Principal #1, from the Dare to Dream Big audio, is extremely helpful
in putting your worries to ease. Once you figure out your life
purpose, your path gets clearer and you are able to walk
confidently down the path towards the career of your dreams.

Download your own personal life purpose journal to get started.

Use each page to jot down your thoughts on the
following questions, and then use the last page to write out your
life purpose statement.

1. What’s something you do in which time goes by quickly (without
you even checking the time)?

2. If you had all of the money in the world, what would you do?

3. What are your hobbies? What do you like to do for fun? Don’t
just think about now, but also think about when you were a child.

4. What do you like about your hobbies? What is the feeling you get
when you’re engaged in them?

5. Think about a time you felt closest to your core (your true
self). Describe it. What did it feel like? What were you doing?

6. If you had a week to live, how would you spend it?If you take the
time to answer these questions—and you are really honest!—you’ll be
surprised how easy career planning can be. You may “see” the answer
is right in front of you.

Sign up for a 20-minute complimentary session to see how coaching
can benefit you and your entire future.

Many philosophers and inspirational gurus have referred to these choices and its relation to life as a blank canvas that each of us can paint however we want. Now, if someone paints a picture he or she does not like, then there is a choice to wipe the canvas clean and start over again, learning from the previous painting you created.

For the benefit of the entire universe, it is important that each of us paints our canvas in the unique manner in which God created each of us. Although each of us are unique, we are all connected in this universe to play out a certain role we’re here to play. If we don’t play the role that lies deep within our hearts, everyone suffers because we will all miss the special gift inside of you that you were meant to share.

Wayne Dyer said, “Don’t die with your music still inside you. Listen to your intuitive inner voice and find what passion stirs your soul.”

My passion is to write. It’s something I’ve done well my entire life. During my junior year of college, I decided I wanted to write for a living. I became a journalist. Although I left the journalism field as a full-time career, I’ve stuck with my passion. I teach writing as a professor. Even now as a life coach, I continue to write all kinds of stuff. I also have a novel in the works.

The point is that life is what you make it. It sounds so cliché, but it’s so true. I always say that the world is my oyster, because for the most part I know I can do absolutely anything I want. It all depends on the choices I make each day. When I make a choice I don’t like, I just make another choice that works better for me.

You have this power, too. Be sure to use it to create the best life for you.

Runchey, a now successful publicist in LA, will talk to us about a time two years ago her and her mother were caught in the middle of a police shootout at a Detroit grocery store. This experience motivated her to pack up her car and follow her dream career.

Despite the hardships of the economy, Runchey landed a job with a PR firm that has represented 58 Oscar Winners since 1983.

Currently, Runchey is  now working, for the second time, on Michael Moore’s film festival and recently won the Bulldog award (The Oscar of the PR industry) for best arts and entertainment campaign for the 2009 North American KISS tour.  KISS is kicking off their 2010 North American tour in four weeks.

Join Lee Runchey and the Collegiate Career Coach tonight for a motivational and inspirational online discussion.

The conclusion of the article was simply that job counselors and career coaches agree that networking is the way to go.

You don’t know how to network? Well, take notes and ask questions because job seekers MUST know how to network and network well if they want to be ahead of the game.

1. Do look for local networking events that are specific to your career field. You can use any search engine and type in your career field and the keyword “networking,” and you are bound to find some events. Also, look in your local newspaper.

2. Do not go in handing your resume and business card to everyone you meet. Networking is not an “all about me” type of event. It’s about making connections, getting to know people, and allowing them to get to know you. But don’t push yourself down people’s throats.

3. Do get to know the people in the room and figure out what their needs are. You may be able to connect them with someone you already know or another contact you’ve met. People like to talk about themselves. If you listen, they’ll want to hear more about you and may know a contact that will land you the job you want. If you connect them with a job, imagine how willing they’ll be to help you out.

4. Do not let fear get in your way of meeting new people. If you’re shy and hesitant to introduce yourself to other people, take someone with you who is more outgoing, whether he or she is in your industry or not. At least you’ll have someone with you of whom you are comfortable around, and that can ease the stress of feeling by yourself. Just make sure you don’t tell people that’s why your friend came with you…lol.

5. Make sure that as you collect business cards,  jot down notes on the back of that card to help you remember something about the person you just met. Write down something that made this person interesting to you and would make you to contact him or her.

For more networking techniques and practice, contact The Collegiate Career Coach.

So far, I’ve only read the introduction and the first chapter. I’m fully engaged in the book already….so much to the point that my evening plans are to curl up on my couch and dive further in.

As a professor who only had a few months to live due to cancer, Randy Pausch gave his last lecture. A last lecture is common for retiring professors, but this lecture was much different because this was a man in his 50s preparing to die.

