Last Sunday’s New York Times Jobs section had an interesting article that echoes the career advice in Tweet 7 in my latest career success book Success Tweets – “Figure out what you really want to do.  Work you love will make it easier to create the life and career success you want and deserve.”

Katherine Rinne, the author is an Independent Scholar.  I bet you didn’t know such a career existed, did you?  I didn’t until I read the piece.  Katherine begins by saying…

“In 1992, I quit my teaching job at the University of Arkansas, put everything into storage, cashed out y life savings, and moved to Rome to begin the first phase of research for a project that has become my life’s work.  My money ran out nine months later, but by then the project had begun to take on a life of its own, and I had become an independent scholar…

“Why did I take this career turn?  I felt an urgency about my project, and knew that as a full time faculty member I wouldn’t have the time to focus on it until I was eligible for tenure in the distant future…

“So now I have become a member of an itinerant tribe in pursuit of ideas, knowledge and a place to write and do research.  We are motivated and often well educated, and most of us work far longer than 40 hour weeks…We have chosen to forgo financial security for the freedoms to pursue work we love.”

How cool is that?  I’m not saying that you should drop everything and become an independent scholar.  Most people aren’t suited for that lifestyle.  But Katherine Rinne and her colleagues are living examples of the career advice in Tweet 7 in Success Tweets – “Figure out what you really want to do.  Work you love will make it easier to create the life and career success you want and deserve.”

Katherine may not be wealthy, but she is rich.  Her story reminds me of something I learned from Michelle Schubnel, a coach to coaches.  She runs a program called Coach and Grow R.I.C.H.  Her R.I.C.H. acronym applies here:

R   Rewarded
I    Inspired
C   Confident
H   Happy

I think this is a great way to think about career success, making money and being useful in this world.  You are rich when you are: a) rewarded for your contributions; b) inspired by what you do; c) confident as a professional; and d) happy with the way you spend your time.  Let’s talk about each of these.

Rewarded — We all deserve to be appropriately compensated for the work we do and the value we bring to others.  This means that you shouldn’t feel bad about making money, only that making money shouldn’t be your sole goal in life.  Some might say that the current financial crisis is the result of some people who valued making money at the expense of others.  Do your job, get good at it and the money will follow.  Katherine Rinne says she isn’t wealthy, but she is rich becasue she loves what she does.

Inspired – You can find inspiration in the work you do every day.  If you’re an independent scholar like Katherine, you are inspired by unlocking the history of urban development in Rome.  If you’re a pharmaceutical sales rep, you can be inspired by the fact that you’re helping doctors understand how the medicines your company makes can save lives.  My dad was a steel worker for 37 years.  He found inspiration in the buildings and bridges he helped build.  I find inspiration every time someone leaves a comment on this blog or tells me that one of my tweets made a difference in their quest for life and career success. 

Confident – Doing something you love, doing it well and being useful in this world will build your confidence.   Your confidence grows as your skill level grows and you begin to make bigger contributions at work and in the world.  A world of confident people would be a wonderful place to live.  Confident people see the world from a win-win perspective. 

Happy – When are you happiest?  I’m willing to bet it’s when you accomplish something – or help someone else accomplish something – not when you get your pay check.  When you do something you love everyday you can’t help but be happy.  Katherine is happiest when she makes a discovery that contributes to our knowledge of ancient Rome.  I am happiest when I finish a book.  Writing a book takes a lot of time and effort.  And, I’m a perfectionist.  I want to make sure my books are the best I can make them, so I put in a lot of time and effort making sure they’re just right.  And, you know what?  I’m really happy when I first hold a copy of one of my books in my hand.  At that moment, I know the work was worth it.  I’m happy when I help others succeed too.  I love the moments when I can see the light go on in one of my career success coach client’s eyes.  I love it when I help other people get it.

I saw a young woman wearing a T shirt the other day that made a profound point.  On the front it said, “Wealth is not the opposite of poverty.”   On the back it said, “Enough is the opposite of poverty.”   Successful people know what “enough” is for them and their family.  They are happy with enough.  They pursue a life and career that fulfills them.  They know that being rich is more than having a lot of money.

If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that my mom passed away a little over two years ago.  She was one for schmaltzy cards.  I’m not.  But several years ago, she sent me a card on my birthday.  I cut out the message and taped it to my printer.  I look at it several times a day…

“That man is a success who is happy with himself and gives happiness to others; who makes the world a better place simply by being a part of it.” 

My mother believed this about me.  I do my best to live up to it every day.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people create rich career for themselves.  They follow the career advice in Tweet 7 in Success Tweets.  “Figure out what you really want to do.  Work you love will make it easier to create the life and career success you want and deserve.”  Successful people know that being rich doesn’t mean you have tons and tons of money.  They know that being rich means that you are: Rewarded for your contributions; Inspired by what you do; Confident in your skills, and Happy with the way you spend your days.  They become rich by following their passion in life.

