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An action-based plan for building the career of your dreams Best Job Ever! is the ultimate guide to creating your dream career and increasing your financial success by providing you with valuable and insightful career information, personal stories and examples of others who have successfully created their Best Job Ever! Written by a nationally recognized expert in career development, this book provides you with a concrete, step-by-step blueprint for revolutionizing your career and revamping your life. You'll find the motivation you need to climb out of your daily ruts as you dig deep to discover your personal motivation, financial needs, and career and life goals. This actionable guide gets you started right away as you explore various avenues for improvement--whether that means re-engaging with the job you have, getting that promotion or making a career change. You'll learn how to overcome career fear, beat job boredom, find and follow your passion while advancing your skill sets and building a career and life plan. The stories will help you decide when to forge ahead with your current career, when to change tracks entirely and how to increase your salary while doing it. If a career change is in the cards, you'll learn how to make the transition with minimal disruption to your finances and emotional well being so you can get quickly get back on track to achieving your dreams. Do you currently love your job? Have you ever loved your job? Whether you're in the wrong career or just lost the passion somewhere along the way, this book gives you a clear action plan with step by step guidance to help you build the career and life you want. * Discover the principles of career development * Create a job that is meaningful and fulfilling * Increase Your Career Income * Minimize the financial impact of changing careers/What to do when you get laid off or fired. * Build the life and career you want and find happiness while doing it The vast majority of employees feel disconnected from their careers and dread going to work. Life is short! Don't waste your days in unfulfilling career when there are options out there to create the Best Job Ever! and find meaningful, fulfilling and financially rewarding work.
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Seitenzahl: 310
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
The Joy is in the Journey, Not the Destination
Introduction: My Story and Why You Need This Book
Where It All Began
Chapter 1: You Don't Have to Wait for Your Dream Career to Be Happy
Your Dream Job May Not Be What You Expect
Chapter 2: Eighty-Seven Percent of Employees Don't Like Their Jobs: Here Are the Top Five Reasons Why and What to Do About It
The Top Five Reasons Why People Dislike Their Jobs
Chapter 3: Why You Haven't Changed Anything: Career Fear
Fear!
Conclusion
Chapter 4: What If I Don't Know What to Do?
Step One: You Need More Information
Step Two: You Don't Know What You Like to Do
Step Three: Make a Choice and Take Action
Chapter 5: Career Excuses: All the Reasons You Don't Have Your Best Job Ever!
Why Do We Make Excuses?
What Happens When We Make Excuses?
Chapter 6: Career Boredom
Chapter 7: Redefine Rich
Defining
Rich
What Matters Most and What I Value
What Do I Value and What Matters the Most to Me?
Why
?
Money (Enough Is Enough)
Time
Chapter 8: Why You Are NOT Stuck in Your Career: The Power of Change
Do You Feel You Are Stuck?
The Truth About Being Stuck
Chapter 9: What Career and Life Do You Want and Why?
“I Don't Know!”
Dream Job
Chapter 10: You Can Follow Your Passion Without Quitting Your Job
The Enticement of Follow-Your-Passion Jobs
Obstacles to Following Your Passion
The Three Steps to Following Your Passion without Quitting Your Day Job
What Needs to Change?
Conclusion
Chapter 11: Career Plan Step #1: What Is Your Job?
What Is Your Job?
Career Development Plan
Chapter 12: Career Plan Step #2: Discover Your Strengths
What Are Your Strengths?
Identifying Your Strengths and Talents
Building Strengths and Talents
It's Time to Compare
Chapter 13: Career Plan Step #3: What Makes You Awesome at Work?
Why Be Excellent at Work? Why Stand Out?
What Value Do I Bring to My Company?
How Do I Become Excellent?
I Refuse to Broadcast My Successes
Chapter 14: Career Plan Step #4: One-, Three-, and Five-Year Plan
Begin Planning
Putting It All Together
Chapter 15: Career Plan Step #5: The Big “Why?”
