Career Planning and the Younger Set

I had an opportunity last week to help conduct a workshop for 50 Girl Scouts, ages 12 – 16, on Career Discovery. One of the exercises we did was called “Reach for the Stars” where they wrote their career ideas on cut-out stars, then taped them to a large black paper on the wall representing the sky. It was such a delight to see some of their ideas, which covered a broad range of things such as animal care, medicine, teaching, interior design, working to eliminate poverty, journalism, professional sports, and business owner – to name a few! The “sky” was so beautifully filled with their stars, the staff decided to hang this work of art in the office reception area to share with others.

We followed up that exercise with discussing Networking – where they could go to gather more information about a career choice; then with Goal Setting and Action Planning to create a detailed path. It was enlightening to see so many girls who were already intent and serious about their plans after high school, and who really took these tools to heart.

Prior to any of this, though, was the most important step – defining oneself through traits and characteristics, strengths, favorite school subjects, most productive time of day, etc. The message was that by “shining a light on themselves” and being confident in their findings, they then can better match a career and its details to themselves, rather than accepting without question whatever job or career path seems easiest or falls into their laps.

Feel free to share some of these steps with a young person in your life – first defining themselves, then listing appealing careers and where to find out more information, then setting goals and action steps and applying them to a timeline. This method is based upon what I use to assist my adult clients in their career transitions.

The final exercise the girls did that day was to write positive affirmations and encouraging statements for themselves and other girls who are deciding upon careers. Many had a common thread – “Be yourself and you can do anything”. What inspiration and motivation for those of us who’ve been frustrated by the work world and our career choices!
Wise words from the younger set.

The Power of a Positive Thought

One of Dr. Christiane Northrup’s “6 Ways to Have More Energy”, an article in October 8th's Parade magazine, reminded me of an area we can all benefit from and apply to our work lives. She says “Look for the positive”.

Dr. Northrup reminds us that our positive thoughts – those of optimism, gratefulness, and love, cause those “feel good” neurotransmitters called endorphins. These are the same beneficial chemicals you may have heard of as a benefit to exercising and meditating. Research shows that positive thoughts not only add to energy levels but also improve health and longevity. When people train themselves to feel love and gratitude regularly, their blood pressure normalizes, heart function stabilizes and they have more energy.

So how to apply this to your workday? Obviously, an optimistic person is a happier, healthier person, as noted above. We spend sometimes ridiculous amounts of time working at stress producing jobs, so looking for the good and being grateful for what’s going well at work is critical. Focus on your strengths, the customers and co-workers you enjoy, and your most rewarding activities - acknowledge and be grateful for them. Surround yourself with positive people. Refer to your list of Accomplishments and remember what you’ve achieved and be grateful and happy about them. Continue to do this as you go through your work week, training yourself to look at challenges differently. Eventually, optimism and energy take over and your outlook on work is better. Perspective returns and you know exactly what to do to continue feeling this new refreshing way.

This has and continues to work for me, for people I know, and it can work for you. Take one negative thing about your work, find the positive and focus on that for a change.

Back in 1952, Norman Vincent Peale wrote a best-selling book called The Power of Positive Thinking, subtitled “A Practical Guide to Mastering the Problems of Everyday Living”. In the 1940’s, Philosopher Ernest Holmes wrote “change your thinking, change your life”. Once again we’re reminded that the solution to living a fulfilling, joyful life, personally and at work, is right between our ears.