By Sally Gelardin
lifeworkps.com/sallyg
lifeworkps.com/agingworks
sal @gelardin.net

Portions of this article originally appeared in NCDA's web magazine, Career Convergence. Copyright National Career Development Association, (September, 2007). Reprinted with permission. Readers are invited to enjoy Career Convergence by visiting the NCDA website to read articles, search the archives, sign up for a free subscription, and even submit an article! NCDA link to article.

Taking Stock

As we approach the late summer and fall seasons of our lives, it makes sense to take stock of where we are in our life/work development and bring our bountiful harvest of experience to market. Career decision-making has a seasonal rhythm - make plans in fall, implement them in winter and spring, bring projects to closure in late spring, and evaluate them at the end of summer. Schedules don't always work out in this way, but the flow is important. At some point in the year, it is helpful to reflect upon where one is in one's career development. The end of summer/fall season is an appropriate time of year (and time of life) for many of us.

As part of the seasonal career decision-making process, following are seven seasonal activities to stimulate end-of-the-summer reflections and to prepare for the rest of the year and the years ahead.

1. Annual Business or Career Check-Up

How does one go about evaluating one's year and preparing for the future? Martha Russell, former president of the National Career Development Association, created an exercise to evaluate what more you need to do to reach your goals. In NCDA's first monograph, Starting and Growing a Business in the New Economy (2007), Martha created an activity in which entrepreneurs can conduct an annual business check-up and focus on the following four points: (a) desired segment of the market, (b) yourself, (c) your goals, (d) evaluation. In her "Dental Model," Jane Goodman (1992) advises everyone to conduct an annual career check-up, just like an annual dental check-up.

2. Seven Year Cycle

The number "7" can be a cyclical point in life. Is there a pattern in your life around the number seven? For example, are you a university faculty member who takes a yearlong sabbatical every seven years? Do you change jobs every seven years? A wonderful film documentary to view on seven-year cycles is the "7-Up Series," directed by Paul Almond for BBC. The director followed the lives of 14 children from various economic backgrounds. Every seven years he films new material from as many of the fourteen as are willing to participate. Try this activity based on seven-year cycles.

3. Expected and Unexpected Major Event

Another life transition marker is experiencing a major life event, such as birth, death, marriage, or move. Schlossberg (1981) writes, "A transition can be said to occur if an event or non-event results in change in assumptions about oneself and the world and thus requires a corresponding change in one's behavior and relationships" (Evans et al., 1998, pg 111, in Winkler, 2002). My family recently experienced
loss. These events affected me so deeply that I chose to learn about and share with others self-care and caregiving techniques.

4. Family Influences

During periods of transition, it can be helpful to reflect upon earlier periods of your life and your sources of support. Sherri Babtiste, a Marin County-based yoga teacher whose father invented breath-based yoga, dreamed about writing a book. Her father had been a weight-lifting champion before he started yoga on the West Coast in the 1950s. With the encouragement of students and friends, Sherri combined her love of yoga with her family heritage and created "Yoga with Weights for Dummies" (Babtiste, S. and Scott, M. , 2006).

5. Creating Your Ideal Environment - Now!

Whatever work you do is most effective when you are in your environment of choice. My environment of choice is a special garden where I counsel clients, write, and visit with friends. We can run around in circles trying to be successful in our work and personal lives, but if we want to be "human beings," rather than "human doings," then we need to slow down and reflect upon what is really important to us. Life is too short and frustrating or too long and boring for us to ignore our unconscious yearnings. Here is an activity for "Creating Your Ideal Environment NOW!"

If you cannot think of what your ideal environment is like, reflect upon environments that you like - i.e., walking on a favorite path, window-shopping, looking out upon mountains or water. Today I received an email from "Yelp" in San Francisco. I had written a review on a shop for that blogging site of reviews of favorite places in San Francisco. The question of the day was
" Places of Reflection & Quiet in San Francisco?" Reading that question reminded me that I like to visit and often meet with clients at quiet outdoor gardens or public areas.

