I have so many clients who come to me feeling burned out in their current job. For some of them it’s not from working too much. Instead it’s from working outside their gifting. For others, they love their job and company, but their employers treat them as machines instead of humans!

Burned out from working too much

For those of you who are in a company or job you enjoy but are feeling burned out from overwork, looking for a new job and sending out resumes is probably not the answer right now.

Doing so would be the same as uprooting your family and moving to a house right next door to a restaurant just because you happen to be hungry right now.

Trust me. You don’t want to trade a burnout with a company you love for a burnout with a company you’ll hate.

Have the tough conversation with your boss

Instead, I suggest having a frank conversation with your supervisor, no matter how difficult or scary it may feel.

Former Wall Street CEO (for both Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch) and now entrepreneur Sallie Krawcheck says,

“The days of the boss as ‘hard-ass’ need to be kissed good-bye. Today the business world increasingly values the kind of leaders who recognize that their employees’ lives don’t begin and end when they are at work. Many of us have families, and pets, and outside interests, and medical needs, and hobbies. Really, it’s well past time to get over requiring face time. And work as an extreme sport, complete with all-nighters and last-minute business trips-it isn’t good for employees, and it certainly doesn’t allow anyone to do their best work; and younger professionals are turning away from it in droves. Why not own the fact that we are all people and acknowledge that all of us need time for our outside lives? It’s just smart business.”

Instead of taking the angle of needing some much needed relief from your current workload, take the angle of how you want to be the best and most productive employee you can be for your boss.

Tell him or her how your current workload is negatively impacting your ability to do your best. Then focus on how you can improve your performance and productivity with just a few suggested tweaks.

Propose a win-win-win situation

Think ahead what tweaks you can suggest to be a win-win-win. (A win for your boss that will make him or her look good, a win for the company’s bottom line, and a win for you and your sanity.)

Some examples of tweaks you can suggest may include:

• Delegating some things to your subordinates.
• Working remotely from home one to two days a week.
• Trading travel to in-person site visits for Skype meetings.

A trial period

Give your boss the option to try what you’re suggesting on a trial basis (typically two weeks). Offer to go back to the old way if it doesn’t work.

During those two weeks, track every single positive impact on the company’s bottom line you notice.

Examples of positive outcomes include:

• Reduction in errors.
• Financial savings for the company.
• More satisfied clients/customers.
• Increase in more qualified prospects.
• Increase in repeat sales from current customers.
• Time used more wisely.

Deliver results

Create a report reflecting these positive outcomes and present it to your boss at the end of the two weeks.

Then once you share your positive results, ask your boss for two additional weeks to see if you can repeat what you’ve accomplished in the first two weeks. If you can, he or she will find it hard to justify saying no to an indefinite continuation of your new approach to your workload.

Consider your next move

Only after you’ve had this conversation with your boss should you consider looking for a new job.

If your supervisor likes your work as much as you like working for him or her, you shouldn’t feel paranoid about broaching the subject. In fact, your boss will probably be glad you brought your struggle to his or her attention.

But if your proposal is immediately shot down and it’s obvious your feedback is not appreciated, then you’ll know it’s probably time to look for something new. But I strongly recommend taking some vacation time (even if you don’t go out of town) to really think about if you should leave your job. And if so, for what other kind of job?

Use this time to also figure out your personal mission and purpose in life so you’ll know what opportunities to say yes to and which ones to say no to. Make sure you’re targeting opportunities that allow you to work in your gifting. Otherwise, you’ll end up burned out all over again.

Don’t get burned out on burnout

When looking for something new, do so with a clear mind. Again, use some of your vacation time to take a step back and get some proper perspective on what exactly you want in your next job and what will be a good fit for your personal mission. It will be worth it!

If you need help determining your purpose and gifting, start with paNASH’s on-demand video course on personal branding. Do this before you update your resume and just start sending it out randomly with no real focus.

Don’t get burned out on burnout. If you follow the suggestions above, you can find a new lease on life which can really get you fired up about your career!

Related Posts:

• How to Know if Your Burnout is Killing You
• When is the Right Time to Leave Your Job?
• How to Tell If a Company Is a Good Fit For You
• How to Make Your Big Decisions More Simple

How to Enrich Your Life and Career with Lifelong Learning

I’m currently learning how to land paddle. Last week one of my stand up paddle boarding friends gave me another lesson in it. Land paddling is similar to stand up paddle boarding on water, but it feels so different! It’s like being on a big skate board with a stick that has a stopper instead of a paddle at the end of it.

