself the questions on the template. Notice what the little voice says. Be honest with yourself. Notice both your logical reaction and the subconscious messages coming through. Read the question and pause. Let things come to you. Pay close attention to the thoughts at the back of your mind! Then read it again and pause. Do it until you could look me in the eye and say I answered this with 100% honesty and conviction. Because if you don’t you are just playing and now you’re using me to help you procrastinate. NOT HAPPY JAN!
But seriously, if procrastination is a strong pattern in your life, coaching is a highly effective method to enable you to move forward. It is my experience, that self help is only of limited value as our psyche’s are clever enough to make us think we are helping ourselves when in fact we are cementing the very thinking, beliefs and behaviours we are trying to overcome! I had this experience many times, and the AHA for me catapulted me into coaching and training. A skilled and experience coach can help you overcome procrastination faster and more effectively than you will ever do it yourself. Why? Because a skilled coach can hear and see what you are pretending not to notice and acts as a sounding board to help you see what is happening in your life.
I’m off to the fabulous Northern Territory for a Thelma & Louise style trip (for those of you old enough to remember the movie) and some inner reflection on the way!
So enjoy spending time with yourself and until next time.....
If you feel you want to accelarate getting this issue sorted out, coaching is the best way to achieve results by addressing your personal issues. Contact us today.
I know you are all dying to know what the QUICK FIX is. Sorry, no can do! Look elsewhere for that answer!
If you have read my blogs, you’ll guess that I’m the kind of coach that deals in reality. I help people become successful, achieve their dreams and create the life they desire, by dealing with their limiting and unhelpful beliefs, perceptions and thinking systems.
I get results for people, because I use what works! I know what drives performance and outcomes and I help others get it. And how you get it, is through putting in time, energy, effort and focus on yourself and what you want. You have to be ready and prepared to work on yourself and take 100% responsibility for your outcomes.
Does that sound harsh or unfair to you? If so, you are likely to be in the 90% of the herd looking to blame others or events and seek your quick fix pill. I know you don’t want hear this, but there is NO quick fix (not for anything) and YOU are 100% responsible for what shows up in your reality. This is often a hard concept to accept, but it doesn’t make it false! People who tell you otherwise, are just praying on your gullibility and your desire to have the wish fairy wave her wand over your head and fix your problems for you. Yes that does sound wonderful I know! We can all dream, but reality, is reality.
Success, Achievement and therefore coaching is about facing reality and dealing with it. THAT is how you get phenomenal success. There is a formula that all successful people know and understand and all I can tell you is it is not about quick fixes.
So in that vein, here’s the first step to put your focus, time, energy and effort into.
Step 1: First thing is to recognise that you are actually procrastinating :)
It is important to be self aware! I think it’s Dr Phi who says “YOU CANNOT CHANGE WHAT YOU DON’T ACKNOWLEDGE”! As a coach, I know this to be 100% true. I cannot assist any client who refuses to acknowledge their own thinking and behaviours and the impact of those on their lives!
And our whole psyche is designed to filter out stuff that we choose to pretend doesn’t exist. Yes I said pretend! We all pretend stuff is not happening! The majority of the planet are walking around in denial a great deal of the time (way more than you or I could anticipate). This I also know to be true. I know it because of the science but also more powerfully, my own person experience. I have delved deeply within myself for 25 years and I see it in everyone I know and coach (and I know a lot of people)!!!!
So we all have our areas of denial. It’s now time to put a shining light on the things you are pretending NOT to notice! Therefore one of the main keys to success is to get SELF AWARE enough to know when you are doing it! Easier said than done - absolutely!!
Here are some questions to help you identify if you are procrastinating: -
• Is your day filled with unimportant or low priority tasks (think inside and outside of work)?
• Do you leave items/tasks on your To Do list for longer than 2 days?
• Do you have loads of To Do’s (written or in your head)?
• How much of your day is spent reviewing non-priority emails, watching TV, playing games, reading, on facebook (or other social media sites) or other non-productive, but pleasurable activities?
• Do you review emails/reports/voicemails and not doing anything with them straight away?
• Do you read the same thing more than once?
• Do you sit down to start a high-priority task, and almost immediately going off to do something else?
• Do you consider doing a task more than once, but still take no action to start it?
• Do you regularly agree to do unimportant tasks that others ask of you?
• Do you regularly agree to do things that you don’t want to do or don’t need to do?
• Do you find yourself waiting for the “right mood/inspiration/time” to tackle the important task at hand?
• Do you make up excuses and stories to yourself and others about why you haven’t done something or achieved something?
• Do you tell yourself that you perform better under pressure and tight deadlines?
If you have answered YES to any of the above, guess what? Yes, you my friend have been procrastinating. I know it, and more importantly YOU now know it ;)
Now for those people who answered yes to the last one, and are now telling the computer and themselves that that has absolutely nothing to do with procrastination, well think again! Yes it does. And I’m not going to tell you why for a couple of blogs yet! So now you have to keep reading. Oh LOL!
OK, so what I hear you say? So I procrastinate. No biggie! No it’s not, if you have every intention of leading a small, mediocre life! As highlighted in the last blog, procrastinating is our key self defeating behaviour. If you think you only do it occasionally and it has no impact on your life, then I ask you to consider the following questions honestly:
• Have I have achieved absolutely everything that I dreamed of for my life up until now?
• Am I in the top 10% of highly successful, top achievers in my area of expertise?
• Am I constantly achieving stretch goals and moving forward rapidly to greater success?
• Am I achieving what I want in ALL areas of my life?
If you can answer yes to all the above, then well done you! I congratulate you. You are one of few people who have overcome all their fears and have managed to find a truly balanced life!
However, most people cannot say that. Why? I know you have your reasons and excuses. But if you cannot accept that procrastinating is holding you back, then you will be unlikely to achieve the things you want in life (it will remain just dreams).
Just to be ultra clear - If you have consciously de-prioiritised a task for another high priority task and you complete both tasks, that is not procrastination but good time management. But make sure that this is true and genuine! At the end of the day, the only person you fool by not being truthful with yourself, IS yourself.
If you are serious about nailing procrastination, then I have some generic self help to assist you. Here is the first Overcoming Procrastination – template 1.
To give you a deadline (and me) this needs to be completed by 8 August. I am on holiday next week, but I will ensure I meet this commitment for you!
You need to do this exercise with focus and energy. It is often useful to buy a special note book to make your notes in. So take the time out of your day. Sit somewhere inspiring. Get in touch with yourself and ask yourself the questions on the template. Notice what the little voice says. Be honest with yourself. Notice both your logical reaction and the subconscious messages coming through. Read the question and pause. Let things come to you. Pay close attention to the thoughts at the back of your mind! Then read it again and pause. Do it until you could look me in the eye and say I answered this with 100% honesty and conviction. Because if you don’t you are just playing and now you’re using me to help you procrastinate. NOT HAPPY JAN!
But seriously, if procrastination is a strong pattern in your life, coaching is a highly effective method to enable you to move forward. It is my experience, that self help is only of limited value as our psyche’s are clever enough to make us think we are helping ourselves when in fact we are cementing the very thinking, beliefs and behaviours we are trying to overcome! I had this experience many times, and the AHA for me catapulted me into coaching and training. A skilled and experience coach can help you overcome procrastination faster and more effectively than you will ever do it yourself. Why? Because a skilled coach can hear and see what you are pretending not to notice and acts as a sounding board to help you see what is happening in your life.
I’m off to the fabulous Northern Territory for a Thelma & Louise style trip (for those of you old enough to remember the movie) and some inner reflection on the way!
So enjoy spending time with yourself and until next time.....
If you feel you want to accelarate getting this issue sorted out, coaching is the best way to achieve results by addressing your personal issues. Contact us today.
Friday, July 16, 2010
WHO'S PROCRASINATING - NOT ME, THEN WHO???
Hey folks,
Welcome to my next blog. It seemed to me that I was procrastinating about doing these blogs and then I thought well since I am coaching myself, I might as well share the insights with you all. Because lets face it, if you think you have NEVER procrastinated, then I'd suggest you are seriously delusional ;)
We have all done it (whether we care to be honest with ourselves or not)!
But the REAL question is, is this a bad habit that is getting in the way for your success???
Research shows approximately 20% of the population consider themselves chronic procrastinators. Whenever I coach clients, 100% of those clients have been procrasinating about their goals or actions. So I would suggest the general public may not be as honest as they could be with themselves!
So what exactly is procrastination? The most helpful definition I can come up with is - a conscious decision/choice to put tasks off to the last possible minute (or not at all) for NO valid reason!
We procrastinate when we put things off that we think we should be focusing on right now, usually in favour of doing something that is more enjoyable and LESS important or that we’re more comfortable doing.
We have all INTENDED to do something and either put it off or not done it at all. Procrastinating is one of the most common negative self-defeating behaviours us humans have. And it is so acceptable in society that it seems to be a behaviour that most of us generally accept in ourselves and others! Furthermore, we talk about it as though it is perfectly natural!!! No wonder only 10% of people achieve true success! When 90% of the herd are happy to reinforce negative behaviours in each other. Think about it!
In any case, continuous patterns of procrastination can be a significant issue for individuals, keeping them trapped in a negative psychological cycle for months, years and I’ve known people to do it for decades!
Procrastination can be on minor things, but more often than not it is the big ticket items which can adversely affect your career and your personal life. It is worth remembering that procrastinating is NOT laziness! Laziness is you can't be bothered. Procrastinating is thinking about doing the task or actually starting to do the task and then choosing not to do it or complete it in favour of something else!
It is also worth remembering that procrastination IS NOT one of the key traits of highly successful people.
Procrastination is a self defeating behaviour, plain and simple! It is more often driven from negative self beliefs and/or trying to act outside of your true values.
Procrastinating creates a pattern of negative side effects such as frenziness, last minute dashes, adrenaline rushes, extra/late hours, stress, whingeing, beating ourselves up, feeling overwhelm, resentful and most commonly guilt. Many of us have unconscious belief systems that need to feel these negative emotions to prove a point to ourselves.
Guilt is the key outcome of procrastinating. Because the feeling of guilt can be quite painful to most of us, we do all in our power to pretend that we are not experiencing it. The best way to do that is to justify our behaviour to ourselves and others by making up excuses (whether they appear legitimate or not). Even if our excuses are based on some element of truth! Making up excuses makes us feel justified, therefore we feel better and therefore in the moment we pretend that we aren't guilty! YAY! PHEW!
But then sometime later we do feel guilty about it. And so we remind ourselves of our excuses to justify ourselves. And the cycle continues over and over again. Do you ever feel like one of them little mice on a running wheel?
So why do we do procrastinate? Sometimes because the things we are procrastinating about are things of little value to us, but big to someone else. Let’s face it, if you REALLY wanted it, you’d overcome your FEAR and just do it!
Sometimes we like to torture ourselves by fantasising about dreams that we would like, but don’t have the courage nor the true intention to do WHATEVER it takes to go after the dream and therefore we let FEAR overtake us! We then end up procrastinating and telling ourselves and others all sorts of stories and excuses to help us feel not too bad about it all!
Procrastination can be triggered for all sorts of reasons. Procrastinating habits and triggers are personal to you! So trying to do blanket tips is not going to work for you for serious procrastination issues or the long term. If procrastination is a real issue for you, coaching may have phenomenal impact on your life.
However, I will provide some generic tips on the next few blogs to help you on your short term quest.
The 7 steps to overcoming procrastination are below. I will discuss these in the next three blogs.
Step 1: Recognise that you're procrastinating
Step 2: Uncover what you are getting out of procrastinating
Step 3: Get clear on your TRUE values
Step 4: Develop a compelling vision and goals
Step 5: Understand the cycle of procrastination
Step 6: Recognise the reasons you CHOOSE to procrastinate
Step 7: Take action to overcome your self-defeating beliefs and behaviours
Stay tuned in a couple of days for Step 1. And trust me, because this is public, I have a huge incentive to deliver and not procrastinate :)
REMEMBER MY MANTRA - Life is not about NOT about finding yourself, it's about CREATING yourself :)
Welcome to my next blog. It seemed to me that I was procrastinating about doing these blogs and then I thought well since I am coaching myself, I might as well share the insights with you all. Because lets face it, if you think you have NEVER procrastinated, then I'd suggest you are seriously delusional ;)
We have all done it (whether we care to be honest with ourselves or not)!
