| Welcome to the Workin' My Way
Community |
| February, 2008 |
|
Be Your Own Best Valentine
The candy is probably
gone, the roses are looking pretty wilty or maybe you didn't have
either one. No matter - you can be your own very best
valentine.
Find a day on your
calendar this month to block in the time to give yourself a gift
to
- Go browse the bookstore or library career and
self-help shelves.
- Shadow someone who works at something you are
interested in trying.
- Plan a trip to a place where you would like
to live.
- Sit down in a quiet place with this month's
book (see below) and write down your thoughts and ambitions.
- Call me for a free 30 minute consultation
about your future. 610-695-0564
Love
yourself enough to give a New You a chance.
Visit my web-site and blog for more resources,
articles and ideas.
Sign up for my blog to receive
occasional inspirations and real-life stories of people who are
making their life and work dreams come true.
Feel free to
ask questions or comment to
jane@lifeandworkbydesign.com
Life & Work
By Design Web Site |
|
News and Announcements
Workshop Announcement - Your
Second Act: What Do You Want to Do Next?
This
fun 6 hour workshop will help you get started on the road to
the life you want to have and the work that you dream of doing.
Discover your passions and define your ideal life;
brainstorm ways to be paid to do what you love; set goals and learn
to take actions to get past the obstacles in your way.
A
Workbook and Finding Your True
Calling from Changing Course.com are included.
Tuesday evenings, 3/11, 3/18 and 3/25 from 7:00 - 9:00
in Wayne, PA
$150.00 Registration includes two 30 minute
coaching sessions.
Call me at 610-695-0564 to register by
March 7.
This can also be done for a group of 8 - 10 on a
Saturday in your town. Call for information.
E-mail
for More Information |
|
Book Review
Since I
am suggesting that you give yourself a gift of love this month, the
book, Write It Down, Make It Happen by
Henriette Anne Klauser would be a great way to do that.
There are many names for this phenomenon, but
no matter what you call it, it works. Give yourself 30 minutes once
a week to write down your goals, your dreams or your definition of
success. Even if you put that list away and forget about it,
when you find it months or years later, you will find that
everything you wrote down did in fact occur eventually.
What
I like about this book is that the author suggests a variety of ways
to do it. You can try something called "Rapid Writing" which is
particularly good for situations where you are very emotional -
angry, sad, or resentful. As you write it all down, your mind
naturally begins to evaluate your feelings, and helping you sort
through the emotion to get to the real problem and some possible
solutions.
Or you can use note cards to create a Suggestion
Box for your Brain. These are index cards you carry with you to jot
down bright ideas, observations and insights as they occur to you in
the normal course of a day. This way you don't forget them and can
go back and expand on them when you have time.
My favorite
though is to write a letter to yourself that will be read on your
hundredth birthday describing the accomplishments and joys you can
look back on.
Many of you tell me that you just can't seem
to pull your thoughts together in an organized way. The first step
is to make some quiet, uninterrupted time to allow your mind to
clear out the cobwebs and static. Then by using any of the
methods Klauser suggests you can begin to see those ideas take on a
shape and direction. Give this book a try - I'm sure you
can find one that will work for you.
Order a copy
today |
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Notes and Tips from My Journal
If you are
paying attention at all, you will have noticed that the January
issue of this newsletter went missing. I could offer all kinds
of excuses and blame it on the technical difficulties I've been
having with my computer I suppose, and some of that would be
legitimate.
But the real reason is that I had to step
back last month and take a long look at where I was heading for this
coming year.
I followed a lot of my own advice ~ did a
lot of soul-searching, reading and most of all, talking to a lot of
wonderful folks, some who know me pretty well and some who
don't. The problem was that I was offered a full-time position
with a non-profit that I would have jumped at 10 years ago.
But, life is different now.
I had to re-visit my "life
design" as I like to call it. My ideal life no longer includes
things like working 60 hours a week including night and evening
meetings. It also doesn't include dodging my way through the
office politics, or handling the various egos and personalities of a
large organization.
So knowing all that, I turned it
down and then went about expanding and broadening my goals and
programs for coaching and consulting this coming year.
The workshops are the first new order of business and look for a
series of tele-classes in the fall. Even coaches
have to re-group sometimes.
:)
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My Dear Jane letters
How do I find out about possible
grants for a program I want to start to teach young adult women such
things as interview skills, proper manners, how to dress for
success, budgeting their income, etc.?
Great
Question! (and what a wonderful idea) There are many
avenues to follow to look for grants for such a project. There
are local, state and federal government programs to fund ideas like
this, but that is not the only route to investigate.
There are also thousands of small foundations, businesses
and individuals who offer grants for good programs, and a lot of
money goes un-used each year because no one applies for it.
The trick is to understand the guidelines, goals and
requirements of the funding entity. Most grant proposals
are rejected because the application does not fit the guidelines of
the foundation or agency. Many of them have very tight
limitations - an example is a Levi-Strauss grant to teach teens and
young adults to sew in Appalachia.
A trip to your local
library reference section will yield a number of listings of
grant-funding organizations and agencies as well as private
foundations. Read the description of each to find the ones
that are appropriate for your concept.
Then
purchase a how-to book on proposal writing. These applications
are very similar to business plans. I suggest "The Only Grant
Writing Book You'll Ever Need" by Karsh and Fox. It
covers the whole world of grant-writing, includes a glossary of
terms, proposal writing styles and lists of RAGs - Regional
Associations of Grant Makers. It's available in my web-site
book store.
Send
Your Question for Next Month |
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A Quote To Ponder
Just
don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where
there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go
wrong. Ella Fitzgerald
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|
Jane Kirsch PO Box
1285 Southeastern, PA 19399-1825 610-695-0564 jane@lifeandworkbydesign.com |
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