That’s the career advice I found in Katherine Rinne’s story about being an independent scholar.  What’s your take on this?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my musings on life and career success.  I value you and your feedback.

Bud

I enjoy helping people create the life and career success they want and deserve.

Every once in a while, I come across something that really reinforces why I am a career success coach, why I blog, and why I write books.  On Sunday, I received the email, I have cut and pasted below…

Dear Mr. Bilanich:

I am a participant of the International ThinkQuest Competition organized by the Oracle Education Foundation (USA). This competition challenges students all over the world to solve a real-world problem with practical solutions.

The topic of my team’s project is ‘Cracking the Career Code- What is Your Calling?’ With this project, we hope to make the all important decision of career choice easier for high school students.

To make our website more well-rounded, we would like to interview an experienced career development expert such as yourself. Would you be willing to answer a few questions we have through e-mail?

Awaiting a positive response,

Muhammad
Former ThinkQuest Winner
Student of Generation’s School, Karachi, Pakistan 

I live in Denver CO USA and I received an email from a student in a school in Karachi Pakistan asking for my career success advice for a global competition that is sponsored by a US company.  How cool is that?

Were it not for the internet, Muhammad would never have known about me and my career success coach services.  But because I blog — and Google — he not only knows of me, he thinks highly enough of my thinking to ask me to assist him with his project for the international competition.

After I responded to Muhammad, he sent me a list of eight questions he wants me to answer.  I’ll be doing that later today.

Tweet 4 in my latest career advice book Success Tweets says, “The mightier your purpose, the more likely you are to succeed.”  My purpose is helping others create the life and career success they want and deserve.  I think it’s mighty.  Helping others is always a mighty purpose. 

Muhammad’s email reinforces my purpose and it leads me to some thoughts on clarifying the purpose and direction for your life and career success. 

Your clarity of purpose should be so big, so mighty, so important to you, that it is deeply ingrained in your psyche.  It has to be part of who you are.  Second, you have to live your clarity of purpose 24/7/365.  This takes commitment; commitment to determining your life’s purpose, and commitment to living it.

If you were to wake me at 3:00 in the morning, shine a light in my face and ask me for my life’s purpose, I would say, “Helping people create the life and career success they deserve.”  It’s that much a part of me.  My elevator speech begins, “Hi, I’m Bud Bilanich, the Common Sense Guy; I help people create their life and career success by applying their common sense.”

For me, this is a mighty purpose.  I’m helping other people find career success — and fulfillment in their lives.  That’s important work in my book.  I take immense satisfaction out of seeing others learn, grow and succeed.  In another life I might have been a teacher or athletic coach.  In this life, I help people create the life and career success they want and deserve.

There is an old saying that goes something like his…

“The problem is not in setting your goal too high and not reaching it.  The problem is setting your goal too low and achieving it.” 

I can’t remember the exact quote or the attribution.  I’ll send a signed copy of Success Tweets to the first person who leaves a comment telling us the exact quote and the attribution.  Please respond by leaving a comment, not by sending me an email.  I want the answer to be visible to everyone who reads this blog.

What is your purpose?  Is it mighty?  I hope so.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people think big.  They ground themselves in a mighty purpose.  Tweet 4 in Success Tweets says, “The mightier your purpose, the more likely you are to succeed.”  Take this advice to heart.  Ground yourself with a mighty purpose.  It’s better to aim to high and fall a little short than it is to aim too low and reach your goal.  Or, as Mario Andretti once said, “If you’re in complete control, you’re probably not going fast enough.”  Think about it.

I hope you enjoyed this little story about why I do what I do.  Why do you do what you do?  Is it a mighty purpose for you?  I hope so.  Please take a minute to leave a comment sharing your purpose with us and why it’s mighty for you.  As always, thanks for taking the time to read my career success musings.

 Bud

I have another guest post for this career advice blog today. It comes from Jane Perdue, a leadership consultant.  Check out Jane’s thoughts on her blog http://www.lifeloveleadership.blogspot.com.

The very first tweet in my latest career success book, Success Tweets says, “Define exactly what life and career success mean to you.  It’s easier to hit a clear unambiguous target.  Jane agrees.  Here is her career advice on this subject…

How Do You Define Success?

The article title “Are you willing to pay the price for success?” did its job. I began reading. By the end of the second paragraph I knew this article was something aimed at “first act” me – that ambitious woman who was all too willing to pay the price the author offered up as requirements for success: long hours, the Blackberry grafted to my palm, living out of suitcases, singing the corporate song and perpetually doing more with less.

“Second act” me would love to introduce the article writer to Marilyn, a client who says “I’ve lost my way and don’t know what to do.” (Hey, I’d like to chat with him, too.) Marilyn, like so many others (including me!), enthusiastically anteed up the big blind for corporate success, and paid it over and over again for 20 years.