6. Take stock of your career development in a way that is best for you.

Everyone has a preferred way of learning and being. The Tightrope Model image employs multiple ways of learning. To maintain her balance, a tightrope walker needs to pay attention to multiple sensations in the present.

7. Don't run out of breath by running in the fast lane (to fulfill past expectations or make up for past regrets) or hold your breath, waiting to earn your fortune and retire (to prepare for future happiness). Your brain will work best if you breathe long breaths at each moment. Inhale deeply as you reflect upon the past and exhale deeply as you prepare for the future.

Conclusion

As summer winds down, take a few moments to experience one or two of the exercises described above. The yoga tradition says that everyone is allotted a certain number of breaths, and after you exceed this number, your time on earth is finished. People who breathe hurriedly and shallowly use up their allotment of breaths quickly, but if you breathe slowly and consciously, your breath allotment lasts for many years. Not everyone has the ability to breathe deeply. If you are among the fortunate to be have this facility, or can develop this skill with practice, then take advantage of it. As the trees shed their leaves, it is a good time to shed unnessary activities and  reflect upon your career development. As you reflect, practice breathing deeply.

Bio
Dr. Sally Gelardin, Ed.D. International and Multicultural Education, NCC, DCC, CDF eLearning Instructor, started the first job club for seniors in Marin County, California, where her oldest client (in her 80s) was the first person to secure a job. A year later, as Paralegal Career Counselor (University of San Francisco), she placed her oldest client (also in his 80s) as a paralegal in the Office of the Mayor of San Francisco. She was a founding member of the Spiritual Eldering movement in San Francisco, was interviewed on the topic of "Coping with Caregiving" on wsradio.com and wrote the introduction to "Aging-In-Place" (Christner-Lile, 2006). She is author of "The Mother-Daughter Relationship: Activities for Promoting Lifework Success" and "Starting and Growing a Business in the New Economy" (NCDA, 2007).

References

Almond, P. 7-Up Series. Retrieved July 25, 2007.

Babtiste, S. and Scott, M. (2006). Yoga with Weights for Dummies. Wiley. Retrieved July 25, 2007.

Gelardin, S. (2007). Personal Profile. Retrieved July 25, 2007.

Gelardin, S. (2007). Seven-Year Cycle Activity. Retrieved July 25, 2007.

Gelardin, S. (2007). Self-care and care giving techniques. Retrieved July 25, 2007.

Gelardin, S. (2007). Starting and Growing a Business in the New Economy. (NCDA). Retrieved July 25, 2007.

Gelardin, S. (2007). Tightrope Model of career decision-making. Retrieved July 25, 2007.

Goodman, J. (1992). The key to pain prevention: the dental model for counseling. American Counselor, 1(3), 27-29.

Schlossberg, N. (1981). Nancy K. Schlossberg Transition Theory. Retrieved July 25, 2007.

Feel free to leave blank any questions you believe are irrelevant to our work together or which you can't readily answer. Please email your responses to Sally @AskDrSal.com .

Name:

Address:

Phone:

e-mail:

Date of birth:

Today's date:

What, if anything, would you like to accomplish in each of these areas:

Your career:

Your relationships:

Your financial well-being:

Your recreation life:

Your mental well-being:

Your spiritual life:

What is/was your most recent job?

What did you like and not like about it?

List college(s) you attended, degrees received, major, and approximate grade-point average.

List any test results (e.g., SAT, GRE, Myers-Briggs, Strong-Campbell, etc.)

List the name, age, sex, and relationship to you of each person who presently lives with you. Are they having any impact on your career?

YOUR INTERESTS

If you were to write a book, what would it be about?

What subject do you most enjoy talking about?
If I looked around your room, what clue might I derive about your interests?

What's an unusual interest of yours?

At work, what do you enjoyably spend a lot of time on?

Outside of work, what do you enjoyably spend a lot of productive time on?

What items do you save?