Trying to figure out his lecture topic, he decided to right about being able to accomplish his childhood dreams.

It made me reflect on myself. If I died tomorrow, will I have accomplished everything I’ve ever wanted to do? What would my legacy be for the world, for my family, and for my friends? What haven’t I done that I want to do?

Think about it for your own life. If you died tomorrow, are you where you want to be and doing what you want to be doing? If not, why not? Create a “bucket list” for yourself and go after the desires in your heart.

Absolutely nothing is off limits unless you’ve  limited yourself. You can always find a million reasons why something can’t be done, but it takes a man or woman with courage to be determined enough to follow through on their dreams. Is that you?

In one of my end of the semester conferences, I asked my student the question I’d been wanting to ask him all year. I acknowledged that he was a great person but never seemed to put any effort into his work. I asked him, “What’s preventing you from giving your all in class?” He said, “I don’t want to be in college. My mother is making me come.”

That comment spoke volumes to me. If someone doesn’t feel they have a choice, they will not put the effort into their work. This student is very smart and could have completed the class with an “A.” Instead, he got an, “F,” and had to retake the class.

We all have our own journey in life. Parents, allow your children to make choices about their future. They really do know what they want to do and will succeed in it if they’re given the choice to pursue it. Students, tell your parents what you want. If you open up the lines of communication, parents will understand your point of view.

About a month ago I decided to take an online novel writing class. Anytime I share my writing experience as a journalist or express my desire to write a novel, people always say that’s something they have always wanted to do too. So…when I posted my status on Facebook and Twitter that I was going to take this class, I immediately got emails and comments congratulating me. In almost all of the comments sent to me, all of the people expressed a once upon a time interest in writing a novel.

One particular friend pursued the conversation with me a little further. He told me how passionate he was about always wanting to be a novelist and then asked me if I thought he should write a novel. My reply was, “If this is something that you are truly passionate about doing, the question is why AREN’T you doing it?”

Wow! That was all he needed. The next day he said he’s already included a thank you for me in his acceptance speech for the awards he’ll win from his novel. He asked me if I thought that was crazy. I said, “Absolutely not! I’m already ready for the several interviews I’ll have once I get recognition from the Oprah Book Club.”

Anytime I’m thinking about taking on a new project or participating in a new venture, I aways ask myself, “How is this going to compliment the dreams in my heart?” If it won’t, I don’t do it. I think the task is probably meant for someone else. If it does, I move forward.

Think abundantly and stay focused. If you think small, you’ll play small. If you think big, the possibilities are endless. Expect the best with every step of your journey and be mindful of not getting off track.

The path to self discovery is paying close attention to what you value in life. When you are happy about something, your values are being honored. When you are upset about something, your values are being challenged.

According to www.dictionary.com, a value is defined as, “the ideals, customs, institutions, etc., of a society toward which the people of the group have an affective regard.”

By definition, everyone has different values. This is because people grow up in different households. People are taught differently. People live in different neighborhoods. And what one person learned was right and wrong is different from what other people might  have learned is right and wrong. Knowing this, it is easy to understand why people have different values. You can also be more willing to accept that it’s alright if someone else’s values are different from your own.

As you grow as a person, you might find that the values you were taught do not serve you anymore. And there may be other values that you hold onto. That is the key right there: keep the values that work for your life and get rid of the ones that don’t.

Take Action

Visit http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/list-of-values.htm to take a look at several general values. Come up with a list of 10 that you feel describe the type of person you are. Have your family and friends also come up with words they think explain who you are as a person. If you agree with your friends and family, put it on the list. If the value does not resonate with you, then do not add it to your list. Remember, it’s all about figuring out who you are. It’s not about others telling you who you are. Although they can be helpful in the process, they can’t define you. Only you can do that.

Once you have a list of about 15 values, take time to think about how you’d like to make these values more visible in how you live your life. If you notice that you are not honoring any particular value, jot down notes on how you might want to apply that value to your life.

Keep these values in mind while thinking about what type of career you want to choose for yourself. Make sure that you do enough research about the career to ensure that your values align with the common responsibilities of your career choice. Talk with someone in that career field to hear about their experiences, keeping your values in mind and thinking about whether there is a match.

Take Action

One major step in figuring out what you are meant to do with your life is reflecting on who you are and what you really like to do. Think back on your favorite pastimes as a child. Think about the activities you do now. Most likely, the activities that get you excited are the ones that are related to a career you would feel passionate about.

Take out a journal or a piece of paper and write this information down. A simple brainstorming activity on your passions will exercise your brain and help you figure out what career you’d like to choose. Remember that the choice is always yours, so make the ones that fulfill you.