To me it feels very foreign compared to being on water. (Confession: I’m much more clumsy on dry land than I am on water!) I’ve never skate boarded before, so this is way outside my comfort zone! But it’s a great way to get outside and get exercise, especially after paddle boarding season ends.

I’m also currently teaching myself about financial investing. This is something I once had no interest in because I didn’t think I had the ability to fully comprehend it. Even though it’s never too late to learn about investing, my limiting belief kept me in my comfort zone longer than it should have. This probably cost me money in hidden fees and the additional money I could’ve already earned had I understood it better.

Luckily my father is well-versed in this area and got me started early on with a financial adviser. But now I’m becoming more educated on how it all works. And I’m starting to make my own investment decisions instead of just relying on my financial adviser.

Finally, I’ve hired a digital marketing expert to teach me how to improve my business marketing and increase the sales of my on-demand video courses. Much of what she’s teaching me are things I know I need to do, but I’m learning from her how to prioritize it all. It’s not always easy to find the time to implement her suggestions while balancing my client base, but I know it’s important to do so I can scale my business.

Importance of Being a Learn-It-All

I’m doing all of the things above because I understand how important lifelong learning is. Being a “learn-it-all” is imperative for growth, success, and fulfillment. In fact, lifelong learning is so important I’ve included “education” as one of the seven goal categories in my 8-Step Goal-Achievement Plan (free when you subscribe to my weekly newsletter).

Continual learning can increase your earnings, reduce your risk of age-related diseases, and enrich your life!

Learning Doesn’t Follow the Smooth Road

You can see from my own experiences listed above there are oftentimes obstacles involved in being a “learn-it-all”. These obstacles can include discomfort, limiting beliefs, and time constraints. But those obstacles should never be used as excuses for not being open to learning new things.

These negative feelings and risks are to be expected. Author and CEO Gary Burnison says,

“People who are curious and risk-takers are often the best learners. But learning doesn’t follow the smooth road.”

And learning opportunities are not limited to the risk-takers. Even if you’re not a natural risk-taker, you can learn how to become a better learner.

How to Become a Good “Learn-It-All”

Burnison also goes on to say,

“While learning agility, to a large degree, is inborn…it can be developed. One of the was you can become more learning agile is to develop your curiosity. People who are curious are engaged in the world. There interests are varied, and they are constantly learning. They intentionally expose themselves to the new and different, whether that means eating unfamiliar foods or listening to music that’s outside their favorite genre. They approach every day as a new opportunity to learn something, especially about themselves. That’s why the best…CEOs begin and end the day with self-reflection.”

You can be a good “learn-it-all” by increasing your curiosity in some of the simple ways Burnison listed above.

For instance, next time you go out to eat, order something on the menu you can’t pronounce or have never heard of. And don’t just take a picture of it for your Instagram! Actually taste it and savor it. I shudder when I think of all the great foods I would’ve missed out on (including camel!) had I not been curious enough to try them.

Burnison says you can also be a good learner by ending your day or week with self-reflection. Self-reflection is the very first exercise in my book and on-demand video course Personal Branding: Why You Need to Know What Makes You YOUnique and AWEthentic.

Tangible Examples

It’s this same branding program that’s helped so many paNASH clients open their minds to learning something new and enriching their careers. It’s even led several clients to some really cool side hustles and career changes.

For instance, my client Ashley discovered she has both a passion and a talent for voice-over work. Had she not taken a voice-over basics course at the local community ed program I told her about, she never would’ve discovered her new-found talent.

She’s since taken a more intensive voice-over course while also building her voice-over portfolio. She’s even landed some voice-over gigs with her current corporation she works for. Her short-term plan is to get an agent so she can get more gigs. Her long-term plan is to eventually turn it from a side hustle into a full-time thing.

Another client, Adelaide, decided to leave her job without knowing what she wanted to do next. But because she’s a saver she was financially able to do so.

Shortly after leaving her job and in the midst of our work together, she discovered the Nashville Software School. She did some research on it and decided to delve into the world of coding which is something completely different from what she went to college for or what she’d been doing in the past. Because of her savings and her creative budget management, she was able to afford the six-month program.

A week before graduation she landed a job with a highly sought-after company. This company’s interview process usually takes several months, but she had one interview and got hired a week later.

What are you learning?

So my questions to you are:

• What do you want to learn?
• What are you curious about?
• Are you currently learning something new?
• Are you making time to expand your mind on something interesting?

Education doesn’t end after graduation. So become a “learn-it-all”!

