Browse published articles attributed to Deborah Brown-Volkman, PCC, with full-archive search.
How do you feel at work? Are you tired throughout the day? Being tired and having low energy is common in the workplace. How can it not be? You’ve probably been getting up early five days or more per week for years. You probably get home late from work and go to bed late. Getting eight hours of ...
Are you facing a challenge in your career that seems insurmountable? Are you unsure how to handle it? Do you wish that overcoming your challenge was easier? No one really wants things to be tough. Yes, we may know deep down that tough makes us stronger, but when we are going through a situation ourselves, easy is the choice we would make if we could.
Are you caught up in the day to day doldrums of your career? The New Year is here. This means, it’s a perfect time to complete the previous year and start fresh. If you haven’t been passionate about your career in a while, capitalize on this time of the year to begin again. If you’ve lost your ...
We are an instant gratification society. We are accustomed to Instant access to food, drink, and our favorite TV programs. Instant access to books, newspapers, and information. Instant access to pretty much whatever we want when we want it. Unfortunately, instant gratification does not happen to your career. Instead, career development requires persistence and patience.
Are you frustrated in your career? Not where you thought you would be or want to be currently? Frustration is normal is today’s economy. Who can blame anyone for being upset? One day you got up and went to work, and the next day that job was gone or the office environment was different. Things around you have changed and you do not like it. You may be thinking about how frustrated you are on a daily basis. How bad is your career frustration? Has it taken over your life?
Are you working on your career goals regularly or just thinking about them? Are you moving forward a little bit every day or waiting for the right time to begin? Goals don’t get realized on their own. They get completed and achieved when you are working on them. Work on your goals and you will reach them. Work on something else and your goals will take a back seat.
Do Resumes Make You Crazy? What to put on a resume can be daunting, frustrating, and upsetting. Will I cover all the bases? Will my accomplishments come across? How long should my resume be? And, what format? The stress and anxiety builds inside and doesn’t subside. Resumes scare even the most seasoned worker. There are rules, both perceived and real, that leave people confused and afraid to get it wrong.
People come to me all the time because they are unhappy in their careers and are not sure what to do about it. They tell me the reasons they don’t have what they want; the economy, their company; some are even honest enough to blame themselves. They are all facing tough challenges, either internal or exte al.
I know what it feels like to be trapped in a career. You dread going to work, but believe you have no options. You dream of greater things, but don’t know or don’t believe you can get them. You feel hopeless, powerless, and alone. What’s missing is the bigger picture of where you are headed. Without a destination, you are like a leaf on a tree going where the wind takes you, rather than being the tree that stands strong despite the weather. A destination helps you weather the storm. In addition, you aren’t trapped in the day to day anymore because you know where you are headed.
Are you happy in your career or just going through the motions? Do you know it’s time to act, but you don’t want to? Are you pushing yourself to do more, and be more, or are you too comfortable being comfortable? Making a change in your career involves work, and not everyone likes to do work. Whether it’s a new job, a new career, or a new way of dealing with a problem at work, challenging situations do not change without your active participation.
If you compared you career to the Wizard of Oz, would you be at the start of the path, where the Lion lacked courage, the Tin Man had no heart, and the Scarecrow had no brain? Or, would you be Dorothy when she was moving forward to find her way back home or Dorothy in the beginning of the movie ...
Most people look for approval from the outside. They want to feel good about their choices and career path. They want validation that they are doing the right things at the right time and are being understood and respected for their decisions. After all, who doesn’t want to hear the sound of applause or cheers due to their efforts? The truth is approval makes us feel better about ourselves.
Expect to have a wonderful idealist career all the time? If the answer is yes, then you are expecting too much. This is not to say that you are destined to have an unhappy career. It does mean that your career has its ups and downs and it's all part of your journey to true career satisfaction. Your career spans many years, and in some cases, 30, 40, 50 years or longer. Just because of the sheer number of years is indication that you will have problems at some point.
Are you out of balance in your career? You know you are when your career is all you think about. You worry constantly about where your career is headed. You believe that you can’t be happy until your career problems are solved. And, it might be starting to affect your health. Balance is a tough concept is today’s workplace. There are more demands, more stress, and more reasons to feel dissatisfied or unfulfilled by what you do. You may want to be balanced, but don’t know where to start. Or, you may have tried, but balance seems to be this elusive concept you can’t achieve.
No matter where you are in your career, today is a brand new day. It does not matter how many jobs or gaps you have on your resume. It does not matter whether you once led a big project that failed or went nowhere. It does not matter if you tell yourself regularly that you should be somewhere ...
How do you feel today? Do you feel good with lots of energy? Or, do you feel drained and unable to get into the day? How you feel at work is directly related to what you put into your body. Had a cup of coffee with 2 spoonfuls of sugar and a donut this morning? In a few hours you will be ...
Your career is a series of choices. Some are good and some are not so good. But either way, you are the person doing the choosing. At times it may feel like you have no choice, or someone else is making the choices for you, but the truth is you have more power over what you choose than you ...
Many people I speak with tell me they want to make a difference. They want to contribute at work, do more, and make an impact in their career. But when asked if they are making that difference, the answer is usually NO. Not due to lack of want, but lack of courage, direction, or a plan. During the course of their careers, many people wait for things to happen. They wait for a raise, promotion, or ideal assignment. They wait to be called back on an interview or to hear about a job they’ve applied to. A lot of waiting. Not always a lot of doing.
Are you having a tough time in your career? Have you been laid off and are still looking for work? Are you overworked, stressed, and tired in your present position, and are unable to visualize a solution? Sometimes we believe it is the economy's sole fault that we are having such a difficult and frustrating time. And, we have a long list of evidence to prove our beliefs. People around us are getting laid off or can’t find a job. Every day another upsetting story appears that reinforces our fear. We worry about our future, and wonder what will happen to us.
Most people are embarrassed if they are unemployed. They feel like they failed and are ashamed to talk about their current status. Or, they are back to work after a long stretch of not working, but are worried it might not last. Thus, their fears prevent them from performing as well as they could.
What are you wishing for in your career? More money? Recognition? Work/life balance? A new job or career? A wish is something that you long for or desire. Wishes can be big like wanting a major change in your career or small like having fewer meetings to attend. Wishes are good because they ...
Some people talk about “belief” as this thing that only works for people who are successful. Ask these successful people what drives their success, and they’ll often mention positive thinking and affirmations. But people who struggle often attribute the success of others to “good luck” and their own struggles with “bad luck.”
Are you focused on the past or the potential your future holds? Many people can’t let go of something that happened a long time ago. Maybe it was a conversation you had, or didn’t have. Maybe it was a project you should have taken, or one that you let pass by. Maybe it was something you said on ...
A sudden job loss can be very unsettling, and it makes a person look inside in order to get perspective on their situation. I was a person that was laid off too a few years back, so I know what it is like to not have a job to go to. I feel fortunate, though, that I was building my coaching ...