Break It Down
Chapter 16: Career Plan Step #6: Your Community
Networking Is Good … Networking Is Good (Repeat Three Times for Full Brainwash)
Your Network Has the Inside Scoop
How to Network Like Miss America (or Mr. Universe)
If You're Scared
If You Get Super, Super Nervous
The “Gold Mine” of Your Network
Chapter 17: Career Plan Step #7: Identify Both Personal and Professional Barriers to Your Success
Internal Barriers
Internal Barriers to Overcome
External Barriers
The Holy Grail of Barrier Busting
Steps to Overcoming Your Barriers
Chapter 18: Career Plan Step #8: Achieving Your Career Plan: The Power of Work
Work for Satisfaction and Success
It Is Better to Work Than Not to Work
Learn to Love the Work You Are Doing
The First Few Steps
Chapter 19: Career Plan Step #9: Return on Investment
Return on Investment (What Are You Going to Do for Others?)
I Don't Have Extra Money
Interesting Research
Chapter 20: Career Change: Try Before You Buy
What Is “Try Before You Buy”?
Changing Careers for the Wrong Reason
Getting the Right Information
Prospective Careers and Jobs
Chapter 21: Money, Finances, and Your Career Change
Have a Financial Escape Plan
How You Can Earn the Exit?
Find an Individual to Keep You Accountable
Back to Kyle
Chapter 22: When Everything Goes Wrong
Seven Life Tools to Get You Through Difficult Times
Chapter 23: Start Doing: Take Focused, Smart Actions
It Is Up to You
Be Patient with Change
No Excuses!
Safety or the Storm?
Just Do It Already!
Index
End User License Agreement
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Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
DR. C.K. BRAY
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright © 2016 by C.K. Bray. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with the respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available:
ISBN 978-1-119-21231-7 (hardback)
ISBN 978-1-119-21233-1 (epdf)
ISBN 978-1-119-21232-4 (epub)
Cover Design: Jennifer Stott; Wiley
Cover Image: dem10/iStockphoto
Writing this book was one of the most difficult yet most exciting things I have done in my professional life. Sharing the stories of my clients' careers–and of their incredible courage–has taken me down a very happy memory lane. I cannot thank enough, the individuals and companies I have worked with over the years. This book is a celebration of your collective career and life successes.
I owe an extraordinary debt to those who helped bring this book to life. I could not have done it alone and we all know it!
Thanks to my wife, Gale. I could not have done this without your support, your love, your “you can do this,” and your courage. You are able to see me, my abilities, and my potential far beyond reality. Please don't ever see me as I really am! Thanks for giving me the quiet time to work, for reading chapters over and over again in the middle of the night so I could meet deadlines, and for never wavering when I needed a strong foundation to keep me standing.
Thank you to my children: Chloe (20), Olivia (18), Elle (14), Ava (11), Eve (6), and Crew (2). Chloe, your example of doing hard things and your weekly letters inspired me to write a book to inspire others. Olivia, the incredible music you played in the evenings sparked my creative mind. Thank you also for all your editing, suggestions, and help in creating each chapter. Elle, you always knew when I needed a good hug and a smiling face. Ava, your laughter helped when I felt like doing anything but laughing. Eve, thanks for your shining smile and going to bed on time so I could work. And last but not least, thanks to my only other man in the house–Crew. At two years old you caused mayhem and tried to distract me daily, but your infectious personality, smile, and laugh sure made it fun.
I have an incredible team. Thank you, Emily Socha, for keeping my business going even when I have run out of steam. You are invaluable to me and I am grateful for you everyday. And thank you, Jenn Stott, for being a miraculous graphic designer and making me famous for my slide decks, booklets, and everything else I need turned into “something cool.” (Those are always my two-word instructions to Jenn.)
