I am in the final stages of writing the final copy for "happy@work: job hunting for mid-lifers" and aim to have this ready for print within the fortnight. I am delighted that Exhibitions Gallery in Wellington (formerly Fishers) will be having the book launch - 28 Nov. Please put it in your calendars - will be a great night with very interesting presentations from people who have followed their bliss and achieved great wealth mid-life..stay tuned!

My aim is to sell 100,000 copies of the book within 12 months - helping thousands of people and generating in excess of $400,000 in the process. I would like to use a portion of these proceeds to sponsor children overseas so that they can have access to life-transforming education. So far I am on track to achieve this target and more - with interest from the UK, US and Australia - the challenges and solutions are global and especially relevant as the financial crisis deepens and dramatically downsize as many of you who have written to me know first hand.

As you know my energy has been substantially channeled into this creative endeavor as well as my art - I think I mentioned I won the Wai Art Awards and this week have several galleries wanting to sell my work..I also had a successful group exhibition following my trip with Max Gimblett..did you see the right up in the Wellingtonian - you can read it here....http://www.cassandragaisford.com/media.html

In the medium to short-term finances will flow very well - more than compensating for short-term challenges. I am also home schooling my daughter who is sitting level 3 NCEA via correspondence due to a terrible situation at school mid-way through the year.

I wanted to share all this with you to show that following your bliss is not without challenges - so many people often comment to me, "you're so lucky." It's not luck - it's hard, tenacious activity ...inpsired and fueled by my passion to use my creative talents in the service of others. I hope sharing my journey continues to inspire you....some of you even insist I write a book about my journey....from personal experience I know reading about other peoples struggles and adventures always give me hope too....so maybe I will write that book! But first I'll discipline myself to finish this one!

Thanks for continuing to support me - I know you go the extra mile for me and I do appreciate it



Cassandra

Labels: Book Launch

I am working around the clock to get my final edits done of my book, "Happy@work: job hunting for mid-lifer's". Tonight I'm working on a favourite chapter of mine - "Love it, don't leave it."

As one frustrated HR manager said to me recently, “The only time people tell us what they want is when they are walking out the door. If only they would tell as what they need, then at least we could try and work something out.”

The trouble. as you may well know, is that most people don’t know what they want. So they hop from dissatisfying job, to dissatisfying job, never pausing long enough to work out what’s wrong. Conversations are never had with work colleages and bosses to improve the unhappy situation, and internal opportunities are never followed. All in all it’s an incredible waste of talent, time, money and energy. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Job sculpting is a term that came out research by career theorists at The Harvard Business School. They encourage people to chisel way at their staid, linear job descriptions and tailor responsibilities, tasks, even remuneration to better meet individual needs – and both people and organisations all over the world are doing just that.

If you are already employed, but not really enjoying it, you'll find the job sculpting exercise in the book really helpful. As I was writing this chapter I reflected on my own experience.

My first job when I graduated from university as a mature student was working for an international recruitment firm. I had graduated with a Commerce degree – majoring in Human Resource Management. I was full of excitement about the prospects of landing a fantastic, high paying job. Hope turned to despair as initially I was only offered a role as a PA. I’d had seven years out of the workforce and even though I’d had numerous senior management roles prior to this, the organisation didn’t feel my skills were current enough.

I took a deep breath, sucked in my pride and, my eye firmly on my longer-term career goals, took the job. I was single-parenting at the time and desperate for relevant work experience. Even though I didn’t enjoy being a PA at all and I wasn’t too thrilled about not being taken more seriously I didn’t let it get to me. Leaving wasn’t an option. I actively set out to find ways of increasing my satisfaction and future career prospects. I signed up for an international certification in recruitment and asked my new boss if I could shadow him to gain more first hand experience for my assignments. It wasn’t long before he rewarded my initiative and enthusiasm by promoting me to a trainee recruiter. Was I glad. Being a PA didn’t come naturally to me. I found all the running around and organising stressful. The money was terrible too.

For a while recruiting was fine but the individual performance targets, and sales culture didn’t sit well with my values. The hours were terrible too. At the interview they told me, "We know who will succeed here - they work late at night and they are here in the weekends. I was tempted to leave – especially after I developed shingles from all the stress." The corporate culture was terrible and one of my bosses threatened to smash my head in if I asked him one more time if a candidate I was looking after was going to get an interview. I don't know what was worse - his bullying or the fact that because he was a big biller, the company ignored his behaviour.

What I really wanted to do was help people find a job they would love. So I did some internal research and found out that this was the kind of work that another part of the firm did. I networked actively with people in that department to learn more about what they did and to make a good impression in case an opportunity ever arose. When a vacancy came up I talked to my boss about moving across. He wasn’t happy at all. In fact he was positively angry. He tried to make me resign and then reapply.

The company made me apply for the internal vacancy with other external candidates. I had three interviews – including a panel interview with 8 senior executives. I also had to do a role play and perform in an assessment centre. Everyone asked me, “why are you staying? You don’t have to put up with that.” But I did. I needed to get more experience to achieve my long-term goals. Besides I didn’t want my bully boss to win.

I visualised succeeding, practiced for the interviews ,maintained my cool and promoted myself with passion. I got the job. Once again it was just a stepping-stone to where I truly wanted to be – career counselling and running my own business. When I moved into this role it was still a sales role - I brought in the work and other people got to career counsel staff affected by redundancy. My motivated skills of counselling and coaching, and my values of helping people still weren’t met. I tried numerous times to get the company to allow me to redefine my role. I showed them what was in it for them and how by helping me they would also grow the business. They wanted to keep me in sales. So I looked around for another company who needed my sales and marketing skills but who would also give me the opportunity to coach people hands on. While in the short-term I took a salary plummet, I moved to a Greenfield role that allowed me to gain the experience I needed. They also supported my counselling training. Four years later I went out on my own and trebled my salary and satisfaction.