But the REAL question is, is this a bad habit that is getting in the way for your success???
Research shows approximately 20% of the population consider themselves chronic procrastinators. Whenever I coach clients, 100% of those clients have been procrasinating about their goals or actions. So I would suggest the general public may not be as honest as they could be with themselves!
So what exactly is procrastination? The most helpful definition I can come up with is - a conscious decision/choice to put tasks off to the last possible minute (or not at all) for NO valid reason!
We procrastinate when we put things off that we think we should be focusing on right now, usually in favour of doing something that is more enjoyable and LESS important or that we’re more comfortable doing.
We have all INTENDED to do something and either put it off or not done it at all. Procrastinating is one of the most common negative self-defeating behaviours us humans have. And it is so acceptable in society that it seems to be a behaviour that most of us generally accept in ourselves and others! Furthermore, we talk about it as though it is perfectly natural!!! No wonder only 10% of people achieve true success! When 90% of the herd are happy to reinforce negative behaviours in each other. Think about it!
In any case, continuous patterns of procrastination can be a significant issue for individuals, keeping them trapped in a negative psychological cycle for months, years and I’ve known people to do it for decades!
Procrastination can be on minor things, but more often than not it is the big ticket items which can adversely affect your career and your personal life. It is worth remembering that procrastinating is NOT laziness! Laziness is you can't be bothered. Procrastinating is thinking about doing the task or actually starting to do the task and then choosing not to do it or complete it in favour of something else!
It is also worth remembering that procrastination IS NOT one of the key traits of highly successful people.
Procrastination is a self defeating behaviour, plain and simple! It is more often driven from negative self beliefs and/or trying to act outside of your true values.
Procrastinating creates a pattern of negative side effects such as frenziness, last minute dashes, adrenaline rushes, extra/late hours, stress, whingeing, beating ourselves up, feeling overwhelm, resentful and most commonly guilt. Many of us have unconscious belief systems that need to feel these negative emotions to prove a point to ourselves.
Guilt is the key outcome of procrastinating. Because the feeling of guilt can be quite painful to most of us, we do all in our power to pretend that we are not experiencing it. The best way to do that is to justify our behaviour to ourselves and others by making up excuses (whether they appear legitimate or not). Even if our excuses are based on some element of truth! Making up excuses makes us feel justified, therefore we feel better and therefore in the moment we pretend that we aren't guilty! YAY! PHEW!
But then sometime later we do feel guilty about it. And so we remind ourselves of our excuses to justify ourselves. And the cycle continues over and over again. Do you ever feel like one of them little mice on a running wheel?
So why do we do procrastinate? Sometimes because the things we are procrastinating about are things of little value to us, but big to someone else. Let’s face it, if you REALLY wanted it, you’d overcome your FEAR and just do it!
Sometimes we like to torture ourselves by fantasising about dreams that we would like, but don’t have the courage nor the true intention to do WHATEVER it takes to go after the dream and therefore we let FEAR overtake us! We then end up procrastinating and telling ourselves and others all sorts of stories and excuses to help us feel not too bad about it all!
Procrastination can be triggered for all sorts of reasons. Procrastinating habits and triggers are personal to you! So trying to do blanket tips is not going to work for you for serious procrastination issues or the long term. If procrastination is a real issue for you, coaching may have phenomenal impact on your life.
However, I will provide some generic tips on the next few blogs to help you on your short term quest.
The 7 steps to overcoming procrastination are below. I will discuss these in the next three blogs.
Step 1: Recognise that you're procrastinating
Step 2: Uncover what you are getting out of procrastinating
Step 3: Get clear on your TRUE values
Step 4: Develop a compelling vision and goals
Step 5: Understand the cycle of procrastination
Step 6: Recognise the reasons you CHOOSE to procrastinate
Step 7: Take action to overcome your self-defeating beliefs and behaviours
Stay tuned in a couple of days for Step 1. And trust me, because this is public, I have a huge incentive to deliver and not procrastinate :)
REMEMBER MY MANTRA - Life is not about NOT about finding yourself, it's about CREATING yourself :)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
CREATING POWERFUL GOALS
“A goal properly set is halfway reached”- Abraham Lincoln
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream” - CS Lewis
“If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else” - Lawrence J. Peter
Hello all,
Recently I was leading a mentoring program for Females in IT&T (www.fitt.org.au) and some of the conversation came to setting goals.
As a coach with My Performance Coach, I often find that people are reluctant to set Powerful, Inspiring Goals prior to coming to coaching. Sometimes they have set goals and have had mixed success. Some people don’t even think they are unnecessary!
Do you seem to have an ongoing list of goals that you achieve some of and not others?
Think about all those well intentioned new year resolution you’ve set. How often did you go hard and achieve them? The odd one or two? Well you are not alone! Research shows about 20% of new year resolutions get achieved!
Goals are about taking RESPONSIBILITY for your life and your outcomes! Goals give you a sense of purpose, a direction and should be your inspiration. Goals help you establish what you will do, be and have in this world!! Without goals you are just aimlessly walking through life (like you are sleepwalking), hoping, that somehow, someway, you’ll get something that you want and if you don’t, well at least you can blame (them) out there somewhere!
Even though evidence suggests that Goal Setting is a significant part of achieving great success, most people really are not clear on how to effectively set goals to bring their ultimate future into reality.
Goals need to be realistic yet inspiring. They need to be powerfully motivating and come from a place of true toward motivation! Setting goals ensures you know exactly what you want to achieve! This creates the destination.
If you think of a goal as a destination on a map and if we assume you know exactly where you are today, then the route will become clear. The map also helps us see the different routes and if we get diverted or come across unanticipated obstacles we can see how to get back on track to get to our destination. We are also able to effectively measure our success towards our destination and continually motivate ourselves forward.
Setting inspiring goals from a place of strong motivation, enables you to get into the powerful habit of setting and achieving goals. When you start to achieve goals regularly your self-confidence soars!
There are a number of goal setting techniques which I will outline below.
However, any skill or techniques are only useful insofar as you have your head absolutely in the game.
I am often amazed at how many people (including myself on the odd occasion :) delude ourselves into believing we are good to go and just go blindly forward – sleepwalking! When it comes to inspirational, life changing or world changing goals, you need a whole other level of mindset!
Mandella didn’t become President of South Africa by having small uninspiring goals!
Phelps didn’t become an Olympic legend, with a goal of just 10 laps this morning!
Nothing can stop the with the right mental attitude from achieving goal; nothing on earth can help with the wrong mental attitude -Thomas Jefferson
As a coach and NLP practitioner, I spend a lot of my time studying success. I do so to assist myself and my clients emulate the best mindsets, skills and behaviours to achieve great success. So far, I haven’t come across anyone who has achieved phenomenal success, that didn’t have big inspirational goals. Some may say they didn’t articulate them, but they definitely were absolutely crystal clear on their goals in their mind and actions. You CANNOT achieve great success on luck alone!
Creating Powerful and Inspiring Goals
The first thing you need to know is what inspires you and what are you passionate about?
I find many people who come to coaching, have no idea to begin with. Many people don’t understand their value systems and are not feeling particularly inspired in life. Hint, if you have lots of “woulda, shoulda, coulda’s’ in your thinking, then that’s not it!!! Some people feel as though nothing in particular is inspirational. If you fall into this category I strongly recommend you consider a coach to assist you to move forward as this thinking is a strong resistance strategy to moving forward. I have watched people in this space time and time again, get disheartened, depressed or plain give up on things and just exist through life!
NO matter how much you think you want to achieve your goals your mindset will sabotage you if your motivation is not fully aligned with your vision!
STEP 1: Create a Long Term Vision. Think of a specific date 5 -30 years from now. What is it that you want to achieve? What will you be doing? Who will you be doing it with? How will you be doing it? Create a big picture vision in your head. It is often useful for whole of brain acceptance and thinking to create a vision and story board. This enables immediate recognition of your vision.
STEP 2: Create specific Goals. Now create goals that will help you achieve this vision. It is often more useful to start with the big hairy audacious goals (BHAGs) and work backwards! If you have done this well, you should have goals from now til your vision. Sometimes the medium goals are not clear to start off with. DON’T WORRY about that!! All will become clear. Just get clear on the big end goals and exactly how you are going to make a start!
STEP 3: Regular Review and Assessment. Being crystal clear in your focus is about 90% of the achievement of the goal. Take your eye off the ball and loads of nasty things can get in your way. Just ask Donald Trump! The key to achieving ALL goals is the regularly review where you are at!
And I don’t mean a quick checklist in your head. I mean a full and thorough analysis of your successes, how you got them, when you got them, what helped you. And thoroughly analysing your failures (which is only learning forward if used correctly) – what did you do, how did it go wrong (cause-effect), what caused it to go wrong, what significantly can you learn and apply.
Review your strategy and goals regularly, taking in your learning forward failures and see how quickly you start to tick off those goals!
Goal Setting Tips
• Ensure each goal is stated in the positive: Express your goals positively – To become a well known and admired successful business owner by 2018.
• Think BE, DO, HAVE: When thinking of goals think about what do you want to be (position, state of mind etc), Do (actions and behaviours) and HAVE (stuff you want)
• Only set goals that you have 100% power over: (see previous blog) I.e. how what you do (mindset, actions, behaviours) will get you what you want. Setting goals where you have to rely on others or random events to occur is not helpful to you and enables you to easily blame external factors for lack of achievement!
• Be Specific: Set a specific goal, with specific time frames. This is not as easy as it sounds. It needs to be rich in detail leaving you in no doubt about exactly what it is you are trying to achieve. Time fames can be amended later if necessary. I can’t tell you the number of times people write non-specific goals but convince themselves otherwise.
DO NOT fall into the too hard trap, so I will just make it fuzzy. If you set fuzzy goals, you will get fuzzy outcomes – end of story!! If you have a very specific goal, you will know exactly how, when, where and what you are going to be doing to achieve it. Remember, Olympians don’t have fuzzy goals like “come in first place! Or win GOLD” - They set very, very specific outcomes and know exactly what performance requirements will enable them to achieve their BHAG’s!
• Chunk it down: Make sure you chunk down your goals to bite size pieces. Create lots of milestones to celebrate on your way to fabulous success!
• Prioritise: Do have several goals with the same time frames and priorities. This will just get you into procrastination mode and you may feel overwhelmed!
• Write your goals down: If your goals ain’t written, they ain’t likely to get achieved (or the big ones in any event). People have reluctance to write them down and display them proudly because they already DO NOT believe it is possible!! If that’s the case, forget all I have said and go back to bed!
• Be realistic, but INSPIRATIONAL: It is vitally important to set goals that you THINK you can achieve. Note my language. What you think you can achieve! If you think you can’t achieve, I will lay money on the bet that you WON’T achieve it. Seen it all toooooo many times! So set inspirational, yet realistic goals to you. They should not be easily attainable, and you should have to put in a good level of effort and change to achieve the goals (otherwise they aren’t going to motivate you properly). Too hard and you’ll give up at the first couple of hurdles, too easy and you just achieve mundane little tasks! Remember great things don’t happen with minimal effort!
• Identify your BARRIERS now: Figure out what is going to stand in your way of achievement. BIG CLUE – Your thinking and behaviour will account for 95% of the barriers – fear, procrastination, etc. Also identify external barriers. KNOW how you will overcome them, otherwise, they will be effective in keeping you from your dreams! If you are not willing to overcome obstacles and barriers through hard work & persistence, again, I suggest you stay in bed and forget your goals!
Until next time, Remember - Life is not about finding yourself...Life is about creating yourself!
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream” - CS Lewis
“If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else” - Lawrence J. Peter
Hello all,
Recently I was leading a mentoring program for Females in IT&T (www.fitt.org.au) and some of the conversation came to setting goals.
As a coach with My Performance Coach, I often find that people are reluctant to set Powerful, Inspiring Goals prior to coming to coaching. Sometimes they have set goals and have had mixed success. Some people don’t even think they are unnecessary!
Do you seem to have an ongoing list of goals that you achieve some of and not others?
