nextchapternewlife.com

When it comes to our health and fitness or for that matter anything, making a change can be a challenge.  I’m here to give you a pearl of wisdom about getting up off the couch to get you moving.  The pearl of wisdom is this: You need one part commitment, one part plan and one part a system.  The three parts are equal to MOTIVATION.  We all want it.  Now you can have it whenever you want.  Here is how the three parts work:

Commitment – First you need to check in with yourself and really work on what you are committed to.  I hear people talk at a high level about “taking care of their health” for the sake of their family.  Let me put it to you this way for a real eye opener:  if you knew that in 20 years you would be losing body parts, replacing body parts or suffering from disease, would you change your life style to avoid it?  A bit more jolting isn’t it?  Sorry to be so blunt, but most people don’t just keel over and die, they die from a thousand small cuts (to coin a phrase).  You will pay the price sooner or later.  So, what are you really committed to? Do you want to remain vibrant and participate in life?  Do you want to look your best?  Do you want to avoid being a burden on other’s due to your health?

Have a plan – You can’t just talk about doing something without taking it down to a plan of action and goals.  You want to be specific and have time boundaries.  If you want to weight X, when do you want to do that by?  If you want to be stronger and have more endurance for activities, then what are those activities and how will you know you have “arrived”?  If you currently have some health issues, check in with your doctor and identify some goals and actions to achieve them.  Also, when you have achieved those goals and plans, time for a new plan.   There is an adage: Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.

Have a system – As a society, we are all cowboys.  We think we have to do everything on our own or we’re wimps.  I can tell you right now that only 20% of those cowboys are capable of making any kind of change without help or support.  When I talk about a system, I’m talking about a system of support and accountability.  Most of us NEED to have a support system to help us with executing our plan.  You can hire a trainer or coach.  You can engage a series of friends or relatives or even those from the social networking sites.  You need people to brain storm solutions to issues that arise.  You need people to hold you accountable to yourself and your action plan.  You need someone to celebrate your successes.  Your system needs to be defined in your plan to ensure the plan is given life.  Don’t be bashful about asking for help, we all love to think we can help each other.

Motivation is not a magical thing that happens to just the lucky few.  You can develop motivation to do anything you chose.  Go ahead, try it and see how the world of opportunities opens up for you!

Want to reprint this article?  You can reprint this article as long as you use the following: Dorothy Tannahill-Moran is a Career Coach and expert on helping her clients achieve their goals.  Want to discover specific career change strategies that get results?  Discover how to by claiming your FREE gift, Career Makeover Toolkit at:

http://CareerMakeoverToolKitShouldIstayorShouldIGo.com/

If you’re a job seeker or thinking about looking, you’ve probably already given thought to your resume.  That seems to be the first place we tend to go when we’re in that job search mode.  I don’t agree it should be the first thing on our mind, though I do understand why.  The resume is a representation of us as it relates to work experience and skills. It’s one of the most tangible elements in our job search, so we go to updating our resume as a sign of our control over the process.  It is our personal brochure that gives a guided tour through our past in the hope that one of those juicy morsels will tantalize a hiring manager enough to give us a call.

Before you hit the word processor to create your resume, there are some problems that seem to be inherent with many resumes that you can avoid with a little forethought.  Interestingly enough, many job seekers seem to get caught up with the perfect format.  “Should I use the functional or chronological?”  The issues I have seen with resumes almost always have to do with content.  Of course, there are a few random format issues but they are minor in comparison.

I’d like to identify the basic concept of the resume first in order to truly help you understand the content issues I’m about to mention.  A resume is a sales tool.  You are selling yourself.  You are packaging yourself in such a way that a hiring manager can make a decision about how closely you align to their needs, which will always be more than what might be posted.  Hiring is a pain in the backside and the hiring manager wants to do it as infrequently as possible.  They also want to think that they don’t have to over manage you to get the work done and perhaps be able to use you in multiple ways in the future. To summarize what the hiring manager is wanting: they are looking for the content.  With that thought in mind, here are some of the biggest issues I have seen with resumes:

-        Too long, too verbose – If you have decades of great experience, you don’t need to tell everyone about all of it.  Even if you don’t have decades of experience, no one wants you to write the great American novel called your resume.  Your resume will go through several passes of review most of which will be only a cursory scan lasting 10-30 seconds.  That means it will not be “read” it will be skimmed in the attempt of finding the key words that will trigger a deeper and closer examination.

