December 16, 2015, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Water

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“What happens is consciousness operates in mysterious ways. One of those ways is that the old paradigm suddenly starts to die.” –Deepak Chopra

Unique insights, people, or events sometimes come into our lives to shift everything.

A great example of that is the story of Helen Keller.

Before Annie Sullivan gave her language (sign language), she described life as being a morass of instincts and emotions, but no thought.

But after much support, at one point, with her hand under the water well spigot, she connected the substance with the finger movements Annie was making.

She got W-A-T-E-R.

At that moment, she later described, the whole world appeared.

As we close this year and open to the possibilities of the next, perhaps we can intend a new paradigm to catch us.

What insights will you open to, with whom will you engage, and how will you put yourself in the way of getting to your next reservoir of W-A-T-E-R?

Got W-A-T-E-R?

“If you want small changes in your life, work on your attitude. But if you want big and primary changes, work on your paradigm.” –Stephen Covey

December 9, 2015, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Empty

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“An empty canvas is full.” –Robert Rauschenberg

Sometimes our plan, schedule or routine is altered unexpectedly.

A layoff from a job.  A slowdown in business.  An unexpected life situation.

It can be challenging to get off of the action-oriented wheel to be empowered by the empty space.

We try to fill the void quickly…and don’t slow down enough to hear something new that would usually be squelched by our default ways of do, do, do.

With a New Year of blank canvas approaching us, how might we get off our beaten paths to enable ourselves to perceive a new possibility: for our work, for our business, for our life?

Empty a closet?  Take a day-off personal retreat?  Get help to see a blind spot?

Don’t avoid the void.

Better yet, the advanced course is this: create a void.

Got empty?

“Abundance is a process of letting go; that which is empty can receive.” –Bryant H. McGill

December 2, 2015, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Exponential

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function.”  –Albert A. Bartlett

What if growth and progress wasn’t linear, as we’re all comfortable with?

What if a new viewpoint, a new paradigm, or a new process could cause non-linear elevation in our experience?

Are we willing to go outside the comfort zone of standard and predictable expectations for our lives?

Got exponential?

“Nobody said that change has to be slow or even hard.  To live an exponential life, you have to be willing to do things differently and be open to the possibility that everything you want is closer than you think.” –Rich Litvin

November 25, 2015, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Red-Headed Gratitude

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“I wouldn’t change anything. I’ve made mistakes, but thanks to those mistakes, I’ve learned.” –Enrique Iglesias

It’s always the usual-suspect goodies that we first think to give thanks for.

Those standard goodies of health, home, family, career, community and turkey and dressing on the table are absolute blessings, for sure.

Yet do we cast as much thanks upon the challenges, the downfalls, the mis-steps and mis-takes, the things that didn’t go our way or caused a crimp in our plans?

Including the whole bunch seems appropriate, and perhaps those generally overlooked blessings deserve a bit more gravy…because they shaped us in ways of, if seemingly not our own choosing, at least our own growth.

Got red-headed stepchild gratitude?

“Thank you for life, and all the little ups and downs that make it worth living.” –Travis Barker

November 18, 2015, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Not Knowing

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.” –Warren Buffett

The implication of the above quote would therefore be “know what you’re doing” and, of course, “avoid risk”.

For sure, if there were millions under our discretion, we’d want Uncle Warren managing our funds. He’s a master at balancing financial risk and return.

And yet, with the rest of life, is only risk-averse and knowledge-welded how we really want to live? Is that actually living?

Do we not take action until we have it all figured out?

Do we have to “see the whole staircase” before we take a step toward our dreams?

Rarely is a weekly JOLT over-quoted, but today it seemed appropriate:

“Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.” –Gilda Radner

“I think on some level, you do your best things when you’re a little off-balance, a little scared. You’ve got to work from mystery, from wonder, from not knowing.” –Willem Dafoe

“Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little.” –Agnes de Mille

“The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.” –Ursula K. Le Guin

Got not knowing?

“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” –Rosalia de Castro

November 11, 2015, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Behaving

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“Don’t tell me what you believe in. I’ll observe how you behave and I will make my own determination.” –Alex Trebek

Breaking down words into their parts can be enlightening, and offer entirely new perspectives when applying them to our lives.

When we consider “behave”, the initial flavor might carry some sense of moral or upright way of conducting oneself.

Yet, both the Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries define “behave” as “to act or conduct oneself in a specified or particular way”…which has nothing to do with good or bad.

Then, looking further into the parts, we get “be” and “have” which, ordered in that way, carry a richer flavor and more conscious charge for how to live.

Reversing the common idea that when we have this or that (career, life, relationship, bank account, etc) we will then get to be this or that kind of person, as Steven Covey encourages, we begin with the end in mind. First we be. Then we have…even if only in being itself.

What can you be today, coming from have-ing already arrived?