Being self employed meets all my criteria for career and life satisfaction. Importantly, it has allowed me the flexibility to support and care for my daughter during her school years. It’s also enabled me to make the best use of my talents and the things that give my work a sense of meaning and purpose. My work is a powerful vehicle for me self-expression - it allows me to be who I am, and who I truly want to be,, while serving others at the same time. Bliss!

If you are already working but unhappy at work, rather than leave, I can't encourage you enough to look for internal opportunities to gain experience. Take a sideways move, put your hand up for a secondment, or identify an untapped market demand and create an internal opportunity. Let other people leave their fate in others hands - but not you my friend, not you.

Labels: achieving goals, Career Creation, Happiness

I'm feeling very inspired today....and yesterday and the day before as well! That takes me right back to Friday! What was so special about that day? I was sooooo, soooo excited because I finally got to hold my new wee baby in my hands....not a real baby ...but the pre-publication draft of my book: "Happy@work: job hunting for mid-lifers." It felt so incredibly exciting to finally see it all printed out. It's not quite the same looking at it page by page on the laptop screen!

People I showed it to were excited as well - they loved the layout so much they kept flicking through the pages....proof that sticking to my intuitive knowing that powerful visual communication is an important element. I really appreciated the extra effort that Blair at PrintStop went to, "I like making things look beautiful" he said. So he took the time to trim the pages so that they were exactly the size of the finished book. It's great to see such a positive response to the black and white draft - wait till people see it in colour!

It was exciting today as well to work through one of the chapters "Challenge Your Fears" with one of my coaching clients. She is about to embark on a huge career change and go back to school! It's not easy going back to be a university student at 35. It was fantastic to see how much courage, comfort and inspiration she gained from the chapter. She loved the photo I'd chosen for the introduction....it helped her kept her thoughts on a higher energy plane instead of getting bogged down in lower level fear chatter.

So finally the dream I have had for so many years is coming true. For ten years now I have began the year with a new dream/goal journal. In it I create the year I want to have - my commitments and intentions, dreams and desires. The ones I haven't completed yet I carry forward to the new year. This way they stay alive. 8 years ago I wrote about my dream to write a series of books that would help people be happier at work and in life. It didn't happen over night but it is about to happen! Proof that dreams do come true if you want them badly enough.

Next month I will be running some powerful creativity dream workshops around New Zealand to help people who are stuck create their dreams too. Drop me an email if you would like to come along. Feel free to invite a friend or anyone else you think would love to join in too.

Labels: Happiness

Sometimes all it takes is one idea, one inspirational story of someone else’s happiness at work to make a positive change. Check out some wonderful happy@work profiles here.

First up is Nikki Pender - a very successful and prominent New Zealand Barrister. You can find out more about who she is and what she does on her website http://www.legalempowerment.co.nz

My Happy@work profile

I love my work most when one or more of these things are at play:

I’m learning and doing new things.
I’m being challenged intellectually.
I have problems to solve.
I’m helping others in a constructive way.
There’s an element of public speaking involved.
I’m part of a group of impassioned, motivated people


My unique passion point

Skills –
Problem-solving,
Intuition and perception
Communication (oral and written)
Motivational

Interests
Justice,
Personal development
Public law & politics,
Entertainment

What motivates me
Deadlines: and they better be real ones, because I push them hard!
Purpose: a sense that something I’m about to do makes some sense
and will be useful.
Novelty: the prospect of learning or starting something new.

No wonder a career in law fighting for justice suits her!

To demonstrate how unique everyone's happy@work profile is here is one a past client of mine completed - he prefers to stay anonymous:

Your Happy@work profile

1.)In the space below summarise the happy@work themes that are beginning to stand out for you. Remember to refer to this summary when deciding on possible career options. You may wish to use heading such as: “my values; my interests, my needs, when I am most happiest, my joys, career options that inspire me, my personality preferences”, or anything else relevant for you.
1. My Values

I enjoy helping others and I want to do something that is worthwhile. I don't have a huge go and dislike pretentiousness and snobbery.

2. My interests

Challenges, music, sport, health, travelling and adventures, languages, photography, people, history, socialising.

3. My needs

My main priority is my work environment and those who I work for. At the bottom line I need to work for an organisation that supports and nurtures me with great workmates and levelheaded superiors. Little things like when the boss says thanks for your help today, really means something. Feeling appreciated is a great thing.
I need mental stimulation but I also need to be able to see my work and what I produce.
I'm still not sure whether my need is to work outside or whether it is in the office but I prefer to have both at this stage.

4. When I am most happiest

I am most happiest when I have a several clear goals that I am working towards in different areas that are all giving me joy. I need lots of variety in my job and it has to bring a sense of achievement. I am happiest when I am working in a respectful environment where I want to work for my superiors. I like project-based work the most. I do need goals outside of work - that is just as important as working itself. I need lots of challenges throughout the year to look forward to as that energises me. Having nothing to work towards makes me dull and takes my edge away.

5. My joys

Any challenge - physical or mental - such as learning a language or competing in a race.

Doing things I have never done before.

I love being outdoors and exercising it can be anything mountainbiking, running, tramping, surfing - but in the sun - and even better with friends or family.

Writing something that is just right.

Taking a great photo.

Travelling and meeting new people from different cultures and learning about them.

Helping others to achieve their goals.

Achieving my own goals and making my visions happen.

Socialising and conversation with family and friends.

Listening to or playing music.

6. Career options that inspire me

Marketing employee for a respected sporting organisation like a premiership football team.

Adventure tour guide

Thoroughbred horse breeder

Farmer

Photo journalist

Athlete

Your Unique Passion Point
2.)Your unique passion point is where your skills, interests, and motivation intersect. Surrounding this is also the external market where there may be a demand for the things you offer. Create your unique passion point , and external market, in the space below.

