How my LEAP in 2013 might help your career (and your well-being) today.

For the past six weeks, we've been on the roller-coaster called life with Covid-19. From Denver, Colorado to Taolagnaro, Madagascar (where I live), and all around the world, we've seen people come together (and stay home) to try and understand this #newnormal.

I've found myself digging deep into my inner resources to stay afloat and support the people in my life, grateful that I chose to study positive psychology and coaching over the last few years, as I've definitely been testing my own tool-box.

In observing the world, I've also seen amazing out-pourings of human connection, grit, and resilience. I've seen many companies put their #peoplefirst and entire communities band together to help one another. And while we humans may have some negatives, I choose to focus on our capacity for compassion and our ability to connect and create.

Humanity done right is astounding. From Zoom to howling at the moon, we will come through this stronger and better. I am sure of it.

In all of this, I've been asking myself how I can best help most people find peace, happiness, and WORK during this time of massive lay-offs and working from home. And I realized that what I could do is tell my own story. While also actively sharing some of the tools in my toolboxes, such as #jobcrafting, #resumewriting, and #strengthsbasedcoaching.

Generally speaking, as a Career Coach, I avoid talking about myself so that I can best focus on my clients. In this "new normal" however, I want you to know that you are not alone. Let me start with a short story.

Stepping into our FEARS

For the last decade, I've set "birthday" resolutions each year on my birthday in April. In 2013, when I turned 35, I pledged to do things that scared me. As in, if I found myself not doing something because I was scared, I had to check-in with "why" and if it was "just fear" then I had to do the thing that scared me.

A few weeks later, on a trip to France visiting my husband (we'd married in Vegas in 2012 but were not yet living in the same country), we found ourselves enjoying a lazy Sunday lunch. We were seated outside at a farm-house restaurant in the Pays Basque in the southwest of France, looking up a beautiful mountain, home to some of France's best Paragliding. We'd given a ride to a friend who travels the world to visit different paragliding spots.

While eating steak-frites and sipping red wine, our friend suggested that I try Paragliding. In my head, my response was ready to go, no-no, not today, maybe another time when I am more "prepared." And then I remember my birthday pledge. When would I ever be more prepared? The weather was beautiful, and the only real reason I could think of to say "no" was, "I am scared!" And, so in honor of my birthday pledge, I said "yes!"

The Worst-Case Scenario

To get to the top of the mountain, we took a small train pulled by a tractor. The ride was long, slow, and gave me plenty of time to cultivate my anxiety and all the potential "worst-case scenarios." When we got to the top, Kai, my Norwegian flight partner, was prepared for me.

Essentially pushing me out of the train, he pushed my gear into my arms and gestured for me to follow him. We walked over to an open space and he immediately started to explain how to get into the gear. Kai didn't let me stop to think, instead, he calmly showed me what to do, strapped me in, explained how to run, and then keep running, and running some more. And, so we did.

We ran right off the side of the mountain.

And then the wind caught us. It was amazing. Paragliding is 1/3 helium balloon, 1/3 secure baby a bouncy swing, and 1/3 pure bird. The experience was literally uplifting. Exhilarating. And while so much *could* go wrong, it didn't.

Job Searching is a bit like Paragliding.

It can be terrifying, but once you take the leap, the real leap, it can also be fantastic.

The best time to look for a job is when we already have a job. There is security in job searching while employed. Unless, of course, our work-place is toxic or we are for some other reason drained energetically from a 2-hour commute or do-ing work we hate.

Moments of burnout and illness are not the best times to look for a job. It can take near superhuman powers to manage a job search on a good day, let alone a bad day, this is, of course, one of the reasons career counselors and career coaches exist.

Job searching without a current job, is, of course, also compounded by the fact that financially speaking, we often need or want that new job, YESTERDAY.

I've done both. I've searched while employed and while unemployed. And guess what, I always found work. Always.

