Are you waiting too long to take the steps that will shape your future and bring more satisfaction to your career life? As a career coach, when people come in for the first time I often hear the phrase, “I have been thinking of this for months – even years.” I recognize that decisions that involve our career, leadership or personal goals need time to take shape, be considered and analyzed before being acted upon. However, in my experience, I…
You may be thinking: “Spirals? What do spirals have to do with business and life?” Quite a bit actually. We have come to think in terms of spirals. It’s a simple image to help our clients think about the decisions they are making and whether they are fostering growth and evolution or whether they are problematic. Remember, as humans we are either evolving (growing) or we are devolving (getting smaller). Think about it for a moment, stability only…
We have recently been reading the book “The WAR of ART: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles“ by Steven Pressfield. We have heard a range of reactions to this book but what spoke to us the most was his exploration of “resistance,” and why most of us struggle to bring our most cherished gifts to life. Pressfield describes the power of resistance to derail our efforts and the increasing power resistance commands when those efforts are…
In the past few years, we have been asked this question by CEO’s, VP’s, Board members, managers, various clients in a wide-range of roles and also clients wondering about how to give input to a partner, child or friend. Offering one’s wisdom is a bit of an art. Most of us have had the experience of someone offering us his or her wisdom and doing so as if it’s The Truth. They are certain of what they know and confident…
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been discussing the challenges of staying focused on your purpose and vision, taking action on your priorities, and keeping what matters to you more central to your decisions. Two weeks ago we gave you tips for getting control over the demands that email makes on your time and energy, and last week we discussed how often people say “yes” to a commitment before thinking through the implications of that yes. Both of…
Last week, we focused on changing your relationship with your email so that you are not at the mercy of your Inbox to set your agenda for the day. Today, we want to focus on another area that can challenge your ability to focus on the things that truly matter to you – your commitments to others. Knowing your priorities and spending time on those things that matter to you are important for your health, your energy, your investment…
Whether you are working on your Purpose and Vision or you are working on creating a rich and balanced life, one of the most challenging things clients struggle with in their email inbox. Research suggests that most people open their email in the morning and let the contents set their agenda for at least the next hour and often the whole day. We see that in our lives and we suspect you see it in yours. Moving forward on…
As many of you know, we have asked you to spend time the past few weeks articulating what you believe your Purpose is in this life, and given that Purpose what your Vision is for how your life will look in 3 – 5 years. Then we asked you to identify the 5 – 7 major Obstacles to living your Vision right now so that you could consider some initial Action Steps to getting around those Obstacles and live closer…
If you have taken the time to articulate your Purpose, create your Vision Statements, identify the 5 – 7 major Obstacles to living your vision and identified some first Action Steps to get around the obstacles and a move toward living your vision – congratulations! We are really impressed with your commitment to creating a life that is good for you! If you haven’t completed all of these steps, we hope you will look back through each of the…
We hope that you have taken the time to articulate your Purpose, create your Vision Statements, and identify the 5 – 7 major Obstacles to living your vision. If not, take a few minutes to read the past 3 posts and just make some notes. Doing this work does not have to be a big, heavy, time-consuming process. It can be a simple process where you just play with the ideas that come to you as you read what we…
We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with leaders, teams, and individuals who are passionate about growing in their leadership and in their ability to create cultures of psychological safety and engagement.
Carpenter Smith Consulting is a Women Business Enterprise, Oregon Cert ID 7047.
