“Wachovia plans to cut 600 more jobs than previously expected; total now 11,350.” -Yahoo.com August 11, 2008

“Looming job cuts march on-report: The number of job cuts announced in July jumps 26%. Airlines and financial firms top the list, according to monthly study.” -CNNMoney.com August 4, 2008

“Deepening Cycle of Job Loss seen lasting into ‘09.” -New York Times July 2, 2008

Economic change and political transition are everywhere in America right now. Looming layoffs, election hopes, and uncertainty of our country’s direction have produced a paranoia amongst Americans for the health and welfare of their futures.

Make Yourself Invaluable

1. Your work ethic is the best way to keep your job, if you really enjoy your work, by making yourself an asset that your company can not live without. Be invaluable.

2. Be versatile to the point where you can do your job with a high level of expertise as well as other valuable jobs within your organization. If layoffs come, the person with the largest skill set is often in the best position to remain unscathed.

3. Ask for more responsibility, more work, and do it now. Make sure your positive attitude is seen as a benefit to the organization. Don’t remain undercover; instead be your own PR person.

Increase Your Expertise

4. Read cover-to-cover your industry trade publications, online resources, and niche blogs within your industry.

5. Read as many books as possible about related subjects.

6. Take classes and workshops for hands-on training and comprehension.

7. Utilize the Internet search engines for extensive research.

8. Attend trade shows and industry conferences.

9. Join organizations, professional associations, and niche specific networking groups.

A reduction in your income may impact many things, including how you perceive yourself, whether you are conscious of it or not. If you have prided yourself on financial success, your ability to feel good about yourself may be impacted as you battle a tough economy.

How to manage this challenge:

1. Remember that a successful life is not all about the money. Look for other non-monetary ways to define success.

• Are you helping people?

• Are you growing as an individual?

• What are you contributing to your community or to the world that does not involve money?

2. Look back on your life to periods when you weren’t making as much money as you are now. Believe that you have the capability to increase your income level once again.

• Is this an opportunity to start something new that could lead you to a better place?

www.innerarchitect.com

What is an Obstacle?

The underpinnings and support you build for yourself when you begin to implement change in your life are first challenged and often thwarted by what you perceive as obstacles that get in the way of your transition. If you can become aware of these obstacles, you give yourself the permission to change the meaning of the very obstacle(s) that stand in your way. Begin by redefining the word “obstacle”:

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. . . the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. . . they’re there to stop the ‘other’ people.”

–Randy Pausch, Carnegie Mellon Professor and author of The Last Lecture

In Susan Hanshaw’s Inner Architect: How To Build The Life You Were Designed To Live, Phase 3 “Breaking Through Fear” contains a very important tool when considering your obstacles: Step 8 “Define What Lies Between You And Change.”

3 Common Types of Obstacles:

1. Fears: Your thoughts about your ability to successfully create change

2. Limited Beliefs: What you think you are capable of acheiveing or becoming

3. Lack of Commitment: Not being completely dedicated to the work involved with the necessary steps

Ultimate Responsibility:

Accountability for your actions and efforts is the ultimate responsibility we all have to ourselves.

“We can commit to becoming accountable and responsible to our jobs-careers, to our family and friends, yet we often don’t make that same commitment to ourselves.”

–Susan Hanshaw, Founder/CEO and author,Inner Architect

The answer to the question: If you could have dinner with anyone in history who would you choose just changed for me. My choice would be Randy Pausch; but unfortunately that will not be possible.The Carnegie Mellon Professor, and Author of the remarkable and inspiring book “Last Lecture”, fought to the end but lost his battle with cancer passing away at the age of 47.

Life Pioneer

Randy Paush was a life pioneer, an inner architect of the truest sense, who valued and coveted his time here like nobody I have ever witnessed. You can not help but be touched or greatly effected by Randy Pausch. If you watch his greatest triumph (video below) the last lecture the youtube video of his final lecture “Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” performed September 18, 2007 before a packed house at Carnegie Mellon University, you begin to understand the message: live life, embrace your obstacles, and triumph through your will

Please watch and embrace this video-it will be the best hour you have ever invested!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo]

Because of our conditioning, instinct or intuition is often ignored as less than accurate due to our tendency to place more trust in what we know to be fact or physical evidence. Yet a vast amount of valuable intelligence is available from our own inner world.

“Intelligence” can be thought of as both information as well as smarts.

“Inner World” is our internal stream of thought, consciousness, and ongoing dialog.

Despite our conditioning and upbringings, we can choose to value our instincts by understanding their power, recognizing our own capability to hone our sense of intuition, and by using our instincts on a daily basis. In order to begin this process, it is important to understand some characteristics of intuition (aka instincts).

Common Characteristics of Intuition

• A Sense of knowing something without knowing how you know it
• Insights about your life that are “just there”
• Persistent ideas that you don’t consciously focus on
• Desires that you have that you didn’t consciously create
• Dreams for your life that you would not dare to conjure up on your own
• Insight that feels like it is coming from the depths of your being
• A message or piece of knowledge that seems to come from out of nowhere
• Out of the ordinary bodily sensations