-        Too vague = air sandwich – I have yet to crack the code on how someone with any work experience can produce a resume that leaves you scratching your head wondering what the person used to do for a living.  But I have seen these resumes.  These resumes can even have lots of words on them but they are working so hard at trying to not commit to anything they commit to nothing.  You can’t be vague in your resume.  You must tell the story of what you did and what makes you stand out from the crowd.  Even if you are trying to change careers, you can still tell your story but focus on the transferable skills that you can use on that new career.  Sometimes I think the people with these resumes have asked too many people their opinion and in the process edited out all of the interest.

-        Not written with the hiring manager in mind.  The real sell in your resume is to tell the reader what your personal brand really is.  What were you known for?  What were your accomplishments?  Of course, you need to give your job title a context by outlining your responsibilities.  Your responsibilities can help create the picture, particularly if you give them size and shape (more on that next).  The hiring manager wants to know if you can perform and how well you did it.  Answer their questions before they have to ask.  If you have data to help back up your story, add that.  If you don’t then what about things like timeliness for schedules, numbers of items you produced, customer feedback anything that will give the hiring manager the message that you can get RESULTS.

-        Responsibilities can be boring.  Please if you are going to list your responsibilities, tell the story as you go.  How many accounts did you manage?  How many calls did you handle?  How many people reported to you?  You don’t add all that much more space when you give your responsibilities size and shape.  Listen to this:  Which sounds more impressive?  Managed a group of customer service reps OR Managed 15 customer service reps.  That definitely helps the hiring manager understand the scope of what you did.  You don’t have to simply list the most key or critical responsibilities.  Put some dimension and size to your responsibilities and that will weave your story well without getting lengthy.

-        Using terms that are not in the general public is jargon and is not good for your resume.  We can all be guilty of this one.  After you work in a place for a while, you develop a language that is helpful in your environment.  That language will rarely translate well to other employers.  Be careful to create a resume that uses language that most of us will understand. Avoid the use of undefined acronyms.  Obviously, if you are in a technical profession you will have to use words that are unique to your profession which is an exception.

When creating a resume your format and layout will be the easiest part of it to create.  There are literally thousands of great examples online and in books for you to emulate.  You want to spend your time focusing on the content that is going to sell you.  You are the only one that knows all of the great things you have accomplished and which ones of those will allow you to stand out amongst your competitors.  Creating your resume is not the time to be modest, so give yourself a break and shine a light on your personal brand.

Remember the purpose of your resume is to create enough interest for you to get a call and interview.

Can you Count on your Resume?  Not sure? Here’s the help you need: http://nextchapternewlife.com/products/resume-product/    Dorothy Tannahill-Moran is a Career Coach and expert on helping her clients achieve their goals.  Her programs cover: Career growth and enhancement, Career Change, Retirement Alternatives and Job Search Strategy.  Want to discover specific career change strategies that get results?  Discover how by claiming your FREE gift, Career Makeover Toolkit at: http://CareerMakeoverToolKitShouldIstayorShouldIGo.com/

Lanuchpad Volume 3 – Getting a Life and Not a Job – Chris Perry ISBN 9781453629277

This is the 3^rd book publication done by Chris Perry of Careerrocketeer fame.  It is so meaty you’ll be more than hungry by the time the next one comes out later this year.  You will yearn for more. Chris has compiled writing from some of the country’s top career experts (including me!) who write on 6 Career Topics: Career Search, Personal Branding, Resumes, Interviews, Social Media and Career Management.  Each piece is full of valuable information for whatever stage of career you’re in, so you will want to continue to reference this book both now and in the future.  Perhaps the most valuable aspect to this is just how actionable all of the information is.  Each author details out step-by-step how to accomplish the topic they discuss.  You will want to get this book and keep it handy.

Reduce Stress from YOUR Job Search!
Dear Job Seeker,
If you are out there working on finding a job and you’re feeling like you don’t know what you’re doing – you probably don’t. Most of us don’t have the skill set for job hunting because we don’t do it that many times in our life. It would be like cooking 5-7 times in your life. Do you really think you’d remember what to do or how to do it?

