Motivation to Success!

According to the results of recent surveys in the UK, US and Ireland more than 50% of the workforce is unhappy with their career or job.

Most of these people are unhappy with the actual tasks they are doing in their job. The only way they will be happier is if they do something totally different – i.e., take a different career direction. The same goes for a lot of people who are made redundant.

These people have a choice, stay with the career they are or were in, or change it. The biggest thing preventing you from getting a career you love… believe it or not… is YOU!

Many people are simply not prepared to put in the effort needed, preferring to take the easy way out and accept second best… or maybe even whatever seemed like a good idea at the time. They do what they had the points for in their leaving cert or what their parents did/told them to do. Or they come up with excuses such as financial restraints.

It’s important to realise that choosing a career (or changing careers) is right up there with getting married, having kids, and buying a house. It is one of the most important decisions you will ever make in your life! For a few decades you will spend 60 odd hours out of 168 each week working and travelling to and from work.

And what happens at work, whether it’s good or bad, affects ALL the other aspects of your life – your health, family, finances, relationships, self-esteem and so on.

Choosing a career is NOT something that can be done in less than five minutes, but unfortunately, that’s how much thought some people put into it. Then 5 years later they are still on the factory floor, or answering phones at a call centre, selling door to door or in the same office doing the same every day.

Choosing a career involves much more:

1. Looking closely at yourself
2. Researching jobs which might be suitable
3. Being able to make a decision, and
4. Acting on, and being happy with, that decision.

The first of these steps in finding a career you love is “self-discovery”. It looks at such things as:

* The things you like and dislike doing
* The things you are good and bad at doing
* The skills you have or need to get
* Your achievements to date, and what you want to achieve in the future
* Your attitudes, values and personal style.

A thorough, honest and realistic self-assessment is vital if you are to gather the necessary information to make a good career decision… if you are to find a career you might love to do! If you want to find a job that is not work anymore!

That’s where my I come in with my career coaching package. While people can just opt for a new CV or interview technique sessions, I encourage a broader view on how to choose a career or change to the career you always wanted.

First the client and myself look at what makes them tick, what their core values are, what needs to be in place for them to be happy. This can range from family to faith to competitiveness to control to joy. We then use these values as a benchmark for career identification.

Then we look at the clients existing skills, strengths and character traits. They might be skilled at talking or problem solving, their strength might be a natural sense of humour and their character may be Loyal and Supportive.

We then explore the client’s interests, hobbies and favourite things. What is their favourite pastime? What do you read books on? How do you like spending a Sunday afternoon, if you won the Lottery how would you spend it etc…

When we have the results of all the exercises and work done, we match all of these with the ideal role in the ideal industry for the client.

Once this work is completed we start the actual practical work of skills gap analysis, CV and cover letter writing, interview preparation and job searching. Another USP is that I always personally follow through until the client secured a job or is satisfied with the progress made. This is done on a 1 to 1, confidential basis with the client’s agenda as the only one in town.

So ask yourselves and those around you the question if they want to get what they really want from the rest of their career or if they want to settle for second best? If you or them want to stop dreading Mondays, please get me their number so I can call them for a no charge consultation.

Patrick Mercie, 4ward 2 Success, your career coached 1 VIP at a time.

4ward 2 Success are delighted to announce that Patrick Mercie is delivering a series of open workshops designed specifically with enhancing your quality of life in mind! Patrick mentions that the idea behind these workshops “is for people to stop the blame game and start taking responsibility for their own future”.

The next of these interactive modules is a ‘Career Guidance’ workshop which will now take place on Thursday the 29^th of April, from 1900 to 2130 PM, venue Absolute Hotel, Limerick.

The workshop is ideal for unemployed people, people who were recently made redundant or people who would like to change career.

This workshop covers and delivers the following for all participants:

1) Assessing your current position and using it as a start for your future career. At the end of this section all participants will know what is essential for their future career and what skills they have to offer.

2) Career Identification. How do you go about finding that career for you? Goal Setting for your career. All Participants will be able to establish in what field where their ideal career lies.

3) How to increase your chance of landing that job you always wanted. The bulk of the workshop will be spent on this. Here the participant will be shown the do’s and don’ts on how to write company specific CV’s and cover letters; as well as how to perform at interviews.

4) Patrick will share what resources the participants can use in their search for the next step in their career. From people to online resources, he will show you what is out there for you.

