Archive | Career Success Tips

Going BIG

This is the first in a series of posts about “going” … We end the year with the thought of going “big” and with some thoughts about goal setting.  I trust that you will wrap-up this year and begin the next with some big thoughts and actions.  This is my holiday wish for you and yours!

What are your goals, today?  What are your goals, this week and month?  Have you set your goals for the year? Have you begun setting them for next year?   I trust that the acronym – SMART – will assist you to better define and achieve them.  Again, it stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-focused and Time bound.

Are your goals big enough?  Jack Welch coined the concept of `stretch goals.’  Following is an example and a few thoughts about what they can be for you:

Putting men on the moon in the decade of the 60’s was a huge `stretch’ and was clearly `smart’. A small and giant step was achieved in 1969 with countless benefits.

When you look at your career and, your next job … what is your big objective?  Is it a stretch for you? 

By `going big’ … you are making a bold statement and expanding your potential.

When you stretch, you are challenging yourself to:  learn new skills; grow; develop ideas, and expand your relationships; experiment and practice; overcome the fear of disappointments and failures, move through, around, and beyond the hurdles ahead; and achieve success.

 Today, now, is a good time to double check our goals with these questions:

 Where am I going?

 Am I stretching enough to make a difference?

 I encourage you to stretch, be bold, and go BIG.  

Wisdom for Today

We learn in many different ways from various people with different skills and experiences, from books, history, the internet, and from invaluable life experiences from painful to joyous.  Many have said that learning from mistakes and adversity is often the most powerful.

When starting a new job search, we can benefit from the words and wisdom of others.  In this edition, I’ll summarize some memorable and impactful one-liners with the hope that they will inspire and provoke you to think and act as well as provide you with some valuable tools for your journey.

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom – Thomas Jefferson

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal – Henry Ford

 I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret things I haven’t done – Lucille Ball

If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail – Abraham Maslow

It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things – Henry David Thoreau

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see – Henry David Thoreau

So throw-off the bowlines … Explore.  Dream.  Discover. – Mark Twain

Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself – Marcus Tullius Cicero

Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time – Theodore Roosevelt