I have a solution for you that I’d like to share with you. This solution will really help you where you need it the most – in your wallet and in your job search.

I speak to countless job seekers and I see many of the same problems repeated from one person to the next. I see people thinking they need to update their resume, when they don’t really know what kind of job it needs to help them find or who their resume will go to. It is a waste of their time, but way too many people think that launching a great job search starts with spiffing up the resume. Wheel spinning.

My offer will give you the best of coaching, the direction to know what you’re doing, help you when you need it and expertise to tell you when you are driving off the cliff.

“Prior to my work with Dorothy, the idea of looking for job after years as an entrepreneur was absolutely daunting. For me, it was like staring into the void, a place that was foreign and hostile. Dorothy changed all of that. She broke the process down into bite size actions and struck a balance between the need for self inquiry as well as putting oneself out there, to be seen and heard in the community.
Her guidance is at once direct and gentle and very encouraging.
I would highly recommend anyone who is simply looking for a job, to stop and work with Dorothy and begin the process of aligning your life to your dreams, and discover where your search for work fits in to that paradigm.”
Jason Porath
Sign up now – your job search is waiting!

Another common problem I see job seekers have is thinking in this new internet age that they need to fling their resume to posted jobs. Then they wonder why they aren’t getting called. When that happens they go back to tweaking their resume again thinking that is the key to the silence. Is that you? Do you really know what you’re doing?

My offer will allow you to obtain this valuable information at your convenience and at the location of your choosing. Affordable, convenient and content rich. This is equal to home pizza delivery.

“Dorothy Moran is a gifted individual who is qualified to advise and assist you with positive movement forward in your life. I enlisted in Dorothy’s teleconference and coaching session and discovered though her that I had a career direction that I had been dreaming about but had built a fortress of reasons why I could not move forward. Dorothy listened to my situation with professional insight and helped me to understand that I could overcome the barriers and achieve my vision. Today I am living the dream.
I highly recommend Dorothy to assist you in the same way. Your situation may differ from mine but I assure you that you will benefit by this gifted individual. She has brought positive change and great happiness to me and my family. Feel free to email me at the address below.”
Thank you Dorothy.
Dennis Cloutier

Can you really afford to be out there in this competitive environment spinning your wheels, totally clueless about whether or not you are really doing an effective job search? Most of us can’t waste our time (or money) doing things that don’t get results, yet I see many people out there bouncing around without any strategy or plan. It’s like a ship with no sail. It saddens me because I know it doesn’t have to be that way.

What I’m offering you is this:
• A weekly over-the-phone group coaching – to help you with issues you have and listen to solutions for others that may also help you; each session goes for 1.5 hours
• A weekly over-the phone job search strategy topic – the easy step-by-step strategy that will give you the confidence you know what you’re doing – no more wasting your time
• Recordings of all materials, so you can replay or catch up if you’re away – if you can’t be there, you get all this valuable information at your convenience
• Private online network for materials, resources, sharing and support – the power of many, you have access to additional information and support from others just like you
• Unlimited email contact with me as your coach to help you – review of your materials, valuable, timely feedback from someone who knows what to look for
• Coaching with me when you need it- things change every day and you may find you need help getting ready for the important interview, you can call me
• I call this group coaching the Career Makeover Club and it cost you only $200

Sign up now! – Get you choice of dates and delivery method

It doesn’t end there. There are two parts to this program. Once you have gone through my proven job search strategy, you qualify to be a member of my monthly Alumni group. I recognize that job search can take a while, so the process of support doesn’t have to end when the 8 weeks is over. As an Alumni, you are eligible to participate in a monthly group session with other people that know the program and in that session we cover whatever topics YOU want to cover. Also, as an Alumni you will have access to all ongoing great content and resources. Group coaching takes place, so if you have a timely issue you would like coaching on, you know you can get great help right there. Your cost is only $25 a month. But it still doesn’t end there. If you need personalized coaching on an urgent issue, I offer Alumni members the opportunity to schedule what I call “1 off” coaching sessions for half off of my usual fee. This is not available to anyone else. You can schedule 1 session and pay only $50.

