Ever since I read that business owners should spend at least 40 percent of their time on marketing, I've kept an eye out for interesting opportunities to promote my business.
For example, I signed up to be an exhibitor for three days at the first-ever "Women's Life Expo" in Portland this past weekend. I had no idea who or how many women would come, but since many of my clients are women, and the promoters had given me the opportunity to give a presentation each day, I decided to make the investment in time and money.
I kicked my design skills into high gear and created a "room in a booth", complete with a couch, hassocks, soft lighting and a gorgeous arrangement of French tulips. I stuffed hundreds of mesh bags with French lavender as the requisite "give away", and a memorable way to promote my annual women's retreat to Provence.
When Friday arrived, I moved into my booth and was excited to experience the world of Expo exhibitors. By day's end on Friday, having spent most of the time commiserating with vendors about the paltry number of visitors, I considered packing up and going home to reclaim my weekend.
But, I had made this commitment and decided to stick it out, hoping for a larger crowd on the weekend. While Saturday was more brisk with people coming and going, it was far from what I had hoped as far as attendance at my presentations and opportunities for conversation about Provence or career counseling services.
Since it was the first of its kind in Maine, I don't think there was any way I could have known in advance how effective the Women's Life Expo would be for me. But, perhaps I should have thought twice about committing myself to a second Expo without having experienced the first. The first ever "Boomer Expo" takes place May 2,3,4, and considering the burgeoning number of boomers and their interest in reinventing themselves, I'm hoping the experience will be rewarding for me and those who attend this Expo. How about visiting me there?
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Upcoming events featuring or sponsored by Heart At Work
April 12 Yarmouth Wellness Fair, 10-2pm Yarmouth High School
April 19-May 10: Saturday Career Workshop Series with Amy Jaffe
Details: http://www.barbarababkirk.com/amy.html
May 2,3,4 - Boomer Expo, Portland Sports Complex, Barbara will give a talk on Reinventing Yourself in the Second Half of Life.
May 8: HR Conventionn at the Samoset Resort in Rockport: Barbara and Amy Jaffe, will co-present a workshop: "Averting Quarterlife and Midlife Crises in Your Workplace: 5 Key Retention Strategies".
May 17 & 18: Your Second Half Of Life: A Unique Couples Retreat facilitated by Barbara and Doug Babkirk - Danforth Inn, Portland, ME
September 21-27: Barbara's annual Women's Retreat in Provence. Now accepting registrations.
Major insights in life can happen quite unexpectedly.
Though I did not know exactly why I was going or what would come of it, I knew months ago that I would spend this past weekend in Annapolis at a seminar featuring poet and international lecturer, David Whyte.
While I knew that Maryland would be heralding spring while here in Maine it still looked like deep winter, and that I could always use the CEU's for my counseling license, I had an intuitive hunch that another reason might emerge as the real explanation for my attendance.
The lecture hall at St. John's College was filled with anticipation when David addressed participants with his engaging and unique style of using poetry to inform and guide his audience through life's challenges. The theme of the weekend was "Exploring the Paradox: Navigating Through Life's Transitions", and David did not waste any time diving into the topic. Reciting words from Yeats, Shakespeare and his own poems, David presented us with moving examples of the essential tension we hold in our lives between safety and risk, love and grief and control and letting go.
All this was fascinating and informative. But it was this provocative question that moved me in a way I was not expecting. "What are you not experiencing in your life because of your focused attention on those things that make you feel in control or safe?
This question piqued my curiosity and imagination. While journaling and conversing with other participants, I realized that a shift had occurred within me. I found that I more fully understood that which theologian and author Thomas Moore referenced when he said "Deep changes follow shifts in the imagination."
I'm not at all clear how this shift will actually play out in my life, but like the Annapolis seminar, it will be just the right experience.
Here are some questions I'd like to pass on to you from the seminar:
- What need to control or fear is keeping your from a new and different life experience?
- When and how were you last inspired to change some aspect of your life?
- How could your imagination help you to expand or shift your perspective on something you desire?
Upcoming events featuring or sponsored by Heart At Work
April 4,5.6: Women's Life Expo, Portland. Barbara presents: Live Your Life. Love Your Work At Any Age.
April 12-May 1: Through the Portal, a personal and professional development series for women facilitated by Barbara Babkirk and Susanna Liller.
April 19-May 10: Saturday Career Workshop Series with Amy Jaffe
Details: http://www.barbarababkirk.com/amy.html
May 8: HR Conventionn at the Samoset Resort in Rockport: Barbara and Amy Jaffe, will co-present a workshop: "Averting Quarterlife and Midlife Crises in Your Workplace: 5 Key Retention Strategies".
September 21-27: Barbara's annual Women's Retreat in Provence.
Is there a work-related decision that keeps nagging you? Do you feel stuck and not sure why you are unable to take the necessary steps to get off the dime?
Not a work week goes by that I don't hear clients describe some type of indecision that keeps them up at night or plagues them during the day. Indecision occurs for many reasons, with the most common linked to stress or fear.
When you are overly stressed, you might experience an array of physiological and emotional effects. From confusion, constant worry or a racing mind, to feeling overwhelmed, apathetic and helpless, the impact of stress directly impedes your ability to make decisions or focus clearly on difficult matters that demand your attention.
