Focus on your strengths |
You're concerned about your future and worried about your income. While
you might feel powerless and fearful or anxious about your lack of control,
make a commitment to live from your strengths and not from fear. Identify
your strengths and make a conscious decision to live from them.
The future will unfold in unforeseen ways when you apply and integrate
this concept into your life. Work to maintain your self-confidence while
being open to others' contributions. List on a piece of paper the qualities
that make you unique and special - list your strengths, talents and skills.
Look at the list daily, and add to it when new insights about your strengths
emerge. If you don't believe in yourself, no one else will.
Remember the Flying Wallendas? When Karl, the patriarch of the Wallenda
family, was in his seventies, he fell 120 feet to his death while trying
to walk a tight-wire between two office buildings in Puerto Rico. Later,
his wife said that before the stunt, for the first time in his life, Karl
had seemed concerned about falling. When it came for the time to perform,
he fell because he was so focused on not falling, rather than on getting
to the other side.
Focus on your strengths! In tough times, remember Karl Wallenda. When
you concentrate on not losing, rather than on winning, you'll find yourself
dead on the ground.
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A Personal Board of Directors |
Consider creating your very own personal board of advisors.
Apply the concept of "the brand you" to your life - run your life as you
would a business. Create a personal board of advisors who will contribute
to your success. Invite people you respect and who have complementary
perspectives, approaches and skills. Remember, we learn more from those
who are different than from those who are similar. Differences of opinion
create a more solid product. When others challenge you, know that they're
actually helping to expand your vision. Let others contribute to you.
Utilising your very own personal board of directors will help you get
beyond your blind spots. |
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Invest in yourself |
Investing time and resources into your personal and professional
development is well worth the effort - regardless of your employment status.
Include personal and professional development into your schedule on an
on-going basis. Consider it a necessary ingredient for success. The benefits
will far exceed the investment. Attend public talks, read extensively
and network widely. Enrol for courses and training, even at your own expense,
as it will affirm to others your commitment to lifelong learning. |
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Visualise the Future |
Don't let fear that your dream is crazy or impossible stop you from visioning
the future! There's always learning in the listening - so listen to your
dreams. Identify the essence of what most excites you. Creatively brainstorm
how you can grow and live a better life. As the more you do, the more
powerfully you'll generate and create the future you now only dream about.
Visualising the future generates the commitment to make it happen.
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Personal Discovery |
The layoff may be a blessing in disguise. It may be a subtle
message about the changing times or a sunset industry. Is this a wake
up call of some kind? You might unknowingly be on a path of personal discovery
- let the layoff be the catalyst for self-discovery and powerful actions!
Perhaps it is time to move on to something more challenging and exciting.
It may be a time to 're-position' yourself in your search for work. Be
open and listen. There may be a lesson and an opportunity in this for
you. |
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About the Author
This article is contributed by Kamal Kant of Next Transition,
a training consultancy offering workshops in people skills, career management,
personal effectiveness and strategic development.
E-mail: kkant@singnet.com.sg
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