When you sign up, you will get 3 choices of when or how you want to join the Career Makeover Club:
___ Monday’s at 5:30 pm pst starting July 26 ending September 13
___ Tuesdays’ at 9 am pst starting July 27 ending September 14
___OR if you want to go through the material on your own and dial in for coaching when I need it

If your job search needs a face lift, recognize when you need help. You’re not going to find a better offer, better program or more qualified coach. This program would cost you $1000’s and I’m offering it to you for $200 for the total program and $25 monthly until you choose to stop. So many people think that job hunting is something they can do on their own without any help or direction. Just like cooking without any skill or instruction, you might toss something together, but you’re probably not going to like the results. You can’t afford to experiment with your job hunt.

PLUS! You get to pick a day and time that will work for your schedule when you sign up. Worried you can’t make all 8 sessions? Don’t worry! All 8 sessions are recorded and made available to you along with all 8 job search topics, resources and online community. If you want to make this a self-paced instruction you absolutely can. If you want coaching, you can dial into an upcoming session to get coaching from me. It doesn’t get any easier.

Sign up now click here to sign up for the Career Makeover Club

Do you have any questions? Ask away, I’m happy to help you make this important decision. Email me: dorothy@nextchapternewlife.com

Whoa, that’s a big thought. It’s not too big but it is big.

Sometime in our middle years (and for those fortunate few that are younger) we discover the need or drive for meaning and purpose to our life. It is safe to say that for many of us, the purpose in our early adult years is to successfully launch ourselves into career, home and creating a family life. But, beyond those years and milestones lie something bigger for us. It is a tricky and somewhat elusive aspect of our life. We feel it more than we can describe it. There is no doubt that this is a tough subject to relegate to an article but I will try hard to share what I have discovered. I’m not suggesting I have the answer but I think I can give you a few hints.

I don’t recall where I read this but it resonated for me. Our purpose is not about ourselves. Our purpose is outside or beyond us. It is about others. Our purpose is about giving ourselves in the service of other people and causes. The reason I think this is right is how it feels when you do it. One of the best examples I can think of is firefighters. They are the people running into burning buildings when the rest of us are running out. When you hear one of these heroes talk about a specific act they have performed, they are humbled and the rest of us are teary eyed. There is a certain understanding we have in hearing these stories. These people are not doing it for the money or ego, they are doing it because it’s their purpose. The life saving is about the other person, not them, not the acclaim.

Some people, like firefighters are lucky enough to have jobs that have that sense of purpose built in while they are building their life. Others must go in search of our purpose. If you have to go in search of your purpose where do you start? The frustrating answer is: look toward yourself and outside yourself. What this means is that the answer comes from within you in terms of feeling that sense of resonance when you know you have found it. It will ring true for you. To find “it”, you need to go on a hunt of discovery. Your purpose will not fall from the sky into your lap. You have to actively engage in looking, experimenting and turning over rocks.

Another way you can look at your life purpose is to think of it in terms of how you are expressing your unique gifts. When we are doing something that is consistent with our strongest values and engaging our strengths, skills, talents and interests we create what is described as “flow”. Flow is that sense of timelessness or no time. If you have ever done something and lost all track of time, you have created flow. This happens because of the energy it creates and that what you are doing combines challenge and ability in a very focused manner. Purpose is not a random act of applying your skills. Purpose is focused. A perspective is that your purpose IS your life goal, which by its very nature has the quality of action, results and accomplishment.

If you do have an answer to the top question, just know that over time it could change. That’s ok for it to change. It doesn’t mean you are wrong, it means like everything else in our life, even our purpose changes over time. If you can’t answer the question at the top, I would suggest you go on a personal quest to find the answer. Purpose will give everything you do greater meaning. Purpose will amplify your joy in profound ways.

Want to reprint this article? You can reprint this article as long as you use the following: Dorothy Tannahill-Moran is a Career Coach and expert on helping her clients achieve their goals. Want to discover specific career change strategies that get results? Discover how to by claiming your FREE gift, Career Makeover Toolkit at:

http://CareerMakeoverToolKitShouldIstayorShouldIGo.com/