Just when you think stress must be the culprit in your indecisiveness, you might also consider how fear plays a part. Fear, as a co-conspirator in indecision, has you obsess about worst case scenarios associated with your decision that reflect all that you don't want to happen. Fear grabs your attention, and sets up a physical and emotional response of fight or flight, as though what you were imagining was actually true.
With stress and fear at work, it's next to impossible to think clearly enough to resolve difficult issues.
Your way out of indecision may not be to face into the issue, but to look in another direction and lessen the factors that are setting up barriers. For example, you might engage in a simple activity that has a calming effect on you, or one that takes you out of your day to day responsibilities, even for an hour or two. A walk in nature can immediately help restore balance by reducing stress.
When fear controls your thoughts, you are caught up in a future scenario that has not yet happened and you respond as though it was your current reality. Recognizing this phenomenon at work is the first step to gaining control over your fear. It's important to breathe deeply as you begin to refocus your thoughts on the outcome you want.
It may take discipline to resist the overactivity that leads to stress or those worrisome ideas that keep you in fear. But, the satisfaction from making a decision should make the effort all worthwhile.
1. Shift Your Catastrophic Thinking and Expect Good Things.
Waiting for an outcome is difficult. It’s the in-between time that has you conjure up “what if” scenarios that serve no purpose at all. You may think you need to plan out all possibilities in order to be prepared for anything—an impossible task when you really consider it. Plus, in trying to cover all the bases, you’re likely to imagine only negative possibilities that raise your anxiety and add more stress to your situation.
Why not ponder and expect the outcome you truly desire rather than some result you dread? This shift only requires awareness of your thoughts and the ability to clearly identify your true goal. It may take several attempts to shift your thought pattern from negative outcomes to those that truly reflect your goal, but you should notice an immediate feeling of relief when you imagine a positive, rather than a negative expectation.
2. Focus Time and Attention on Things You Can Control.
Be efficient and avoid wasting energy on trying to change people or things beyond your scope of control. When you focus on your own thoughts and behaviors and consider what you can do to move closer to your goals, you are assured of better success.
3. Let Go of When and How You Might Achieve Your Goal.
Typically, there’s an element of surrender in the process of achieving a certain outcome or desired goal. While you might like to predict the process from beginning to end, it’s just not possible since most outcomes involve other people and events—all of which have their own timeframes. Keep your focus on what it is you want, rather than on when or exactly how you’ll achieve it and be open to possibilities you had not imagined.
Heart At Work Career Workshops
offered by Amy Jaffe, MA:
Effective Resumes
Job Search Strategy
Advanced Interviewing
Informational Interviewing
Weeknights and Saturday mornings-$30 each
261 Main Street - Yarmouth
Call Amy for details: 207-846-0644
or email: amy@heartatwork.biz
People who are passionate about their work get noticed.
This past weekend, I was reminded that people who love their work can make a significant on everyone around them. An array of talented people provided services at my daughter's wedding last Saturday. It was an amazing event that was executed with an amazing attention to detail and consistent graciousness. Guests continue to contact me with gratitude and reflections on how it all came together seamlessly.
Anyone who has planned a major gathering and ended up pleased with the outcome knows that extensive planning and teamwork make it all happen. When you add professionals who feel connected to and proud of their work, the event can be extraordinary.
From the efficient and congenial event staff at The Woodlands Club and the extraordinarily talented Boston-based dance band, The Allnighters, to the creative and innovative team at FloraFauna Designs (florafaunadesigns@yahoo.com), who set an elegant, yet casual ambiance, the wedding ceremony and reception were orchestrated by people who exuded confidence in and love for their work.
Considering the fact that most of my career counseling clients seek work that they can love and feel satisfied about, it was heartening to see so many individuals who seemed to have achieved this goal in their work lives.
For those of you who also desire work that connects you with your passion, be hopeful in your search. Recognize what engages you in life and do more of it. Be wholehearted in what you do and it can have a ripple effect to your work. Before you know it, you may experience work in a new way.
A friend of mine recently shared the good news that she had realized several important goals in her life. Remembering a time not long ago when she felt frustrated and stuck, I asked her what she thought was key to the dramatic shift.
I could tell that she was not entirely clear about it, but that the concept of a key element intrigued her. In search of an answer, she began to relay the chronology of events. There came a point when it was evident to both of us that the shift from frustration to momentum occurred after she took action on one goal in particular.
That goal was significant because it was the one out of three over which she had entire control. Acting on her desire to reach a goal without having to wait for someone to act or something to happen was empowering and motivating. Her momentum increased and before she knew it, the other two goals started to come together to the point where she could step in and do what was needed to complete them.
Using my friend's success as a guide, here are a few simple, yet effective steps you can take to move closer to your goals:
1. Make a list of what you want and recognize what is actually in your control.
2. Focus your wholehearted attention and act on what you can do something about.
3. Take stock to determine whether or not progress has shifted around your other goals to the point where you can now take action.
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I'll be speaking at the following upcoming events and invite you to attend:
"Get Beyond the Midlife Crisis: Life and Work in the Second Half of Life" Saturday, May 19, 11:45am, Goodall Hospital's Annual Women's Expo.
"Defining Your Edge: Key Elements To Increase Your Value in the Marketplace", eWomenNetwork Luncheon, Wednesday, May 23, 11am, Portland Country Club, Falmouth, Maine.
This year's Women's Retreat in Provence is full! Email me if you'd like to be notified about the 2008 trip.
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