My 2013 Journey Into Vulnerability through a Leap of Faith

In 2013, I took a second leap of faith.

This time was not off the side of a mountain but over an ocean.

In July 2013, I quit what had been my dream job in Colorado, packed my bags, and moved overseas to join my husband (a soldier in the French SAS). I had some savings, but not a lot. Everyone told me I was so brave -- that watching the story of my life was like going to the movies -- inside I was nervous as heck.

The only thing that kept me going was knowing that I'd already survived a divorce and that I was living my life on my own terms. I was where I was because of the choices I'd made.

I was pretty clear about what I didn't want to do. I knew I didn't want to go back to an office, and I knew that I didn't want to work for anyone else. I did know that my future work would need to put family first, then work.

At the same time, I had no idea what I wanted to do when it came to working. I knew I wanted more than a paycheck, and I knew that, for the most part, my previous 20 or so jobs hadn't been quite the right fit.

Arriving in France

After exploring my work options in our region of France with the employment office, I quickly realized that the job market it France is nothing like the USA. Salaries in France are quite low, and almost everything requires some sort of special education.

In France, you don't get hired for being smart or working hard or having significant previous work experience. In France, you get interviewed, and maybe hired, if you have a special certificate that says you can, for example, work in a hotel. Even if you have never actually worked in a hotel.

And so, with 10+ years of hospitality experience, including managing entire departments, I was told I need a "certificate" to be considered even for an entry-level position.

Bah. No, thank you.

I was quickly reminded that I wanted to work on my own terms and not anyone else's.

Shortly after, a British friend who worked as a Virtual Business Manager, recommended I check out Odesk (now Upwork). I got a few gigs writing blogs, ghostwriting, and writing sales copy. I made some money (fun!) and remembered (again) that I didn't want to work for anyone else (not so fun).

Fast forward to 2015. I'd done ok with Odesk for a while, but shortly after becoming UpWork, things changed. Upwork claims to support Freelancers but is truly a grand marketing scheme in which a few corporates make huge money off the backs of laborers the world over -- it is the 21st-century "white-collar" garment factory. (Feel free to ask me another day about the ways they take advantage of workers.)

Feeling Stuck

What next? I knew I needed to do something different, so I called my Aunt Betty. She'd been a successful high school (career) counselor for many years, and I'd always been impressed by how her students stayed in touch with her long after they went off into the world (and she retired).

Aunt Betty told me to look back at my past and figure out what it was that had carried me through all my different jobs. She told me to look for moments that I'd got lost in the flow, and what I was both good at AND (this is important) and that I ENJOYED.

WRITING. And communicating.

I realized I could write anything that I'd written my way into numerous interviews and promotions. I'd earned my previous dream job by writing a 17-page three-year resource development plan -- even though I'd never before been the Executive Director of an NGO.

Writing for me is like a fish swimming in the water.

Once I'd identified writing as a common thread, I realized I should look back at my StrengthsFinder results from a few years before (I talked about that in last week's email).

Strategy. Communication. Input. Individualization. Maximizer.

I thought about the writing jobs I'd done over the last few years and identified which posts I'd enjoyed most. And then I thought about what strengths I'd used on these jobs -- why did I enjoy them so much?

Resume Writing.

In late 2014 an acquaintance in Colorado hired me to update his resume and LinkedIn. And I started offering to write resumes for friends and family. A few people gave me the feedback that the questions I'd asked as part of my resume writing process, gave them a complete reframe on their work and life, and that they'd decided to pivot their career paths after working with me!

Around the time that I realized I wanted to focus on resume writing, my original resume client asked me to update his once again. This same client started to refer me to his friends to write their resumes and LinkedIn profiles, who then referred me to their friends and families. Suddenly I felt like a legitimate resume writer, and at the same time, I realized that I was in love with writing resumes.

About six months later, just as I was realizing I wanted to focus on resume writing, he asked to update it again.

The more I wrote resumes, guiding, and advising clients through the job search process, I also began to realize that I was a pretty darn, good career coach.