Related Posts:

• 7 Best Books That Will Make a Huge Impact on Your Life and Career
• From the Comfort Zone to the Learning Zone
• 10 Lessons I’ve Learned From 10 Years of Freelancing
• Why You Need to Think Like an Entrepreneur (Even When You’re Not One)
• How to Make Money, Stay Fit, and Be Creative: Combine Your Passions

We’ve been in a good job market recently. But, companies do continue to downsize. I know because said companies often call me to provide outplacement counseling for their former employees as part of their severance packages. In working with them, many of these employees discover they’d rather work for themselves instead of working for someone else again.

Did you know 94% of the 15 million jobs created between 2009 and 2017 were either part-time or freelance jobs?

And did you know, by next year 40% of the workforce will be independent workers? This is according to a study conducted by Freelancers Union.

If you find yourself in the near future having to look for a new job or become your own boss, whether by choice or by force, will you know how to do so? Will you welcome the opportunity as a way to finally pursue your passion?

Why You Need the Skills of an Entrepreneur (even if you’re not one)

Even if you never become an entrepreneur, you’ll still need to think like one to gain future employment. Regardless of how good the job market currently is, competition will always be fierce. Especially for full-time jobs with benefits.

Therefore, you have to really sell your skills to employers. These skills should include the ones employers are demanding which I’ve listed below. And these same skills will help you succeed if you choose to go the entrepreneur route instead.

The 8 Skills Everyone Needs to Make a Living (entrepreneur or not)

Let’s look at each of these skills and how paNASH’s on-demand courses help you develop them:

1. Creativity. The free on-demand course 5 Ways to Pursue Your Passions in Life and Work encourages you and provides you a safe place to explore your passions and creativity.
2. Ability to generate and execute ideas. The course Don’t Just Set Goals, ACHIEVE Them! teaches you how to set, execute, and achieve your goals and ideas. (Free with purchase of course bundle.)
   
3. Communication. In Personal Branding: How to Know What Makes You YOUnique and AWEthentic, you’ll learn how to clearly communicate your “WHY” and your “HOW” of what you do. (E-book included.)
   
4. Public Speaking. Also in Personal Branding, you’ll learn how to find your authentic voice and develop your message for your audience.
5. Writing. In Resumes That Get You the Interview, you’ll learn how to write a clear, concise and effective resume that will make it through the applicant tracking system to a human. (E-book and sample resumes included.)
   
6. Likeability. In The Secret to Successful Networking: How to Do It Naturally and Effectively, you’ll learn how to make networking a more pleasant experience. Especially if you’re an introvert. It’ll teach you how to network more comfortably and naturally, in return making you more likeable. (E-book included.)
   
7. Salesmanship. In Steps to Acing the Interview and The 3 Super Powers of Successful Job Seekers, you’ll learn how to sell your skills and abilities in an authentic way that matters most to employers and potential clients while helping you reduce your interview anxiety. (E-book included.)
   
8. Negotiation. In Make More Money Without Taking a Second Job, you’ll learn how to negotiate a larger salary offer, a pay raise, or a promotion. (Free with purchase of course bundle.)
   

Invest in Yourself

If you learn these skills now, you’ll be able to pursue your passions and make your own money with your own resources. Or you’ll be able to market yourself to a job doing something you love working for someone else. It’s your choice!

One way to begin is to invest in yourself. Take the money you’d normally spend on something unnecessary and instead put it toward some classes to learn the skills employers seek and some other new skills. This could include taking continuing education classes or online classes, including the ones listed above.

These courses are easily accessible, affordable (some are even free!), and allow you to work at your own pace. paNASH’s on-demand courses are designed to teach you how to market your new skills to a new employer or as an entrepreneur to potential clients. You can purchase them individually, or you can save $235 when you purchase the course bundle!

What are you waiting for?

Related Post:

How to Make Money, Stay Fit, and Be Creative: Combine Your Passions

You may be one of those lucky people who has a job that brings tremendous joy in your life. Most likely you’re one of many struggling to find joy in your work.

While you may be temporarily stuck in what feels like a dead-end situation, that doesn’t mean you can’t use your own uniqueness to add some joy to the daily grind.

By finding ways to put your own thumbprint on your work with your unique quirks and skills, you can not only make your work more joyful for yourself, but also for others.

How Others Have Become More Joyful

My favorite example of this is the story I once heard of a school janitor in New Hampshire.

One of his duties is to vacuum the carpet in the classrooms. Everyone is familiar with how a vacuum leaves lines and tracks in carpet.

Well, this janitor uses his artistic abilities to create various designs in the carpet with his vacuum cleaner. It gives him joy in his job to have this kind of creative outlet. In turn, the school children experience joy when they come in to their classroom each morning to find a new carpet mural.