I have a unique passion point being that I have excellent written and oral communication skills. I can also take great photos. I am interested in sports and music. I could use this to become a marketing or communications manager for a sporting organisation or record company where I could also use my interpersonal skills.
Your vision for the future

3.)A vision for the future can be big or small, and it can be about work or about your personal life, or both. The source or sources of achieving your vision may be from any or all of the five worlds - spiritual, physical, mental, emotional or cultural.

Some say people are driven by six basic needs, with all our choices and behaviours based on the urgency for survival, power, love, belonging, freedom and fun. In putting together a vision it is important to consider your needs and the real you - including your journey to this point, your priorities or central values as they are today, your interests, passions and desires, your skills, and what gives you a sense of meaning and purpose.

In the space below make a mind map to draw together the themes that are beginning to stand out for you as a vision for your future development and fulfilment. You may wish to create your vision on a board or dedicate a whole wall at home to help you keep your vision alive.



What I can see is me standing outside my house in the country with my family - it is peaceful. I work from here mostly but often travel both nationally and internationally with my job. I have worked through a number of marketing jobs to get to this point but now I have more time for enjoying my life - it's not all about work.
We have a nice house but it's not a mansion. There are also some animals and a garden. From here I can get out into the countryside mountainbiking or tramping although we are close enough to the city to enjoy that as well.
Inside my house are all the memories - the photos of family and friends, places we have travelled to and reminders of the successes that we have had. We are happy with what we have got and we have worked hard for it - but we are not egomaniacs.
We are fit and healthy too which means we can enjoy our lives even more. We are looking forward to more challenges......


Hi -I don't mind it going on your blog but I'm not that keen on my name being on there.

I'm not sure if it's a dream, it could be yeah, it's a vision as well I think.

It's been quite funny recently I have been thinking about you know the saying if you can dream you can do it and how important it is to dream a bit about things because that is where everything stems from.

The label visionary (you know people say he/she is a visionary in their field) makes so much sense to me now, before it was just a word.

It's funny how you know creating visions helps but sometimes you just forget because you have so many things going on.

I have been trying to dream up what I want to happen next. The thing is you need the inspiration first from something and sometimes you can search for ages and you just can't find it - and then one day you are onto something and you are away! You need a calm environment.

It goes back to that quantum physics as per the dvd "what the bleep do we know"

Labels: Career Creation, Happiness

Several days ago I received this comment my powerful creativity blog from one of the artists I invited to participate in my Joy'ance exhibition.
:
"No wonder people respond to your art in such a positive way Cassandra - it is created by such a joyful and generous spirit.
It's been an absolute pleasure exhibiting alongside you in Joy'ance.
Thanks so much for your lovely comments. Deanna X"

I felt great! Creating more positivity and joy in the world is important to me. But then several days later I received this email -

Cassandra,

Please note your account has been deactivated. Being a privately owned and run forum, the administrators can and have made the choice to deactivate based on personal differences of which we feel there is no need to go into further detail with.

We wish you well in your other endeavours

Administrators

As one very positive and wise colleague and fellow artist Monika Welch (www.artdziner.co.nz) reminded me today:

Sometimes, doors close, and sometimes doors are closed on us. This happened to me recently and initially it hurt and I felt somewhat betrayed and extremely slighted. Eventually I got over it and realised that it was a blessing in disguise. I had been immersed in a negative situation and instead of leaving, I chose to remain, treading water, tip-toeing around and feeling unsafe and somewhat overwhelmed. There are many doors available for us to open but sometimes we just stay in the same room unaware that we all have the wonderful choice to open another and peek inside. We can OPEN as many doors as we like. We can go THROUGH as many as we like. There is no need to stay struggling in the same negative environment.

I have chosen to open some more doors today:)

Anyway this latest turn got me thinking about the destructive, toxic energy of negativity. Many years ago a colleague said to me, "The Directors like you more than they like me." She then set about trying to undermine everything I did.

So many of the people who took the "happy@work survey mentioned that the negativity of others killed happiness levels at work. Don't forget you can have your say by clicking on the link from my websitecontact page

So what is the impact of negative co-workers and alliances?
* Lower productivity: it is hard to perform at your peak when others bring you down
* Lower self-esteem - greater effort is required to feel good about yourself when others criticise you
* Diminished confidence - confidence, like plants, needs the right nutrients to flourish
* Unless you remove yourself from the influence of negative people it is hard to achieve your potential - negative people enjoy seeing you fail
* Diminished or destructive creativity

So what do negative people gain:
* By making others feel small they make themselves feel tall
* They take other people's dreams and positive energy - some people call this the energy vampire effect
* By playing the wounded party they gain attention and support - many people don't like to see others feel sad or down (something negative people prey on and use to maximum effect
* Often by remaining negative they can absolve themselves from taking action to improve their situation
* Negative people want you to be just like them - "I was once told by someone I worked with :"the problem with you Cassandra is that you are too positive!"


How do negative people lose?

* Negative emotions carry toxic energy - polluting themselves and the people they infect
* Negative people attract negative people - like attracts like
* Negative people seldom reach their potential
* Negative people don't know how to celebrate other people's success - success in others makes them feel less than successful


I would love to hear your views and additions to this very topical thread. Did you know that most people have 80,000 thoughts a day and 85% of these are negative! Wow - no wonder economies are in crisis!