Think about all those well intentioned new year resolution you’ve set. How often did you go hard and achieve them? The odd one or two? Well you are not alone! Research shows about 20% of new year resolutions get achieved!
Goals are about taking RESPONSIBILITY for your life and your outcomes! Goals give you a sense of purpose, a direction and should be your inspiration. Goals help you establish what you will do, be and have in this world!! Without goals you are just aimlessly walking through life (like you are sleepwalking), hoping, that somehow, someway, you’ll get something that you want and if you don’t, well at least you can blame (them) out there somewhere!
Even though evidence suggests that Goal Setting is a significant part of achieving great success, most people really are not clear on how to effectively set goals to bring their ultimate future into reality.
Goals need to be realistic yet inspiring. They need to be powerfully motivating and come from a place of true toward motivation! Setting goals ensures you know exactly what you want to achieve! This creates the destination.
If you think of a goal as a destination on a map and if we assume you know exactly where you are today, then the route will become clear. The map also helps us see the different routes and if we get diverted or come across unanticipated obstacles we can see how to get back on track to get to our destination. We are also able to effectively measure our success towards our destination and continually motivate ourselves forward.
Setting inspiring goals from a place of strong motivation, enables you to get into the powerful habit of setting and achieving goals. When you start to achieve goals regularly your self-confidence soars!
There are a number of goal setting techniques which I will outline below.
However, any skill or techniques are only useful insofar as you have your head absolutely in the game.
I am often amazed at how many people (including myself on the odd occasion :) delude ourselves into believing we are good to go and just go blindly forward – sleepwalking! When it comes to inspirational, life changing or world changing goals, you need a whole other level of mindset!
Mandella didn’t become President of South Africa by having small uninspiring goals!
Phelps didn’t become an Olympic legend, with a goal of just 10 laps this morning!
Nothing can stop the
As a coach and NLP practitioner, I spend a lot of my time studying success. I do so to assist myself and my clients emulate the best mindsets, skills and behaviours to achieve great success. So far, I haven’t come across anyone who has achieved phenomenal success, that didn’t have big inspirational goals. Some may say they didn’t articulate them, but they definitely were absolutely crystal clear on their goals in their mind and actions. You CANNOT achieve great success on luck alone!
Creating Powerful and Inspiring Goals
The first thing you need to know is what inspires you and what are you passionate about?
I find many people who come to coaching, have no idea to begin with. Many people don’t understand their value systems and are not feeling particularly inspired in life. Hint, if you have lots of “woulda, shoulda, coulda’s’ in your thinking, then that’s not it!!! Some people feel as though nothing in particular is inspirational. If you fall into this category I strongly recommend you consider a coach to assist you to move forward as this thinking is a strong resistance strategy to moving forward. I have watched people in this space time and time again, get disheartened, depressed or plain give up on things and just exist through life!
NO matter how much you think you want to achieve your goals your mindset will sabotage you if your motivation is not fully aligned with your vision!
STEP 1: Create a Long Term Vision. Think of a specific date 5 -30 years from now. What is it that you want to achieve? What will you be doing? Who will you be doing it with? How will you be doing it? Create a big picture vision in your head. It is often useful for whole of brain acceptance and thinking to create a vision and story board. This enables immediate recognition of your vision.
STEP 2: Create specific Goals. Now create goals that will help you achieve this vision. It is often more useful to start with the big hairy audacious goals (BHAGs) and work backwards! If you have done this well, you should have goals from now til your vision. Sometimes the medium goals are not clear to start off with. DON’T WORRY about that!! All will become clear. Just get clear on the big end goals and exactly how you are going to make a start!
STEP 3: Regular Review and Assessment. Being crystal clear in your focus is about 90% of the achievement of the goal. Take your eye off the ball and loads of nasty things can get in your way. Just ask Donald Trump! The key to achieving ALL goals is the regularly review where you are at!
And I don’t mean a quick checklist in your head. I mean a full and thorough analysis of your successes, how you got them, when you got them, what helped you. And thoroughly analysing your failures (which is only learning forward if used correctly) – what did you do, how did it go wrong (cause-effect), what caused it to go wrong, what significantly can you learn and apply.
Review your strategy and goals regularly, taking in your learning forward failures and see how quickly you start to tick off those goals!
Goal Setting Tips
• Ensure each goal is stated in the positive: Express your goals positively – To become a well known and admired successful business owner by 2018.
• Think BE, DO, HAVE: When thinking of goals think about what do you want to be (position, state of mind etc), Do (actions and behaviours) and HAVE (stuff you want)
• Only set goals that you have 100% power over: (see previous blog) I.e. how what you do (mindset, actions, behaviours) will get you what you want. Setting goals where you have to rely on others or random events to occur is not helpful to you and enables you to easily blame external factors for lack of achievement!
• Be Specific: Set a specific goal, with specific time frames. This is not as easy as it sounds. It needs to be rich in detail leaving you in no doubt about exactly what it is you are trying to achieve. Time fames can be amended later if necessary. I can’t tell you the number of times people write non-specific goals but convince themselves otherwise.
DO NOT fall into the too hard trap, so I will just make it fuzzy. If you set fuzzy goals, you will get fuzzy outcomes – end of story!! If you have a very specific goal, you will know exactly how, when, where and what you are going to be doing to achieve it. Remember, Olympians don’t have fuzzy goals like “come in first place! Or win GOLD” - They set very, very specific outcomes and know exactly what performance requirements will enable them to achieve their BHAG’s!
• Chunk it down: Make sure you chunk down your goals to bite size pieces. Create lots of milestones to celebrate on your way to fabulous success!
• Prioritise: Do have several goals with the same time frames and priorities. This will just get you into procrastination mode and you may feel overwhelmed!
• Write your goals down: If your goals ain’t written, they ain’t likely to get achieved (or the big ones in any event). People have reluctance to write them down and display them proudly because they already DO NOT believe it is possible!! If that’s the case, forget all I have said and go back to bed!
• Be realistic, but INSPIRATIONAL: It is vitally important to set goals that you THINK you can achieve. Note my language. What you think you can achieve! If you think you can’t achieve, I will lay money on the bet that you WON’T achieve it. Seen it all toooooo many times! So set inspirational, yet realistic goals to you. They should not be easily attainable, and you should have to put in a good level of effort and change to achieve the goals (otherwise they aren’t going to motivate you properly). Too hard and you’ll give up at the first couple of hurdles, too easy and you just achieve mundane little tasks! Remember great things don’t happen with minimal effort!
• Identify your BARRIERS now: Figure out what is going to stand in your way of achievement. BIG CLUE – Your thinking and behaviour will account for 95% of the barriers – fear, procrastination, etc. Also identify external barriers. KNOW how you will overcome them, otherwise, they will be effective in keeping you from your dreams! If you are not willing to overcome obstacles and barriers through hard work & persistence, again, I suggest you stay in bed and forget your goals!
Until next time, Remember - Life is not about finding yourself...Life is about creating yourself!
Monday, June 7, 2010
TIME EFFECTIVE OR DEFECTIVE – PART TWO
Please read part One of this blog first and then complete the Time Effective Template Exercise, to gain the most benefit from this blog entry.
So how did you go with completing the template? To get the most out of the exercise you need to do it for at least 7 days, ideally 14 days! If you did the exercise for at least a week then you should have some very interesting data to say the least!
The first step is to analyse your data in terms of themes. Break down into themes and number of hours you spent on each theme. Make sure the themes are distinct (e.g. team meetings, project meetings, writing reports, HR admin, email etc...) This will give you some great analysis in itself!
Now ask yourself the following from your questions. Be very honest with yourself as it is only you, that you will be fooling ;) -
What are you spending your most of your time, energy and effort on?
Are those tasks absolutely critical to overall achievement of the big picture goals? I.e. The big picture goal may be to grow the business by 20% this financial year – are all the tasks you focused on delivery you that outcome or are they time distracters and wasters?
How important REALLY are the tasks you rated as important, relevant or critical? Be ruthless here! If it didn’t get done what is the absolute worst thing that happens?) If you are convinced that all these tasks are important, then the next question is do they really need to be done by you?
If you have rated the majority of tasks on your list as important talk it through with someone who will play devils advocate for you. We so often kid ourselves about our reality. Getting an external reality check is vital – especially when YOU think you are RIGHT and not fooling yourself!! You may be filling your life with little tasks that you convince yourself are important, to avoid something more significant! Be honest with yourself here, because the only person you are kidding is yourself!
Or are you spending your time on low importance, cumbersome tasks? If so, ask yourself why? What exactly are the benefits of you doing this? ALL behaviour has benefits, even the negative ones like procrastination! Are the tasks even actually worth doing in the first place? We so often waste time on idiotic tasks – like reading a 150 page report that is exceptionally interesting but actually has no application to the achievement of my goal. These things are the greatest time wasters. Facebook and other social media can be put into this bucket. Yes, I know there is a whole industry on how to make money via social media – but are you really making money? If you are making money on social media tasks then one assumes you would have classed it as critical not low importance!!!!
You may have caught onto a theme here. Your thinking and your perception is what is causing you to be time defective! As mentioned in my last blog in literally took me years to get real and work out that time effectiveness is a state of mind, a mind discipline exercise not a process or step by step how to!!!
In his book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Stephen Covey has a great model to help you work through what to focus on as important.
Covey states we each have a wide range of concerns in our lives – everything from our family, health, careers, work problems, national and economic problems etc. This make up your Circle of Concern. The things that concern us make up our Circle of Concern. Clearly everyone’s circle of concern will be unique to them!
There are things within our Circle of Concern, that we have no power over, real or otherwise. The things we do have power over become a smaller Circle of Influence. Control falls into three categories – “direct control (problems involving our own behaviour); indirect control (problems involving other people's behaviour); or no control (problems we can do nothing about, such as our past, or situational realities)”.
To become more effective, the trick is to focus your energy, time and effort to ONLY focus on those things that sit in your Circle of Influence. I.e. the things that we can do something about! Things that you can do and be. As you focus on your Circle of Influence you create more positive, enlarging, and magnifying energy, causing it to increase”.
Basically the model reminds us that any problem is ultimately within, not with-out or external to us! Therefore, we can empower ourselves and create and control our reality. By empowering yourself from the inside-out you permit yourself to be different, and thereby affect positive change in what's out there! For example, I can be more resourceful, I can be more diligent, I can be a better delegator. You then back it up with skills and action and you change your reality!
We can break down things within your control or Covey’s Circle of Influence, to three main areas of focus.
Effective Attitude/Mindset – E.g. Managing your thoughts around fear, motivation or lack thereof, procrastination, perceived importance of tasks, perceived control over the environment, perceived pressure (time or otherwise), seeking perfection when good enough is good enough!
Effective Managing Tasks – Manage your Meetings, Interruptions and Diaries/Schedules
Effective Skills/Behaviours - Setting Goals and Priorities, Delegation, Communication, Discipline
In the next few blogs I discuss how to be more effective in some of these areas within your control.
If you do these exercises and are still having issues with time management, you have a deeper meta program operating that is self sabatoge. The best way I know to deal with that is through a qualified NLP/CBT Coach.
Good Luck
So how did you go with completing the template? To get the most out of the exercise you need to do it for at least 7 days, ideally 14 days! If you did the exercise for at least a week then you should have some very interesting data to say the least!
The first step is to analyse your data in terms of themes. Break down into themes and number of hours you spent on each theme. Make sure the themes are distinct (e.g. team meetings, project meetings, writing reports, HR admin, email etc...) This will give you some great analysis in itself!
Now ask yourself the following from your questions. Be very honest with yourself as it is only you, that you will be fooling ;) -
What are you spending your most of your time, energy and effort on?
Are those tasks absolutely critical to overall achievement of the big picture goals? I.e. The big picture goal may be to grow the business by 20% this financial year – are all the tasks you focused on delivery you that outcome or are they time distracters and wasters?
How important REALLY are the tasks you rated as important, relevant or critical? Be ruthless here! If it didn’t get done what is the absolute worst thing that happens?) If you are convinced that all these tasks are important, then the next question is do they really need to be done by you?
If you have rated the majority of tasks on your list as important talk it through with someone who will play devils advocate for you. We so often kid ourselves about our reality. Getting an external reality check is vital – especially when YOU think you are RIGHT and not fooling yourself!! You may be filling your life with little tasks that you convince yourself are important, to avoid something more significant! Be honest with yourself here, because the only person you are kidding is yourself!
