Is It Time to Check Your Progress?

If you set goals to achieve during 2011, if you have not done so lately, it may be time to check on your progress. Hopefully when you wrote your goals and objectives, you included some time lines. We are now just about half way through another year and, although I don't know about you, but for me, time is flying by. I still find it hard to believe that it will soon be July. I know that people say, the older you get, the faster time flies, and I guess they are right.





So, if you set goals for things you want to achieve this year and didn't set up time frames for your objectives, it is still not too late. Look at what you want to accomplish and figure out what it will take to do so. Hopefully, most of the steps are things you can/should do yourself. If not, consider whether or not you will have buy-in from others who may be involved in helping you reach your goals. If you have not already done so, write out the objectives you will need to do in order to meet the goals you set. Try to include, not only what you need to do, but how you may need to start, and a time for how long it should take or how soon you plan to complete the tasks.





If you included check points when you wrote out your goals and objectives, then this is just a reminder that if you have not checked your progress lately, you may need to do so now. After doing that, then you can determine if you can move your goal completion date up or if you need to allow a little more time to achieve it. Sometimes people realize that what they thought they wanted, is no longer appropriate. In that case, start over with the appropriate current goal. There is not shame in re-deciding, only in hanging on to a goal that you no longer want or need to achieve.





As some say, if you don't know where you are going, you won't know when you get there. Since time marches on anyway, you might as well plan for what you want and that should help to increase the likelihood that it will happen.





Mary Ann Davis, M.A., is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in private practice providing coaching and counseling for life's transitions; including a career change or job search, coping with an empty nest or loss of job, planning for retirement or non-retirement, or preparing to return to work or school. She meets with individuals in person and via telephone to assist them in developing solutions to their life planning issues. Mary Ann is certified as a Master Career Counselor (MCC) by the National Career Development Association, a Life/Work Counselor by the National Employment Counseling Association, and is a Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC). For more information on her services, please visit her web site at http://www.yourcareerplan.com/.





To contact Mary Ann, please call (513) 665-4444 x3 and leave a personal and confidential voice message or send and email to YOurCareerPlan@cinci.rr.com.

You Can Re-decide

Sometimes we stop, or are stopped, and look back over our lives and consider decisions we have made, directions we have gone. If you are fortunate, you are pleased with your decisions and their outcomes and satisfied with the direction your life has gone. If you are like many others, there are points where you made a decision that turned out not to be a wise one and it sent you off onto a dimly lit, unfamiliar path. If that applies to you, what I would encourage you to do is to re-decide; admit you made a poor choice and start again.

Often, we allow our thoughts and internal messages to control our actions. We dredge up thoughts like, "My father always said I wouldn't amount to anything." or "What were you thinking, you knew you're too old to do ____?!" Or maybe, "But people would think I've lost my mind if I ______." or "Mama warned me not to _______ but I wouldn't listen..." It is so easy to say to yourself, "I should have done ____, but now it is too late." It may be hard to do, but try to shut out those messages and focus on what is in your heart. Try asking yourself, "Is it really too late?"

Of course, in some cases, yes it may be too late, just don't assume that it is without considering the possibilities. But if it is something you still want, try to get clear on the real situation before you decide that. Listen to what your heart is saying and figure out how to make that happen. It may involve giving yourself permission to admit you were wrong. It may require you to take a few steps back and restructure your plan - or scrap it entirely and start over with a fresh approach to reach your goal. But it is important to remember that as long as you are still breathing, you have the capacity to decide differently and change your mind and your plans. You just need to give yourself permission to re-decide. Then if people question you, or just look at you like you may have lost your mind, you can simply look them in the eye and say, "Yeah, I really am going to try it this way!" But you will know that you are simply listening to your heart and that can be a very good thing, indeed!

Mary Ann Davis is a Licensed Professional counselor (LPC) in private practice providing coaching and counseling for life's transitions; including career change or job search, planning for retirement, loss of job, coping with an empty nest, preparing to return to work or school, and other life planning issues. She meets with individuals in person and via telephone helping them to find solutions to problems related to life transitions. Mary Ann is certified as a Master Career Counselor (MCC) by the National Career Development Association, a Life/Work Counselor by the National Employment Counseling Association, and is a Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC). Please visit her web site at www.YourCareerPlan.com for more information on her services.

To contact Mary Ann, please call (513) 665-4444 x3 and leave a personal and confidential message or send an email to YourCareerPlan@cinci.rr.com.

Your Life Wheel (part 3)

I have touched upon five of the six spokes on your life wheel and this post will address the occupational side of your wheel. For many people, the occupational spoke on their life wheel is, by far, the largest. Obviously, this encompasses your work and your career plans. For some, it is such a large part of their lives that there is no room to fill the other spokes, and that is not good for your overall well being. Although we pay a lot of attention to this spoke when we launch or are thrown into a job search, often we don't tend to this spoke otherwise. But I encourage you, if you have not already done so, to spend some time thinking about your work and your career plans. Do they fit together well, just somewhat, or not at all? How do your career plans fit in with your life goals and plans? If you don't have life goals and plans, that would be a good place to start. Think about what you want to accomplish/contribute to this world and develop plans to help you get there. I believe your goals and at least the basics of your plans should be written down somewhere. It seems to me that goals not written down (or recorded somewhere) are basically just dreams and it is hard to make a dream into a reality without some specific plans. So identify where you are and where you want to be, occupationally, and by when. If you don't know what your dreams or plans are, at this stage in life, you may want to spend some time thinking about that. I find that without any plans, or goals to work towards, days just seem to be less meaningful. Sort of on the other end of the spectrum are those folks who have retired and are at a loss because their occupational spoke is so small. That group also includes those who are not looking forward to retirement because work is such a major part of their lives. In my opinion, that is also not good for your overall well being. The key is to not to let work take over your entire life while you are working, so that you have time for other interests and activities to enjoy, not only while you are working, but certainly after you have quit working or reduce your work load. Look for the final post regarding your life wheel in the coming days. Mary Ann Davis is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in private practice providing coaching and counseling for life's transitions; including career change and job search, as well as loss of job, retirement planning, coping with an empty nest, non-retirement planning, and other life planning issues. She is certified a a Master Career Counselor (MCC) by the National Career Development Association, a Life/Work Counselor by the National Employment Counseling Association, and is a Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC). Mary Ann meets with individuals in person and at a distance via telephone. Please visit her web site at http://www.yourcareerplan.com/ for more information on her services. To contact Mary Ann, please call (513) 665-4444 x3 and leave a personal and confidential message or send an email to YourCareerPlan@cinci.rr.com.