Do you remember these images from "What the bleep do we know" ? Just look at how negativity changes the molecular structure of DNA of spring water.

ps you will notice I have edited this thread as the people concerned took offense and threatened me with legal action....I really couldn't be bothered with all the drama (see how negative energy sucks up time.....I am supposed to working on the edits of my book!) The point of this thread was not to embark on a witch hunt or criticise those with mental illness but to powerfully illustrate the destructive power of negativity. I am grateful for the many messages of support including:

Someone obviously doesn't like your success. That was my first impression. Reminded me of the painting that some family members didn't want you to enter into competition. I have no idea what went on during the exhibition except for great art displayed by very talented artists. I would have been honoured to be associated with you because of your positive outlook on life.

It is a reminder that not everyone will like us or our ideas and views. You may have triggered something in her and rather than address any issues she has taken easy option to cut ties.

I am unsure if no longer having an account with Arttalk will hinder you in your work or may be an blessing in disguise. It is hard at the time to see why things happens but further done the track (maybe years) it is always clearer.

I'm sure there are lessons you have learnt from this in regards to people changing. I feel for you as you are obviously shocked and disappointed however no one can take away the fabulous, motivating, inspiring, talented person you are. At the end of the day it is her loss. Keep smiling.

“I truly believe that absent the victim mentality, everyone - regardless of background, education, or ability - can carve out a good path for themselves in this tumultuous work place.” - Richard Bolles, Author

Labels: Communication, Happiness, Overcoming setbacks, Powerful thinking

Someone asked me today: "What was the catalyst for writing this particular book?"

It is such a great question! The other day I received this email:

I'm sure your book will be a fantastic success Cass - I was talking to a lady when I was at work today and she said no one would employ her husband because he was 55 had been in the same job for 25 years until he was made redundant - and said he had no skills employers would want! Ummm what does one say to comments like that So you definitely have market out there : - )

This man's experience is one of the main reasons I wrote "Happy@work: job hunting for mid-lifer's." As a career coach helping people reclaim thier lives after redundancy, or re build self esteem after bullying or bounce back from the depression of spirit that staying in the wrong job can create, I felt strongly that people need more hope and practical ways to move forward.

Here is what I actually emailed back to my friend:

"Ohhh that is so sad - so sad because it is not true. That man has lots and lots of skills - he just doesn't know what they are. That poor man and his wife must be suffering so.....I hate hearing that.. that is why I am writing this book to show it doesn't have to be this way. "

The book also draws on my 4 years experience writing a careers column for The Dominion Post - plus as an artist I wanted to create something that was visually uplifting so have used my photos and others to communicate visually.....like a painting for me this book is a creative joy that I hope others will enjoy

Labels: achieving goals, The Book

Now I am settling down to focus on chapter 29 "staying on track" (or you could say going the distance)

In my role as a career and life coach, I play an active role in helping people stay on track when circumstances threaten to derail them and prevent them from achieving their goals. Despite knowing in their heart what they want to achieve and armed with all the best intentions of taking concrete action to achieve their goals, they stall. You may think, as I once did, that stalling is not as bad as being derailed. But check out the dictionary definition and it is quite clear. Stalling IS stopping.

De·rail (d-r l’)
* To run or cause to run off the rails.
* To come or bring to a sudden halt: a campaign derailed by lack of funds; a policy that derailed under the new administration.

So how, once they have derailed, do people get back on track?

Motivation, focus and empowerment comes from seeing life from the future rather than from the past. Identifying with the self they are heading towards, rather than their history, holds the key.

In this chapter, I’ll share some practical and helpful tips to get people moving toward their preferred future again

“The key that unlocks energy is desire. IF we expect to create any drive, any real force within ourselves, we have to get excited.”
Earl Nightinale, Author]

Labels: achieving goals, Motivation

As promised here is a progress update.

Very appropriately I have just finished the updates for the chapter focusing on ways to finance your career.

As with all the chapters in "Happy@work: career changing for mid-lifers" I have followed these strategies myself. Donna Summer sums it up well when she says"“Nobody wants you to stop, obviously because you’re a moneymaking machine. But you have to make the decision and you have to move forward. So I took time off to have babies and do all that. ”

I choose to take time out in my career to raise my daughter - so I started my own business. The business grew so big so fast that when I started wanting to change and follow my new hearts desire it was so hard to stop....my clients kept wanting me to keep going. Now I have to turn my attention to ways to slow down this side of my business, follow my new passions and still pay the bills.

I think you will love this chapter. I'll share my best finance your career tips and also the wisdom of many of the people I have helped over the years.

Here's what one of my business acquaintances, Cho Chan shared with me recently"

Cho Chan is consciously slowing down in his business in order to have time out to reflect about living and what he wants to do next. In order to generate enough cash flow to live on he borrowed $200,000 – the maximum he could borrow from his bank asset using his current set of accounts.

“My view we accumulate assets for are for future benefit of it. In order to change an asset to cash flow one way is to borrow. Many people worry about repayments and increasing debt. Yet the reality is if you can’t spend your savings (your assets are savings – i.e. your house, investments, property, shares etc) what is the point of saving?”

Cho is using this money to buy him two years `of time so that he can build a plan to achieve his next dream – to do exactly what he wants.

Cho knows a thing or two about money - he has had many finance and investment related careers in his 52 years including: “systems analyst, financial planner, systems accountant, financial systems accountant, financial systems consultant, account manager, polytechnic tutor in business, property valuer and property manager and investor.

"The business was roaring at the time. When you are on a treadmill you can’t just run and suddenly stop – or you will crash. You have to take time to slow down. Since 2003 (five years) I have been planning and cutting down expenses.”

The funny thing is that Cho this idea from me. He looked at me and watched how I took time out from my business to reforge my next career path and thought, “If Cassandra can do it I can too!”

Both Cho and I agree that leaping into a new direction with inadequate planning is a recipe for disaster. But so is staying in a career that no longer gives you a thrill. Financing your career maybe the most signicant investment you ever make - paying back huge dividends in all areas of your life. These benefits can include increased health and welll-being, improved rleationships with family and friends, imprved quality of life or, in the longer term, increased salary and benefits.