Marilyn achieved the success she sought – the coveted senior vice president role for a large multi-national firm. Now, after two years in her long sought treasure, she questions not so much the price (that was clear from the beginning) but rather the success — all that for this: even longer hours, more travel, a single-minded business focus on the bottom line and the stock price, and greater pressure to do more with less. As Marilyn described it, it was just more of the same only on a bigger scale.

“There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.” — Christopher Morley

What the article author and Marilyn did was define the price. Neither defined success.

• Is success the corporate corner office, the lofty salary, the grand job title?
• Is success feeling contentment, knowing that you’ve made a difference?
• Is success public acclaim or being a celebrity?
• Is success being able to work from home wearing your sweats and no mascara and/or not shaving?
• Is success writing that anonymous six-figure check to your favorite charity?
• Or is it something totally different? Even a combination of the above?

“Every human has four endowments – 1) self-awareness, 2) conscience, 3) independent will and 4) creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom: the power to choose, to respond, and to change.” — Dr. Stephen Covey

Whether we define and measure success by or with things or outcomes or feelings, the choice is ours.

The key for fulfillment comes with knowing what our personal success target is.  So when we claim our prize, we’re getting what we truly wanted!

What’s your definition of success?

I like what Jane has to say.  It’s common sense career advice.  To be truly successful, you have to define exactly what life and career success mean to you.  And, you need to make sure that your definition of your career success is yours and yours alone. 

Tweet 6 in Success Tweets says, “Make sure that your personal mission and vision are what you want – not what someone else wants for you.”  Unhappy doctors and lawyers who are following their parent’s dreams for them are almost a cliché.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Truly successful people define what life and career success mean to them personally.  They look deep inside themselves to discover their purpose and direction in life.  They listen to, even solicit, advice from people they respect and trust.  But when it comes to defining their own career success they are “the decider” — as George W. Bush used to call himself.  It’s your life and your career.  You have to live it.  That’s why you have to define your career success based on what’s right for you – not what other people think is right for you.  Other people, particularly those close to you, have your best interests at heart.  That’s why you should listen to what they have to say; but you need to make the final decision on your personal definition of career success  by yourself.  That’s the first step in taking personal responsibility for your life and career success.

That’s my perspective on what Jane Perdue has to say about career success.  What’s yours?  I’d appreciate it if you would share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading.  I really appreciate you taking the time to read my musings on life and career success.

Bud

They played the Super Bowl yesterday.  The Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 31 – 25.  This killed me because I grew up in Pittsburgh and am a huge Steelers fan.  Oh well, maybe next year.

There is a lot of career advice to be found in a championship sporting event like the Super Bowl: focus, determination, hard work, commitment, attention to detail.  World class athletes demonstrate all of these career success characteristics.

In this post, I want to focus on an important, but often overlooked, piece of career advice that can be found in the stories surrounding yesterday’s game – the importance of clarifying your purpose and direction for your life and career success.  Tweet 3 in my latest career advice book Success Tweets says, “Think of your purpose as your personal mission; why you are on this earth.”  Tweet 4 says, “The mightier your purpose, the more likely you are to succeed.”

Mike McCarthy is the Head Coach Green Bay of the Green Bay Packers.  In one of the little ironies you find in sports, he is a Pittsburgh native.  He grew up as a big Steelers fan.  Early on, Mike realized that his purpose in life – his personal mission — was to be a football coach.  And for him, this was a mighty purpose.

Mike McCarthy’s purpose of becoming a football coach was so powerful that he took an unpaid job at the University of Pittsburgh as an assistant coach.  He worked all night as a toll taker on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to pay the bills.  He quickly became a paid assistant coach at Pitt and then moved on to a series of assistant coaching positions in professional football before becoming the Green Bay Head Coach.  Yesterday he coached his team to a victory in the Super Bowl.  Mike McCarthy’s mighty purpose has taken him to the pinnacle of his profession.

As a career success coach, I’m here to help other people succeed in creating the life and career success they want and deserve.  I think this is a pretty mighty purpose for my life.  I may help someone who someday may become President, or a Supreme Court Justice, or find a cure for cancer, or just be a loving and caring parent.  This purpose anchors me.  It keeps me going when I get frustrated, or when I feel like quitting, or when I start to feel that it’s OK to be “good enough,” not great.

I define the word “purpose” as follows…

• Your reason for existing. 
• Your mission in life.
• Your passion.
• Why you are on this earth.

This isn’t always easy to discover. 

If you’re young and still trying to figure out your purpose, don’t worry.  It takes time.  That’s why I always tell people to be open to new ideas and thoughts, as you never know what you might pick up.

If you told me when I was in high school that my purpose mission would be to help others create their life and career success, I would have laughed.  It took several courses in college and a year of service as a VISTA Volunteer for me to figure it out.  That’s when I began my career in the human development field.

Your purpose needs to come from deep inside you.  It is unlikely to change over the long run.  I’ve had lots of different jobs in lots of companies and have been self employed for over 20 years. 