I have to thank my good friends who cheered me along the way. Brian and Julie Morgan, in the beginning, were more excited and took more interest in the book than even me. They also supplied me with an endless amount of soda to “keep me going.” Thank you also to the following: Dave Wilkinson, who I have known since I was 13 and who still continues to talk to me at least three times a week; Justin Fuller, who is one of the smartest men around and the best “life and career” coach I know; Matt Christensen, a family-favorite dinner guest and the type of guy everyone should have as a friend who, when he decides to write his own book, will find it far more successful than mine; and David Burkus., who has already walked this path and provides invaluable insight and help as I begin this journey. You have all been so kind to help.
Thanks to my literary agent, Giles Anderson, who stayed so calm during the selling process when I was anything but! You helped get this book off the ground and I am very grateful.
I'm also grateful for my great team at Wiley. Richard Narramore, thanks for taking a chance on an unknown author. You have been fantastic to work with. Peter Knox and Tiffany Colon, thank you for bringing this book to life.
And thanks to YOU! Thank you for trusting me with your career I hope this book makes all the difference in your career and in your life.
Dr. C.K. Bray
Walking across the large stage as bright lights illuminated my path, I was only moments away from receiving my award. Considered to be a pinnacle point in my career, I had won the coveted top sales award and was being recognized in front of the entire sales division. Working for one of the largest companies in the world, I had proven myself to be one of their best; I was about to be presented the crystal vase and plaque to prove it. After accepting my award and returning to my table, I couldn't shake the feeling that the whole night didn't feel right, yet I couldn't understand why. This was a celebration of my monumental achievement—wasn't I supposed to feel like I had finally made it and was at the top of my career? But it didn't feel that way at all. Instead, I felt empty, worn out, and depressed. I could barely converse with the others at the dinner table as the realization poured over me that I felt hollow, unfulfilled, and miserable. I was in the wrong place. I needed to make a change. How ironic that the night of one of my greatest career achievements was the night everything started coming apart.
If I had only known …
During the last semester of my undergraduate studies, I didn't have a job lined up. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. What I did know was that I needed to find a job and I wanted to make money—preferably lots of it.
The majority of conversations with my graduating friends were about interviews and job offers: who of us had an offer and who didn't, who was in the final interview stages and who had been cut from the process. More and more of my friends were receiving written offer letters. Those letters were symbols that you were wanted and valued by corporate America. I remember standing on the doorstep of my friend's apartment while he read his offer letter. The high salary he was offered took my breath away. (Yes, I was jealous!) From my viewpoint as a poor college student, he had won the lottery. It didn't matter what the job was—he was going to make a nice, comfortable living.
So I began my own job search with only two non-negotiables. First, find a job in which I could make as much money as possible. Second, just plain find a job. Looking back, I am sad to note that I never (ever) considered the question: “Will I like the job I choose?”
At the time I graduated, one of the most coveted jobs was in pharmaceutical sales. If you worked for one of the big pharma giants, you were given a car, a great salary, and an expense account. I did everything within my power to obtain a pharmaceutical representative position, including stalking reps for job information and calling any district managers whose phone number I could find. After some hard work and lots of interviews, I convinced a very seasoned and successful district manager that I would be the best choice to fill an open sales position. (I did this by barraging him with hundreds of phone calls and voicemail messages reminding him why I was the best choice for the job.) Lucky for me, Woody Goodson gave me a chance, and thus began my career journey.
I started off with a bang. Woody was an amazing mentor. (The guy could sell anything to anyone—it was miraculous to watch him in action.) From him I learned the ins and outs of the business world: how to treat customers, how to interact with the vice presidents, and, most importantly, I learned how imperative it was to win. So that is what I did. I quickly learned that winning meant bigger bonuses, great award trips, and opportunities for promotions. My family was beginning to grow, and I knew that success would help me provide a better life for them.
But the newness and excitement of the job quickly wore off. A year into the job, I began to get a clear view of what this position meant for me. The actual job was not turning out like I had expected. Surprising to me at the time, the money didn't take away any of the sting of the dissatisfaction. I was beginning to question myself and wonder if this was what I wanted to do for the next 5 to 10 years of my life. During my long Texas drives in between customer visits, that voice inside my head kicked into gear telling me that I wasn't enjoying this. “But I am!” I would tell myself. I had a new company car that I didn't have to maintain, I was making great money, I had just bought a house, and I was starting to win some sales awards. I tried to tell myself that it didn't matter if I liked my job or not—I was successful! And so I silenced the warning voice.