Profile: Patrick graduated and qualified as a Personal & Business Coach with the Irish Lifecoach Institute (ILI) in 2007 and has this Diploma accredited by the Life & Business Coaching Association of Ireland (LBCAI). Patrick has been successfully coaching people from all walks of life towards taking responsibility of their future by acting on it today. Patrick’s style of working is interactive, motivational, energetic and above all positive minded. Patrick has been described by his clients as ‘infectious’ in positive thinking and attitude.

Your investment in this workshop is €35.

To book one of the limited places on this workshop you need to contact Patrick Mercie by emailing him on patrickmercie66@hotmail.com or calling him on 083-3008963. Deposits will be asked for to guarantee your place.

I keep being amazed with the reactions I get from people when I suggest a few simple actions to declutter their life from negative influences. Just so I get you all going at me as well here’s a few suggestions: Stop watching the news, reading the papers and watching soaps and ‘reality’ TV. Are you still reading? Thanks J

I’m not asking you to take my word for it. Try it for a couple of days. There’s only one proviso. Do something you really like with the time it frees up. Whatever that is, as long as it is something you like and is ‘good’ for YOU!

I’ve tried it and am 95% successful at not doing the things listed (I’ve added a few other things that are personal and stopped doing them as well). I am as a result generally feeling happier, more energetic, prepared to do more for others, less judgmental and definitely less angry about things. It freed up ‘me’ time and it also allowed for me to share and collaborate with others to start creating hubs of creative thinking people for the benefit of everybody! I’m sorry if the rest of this article has a bit of a negative undertone, it is merely so for demonstrative purposes.

Where does the title come from I hear you ask? When we watch those programmes or follow current affairs we get dragged into the Blame Game or into Schadenfreude. The vast majority of politics or corporate culture works on the Blame Game and the carcasses of others. It is all about how much you have, what do you own and who have you conquered? Competition is the be all and end all and others need to be destroyed en route to success which is measured in possessions.

The TV news fails to break the mould. It predominantly brings ‘bad’ news. As if that is all that exists. As if there are no newsworthy good people or inspirational events. They do this for the reasons above. Keep you thinking in the Blame Game because that way you are not looking for answers or solutions to the bigger picture. And that suits the people in power fine as they are in control and shiver at the thought of confrontation with their destructive ways. They make you feel it is your fate to be who you are. Where did I hear that before??

Then there are the soaps and reality TV series. That’s where Schadenfreude comes to play. Schadenfreude comes from the German words Schaden or harm and Freude or joy. According to Collins dictionary it means ‘one person’s delight in another’s misfortune’. By seeing others suffer, row, fight and behave badly or live in misery we comfort ourselves to believe that our Fate is not that bad after all. So why question it??

In the mean time our planet’s health is in jeopardy, people are at war in several parts of the world, fanatics are trying to use religions to justify destruction, our health care is in tatters, our kids sit in overcrowded schools, there is severe poverty and malnutrition and so on and so on.

It is high time to start thinking differently. It is 23.55 and the clock is ticking. It is time to stop the ‘them and us’ way of life. We can all do more than we know. We can all change the world. Each one of us can. It is time to start thinking big (thanks to Michael Port for the idea – check ThinkBigRevolution.com and join us in the thinking big revolution)!!

As Michael said in his fantastic book (The Think Big Manifesto), thinking big is not about accumulation of possessions, fame, friends, or influence. Though you may get financial rewards it is not about getting rich. It is about collaboration and cooperation instead of competition. And it starts with us, one person at a time. It is about sharing what we are best at and enriching each other. Whatever that may be. We all have something wonderful to contribute to the world. We just have to know we do first. You can, I can, we all can!! Make that choice today and forevermore. Join us in the revolution on the website or via the book or by giving me a shout.

Switch off that TV and switch on your brain!!! I promise you in return increased happiness, self belief, self esteem; improved relationships and more energy. Can you afford to let that offer slip by????

Have a great day and talk soon

Patrick

Today is the first day of Lent here. For a lot of people that equals the first day of a 40 day ‘giving up things’ period. Traditional ‘culprits’ are alcohol, cigarettes, sweets, chocolates, television. Personally I will try to give up on judging people. Not for 40 days, for good. It won’t be easy but I will do my best.

Anyway as usual I digress (maybe I should give that up as well)J. I just wanted to briefly point out one thing to look out for when ‘giving up things’. As with most stuff when you remove something it leaves a void or vacuum behind. The question is what are you going to do with that void? You are used to have that pint, sweet, cigarette, TV soap at certain times during the day. Now that you decided to give them up, you created a vacuum or void. What are you going to do with that time?