Through all the changes, one thing has remained constant – my desire and passion for helping others create the life and career success they deserve.  In my heart of hearts, I know that I am on this earth to help others navigate the ambiguities of life in order to reach their goals and create their career success.

Here is my purpose…

To help others achieve the life and career success that they want and deserve by applying their common sense.

It hasn’t changed since I was 23 years old.  This purpose reflects who I am and why I get up every morning – even on mornings after my team has lost the Super Bowl.  It’s what’s right for me. 

What’s right for you?  What is your passion?  What is your reason for living?  Why you are on this earth?  What is your purpose?

You have to begin your career success journey by clarifying your purpose in life.  Why are you on this earth?  What are you meant to do?  I believe that the more mighty your purpose, the more you are likely to succeed.  A mighty purpose gives you that strong foundation.
 
Brad Swift of the Life On Purpose Institute (www.lifeonpurpose.com), makes a great point about clarity of purpose…

“Taking a bold stand for living on purpose starts by knowing your purpose with crystal clarity — knowing it so well that if someone woke you up at 3:00 in the morning and asked you what your life purpose is, you’d be able to tell them.  And if someone who knew you well heard what you said, they’d realize that your life was a true, authentic reflection of that purpose.”

There are two common sense piece of career advice on which I want to focus here.  First, your purpose should be so big, so mighty, so important to you, that it is deeply ingrained in your psyche.  It has to be part of who you are.  Second, you have to live your purpose 24/7/365.  This takes commitment; commitment to determining your life’s purpose, and commitment to living it.

If you were to wake me at 3:00 in the morning, shine a light in my face and ask me for my life’s purpose, I’m sure I would say, “Helping people create their life and career success.”  It’s that much a part of me.  My elevator speech begins, “Hi, I’m Bud Bilanich, the Common Sense Guy; I help people create their life and career success applying their common sense.”

For me, this is a mighty purpose.  I’m helping other people create their life and career success – and fulfillment in their lives.  That’s important work in my book.  I take immense satisfaction out of seeing others learn, grow and succeed.  In another life I might have been a teacher or athletic coach.  In this life, I help people create the life and career success that they want and deserve.

If you woke Mike McCarthy am 3:00 am and asked him his purpose, I bet he would tell you, “being a football coach.”  This purpose is so mighty for him that he began his coaching career as an unpaid coach, learning the ropes while taking tolls on the graveyard shift to make ends meet.

Is your life purpose mighty?  I hope so.

The common sense career success coach point of here is simple.  Successful people ground themselves in a mighty purpose.  Tweet 3 in Success Tweets says, “Think of your purpose as your personal mission; why you are on this earth.” Tweet 4 says, “The mightier your purpose, the more likely you are to succeed.  It will give you a strong foundation when the winds of change shift.”  Take this advice to heart.  Ground yourself with a mighty purpose — and live it every day.  As the old saying goes, “It’s better to aim to high and fall a little short than it is to aim too low and reach your goal.”  Or, as Mario Andretti once said, “If you’re in complete control, you’re probably not going fast enough.”  I’m sure there were plenty of times during his run to becoming a Super Bowl winning coach when Mike McCarthy felt a little out of control.  But in the end, he and his team triumphed.  His mighty purpose saw him through.  Here’s a tip of my hat from one Pittsburgh guy to another Mike.  Enjoy your victory.  You’ve earned it.

That’s my career advice on finding a mighty purpose to help you create the life and career success you want and deserve.  What do you think?  Please take a few minutes to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading my musings on life and career success.

Bud

Last year I wrote a career success book called Success Tweets.  Billie Sucher and I followed up that book with another career advice book called Success Tweets for Finding a Job and Excelling in It.  Now, two of my friends, Bobbi Benson and Joseph Bernard have created their own tweets book, called Peace Tweets.  I’m proud to say that I contributed nine tweets to Peace Tweets.  Mary Casey, Chris Guillebeau and Ani Bell also contributed to Peace Tweets.

Peace Tweets is 140 bits of intention and inspiration for peace.  It also contains some great life and career success advice.  I believe that finding peace within yourself and spreading it to those around you will not only facilitate your career success, it will create a more harmonious world – one in which all of us can experience the life and career success we deserve.

Here are a few of my favorite tweets from Peace Tweets.

By Bobbi Benson…

Finding peace is an inside job.  Spend some quiet time away from the clutter of life just being in the moment.

Engage in dialogue that accepts diversity, welcomes differences and connects hearts.

Be of service to each other.  This will open your heart and create room for inner peace.

Moment by moment be grateful and find the blessings in your life.

Be bold, be courageous as you dream what the world can be.  Dream a big dream then begin to live that dream.

Peace begins with a smile.  When you greet someone smile.

Giving in to your anger is easy.  Forgiveness takes courage.  Love takes openness.  Peace takes forgiveness and love.

Recognize our need for harmony.  Practice cooperation and compromise.

