Greetings! September 2005 This month's workout is about following your bliss and what it takes to believe and find work that is meaningful and rewarding. I invite you to take on the workout and let me know how it goes! I'd like to also take this opportunity to call all women for your help. I've been the President of Boston Women's Network, a professional women's networking organization, for the last 2 years and through that role as well as being an Entrpreneur, I've been asked to be part of a panel on October 20th to discuss "Concierge Medicine" from the consumer, business owner perspective and be a spokesperson for professional women. With that, I am gathering feedback from women on what they know/don't know about the subject and general thoughts on our health care system. I would greatly appreciate it if you would fill out the on-line survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=322551376720. It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes and will provide invaluable information for me to share with the audience. If you are interested in attending the event, details are at http://www.bdionline.com/concierge/ Thank you in advance! If, at any time, you would like to unsubscribe, simply go to the end of the newsletter. Cheers, Jean M. DiGiovanna, President, ThinkPeople Monthly Theme Monthly Workout Monthly Poem Upcoming Workshops/ Events Following Your Bliss Myth #1: it’s really not possible to find work you absolutely love AND that supports you financially. Myth #2: OK, it may be possible, but highly unlikely for me! So many of us believe that it’s really not possible to find work you love and make a living doing it. They see it as rare and unrealistic. I remember when I was in corporate sharing my frustrations about my job with a colleague and he used to say to me “It’s just a job!” I was extremely lucky that the “job” I had provided so much opportunity and amazing people to work with that it definitely outweighed the long hours, intense work and travel demands. But, what struck me most was that he truly believed you don’t have to like what you do and it’s really not possible anyways. How often have you thought that? Is your work “just a job” or is it your “life’s work” (work that you absolutely love)? The reality is, our jobs take up 8-10 hours of our waking day and including commute and morning time, up to 12 hours if not more. For those of us who get the recommended daily hours of sleep, this turns out to be 75% of our waking hours. Now, I’m not saying you have to love every moment of your job because we all know there are ups and downs, and I’m not even saying that you have to find work that you love, but imagine, for a moment, the toll it takes on your body, mental energy and physical energy to spend 75% of your waking hours doing something you don’t enjoy. With so much turmoil, war and natural disasters we are facing and lives we have seen lost or lost those close to us, we begin to question more and more “what is life really about?” and “what do I truly want?” Ultimately, we are all searching for happiness, prosperity and abundance. But, so often, our beliefs we have about what’s not possible are so strong that they outweigh the desire to find work that truly suits us. Movement in any area of our life demands we take a look at the core beliefs we have that may limit us. We all have them at varying degrees and if we are able to breakthrough them and be open to the possibility, the miraculous can appear! If your current work is not energizing, enjoyable and meaningful to you and that is important to you, I ask you to be open to diving in to better understand who you are and what lights you up and finding work that best aligns with that AND brings financial reward as well. I invite you to kickstart the process with this month’s workout below. Roll up your sleeves, open your mind and dive in! The water’s warm and the perfect career is waiting for you! Cheers, Jean M. DiGiovanna Monthly Workout: Following Your Bliss Explore the following process and questions below for this month's workout: The first step in finding meaningful work is to first identify who you are. This includes your core values, attributes, traits, competencies, gifts & talents. The questions below will help begin to identify that: What did you love to do when you were 5 years old? What is it about that that was so enjoyable? What value(s) were you honoring at the time? Think of a time you were most fulfilled in your life. What was it that was so fulfilling? What value(s) do you think you were honoring at the time? What frustrates you, angers you or pisses you off? What value(s) do you think were being stepped on? Think of 3 of the most favorite people in your life. What attributes might they use to describe you? What do they most admire in you? What kind of skills and competencies have you acquired in the last 5 years? What comes most naturally to you? What do you most get complemented on by others? The second step is determining what you want. This includes your passions, interests (domain areas/industries), the type of people or things you want to impact and the qualities important to you in a job. The questions below will help begin to identify that: What is a secret passion of yours? (You may have more than one) When was the last time you lost all track of time? What were you doing? Who were you with? What qualities are most important to you in a job? What is important in the environment you work in, people you work with, type and nature of work? Who or what do you want to impact or make a difference with? What industries and/or domain areas most interest you? Are you most intrigued about? The last step is in putting it all together. Do some creative brainstorming with all the information gathered by combining different pieces together and think about possible careers that utilize that set of information. Engage friends to assist and have fun with it! I look forward to hearing what you experience! (please e-mail me at jdigi@thinkpeople.com) If you’d like to utilize this process in a group atmosphere or 1-on-1 and get more hands-on assistance, feel free to call or email me at jdigi@thinkpeople.com Poem of the Month: Following Your Bliss It takes courage to stop and take a look at who you are, and freedom to explore what you really want. Give yourself permission to dig deep down inside to identify what’s at the core, for you will be joyfully relieved and pleasantly surprised to come to the place you started. To rediscover what you have truly known all the time, but never acknowledged. That the work you are meant to do on this earth has always been within you. It’s just been pushed down by limiting beliefs, external influences and existing circumstances. It’s time to unleash your talents and passions and discover the work you love!                          ~ by Jean M. DiGiovanna Upcoming Workshops, Events, Announcements EVENTS Concierge Medicine - The Pros and Cons This special event will bring leading physicians and healthcare leaders together with interested consumers to explore the benefits and risks associated with this emerging and quickly evolving approach to medical care. Jean will be one of the 3 panelists for part of the evening. To register or for more details see http://www.bdionline.com/concierge/ Boston Women's Network (BWN) invites you to Smart Women. Smart Business. A Panel of five powerful women who will share their wisdom, insight and resources for running your own business. Tuesday, October 25, 2005 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm at the Brookline Holiday Inn To register or for more info, see http://www.bostonwomensnetwork.org/news/102505_meeting.html Curious about ThinkPeople's other services beyond Coaching? Check out Facilitation/Training/ Consulting" I hope you've enjoyed ThinkPeople's Monthly Workout and found it valuable! Feel free to forward to your friends, family and colleagues. To read past editions of ThinkPeople's Newsletters and to learn more about our services and products, visit us at http://www.thinkpeople.com/resources.html If you wish to unsubscribe, please e-mail unsubscribe@thinkpeople.com Copyright Info: ThinkPeople's Monthly Workout for the mind, heart and soul is ©2005 Jean M. DiGiovanna. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may be reproduced without express written permission from the publisher. Jean M. DiGiovanna, Publisher Amy Rewakowski, Editor ThinkPeople ~ Bringing Individuals and Organizations Alive! jdigi@thinkpeople.com http://www.thinkpeople.com/ 617.489.7494