Sep 30 - Update Your Résumé Month

Day 30 - YOU CAN DO IT

“Don’t let money influence your career choice. It should be something you would gladly pay someone else to let you do!! When you can identify what that is, then you’ve found the career you were born to have!!” – Laurie J. James

I am accustomed to central heat during the cold and wet days of south Louisiana winters. One day, I turned on our beautiful fireplace and enjoyed the glowing embers for a few moments. I moved over to the couch and snuggled under my blanket. About 5 minutes later, my husband came rushing into the room asking why the house smelled like gas!! Yep, I had forgotten to open the flue and our home was filling with carbon monoxide!! YIKES!!

In our daily lives, we can do everything right but somehow forget to open our own flue … our hearts!! Clearing the heart path lets us become vessels for ideas, blessings, good deeds, and other necessary life-experiences!! You can do it, if you position yourself as a CONDUIT:

C – Concentrate on opportunities that can positively help you and others. We never know what this will look like, so focus on being open to new opportunities. With each new day, there are always fresh ways to be great!!

O – Own who you are. We were all given a finite number of skills to use. Find your niche and embrace it!! While your personal brand may not sound exciting to you, it may be a service or skill that others need. The best way to get positive results is to take ownership of your skills and then share them in your career and life.

N – Navigate difficult waters carefully. Sometimes we tend to lack self-worth and start to believe the negative things that others send our way. Get on your personal road to self-discovery and embrace those things that make you unique. Strengthen your armor to navigate the difficulties that come your way … and they will always come. That’s the circle of life.

D – Develop a career bucket list. Unlock your own potential by trying new things. If money were not an issue, what type of career would you choose? When you start embracing your personal desires and interests, the career blessings will come your way. If you are already in your perfect career, assess if you’re doing the best that you can to help yourself and help others. If not, unlock different ways of doing what you were meant to do.

U – Use every contact in your contact sphere as a vessel to bless others. Social media alone could keep you busy with a task list of “to do’s” for at least an hour a day. Send out birthday messages through Facebook and LinkedIn. You will make someone’s day and (possibly) help them think of ways to bless you!!

I – Intuition is a powerful thing within each of us. Embrace it, and you will learn to instinctively tell the best decisions from the bad ones. Be still and listen to your gut, your heart, your secret desires. You’ll be surprised at how painless this process can be.

T – Treat yourself and others to something good – every day! The positivity that you will experience can have a great impact on us all! You will be rewarded for a great days’ work … and you will sleep soundly knowing that you treated yourself as wonderfully as you are.

Open your personal flue!! Listen and act positively!! You will rapidly become the conduit that blesses everyone.

MISCONCEPTION: Graduating college with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration was a fluke. My first major was Fashion Merchandising. That sounded like the perfect course of study to prepare me for taking over our family department store, which had been in the family since 1884. Unfortunately, I was flunking “Economics of Textiles”, a Fashion Merchandising prerequisite. My dad, who at that time managed our family store, told me to DROP the economics course and to immediately change my major to business administration!! Meantime, my mother was encouraging me to find a husband and earn my “MRS” degree. My misconception was in looking for a “rich” guy to marry, when the bachelor’s degree afforded me the opportunity of starting my own business and enjoying the great feelings of accomplishment associated with this career path. Thanks to my dad for nudging me into a career that gives me positive feelings every single day!!

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