Spring is a great time to clear out and clean up. Spring cleaning isn’t as popular as it was when we were kids, but it still has merit. Getting everything clean and fresh, making everything lighter and brighter, and removing clutter are great ideas.
Spring is also a wonderful time to take stock and clean up and clear out things in our lives that hold us back or bog us down. It is a good time to mend broken relationships, extend forgiveness, and deal with the problems and other baggage that is slowing our progress.
Here’s an action plan that I think can work for most of us. If there are things that don’t apply to you, just skip over them for a week. Each week, do the following:
- Deal with one problem in your life
- Make one critical decision you have been deferring Ø Mend one broken relationship
- Forgive one person
- Celebrate how much better you feel.
“We must not wish for the disappearance of our troubles but for the grace to transform them.” — Simone Weil
Share with us some of your spring cleaning plans by commenting here.
News reports are fairly consistent in reporting that one of the demographic groups hit hardest by the economic crisis are women in their 50s and 60s. If you are among the group of women in this age group who have lost your previous job, you might want to read a very insightful article in Forbes. The article by Judith H. Dobrzynski is entitled “Why Older Women Are Going Back to Work.” (www.forbes.com/2010/03/16/retirement-age-job-search-forbes-woman-net- worth-changing-careers_2.html)
Many women who are being laid off from executive management/leadership positions are losing both the job and a very good salary. Most of these women are not ready to retire. Some choose to continue to work because they want to work. Others will continue to work because they need the salary. But most of the women in this group are finding it necessary to make some major adjustments in expectations and working roles.
The article concludes, “We are at a point where we still want to work, but we want something different, like an ‘encore’ career,” she says. “I want to work and need to work, but I know myself better now. And now that my children are grown, I can look around and figure out what I really want to do.”
If you do not know what you want to do next – the nature of your encore career – or how to adapt to the loss of authority or power or control, or even how to cope with the need to make significant life changes to prepare for whatever is next, I encourage you to attend one of my seminars or the Dream Big, Live Big Event (www.DreamBigLiveBigEvent.com) in May. Even better, call me or send me an e-mail. I can help you discover what’s next in your life and embrace the future with hope and confidence.
Are you ready to start your encore career? Tell me here.
March 23, 2010 – 12:18 pm
In the current economic and business environment, many people throughout the world are finding their lives making unexpected turns. Some people have been confronted by the need to make so many major changes in their lives that they say they feel like a rudderless boat tossed by high seas.
Sometimes life does present us with challenges that cause us to re-think our basic priorities and values. I don’t want for a moment to undermine the struggles many are experiencing in these days. But there really are silver linings in many dark clouds. The challenge is to rein in the panic, stop to take a deep breath, and take a fresh look at the situation. We often find new directions, revised values and renewed hope if we can center into ourselves long enough to take a fresh look at life.
Here is a way to re-think your situation:
- Stop, sit, breathe, and calm yourself
- Ask yourself what it is that you fear most? What is the worst that could happen?
- Think about how it would change your life it the worst did happen.
- Now spend some time (several days) thinking about how you could turn that bad situation into a source of hope or excitement.
Include some of the above suggestions in your daily plan and let me know how it works for you by sharing in the comment box.