What was your favorite subject in school?


YOUR ABILITIES

Which one or two of these are you: a) a word person, b) a math/science person, c) a people person, d) an artistic person, e) a fix-it, build-it person, f) a paperwork details person?

What kinds of problems at work do you solve well?

What kinds of problems at home do you solve well?

What do people ask your advice about or help with?

What have people complimented you on that might have career implications for you?

What does your family think you should do careerwise?

What do you find easy that many people find hard?

What task(s) has brought you the most success?

What's an unusual ability(ies) of yours?

List your life's five favorite completed projects or accomplishments. Not only did they turn out well, you enjoyed the process of completing the work. If you can't think of five from adulthood, go back as far as you want.

Do you know a wealthy, well-connected, eminent, or highly skilled person who could open an interesting career door for you?

WHAT YOU VALUE

If you didn't care what anyone thought, what is your most deeply held aspiration?

In what way does your behavior not match your true values?

What are the non-negotiables in your next job?

Where do you picture yourself working: an office, at home, outdoors, a school?

How many hours a week is the most you're willing to work?

What is the longest commute you would accept?

Must your work "make the world a better place"?

How pleasant must your work environment be?

Is there a product or service that makes you so unhappy you'd like to do something about it?

Is there an aspect of society that makes you so unhappy you'd like to do something about it?

What's an unusual value(s) you hold?

Write a paragraph describing what you'd like your life to be like five years from now.

YOUR PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES

What truly motivates you: money, praise, status, laziness, anger in general, anger about something specific, social injustice, glamour, multi-senses (visual/sound, aroma/kinesthetic/taste), creative expression, something else?

To what extent are any of the following impeding your career: procrastination, depression, fear of failure, anxiety.

If you've been in therapy or seen a career counselor previously, what were the results?

Right before you go to sleep and right when you wake in the morning, is there one topic you think about more than others?

What's something you're afraid is true about yourself?

What's your fatal flaw?

What do you want? What do you really want?

What keeps you from getting it?

(Intake Form based on Nemko, 2007)

This Professional Development Institute will be offered at the International Career Development Conference on Thursday, November 8, 2007. View #10 of ICDC PDIs.

Introduction
One of the few areas of business growth is entrepreneurship. As a career professional, you need to develop your advising skills to usher in the new wave of entrepreneurs. At this workshop, you will learn how to grow your practice, and at the same time help shape the incubation of new businesses. In a collaborative café setting, under the guidance of leading career entrepreneurs, you will:
(a) identify entrepreneurial success factors
(b) define entrepreneurial style, and discriminate between potential and ability
(c) identify and map out solutions for instant implementation of your business or practice.

Educational Content
Whether you work for an organization or own your own business, this workshop will teach you how to develop your entrepreneurshial skills, as well as help your clients start and grow their business. Participants will have hands-on experience with entrepreneurial assessment tools. Within their roundtable group, participants will present their vision and mission of their business and explain how their entrepreneurial strengths can support the implementation of their vision and mission.

BIO

Sally Gelardin, Ed.D., is a certified eLearning Career Development Facilitator Instructor (CDFI) and a Provider of the Global CDF curriculum, a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC), a Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC), and a certified Job and Career Transition Coach. Dr. Gelardin administers the Job Search Practitioner Certificate and teaches the eLearning GCDF curriculum and Distance Job & Career Transition Coach (DJCTC) Certificate Program. She serves as Womens Studies Portfolio Evaluator at the University of San Francisco, and consults throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Dr. Gelardin earned a M.A. in Education, a M.A. in Counseling Psychology, and an Ed.D. in International and Multicultural Education. She is a former President of the California Career Development Association (CCDA) and currently serves as an active contributing member of NCDA's Leadership Academy, Publication Committee, and Professional Development Committee. She is creator of Job Juggler's Lifelong Employability Program and Entrepreneur Kits for career professionals and their clients, Gelardin is editor of "Starting and Growing a Business in the New Economy: Successful Career Entrepreneurs Share Stories and Stratagies" (NCDA, 2007) and author of "The Mother-Daughter Relationship: Activities for Promoting Lifework Success."