Or are you spending your time on low importance, cumbersome tasks? If so, ask yourself why? What exactly are the benefits of you doing this? ALL behaviour has benefits, even the negative ones like procrastination! Are the tasks even actually worth doing in the first place? We so often waste time on idiotic tasks – like reading a 150 page report that is exceptionally interesting but actually has no application to the achievement of my goal. These things are the greatest time wasters. Facebook and other social media can be put into this bucket. Yes, I know there is a whole industry on how to make money via social media – but are you really making money? If you are making money on social media tasks then one assumes you would have classed it as critical not low importance!!!!
You may have caught onto a theme here. Your thinking and your perception is what is causing you to be time defective! As mentioned in my last blog in literally took me years to get real and work out that time effectiveness is a state of mind, a mind discipline exercise not a process or step by step how to!!!
In his book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Stephen Covey has a great model to help you work through what to focus on as important.
Covey states we each have a wide range of concerns in our lives – everything from our family, health, careers, work problems, national and economic problems etc. This make up your Circle of Concern. The things that concern us make up our Circle of Concern. Clearly everyone’s circle of concern will be unique to them!
There are things within our Circle of Concern, that we have no power over, real or otherwise. The things we do have power over become a smaller Circle of Influence. Control falls into three categories – “direct control (problems involving our own behaviour); indirect control (problems involving other people's behaviour); or no control (problems we can do nothing about, such as our past, or situational realities)”.
To become more effective, the trick is to focus your energy, time and effort to ONLY focus on those things that sit in your Circle of Influence. I.e. the things that we can do something about! Things that you can do and be. As you focus on your Circle of Influence you create more positive, enlarging, and magnifying energy, causing it to increase”.
Basically the model reminds us that any problem is ultimately within, not with-out or external to us! Therefore, we can empower ourselves and create and control our reality. By empowering yourself from the inside-out you permit yourself to be different, and thereby affect positive change in what's out there! For example, I can be more resourceful, I can be more diligent, I can be a better delegator. You then back it up with skills and action and you change your reality!
We can break down things within your control or Covey’s Circle of Influence, to three main areas of focus.
Effective Attitude/Mindset – E.g. Managing your thoughts around fear, motivation or lack thereof, procrastination, perceived importance of tasks, perceived control over the environment, perceived pressure (time or otherwise), seeking perfection when good enough is good enough!
Effective Managing Tasks – Manage your Meetings, Interruptions and Diaries/Schedules
Effective Skills/Behaviours - Setting Goals and Priorities, Delegation, Communication, Discipline
In the next few blogs I discuss how to be more effective in some of these areas within your control.
If you do these exercises and are still having issues with time management, you have a deeper meta program operating that is self sabatoge. The best way I know to deal with that is through a qualified NLP/CBT Coach.
Good Luck
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Are you TIME EFFECTIVE or TIME DEFECTIVE?
Sorry folks for the slight delay in blogging, but my time has been taken up with other more important things. Does that sound rude to you? IF SO, you definitely need to read this blog!!!
Recently I have been pondering the question of whether I am time effective or defective a great deal: a) because I have been uber busy and (b) several of my coaching clients have wanted coaching on “time management”. So I decided that it would be a great idea to do a 2 part series on this thing fascinating thing we all call time management!
Have you ever had a day where you got to the end and was very, very busy, but felt like you had achieved nothing much! Everyone has these days, if you have them more than a couple of times a year, I’d suggest you need to review your time effectiveness strategy.
What is a time effectiveness strategy you may well ask? Well let’s review the whole time management concept. How exactly do you manage time, given that you, nor I, nor any human can technically control it, let alone manage it! And what exactly are we managing? Do people who manage time have more hours in the day, less, what? The FACT IS time marches on whether we do anything or nothing!
So who came up with that ridiculous concept? Anyway, it is more correct to ask “are you time effective and time efficient rather than do you manage your time well?” What makes me say that? Well here’s the bottom line – as we've established, you cannot manage time per se, but you can manage yourself to be time effective and time efficient.
This took me many years to figure out!! As someone who used to be highly time defective and having managed at least 20 other time defectives, I learnt that you CANNOT learn TIME management if you are a time defective! I, like all other brainwashed managers on the planet, used to send myself and my time defective staff on ‘Time Management’ courses at great cost and with great enthusiasm. Only to have one after the other fail and the disappointment mount!
This prompted me to consider the concept in more detail. When I really observed what was going on for myself and others who worked for me, I discovered something very interesting! You cannot become more effective or efficient simply by using someone else’s quick tips or processes! If that were true then everyone on the planet would be super efficient and effective time machines! But alas, look around, who is? You? Your employees? Your boss? How many of these people have been on courses or read in detail about 'time management'???
Well if a course or other people's tips isn't the answer, WHAT IS?? The answer is simple! We can all CHOOSE to become ‘Time Effective’ and ‘Time Efficient’. What I mean by Time Effectiveness is working on things of high importance that move you towards your outcomes and goals. Time Efficiency is about how well you manage those tasks (i.e. completing them in the most productive/economical way).
TIME EFFECTIVENESS is about your belief systems and how you manage the stuff that big thing that sits in between your ears (your mind/brain)! As you will discover in this process, being effective is all about how you think and perceive the world and your underlying belief systems!
As anyone who knows me will tell you, I do NOT advocate training courses for behavioural change unless it is combined with Coaching using Cognitive Behavioural Techniques and/or NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). The reason for that is that what really works to make you more Time Efficient and Time Effective is to identify YOUR personal patterns, behaviours, actions, thoughts and beliefs and take full ownership of them.
It is as simple as you can’t change that which you do not acknowledge! Continual and sustained behavioural change is best achieved through a structured change process like coaching! Our minds and patterns are very strong willed and it takes a great deal of awareness to spot the subconscious/unconscious cleverness of our strategies and to make appropriate adaptations.
So here’s your first exercise....
All I want you to do in the next 5 - 10 working days is observe yourself at work and ask yourself three questions regularly throughout the day (and record as much data as possible). I have developed a simple TIME EFFECTIVENESS Template to assist you: -
• How do I spend my time at work?
• How effective am I being (see above)?
• How have I created this situation?
The more you observe and record the more insight and useful this exercise will be to you!
Good Luck UNTIL next blog :)
Vanessa
My Performace Coach
Recently I have been pondering the question of whether I am time effective or defective a great deal: a) because I have been uber busy and (b) several of my coaching clients have wanted coaching on “time management”. So I decided that it would be a great idea to do a 2 part series on this thing fascinating thing we all call time management!
Have you ever had a day where you got to the end and was very, very busy, but felt like you had achieved nothing much! Everyone has these days, if you have them more than a couple of times a year, I’d suggest you need to review your time effectiveness strategy.
What is a time effectiveness strategy you may well ask? Well let’s review the whole time management concept. How exactly do you manage time, given that you, nor I, nor any human can technically control it, let alone manage it! And what exactly are we managing? Do people who manage time have more hours in the day, less, what? The FACT IS time marches on whether we do anything or nothing!
So who came up with that ridiculous concept? Anyway, it is more correct to ask “are you time effective and time efficient rather than do you manage your time well?” What makes me say that? Well here’s the bottom line – as we've established, you cannot manage time per se, but you can manage yourself to be time effective and time efficient.
This took me many years to figure out!! As someone who used to be highly time defective and having managed at least 20 other time defectives, I learnt that you CANNOT learn TIME management if you are a time defective! I, like all other brainwashed managers on the planet, used to send myself and my time defective staff on ‘Time Management’ courses at great cost and with great enthusiasm. Only to have one after the other fail and the disappointment mount!
This prompted me to consider the concept in more detail. When I really observed what was going on for myself and others who worked for me, I discovered something very interesting! You cannot become more effective or efficient simply by using someone else’s quick tips or processes! If that were true then everyone on the planet would be super efficient and effective time machines! But alas, look around, who is? You? Your employees? Your boss? How many of these people have been on courses or read in detail about 'time management'???
Well if a course or other people's tips isn't the answer, WHAT IS?? The answer is simple! We can all CHOOSE to become ‘Time Effective’ and ‘Time Efficient’. What I mean by Time Effectiveness is working on things of high importance that move you towards your outcomes and goals. Time Efficiency is about how well you manage those tasks (i.e. completing them in the most productive/economical way).
TIME EFFECTIVENESS is about your belief systems and how you manage the stuff that big thing that sits in between your ears (your mind/brain)! As you will discover in this process, being effective is all about how you think and perceive the world and your underlying belief systems!
As anyone who knows me will tell you, I do NOT advocate training courses for behavioural change unless it is combined with Coaching using Cognitive Behavioural Techniques and/or NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). The reason for that is that what really works to make you more Time Efficient and Time Effective is to identify YOUR personal patterns, behaviours, actions, thoughts and beliefs and take full ownership of them.
It is as simple as you can’t change that which you do not acknowledge! Continual and sustained behavioural change is best achieved through a structured change process like coaching! Our minds and patterns are very strong willed and it takes a great deal of awareness to spot the subconscious/unconscious cleverness of our strategies and to make appropriate adaptations.
So here’s your first exercise....
All I want you to do in the next 5 - 10 working days is observe yourself at work and ask yourself three questions regularly throughout the day (and record as much data as possible). I have developed a simple TIME EFFECTIVENESS Template to assist you: -
• How do I spend my time at work?
• How effective am I being (see above)?
• How have I created this situation?
The more you observe and record the more insight and useful this exercise will be to you!
Good Luck UNTIL next blog :)
Vanessa
My Performace Coach
Friday, July 31, 2009
FOCUSED JOB SEARCHING
Over the past couple of months, through coaching a number of new clients, I’ve discovered that people don’t necessarily use the best job searching strategy. So here are my top 5 tips for effective job searching:-
1.Be clear on what you want to do. What is important to you? What type of roles are you inspired to do? What type of companies are you inspired to work for? If you are sitting there saying to yourself ‘INSPIRED???’, then I suggest you are not appropriately motivated and that is something you need to address quickly! I strongly suggest you work with a career coach to find your inspiration and motivation. See previous blogs for some inspiration
2. If you are unsure about what you want or what you are suited to, conduct your own market research. Print off 100 jobs that appeal to you on Seek/Career One of any other online job board. Highlight elements of the job that appeal to you. What patterns are there? What feels right to you? What is inspiring? What sounds fun and enjoyable?
3.Network! Use the social networking tools (like Linked In, Twitter and Face book) and don’t forget the old fashioned grapevine to let people know that you are looking for a role. When you do network for this purpose, do everyone a favour and be crystal clear about the type of roles you want and the type of companies/industries! Just to highlight how important this channel is - 60-70% of vacancies are filled through personal networking – so DON’T UNDERESTIMATE this valuable process. See previous blogs for more tips!
PS- If you are going to use social media tools, clean up your profiles. I’m often amazed at what people have openly on their profiles. Know that clever future employers these days will check out your online profile – so do yourself a favour and project a professional image. Once online – it’s difficult to undo, so think strategically!
4.Make sure you apply for roles that you are inspired by and that you are a good fit for. As highlighted in previous blogs, you need to work out your SDOT and only apply for roles that you fit and are qualified for. There is no point in this current job market applying for roles that you have a 60/70% fit for, unless of course you have a nasty unconscious desire to want to deal with constant rejection!
Take your market research and assess yourself objectively against the job criteria. If you were an employer looking at 300-400 applications, what is it about you that makes you stand out in the crowd?
5.Make sure you have your elevator pitch (Brand You) ready. See previous blogs. Where you can pick up the phone and speak to the advertiser DO SO! This has numerous benefits: a) it enables you to ask some great questions to tailor your application, (b) you can refer to your conversation in your application (making it very personalised) and (c) if you have done a fantastic job, you become TOM (top of mind) for the recruiter.
Make sure you end with something along the lines of ‘my name is XX and I’ll be applying this afternoon. Thank you for your time today’. Then ensure you have a great resume and application letter that is tailored to the job and the company you are applying to (see previous blogs).