Only a genuine feeling of empathy for others can really motivate us to act on their behalf.

Don’t give in.  don’t give up.  Don’t stop.  Just go on.  Peace will prevail.

By Joseph Bernard…

Your emotions are often very energizing.  By turning towards them you will soon move into more calming waters.

Feel what you feel, let go of what needs to be released and then bask in peace.

The busy mind is noisy.  Slow it down by being mindful without judging.  As judgment drops away so will the feelings of disharmony.

Find peace today by shrinking your inner critic.  Instead have positive and supportive self talk.

Always pay close attention to your intuition and act accordingly.  You will know peace in so many ways.

Express yourself creatively as a way to find joy, aliveness, passion and peace.

Go for quiet and relaxing walks.  Walking meditation is even more peaceful.

Have friends that really listen.  Be a friend and listen too.

Finish unfinished stuff that is bothering you.  Leave the past where it belongs.

Notice where fear runs you and change your thinking towards love.  Love always trumps fear.

By Mary Casey…

If you are afraid of the consequence, you cannot be at peace in your heart.

A warrior appreciates the defeats as well as the victories.

Your intentions + Your actions = Your results.

By Chris Guillebeau…

There is almost always more than one way to accomplish something.

You can do good things for yourself and help other people at the same time.

If you don’t decide for yourself what you want to get out of life, someone else will probably end up deciding for you.

By Ani Bell…

Gently and powerfully tell the truth about what you deeply, authentically want.  To yourself.  In the mirror.  Now.

You get what you expect.  So expect the best!  Expect things to go well for you.  They will.  Expect to live a charmed life.  You will.

What is going right in you life?  Focus thought energy there, and soon more things will begin to go right.

And by me…

Know and accept yourself to find inner peace. Know and accept others to find peace in this world. 

Inner peace means being mentally and spiritually aligned with your circumstances.  It’s being strong in the face of discord or stress.

When you’re at peace with yourself and the world you’re in a great place to build the life and career success you want and deserve.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  When you are at peace – with yourself and the world – you are more likely to create the life and career success you want and deserve.  Peace Tweets by Bobbi Benson and Joseph Bernard is a great resource for starting to create the inner peace that will lead to your career success.  I hope the career advice in the tweets I’ve highlighted above have whet your appetite for more Peace Tweets.  As I’ve said in one of my tweets in Peace Tweets…

When you’re at peace with yourself and the world you’re in a great place to build the life and career success you want and deserve.

That’s my take on the career advice and wisdom in Peace Tweets.  I’m interested in what you think.  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for taking the time to read my musings on life and career success.

Bud

I saw a movie about life and career successs, “The Company Men,” with Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper and Kevin Costner last night.  It tells the story of three well paid executives who lose their jobs due to the economic downturn. 

As I watched, I was reminded of the career advice I often give my career success coach clients about how to get to the top of the promotion list and stay off the layoff list.  I thought I would share that career advice here.  You can find a more complete discussion of these ideas in my latest career advice book Success Tweets.

Common Sense Ideas on How to Get to the Top of the Promotion List and Stay off the Layoff List

Clarify the purpose and direction for your life and career.

• Define your personal definition of career success.
• Create a vivid mental image of yourself as a career success.
• Clarify your personal values; always act in a manner consistent with them.

Commit to your career success.

• Take personal responsibility for achieving your career success.
• Set high goals; do whatever it takes to achieve them.
• Stuff happens on the road to career success. Choose to respond positively to whatever happens.

Build your self confidence.

• Choose optimism. 
• Face your fears and act.
• Surround yourself with positive people.
• Find a mentor to help you create your career success.
• Mentor others.

Create positive personal impact.

• Build your unique personal brand.
• Be impeccable in your presentation of self – in person and on line.
• Know and follow the basic rules of business etiquette.

Perform in an outstanding manner.

• Master your technical discipline.
• Become a lifelong learner.
• Manage your time, life and stress well. 
• Live a healthy lifestyle.

Become a dynamic communicator.

• Develop your conversation skills.
• Develop your writing skills. 
• Develop your presentation skills.

Build strong, lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.

• Get to know yourself.  Use this self knowledge to better understand others. 
• Pay it forward.  Give with no expectation of return. 
• Use conflict as an opportunity to strengthen, not destroy, your relationships.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Getting to the top of the promotion list and staying off the layoff list involves applying some common sense principles in how you approach your work every day.  I can’t guarantee that if you master all of these principles you won’t get caught in a sweeping downsizing or reorganization.  However, if you develop and apply the skills related to these common sense career success  principles you will be likely to create the life and career success you want and deserve.  You can learn more about each of these ideas in my latest career success book, Success Tweets.

That’s my career advice on how to get to the top of the promotion list and stay off the layoff list.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment.  As always, thanks for reading this career advice.