Imposter Syndrome

Except, I didn't think it was a "real" job. My work abashed me. And I experienced a major bout of "I'm a fraud," otherwise known as imposter syndrome. I got that my desire to make an impact, my worldview about work and putting people first, could best be honored by writing resumes. And, I understood that resume writing and career coaching allowed me to help smart, hard-working people find new jobs and progress in their careers. But I still couldn't figure out how to make it a "full-time job," especially when I felt like I should really do something "useful" with y life like being an attorney. (ahem)

And so, when my first resume client also offered me a job as his virtual assistant, I took it. Working for someone else validated me. And while I wanted to be independent, this "Boss" was different. He valued my strengths in strategy and communication. He trusted the maximizer in me. He gave me the freedom to listen and learn, celebrating my strength at collecting information. He was motivated enough to please my maximizer and vulnerable (honest) enough that I could leverage my strength in individualization, customizing my work to him and his business needs.

While working for him part-time, I continued to focus on becoming the best resume writer I could be. This job was a gift because it gave me the freedom to create my own path while still making an albeit small but consistent income. As part of this, I studied "official" resume writing, I dove into the field of Applied Positive Psychology, and I learned about Life Coaching.

Most importantly, however, I learned to recognize what I did differently from many resume writers. I discovered that I was on the cutting edge of disrupting traditional resumes -- not by creating snazzy (and useless) templates -- but by changing the content.

My Secret Sauce: Be Do Be Do

The SECRET to my resume writing is that I don't write text-book resumes. Instead, I get to know a person and his or her values, goals, and strengths first. Then I work to understand the PAIN points for the job that this individual wants to target so that we can powerfully and effectively connect these experiences and strengths back to the pain points of their chosen industry/job/career.  

I look at how my clients BE. And what they DO. I help them understand if they are BEing true to their values and goals or someone else's. And then I help them to understand how what they DO is unique and powerful.

In working with me, my clients SEE how what they DO solves a PROBLEM. They learn to tell the right story in their resume (and LinkedIn) and the interview process. They get excited about BEing themselves and about chasing their dreams.

How this helps you.

If you feel stuck or frustrated at work, you are not alone. I acknowledge you. And I can point you in the direction of HOPE.

Hope is the ability to articulate your vision for the future and to explain your plan for getting there while being sure not to let those around you mistake humility for mediocrity.

Job Crafting

First, you might try to job craft -- figuring out what it is that you love in your current work, alongside what it is that is making you miserable. With this awareness, you can work with your team or manager to resolve the issues that are causing your problems, while also focusing on what it is you love. Maybe you want to take on a particular project. Often, the most significant change we can make is simply to move from denial to awareness. Once you are aware of your needs, you can choose to make your job work for you. Or not.

If you choose not to make your job work, you can find a new job. If you already quit, or you don't have a job, you can still find a new job. Or you can create a position where there wasn't one before. Or maybe you want to take on a part-time position or side-gig that gives you the confidence, cash, and freedom to build out your own business or next goal (think about my Virtual Assistant job mentioned above).

How?

First, let me be a broken record, clarify your values, strengths, and needs. Create a vision for where you want to be and figure out what resources you have at hand. And then, put everything you have in going for that goal.

Do make sure that it is a smart+ goal.

• Specific
• Measurable
• Actionable
• Realistic
• Timebound
• + accountable

+ Accountable

What does that mean? It means that you can articulate your goal and your vision for how you are going to get there and that you are not afraid to share this with your inner circle or those who can support you. It means committing to taking action and taking on risk.

Ready to dive into how your values, strengths, and needs playout?

Join me for a free resume writing webinar or coaching program (individual and small-group). Read about what I offer here. And connect with me on LinkedIn.

Thank you for reading. I hope that it has brought you a little hope and joy! And, if you know anyone who might benefit, I invite you to forward this email (see below).

Your Coach,

Alison