My Performance Coach specialises in Career Coaching for professionals. We help you get unstuck, positively motivated and inspired to create the career of your dreams! Our aim is to empower and enable each and every client to develop a compelling vision, inspiring goals and to achieve the success they wish to create in their lives. Our qualified coaches do this through a structured and professional process combining profiling tools, supportive environment, a variety of different coaching methodologies, and sophisticated one-on-one training to expand and inspire growth and learning for our clients.
Contact us for further assistance.
1.Be clear on what you want to do. What is important to you? What type of roles are you inspired to do? What type of companies are you inspired to work for? If you are sitting there saying to yourself ‘INSPIRED???’, then I suggest you are not appropriately motivated and that is something you need to address quickly! I strongly suggest you work with a career coach to find your inspiration and motivation. See previous blogs for some inspiration
2. If you are unsure about what you want or what you are suited to, conduct your own market research. Print off 100 jobs that appeal to you on Seek/Career One of any other online job board. Highlight elements of the job that appeal to you. What patterns are there? What feels right to you? What is inspiring? What sounds fun and enjoyable?
3.Network! Use the social networking tools (like Linked In, Twitter and Face book) and don’t forget the old fashioned grapevine to let people know that you are looking for a role. When you do network for this purpose, do everyone a favour and be crystal clear about the type of roles you want and the type of companies/industries! Just to highlight how important this channel is - 60-70% of vacancies are filled through personal networking – so DON’T UNDERESTIMATE this valuable process. See previous blogs for more tips!
PS- If you are going to use social media tools, clean up your profiles. I’m often amazed at what people have openly on their profiles. Know that clever future employers these days will check out your online profile – so do yourself a favour and project a professional image. Once online – it’s difficult to undo, so think strategically!
4.Make sure you apply for roles that you are inspired by and that you are a good fit for. As highlighted in previous blogs, you need to work out your SDOT and only apply for roles that you fit and are qualified for. There is no point in this current job market applying for roles that you have a 60/70% fit for, unless of course you have a nasty unconscious desire to want to deal with constant rejection!
Take your market research and assess yourself objectively against the job criteria. If you were an employer looking at 300-400 applications, what is it about you that makes you stand out in the crowd?
5.Make sure you have your elevator pitch (Brand You) ready. See previous blogs. Where you can pick up the phone and speak to the advertiser DO SO! This has numerous benefits: a) it enables you to ask some great questions to tailor your application, (b) you can refer to your conversation in your application (making it very personalised) and (c) if you have done a fantastic job, you become TOM (top of mind) for the recruiter.
Make sure you end with something along the lines of ‘my name is XX and I’ll be applying this afternoon. Thank you for your time today’. Then ensure you have a great resume and application letter that is tailored to the job and the company you are applying to (see previous blogs).
My Performance Coach specialises in Career Coaching for professionals. We help you get unstuck, positively motivated and inspired to create the career of your dreams! Our aim is to empower and enable each and every client to develop a compelling vision, inspiring goals and to achieve the success they wish to create in their lives. Our qualified coaches do this through a structured and professional process combining profiling tools, supportive environment, a variety of different coaching methodologies, and sophisticated one-on-one training to expand and inspire growth and learning for our clients.
Contact us for further assistance.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Dealing With Rejection
Lately I have heard from friends and coaching clients the despair they feel about the current labour market. For the most part, the people who are despairing missed the last difficult labour market (from a seller’s point of view – i.e. you) of the late 80’s, early 90’s. These folk have only ever experience a seller’s market and have rarely voluntarily been out of work in the last fifteen years. Now they are finding themselves 3 – 9 months plus unemployed. This of course can be disheartening, but it is not uncommon in this type of market.
So I figured there must be a few people out there in internet land facing regular rejection and feeling frustrated and worried.
I cannot stress enough that the key to all success is having and maintaining a VERY POSITIVE MINDSET! Yes I understand that times are tough, but once you start focusing on negatives it is a quick downward spiral. Trust me, the spiral is like a spinning top and can easily get out of control. SO STOP IT NOW! And once you find yourself in a good negative state, everything will appear to go wrong and then you’ll get what you expect (your worst fears), because that is what you insisted on bringing into your reality by continually focusing on it.
I take a Quantum Physics approach to coaching, which put simply means “YOU CREATE YOUR OWN REALITY”. You create your own reality by the thoughts you chose to focus on, the actions you choose to take and the reactions or responses you choose to have to your experiences. Put simply, you get what you expect or what you imagine. So IMAGINE BIG and HAVE POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS. PS – you can’t just kid yourself into this state you need to fundamentally believe it to convince your unconscious mind of your buy-in (see later).
So what can you do to keep POSITIVE in such an environment?
• Firstly, I’d ask you to read my previous blogs and make sure you are giving yourself a fighting chance in the first place in this labour market by utilising the advice so far.
• If you are currently in a very negative space you need to understand you WILL NOT get a job. No employer wants negative staff! So if you are feeling down or low on motivation, get a Career Coach NOW (see below for special offer).
If you have already allowed the negativing to develop into a depressed or anxious state for you, you need to get to your doctor ASAP! PLEASE, take action NOW!
• DON’T take rejection personally. IT IS NOT PERSONAL! So stop making it about you! When you make things about you, you feed your sense of not being good enough and very soon you will start a negative spiral which will take your self esteem and confidence with it!
• Every NO THANKS is an opportunity for you to LEARN FORWARD! What I mean by that is to consider why you didn’t get shortlisted and put the learning forward into future applications. Take the time to reflect on your application. Did you meet 100% of the selection criteria (experience, industry, qualifications, skills, knowledge)? If not, then that’ll be the reason. REMEMBER that the market has changed. Employers are no longer desperate and taking 60-70% of the suitability, now the tables have turned they want 100% suitability, because they know they can easily get it now!
• So take all NO THANKS as feedback that you are applying for the wrong type of job or as a need to improve your application technique. If you feel like you have put in a great application and meet 100% of the criteria, get on the phone and ask for some honest feedback. Most people are happy to provide this.
• Get PERSPECTIVE! Remember there are at least 400 applicants per job vacancy so it’s not unusual to get more rejections in this market! So take it in your stride. A great response to each rejection, is ‘FANTASTIC, I’m getting closer to my dream job, what can I now learn?’
• Release all negative thoughts now!!! Start noticing your negative self talk (thoughts running through your head) and reframe them to positive thoughts. If you are in a negative state of mind, your family and friends will notice, but may not be game enough to say anything! So, ask someone you trust to notice when you say or infer negativity in the moment you say it, so you can start to spot your negative self talk. This is where a NLP/CBT coach like My Performance Coach has a phenomenal and lasting impact on clients. We assist you to quickly reshape your self-talk, behaviours, actions and response both consciously and unconsciously to strong, empowering, positive positions.
• Take control of your application process. Make sure you follow my tips and apply for roles you have a good chance of getting and are also excited about. There is nothing worse than applying for loads of jobs because you are desperate. Firstly you are asking for more rejections and secondly you might get caught out in your desperation! Do you think a clued up employer could spot desperation? Well, let’s take a recent example of one of my new clients.
This client recently applied for a job in a very bureaucratic organisation. The one big de-motivator for her is a lot of bureaucracy. But she was desperate for a role, and decided consciously she could deal to it. But she underestimated her unconscious mind (where her true beliefs reside)! The interview was going phenomenally well and she felt like she had a great shot at the job. It was a second interview and between her and one other. Then the employer asked her – what frustrates you?
She said bureaucracy and then went on to talk about her dislike for it! Now this client is highly intelligent, but she was not paying attention and her truth came out and she got caught out in her desperation! What’s more she didn’t realise what she’d done until later! When she didn’t get the role she rang and asked why. Lo and behold, the employer said ‘because you get frustrated with bureaucracy and we are a very bureaucratic organisation and we don’t feel like it would be a good fit for us’.
So, the moral of the story, apply for jobs that fit with you and do everything possible to ensure you maintain a strong, positive, self confident disposition.
If you have any questions, please email me or post a comment.
My Performance Coach is offering 15% off our standard fees for career coaching for anyone who quotes this blog. But be quick, OFFER ENDS 10 July 2009.
Good luck!
So I figured there must be a few people out there in internet land facing regular rejection and feeling frustrated and worried.
I cannot stress enough that the key to all success is having and maintaining a VERY POSITIVE MINDSET! Yes I understand that times are tough, but once you start focusing on negatives it is a quick downward spiral. Trust me, the spiral is like a spinning top and can easily get out of control. SO STOP IT NOW! And once you find yourself in a good negative state, everything will appear to go wrong and then you’ll get what you expect (your worst fears), because that is what you insisted on bringing into your reality by continually focusing on it.
I take a Quantum Physics approach to coaching, which put simply means “YOU CREATE YOUR OWN REALITY”. You create your own reality by the thoughts you chose to focus on, the actions you choose to take and the reactions or responses you choose to have to your experiences. Put simply, you get what you expect or what you imagine. So IMAGINE BIG and HAVE POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS. PS – you can’t just kid yourself into this state you need to fundamentally believe it to convince your unconscious mind of your buy-in (see later).
So what can you do to keep POSITIVE in such an environment?
• Firstly, I’d ask you to read my previous blogs and make sure you are giving yourself a fighting chance in the first place in this labour market by utilising the advice so far.
• If you are currently in a very negative space you need to understand you WILL NOT get a job. No employer wants negative staff! So if you are feeling down or low on motivation, get a Career Coach NOW (see below for special offer).
If you have already allowed the negativing to develop into a depressed or anxious state for you, you need to get to your doctor ASAP! PLEASE, take action NOW!
• DON’T take rejection personally. IT IS NOT PERSONAL! So stop making it about you! When you make things about you, you feed your sense of not being good enough and very soon you will start a negative spiral which will take your self esteem and confidence with it!
• Every NO THANKS is an opportunity for you to LEARN FORWARD! What I mean by that is to consider why you didn’t get shortlisted and put the learning forward into future applications. Take the time to reflect on your application. Did you meet 100% of the selection criteria (experience, industry, qualifications, skills, knowledge)? If not, then that’ll be the reason. REMEMBER that the market has changed. Employers are no longer desperate and taking 60-70% of the suitability, now the tables have turned they want 100% suitability, because they know they can easily get it now!
• So take all NO THANKS as feedback that you are applying for the wrong type of job or as a need to improve your application technique. If you feel like you have put in a great application and meet 100% of the criteria, get on the phone and ask for some honest feedback. Most people are happy to provide this.
• Get PERSPECTIVE! Remember there are at least 400 applicants per job vacancy so it’s not unusual to get more rejections in this market! So take it in your stride. A great response to each rejection, is ‘FANTASTIC, I’m getting closer to my dream job, what can I now learn?’
• Release all negative thoughts now!!! Start noticing your negative self talk (thoughts running through your head) and reframe them to positive thoughts. If you are in a negative state of mind, your family and friends will notice, but may not be game enough to say anything! So, ask someone you trust to notice when you say or infer negativity in the moment you say it, so you can start to spot your negative self talk. This is where a NLP/CBT coach like My Performance Coach has a phenomenal and lasting impact on clients. We assist you to quickly reshape your self-talk, behaviours, actions and response both consciously and unconsciously to strong, empowering, positive positions.
• Take control of your application process. Make sure you follow my tips and apply for roles you have a good chance of getting and are also excited about. There is nothing worse than applying for loads of jobs because you are desperate. Firstly you are asking for more rejections and secondly you might get caught out in your desperation! Do you think a clued up employer could spot desperation? Well, let’s take a recent example of one of my new clients.
This client recently applied for a job in a very bureaucratic organisation. The one big de-motivator for her is a lot of bureaucracy. But she was desperate for a role, and decided consciously she could deal to it. But she underestimated her unconscious mind (where her true beliefs reside)! The interview was going phenomenally well and she felt like she had a great shot at the job. It was a second interview and between her and one other. Then the employer asked her – what frustrates you?
She said bureaucracy and then went on to talk about her dislike for it! Now this client is highly intelligent, but she was not paying attention and her truth came out and she got caught out in her desperation! What’s more she didn’t realise what she’d done until later! When she didn’t get the role she rang and asked why. Lo and behold, the employer said ‘because you get frustrated with bureaucracy and we are a very bureaucratic organisation and we don’t feel like it would be a good fit for us’.
