Welcome to the Fulfillment@Work Newsletter
Published by Joel Garfinkle, Dream Job Coaching
ISSN: 1533-3906

Contents

1. Question of the Day
2. Become a Change Leader
3. Did You Know?
4. Quotes of the Week

Question of the Day

How do you make a change, when you might have mortgages, kids, busy careers and many things to do throughout your days, weeks and months? In order to make a change, you must lead your own change. This is done by becoming a CHANGE LEADER.

Feature Article
Become a Change Leader

One certain thing in life is that the future holds unpredictable changes for you. We start every day not knowing exactly what to expect. Life brings lessons and opportunities that we don*t always welcome.

People are scared of making changes. It*s never easy! It forces us to take risks, become vulnerable and open ourselves to the unknown. The lesson I*ve learned from working with career transition clients is they embrace change. They might be scared, but the comfort of doing work that doesn*t fully satisfy them takes a back seat to the dream of having ideal work. If it were easy to find a dream job, then everyone would love their work, feel excited about starting their workday and energized at the end of it.

This is not the case for the vast majority of people: research has shown that 9 out of 10 people aren't happy at their work. Thus, if you wish to have work that is different from what you are currently doing, you*ll have to make a change!

How do you make a change, when you might have mortgages, kids, busy careers and many things to do throughout your days, weeks and months? In order to make a change, you must lead your own change. This is done by becoming what I call a CHANGE LEADER.

People can make change without being change leaders, but long-term benefits are gained when you have courage to transform your attitude toward change from one of timidity and resistance to one of strength and appreciation of the opportunity to make your life better.

Now you can take an active role and manage and direct it change your views of life from one of struggling to maintain the status quo to always looking for new opportunities and viewing change as a positive force. All change leaders have this unique quality within them. Change becomes easier when you see it not as the mountain that seems too high, but as a gentle slope.

What are some of the fears that keep you in your current circumstances instead of changing? Remember the fundamental thing you need to do to make a change is to conquer your fears of the unknown or unfamiliar. Becoming a change leader begins by evaluating your life now. Do this by recognizing where you are and identifying what areas need to change in order to improve your life. Acknowledge that you can*t change everything at once. What you can do is choose an area to work on and take concrete steps, all the while being alert to opportunities to change.

Seven Steps to Become a Change Leader

1. Create tomorrow, don't maintain yesterday. Anything that doesn't support what is most important to you needs to be abandoned. For example, when my clients come to me for help in landing their dream job, they are making a statement to themselves that the dream job process is one of the most important aspects of their lives and needs to be treated this way. Thus, anything that interferes with this, must be abandoned. The focus must be on creating a tomorrow that you most want.
   
   
2. See your challenges as opportunities. Welcome unexpected difficulties because they represent opportunities to make something better. This process isn't an easy one. Be willing to risk. People are used to maintaining the status quo and not making changes. Even when changing jobs, the risks are minimized when changing to something in the career you already are in. However, most clients I work with change to completely different careers because they choose work that embraces their passion, not their past experience. Taking risks is about becoming what you most want for yourself. It's important to know that when we risk, we are moving out of comfort zone to a place that feels like an unknown.
   
   
3. Focus on successes and opportunities versus problems. Problems can't be ignored, but it's vital to focus on the opportunities that you'll be attracting in your life as you move toward your dreams. Maybe view problems in the context of the larger vision you have for your life, and they become less important. Also, take note of the successes you've had as you move forward on this change journey so you will feel excited for what you've gained and accomplished along the way. By taking small steps with each success, you begin to make a major fundamental change.
   
   
4. Use resources wisely. A resource comes in such forms as energy, money and time. Let go of any activities that won't move you toward the change you most desire. The question to ask is, "If I am to focus my resources on what is most important, will I do this activity?" If the answer is no, spend your resources on an activity that does advance your goals. Always question how best you can use your resources for each minute of your day. Imagine new possibilities.
   
   
5. Begin to realize the new and exciting opportunities that lie ahead. Don't neglect this part of yourself. When you honor the new, exciting and powerful possibilities that are within your life, everything has a way of supporting, co-operating and assisting you towards the possibility.
   
   
6. Take action today for what you want tomorrow. Taking action is about embracing the concepts of discipline, motivation and perseverance. It's never easy to stay focused and in pursuit of what you want.
   
   
7. When you are taking action, your steps should be specific, achievable, realistic and timely.

Did You Know?
Two ethical questions

Question #1: If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded and she had syphilis; would you recommend that she have an abortion? Read the next question before scrolling down to the answer of this one.

Question #2: It is time to elect the world leader, and your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three leading candidates:

Candidate A
Associates with crooked politicians and consults with astrologists. He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Candidate B
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C
He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and hasn't had any extramarital affairs.

Which of these candidates would be your choice? Decide first, no peeking, then scroll down for the answer.

If you want to learn how to Find Your Dream Job, click here:
http://www.dreamjobcoaching.com/coaching-overview.html

If you want to learn about Executive Coaching, visit:
http://www.GarfinkleExecutiveCoaching.com

~ Joel Garfinkle
Dream Job Coaching:
Live Your Dream Life!

Quotes of the Week

Quote of the Week Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so.
~ Belva Davis

Quotes of the Week We must be the change we wish to see in the world. Mahatmas Gandhi Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small parts.
~ Henry Ford.

Man's mind, stretched to a new idea, never goes back to its original dimensions. Oliver Wendell Holmes The way we live our days, is the way we live our lives.
~ Annie Dillard

Answers to "Did You Know?" above:

Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt

Candidate B is Winston Churchill

Candidate C is Adolph Hitler

And by the way: Answer to the abortion question - if you said yes, you just killed Beethoven.

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Coaching Services

Joel Garfinkle is available for coaching. Send him an email at joel@dreamjobcoach.com or call (510) 339-3201.

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Copyright 1998-2006, Joel Garfinkle, all rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute DreamsWork so long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the author is attached.