Contact:
Dr. Sally Gelardin
415.312.4294
counselor@jobjuggler.net

Welcome Dr. Robert Chope and welcome my counseling colleagues!

As we launch this series of tele-interviews with leading counselor entrepreneurs, I think of a comment about Terry Gross, the host of National Public Radio's Fresh Air station. Here's the quote:

Terry isn't afraid to ask tough questions, but she sets an atmosphere in which her guests volunteer the answers rather than surrender them. What often puts those guests at ease is Gross' understanding of their work.

I chose Dr. Robert Chope to be our first interviewee because I think I understand his work, but I also have questions.

Bob is both an entrepreneur and "intrepreneur." As an entrepreneur, he started one of the first career counseling group practices in the United States. As an intrepreneur, he started the career counseling program at San Francisco State University. Plus, he has written several books and numerous professional articles on family matters.

Here's how I got to know Bob so well. After I wrote my book on mother-daughter influences on lifework success, I asked Bob if he'd like to present with me at ICDC, the International Career Development Conference. He said, "Sure." I was so excited. I chose to present with Bob so I could learn from him about family influences on career development, a topic dear to my heart.

The second reason I chose Bob Chope to be our first interviewee is because I knew he'd tell all his grad students to listen to this tele-interview and that he has a loyal following of counselors. This is a hint to career entrepreneurs who want to be invited to get paid to present - teleconference, webinar, or conference coordinators like their leading speakers to have a loyal following to bring to their event. Develop your contact list!

For the next hour, I shall introduce Dr. Chope, then ask him a few questions. For the last 15 minutes, I shall ask Janet Saunders to unmute your phones and give you an opportunity to ask him your burning questions. So take good notes and save your questions.

In the NCDA 2007 monograph, "Starting and Growing a Business in the New Economy, " I asked Bob the following questions:

1. What motivated you to start a private career practice, especially since you were already a college professor?

2. Who were your mentors? How did they influence you to start a business, specifically a career counseling business?

3. Did you have any early childhood influences? Were there any entrepreneurs in your family? If so, how did they influence you?

As I flipped through your chapter in the monograph, questions related to the exercises that you developed came to mind:

4. What personality traits did you discover about yourself that are particularly entrepreneurial, either from performing your "Creative Thinking" exercise or from other formal or informal assessment tools that you applied to yourself?

5. The second exercise that you developed for the NCDA entrepreneur monograph was entitled "New Idea, New Business." I was amazed at the variety of consulting experiences you have had. For example, you were a "consultant to airlines to help business travelers overcome fears of flying" and "consultant to banking industry to counsel bank employees who have been robbed?" How did you get these contracts?

6. Do you think your role as tenured professor at a large university had any effect on your success in getting your book published and in winning major counseling and career awards? Why or why not?

Additional Questions

* Who are your clients?
* Who were your sources of support?
* What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
* What resources can you recommend for counselors who would like to open a private or group practice?

Now I'd like to open the floor to listeners. Please say your name and then ask your question - one question only to give others a chance to ask questions.

First, one participant ssent to me by email the following question:

Most nonprofit organization require interns need to work as an admistrator, or in some sort of non-clinical postion, which I prefer not to do, so is there any equation that balance this problem?.

Other questions?

Conclusion
At the bottom of most of my email correspondence, I write in my email signature, May we live like the lotus, at home in the muddy waters. Buddha

Instead of driving in the fast lane, I have volunteered with CCA to offer these tele-interviews with leading entrepreneurs and intrepreneurs to provide you with support to start and grow your private or group practice in an effective, efficient, and time-saving manner. To prevent you from being a "lonely star," we have also provided you with entrepreneurial exercises, a list of upcoming entrepreneurial events, resources, and blogs led by our leading counselor entrepreneurs. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.