If you don’t think about this you might have an extra glass of wine instead of the sweets whilst you didn’t want to have an extra glass of wine to start with. So that void has been filled with something you didn’t want to, negating the good you thought it was going to do.

Instead think about what you really like doing and is good for you and replace the free time with it. Instead of watching the TV, go for a walk. Instead of the sweets have a fruit salad. Instead of going to the pub, go support your local sports club (that’s one for the armchair fans who after this rant I will no longer judge on it J).

Filling the void purposefully with positive things you like enhances the chance of you sticking with it after the 40 days have past. And if not then you had fun doing it instead of feeling it was a chore.

Enjoy your 40 day transformation. Enjoy your new found habit. Have a great Lent!!

Patrick Mercie – 4ward 2 Success – 25/02/2009

Most of the conversations I have with friends, colleagues, acquaintances or clients have one common theme running through them. At some time the conversation turns to wanting to get rid of, replace, improve, renew with more vigour or add something to their lives or some aspects of it.

In other words they want to better themselves or be more successful as a person. The other common denominator is that although the desire to change is there, action very rarely follows that desire. Inaction leads to every day being similar to the one before and that’s how we get stuck in a rut. We become comfortable being uncomfortable.

In this article I want to analyse and expose the results of our inaction. Then I want to show how thought out and organised action, through a joyful and sometimes painful journey, will lead to success. And that continuous action will make you a successful person!! Want to be seen as successful? Read on!

So you want to get rid of, replace, improve, renew with more vigour or add something to your life. This means you have thought about it. What are you doing with those thoughts? You can leave them as company for all the other good intentions you have. What will that lead to? Will it enhance your self belief? Will you feel more or less frustrated? As a result of this frustration inertia usually sets in. And inertia leads to more frustration so now you are stuck in a vicious circle.

You could also act impulsively on that particular thought. Start doing something about it without forethought. Plunge head first into it. You may succeed this way as a one off. What are the dangers of this way? If you meet a difficulty or come across a hard patch you are without a fallback or plan b and you may quit. This leads to frustration and can prevent you from ever acting on thoughts again bringing you back into the vicious circle discussed above.

You could take your thought and dissect it. Break it down into manageable chunks. Take the 4 step approach used by us at 4ward 2 Success. Write it down.

1- Where am I in relation to my thought? Be honest with yourself and then accept yourself for being there right now! It is OK to be there at that moment in time.

2- Where do I want to be? What is my goal? Be specific, use numbers, dates something measurable.

3- What do I need to do to get there? Plan out all the steps you need to take to get to number 2. Break it down as much as you can. Give yourself small targets and celebrate them.

4- What can prevent me from getting there? Identify the possible difficulties you may encounter and work out strategies to deal with them now or when they occur. This is an essential part of the journey and should be taken seriously.

After you did all this prep work make sure you enjoy the journey. It won’t be all rose petals and there may be a painful patch along the road to success. To balance it all make the journey as much fun as possible and enjoy it. Congratulate yourself on achievements and treat yourself.

And yes you do deserve success!! You are good enough!! And you are the master of your own destiny!! Enjoy your success!!!

Patrick Mercie – 4ward 2 Success – 18/02/2009

Hi all,

I sincerely hope that your festive season was a time full of love, togetherness, understanding, peace, happiness and balance. And if it wasn’t picture perfect I hope you had the time to learn from it and use the imperfections as stepping stones to succesful change. 

Though I am not a traditionalist in the pure sense of the word, I thought I would use one tradition as my theme for this week’s post. ‘New Year resolutions’. We all make them (and break them). Every year we indulge in them and for most of us they stick around for a while until the first serious obstacle occurs and then we (reluctantly) celebrate failure.

So let’s look at a few pointers to buck that trend and stick to the New Years resolution this year. It will make you feel fantastic as well as being the envy of others (not that that is important ). I presume you have made a resolution. (If not contact me and we can together work towards one).

One proviso: It is hard work so make sure there is fun involved as well. Reward yourself regularly to motivate yourself.

1. Accept yourself for where you are right now in relation to the goal you set. Don’t beat yourself up. Who you are now is super for now. Write this down on an A4 sheet under 1. Where am I right now? And say to yourself it’s ok to be there cause we are going to change it anyway. (Example: I owe €5.000 on my visa)

2. Where do I want to be? Write down what it is you want to achieve. Be specific. Make it measurable. You want to know whether you succeeded, or be accountable at any stage of your journey. (Example: I want to clear that €5.000 by 30/09/08)

3. How will I get there? This is your action plan. This has to be very specific. Make sure you allow for checking in at regular intervals to see if you need to make adjustments. (Example: There are 44 weeks from new year til the 30th of September so that’s €115 per week to be saved or made, make a financial plan to get there or seek help from a professional coach.)