Resist the tendency to view any borrowings as “debt”. Take a longer term view. As Cho says, “My advise is that if you need to sell or borrow to generate cash flow or to repay your lifestyle – just do it!”

I have two more chapters to edit for section 6 "strategies for success" and then I will be onto the "wrapping it up section." This section is important because this is where you will consolidate all that you have learned and develop a vision and action plan to help ensure your dreams become your future!

Labels: Career Creation, Overcoming setbacks

What would you do if you knew you could not fail? Maybe you would write a book! I think Robert Kyosaki, author and money man, sums it up when he says, "when you tackle your fear and your laziness, you will find the key to your freedom." For me now, after having tackling so many fears for myself:

Leaving an abusive partner - so afraid of supporting myself and my one year old daughter financially and having a mortgage on my own
Falling in love again after my engagement so painfully ended- so afraid I would not survive the pain of loss should it end (which it did!);
Going to University when I was 30 - so scared that I would fail;
Getting a job after 7 years out of the workforce - so scared no one would hire me;
Standing up to a bully boss in my job who threatened to smash my head in - so afraid I would lose my job
Starting my own business - so afraid the phone would never ring;
...and now gradually leaving the business world to pursue my artistic expression..unsure...? fearful? if I can really leave the commerce world behind

but now I am not so sure I have too many fears left to truly hold me back - I have felt the fear and done it anyway. And as Susan Jeffers says: do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.

So going back to Robert's quote I am less sure it is about fear or laziness but more lack of focus and commitment to my heart's desire....

so I am back on track now and making up for time lost yesterday - I have finished the edits on The Challenge Your Fears Chapter and gearing up for edits to "Finance your Career"

I'm going to include the recently shared wisdom's of my friend Cho Chan who advocates leveraging off your assets to buy peace of mind and time prior to making a career move....this may horrify a few of you...but as an accountant Cho knows a thing or two!

I don't know where the day went yesterday but I do know I fell behind re my promise to self to do edits on two chapters a day....may have been those sales in The Joy'ance gallery and all the cool people who came in for chats...ohh and being on line so much and generally not being disciplined....

back on track now....in The Gallery with Tony Bennett wooing me and working on edits for Chapter Twenty-Six

here is the blurb and the image for the chapter “Employment Strategies for Mature Job Seekers” will introduce you to job creation and self-promotion activities tailored to mature job seekers.

the lead in quote is by Lauren Bacall: “I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that. ”

The point of this and the chapter...so many people suffer setbacks when making changes in the mid-years - sometimes their own negative views about aging limit themselves from the start - so they have a negative self-expectancy.

Just today I met a very gloomy artist sitting in my friend Ron's art gallery who introduced herself like so: "I am Nikki, I am a struggling artist." Great affirmation i thought!! Next she said "I have left it too late to do well."

Me, "Do you mind me asking how old you are?"

Her: "i am 50."

Good grief! With that mindset the odds are already stacked against her! Needless to say I challenged (gently) her pessimism and Ron said she left looking like a brand new person.

Too often, tho, it is not the dear mid-life mind set but ageism by employers and recruiters that hinders job search efforts...

So the focus of this chapter “Employment Strategies for Mature Job Seekers” is on ways to focus on age as an asset and the gift of longevity:)

Next up Challenge Your Fears - not too many edits on this section....and a personal fav! I love the exhiliration that comes from feeling the fear and succeeding anyway

My dear friend Cho Chan came in the Joy'ance exhibition today and we got talking over art about my book. Well! Guess what? Cho is thinking about making a dramatic career change. He is so excited about the book that he insisted he pay for it now! That's great....because it means now I am under even more pressure - good pressure - to finish. Not just for Cho (who I now owe money to!!) but for people who have ordered copies before it is published. Gosh at this rate I may run out of copies before I have even got to the print shop!

Let me know if you would like to order now too!

Labels: Motivation, Powerful Creativity, Powerful thinking, The Book

As promised I am keeping you posted with Happy@work updates. I am very happy working on the book:" Happy@work:job hunting for mid-lifers" because I am surrounded by the most amazing art, joyfully created by my wonderful friends.

I think having a office like this is incredible and it definetly helps get my creative juices going!


Today, as I mind the gallery for our collective art exhibition "joy'ance" I am working on the final edits for Part 6 - the section of the book that deals with the important strategies for success.

Finding a job that makes you happy isn’t always easy. If it was, more people would be working in jobs they love. The exercises in “Strategies For Success” will help you identify and overcome any obstacles between you and your goal. Maintaining a positive expectancy, and having a success action plan, will help you successfully navigate your way toward your preferred future.

In this section of the book, I’ll help you:
• Identify possible constraints and develop a positive mindset to overcome them
• Overcome ageism and turn maturity into an asset
• Challenge your fears
• Identify ways to beat any skills gaps
• Beat the money blues and finance your career
• Whip procrastination into shape and stay on track
• Cope with change and uncertainty effectively.

This section is divided into 7 sections headed:

*Overcoming obstacles
*Turning age into an asset
*Employment Strategies for Fifty Somethings
*Challenge your Fears
*Finance Your Career
*Staying on Track
*Transitions are a time of renewal

By tomorrow I hope to have all the section edited, proofed and finished. Then it will be onto Section 7. Wrapping it all up
In this section you will create:
Your happy@work profile
Your Vision for the future
Your unique passion point

Creating these things will help you consolidate all that you have learnt and prepare a concrete and inspiring plan of action.

My amazing reviewer!
Yesterday I received great news from my dear friend, published author and super talented Business Psychologist Jasbindar Singh that she would love: to be a reviewer of my book. That is so fabulous. I can't wait for her feedback.