So, the moral of the story, apply for jobs that fit with you and do everything possible to ensure you maintain a strong, positive, self confident disposition.
If you have any questions, please email me or post a comment.
My Performance Coach is offering 15% off our standard fees for career coaching for anyone who quotes this blog. But be quick, OFFER ENDS 10 July 2009.
Good luck!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
GETTING THAT INTERVIEW - CREATING CUT-THROUGH WITH AN AWESOME RESUME
Did you know in this environment that your application is at least 1 in 400 and depending on the role, potentially up to 1 in 1,000!!!
So if you are using a bog-standard approach to your application process, it could be why you haven’t got those interviews. In the last blog I gave you my top 6 tips on how to cut through. Today I’m going to focus on creating an awesome Resume.
1. My number one tip with your Resume is not to lie! There is nothing wrong in talking up what you have done but I warn you not to try and pass off lies, even small ones. Lots of people do and if you get a highly experienced interviewer like me, they’ll catch you out within the first ten minutes without even trying! And if you get caught out, it’s game over (especially when they are other great candidates to choose from)!
2.Next, research the type of roles you want to apply for. What are employers asking for in terms of behavioural and technical competencies, knowledge, qualifications and experience? Under each role, list the key points.
This of course assumes you know what you want. If you are unclear about your key motivators or you are in a rut, get a coach now.
Did you know that the cost of coaching is outweighed by the significant increase in your confidence, positivity, knowledge, skills, tools and clarity, which enables you to get the job you want often in less than half the time you would on your own. Also, in most cases, you can claim the cost of coaching on your tax!
3. Measure how you fit. Complete my SDOT template. Compare your strengths to your research. Ensure you play your strengths up in your Resume.
4.Develop a specific Resume for each type of job you wish to apply for. For example, your might be experienced as Executive Assistant and Customer Service Trainer and you are happy to do either of these roles. So you would develop a Resume focused on each role, highlighting the key competency areas and experience specific to the role.
5. The first page of your Resume needs to read ‘I AM PERFECT FOR THIS VACANCY AND YOUR COMPANY’!
Therefore your first page should include the following:
A Personal Profile – Sell who you are, your values, what you want and what you contribute to an organisation in one crisp and punchy paragraph.
An Overview of your key competency, skills and experience areas (both behavioural and technical for the role). Remember to include relevant skills, knowledge and experienced gained through voluntary work, sports, university
If you have had more than three jobs in your career, include a Summary of the roles
6. Your Resume should not be more than 4 pages long, ideally 3. List jobs in chronological order (i.e. newest first)!
7. Detail each role - Be specific about dates, job title, type of company, key responsIbilities and above all key achievements/outcomes. Notice the word key – this means substantial, not everything you ever did!
8.Briefly explain big gaps in history (i.e. six months or more). Don’t just leave gaps hanging out there.
9.On the last page detail RELEVANT training and education
10.Do not put referee information on your resume. This should be provided once you have had a successful interview.
11.Be original, but drop the humour, useless anecdotes and overly personal information. Sometimes what you think is amusing is inappropriate and you will end up on the REJECT pile.
Remember your Resume is YOUR major SALES & MARKETING tool - it is a call to action to the employer to get you in! Ask yourself if you received this brochure in the post would you think it is appropriate and professional and does it catch your interest? If not, ditch the bits you are unsure of.
12. Avoid too much graphics, colour, crazy fonts etc. Certainly jazz your Resume up to stand out, but keep it professional. If sending through snail mail, use high quality paper
My Performance Coach can assist you in developing a powerful strategy to get the job and career you want through our first class career coaching programs. All our programs are highly competitively priced and you will be dealing with highly experience HR professional Coaches.
We are offering our blog readers a special 15% discount of all coaching programs until the 30 June 2009 (just let us know you read the blog). Contact us now for a free, no obligation phone coaching session.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
ARE YOU GETTING THOSE INTERVIEWS? TOP 6 TIPS
In a tight labour market (as is currently the case) everyone, including high flyers, need inside track help if they are going to cut through and get those interviews.
As job vacancies get fewer, getting cut through is the key to your success. Remember, assume at least 400 other people (sometimes up to 1000) other people are vying for that job! Are you in peak condition to get the job you want or need?
Here are my top 6 tips to get you onto the short-list pile and not on the REJECT pile.
TIP 1: Develop and articulate your Personal Brand - Your personal brand needs to be portrayed in your covering letter/email, Resume and Interview process (including recruitment consultant interviews). Here is what you need to focus on:-
o What is your brand? Who are you? What are you selling?
o What is your unique selling proposition?
o Why should I employ you for this job?
o Do your SDOT – sell your positives. Find YOUR specific opportunities.
TIP 2: Develop a KILLER covering letter/email - NEVER apply for a job or approach a consultant without a cover letter/email. Your cover letter should portray:
o Be original, but drop the humour and useless anecdotes
o Portray your Personal Brand
o Tell them what makes you PERFECT for the role (do not just copy & paste criteria)
o Show you know their business and personalise the letter accordingly
o LESS IS MORE!
Remember you have about 30 seconds to make a great impression and avoid the REJECT pile, so ensure you are succinct, interesting and to the point! It should SCREAM – I’M PERFECT!!
TIP 3: Have a Resume for each type of role - If you are applying for more than one type of role DO NOT use a generic Resume! Your Resume MUST be tailored to the type or role you are going after. If you are failing to get interviews, this is likely to be your biggest problem! So make sure you have a killer Resume and that you have customised it.
TIP 4: APPLY FOR JOBS YOU ARE QUALIFIED FOR – Six months ago you could take a chance and apply for jobs that you had 60-70% fit, and potentially get an interview because it was an Candidate market. In case you haven’t notice, the tables are turned and it is absolutely now an Employers market. So don’t waste yours or their time on a job you aren’t well qualified for. Besides wasting time and effort (which needs to go to the great jobs you are suited to) it is de-motivating not to hear back!
TIP 5: NETWORK - I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – GET NETWORKING! Most jobs will now be word of mouth or on online boards. HR’s best strategy is always through their own employees. Never underestimate people you meet/know. Get talking and selling yourself up at every opportunity. Go to free/low cost social events in your industry or professional group! You can’t rely on recruitment agencies to sell you, as they always struggle to create value in an Employers market and will have few jobs.
TIP 6: GET YOURSELF A KILLER CAREER COACH LIKE ME :) A career coach should be able to assist you to get the very best quality applications and to get interviews. When you get interviews, then they will help you to get the job! Make sure your career coach has a very strong HR background as this is an invaluable resource to you! A HR orientated career coach gives you the inside fast track and will ensure you get the outcomes you want!
If you would benefit from a free career coaching session, contact us on 02 8097 7971 or http://www.myperformancecoach.com.au/
As job vacancies get fewer, getting cut through is the key to your success. Remember, assume at least 400 other people (sometimes up to 1000) other people are vying for that job! Are you in peak condition to get the job you want or need?
Here are my top 6 tips to get you onto the short-list pile and not on the REJECT pile.
TIP 1: Develop and articulate your Personal Brand - Your personal brand needs to be portrayed in your covering letter/email, Resume and Interview process (including recruitment consultant interviews). Here is what you need to focus on:-
o What is your brand? Who are you? What are you selling?
o What is your unique selling proposition?
o Why should I employ you for this job?
o Do your SDOT – sell your positives. Find YOUR specific opportunities.
TIP 2: Develop a KILLER covering letter/email - NEVER apply for a job or approach a consultant without a cover letter/email. Your cover letter should portray:
o Be original, but drop the humour and useless anecdotes
o Portray your Personal Brand
o Tell them what makes you PERFECT for the role (do not just copy & paste criteria)
o Show you know their business and personalise the letter accordingly
o LESS IS MORE!
Remember you have about 30 seconds to make a great impression and avoid the REJECT pile, so ensure you are succinct, interesting and to the point! It should SCREAM – I’M PERFECT!!
TIP 3: Have a Resume for each type of role - If you are applying for more than one type of role DO NOT use a generic Resume! Your Resume MUST be tailored to the type or role you are going after. If you are failing to get interviews, this is likely to be your biggest problem! So make sure you have a killer Resume and that you have customised it.
TIP 4: APPLY FOR JOBS YOU ARE QUALIFIED FOR – Six months ago you could take a chance and apply for jobs that you had 60-70% fit, and potentially get an interview because it was an Candidate market. In case you haven’t notice, the tables are turned and it is absolutely now an Employers market. So don’t waste yours or their time on a job you aren’t well qualified for. Besides wasting time and effort (which needs to go to the great jobs you are suited to) it is de-motivating not to hear back!
TIP 5: NETWORK - I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – GET NETWORKING! Most jobs will now be word of mouth or on online boards. HR’s best strategy is always through their own employees. Never underestimate people you meet/know. Get talking and selling yourself up at every opportunity. Go to free/low cost social events in your industry or professional group! You can’t rely on recruitment agencies to sell you, as they always struggle to create value in an Employers market and will have few jobs.
TIP 6: GET YOURSELF A KILLER CAREER COACH LIKE ME :) A career coach should be able to assist you to get the very best quality applications and to get interviews. When you get interviews, then they will help you to get the job! Make sure your career coach has a very strong HR background as this is an invaluable resource to you! A HR orientated career coach gives you the inside fast track and will ensure you get the outcomes you want!
If you would benefit from a free career coaching session, contact us on 02 8097 7971 or http://www.myperformancecoach.com.au/
Saturday, March 21, 2009
ECONOMIC DOWNTURN?! GET A CAREER HEADSTART WITH COACHING OR MENTORING
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but governments and media talk countries into recessions. We have seen that over the last several months in Australia. Are things really as bad as they appear? Mmm I wonder!
Having worked in HR and as a Coach to organisations over the last 20 odd years, I know that a recession is used as a fabulous excuse for everyone to externalise blame for avoiding and more importantly not making appropriate choices, decisions or actions.
Governments do it all the time. In particularly this Rudd government is using it to spend a truckload of money and enable legislation (Fair Work Bill) that is not great for small-medium business, which in turn affects the Economy. If the bill succeeds, there will be less permanent jobs that can be guaranteed. But will any worsening of the economy be blamed on the Bill or actions of the government? Of course not silly, it’s that pesky recession (which by the way isn’t his fault either lol)!!!
Companies play the game (strategic PR moves) as well: down-sizing, right-sizing, off-shoring & outsourcing. They take advantage of a situation (i.e. blame the good ole recession) to enable the things to get fixed in organisations. Why not, it’s as good a reason as any!
And then we have individuals who also use the recession as an excuse to keep themselves in their comfort zones. Perhaps they were contemplating leaving their job this year, but now have decided to ‘stick it out’ due to the economy, despite being unhappy and probably disengaged. Or they were thinking of going into business or changing careers, but its ‘now not a good time to make such a risky move’.
Oh really, there’s a perfect time? If you know of the mysterious future perfect time you should be making trillions by sharing the secret :)!
I’ll tell you a universal secret about the perfect time – IT’S NOW. AND IT’S ALWAYS NOW! The future is a figment of your imagination. The only thing you have control over is what you do in the now, so take some free advice and work it baby right NOW!
I was speaking to someone today about career management in a downturn economy. And they said, it’s like advertising in this environment. You get the best bang for buck as there are fewer companies advertising, therefore you achieve higher cut-through and Brand awareness.
That is exactly right! It is the same principle that I am arguing. NOW is the time to accelerate your career by investing in a Career Coach or a Mentoring Program and getting ahead of the game! To get ahead, you need a well thought out strategy.
Now, I know all you high flyers out there are going DOH! But the rest of the population are unlikely to be seeing it that way. They’re all sitting around waiting for something to happen to them or for them. That’s why they’re not high flyers and you are.
Do high flyers have a problem finding work in any economy? The answer there will be no! High flyers commit to their career, invest in themselves and grow and promote their brand. They are always in demand in any economy.
Everyone can do it! You just need a helping hand.
So you have a choice - are you going to be a sheep and get herded about with the other millions, or are you going to take a stand now, make a commitment and take action to accelerate your career, right here, right now.
