Career Advice?
Early in my career a well-intended business person told me, “Keep your personal life and your business life separated.” At the time, I remember questioning that advice. Perhaps if I had pursued a career in Corporate America that Industrial Age advice might have served me well.
I ignored that advice and followed my heart with the guidance of my head.
Today, I wholeheartedly believe just the opposite is not only true but the healthiest approach to living life and having well-being in your person, work, and relationships.
I’ve been a business owner for over 50 years.
It started with selling candy on the school bus. I tended to eat my profits. My older brother did collections and my parents’ dental plan covered the cavities. Heading down and staying on a path of independent business ownership eventually led me to be in the business of helping clients integrate their work and life to be on-purpose. For over 25 years, I’ve been sharing that message with anyone who would listen. Today, the world is ready and hearing this message.
But what if your life feels compartmentalized, scattered, and struggling with a Tough Shift? Now what? The disintegration of life and work may be an effective (and necessary) survival tool for working ill-fitted jobs, but is dying better than thriving?
Integration of life and work is where it’s at.
On-Purpose can help you to live into your greater calling and find your happiness.
Put on-purpose business principles and planning to use in your personal and work life. As a business advisor my focus is principally on company growth through improving the business acumen and leadership capacity of the people within a well-defined business strategy. We help our clients create On-Purpose Business Plans. You can do the same for your career by creating a life and career plan, especially leveraging ONPURPOSE.me, the online 2-word purpose statement discovery tool.
Over the years, many a client has come to me seeking life and career advice.
Usually, the call comes when they’re in the midst of a tough shift—job loss or job dissatisfaction. Most of us struggle with time management, but that isn’t the underlying issue. We’re fighting financial worries, but that isn’t the true problem either. We’re trying to steady a shaken confidence, but that isn’t the problem.
The real problem is we haven’t identified what’s most important … really important–willing-to-pay-the-price-important.
- We take on too much.
- We spread ourselves thin.
- We never develop our true strengths, passion, and purpose.
The idea of spreading our risks actually compounds it. Try excelling at something you’re not called to do. No amount of extra time, energy, and effort can produce a truly satisfying result. We’re simply off-purpose. What a waste!
If you find yourself in the midst of a tough shift, such as out of work, underemployed, on-the-fence about your future, or downright unhappy in your present job, then On-Purpose® is a fun, workable process designed to free you to be true to who you are.
Here are some suggested resources:
- Read The On-Purpose Person.
- Run Want Lists and Tournaments to get very clear about what’s most immediately important. Use The Discovery Guide free preview.
Mary Tomlinson rocks as an On-Purpose Personal Leadership Coach - Hire a coach to help you. There are plenty of talented, capable “life coaches” available. Mary Tomlinson is delightfully exceptional at walking clients through the entire On-Purpose personal planning process using On-Purpose Peace. We also have other recommendations to On-Purpose Pros as life and career coaches.
- Make appointments for your dream! If you don’t, no one else will. You’ll always be subject to fulfilling the dreams of others while your dream dissipates through the days spent instead of invested.
Go into this planning process with a focus on your life and you’ll come out with a life and career plan that informs your vocational aspirations.
Smooth out the tough shift and step your life into a higher gear—on-purpose!