Labels: Motivation, Powerful Creativity, Powerful thinking, The Book

Yesterday I received a lovely email from Wendy - a lady in Nelson who was the very first person in the world to ever put in an order for the book. Wendy has given me permission to share our correspondence:

"Hi Cassandra
Quite a while ago I placed an order for your book that was due to be published. Can you give me an idea of how far away it is as I have presented a ‘preview’ of the book at one of our AAPNZ, Nelson group meetings and quite a few members are asking me about it."

Here's what I replied:

"Thank you so much for your email and for your active pre-promotion of my book. Wow! I am amazed and very grateful to you for drumming up so much interest.

To be honest I was stalled a bit by the New York agent that took the near completed draft to America and asked me to stop working on it while she talked to publishers.

This agent felt that because I had put so much time into the design of the book she felt that publishers would think I was a control freak and therefore would be difficult to deal with.

I was really surprised by this comment. The design and visual elements of the book are what makes Happy@work so different from anything on the market. It is true that I would hate for "Happy@work: job hunting for mid-lifers" to be reduced to pages and pages of black and white text but I would "bow" to the publishers if I had to -assuming they know best.

Anyway this agent promised the world and delivered nothing - I pushed the publishing date back waiting for her. But now I am back on track and aim to have it finished before my birthday at the end of the month - that would make it a lovely way to celebrate both my birthday and the birth of the book. Can your members wait with me until then?"


Not only are Wendy's members happy to wait but Wendy has also agreed to review the final copy. Wendy has asked for a time line from me :) This is terrific...being accountable in the nicest possible way will motitivate me even more!"


I will be publishing regular updates on The Happy@work blog. Please left me comments to help keep me going...I would love that

Labels: Motivation, Powerful Creativity, Powerful thinking, The Book

I have just flicked to a page of Richard Branson's book, "Let's not screw it, let's just do it" and something he wrote really grabbed my attention.

"We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country" Our biggest challenge, our biggest foe is thrall. The word sounds ancient, but it means anything that imprisons our thinking and prevents us from seeing the reality of our situation."

That word thrall....its really got me thinking....I wonder what imprisions our thinking when it comes to happiness at work...causing so many people to be unhappy?

Find out what's imprisioning you and break free!

Table of Contents:

1. Hello again!
2. Dare to Dream
3. Resources that can help
4. Inspirational Quotes – “New Beginnings”
5. Success Stories
6. Closing Notes
7. A final word and update on Cassandra's creative endeavours
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1. Hello!
Dare to dream!
Spring is here and there is no better time to clean out the old and make way for the new. Sounds easy but where do you start? As you know I am a big fan of beginning with the end in mind…..the end for me always begins with my dreams. In this month’s newsletter I’ll share some simple but effective ways to help you clarify your dreams and some action steps to help bring them into reality.

One of my latest dreams has been to integrate my creativity into my worklife. As you know – this month I have made that happen. Plus, a special bonus is that by collaborating with other artists I have also helped them achieve their dreams too. Check out the blog to share the passionate opening of our “Joy’ance” exhibition. It was so great to see so many of my past coaching clients there. Please do drop in if you live in Wellington – I will be in the gallery personally on Tuesday September the 2nd and would love to see you.


Until then, I hope you find some helpful tips in this month’s newsletter. Feel free to pass it on to any friends who could benefit from some inspiration as we head into spring here in New Zealand

Passionately yours,
Cassandra
ps Last month I was interviewed by the Auckland Herald. Check out the Media Page to down load this interview.

Plus check out the preview and download a sample chapter of http://Happy@Work:Job hunting for mid-lifers

If you haven’t already completed the Happy@work survey we’d love to hear your views
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2. DARE TO DREAM - PRACTICAL STRATEGIES TO CREATE MORE EXCITEMENT IN YOUR LIFE
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1. Collect feedback. One of the most effective ways to get clear about your dream life is to record the feedback that others give you. Today I had lunch with Jasbindar Singh – the very talented author of one of my favourite books
"Get Your Groove Back: how spiritual intelligence can give you the work and life you really want.” She told me she loved my new website www.cassandragaisford.com: “It is more you. It reflects your creative essence, your soul and your life purpose – it is far more expansive. I think that is what you should do. You should be the female equivalent of “Edward de Bono.” Collecting feedback like this energises me and helps me clarify possible dreams that I may want to pursue. Collecting feedback could also help you!

Learn more about how Jasbindar's book can help you live your dreams or buy this fabulous book on-line in our secure webstore

2. Upskill/get inspired – Read books about others already living your dream; listen to seminars. I dream of living and working in France. For the last 6 months I have been collecting articles, tuning into blogs and reading books about people who have made my dream their reality. I’ve also enrolled in French language lessons so that when the opportunity presents I am ready!


One of my client’s Cheree works for the Deaf Association. Here she is at the Joy'ance opening supporting my dream. Her dream is to help as many deaf clients as she can find employment – not just any job but a job they can love. Her work has paid for her to upskill and she has just completed our Certified Career Coach training course. Then yesterday I saw an amazing DVD that was based on the true story of Richard Pimentel, a brilliant public speaker with a troubled past, who returns from Vietnam severely hearing -impaired and finds a new purpose in his landmark efforts on the behalf of Americans with disabilities. Because I love to help people even after the formal programmes have ended I always keep an eye for ways to keep helping my clients live their dreams so I forwarded the name of the DVD and told her to go and get it. I know this will help her continue to learn new skills and have the courage and perseverance to pursue her soul mission.

Look at this lovely feedback I just received from her as I was typing this newsletter for you: “This course has not only re-ignited me but it has set my heart on fire.After so many months of dragging my feet into a job I once loved, I can now kick those heels with joy. My values, interest, passions and goals have now been clarified and I look forward to passing on what I have learnt to my clients.”