So what did I do? In my great wisdom as a 20-something-year-old, I figured the best way to solve this problem was to get promoted and escape front-line sales. If I didn't have to sell anymore and I could be a manager, then I would like my daily work and that voice in my head would go away. So I was promoted and moved to Oklahoma. Problem solved, I thought. Fast forward another 18 months and I was promoted to work in New York. My work counterparts were excellent, we loved the neighbors, and found out in this position that I liked training and organizational development. But it still didn't feel right. So I got promoted to Texas. Loved my work counterparts, but still felt the same about the job. Got promoted back to Oklahoma. Same thing. Same thing. Same thing. You think I would have learned, but I didn't. Instead, my work life became more painful, and I was becoming more and more unhappy to the point at which it was bleeding over into my personal life.
In time, I changed from a normally happy, gregarious love-life type of guy to being stressed out and sad. I couldn't shake the black cloud that seemed to be always hanging over me and the work I was doing.
So I continued the battle against myself and simply refused to feel this way. I filled my time and occupied my mind with family, children's activities, hard work, church service, an MBA, working out, and triathlons. The more I sought to accomplish, the better I thought I would feel about myself and my work. Yet the moments would still come, those quiet moments when you actually let yourself think and feel. The raw emotion would occur late at night after my girls went to bed, or during a long drive when I would turn off the radio, or sitting in church, or watching work counterparts passionately discuss their weekly sales numbers. I saw that for many of the individuals I worked with this was their dream job and they actually had the life that I wanted: they had found a job they really enjoyed. They were happy and fulfilled with their work and their daily activities. But unfortunately for me, it wasn't the same. It was a great job for them, but the wrong job for me. (But how grateful I am now for that job and all the people I worked with over the years, because they took me down the path of discovering what I really wanted to do.)
Fast-forward 12 years, five moves, three different states, and four promotions and you find me sitting at the awards dinner wondering what I was going to do next. It was on that awards night that a painful realization came over me that I had sold out my dreams of who I wanted to be and what I wanted to accomplish for “things.” Those things included the life, the house, the cars, and the image. I hardly recognized who I had become. I realized that no matter how hard I tried, how busy I had kept myself, I could never turn off that part of me that wanted to have a different job, one in which I would wake up in the morning and be excited about my work and feel like I was contributing to life in a productive way. If only I had known from the beginning the importance of having a career in which I felt a sense of meaning and purpose.
That evening began an incredible journey of finding my Best Job Ever!
The start of my journey began with deciding to work part-time and return to school to earn my first PhD in organizational leadership and development and later, my second PhD in industrial and organizational psychology. Near the end of my years of schooling, I began teaching at a local university, working with adults who were returning to school to earn their bachelor's degree. I worked with over 300 individuals weekly on career issues and organizational development. I am still close to many of my former students and credit them for being guinea pigs for many of my ideas and theories, systems, and programs regarding their career and personal development. They were such good sports!
I returned later to corporate America in a completely different role as a global organizational development and effectiveness vice president. (Try saying that three times without stuttering.) In this role, I was able to travel across the globe, working with individuals to develop their careers and their leadership skill sets. The international experience provided deep insight into how similar employees' needs are. Following a merger of the company, I started my own consulting business helping companies improve the effectiveness and productivity of their employees as well as helping the employees and managers develop their careers. This included providing them with training and tools to help them feel fulfilled and engaged.
It has been an incredible journey since that awards dinner.
After 20 years in corporate America, including education and experience in researching and studying careers, interviewing hundreds of employees and leaders, I am excited to share with you some of the principles I have learned and taught to thousands of others to help find greater success and greater satisfaction in their careers. More importantly, I have worked with and helped people just like you, who have struggled or are struggling with your own unique career issues and problems.