Career Coaching, like that offered by MyPerformanceCoach, helps you work through your blockages (perceived barriers like the economy, limiting beliefs, skills, confidence and knowledge deficits); broadens or validates your thinking about your current situation and future career situation; helps you gain significant mileage by developing a strategic game plan (when everyone else has buried their heads in the sand and riding out the economy); and above all ensure you get to the front of the employment job line and become TOM (top of mind) to the employers you want to target.
I also have the great privilege to sit on the FITT (Females in Information Technology and Telecommunications) Steering Committee and lead their development program. The FITT Mentoring Program has been hugely successful in helping over 30 women so far gain a head-start in their careers. The program is well structured, with a fantastic matching process that ensures we attract high quality mentors. So, if you are a female in the ICT industry and are based in Sydney, check out our fabulous program. You’ll need to hurry as applications close 7 April 2009!
NOW is the time to act! Get yourself a good head start and Good Luck!
Vanessa
Having worked in HR and as a Coach to organisations over the last 20 odd years, I know that a recession is used as a fabulous excuse for everyone to externalise blame for avoiding and more importantly not making appropriate choices, decisions or actions.
Governments do it all the time. In particularly this Rudd government is using it to spend a truckload of money and enable legislation (Fair Work Bill) that is not great for small-medium business, which in turn affects the Economy. If the bill succeeds, there will be less permanent jobs that can be guaranteed. But will any worsening of the economy be blamed on the Bill or actions of the government? Of course not silly, it’s that pesky recession (which by the way isn’t his fault either lol)!!!
Companies play the game (strategic PR moves) as well: down-sizing, right-sizing, off-shoring & outsourcing. They take advantage of a situation (i.e. blame the good ole recession) to enable the things to get fixed in organisations. Why not, it’s as good a reason as any!
And then we have individuals who also use the recession as an excuse to keep themselves in their comfort zones. Perhaps they were contemplating leaving their job this year, but now have decided to ‘stick it out’ due to the economy, despite being unhappy and probably disengaged. Or they were thinking of going into business or changing careers, but its ‘now not a good time to make such a risky move’.
Oh really, there’s a perfect time? If you know of the mysterious future perfect time you should be making trillions by sharing the secret :)!
I’ll tell you a universal secret about the perfect time – IT’S NOW. AND IT’S ALWAYS NOW! The future is a figment of your imagination. The only thing you have control over is what you do in the now, so take some free advice and work it baby right NOW!
I was speaking to someone today about career management in a downturn economy. And they said, it’s like advertising in this environment. You get the best bang for buck as there are fewer companies advertising, therefore you achieve higher cut-through and Brand awareness.
That is exactly right! It is the same principle that I am arguing. NOW is the time to accelerate your career by investing in a Career Coach or a Mentoring Program and getting ahead of the game! To get ahead, you need a well thought out strategy.
Now, I know all you high flyers out there are going DOH! But the rest of the population are unlikely to be seeing it that way. They’re all sitting around waiting for something to happen to them or for them. That’s why they’re not high flyers and you are.
Do high flyers have a problem finding work in any economy? The answer there will be no! High flyers commit to their career, invest in themselves and grow and promote their brand. They are always in demand in any economy.
Everyone can do it! You just need a helping hand.
So you have a choice - are you going to be a sheep and get herded about with the other millions, or are you going to take a stand now, make a commitment and take action to accelerate your career, right here, right now.
Career Coaching, like that offered by MyPerformanceCoach, helps you work through your blockages (perceived barriers like the economy, limiting beliefs, skills, confidence and knowledge deficits); broadens or validates your thinking about your current situation and future career situation; helps you gain significant mileage by developing a strategic game plan (when everyone else has buried their heads in the sand and riding out the economy); and above all ensure you get to the front of the employment job line and become TOM (top of mind) to the employers you want to target.
I also have the great privilege to sit on the FITT (Females in Information Technology and Telecommunications) Steering Committee and lead their development program. The FITT Mentoring Program has been hugely successful in helping over 30 women so far gain a head-start in their careers. The program is well structured, with a fantastic matching process that ensures we attract high quality mentors. So, if you are a female in the ICT industry and are based in Sydney, check out our fabulous program. You’ll need to hurry as applications close 7 April 2009!
NOW is the time to act! Get yourself a good head start and Good Luck!
Vanessa
Friday, January 30, 2009
TOP 7 TIPS – WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE MADE REDUNDANT
Unfortunately in the current economic climate, some of you are going to hear the words ‘I’m sorry, but your job has been made redundant’.
Is it the end of the world? No, of course not!
In fact, I would boldly suggest that the company has just done you a great favour ;)! Often, people are already thinking of looking for another job and this situation gives them the impetus to get off their butts and get a move on :). However, there are also others, who love their job and their company and are greatly taken aback when they hear those words.
Whatever your situation, here are my top 7 tips to get you through this period!
TIP 1: Expect strong emotions!
Often regardless of whether you were expecting to hear of the redundancy or whether you were already planning to leave, there is something about a ‘redundancy situation’ that is very upsetting for people. I suspect it is the idea that this is happening unto you as opposed to your choice.
I remember when I first realised I had to make myself redundant back in the early 90’s. I was very upset with myself and the company, even though I knew for a period of six months that I would be required to make the decision! Go figure!
The first thing you need to understand is that hearing this type of news is akin to hearing any kind of shocking news, such as a bereavement situation. Therefore, you should expect to go through a number of strong emotions ranging from anger, frustration, disbelief, shock, sadness, denial, fear, anxiety, stress or confusion in the first few days. This is perfectly normal. However, if after a week you are still feeling strong negative emotions, please seek help immediately!
The longer you experience strong negative emotions the more entrenched they become. Get help to move you beyond those emotions quickly.
Larger organisations often have a Free Employee Assistance Program. These programs are excellent and I would strongly suggest you take full advantage of them. Many reputable companies also choose to arrange an outplacement service provided by organisations like My Performance Coach for their redundant employees. If you are offered Outplacement, you should always utilise this, both from an emotional support perspective as well as giving you career coaching. Alternatively, you can also see your doctor and ask for a referral to a counsellor (which you will receive a Medicare benefit for) or contact a qualified CBT coach to assist you.
It is critical to your job search success to be at the top of your game, in a positive emotional state and looking forward to the future! All too often I see people spend months and even years lamenting about how bad their lives are and gradually working themselves into a depression. PLEASE, do not fall into this trap! Everyone has options, no matter what your situation. So get help to get you into a positive state.
TIP 2: Don’t Panic!
Often the negative emotions experienced are due to people panicking about the future. Will I get another job? When? How? What if I’m not good enough? Will I be able to meet my obligations? These are all reasonable questions to ask.
However, panicking doesn’t help anyone, least of all you! In fact, if you allow this thinking to continue, you will start to notice your thoughts will denigrate to catastrophising, for example: I’ll never find a job; I’ll be homeless; the kids will starve. And once you start that kind of thinking, you are setting yourself up to fail.
Remember we get what we expect! So expect more from yourself! Keep your emotions positive and keep yourself tapped into reality. This again is where a great career coaching program provides indispensible value to people! Having a strong vision, clear goals, clear understanding of motivation and values, clear and focused action and staying positive is essential to getting another great role quickly.
TIP 4: Get some Financial Advice!
Consider how best to use your lump sum pay-out.
Did you know that if you are in a company superannuation fund, you will have a financial planner attached to your fund? Often the fee you pay to them includes services to assist employees with financial planning. Find out who they are and explain your situation. Tap into this resource as they often have great advice about tax minimisation! Your HR or Payroll department can give you more information.
Alternatively, to help you keep tapped into reality, prepare a three month expenses budget. Cut down on all luxury items. Where are you at? Can you afford to take some time off? How long? When would be an ideal time to have a job by? Set your goals.
If you were already in a serious financial crisis prior to being made redundant, please discuss your situation with Centrelink. Also, there a number of not for profit organisations that do a fabulous job of advising and assisting people in financial crisis. Please be careful about diving into a ‘debt reduction company offer’. Ensure you get quality, independent advice before making any key financial decisions.
TIP 5: Get Prepared!
Often, redundancy is a blessing in disguise, as it presents a fantastic opportunity to re-evaluate yourself, your motivations, your career and your drivers.
This is a great time to spend some quality time really evaluating and preparing to get back into the job market. Here are the key things to do:
• Get into a positive, high energy state
• What rocks your world? What motivates you?
• What are your career drivers? What do you really want?
• Do you want to work for a company? If so, what type of company?
• Do you want to work for yourself? Do you have the attributes, knowledge and
skills to do so?
• Complete your SDOT
• Update and tailor your CV
• Work out the types of roles you are looking for
• Get together a list of quality recruitment agencies specialised in your
industry
• Develop your brand and brand plan
If you are unclear on what you want to do or you don’t have a very clear career plan (like 75% of people), I strongly enough recommend a career coach. Do I recommend a career coach because My Performance Coach does this? Well yes :), but it’s more than that! I only provide and recommend services or products that I know fundamentally impact and add value to people in their lives.
In my 20 odd years of HR, I can tell you that those who have had career coaching clearly stand out in the crowd and is one of the best investments you can make into your career!
TIP 6: Get in the game
You know how you were doing all that networking (and if you weren’t, here’s why you should have been), well here’s where that becomes absolute GOLD!!!
I’m sure you know that there is a whole hidden job market. In the economic times, organisations will be looking for EVERY opportunity to reduce recruitment costs.Most organisations have an ‘introduce a friend’ scheme and they will be milking that process now. Recruiting Managers will also be putting out feelers with their networks.
So, draft yourself a positive, upbeat email, succinctly stating what you’re looking for and availability, attach your Resume and get it out to EVERYONE you know (including all your contacts on sites like linked in). DO NOT underestimate who can lead you to a fantastic role!
Many candidates dislike dealing with recruitment agencies (me included). However, they are a necessary evil. So put aside all your negative stuff about it and find 3 - 4 great consultants who specialise in your field or industry and make sure you are TOM (Top Of Mind).
TIP 7: Work it Baby!
Remember that in this environment you need to cut through the competition. For example, one of my clients were lucky to get between 10-15 applicants for one role a year ago, last week, for that same role they got 358 applicants! However, 340 were put in the reject pile.
What does this mean? It means that everyone is trying their luck and are not focusing their efforts. What that means for you is that if you don’t catch the recruiters attention in terms of your suitability within the first 30 seconds to a minute of reading your application goes in the reject pile!
This is where BRAND YOU pays off. Sell your brand. Prepare a thoughtful, professional, tailored application designed to catch the recruiters attention and cause them to keep reading after the first two paragraphs.
Ensure that at all engagement points with the recruiter and the company that you are ‘on brand’ and selling the best of you. A career coach again will help you with this, in particular cutting through the competition.
Good luck and if you have any questions, please post a comment!
Vanessa
Is it the end of the world? No, of course not!
In fact, I would boldly suggest that the company has just done you a great favour ;)! Often, people are already thinking of looking for another job and this situation gives them the impetus to get off their butts and get a move on :). However, there are also others, who love their job and their company and are greatly taken aback when they hear those words.
Whatever your situation, here are my top 7 tips to get you through this period!
TIP 1: Expect strong emotions!
Often regardless of whether you were expecting to hear of the redundancy or whether you were already planning to leave, there is something about a ‘redundancy situation’ that is very upsetting for people. I suspect it is the idea that this is happening unto you as opposed to your choice.
I remember when I first realised I had to make myself redundant back in the early 90’s. I was very upset with myself and the company, even though I knew for a period of six months that I would be required to make the decision! Go figure!
The first thing you need to understand is that hearing this type of news is akin to hearing any kind of shocking news, such as a bereavement situation. Therefore, you should expect to go through a number of strong emotions ranging from anger, frustration, disbelief, shock, sadness, denial, fear, anxiety, stress or confusion in the first few days. This is perfectly normal. However, if after a week you are still feeling strong negative emotions, please seek help immediately!
The longer you experience strong negative emotions the more entrenched they become. Get help to move you beyond those emotions quickly.
Larger organisations often have a Free Employee Assistance Program. These programs are excellent and I would strongly suggest you take full advantage of them. Many reputable companies also choose to arrange an outplacement service provided by organisations like My Performance Coach for their redundant employees. If you are offered Outplacement, you should always utilise this, both from an emotional support perspective as well as giving you career coaching. Alternatively, you can also see your doctor and ask for a referral to a counsellor (which you will receive a Medicare benefit for) or contact a qualified CBT coach to assist you.