It is nice also to have my creativity affirmed – not all coaches work creatively. So many just use bland, rational approaches - in fact, when I attended an international career coaches forum in Venice, Italy experts there were predicting that the number one skill that career coaches needed was to help their clients to have more imagination! My creative, client centered approach to career planning and coach training was definitely appreciated by Cheree “What I enjoyed most about the Coach Training was: the flexibility, the one on one training and the creativity to learn. I also enjoyed the massage (I could tell she was stressed so I paid for her to have a massage!), crayon drawing therapy and of course the post dinner celebration!”

3) Wear your dream – One of my clients, a bank teller, dreamt of being the bank manager one day. He started wearing more professional suits and 6mths later was promoted! Of course he was busy doing other things to help him get noticed, but boosting his image in this way helped him live his dream before it actually happened. If you were living your dream what would you be wearing? Another effective way to wear your dream is to engage all your senses - wear colours that boost your confidence, aromatherapy blends, like orange and jasmine that boost confidence. Aromatherapy can be a great tool for unleashing the creative juices. – try oil blends of bay, coriander, grapefruit white or orange sweet to boost your creative, dream making capacity.

4. Live your dream – What would life look like if you already had the life you dream of? How can you begin to live that dream today? For some of my clients who dream of starting their own business this means having their own business cards. This is a great way to start planning toward their reality – suddenly they have to think about their logo, their name, their contact details etc. The vision of their business card helps propel them into the actions needed. Setting up my website www.cassandragaisford.com was my way of making a global statement of intention. It was, and is, a very public commitment to my dream. It’s also a safe way to give my dream a test run before I cut the safety strings tying me to my past. How could you live your dream?

5. Challenge your fears – Living your dreams can take great courage and often means confronting your fears and challenging unhelpful assumptions. Today over lunch Jasbindar and I played with The Passion Pack. I was telling her how it really is uncanny how it works as an oracle – my clients always pull out exactly the card they need. I was demonstrating this to her and I pulled out the “Fear of Change” card - it asked me “how can you confront your fears safely?” One of the first steps is to acknowledge all the things I am scared of…only then can I set about “problem solving.”

What stands in the way of your dreams? Where there’s a problem there’s a cure! Affirm for what you want

6. Meditate – People often ask me how I manage to stay so positive and juggle so many activities. I meditate regularly – at least once a day for 20 minutes…ideally twice a day if I can. I truly believe in the energising power of meditation to help me stress less and achieve more. Numerous studies have also proven that people who meditate are more creative, successful and resilient.
Eat your way to your dream – feed your mind, body and soul – eat healthy, energising food; exercise regularly and listen to music that keeps you pumped. Some of my favourite “dream” soundtracks are from the aptly named movie “Dream Girls”

7. Challenge negative thinking – What assumptions left untested are blocking the path on your road less travelled?

8. Share your dream – Sharing your dream with others can bring huge benefits including; motivating you to stay on track, supporting you when things get a bit grim, encouraging you when everything is going well and in some cases sharing tasks and responsibilities.

While doing a workshop with acclaimed artist Jane Kellahan I had the good luck to meet fellow aspiring artist Janet Mazenier. I have not known her long but already we are planning to travel to Provence in late May next year and soak up the skills of acclaimed Canadian landscape artist and author Ian Roberts. We are even going to room together – so sharing dreams can even save costs. The same can be said for the Joy’ance exhibition. Not only are Deanna, Amie and I sharing costs, but we are sharing the highs of our sales and media coverage and the lows that can come as we establish ourselves. When one of us is down the other/s are up - together we stay up!

My client Cheree also knows the positive power of sharing a dream and surrounding herself with people that inspire her: Not only did I re-energise her but in turn she has taken what she has learned and re-energized her colleague Karen: “Thanks again for getting me out of the “puddle” and splashing again (she wants to make a big splash for her clients and get them all great jobs!). Karen and I very excited about implementing some of the great ideas that we covered in the course.”

How could you surround yourself with your fans and other like minded people?

10. Visualisation – Bring your dreams into reality. Many of us are visual learners. Words – especially black and white words have very minimal motivational impact. Have a peek at one of my clients dream journal. . Click on the video link of my interview with Brendan Pongia on The Good Morning Show. Check out the Media Page http://www.cassandragaisford.com/media.html.

11. Write it down, make it happen – Knowing what you want and then getting it are pretty closely connected. Affirm for what you want by writing a letter “recalling” how it felt to achieve your goal. Writing can help you clarify what you want, focus your mind on your dreams (not your disappointments), tap into your intuitive guides, and reassure yourself that when the timing is right your dream can be true.

12. Set a goal and reward yourself - I can honestly say that within a goal I achieve nothing. During the few times I feel down it is usually because I have nothing to aspire to – that is until I set myself a challenge and then….whoosh I am like a dog with a bone…unstoppable. Even if I do pause now and then to catch my breath or to change tactics when something temporarily gets in my way.

This brings me to my Happy@work project….yes I did get off track a little waiting for the New York agent to deliver…well she hasn’t….so now I’m getting off that track and getting on a new one…..I’m back to doing it my way….(I love Frank Sinatra’s song “my way” – it’s a great motivator …and one that my daughter sang at my father’s funeral…I must u-tube it so you can hear her!

My goal is to have it totally ready for publication by 29 September and to have sold a minimum of 2000 by April 2008 – my reward will be to stay in Provence for 2 months following the workshop! There I have shared my goal with you! Please help me make it happen! 2000 books at $35 per book will be $70,000 – gosh that’s a lot of money…achieving that goal definitely feels exciting!

3. RESOURCES TO HELP

Life Coaching: being in the love wars can play havoc with your self-esteem, confidence and emotions. Prepare for success by getting these things in order. When you love yourself others will too.