Bud

I find inspiration for this career advice blog everywhere.  I was at Denver international Airport returning from a trip to Boston and New York last Friday night.  I was on the train going from my concourse to the terminal when a young mother got on with her five or six year old son.  She was wearing a cowboy hat.  He was in full cowboy get up – hat, western shirt, jeans, boots and spurs.

I said to the mom, “He looks like he’s ready to rodeo.”  She told me  they were going to the rodeo at the National Western Stock Show the next day.  The little guy knew we were speaking about him.  When he looked at me, I asked if he were excited about the rodeo.  He said “Yeah, I can’t wait until tomorrow.”

The train arrived at the terminal and we went our separate ways.  But I couldn’t help but thinking how there was some career advice in what the little guy said.  If you can’t wait to get to work every day, you’ll be on your way to creating the career success you deserve. 

A lot of people have it the other way around.  They can’t wait to finish work.  I call them the TGIF crowd.  I know a guy who began counting down the days to his retirement from 1,000 – that’s almost three years of waiting to finish work. 

If you do what you love, really love, you’re more likely to be the kind of person who can’t wait to get to work every day.  I often speak about this to my career success coach clients and in my career advice writings. 

Tweet 6 in my latest career advice book Success Tweets says, “Make sure that your personal mission and vision are what you want – not what someone else wants for you.”  Tweet 7 says, “Figure out what you really want to do.  Work you love will make it easier to create the life and career success you want and deserve.”

These two tweets are really important career advice.  They will help you create your career success.  Over the years, I have had way too many career success coach clients who felt as if they were trapped in careers that they didn’t really want nor choose.  That’s not a good way to build career success. 

If you want to become a career success, you have to be excited about going to work every day – just like the little boy who was excited about going to the rodeo.  To do this, you have to love what you do.  You have to be passionate about what you do.  This love and passion has to come from deep inside you.

This means that you need to choose the career you love – not what others want you to love.  Parents, friends and peers mean well when they try to steer you into a career they think is right for you.  But, parents, friends and peers are not you.  Only you know what’s best for you and your life and career success.

Many people apply to medical or law school because their parents want them to become a doctor or a lawyer.  However, after a year or two of school —  or worse yet — a year or two of practice as a doctor or a lawyer, some of these people figure out that they aren’t living their life purpose, they’re living the life their parents want for them.  And, they have a mountain of student loan debt. 

Many of these folks become angry and bitter.  They spend a lifetime going through the motions, never really developing that sense of happiness and career success that comes from doing what they love and what they choose to do. 

We all have to find our passion in life and pursue it.  I had a double major at Penn State, broadcast journalism and human development.  My senior year I had an internship at a television station in Scranton PA.  I did well in the internship.  As luck would have it, one of the reporters announced his plans to leave the station right about the time I was to graduate.  The News Director liked me and offered me a reporter job.  I was flattered and really tempted to take it.   This was a rare opportunity.  In those days, most people coming out of college had to spend a few years in radio news prior to moving to TV.  Yet, I was lucky enough to receive an offer at a TV station right out of school.

However, there was one small problem.  I had already committed to doing a year of service as a VISTA Volunteer.  I could have backed out of that commitment, but my personal ethics wouldn’t let me do so.  I turned down the TV news job.  The News Director and my Journalism advisor at Penn State did their best to convince me that this was a special opportunity and that there would be no guarantee that I would be able to secure a similar offer one year later.  They had my best interests in mind.  They wanted me to get off to a running start in the world of TV news. 

I chose to stick to my commitment of a year of service.  And I’m glad I did.  That year of service opened my eyes to possibilities for career success that I didn’t know existed.  After my year of service, I took a job that helped me identify my purpose in life – helping others create the life and career success they want and deserve. 

To paraphrase Tweet 6, I made sure that my personal mission and vision were what I wanted – not what my professor, boss, and parents for that matter – wanted for me.

These people where all well meaning.  My professor saw some promise in me as a journalist.  He liked my writing style.  He thought I would be a great TV news writer.  Besides that, he saw his students’ work in the broadcast journalism field as part of his legacy.  The News Director saw an opportunity to fill a vacancy with a proven commodity.  My parents thought a “real job”, as opposed to a year of service, was better for me. 

However, I had to decide.  And, in the end I made the correct decision for myself and my career success.  This all happened in 1972.  Today, almost 40 years later, I am like the little boy on the train at the airport.  I can’t wait to start work every day.  I love what I do.  This love has helped me become a career success.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people love what they do.  They can’t wait to get to work every day.  They are like this because they look deep inside themselves to discover their purpose and direction in life.  They listen to, even solicit, advice from people they respect and trust.  But when it comes to choosing their life’s work, they follow the advice in Tweets 6 and 7 in Success Tweets: “Make sure that your personal mission and vision are what you want – not what someone else wants for you;” and “Figure out what you really want to do.  Work you love will make it easier to create the life and career success you want and deserve.”