4. What may be the obstacles that I can encounter and how can I plan in advance for them? Don’t kid yourself. you will encounter obstacles and may fail at some hurdles. So if you plan in advance what they may be you will be able to deal with them immediately when they occur. (Example: My car is getting that bit older so I might incur costs to that at any time. If that occurs I can go and train in open air and cancel my gym subscription for 2 months).

You know that one friend or relative or acquaintance that is always positive towards you and that you know will support you no matter what. Tell them your goal. Use them as a motivator and support system.

I want to congratulate all of you in advance on bucking the trend and making 2008 the year where you turn those New Years resolutions into real achievements!! WELL DONE!!!

P.S.: You know there is a friendly Life Coach nearby to help, motivate and support you. He/She’s only a phone call away.

Patrick Mercie – 4ward 2 Success Coaching & Training

083-3008963

patrickmercie66@hotmail.com

5 simple steps to enhance your quality of life

I thought that today I would just simply share 5 little rules I try to adhere to. Each one of them changed my life. They enhanced my quality of life each in their own way. There is no great mystery to them. They are wonderful in their simplicity and that’s what makes them quite powerful. I invite you to try them out and to let me know what they did for you. (I would love to get your stories here on the blog!!)

1. Strip the word perfection from your dictionary! It is a myth and does not exist. Stop looking for it in yourself and in others. Instead always do the best you can at the time. That is always good enough!

2. Target your energy carefully. If you find yourself warding off unwanted things or people at regular intervals then you are wasting energy. Drop the unwanted things from your life as much as possible. Spend your energy on things you like and you will have more of it!

3. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. This well known serenity prayer works in every day life. Accept everything for what it is. By lowering the resistance to events you open yourself to opportunities to change the outcome!

4. Remember the saying, be grateful for small blessings. By being grateful for everything that’s good we create free space for more good things. Write down what you are grateful for in a book or diary. Thinking of all the things we are grateful for will make us more thankful to others!

5. Whenever possible make time for outdoors nature exploration. Do it running or walking, or sitting on a bench by the canal or near a river or in a forest or in your back garden. Listen to the purity of nature and look at its potential for regeneration. It puts a smile on my face every time!! Allow nature’s power to rub of on you!

There you go, didn’t I tell you they were simple! Go on and enjoy trying these out, I know they will work for you. Oh and please send me your stories!

Have a great day

Patrick Mercie – 4ward 2 Success – 25-11-2008

Change regret to achievement!

Regrets, yes I have had a few! But then again ….

I’ve turned them into opportunities for success and achievement!

I keep listening to regrets uttered to me by my friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues and social buddies. ‘I wish I had gone travelling when I was younger, but it’s too late now I have kids’. ‘I wish I had taken the last redundancy and set up my own business but with the recession now there is no point’. ‘I wish I had given up smoking years ago but I am in a stressful place right now so I can’t add that to it’.

Take some time right now and think of some regrets you may have. When you have done so, think of what they represent. Events from the past. You can not change the past. So accept them exactly as that, events from the past you cannot change.  Does it benefit you to fret over them? Do you gain from mulling them over?

Then imagine what it would mean if you accepted them as intuitive hints. Hints that tell you exactly what it is you really want. Then think what it would feel like to change that regret into something real. What would it feel like to take that trip, quit smoking, run your own business or whatever it is you always wanted to do? What would it feel like to achieve that? Now capture that feeling and hold on to that. That feeling will tell you when you are doing something that is right for you.

Now pick the one regret you feel you most would like to do something about. Where are you now compared to it? What is you current state? Be honest and don’t blame yourself, it’s ok to be where you are right now; there is no benefit in blame.

Then picture what you want to change. What do you ultimately want to achieve? What would make you recapture that feeling you had a few moments ago? That’s your goal right there. Write it down. That’s your next achievement right there in front of you. That’s what’s going to make you feel so full of energy and happiness. That’s what is going to make your life that much better.

Now you know what it is you want to achieve the next step is to plan it. How are you going to get there? What do you need to do to achieve this? You may have this worked out in your head. If so write it down. Step by step and with dates attached to it. Down to 15 cigs by the 1^st of January, down to 10 by the 15^th of January, Patches from the 1^st of February; you get the drift.

If you don’t know how to apply this to your goal don’t panic. There are many ways to get an idea of how to get there. Think of someone you know who has achieved this and ask them for help. The majority of them will be delighted to help you as it validates their efforts at the same time.

Search the internet or ask in your local library. Ask a professional. Ask your best friend for assistance, or your family. It’s not only ok to ask for help, it also allows you to tell someone you trust what you are about to undertake. If you need support or things are going a bit pear shaped during your journey, they will form your support system, the shoulders to rely upon.

Once you have the action plan together there is one more thing to think of. What could stop you in your tracks? What stress at work can make you smoke again? Could an injury stop your exercise regime? Could something you overhear stop you from asking him/her out on that date?

Thinking of this in advance may not be pleasant right now but it will give you the opportunity to prepare for it, both mentally and physically (by going to the GP and Physio for a check up to prevent that injury for example).

You are finally there. Putting the action plan in motion. Walking your talk, proud as a peacock. Congratulations!! Please allow me from experience to give some pieces of advice before I let you off on your journey to success.

Celebrate each step as a small success and reward yourself regularly. The journey is an integral part of the achievement.

You will make mistakes or have lesser days. Learn from your mistakes instead of dwelling on them. Take remedial actions with immediate effect to stop reoccurrence. These mistakes will help you towards your achievement.

Enjoy the journey!! You will look back on it with much more intensity afterwards and it will spur you to tackle regret number 2 on your list with enthusiasm.

Now go on and SUCCEED! YOU DESERVE IT!!

©Patrick Mercie – 4ward 2 Success – 11/11/2008

I wanted to start this blog with one of my early articles I wrote over a year ago in my early newsletters. Enjoy!

10 Tips for successful change

Often I hear clients, friends or relatives make similar statements. ‘I want to change career but I can’t afford to financially’. ‘I always wanted to do this but it’s too late now’. ‘I would love to but I am never going to make it as a …. (fill in at will)’. ‘What if it doesn’t work? I will look like a fool’.

Most people become aware at regular intervals of things they want to change about themselves or of the fact that there is something not quite right in certain aspects of their lives. At the same time they also find 100 times more reasons not to do anything about it. And often these reasons are ruled by fear. Fear of failure or even more often fear of success. In this short article I will attempt to give you a few tips on how to try and educate the fear out of yourself and let the change molecules take over. And if you want unconditional, non-judgmental, there-for-you-throughout, motivational support during this change process then be sure to contact your life coach.

1. Write everything down and review regularly. When trying any of the steps below writing the results down materialises them. It also lends to regular review. Keep your records somewhere easy to find and check them regularly. It doubles as a motivator. Stick them on your fridge, make them your screensaver, and put them on your desk. Whatever works for YOU.

2. Find out who you are. What do you value? What is right for you? What is important to you right now? Make a list of what it is that makes you tick and put in order of priority.

3. Find out what it is you want and write it down. Ask yourself questions such as: ‘If I could choose something I want and was sure of getting it, what would I pick first?’, ‘If I won one million euro tax free but had to keep on working what job would I take?’, ‘When hearing about someone else’s success/achievements I thought WOW I would love to do that’.

4. Check your goal or desire against your values list. Make sure these are in congruence with each other. If they are compatible there is every reason for you to succeed.

5. Share your goal or desire only with supportive people. You know who they are. Take note of how it feels to share that dream rather than concentrating on their reaction to it.

6. Find out who has done it before and talk to them. You will find people who have succeeded in what you want to do more than willing to share their experience with you.

7. Write down what you think might stop you from getting what you want. Then eliminate them one by one by working around them.

8. Create a detailed action plan with all steps necessary to reach your goal, desire. Use small steps in your plan and see each as an achievement, a success. Treat yourself with each success. Change is as much about the journey as the result. Plus it acts as a great motivator.

9. Write down all the resources you need to achieve your goal, desire. They include people, skills, assets and/or tools. If they are not in place write down what you need to do to acquire them.

10. Make sure you review all of the above regularly to keep ‘on track’, to make adjustments or to motivate yourself.

Go and enjoy the journey of change, even when it seems hard and when you fall down and need to get back up. You are learning more from temporary failure than from doing nothing at all. It makes the journey more meaningful and the rewards even sweeter.

If you don’t change, you stop moving. And in this world when you stop moving, you go backwards. Be bold, reach out to the unknown, the rewards will be spectacular!!

‘He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.’ Muhammad Ali

©Patrick Mercie 11/06/2007 – 4wards 2 success coaching & training

00 353 83 3008963