The Career Clinic Blog

Say what you want about the Rush Limbaugh - Sandra Fluke controversy. I’ll not be repeating any of that, here. If you want political divisiveness, you’ve come to the wrong blog!

But if you’d find it comforting to have someone admit the older she gets the less sure she is about anything, consider yourself comforted.

In a post only two days ago I linked to something I thought everyone pretty much agreed on. Then Suzy Welch reminded me one man’s cause is another man’s distraction.

What can one person do? Heck if I know. But if you want me to guess, here goes. Tell the truth, wrap it in kindness, and hope for the best.

Comment (0)

Once upon a time I had a landlord from hell, who told me what heaven was. “Where you are now!” he said. “You will look back on this time of struggle, when you didn’t know how or even if things would work out, as the very best time of your life.”

He was right. Actually he’s been right more than once. The last couple of years, for example, have been scary interesting for Darrell and me. This business is not for sissies. Which I am!

I keep thinking of a presentation I gave recently, to people who were wondering how to summon the courage to go after their dreams. “I have no idea,” I admitted. “I go to bed scared every night.”

Like so many of the people I admire most, though, I found something I’m more afraid of--a boring story. I have more in mind for myself than that.

And I hope the same is true for you.

Scary is also exciting…and fun. Take it from someone who’s never sure she’ll make it off the roller coaster alive. Then watch out, because you might get trampled in my rush to get back in line for another ride!

Comment (0)

“Why do you have to work on the blog, Mom?” Katie wanted to know. “Aren’t most people on vacation?”

I guess. But I’ve been posting four times a week since Labor Day a couple of years ago, and I don’t want to break the streak. And besides, now might be a perfect time to remind you what we’re up to at The Career Clinic. We want to help you get your hopes up, experiment with your life, and savor your story.

But we can start in again next week!

Comment (2)

No interest in fashion? Photography? Manhattan?

Doesn’t matter. I bet you’d love Bill Cunningham New York.

If you want an example of living deep, not wide, Bill’s your man. Same for knowing who you are, doing what you love, and being true to yourself.

Bill made me realize what a crock my last post was. Jaded may as well be code for “don’t get your hopes up”--and suddenly I think it’s for sissies. Bill’s in his eighties, but he reminded me there’s still plenty of time to tear into life the way a fearless little kid would, with abandon.

You in?

Comment (0)

“It’s the perfect graduation gift.”

That’s one of the nicest things I’ve ever heard about The Career Clinic: Eight Simple Rules for Finding Work You Love.

Here’s hoping it’s helping.

Oh. And thanks!

Comment (0)

How do you decide what to do with your life? One way is by paying attention to what other people are doing with theirs.

That's how Kenn Amdahl got into sales. He was teaching guitar to a real estate broker who kept getting interrupted by phone calls. "I'm making three dollars and fifty cents for this half-hour lesson," Kenn says, "something like that. And this guy was turning down a deal because he was 'only' going to make forty thousand dollars on it. He got off the phone and turned back to me and said, 'Now how do you do that G chord again?’"

Kenn discovered he was good at selling real estate. Really good. "It's definitely one way to build up wealth," he says.

Which reminds me of being at a career planning workshop where the goal--for two whole weeks--was to figure out the absolute most fun we could have for the rest of our lives. I followed two gentlemen back to a session after dinner and heard one of them say, "The best deal is still real estate." At the time I thought that was hilarious.

Kenn makes me think for the right person, real estate really is the real deal. He moved on a long time ago, and now publishes “entertaining books on dull subjects.” Sounds like another success story--but what would I know? We’d barely gotten into his publishing ventures on the show Saturday when…time was up! Lucky for me, and hopefully for you, Kenn agreed to come back.

Stay tuned!

Comment (0)

Why would you sweep the floor when you could hire someone to do it? John Nese from Galco’s Soda Pop Stop in Los Angeles says that one’s easy. He gets some of his best ideas while sweeping.

Here’s an idea. Watch this video. John shared some of his bubbly personality with us on The Career Clinic recently, and has a suggestion for would-be business owners. Don’t try to be everything to everybody. Just do one thing really well.

Doing something really well doesn’t necessarily mean doing it faster, by the way. Have you ever heard the expression that a shortcut’s the longest distance between two points? That’s how I feel about some of those computer shortcuts Darrell’s forever trying to persuade me to use. It drives him nuts to watch me take two or three keystrokes to pull off what he can do in one--which drives me nuts right back. He thinks I’m wasting time. I think I’m saving it--by making fewer mistakes--and savoring it.

When I was a youngster, someone told me there’s more to life than speeding it up. Sweeping, keyboarding, living. It’s not a contest, or a race. Is it?

It’s like I told Colleen Wainwright on the last show. I want The Career Clinic to be an oasis, the radio equivalent of a porch swing. Remember those? Where you’d sip--sip, not gulp--lemonade, and linger over a conversation?

Doesn’t that sound soothing? I hope so!

Thanks for reading, and listening.

Comment (0)

Do you get the feeling people aren't taking you seriously in meetings?

I once heard a great suggestion about this. Whenever you make a contribution to the proceedings, ask yourself, "So what?" Then follow your contribution with the answer to that question.

You're not just telling people something, now. You're telling them something, and why it matters.

Hope this helps!

Comment (0)

I got a present the other day, some great suggestions about the radio show from someone I barely know. Here’s how he wrapped them…

And I thought, “Yeah, good luck if I take number two to heart!”

Decision time. I could…

I love what my newest best friend says about situations like this: “Put dimmer switches on the parts you don’t like.” She would know. She’s built a business, a robust business that makes the world a better place one uplifted heart at a time, by paying attention to her cheerleaders--and smiling politely at the naysayers as she walks briskly past them.

Maybe this man wasn’t a dream crusher. Maybe there was only good intent behind everything he said. This is a tough business--though aren’t they all?--and perhaps he didn’t want me to get my hopes up.

Too late!

Comment (0)

"A resume is used to screen you out." Common knowledge, according to my sources. So why do we put all that effort into our resumes? We send so many copies out into the world in hopes that--with what? some fairy dust?--one of them will make it into the hands of our dream employer.

I once tested the advice given by What Color Is Your Parachute? author Dick Bolles, and saw how far I could get without a resume. I replied to an ad for a radio sales representative. The ad said, "Resume required." I sent a letter instead. I mentioned three or four things the position required, and the corresponding ways I’d proved--on other jobs--I had those skills. I got an interview and was hired.

I sucked at radio sales, but that's another story.

I didn't let a resume screen me out because I didn't send one. The interviewer seemed enchanted by my letter, and a little annoyed with himself for that! "Is this a resume," he asked, "or a resume substitute?"

But hey, it worked.

Comment (0)