Career coaching: If you are unhappy@work chances are its affecting your love life too. When you do what you love, other loves come too. Get a career makeover this autumn. Career coaching can help you discover your life purpose, get clearer about your passions and goals and tap into proven strategies to help you achieve them.

Check out the Worklife Solutions website for more information about career or life coaching or contact me in person. We offer one off sessions, email coaching and face-to –face session individually tailored to your needs. Cassandra@worklifesolutions.co.nz . I’d love to hear from you.

Books - Listed below are just a few of the wonderful books written by career planning experts. If you find any more brilliant ones please let me know - I’d love to share them with others:

“Write It Down, and Make It Happen" - Henriette Anne Klauser
“It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be” - Paul Arden
“Dream Big” - Ian Falconer
“Get Your Groove Back: how spiritual intelligence can give you the work and life you really want” - Jasbindar Singh. Learn more about how Jaspindar's book can help you live your dreams or buy this fabulous book on-line in our secure webstore


Websites - Listed below are just a few of the websites that address issues related to career changing. Self-help by searching for more on www.google.com. If you find any more brilliant ones please let me know – I’d love to share them with others.

Gift Vouchers – Help someone you love fulfill their potential and achieve greater success in their life. Enquire now about our gift vouchers.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
4. INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES RE DREAMS AND NEW BEGINNINGS

"Spring is nature’s way of saying “let’s party." Robin Williams, US comedian

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his own dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” - Henry Thoreau

"All glory comes from daring to begin." - Eugene F. Ware

"Almost everything comes from nothing." - Henry F. Amiel

“You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” - Zig Ziglar

“Let us live our lives as though all of our dreams have come true and then challenge reality to catch up.” ?


5. SUCCESS STORIES!
Happy@work is gaining momentum - finally the corporate world is waking up to the compelling evidence that helping staff be happy at work is not just a nice to have but a must have. Yee-ha! I can't tell you how delighted I am to be working with national and multi-national clients to create happier, healthier, more humane place to be work.

Passion@work workshops for Colgate Palmolive
Last month I ran several Passion@work workshops for staff at Colgate Palmolive. They had just moved into new offices and wanting to begin with the end in mind chose me to run the first workshops ever held in their gorgeous new training room. Here’s some of the feedback I received:

“It was great to push the message about the importance of passion at work.”
“The most helpful part of the workshop was sharing ideas with the wider group and seeing similarities.”

“I loved the exercise involving the Passion Cards – our topic “Daily Tonic” was particularly interesting.”

Keynote presentation on happiness@work and productivityIn September I will be speaking to the institute that provides a tertiary qualification for Company Secretaries, the members of which are made up of accountants, lawyers and other professional people who manage staff. The institute has discussed the issue of productivity and having read my article in the Dominion on the 6th of February is keen to tap into my knowledge about the direct link between our current workplace productivity problem and the management of staff.

Please contact me if you feel a similar presentation may be of benefit to your organisation. Or, on a more personal note if you would like me or one of my team to help you live and work with passion, achieve the job of your dreams, tap into your intuitive intelligence or help you make positive changes in any area of your life contact me without delay. Mention this newsletter and you will be eligible for our spring promotion – a whopping 20% off the cost of all coaching programmes. Plus you’ll receive a free copy of “You Don’t Make a Leap Without A Gulp.” – a total savings of over $200

Preferred Supplier for Land Information New Zealand

We are also pleased to be riding the waves of success by being selected to be one of Land Information New Zealand's preferred provider of career coaching and leadership coaching services. LINZ has been a great client of Worklife Solutions for many years now and it was affirming to be reselected after a competitive tender process. I can honestly say they are one of the best companies I know re valuing and investing in their staff. Thank you LINZ – we are proud to partner with you.

Returning clients

We are so pleased to be passing on our skills, passion and knowledge to Cheree Walker. It's great to be helping her pursue her dreams again. Not only was she one of my first clients when I began my business but now I am training her to do what I do. Cheree is truly passionate about making a difference - vivre la passion!

If you are an employer and would like to help her in quest to find meaningful work for her deaf clients please contact her via the Deaf Association here in Wellington.



6. A FINAL WORD!
Tap into spring’s inspiring energy – make room for the new and get rid of the old. Life is too short to put up with a less than satisfactory life. Having a spring clean and say goodbye to anything that is zapping your energy and hello to living the career and life of your dreams. Commit to making a fresh start. This may mean leaving unhappy situation, banning negativity or rekindling the sparks of your most passionate, inspiring dreams.

Dust of your adventurous spirit and prepare for some fun this spring.
Passionately yours
Cassandra and the Worklife Solutions team.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
7. CLOSING NOTES and Update re Cassandra's Creative Endeavours
www.cassandragaisford.com is live! Last month I was interviewed by the Auckland Herald on the subject of the great mid-life adventurers. Check out the Media Page to down load this article

Check out the powerful creativity blog for tips and inspiration on work and creativity. You can also have a wee sneak at the opening night photos of Joy'ance

Here is one of the three joys - my fellow artists Amie McCarron, Deanna Gracie and I


Check out our practical and inspiring eBooks on a range of topics including how to find your passion and still pay the bills, overcoming obstacles, and powerhouse interview techniques. http://www.cassandragaisford.com/shop/

You’ll also find gorgeous photos, paintings and other artworks to give your environment a boost. http://www.cassandragaisford.com/shop/

And last but by no means least, please come and visit us at 128 Featherston Street, Wellington for the final days of our Joy’ance art sale. Check out the powerful creativity blog to take a peek at our opening night party.


~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~* ~~
I LOVE TO HEAR YOUR SUCCESS STORIES. PLEASE SEND ME A NOTE!
You can email me at: Cassandra@worklifesolutions.co.nz or info@cassandragaisford.com

Labels: achieving goals, Career Creation, Happiness, Motivation