It is critical to your job search success to be at the top of your game, in a positive emotional state and looking forward to the future! All too often I see people spend months and even years lamenting about how bad their lives are and gradually working themselves into a depression. PLEASE, do not fall into this trap! Everyone has options, no matter what your situation. So get help to get you into a positive state.
TIP 2: Don’t Panic!
Often the negative emotions experienced are due to people panicking about the future. Will I get another job? When? How? What if I’m not good enough? Will I be able to meet my obligations? These are all reasonable questions to ask.
However, panicking doesn’t help anyone, least of all you! In fact, if you allow this thinking to continue, you will start to notice your thoughts will denigrate to catastrophising, for example: I’ll never find a job; I’ll be homeless; the kids will starve. And once you start that kind of thinking, you are setting yourself up to fail.
Remember we get what we expect! So expect more from yourself! Keep your emotions positive and keep yourself tapped into reality. This again is where a great career coaching program provides indispensible value to people! Having a strong vision, clear goals, clear understanding of motivation and values, clear and focused action and staying positive is essential to getting another great role quickly.
TIP 4: Get some Financial Advice!
Consider how best to use your lump sum pay-out.
Did you know that if you are in a company superannuation fund, you will have a financial planner attached to your fund? Often the fee you pay to them includes services to assist employees with financial planning. Find out who they are and explain your situation. Tap into this resource as they often have great advice about tax minimisation! Your HR or Payroll department can give you more information.
Alternatively, to help you keep tapped into reality, prepare a three month expenses budget. Cut down on all luxury items. Where are you at? Can you afford to take some time off? How long? When would be an ideal time to have a job by? Set your goals.
If you were already in a serious financial crisis prior to being made redundant, please discuss your situation with Centrelink. Also, there a number of not for profit organisations that do a fabulous job of advising and assisting people in financial crisis. Please be careful about diving into a ‘debt reduction company offer’. Ensure you get quality, independent advice before making any key financial decisions.
TIP 5: Get Prepared!
Often, redundancy is a blessing in disguise, as it presents a fantastic opportunity to re-evaluate yourself, your motivations, your career and your drivers.
This is a great time to spend some quality time really evaluating and preparing to get back into the job market. Here are the key things to do:
• Get into a positive, high energy state
• What rocks your world? What motivates you?
• What are your career drivers? What do you really want?
• Do you want to work for a company? If so, what type of company?
• Do you want to work for yourself? Do you have the attributes, knowledge and
skills to do so?
• Complete your SDOT
• Update and tailor your CV
• Work out the types of roles you are looking for
• Get together a list of quality recruitment agencies specialised in your
industry
• Develop your brand and brand plan
If you are unclear on what you want to do or you don’t have a very clear career plan (like 75% of people), I strongly enough recommend a career coach. Do I recommend a career coach because My Performance Coach does this? Well yes :), but it’s more than that! I only provide and recommend services or products that I know fundamentally impact and add value to people in their lives.
In my 20 odd years of HR, I can tell you that those who have had career coaching clearly stand out in the crowd and is one of the best investments you can make into your career!
TIP 6: Get in the game
You know how you were doing all that networking (and if you weren’t, here’s why you should have been), well here’s where that becomes absolute GOLD!!!
I’m sure you know that there is a whole hidden job market. In the economic times, organisations will be looking for EVERY opportunity to reduce recruitment costs.Most organisations have an ‘introduce a friend’ scheme and they will be milking that process now. Recruiting Managers will also be putting out feelers with their networks.
So, draft yourself a positive, upbeat email, succinctly stating what you’re looking for and availability, attach your Resume and get it out to EVERYONE you know (including all your contacts on sites like linked in). DO NOT underestimate who can lead you to a fantastic role!
Many candidates dislike dealing with recruitment agencies (me included). However, they are a necessary evil. So put aside all your negative stuff about it and find 3 - 4 great consultants who specialise in your field or industry and make sure you are TOM (Top Of Mind).
TIP 7: Work it Baby!
Remember that in this environment you need to cut through the competition. For example, one of my clients were lucky to get between 10-15 applicants for one role a year ago, last week, for that same role they got 358 applicants! However, 340 were put in the reject pile.
What does this mean? It means that everyone is trying their luck and are not focusing their efforts. What that means for you is that if you don’t catch the recruiters attention in terms of your suitability within the first 30 seconds to a minute of reading your application goes in the reject pile!
This is where BRAND YOU pays off. Sell your brand. Prepare a thoughtful, professional, tailored application designed to catch the recruiters attention and cause them to keep reading after the first two paragraphs.
Ensure that at all engagement points with the recruiter and the company that you are ‘on brand’ and selling the best of you. A career coach again will help you with this, in particular cutting through the competition.
Good luck and if you have any questions, please post a comment!
Vanessa
Friday, November 28, 2008
TOP 7 TIPS to keep your job in hard times
Top 7 tips to keep your job in hard times
The key to keeping your job in these hard times is being a great employee, a high performer and a value-adder to your organisation. What does that mean? Well, here are My Performance Coach’s Top 7 tips on what you can do to ensure you are highly employable. The key message is that you OWN your career and create your reality!
So do the work, make the necessary changes and see the pay-offs materialise! If you implement all 7 tips, you cannot, help but be successful!
Hot Tip 1: Prepare your SDOT (Strengths, Development areas, Opportunities & Threats)
Doing a self assessment is both a powerful and proactive act and will stimulate your creativity. The tool enables a proactive evaluation of your current situation and your future. It will help you come up with some great ideas top implement the rest of our hot tips.
The first step is to review objectively, any information you can get your hands on about your skills, performance and behaviours at work! E.g. recent performance reviews or peer feedback. You can also review any recent behavioural or personality profiles.
Use a variety of information sources to complete your SDOT. A SDOT is a complete review of your Strengths, Development needs, Opportunities and Threats. Be sure to ask your current manager and trusted colleagues about your strengths and development areas to assist you to answer the necessary questions
Get your free SDOT tool and further information here
My Performance Coach also has useful tools to assist you with your self assessment.
Hot Tip 2: Raise your profile within the organisation
I’m not suggesting here that you develop a huge ego and shout out at the top of your lungs how wonderful you are! However, many of us (particularly women) do a poor job of self promotion, letting people know subtly who we are, what we do and what our achievements are. So, know your strengths and being clear on your performance and contribution to the organisation.
The next step is to work out ways to get Brand YOU top of mind for the people that count. How do the people that need to know how fabulous you are, get to know that?
The first place to start is your boss and their boss! What is their impression of you? If you don’t know, simply pluck up the courage to ask. At least you’ll know where you stand and can figure out what you need to do to be successful. Think about your key clients, do they spontaneously provide feedback about you to the people that count? What about your immediate work colleagues, what do they say about you? What about other departments or key stakeholders?
Start proactively working on Brand You. You already have a brand in the workplace. The question is, it is your best possible brand? What are the key messages about you that you want the key people in your organisation to know about you? Take the time to come up with the key messages that make up Brand You. Be clear on what these are, make sure they are powerful and ensure that reality matches (i.e. your behaviour and actions reflect these core messages 100% of the time). If reality does not match, then get a plan to sort it out.
Key messages might include: No 1 sales rep; Service Excellence; Customers rave about them; Retained our top ten clients this year; Best people manager in the department.
When you have your top 5 key messages which should be all about how valuable you are to your employer, then test them out with people who know you. For example, you may ask your key clients, on a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being the highest, how would you rate my customer service skills?
Then take time to think about how you can develop your network, internally and externally, continually building Brand You as you go. The key to branding is consistency! Have a plan, write it down, take actions and continually review your success!!
Hot Tip 3: Avoid negativity and the ‘wrong’ crowd
It’s all very well and good to build a great Brand YOU, but you can undermine it in a second if you fall into the negativity trap!
Make sure you keep your thoughts focused on positives at all times. What you focus on is what shows up! So if you focus on the negatives, guess what, that’s what you will create. Everyone knows this at a deeper unconscious level and therefore avoid people who are deeply negative. So create the right reality, reframe situations and get yourself in a positive state and a positive state of mind.
Avoid the doom and gloom crowd. They’ll just bring you down and more importantly those that are in positions to make decisions will note negative behaviours, attitudes and groups. In hard times, the negative people are always top of the list for the exit lounge. When times are tough, what you need are people to rally, to be positive, and to go all out to get through the crisis. Negativity breeds negativity and bosses usually make the smart play or cutting loose negativity first up.
Note: if you think you can hide your negativity by not voicing it, think again! You’ll come across as passive-aggressive and you will definitely increase your odds of being escorted to the exit lounge!
Hot Tip 4: Know What is Important to Your Organisation
Consider these questions and answer them honestly:
• Do you know what your organisations vision is?
• Do you know what your organisations goals are?
• Do you know what your organisations values are?
• Do you know what your organisation considers to be of key importance?
If you don’t know the answers to these questions find out!
Ask your manager or HR. Check out your intranet. Many organisations have formally articulated this information, but just as many have not! Whether formally articulated or not, find out what is important around here! I.e. What are the key behaviours expected of employees?
Once you know what these things are, write them down and self assess yourself against them. Update your SDOT. Where are your strengths and development needs in relation to the expectations? Where are your Opportunities? Where are your threats?
Hot Tip 5: Make sure you are performing in the top 25%
Are you in the top 25% of performers in your team or department? Do you understand your performance and how you are rated? Do you understand your contribution to the business?
Employers do not normally cut their noses off to spite their faces! So think from an employer’s perspective. Who is the most valuable to you in times of crisis – the bottom 25% of performers or your top 25%! Ah, no brainer folks!!
If you are in the middle, i.e. a solid citizen, there is certainly nothing wrong with that! But sometimes, when hard decisions are required, some solid citizens need to be let go. So give yourself every opportunity to avoid the exit lounge.
Start now! Find out about how your performance is perceived, particular from your direct boss. Find out what they think you could do to improve your performance. Look around, who is considered the highest performer? What do they do, that you don’t do?
Hot Tip 6: Engage with the business and add value to it
Continuing on with our theme, when you know the business, when you’re passionate and positive about what you do and what your organisation does, when you operate at level 10 energy, then there is no chance that you will be on someone’s exit list! All organisations need highly engaged people to make them successful, particularly in crisis times!
Ask yourself these questions, honestly. On a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being highest, where are you right now?
• I love my job/work. I jump out of bed 95% of the time, looking forward to the day
• I am passionate about what I do, it’s my calling
• I love this organisation and want it to be successful
• I operate with level 10 energy, everyday to get the best possible outcomes
• I go all out, including extra hours to get the job done, because it’s important to me
• I continuously come up with smarter ways of working
• I continuously come up with great ideas to make this organisation more successful
If you answered less than a 7 to any of the above, you have some serious self reflection to be doing! Because the facts are, if you did not, you are not fully engaged with your job nor your organisation. And if that is the case, you may risk being put on the exit lounge list.
Assess what you can do. How can you re-engage? What do you need to do to get back in the game? How can you get yourself fired up?
Top Tip 7: Invest in yourself
What constantly amazes me is the number of people who leave their careers and livelihoods in the hands of others. If you do not have a strong independent Career and Development plan, then you are consciously or unconsciously assuming someone else will take care of this for you.
The facts of life are that you create your reality! Sure some organisations invest a lot in their people, but many do not! More importantly, and very unfortunately, in times of crisis, training and development budgets are the first thing to be cut. The last thing on your boss or the executive team’s mind is your career and your development.
People often find career coaching very powerful and it is certainly a proactive investment in Brand You! Don’t leave your brand or your future in someone else’s hands. Take charge NOW! Review your development needs. What do you need to do? By When? Come up with an action plan and implement it.
The secret to most successful people/high performers- They invest heavily in themselves and keep themselves top of their game and field. As a minimum, a professional should invest an average of 100 hours per annum on professional development, and be prepared to spend at least $3,500 in developing your skills, knowledge and competencies. It is no coincidence that people who employ coaches are highly successful!
Good luck!
Remember, Life is not about finding yourself...
Life is about creating yourself!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)