It’s your life and your career.  You have to live it.  That’s why you have to choose the career that’s right for you personally – not what other people think is right for you.  Other people, particularly those close to you, have your best interests at heart.  That’s why you should listen to what they have to say; but you need to make the final decision on your life’s work by yourself.  That’s the first step in taking personal responsibility for your life and career success, and in being fulfilled by your work.

That’s the career advice I have based on my interaction with a little boy who was excited about going to a rodeo.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading this career success blog.

Bud

Clarifying your purpose and direction in life is the first step in creating the life and career success you want and deserve.  Tweet 3 in my latest career advice book Success Tweets says, “Your direction is your vision for the next 3 to 5 years.” 

As you go through life and accomplish your goals, you will be likely to become interested in new things.

My friend Cliff Kimble is nearing retirement as a construction foreman.  And while he may no longer be overseeing the construction of light rail stations here in Denver, he is far from finished working.  Cliff is a born storyteller – one of the most gifted I know.  He is making plans for a second career as a storyteller.  He’s begun by writing a funny little book, full of stories about his love for the outdoors, Buford’s Tall Tales.  You can get a copy on Amazon.com.  If you like the outdoors, hunting and fishing – or just some humorous stories you need to get your copy.

But this post isn’t about Cliff’s book.  It’s about his passion for life and willingness to move on new things in his life and what Cliff’s story means for your career success. 

Tweet 5 in Success Tweets says, “Your vision should be a BHAG; a Big Hairy Audacious Goal.  Make it something that is really worth accomplishing.” 

Becoming a professional storyteller is a BHAG for Cliff.  So was writing a book.  That’s what is so cool here.  Cliff is setting the direction for the next phase of his life.  And, he’s chosen a pretty audacious goal. 

So what does this mean for you?  It means that you too should be bold and daring as you set the direction for the next three to five years of your life.  Don’t be constrained by convention; see yourself as an audacious career success three to five years in the future. 

That’s how you become a career success.

Your mindset makes all the difference when it comes to life and career success.  You need to be willing to commit to doing things differently.  As the saying goes, you need to be willing to give up what you are for what you can become. 

The first step in creating a BHAG to set your direction is to determine your goal for the time frame you choose.  I’ve created one year and five year goals for myself.  Cliff has set a two year goal for himself.

Your goal should be very focused.  It should be difficult to achieve – or it’s not a BHAG.  It should stretch you past your comfort zone.  It should be life changing.  It should build on the momentum you have going.  It should excite and stimulate you.  It should be something that is really worth accomplishing. 

Cliff’s goal of becoming a professional storyteller qualifies on all fronts.  It’s focused, and not a slam dunk.  When he achieves it, his life will change dramatically.  He’s created some great momentum by writing the book.  He’s excited – already planning more Tall Tales books.  And, the world needs more storytellers – people who can stimulate our minds and passions.  His goal is definitely worth accomplishing.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people clarify their purpose and direction in life.  Your purpose is your personal mission.  Your direction is your personal vision – what you will accomplish in the next three to five years.  And, as Tweet 5 in Success Tweets says, “Your vision should be a BHAG; a Big Hairy Audacious Goal.  Make it something that is really worth accomplishing.”  Your personal vision should be bold and daring, original, not restricted by your past way of thinking, highly inventive, unrestrained and uninhibited. 

In short – think big, think outside the box, think about what you can become, not what you are today.  Think of my friend Cliff Kimble who is going from being a construction foreman to a professional storyteller.  That’s thinking outside the box.

That’s my take on how to keep moving forward to your life and career success and on the career advice in Tweets 3 and 5 in Success Tweets.  What are your thoughts?  We’d love to hear them.  Please share them with us in a comment.  As always, you have my deepest thanks for reading.

Bud

As this career advice blog’s readership has grown, I get more and more requests from people who want to do a guest post.  Mark Davies is one such guy.  Mark writes about on line Masters Degree programs.  He understands the career success challenges young professionals face.  Here is a guest post he has written that provides life and career success advice for young professionals.  Enjoy…

Dos and Don’ts for Young Professionals’ Life and Career Success

It’s a process that we all go through – we start out with school, go on to college, and then find a job to help support our future; and when we enter the professional world, we find that it’s a whole new ball game. School and college can only teach us so much and help us gain a toehold in the business world.  Some people thrive and flourish while others crash and burn out before they’ve hit their prime. So if you’re a young professional who wants to want to achieve life and career success, you must be aware of a few ground rules:

• Your work (and the fame and fortune it could bring you) is not the only thing in life that matters.
• You cannot afford to shirk your responsibilities, on both the personal or professional fronts.
• Unless you can find a way to achieve a work-life balance, your life is never going to be peaceful and harmonious.