Over the last decade, I have helped men and women across the world to envision, plan, work toward, and obtain their Best Jobs Ever! By so doing, ironically and incredibly, this has ended up becoming my Best Job Ever!
Since most people are employed the majority of their lives, everyone should have access to this information on how to jumpstart their careers—to develop and create their own Best Job Ever! After years of hearing comments such as: “Dr. Bray! I have a friend who needs this information,” or “I have a brother who wants to get promoted,” or “My neighbor just lost his job and doesn't know what to do,” I decided it was time to provide this essential career development information in a way that would make it available for everyone.
Whether you are searching for your first job, have been in the same career for decades, are returning to the workforce after a hiatus, are self-employed, or work for others, this book will help you discover and then work toward creating a career that will be most fulfilling for you.
This book:
Is a step-by-step guide for anyone who is struggling with his or her career or for anyone who wants to avoid as many career obstacles as possible.
Will provide principles, tips, questions to consider, and action items to move you forward in your own personal career journey.
Will give you tools to help you discover what you want and steps to achieve it.
Will help you in developing a meaningful career, whether that means making changes that will bring you greater satisfaction in your current career or helping you know how to get promoted or take a leap to another career.
If you read and implement what I am about to teach you, your life will never be the same. This process works. It has worked for hundreds of others.
The book is divided into three parts. Part One will help you understand why you may feel stuck in your career and how to overcome some of the obstacles to career happiness. Part Two will help you define your priorities to know what true success and rich means for you. It will help you figure out what you really want from a career.
In Part Three, we will discuss your motivation and create a personalized plan to achieve your promotion or job change or just help you get out of your career rut. I will share some of the principles that helped me be successful—principles that can help you be successful in your own career.
Your Best Job Ever! Rethink Your Career, Redefine Rich, and Revolutionize Your Life will help you identify and deliberately create the job that will bring you personal fulfillment and success. Hopefully, that will mean an increase in your pay as well!
The grass is always greener where you water it
.
—Unknown
Success is liking what you do and liking how you do it
.
—Maya Angelou
One of the first questions I ask my clients is, “If you could have any job, what would be your dream job, your perfect career?” Hearing their answers is always one of the best parts of my day. Let me share a few of their responses:
Client 1:
Me:
Client 2:
Me:
Client 3:
Me Brilliant!:
Client 4:
Me:
Client:
Me:
Client:
Me:
Client 5:
Me:
Talking about your perfect career is difficult because it focuses on what you don't have now and everything that is going wrong with your current career. So let's take this in two steps. The first step is to debunk the myth of a perfect career. The second step is to discuss career happiness and fulfillment.
You may have an idea of what your perfect career looks like, but until you have worked that job for at least six months, you may be surprised that your perfect career is anything but perfect! More clients than I would care to count have come to me wanting to discuss their “perfect” careers.
“It wasn't what I thought it would be.”
“It didn't give me the feeling I thought it would give me.”
“I didn't make as much money as I had hoped I would make.”
“I got bored of it so quickly, it didn't provide the challenge I thought it would.”
“It turned out to be just as mundane as my previous job.”
Do you notice some key words in their comments? It didn't give me the thought, feeling, money, challenge, or friendships I thought it would. Keyword being thought! It is hard to define a perfect dream job when you haven't worked at it for a significant period of time. Running a bed and breakfast along the beaches of Costa Rica may sound like a perfect job until you realize that you have to change sheets, clean toilets, and deal with grumpy sunburned tourists every day. Not to mention you don't get to surf and paddleboard four hours a day like you dreamed you would. Doesn't sound like a dream career to me.
Another aspect of your perfect dream career is to realize that in most instances there isn't such a thing. The road to a perfect, fulfilling, and meaningful career is exactly that: a journey. I have learned from years of experience, education, and working with clients that your dream career isn't a final destination; it is a continuous road that you take throughout your life. As much as you and I would love to arrive at your dream career destination (as early in life as possible, please!) and set up shop for the next 20 to 30 years and enjoy job bliss, life doesn't work that way. Why not? Because your brain wants to continue to develop, progress, and take on new challenges, even if the rest of you want to remain in a steady state of no change. Once you have reached a goal, it quickly begins to lose its luster and you wonder what other things you might accomplish. Just ask Natalie, who landed her dream job three years ago.
It had been a while since I had worked with Natalie, so I was surprised when I received an email asking me for some time to discuss issues with her current position. I had worked with Natalie a few years earlier helping her find her “perfect” career, and in just under four months, she had done it! Natalie was promoted to her desired position and was headed to the West Coast. She was happy with her job promotion, as she enjoyed the organization she worked in, she made a good salary, and worked with dependable and competent people who liked their jobs. She found her job to be challenging and very rewarding. Sounds perfect, right? It was, except she was beginning to feel restless and ready for her next promotion, project, or “something different,” as she put it.
After catching up with Natalie, she jumped right into what was bothering her. “I thought I had found my dream job. Now why can't I relax instead of looking for what is next?”
Natalie explained that when she got promoted to management and moved to her dream city on the West Coast, she thought this would be the last stop on her career journey. She had made it! This was the position she had always wanted, in a city that she loved, and now all she had to do was work hard, enjoy her great job, the warm weather, friends, and the beach. Except it didn't happen that way. (“Why can't life be more like the movies?”)
The first two years on the job Natalie and her team won the top sales award and in year three she far surpassed her sales quota. During her management tenure, Natalie had promoted one of her team members, and because of restructuring, had hired and trained two other new employees. It was year four and Natalie's dream job was becoming not so dreamy anymore.
“I can't believe I am saying this, but I am not as excited about this position as I used to be. I feel like I can do more, and take on more responsibility. I have accomplished my goals. My team and I have won the top sales award, we have added some big accounts, and I find myself looking for what is next.” She continued, “This isn't my dream job anymore. I can't imagine myself doing this for another 20 years. I would have to find another job. I need to find my next dream job!”
She couldn't have said it more perfectly! Many of my clients have experienced the feeling of attaining their dream job only to find that in a few years they were ready for something newer, more exciting, and more challenging. When you reach your dream job, you are going to discover that it is exactly that: a dream job—but only for a while! After you have experienced all that your current job has to offer, you may be surprised by what comes next. You are going to find yourself thinking of the next job and what the remaining years of your career have in store for you.
Other clients say similar things. “I am happy where I am and I have a great future ahead of me. I have no desire to change but….” It's the but that is the sure indication for me that everything is not okay. Their words may tell me they are content and happy short term, while their actions, feelings, and behaviors speak a-much different version of their long term career story. If you feel like I have just described you, hang on! I'm going to help you find your Best Job Ever through specific steps in the upcoming chapters. Get ready to begin your journey in creating your own every-evolving dream career.
I hate to give away too much of the “secret sauce” at the beginning of this book, but your dream career has everything to do with your emotions, happiness, and daily state of mind and not only the job itself. You chase your dream job so you can experience the feelings that you expect the dream job to provide you; feelings that you are doing something worthwhile, that you are making a difference, and choosing your own destiny. Feelings that you are doing what you love while creating income for yourself and following your passion are a few of the descriptions individuals have shared with me when I ask what they want from their dream job. Those feelings and experiences are possible to have at any point in your career. (Let me repeat that concept because it is so important.) You can experience the feelings of your dream job by making choices today that create the feelings you are seeking. Some of these choices include learning how to progress in your career and deciding to develop your skills in areas that you choose. How you do your work and the influence you have on others are also important choices that create your dream career. These decisions and others can give you the dream job feeling right now. Let me share an example to illustrate the point.
I studied the lottery when I was a graduate student. Most individuals who play the lottery realize their chances of winning the million dollars is not likely to happen. In fact, the chances of winning the Powerball jackpot are around 175.2 million to 1. You are more likely