Photo by Angie Wyand

Another example is my favorite salesman of The Contributor. Shawn sells at the Music Row round-about. Every holiday he dresses up in costume while he sells newspapers to fund his housing and his own T-shirt company.

One way I put my own thumbprint on my work is by occasionally taking my clients out for a stand up paddleboard lesson. It brings me joy both to be out on the water and to teach someone something new. It brings my clients joy because it gets them out of their normal routine, clears their mind, and exposes them to a potential new hobby. They always comment on how relaxing and fun it is.

The Possible Results

Using your uniqueness to bring joy to your work and to others can open doors to an even better opportunity for several reasons. It can:

• Increase your positivity.
• Get you noticed in a good way.
• Make a difference in the lives of the people you serve in your work.
• Indirectly impact the bottom line of the company in a positive way.

All of these things make you a valued asset for both your current company and any other company you may be interested in working for, therefore likely resulting in a promotion, a pay raise, or a new job. Or, it could just simply brighten someone’s day.

Have you ever thought about including your unique way of bring joy to your work on your resume or in your responses to interview questions? This could make you stand out from a sea of other candidates!

How Can You Be More Joyful?

What’s a way you can (or already do) add your own thumbprint to make your work joyful? I REALLY LOVE stories like this and want to hear more so PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE share in the comment box below your own example or others’ examples you’ve witnessed.

Related Posts:

• How to Make Your Sucky Job More Bearable (Until You Can Leave)
• How To Know If You’re In The Wrong Job
• When Is The Right Time To Leave Your Job?

Lately I’ve had several people contact me who’ve said, “I can’t seem to move up in my career. I keep getting stuck in the same low-level jobs and don’t know how to get out of this cycle and move up to something better. Help!”

Oftentimes there’s a simple explanation for this phenomenon. People take a lower-level job expecting to eventually be promoted to a higher level position, but never take action to ensure this will happen.

The Cycle

The cycle goes like this:

• You take a lower-level job telling yourself it’s a good foot-in-the-door and will provide an opportunity to grow in the company.
• You keep your nose to the grindstone and continue to work hard, hoping your boss will notice how good of a worker you are.
• After the first year, you get passed over for promotion.
• Then it’s two to three years later and nothing’s changed. You wonder why you’re still stuck in the same position and aren’t advancing.
• You begin to feel unappreciated, so you decide to look for a job with a different company.
• However you only apply for the same level job you’ve been in because you think it’s all you’re qualified to do since you haven’t been promoted.
• You accept the same level job at another company with the same hopes of growing and moving up in the company.

And then the cycle starts all over.

Breaking the Cycle and Creating Real Career Growth

So how do you break this cycle? By going in to a job with an intentional and focused plan.

The people who have suffered through these cycles are in them because they didn’t take responsibility for their own career growth. They went in with no plan of their own and instead expected the higher ups to recognize their potential and promote them.

But, just like a job doesn’t fall into your lap, opportunities for advancement don’t either. You have to do your part to grow in your career. But how?

Below are several actions you can take to jump start a plan for moving up in your career. I’ve also linked each action to paNASH’s various on-demand video courses that show you in more detail how to carry out each action. (Get 15% off each on-demand program from Sept. 18-25 when you enter the discount code FALL2019 at checkout.)

• Ask for feedback, both on what you’re doing well and on areas where you can improve.
• Network with people within your department, people outside your department, and people in the same industry.
• Set goals for yourself in your job in addition to the ones set by your supervisor.
• Help solve problems.
• Ask what it takes to get to the next level.
• Keep track of your accomplishments and share them with your boss.
• Know when and how to ask for a promotion or a raise.

In addition, paNASH provides a one-on-one personalized coaching track focusing solely on career growth. The Career Growth Track provides you an in depth plan you need to break the cycle. Also, it’s perfect for those who’ve just started a new job. It includes:

• Successful on-boarding in your new job.
• Preparation for promotion and advancement opportunities.
• Methods for asking for a raise.
• “Fire”-proofing yourself.
• Maintaining joy and challenge in your career.
• And more!

Don’t stay stuck! Move up!

Don’t stay stuck in your career! The power is in your hands to become unstuck and move up. You just have to learn how to wield your power by following the suggestions above. paNASH can help you do this in two ways:

1. With paNASH’s on-demand programs available online (get 15% off each online program or the entire bundle from Sept. 18-25 when you enter the discount code FALL2019 at checkout).
2. And, with the personalized, one-on-one Career Growth coaching track.

Contact paNASH today and break the cycle!

Related Post:

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