Got be-have-ing?

“You can’t sow an apple seed and expect to get an avocado tree. The consequences of your life are sown in what you do and how you behave.” –Tom Shadyac

November 4, 2015, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Filters

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“There are no facts, only interpretations.” –Friedrich Nietzsche

Whether we see our work, our homes, our relationships, our world as tough, inspiring, combative, generous, unfair, supportive, happenstance or perfectly designed depends not upon the environments themselves, but upon the seer.

Bar none.

All the time.

Got conscious filters?

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” –Viktor Frankl

October 28, 2015, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Unrecognizable

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” –Aristotle

There’s a lot to be said about knowing oneself and, as Uncle Ari asserts, it may be the beginning of wisdom.

Yet, too often we say or hear the phrases “That’s just not me” or “This is just the way I am.”

If that comfort-zone box is happy and cozy, then good for us.

If we really want to grow — outside of whatever past or current supposed dictates that life has give us — then maybe we can’t afford to claim such self awareness.

Knowing oneself may be the beginning of wisdom.  Perhaps becoming unrecognizable to oneself is what comes next.

If you really didn’t “know yourself” for all the habits, limits, or ways of being you’ve claimed, what would be possible?

Got unrecognizability?

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” –George Bernard Shaw

October 21, 2015, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…GD40

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“Gratitude is the antidote to the two things that stop us: fear and anger.” –Tony Robbins

When considering the moves we want to accomplish and big dreams we want to fulfill– and all the seeming figuring it out and/or blind faith we’ll need to invest to “make it happen” — it’s easy to get afraid, whether we admit it or not.

Most won’t admit that fear to others, and many won’t admit it to themselves.  Yet, the projects, launches and big moves just seem to get pushed back for many very good and logical reasons.

What if enough gratitude — for the growth opportunity, the challenge, the chance to work the muscle — could displace the fear?

WD40 was invented during the Cold War to prevent rust and corrosion on missiles…

with WD meaning “water displacement”.

Perhaps a shot of gratitude displacement can loosen up our frozen forays forward?

Got GD40?

“Gratitude and fear can’t stand the site of each other.” –Robin Sharma

Create an Emergency Layoff Plan for Your Family

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

Create an Emergency Layoff Plan for Your Family

Families are prepared for a fire or hurricane. Take the same measures to ensure you’re prepared for an emergency job loss.

By Darrell Gurney

FILED UNDER: Family, Stress, Prepare.

Many families have an earthquake, hurricane or disaster plan, but how many have a layoff plan? A job loss is a time when the Earth unexpectedly moves from beneath your feet, so it should require the same preparation.

Of course, living in the doom and gloom of “maybes” is not the answer, but just-in-case preparedness can give you a sense of peace — and power.

Here are a few points to consider to ensure you could handle a worst-case scenario:

1. Don’t avoid the void.
   Thinking of a possible layoff can get you down, so most people avoid the discussion. Getting into the mindset of how you’ll deal with it, rather than the negativity surrounding it, will actually pick you up — because you’ll know you can handle whatever comes.
2. Know your mate’s job-loss mentality ahead of time.
   The time to know how you can rely on your partner to share the load of raising a family is before you have one. Similarly, the time to know how you’ll both endure the stress of job loss is before it occurs. Does she actually love what she’s doing now? Would he want another job just like it? Or would an unexpected layoff give him the opportunity to go a different direction — or even start his own business? Discuss possible options before you’re faced with them.
3. Fortify your belief in one another.
   If your partner loses her job, it can lower her self-esteem and that lowered esteem can impact the dynamics of the relationship (such as not being the provider). Though you can’t always know how someone will actually be affected unless and until it happens, earthquake-proofing your relationship for possible esteem shakeups can create a deeper connection when it counts. Work together to create an inventory of all the skills, talents and aptitudes you each possess, and remind each other of those truths — when you need it most.
4. Create a job-loss financial plan.
   The scrambling and differing opinions about how to deal with finances when an unexpected layoff hits can create friction when you need to pull together the most. Come to an agreement about how you’d deal with the loss of income, what things would take priority and to what degree either of you could hang on for the “right job” before just accepting any offer. Plan ahead to make the most of stretched resources.
5. Create a job-loss emergency checklist.
   Agree on what rules will be followed in the case of an actual job loss. Think about everything from:

• hours to be spent in the job search
• getting out of the house
• communication strategies
• exercise program

Helping each other to be effective while keeping family life stable will go a long way toward a peaceful household in a time of transition.

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Darrell Gurney is the Founder and CEO of CareerGuy, a website supporting career fulfillment, job transitions, branding and business building. As a 28-year recruiting veteran, executive coach and career advisor, Darrell has supported thousands of professionals at all levels to make profitable transitions. He also offers webinars, talks and programs that get students and working professionals out, connected, and expanding.