And based on these unwritten rules, let’s take a look at some of the dos and don’ts for young professional life and career success:

• DO put your best foot forward at your first job – it makes or breaks your career success.
• DO enjoy your job – if you don’t, try and find another one or enjoy the perks that this job provides; you must feel satisfied with yourself and your performance if you want to avoid burning out or feeling disillusioned as the days go by.
• DO try to get along with your coworkers – your ability to work as part of a team is a significant aspect of career success.
• DO take the time and make the effort to continue learning in the workplace – no matter how much you think you know there’s always something more you don’t know.
• DO understand your responsibilities and do them to the best of your ability.
• DO build networks and stay connected to people in your line of work – if you ever want to switch jobs, you’re going to need their help.
• DO aspire to learn all you can and gain the maximum experience before you start thinking of going into business for yourself.

• DON’T behave irresponsibly, in the workplace or in public – it does not reflect well on your professional image.
• DON’T put up embarrassing and inappropriate content on your social network profiles – they could come back to haunt you at the worst possible time.
• DON’T neglect your family and friends in the pursuit of your career success ambitions – a climb up the career ladder is important, but not if you’re going to find yourself alone at the top.
• DON’T misuse company resources for personal reasons – everyone may seem to be doing it, but if you’re found out, they’re not going to step up to support or defend you.
• DON’T adopt a hostile attitude at work – it only leads to constant friction with your coworkers and creates an atmosphere that’s not conducive to productivity and your career success.

Every profession has its pros and cons – the key to becoming a career success and staying that way is to maximize the pros and minimize the cons.  

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  There are several dos and don’ts for young professionals when it comes to creating life and career success.  Most are common sense.  If you follow the career advice in tips like these, you can’t go wrong.  Understand your responsibilities and do them to the best of your ability.  Get along with your coworkers – your ability to work as part of a team is a significant aspect of professional success.    Take the time and make the effort to continue learning in the workplace – no matter how much you think you know there’s always something more you don’t know.  Don’t put up embarrassing and inappropriate content on your social network profiles – they could come back to haunt you at the worst possible time.

That’s my take on the career advice in Mark Davies’ dos and don’ts for young professional career success.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

This guest post was contributed by Mark Davies, he writes on the topic of Online Masters Degree . He welcomes your comments at his email id: markdavies247@gmail.com.

The other day I came across a great career advice article by Seth Simonds called “Five Simple Ways to Live a Life You Love.”  Seth nails it when it comes to life and career success.  You can see the entire article at http://bit.ly/ijup45.

Here are Seth’s five points…

1. Be Present
2. Practice Gratefulness
3. Pursue Balance
4. Nurture Friendships
5. Embrace Simplicity

These five points are not only great life advice, they will help you create the career success you want and deserve.  Seth and I think alike.  I address many of the points he makes in my latest career success coach book, Success Tweets. 

Here is my take on Seth’s five points, and how they relate to the career advice in Success Tweets…

Be Present.  Success Tweet 21 says, “You’re in charge! Commit to taking personal responsibility for creating the life and career success you want and deserve.”  Staying in the here and now is the best way to do this.  Focus on the important tasks – the ones that will help you create your career success.  Do one task at a time.  Be totally involved with what you are doing.

Practice Gratefulness.  Be grateful for what you have, not envious of what you don’t have.  Go out of your way to thank people for the little things they do for you.  Success Tweet 78 says, “Say ‘thank you’ often.  You’ll succeed, build a strong personal brand and leave a legacy of being a nice person.”  The words, “please” and “thank you” are powerful.  They show that you appreciate others and are willing to let them know.

Pursue Balance.  Success Tweet 27 says, “Create goals in all areas of your life: career, personal, business, family, hobbits, health and fitness.  Make sure they are congruent.”  Congruent goals lead to balance.  Balance leads to life and career success.  There will be times when family takes precedence over every else.  Likewise, there will be times when you end up focusing almost exclusively on your career success.  The important thing is to recognize that you are out of balance and to get back into balance as soon as you can.

Nurture Friendships.  Success Tweet 121 says, “Get genuinely interested in others.  Help bring out the best in everyone you know.”  Everybody likes to be around people who are interested in them.  Success Tweet 123 says, “Use every social interaction to build and strengthen relationships.  Strong relationships are your ticket to career success.”  When you actively look for ways to enhance — or as Seth says, nurture – friendships you’ll be building the kind of long term relationships that will help you create your life and career success.  And then there’s Success Tweet 127, “Pay it forward.”  The more you give of yourself, the more you think we instead of me, the stronger your relationships will be.

Embrace Simplicity.  This is great life and career success advice.  Simple is elegant.  Success Tweet 113 is about effective business writing, “Write clearly and simply: short words and sentence, first person active voice.  Be precise in your choice of words.”  However it applies to life and career success as well.  Be clear and simple, look for ways to reduce complexity and you’ll become a career success.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  If you want to create the life and career success you want and deserve, follow Seth Simonds career advice.  Be Present.  Practice Gratefulness.  Pursue Balance.  Nurture Friendships.  Embrace Simplicity.  These five points will help you create a fulfilling life.  They will also help you become a career success.

That’s my take on Seth Simonds’ life and career success advice.  What’s yours?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud