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.

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

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